FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Maryland Man Convicted in Violent Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
A federal jury convicted Jean Claude Roy, aka Dredd the Don and Dreddy, age 31, of Germantown, Md., late yesterday of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution and witness and evidence tampering.
The verdict was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein for the District of Maryland, Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.
“This defendant preyed on vulnerable young women and exploited them for prostitution,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Samuels. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to seeking justice on behalf of victims of human trafficking.”
“Protecting our communities from those who engage in human trafficking is a top priority for HSI,” said Special Agent in Charge Winter. “As a member of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, HSI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate human trafficking, as well as working with our local non-governmental, community-based and faith-based organizations to identify, rescue and assist victims of trafficking.”
According to evidence presented during the two week trial, between August and September 2012, Roy transported a victim across state lines to engage in prostitution and forced the victim to engage in prostitution by taking the victim’s identity documents, keeping all of the victim’s money and bragging about beating murder charges.
In November 2012, Roy recruited co-defendant Brittney Creason to engage in prostitution at his direction. Thereafter, Creason helped Roy recruit and transport girls from Illinois and North Carolina to engage in prostitution. He continued to force women to engage in prostitution by bragging about beating murder charges, taking their identity documents and taking their money.
Trial evidence also showed that from Jan. 1 through Jan. 10, 2013, while Roy was in jail on related state charges, he called an individual several times and had that person access online accounts and storage services belonging to Roy and Creason in order to erase evidence related to these charges.
Roy faces a statutory maximum sentenced of life in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison for each of three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution; and a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for witness and evidence tampering. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm scheduled sentencing for July 16, 2014.
The jury found Roy not guilty of sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and possessing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Creason, aka Kitty Amor, age 19, of Decatur, Ill., previously pleaded guilty to using a facility in interstate commerce for an illegal activity and awaits sentencing.
This case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, which was formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit this website.
Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Samuels and U.S. Attorney Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation. They also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley and Trial Attorney William E. Nolan of the Civil Rights Division's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, who are prosecuting the case.
Showing posts with label HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS. Show all posts
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Thursday, June 27, 2013
U.S. RESTRAINS PAINTING BY PICASSO
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, June 24, 2013
U.S. Restrains 1909 Pablo Picasso Painting Valued at $11.5 Million
The Department of Justice today restrained the 1909 Pablo Picasso painting "Compotier et tasse" – estimated to be worth $11.5 million – on behalf of the Italian government, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton.
The restraining order was obtained in response to an official request by the government of Italy, pursuant to the treaty between the United States of America and the Italian Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters for assistance in connection with its ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution of Gabriella Amati. Amati and her late husband, Angelo Maj, were charged by the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office in Milan with embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy offenses under Italian law, and Italian prosecutors have obtained a restraining order for the Picasso painting in connection with the criminal proceeding.
According to documents filed in the Italian criminal proceeding, Amati and Maj, in collaboration with a public official of the city of Naples, Italy, employed various schemes to misappropriate tax receipts collected for Naples by companies the couple controlled. In addition, the Italian prosecutors alleged that Amati and Maj orchestrated a number of schemes to embezzle Naples’ tax revenue, including the use of fraudulent service contracts, forged accounting records, inflated operational expenses and fraudulently claimed refunds to Naples taxpayers, all to justify transfers to the couple’s own bank accounts of the taxes that were collected for the city, resulting in a loss of approximately 33 million Euros ($44 million) to Naples.
On May 21, 2013, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in New York located and recovered the painting, which was being offered for private sale in the amount of $11.5 million.
An application to enforce the Italian restraining order was filed on June 21, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to restrain the Picasso painting belonging to Amati and Maj and located in New York City. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero granted the U.S. government’s application and issued a restraining order prohibiting the removal, sale or disposition of the Picasso painting from the court’s jurisdiction. The United States is working in close cooperation with the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office in Milan and the Justice Department’s Attaché in Rome to forfeit the painting in an effort to repatriate the Picasso to Italy.
"Restraining this Picasso painting is yet another example of the Justice Department’s close partnership with law enforcement around the world," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. "Our asset forfeiture section is committed to finding and securing every last penny of criminal proceeds and putting those ill-gotten proceeds back in the hands of victims, regardless of where they reside."
