February 2011 Press Releases
Feb. 28, 2011 - Herrera et al
LEADERS OF COCAINE AND MONEY LAUNDERING ORGANIZATION SENTENCED TO PRISONCourt further orders forfeiture of 77 real properties to U.S.
(McAllen, Texas) – Two men charged separately in related cases have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and launder the drug proceeds (Read more)
Feb. 28, 2011 - Ramirez
LAST OF FOUR CONVICTED FOR TRAFFICKING MORE THAN 250 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
(MCALLEN, TEXAS) -- The last of four area men convicted for his part in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy was sentenced to prison today (Read more)
Feb. 25, 2011 - Casso
FORMER EMPLOYEE OF TX AG’S CHILD SUPPORT DIVISION PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX FRAUD
(LAREDO, Texas) – A former employee of the Texas Attorney General’s Child Support Division has been convicted of tax fraud charges (Read more)
Feb. 25, 2011 - Zepata, et al
FEDERAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST ELEVEN ARRESTED AFTER DISCOVERY AND SEIZURE OF MARIJUANA, COCAINE, FIREARMS, GRENADES AND AMMUNITION
(McALLEN, Texas) – Federal charges of drug-trafficking and illegal weapons-exporting crimes have been filed in U.S. District Court in McAllen, Texas, against a total of 11 defendants arrested earlier this week (Read more)
Feb. 25, 2011 - Sharma
DR. KIRAN SHARMA SENTENCED TO PRISON AND ORDERED TO FORFEIT MORE THAN $43 MILLION IN CASH/PROPERTY GAINED THROUGH FRAUD
(HOUSTON) - Dr. Kiran Sharma, 56, of Kemah, Texas, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for engaging in a conspiracy with her husband, Dr. Arun Sharma, to commit health care fraud and committing health care fraud over a 10-year-period in the Southern District of Texas (Read more)
Feb. 25, 2011 - Lahiji & Lahiji
McALLEN UROLOGIST AND WIFE INDICTED FOR HEALTH CARE FRAUD
[HOUSTON, TX] – An indictment charging Hossein Lahiji, M.D., a McAllen urologist, and his wife, Najmeh Vahid Lahiji, of San Antonio, Texas, for allegedly defrauding Medicare and Medicare has been unsealed (Read more)
Feb. 24, 2011 - Kaluanya
OWNER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DME STORE SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HEALTH CARE FRAUD AND AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT
(HOUSTON) – A Nigerian national and Houston resident has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to Medicare for health care fraud and aggravated identity theft (Read more)
Feb. 24, 2011 - Iwanski
FORMER BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR BANK FRAUD
(CORPUS CHRISTI, TX) – The former bookkeeper for a local petroleum interest, Constance Bexley Iwanski, has been sentenced to federal prison for bank fraud (Read more)
Feb. 18, 2011 - Boncamper et al
“INSURERS” OF THE ETHAN ALLEN INDICTED IN ALLEGED INSURANCE FRAUD SCHEME
(HOUSTON) - Christopher Purser, 49, of Houston, and five other defendants have been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in a superseding indictment returned on Feb. 16, 2011, by a Houston grand jury (Read more)
Feb. 18, 2011 - Gonzalez et al
CORPUS CHRISTI TRIO INDICTED FOR ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICKING, MONEY LAUNDERING AND STRUCTURING
(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Three people from Corpus Christi have been indicted as a result of an the efforts of a multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation (Read more)
Feb. 18, 2011 - Gutierrez-Jaramillo
COLOMBIAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR IMPORTING COCAINE INTO U.S. IN 1990s
Indicted in 1992 in US, defendant extradited from Peru to the U.S. in late 2009 after serving a prison term there
(HOUSTON) – Patience and perseverance resulted in a Columbian cocaine trafficker being returned to the United States to face long standing charges for conspiring to import and importing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the United States in the 1990s. Today, he stands convicted and sentenced to prison for those offenses (Read more)
Feb. 18, 2011 - Hunick
51 YEAR OLD HOUSTON AREA MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
(HOUSTON) - Marvin Oscar Hunick, 51, a Houston resident, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon to 78 months imprisonment for possessing child pornography (Read more)
Feb. 17, 2011 - HEAT Takedown
HOUSTON AREA DOCTOR AND NINE OTHERS CHARGED IN NATIONWIDE TAKEDOWN
(HOUSTON) – A Houston-area doctor and nine others were charged today for their participation in a series of separate schemes to defraud the Medicare program of more than $13 million. The Houston cases were announced today by U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas; Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Michael H. Bonners of the FBI’s Houston field office; Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Joseph Prekker of the Dallas Regional Office of the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations; and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). (Read more)
