Tag: Michael Dunavant

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New Charges Issued for State Sen. Katrina Robinson

CREDIT: Katrina Robinson/Twitter

Katrina Robinson/Twitter

Tennessee state Sen. Katrina Robinson was formally charged Tuesday on new allegations of wire fraud and money laundering, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant.

The new charges rise from an alleged fraud scheme in which Robinson and two associates defrauded a party out of $14,470. The conspirators ran the money through The Healthcare Institute (THI), a Memphis healthcare school Robinson founded and served as director.

According to the charges, Robinson, Katie Ayers, and Brooke Boudreaux conspired to get the money from a known associate of Boudreaux. Boudreaux told the person, identified only as “R.S.” in court papers, that she needed the money for tuition and expenses to attend THI.

“R.S.” gave the money to the school, and ”the conspirators split the money among themselves for their personal benefit and unjust enrichment,” reads a statement from Dunavant’s office. Investigators said Boudreaux was never a student at the school.

If convicted, the defendants each face a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison followed by three years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. The case will be presented to a federal grand jury at a later date to consider an indictment against the defendants.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

These new charges come for Robinson after she received a 48-count indictment from a Memphis grand jury in July for theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud. According to those charges, Robinson “is alleged to have stolen, converted, and intentionally misapplied property of THI for her own use.”

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DOJ and FBI to Investigate Capitol Hill Violence

U.S. Attorney General D. Michael Dunavant

In response to the violence at the U.S. Capital on Wednesday, Attorney General D. Michael Dunavant announced that his office, as well as the Memphis Field Division Office of the FBI, will investigate and charge any potential violations of federal law.

Protestors had arrived at the capitol from around the nation to contest the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. As tensions rose, protestors successfully pushed past a police barricade and into the U.S. Capitol building, resulting in five deaths.

In a statement released by his office, Dunavant reaffirmed his commitment to bring those who broke the law to justice and to use the full extent of their powers.

“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that those responsible for this attack on our Government and the rule of law face the full consequences of their actions under the law. We are working closely with our partners at the FBI, who are actively investigating to gather evidence, identify perpetrators and charge federal crimes where warranted. Any person who traveled from West Tennessee to commit federal crimes in Washington, D.C., as well as anyone who conspired with them or aided or abetted such lawlessness will be aggressively prosecuted by this office.”

Dunavant’s office and the FBI noted that people could be charged with Civil Disorder, Damage to Federal Property, and Rebellion or Insurrection.

Individuals with information are being urged to contact the Memphis FBI Field Division Office at 901-747-4300. They can also submit tips online at fbi.gov/USCapitol.

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Two Charged in Child Kidnapping, Abandonment Case

Two Memphians have been charged on federal kidnapping charges after they later abandoned a two-year-old boy in a Southaven Goodwill store. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office

Fitzgerald

Jeremy Fitzgerald, 34, and Turliscea Turner, 29, were formally charged Thursday, December 17th, by U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant. The two each face a possible sentence of 20 years and up to life in federal prison, up to life of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal system. (No photo for Turner was available in the Shelby County inmate directory.)

Other charges and stiffer penalties could come for the Fitzgerald and Turner. The case will be presented later to a federal grand jury to consider an indictment against them, and more federal charges may be added.

Here’s is how Dunavant’s office described the crime how the two were caught:

“According to information presented in the complaint, Fitzgerald offered to have Turner, posing as Fitzgerald’s sister, babysit the child while Fitzgerald and the child’s mother went to Nashville, Tennessee, overnight on December 13th, 2020.

“Turner agreed to watch and keep the child with her overnight. While Fitzgerald and the child’s mother were in Nashville, Fitzgerald demanded that the child’s mother work for him as a prostitute. When she refused, Fitzgerald left her in Nashville. He did not answer her repeated telephone calls.

“Fitzgerald did, however, speak to the child’s aunt. In that conversation, Fitzgerald demanded money for the return of the child. Turner was aware that Fitzgerald had demanded money in exchange for the child’s return.

“The next morning, Fitzgerald, Turner, and an unknown subject drove and transported the child across a state boundary from Memphis to Southaven, Mississippi. When they stopped at a gas station, Fitzgerald took the child out of the car to a nearby Goodwill store and abandoned him there. Turner went into the gas station; she knew that the child had been left at the Goodwill store.

