DEA EMPLOYEE SENTENCED FOR DEFRAUDING CREDIT CARD CO. OF OVER $113,000

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Monday, June 29, 2015

Former DEA Employee Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Credit Card Fraud Scheme

Used Fraudulently Acquired Government Credit Cards to Obtain Over $113,000 in Cash

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employee was sentenced today to two years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co. out of more than $113,000 using fraudulently issued government credit cards.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Michael P. Tompkins of the the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General’s (DOJ OIG) Washington, D.C. Field Office made the announcement.

Keenya Meshell Banks, 41, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty in April 2015 to one count of wire fraud.  In addition to imposing the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ordered Banks to pay restitution in the amount of $113,841.

According to her plea agreement, Banks was employed by the DEA as a Program Manager, and was responsible for the approval and issuance of government credit cards to DEA employees.  Banks admitted that, while serving in that role, she submitted dozens of fake credit card applications to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for fictitious DEA employees, using names and identifying information of individuals who did not work at the DEA.  In at least one instance, however, Banks submitted the identifying information of an actual DEA employee.  Through this scheme, Banks admitted that she obtained at least 32 fraudulent credit cards, which she then used to withdraw more than $113,000 from ATMs in Maryland and Northern Virginia.  As part of her plea agreement, Banks agreed to forfeit the proceeds she received as a result of the scheme and to pay full restitution.

The case was investigated by the DOJ OIG.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and Justin Weitz of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Windom of the  District of Maryland.

GULF CARTEL MEMBER SENTENCED TO 35 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, May 13, 2013

High Ranking Gulf Cartel Member Sentenced in Washington, D.C., to 35 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking

Highest Ranking Gulf Cartel Member to Be Convicted by a U.S. Jury in the Past 15 Years

Aurelio Cano Flores, a Mexican national and high ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, was sentenced today to serve 35 years in prison for conspiring to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Cano Flores, 40, aka "Yankee" and "Yeyo," was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein in the District of Columbia. In addition to his prison term, Cano Flores was ordered to forfeit $15 billion in drug proceeds as part of a money judgment. At a post-trial hearing, the United States proved that from 2000 to 2010, the Gulf Cartel distributed in excess of 1.4 million kilograms of cocaine and 8,000 metric tons of marijuana. The money judgment represents the gross receipts of the Gulf Cartel’s drug sales into the United States from its principal distribution centers located along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"For over a decade, Aurelio Cano Flores worked with some of the most dangerous criminals in the world to import massive quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. "As a leader of the Gulf Cartel, one of the most notorious criminal enterprises in Mexico or the United States, he endangered the lives of innocent people on both sides of the border. As a result of today’s sentencing, he will spend 35 years in federal prison as punishment for his crimes."

"DEA and its partners use every law enforcement tool possible to bring to justice drug cartel leaders and facilitators who inflict damage on both sides of the border," said DEA Administrator Leonhart. "Aurelio Cano-Flores used his position as a Mexican police officer to help one of the most violent and brutal drug trafficking organizations in the world bring vast amounts of drugs into the United States. Like many other cartel leaders, he posed a threat to the citizens of both the United States and Mexico. We are confident and pleased that justice was served today by the pronouncement of his lengthy U.S. prison sentence."

Following a trial that lasted over two weeks, Cano Flores was convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 26, 2013, of one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, knowing and intending the substances would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

Cano Flores was one of 19 defendants charged in a superseding indictment on Nov. 4, 2010, with drug trafficking offenses. He was extradited to the United States from Mexico in August 2011 and was ordered detained in federal custody pending trial.

Evidence presented at trial included dozens of lawfully intercepted telephone conversations between Cano Flores and other leaders of the Gulf Cartel, as well as testimony from previously convicted Cartel members. According to the trial evidence, Cano Flores began working for the Gulf Cartel in approximately 2001, while he was serving as a police officer in Mexico. During his time as a police officer, Cano Flores recruited others into the Gulf Cartel, collected drug money and escorted large shipments of cartel drugs to the U.S. border.

Cano Flores ultimately rose through the ranks of the Gulf Cartel to become a major transporter of narcotics within Mexico to the U.S. border and became the Cartel’s top representative in the important border town of Los Guerra, Tamaulipas, Mexico. As the "plaza boss" for Los Guerra, Cano Flores oversaw the mass distribution of cocaine and marijuana into the United States on a daily basis. Testimony established that between 2000 and 2010, the Gulf Cartel grew from an organization of only 100 members controlling three border towns to an organization of 25,000 people controlling the drug trade over approximately half of Mexico. As established during the trial, the means and methods of this conspiracy included corruption, murder, kidnapping and intimidation.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Darrin McCullough and Sean Torriente of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in the provisional arrest and extradition of Cano Flores, and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section provided assistance at sentencing. The investigation in this case was led by the DEA Houston Field Division’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force and the DEA Bilateral Investigation Unit. The case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force’s Operation "Day of Reckoning."