Billings woman sentenced for meth trafficking

BILLINGS – A federal judge sentenced Billings resident Nichole Renee Waldhalm today to five years in prison and five years supervised release for her conviction in a conspiracy that brought meth from California to the Billings area for distribution, U.S. Attorney Kurt G. Alme said.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters presided at the sentencing.

Waldhalm, 40, pleaded guilty on July 19 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth.

In October 2017, drug task force officers received information that Waldhalm was distributing meth she had received from California. Investigators worked with a confidential informant, who made a series of meth buys ranging from a quarter ounce to a half ounce of meth from Waldhalm. In December, Waldhalm was arrested by the Montana Highway Patrol and was found to be in possession of an ounce of meth, an ounce of cocaine and a stolen firearm.

Waldhalm admitted to law enforcement she had been selling meth since October 2016 and that in September 2017, she and a co-defendant brought between two to four ounces of meth from California to Montana.

The conspiracy involved more than 50 grams of actual meth. The amount is the equivalent of about 400 doses.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and Billings Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.  The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals.

Two Gang Members Convicted Of Attempted Murder In Drive-By Shooting

The Detroit One collaboration of local, state, and federal law enforcement has led to the convictions of two members of a Detroit street gang known as “Bandgang” for attempted murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider.

 Joining in the announcement was Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Martez Bailey, 24, of Detroit, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson. Bailey’s plea agreement calls for a sentence of 25 to 30 years in prison. Bailey’s co-defendant, and fellow Bandgang member, Khalil Wilson, 25, previously pleaded guilty for his role in the drive-by shooting. Wilson’s plea agreement also calls for a sentence of 25 to 30 years in prison.

According to court records, Bailey and Wilson were both part of Bandgang, a local street gang on the west side of Detroit. On June 21, 2016, Bailey and Wilson drove to Biltmore Street in Detroit and fired repeatedly into a house, hoping to kill two rival gang members. Bailey fired a .45 caliber handgun repeatedly while Wilson unloaded an Uzi with an extended magazine capable of holding 50 rounds. A woman in the house unrelated to the gangs was severely injured in the shooting. The attempted murder stemmed from a dispute with two rival gangs, Trust No One (TNO) and Too Much Cash (TMC), prompted, in large part, by jealously over credit card fraud, as well as an earlier shooting by Bandgang members in February 2016 that left a five-year-old girl permanently disabled.

“This type of credit card fraud and identity theft is actually a deadly crime, because gangs are using extreme violence to protect their illegal income,” United States Attorney Matthew Schneider said.  “But if gangs in Michigan think they will get off easy, they are wrong - several gang members have been sentenced to a decade or more in prison for credit card fraud.”

This case is the latest in the FBI Violent Gang Task Force’s investigation into Bandgang. In total, twenty-four members and associates of the gang have been charged in sixteen different cases and have received sentences ranging from 36 to 154 months on charges related to attempted murder, credit card fraud, identity theft, firearm offenses, and obstruction of justice. Four different credit card labs have been seized from Bandgang members during the investigation (not counting individual skimmers and embossers), and over 15,000 stolen credit card accounts have been linked to Bandgang members.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shane Cralle and Terrence Haugabook.

South American Couple Plead Guilty to Fraud Conspiracy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A South American couple pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for orchestrating a loan modification scheme.

According to court documents, Rodrigo Pardo, 46, of Argentina, and Lorena Medina, 46, of Ecuador, defrauded homeowners in Northern Virginia and mortgage lenders by promising the homeowners to assist them in obtaining loan modifications. As part of the scheme, Pardo and Medina agreed to negotiate with the homeowners’ lenders for a reduced monthly payment. Pardo and Medina then instructed clients who were current on their mortgages to stop making payments to their lenders as they had in the past, and instead make payments into accounts controlled by Medina, Pardo, or COFS, a company they controlled. At the same time, Pardo and Medina represented to their clients’ mortgage lenders that COFS was authorized to negotiate loan modifications, but concealed from the mortgage lenders that they were receiving mortgage payments from the victims. As a result, Pardo and Medina received over $140,000 in payments from their victims, which they used for personal expenses.

Pardo and Medina pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when sentenced on March 1, 2009. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Robert Manchak, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Office of Inspector General for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Divine are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-181.