“Southaven Task Force Officers recovered surveillance video that showed the maroon vehicle that Fitzgerald and Turner had driven to Southaven with the child. The suspect vehicle was observed on Germantown Parkway in Shelby County on the afternoon of December 14th, 2020.

“When law enforcement responded to the area, Fitzgerald crashed the vehicle, and was later transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Deputies found Turner inside a nearby Kroger, wearing the same clothing as in the surveillance video. Both subjects were taken into custody without further incident.”

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Three Charged In COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

Three people employed by a Memphis tax firm were charged this week in a $1.1-million fraud scheme taking money from a COVID-19 relief fund.

The charges were unsealed Monday by U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant. They claim that Brandy D. Scaife, 42; Janisha L. Jones, 22; and Sharika L. Carpenter, 42; of Better Days Tax Service committed wire fraud and conspiracy.

The charges claim that between April 2020 and June 2020, the three defrauded the Small Business Administration in excess of $1 million. The scheme resulted in 401 fraudulently filed applications seeking Economic Injury Disaster loans for those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Numerous applications were submitted using false information. These false loan applications netted the three about $1.1 million.

If convicted, each defendant faces up to 30 years in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Protection of the United States Treasury is a top priority for the Department of Justice, and our office is absolutely committed to bringing to justice those who would seek to take unfair advantage of critical government resources through fraud during this challenging and uncertain time of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dunavant said.

The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General investigated this case.

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‘Father of Identity Theft’ Sentenced to 17 Years for Identity Theft

CREDIT: U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant's office

U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant’s office

James Jackson’s business card, discovered at his mother’s home, proclaims him to be the ‘Father of Identity Theft.’

The “Father of Identity Theft” was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison Thursday after his conviction for identity theft last October.

At that time, a federal jury found James Jackson, 58, guilty of 13 counts of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, and theft of mail, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant.

A week-long jury trial outlined Jackson’s efforts in 2014 and 2015 to steal the identities of victims — most of them dead — and steal money from banks, financial companies, and individuals.

Jackson would scour online obituaries and news articles to find people who had recently passed away. He’d then use that information to impersonate the victim and convince banks and other companies to send him new debit and credit cards, according to Dunavant.

Jackson had recruited another person to withdraw funds from the victim accounts and to purchase gift cards. In one instance, Jackson’s scheme caused the sale of $340,000 from one victim’s stock account.

Jackson’s scheme began to unravel in February 2015 when he called the Cordova Post Office claiming to be Charles Fulks. He was inquiring about a credit card package that should have been delivered that day to 10022 Cameron Ridge Trail.

But United States Postal Inspectors and members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol Identity Crimes Unit knew this was the work of an imposter. They discovered Fulks died before the call came in to the post office. Also, they discovered the address was a vacant house at the time.

Agents watched the vacant house and after 12 hours they saw Jackson walk across the street to get the credit card package from the mailbox and walk back to his house. They later saw smoke coming out of Jackson’s home.

No one answered the door when the agents announced their presence. Once inside, they found that several small fires had been set around the house “in what appeared to be an attempt to destroy evidence,” according to officials. They also discovered Jackson “pretending to be asleep.”

A search of Jackson’s home yielded a guide entitled “How to Find Anyone and Anything.” A look through Jackson’s computers found searches of obituaries and news articles of the recently deceased.

In a search of Jackson’s mother’s home, agents found a box of Jackson’s business cards. On them, Jackson claimed to be the “Father of Identity Theft,” “Member of World Positive Thinker’s Club,” and “identity theft expert.” The card also supposed Jackson to be the owner of a company called ”One You Security,” with the slogan “because there should only be one you.”

In August 2018, Jackson was arrested again in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was attempting to purchase a $43,000 Corvette using the name and personal information of a recently deceased person.

After a jury convicted him last year, Jackson faced up to 30 years in prison. On Wednesday, he received a sentence of 17.25 years and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution.

“This self-proclaimed ‘Father of Identity Theft’ will now have to change his name to ‘Father Time,’ because he will be doing plenty of it in federal prison,” said Dunavant.

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Dunavant: Feds Don’t Need Council Permission for Operation LeGend

CREDIT: City of Memphis

City of Memphis

Dunavant meets with the Memphis City Council Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

The federal government does not need the Memphis City Council’s permission to bring more law enforcement to the city.

That’s what Michael Dunavant, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, told council members Tuesday, August 18th. Dunavant was defending a new violent crime reduction effort — called Operation LeGend — that will bring 40 federal agents from a variety of agencies to Memphis. The council heard from Dunavant Tuesday as they reviewed a resolution in opposition to the operation here.

