News

To help ensure that children with disabilities receive the opportunity to attend summer camp, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio recently notified numerous summer camps in the region to remind them of their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

“Protecting Places of Worship” is a half-day forum that will provide information about religion-focused hate crimes; how to best report such incidents; federal and state hate crimes laws; law enforcement threat assessments; ways to protect places of worship from potential hate crimes and other threats of violence; and other strategies for combatting hate and extremism.

An Ohio man pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business and two counts of money laundering associated with his ownership and operation of illegal gambling businesses in Northeast Ohio.

An Ohio man was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States.

Brandon Bryant, 28, of Cleveland, was sentenced 365 months (more than 30 years) in prison by U.S. District Judge John R. Adams, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug felony.

Willie Earl Jackson, age 26, of Cleveland, and Shane Plats, 31, of Ashtabula, were sentenced to imprisonment by U.S. District Judge John. R. Adams. Jackson had earlier pled guilty to engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a federal firearms license and trafficking in firearms.

Sir Maejor Page, 35, of Toledo, was found guilty of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering by a jury after a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Helmick.

A financial planner from Cleveland was sentenced to 20 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting an illegal tax shelter scheme involving false charitable deductions.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials announce the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging 15 members of the Fully Blooded Felons, a criminal street gang that was active in Northeast Ohio and in the Ohio prison system.

Whitney Durant, AKA Soren Monroe, age 20, of Worthington, Ohio, was sentenced to two years of probation and a $2,000 dollar fine by Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay, after pleading guilty to one count of intentionally damaging a reproductive health care center, a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (the “FACE Act”).

A federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a 13-count indictment charging two individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Joseph Oloyede, 61, of Medina, Ohio and Edward Oluwasanmi, 61, of Willoughby, Ohio are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses.

The Justice Department announced today that it has resolved its lawsuit against U.S. Development Corporation, doing business as Akro-Plastics, on behalf of Ohio National Guardsman Staff Sergeant Nicholas Whitman.