Feb. 17, 2011 - Brown
OWNER OF “BROWNSTONE CONSTRUCTION” SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD
(HOUSTON) - Melvin Lendall Brown, a Houston area resident, has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme (Read more)
Feb. 17, 2011 - Cervantes-Sanchez
STRAW PURCHASE AND ILLEGAL EXPORT OF MUNITION LANDS TWO IN FEDERAL PRISON
(McALLEN, Texas) - Isaac Cervantes-Sanchez, 29, of McAllen, Texas, and Leonel Richard Soto, 20, a United States citizen residing in Tamaulipias, Mexico, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the straw purchasing firearms and ammunition ultimately bound for Mexico (Read more)
Feb. 17, 2011 - Rojas et al
HUMAN TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION LEADS TO INDICTMENT AND ARRREST OF 10
(HOUSTON) - A three-year investigation into the trafficking of young and minor female Mexican nationals for the purpose of compelling their service as prostitutes at Houston area bars and restaurants through force, fraud and coercion has lead to the indictment of 10 including the owner/operators of the La Costeñita Bar and El Club Restaurante (Read more)
Feb. 17, 2011 - Said
HOUSTON BUSINESS OWNER WHO EVADED TAXES ON MILLION IN INCOME CONVICTED
(HOUSTON) – The owner of Houston area automobile and towing businesses has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and faces up to five years in federal prison (Read more)
Feb. 15, 2011 - Ochoa
ALLEGED PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY RESULTS IN INDICTMENT OF 22-YEAR-OLD MAN
(HOUSTON) – A 22-year-old man has been indicted for allegedly producing, distributing and possessing child pornography (Read more)
Feb. 11, 2011 - Conatser
IDENTITY THIEF CONVICTED
(HOUSTON) – A Corpus Christi man who made thousands of dollars in purchases at Houston area retail stores using fraudulently-obtained credit cards has been convicted (Read more)
Feb. 11, 2011 - Prince
AIRLINE PASSENGER CONVICTED OF ASSAULT AND INTERFERENCE WITH THE FLIGHT CREW ABOARD A CONTINENTAL FLIGHT
(HOUSTON, Texas) – A disruptive passenger aboard a Continental Flight from Amsterdam bound for Houston has been convicted of assault and interfering with the flight crew and sentenced (Read more)
Feb. 10, 2011 - Barrera
TAX PREPARER PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FRAUDULENT TAX RETURNS
(McALLEN, Texas) - Nicolasa Barrera, 42, of Mission, Texas, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, to filing fraudulent U.S. Income Tax returns (Read more)
Feb. 10, 2011 - Moctezuma-Cisneros
GUARDING A STASH HOUSE HOLDING ILLEGAL ALIENS NETS MEXICAN NATIONAL A PRISON TERM
(HOUSTON, Texas) – A previously convicted Mexican national illegally in the United States, who conspired to harbor other illegal aliens and possessed a firearm in violation of federal law, has been sentenced to prison (Read more)
Feb. 9, 2011 - Rivera-Razo
MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO PRISON TERM FOR SMUGGLING COCAINE
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – A Mexican national who drove a minivan into the United States with rocker panels loaded with cocaine earned 10 years behind bars for his smuggling effort (Read more)
Feb. 9, 2011 - Lim
OWNER OF LARGEST HOUSTON MAIL PRESORT OPERATION FOUND GUILTY OF STEALING MILLIONS FROM USPS IN COUNTERFEIT POSTAGE SCHEME
One of the largest counterfeit postage loss in the history of the U. S. Postal Service
(HOUSTON) – The former owner of one of the largest mail presort operations in the Houston area has been found guilty by jury of conspiring to and committing mail fraud and possessing and using counterfeit postage meter machines to affix counterfeit postage in his mass mailing businesses, resulting in millions of lost revenue to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over a four-year period (Read more)
Feb. 9, 2011 - Juarez et al
TRI CITY BOMBER STREET GANG MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES INDICTED
SDTX enforcement action part of national coordinated effort
[HOUSTON, TX] – A sealed indictment charging 13 alleged members or associates of the notorious Tri City Bomber (TCB) Street gang with trafficking in cocaine and Ecstasy, and firearms violations has been unsealed (Read more)
Feb. 9, 2011 - Hall
ROBBERY SPREE BUYS FELON LENTHY PRISON TERM
(CORPUS CHRISTI, TX) – David Michael Hall, 32, who after escaping from a federal halfway house, embarked on a spree robbing two banks in three days, has been sentenced to more than fourteen years in federal prison (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Gonzalez