“With all due respect to the council, no one’s permission is needed to do this,” Dunavant said, noting federal law trumps local law. “We will do this.”

Operation LeGend was announced for Memphis on August 6th. It will bring 40 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security. 

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

Sixteen of them will be here for 90 days and 24 of them will remain here permanently. They will work with local police to blunt what Dunavant said was a rise in violent crime this year. Some agents are already on the ground, and some have already made arrests.

Operation LeGend is not, Dunavant said, to send federal troops to occupy Memphis.

“This is not Portland,” he said during remarks to the council’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
[pullquote-1-center] He noted the operation was planned in December 2019 well before protests began in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd.

Council member J.B. Smiley asked if the federal agent have placed surveillance devices around the city.

“I’m not aware of that, but even if I was I couldn’t discuss it with you for operational safety,” Dunavant said.

Council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas said she hoped local law enforcement agencies would seek federal grants for re-entry and rehabilitation programs as aggressively as Dunavant’s office is on suppressing violent crime.

Dunavant said he believes crime is not driven primarily by poverty but by lack of consequences, which is what he said he’ll bring to criminals here with Operation LeGend. He said calls to defund police are “reckless and dangerous” and could embolden criminals and increase violent crime.

“What good is a living wage if you’re not living?” Dunavant asked. “What good is an education if children are dying in their beds in drive-by shootings?”

He said homicides in Memphis are up 49 percent form where they were in 2019. So far this year, 170 have been murdered here. Twenty-four of those were children. Twenty-one of those were African Americans. The murder count this year is on track to surpass the 228 murders in 2016, the year with the highest murder count in Memphis history.

“Operation LeGend will suppress violence here now,” Dunavant said. “We must stop the bleeding now. Children are dying now.”

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U.S. Attorney Warns Hospitals Against Hoarding, Price Gouging

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

As Tennessee enters into what experts believe is the peak of the coronavirus surge in hospitals here, U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant warned West Tennessee hospital leaders his office is prioritizing prosecutions on equipment hoarding and price gouging.

In a Thursday letter, Dunavant warned hospital executives that he will aggressively enforce such practices. Further, Dunavant called hoarding and price gouging “morally repugnant.”

Such supplies include N-95 face masks, ventilators, surgical gloves, and hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by President Donald Trump as a coronavirus treatment.   However, the drug has never been proven to effectively treat the virus.

U.S. Attorney Warns Hospitals Against Hoarding, Price Gouging

“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, our office is prioritizing the deterrence, investigation, and prosecution of wrongdoing related to the COVID-19 pandemic — including those engaged in hoarding and/or price-gouging with regard to critical medical supplies,” Dunavant said in a letter Thursday. “These practices are not only morally repugnant in light of the pandemic we are facing, but also, if left unchecked, can inhibit hospitals, physicians and other health care professionals, governmental agencies, and the public from fully implementing measures designed to save lives and mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.”

The list of “scarce” materials (including hydroxychloroquine) came from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) by Trump executive order. Hoarding or raising prices on these 15 categories of health supplies will trigger “both criminal prohibitions and civil enforcement remedies” that Dunavant said his office will “aggressively enforce.”

These categories currently include:

• N-95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators

• Other Filtering Facepiece Respirators (e.g., those designated as N99, N100,
R95, R99, R100, or P95, P99, P100)

• Elastomeric, air-purifying respirators and appropriate particulate
filters/cartridges

• Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR)

• Portable Ventilators

• Chloroquine phosphate or hydroxychloroquine HCl

• Sterilization services for certain medical devices and certain sterilizers

• Disinfecting devices and other sanitizing and disinfecting products suitable
for use in a clinical setting

• Medical gowns or apparel, e.g., surgical gowns or isolation gowns

• Personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls, e.g., Tyvek Suits

• PPE face masks

• PPE surgical masks

• PPE face shields

• PPE gloves or surgical gloves

• Ventilators, anesthesia gas machines modified for use as ventilators, and
positive pressure breathing devices modified for use as ventilators, ventilator tubing connectors, and ventilator accessories.

Dunavant asked health-care officials here to help his office identify companies hoarding these materials or charging heightened prices on them. He also asked them to look out for anyone offering false treatment, tests, or vaccines.

To report coronavirus fraud, call the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDC) hotline (1-866- 720-5721) or send an email to the NCDF at disaster@leo.gov.

