January 2010 Press Releases
Jan. 29, 2010 - Rios et al
TEN STARR COUNTY RESIDENTS INDICTED FOR LYING TO BUY FIREARMS
(MCALLEN, Texas) – A 12-month investigation by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has resulted in the indictment of 10 persons accused of lying to buy more than 60 firearms over a five-month period beginning in December 2008 (Read more)
Jan. 29, 2010 - Breda
FORMER CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR IN IRAQ SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ABUSIVE SEXUAL CONTACT OF A CO-WORKER
(HOUSTON) - David Charles Breda Jr., 35, a Pearland resident, has been sentenced to prison for abusive sexual contact of a co-worker at Camp Al Asad Airbase in Iraq (Read more)
Jan. 29, 2010 - Perez
CORPUS CHRISTI WOMAN ARRESTED FOR TRAFFICKING METHAMPHETAMINE ORDERED HELD WITHOUT BOND
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – A federal magistrate judge has ordered Andrea Kristal Perez, of Corpus Christi, charged with possessing with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of methamphetamine, to be held in custody without bond pending further criminal proceedings (Read more)
Jan. 27, 2010 - Huerta-Sanchez
JURY CONVICTS SAN ANTONIO MAN OF TRANSPORTING MORE THAN TWO TONS OF MARIJUANA
(LAREDO, Texas) – A federal jury has convicted Roberto Huerta-Sanchez III, 34, of San Antonio, Texas, of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than two tons of marijuana (Read more)
Jan. 27, 2010 - Beltre
HOUSTON PODIATRIST WITH OFFICES IN PHARR/SAN JUAN PLEADS GUILTY TO HEALTH CARE FRAUD
(McALLEN, Texas) – Franklin Beltre, 39, a licensed podiatrist, has pleaded guilty to committing health care fraud by submitting false and fraudulent claims to both Medicare and Medicaid for services performed by an unlicensed podiatrist (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Ashoor
SAUDI CITIZEN FOUND GUILTY OF SELLING COUNTERFEIT CISCO COMPUTER PARTS TO THE MARINE CORPS IN IRAQ
(HOUSTON) - Ehab Ali Ashoor, 49, a Saudi citizen who resides in Sugarland, Texas, has been found guilty of trafficking in counterfeit Cisco goods after a three-day jury trial before United States District Judge David Hittner (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Avila
JURY CONVICTS CARTEL ASSOCIATE OF CONSPIRACY TO KIDNAP AND KIDNAPPING
(McALLEN, Texas) – After a two-day trial and one and a half hours of deliberation, a federal jury has convicted a Gulf Cartel associate of kidnapping a Weslaco, Texas, resident and having him transported into Mexico (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Fleming et al
FORMER HOUSTON BUSINESS OWNERS SENTENCED TO LENGTHY PRISON TERMS FOR FRAUDULENTLY BILLING MEDICARE & MEDICAID FOR $36 MILLION
(HOUSTON) – The owners of several Houston area durable medical equipment (DME) companies convicted by a jury in April 2009 of conspiracy to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering have been sentenced to long prison terms (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Morales
LOCAL DENTIST AND ORTHODONIST WIFE CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING MEDICAID
(LAREDO, Texas) - A federal indictment charging a Laredo dentist and his orthodontist wife with 17 counts of health care fraud has been unsealed (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Operation Reload
TWENTY-TWO ARRESTED AS A RESULT OF OPERATION “RELOAD”
(LAREDO, Texas) – Two federal indictments returned under seal in December 2009 as a result of Operation “Reload” have been partially unsealed following an enforcement actions which have lead to the arrest of a total of 22 defendants in Laredo, San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas (Read more)
Jan. 22, 2010 - Paz
BUS PASSENGER’S ATTEMPT TO SMUGGLE METHAMPHETAMINE INTO US NETS HIM 14 YEARS IN PRISON
(LAREDO, Texas) - A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison without parole for attempting to smuggle more than 12 pounds of methamphetamine into the United States (Read more)
Jan. 20, 2010 - Bellamy
LOCAL TAX RETURN PREPARER PLEADS GUILTY TO FALSIFYING RETURNS
(HOUSTON) – Veronica Bellamy, a local tax return preparer, has pleaded guilty to charges that she prepared false tax returns for local clients that inflated their refunds by approximately $538,000 during 2002 through 2005 (Read more)
Jan. 20, 2010 - Silva
ANOTHER ALLEGED NARCOTICS MAILER ARRESTED
