ALABAMAN ARRESTED ROLE IN STOLEN IDENTITY THEFT FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Alabama Resident Indicted for Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud Scheme

An Alabama resident was arrested today after being indicted on Dec. 9 by a federal grand jury sitting in Montgomery, Alabama, on 15 counts of wire fraud, 15 counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of passing U.S. Treasury checks with a false endorsement, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck, Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama.

According to the allegations in the indictment, James Vernon Battle, a resident of Montgomery County, used stolen personal identification information to prepare and file false federal income tax returns for tax years 2013 and 2014 for the purpose of obtaining fraudulent tax refunds.  Battle directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue the requested refunds by depositing the funds onto prepaid debit cards and by issuing U.S. Treasury checks.

If convicted, Battle faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft and a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of passing a U.S. Treasury check with a false endorsement.  He also faces substantial monetary penalties and restitution.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Beck commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Robert J. Boudreau of the Tax Division and Assistant U. S. Attorney Jonathan Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who are prosecuting this case.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

FORMER OFFICERS AT VENTRESS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY CONVICTED IN BEATING DEATH OF INMATE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Former Corrections Officers Sentenced for Federal Civil Rights Offenses and Obstruction of Justice for Beating Death of an Inmate at Ventress Correctional Facility in Alabama

The Justice Department announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Myron H. Thompson sentenced four former corrections officers of the Alabama Department of Corrections – Michael Smith, Matthew Davidson, Joseph Sanders and Scottie Glenn – in connection with the beating death of former inmate Rocrast Mack.  Smith, 39, who was convicted by a federal jury on June 25, 2013, of seven counts of civil rights violations and obstruction of justice, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.  Davidson, 45, who pled guilty to two civil rights violations and an obstruction of justice violation, was sentenced to seven years.  Sanders, 32, who pled guilty to an obstruction of justice violation, was sentenced to five years.  Glenn, 30, who pled guilty to a civil rights violation and a conspiracy violation, was sentenced to five years.

The incident occurred at Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton, Ala., on Aug. 4, 2010, and at the time of the incident Smith was a lieutenant with supervisory authority over other officers on his shift.  According to the evidence presented at trial, Smith assaulted Mack in an office in the prison, repeatedly striking him with a baton, stomping on him and kicking him.  The evidence also showed that Smith assaulted Mack again several minutes later in the medical unit by repeatedly stomping on Mack’s head.  Mack died the following morning in a Montgomery, Ala., hospital.  

“These defendants each played a role in the vicious and fatal beating of Mr. Mack, and then they lied to authorities to conceal their culpability,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels.  “Their actions run completely counter to the responsibilities and trust given to law enforcement officers.  The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those officers who commit such heinous criminal acts, and I hope that these sentencings help bring some measure of closure to the Mack family.”

“The majority of our corrections officers are dedicated to protecting and serving the public,” said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr.  “These correctional officers were not so dedicated.  These correctional officers savagely beat, stomped, and tortured a restrained man and then lied to protect themselves.  There is no excuse for such behavior.  Correctional officers walk a tough line, but they cannot cross that line into the criminal element.  I hope that these sentences bring some sense of justice to the victim’s family and reinforce the notion that no one is above the law.”

This case was investigated by the Mobile, Ala., Division of the FBI in partnership with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Patricia Sumner of the department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerusha Adams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.