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Bank Robber Pleads Guilty Mid-Trial

CREDIT: Memphis Police Department/Facebook

Memphis Police Department/Facebook

A video shows Arnold Eden’s robbery of the Hope Federal Credit Union in 2017.

Before all the proof had been laid out in federal court, Arnold Eden must have decided he’d seen enough.

Eden, 52, was on trial this week for the 2017 robbery of the Hope Federal Credit Union on Ridgeway Road. Law enforcement officials had a video of the robbery that showed Eden’s face. They also had fingerprints he’d left on a glass door as he left the bank.

With all of this, Eden pleaded guilty to the robbery during the course of the jury trial, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced Thursday.
[pullquote-1] According to Dunavant’s office, Eden entered the bank at 1:17 p.m. on July 3rd, 2017. He gave the teller a note demanding money. The teller told officials the note said, “I have a gun. I have nothing to lose. I want two stacks of hundreds.” The teller gave Eden $2,602 in cash. Eden then fled the scene.

You can see the exchange in this video:

Bank Robber Pleads Guilty Mid-Trial

“These disturbing and brazen acts of violence will not be tolerated, and will be met with firm resolve, quick investigative action, and aggressive federal prosecution,” Dunavant said in a statement.

A defendant taking a case all the way to federal court is rare these days, according to the Pew Research Center. Researchers there said nearly 80,000 people were defendants in federal criminal cases in 2018, but only 2 percent of them went to trial. The overwhelming majority (90 percent) pleaded guilty instead, while the remaining 8 percent had their cases dismissed.

Most defendants who did go to trial were found guilty, either by a jury or judge.

Eden faces up to 20 years in federal prison followed by 3 years supervised release. His sentencing is scheduled for May before U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris.

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‘Deadliest Catch’ Cast Member to Serve More Than Four Years

CREDIT: Deadliest Catch/Facebook

Deadliest Catch/Facebook

A former “Deadliest Catch” cast member was sentenced to 51 months recently on charges stemming from an arrest in West Tennessee.

Jason King, 43, was known as “Tennessee” on the Discovery Channel show. He appeared as himself as a deckhand on the Cornelia Marie.

Officers with the Hardin’s County Sheriff’s Office, the 15th Judicial District Drug Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives executed a search warrant and felony arrest warrant for King at his residence in Couce, Tennessee.

Officers found multiple bags of cannabis totaling over 14 pounds hidden under the house. They also found a fully loaded Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver in a kitchen drawer.

Officials said because King had an “extensive” criminal history and was a felon, he was given the maximum sentence within the guideline range for these offenses. United States District Court Chief Judge Thomas Anderson sentenced King to 51 months in federal prison followed by 3 years supervised release.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

“Convicted felons who possess firearms in connection with illegal drugs are inherently dangerous individuals,” U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant said in a statement. ” Our outstanding federal, state, and local law enforcement partners were able to catch this outlaw, and his prior criminal record finally caught up with him. This conviction and sentence will remove a repeat offender from the community, and will protect public safety in West Tennessee.”

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Memphis Goodwill Fined by Feds on Contract Claims About Disabled Workers

CREDIT: Memphis Goodwill/Facebook

Memphis Goodwill/Facebook

Memphis Goodwill Industries, Inc. will pay $150,000 to the federal government to resolve allegations that it falsely claimed compliance with a federal contract standard for employing disabled workers.

Memphis Goodwill won contracts with the federal Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the General Services Administration, through the government’s AbilityOne Program. Through that program, agencies must employ disabled workers for 75 percent of the direct labor hours on those contracts.  Memphis Goodwill/Facebook

According to Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney, Memphis Goodwill said they complied with the regulation (and said so in certifications to the government) “when, in fact, the direct labor hours actually worked by disabled individuals were much lower.”

“Fraud on the AbilityOne program harms inclusion of workers in the program as well as law-abiding AbilityOne contractors,” said Thomas Lehrich, Inspector General of the U.S. AbilityOne Commission.

Dunavant said, “Protection of the United States Treasury against fraud, waste, and abuse is a top priority of this office and the Department of Justice.”

False claims that defraud federal government agencies compromise and harm their respective abilities to employ disabled individuals in our communities, and must be exposed,”he said in a statement. “We are pleased to recover these funds for the fraud perpetrated against the United States, and hope that this settlement amount will send a significant deterrent message to other dishonest contractors.”