(MCALLEN, Texas) – Yet another person allegedly involved in using the U.S. Mail to distribute drugs has been arrested by inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) (Read more)
Jan. 15, 2010 - Bacon
SEPTUAGENARIAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
(CORPUS CHRISTI) – Welles D. Bacon, 72, of Corpus Christi, has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment for possessing child pornography (Read more)
Jan. 15, 2010 - Cedor
AMERICAN FUGITIVE ARRESTED IN MEXICO HANDED OVER TO US OFFICIALS
(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Richard Louis Cedor, 56, formerly from the Corpus Christi area and charged in the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas with possessing child pornography, was arrested by the Mexican Immigration Institute (INAMI) in Matamoros, Mexico, on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 (Read more)
Jan. 13, 2010 - Higgins
FORMER TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TROOPER CONVICTED OF CIVIL RIGHTS CHARGES
(CORPUS CHRISTI) – U. S. Attorney Tim Johnson and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas E. Perez today announced the conviction of a former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper for depriving multiple motorists of their civil rights (Read more)
Jan. 13, 2010 - Dewvall
FORMER CONTINENTAL AIRLINES EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR DEFRAUDING EMPLOYER
(HOUSTON) - Rebecca Anne Dewvall, formerly with Continental Airlines’ corporate security team, was sentenced today to a year in federal prison for executing a scheme to defraud Continental Airlines through its Electronic Travel Certificate (ETC) program (Read more)
Jan. 13, 2010 - Snowball
HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEE CONVICTED OF DEFRAUDING DECEASED FATHER’S PENSION PLAN
(HOUSTON) - Deanne Snowball, 50, of New Orleans, La., has been convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from her deceased father’s pension plan (Read more)
Jan. 13, 2010 - Batsell
FORMER EMPLOYEE OF LOCAL DENTIST SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – The financial clerk of a Brownsville dentist has been sentenced to prison for using patient identifying information to open and bill credit card accounts for services while pocketing cash payments made by the patients (Read more)
Jan. 13, 2010 - Garcia
JURY CONVICTS AMERICAN LIVING IN NUEVO LAREDO OF TRANSPORTING METHAMPHETAMINE
(LAREDO, Texas) – After one day of trial and approximately three hours of deliberation, a federal jury has convicted Gerardo Garcia, 45, a United States citizen living in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, of importing, conspiring to possess and possessing with intent to distribute almost four kilograms of methamphetamine (Read more)
Jan. 12, 2010 - Cook
BANK INSIDER CONVICTED OF DEFRAUDING EMPLOYER
(HOUSTON) – Kevin J. Cook, a former employee of Bank of America, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud (Read more)
Jan. 11, 2010 - Gonzalez
FORMER FEDERAL JUROR CHARGED WITH JURY TAMPERING
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – A sealed indictment charging a former juror with conspiring to obstruct jury deliberations with the goal of acquitting two defendants and contempt of court has been unsealed (Read more)
Jan. 8, 2010 - Jones
FORMER LAW OFFICE EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO ASYLUM FRAUD
(HOUSTON) – A former employee of a Houston law office has pleaded guilty to conspiring to file false asylum applications on behalf of Chinese nationals who claimed they were being persecuted in China for practicing Christianity (Read more)
Jan. 7, 2010 - Nelius
BANK TELLER CONVICTED FOR STEALING BANK FUNDS
(HOUSTON) - A Montgomery, Texas, woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding the bank where she worked of more than $25,000 (Read more)
Jan. 6, 2010 - Juarez and Ovilla
ATTEMPTS TO BRIBE CBP OFFICERS RESULTS IN CONVICTION OF TWO
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – Two Mexican nationals residing in the United States, charged in separate and unrelated cases, have each pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer (Read more)
Jan. 6, 2010 - Johnson
U. S. ATTORNEY JOHNSON ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
(HOUSTON, Texas) – United States Attorney Tim Johnson, 57, has announced his resignation effective Feb. 13, 2010, and intention to enter private practice with a law firm in the Houston area (Read more)