"We are pleased to have played a role in securing this valuable work of art by the celebrated artist, Pablo Picasso, on behalf of the Italian government," said U.S. Attorney Bharara. "Our commitment to ‘taking the profit out of crime’ transcends national boundaries and is the operating principle of our asset forfeiture program."
"Restraining this valuable artwork is an effort to help recover some of the estimated $44 million that this couple stole from the tax-paying citizens of Naples," said Director Morton. "We are very pleased that our investigation has led to the recovery of this painting that is so significant to the Italian people. This is an example of the fine work of our HSI cultural repatriation special agents. We will continue our efforts to return stolen antiquities to their rightful owners. "
The U.S. enforcement of the Italian order is being handled by Assistant Deputy Chief Jack de Kluiver and Trial Attorney Jennifer Wallis of Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Asset Forfeiture Unit Chief Sharon Cohen Levin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Magdo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, ICE HSI New York and Rome, and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. In Italy, the case is being handled by the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office in Milan, and investigated by the Guardia di Finanza police service.
Monday, June 24, 2013
U.S. Restrains 1909 Pablo Picasso Painting Valued at $11.5 Million
The Department of Justice today restrained the 1909 Pablo Picasso painting "Compotier et tasse" – estimated to be worth $11.5 million – on behalf of the Italian government, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton.
The restraining order was obtained in response to an official request by the government of Italy, pursuant to the treaty between the United States of America and the Italian Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters for assistance in connection with its ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution of Gabriella Amati. Amati and her late husband, Angelo Maj, were charged by the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office in Milan with embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy offenses under Italian law, and Italian prosecutors have obtained a restraining order for the Picasso painting in connection with the criminal proceeding.
According to documents filed in the Italian criminal proceeding, Amati and Maj, in collaboration with a public official of the city of Naples, Italy, employed various schemes to misappropriate tax receipts collected for Naples by companies the couple controlled. In addition, the Italian prosecutors alleged that Amati and Maj orchestrated a number of schemes to embezzle Naples’ tax revenue, including the use of fraudulent service contracts, forged accounting records, inflated operational expenses and fraudulently claimed refunds to Naples taxpayers, all to justify transfers to the couple’s own bank accounts of the taxes that were collected for the city, resulting in a loss of approximately 33 million Euros ($44 million) to Naples.
On May 21, 2013, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in New York located and recovered the painting, which was being offered for private sale in the amount of $11.5 million.
An application to enforce the Italian restraining order was filed on June 21, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to restrain the Picasso painting belonging to Amati and Maj and located in New York City. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero granted the U.S. government’s application and issued a restraining order prohibiting the removal, sale or disposition of the Picasso painting from the court’s jurisdiction. The United States is working in close cooperation with the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office in Milan and the Justice Department’s Attaché in Rome to forfeit the painting in an effort to repatriate the Picasso to Italy.
"Restraining this Picasso painting is yet another example of the Justice Department’s close partnership with law enforcement around the world," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. "Our asset forfeiture section is committed to finding and securing every last penny of criminal proceeds and putting those ill-gotten proceeds back in the hands of victims, regardless of where they reside."
"We are pleased to have played a role in securing this valuable work of art by the celebrated artist, Pablo Picasso, on behalf of the Italian government," said U.S. Attorney Bharara. "Our commitment to ‘taking the profit out of crime’ transcends national boundaries and is the operating principle of our asset forfeiture program."
"Restraining this valuable artwork is an effort to help recover some of the estimated $44 million that this couple stole from the tax-paying citizens of Naples," said Director Morton. "We are very pleased that our investigation has led to the recovery of this painting that is so significant to the Italian people. This is an example of the fine work of our HSI cultural repatriation special agents. We will continue our efforts to return stolen antiquities to their rightful owners. "
The U.S. enforcement of the Italian order is being handled by Assistant Deputy Chief Jack de Kluiver and Trial Attorney Jennifer Wallis of Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Asset Forfeiture Unit Chief Sharon Cohen Levin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Magdo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, ICE HSI New York and Rome, and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. In Italy, the case is being handled by the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office in Milan, and investigated by the Guardia di Finanza police service.
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