TAX PREPARER PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FRAUDULENT TAX RETURNS
(McALLEN, Texas) - Israel E. Gonzalez Jr., 35, of Mission, Texas, pleaded guilty on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, to filing fraudulent U.S. Income Tax returns (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Nutt
HARRIS COUNTY DEPUTY PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT EXTORTION
(HOUSTON, Texas) – A member of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department has pleaded guilty to and convicted of conspiring to commit extortion (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Roqumore
FORMER HOUSTON GAS TRADER PLEADS GUILTY IN $7.9 MILLION WIRE FRAUD CASE
(HOUSTON, Texas) – Former Houston gas trader Stephanie Roqumore has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud arising from her scheme to defraud numerous natural gas trading companies of nearly $8 million (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Sanchez & Claros
TAQUERIA ARANDAS RESTAURANT OWNERS SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FILING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURNS
(HOUSTON, Texas) – Luis Antonio Sanchez Sr. of Baytown, Texas and Anibal Claros of Houston, Texas have been sentenced to federal prison by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt for filing false income tax returns relating to their Taqueria Arandas restaurants (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Tran
HOUSTON BUSINESSMAN CONVICTED OF BANK ACCESS DEVICE FRAUD
(HOUSTON) - After a four day trial and one hour of deliberations a federal jury has found Peter Luong Tan guilty of all counts - conspiracy to commit bank fraud and five counts of access devise fraud (Read more)
Feb. 7, 2011 - Valencia-Gonzalez
23 YEAR OLD, FIRST TIME FELON, SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HARBORING UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS
(LAREDO, Texas) - A 23-year-old Mexican national, convicted of harboring illegal aliens at a local motel, has been sentenced to prison (Read more)
Feb. 3, 2011 -Gonzalez-Tovar et al
SIX MEN SENTENCED FOR NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY
(LAREDO, Texas) - Six men have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 60 and 170 months for trafficking narcotics (Read more)
Feb. 3, 2011 - Molina et al
RIO GRANDE VALLEY DEFENDANTS SENTENCED TO LENGTHY PRISON TERMS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING AND MONEY LAUNDERING
(LAREDO, Texas) – Eight members of a large scale drug trafficking and money laundering organization operating out of the McAllen, Texas, area from approximately 2004 through 2009 were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 180 to 360 months, without parole (Read more)
Feb. 1, 2011 - Ferguson et al
SEVEN INDICTED FOR SERIES OF HOUSTON AREA ARMED BANK ROBBERIES
(HOUSTON) – A 13-count indictment charging seven men with conspiring to and committing a series of armed bank robberies of Houston area banks including the New Years Eve robbery of a Pearland bank has been filed in federal court (Read more)
Feb. 1, 2011 - Fuente-Monton & Munoz-Martinez
TWO PLEAD GUILTY TO CARJACKING
(McALLEN, Texas) - Two 19-year-old men pleaded guilty today to carjacking the vehicle of an off-duty Border Patrol agent (Read more)
Feb. 1, 2011 - Mascorro
MCALLEN FREIGHT BROKER DETAINED WITHOUT BOND ON WIRE FRAUD AND BANKRUPTCY FRAUD CHARGES
Defendant’s alleged fraud schemes resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss to area truck brokerage businesses
(McALLEN, Texas) – Following a hearing today, United States Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby ordered that Alejandro “Alex” Mascorro Jr., 41, of McAllen, held in federal custody without bond pending trial on charges of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud (Read more)
Feb. 1, 2011 - Peters
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HELICOPTER PILOT CHARGED WITH LYING TO INVESTIGATORS
(HOUSTON) – A four-count sealed indictment charging a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) helicopter pilot with lying to federal agents investigating the drowning death of a Mexican national in the Rio Grande River has been unsealed (Read more)
Feb. 1, 2011 - Sharma
DR. ARUN SHARMA SENTENCED TO PRISON AND ORDERED TO FORFEIT MORE THAN $43 MILLION IN CASH/PROPERTY GAINED THROUGH FRAUD
(HOUSTON) - Dr. Arun Sharma, 56, of Kemah, Texas, has been sentenced to 15 years for engaging in a conspiracy with his wife, Dr. Kiran Sharma, to commit health care fraud and committing health care fraud over a 10-year-period in the Southern District of Texas (Read more)
