Former Salem, Virginia, Police Officer Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Soliciting Sexual Favors in Exchange for Potential Lenient Treatment

A former police officer employed by the City of Salem, Virginia, and assigned to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for soliciting and receiving sexual favors from a cooperating defendant in exchange for agreeing to recommend a favorable sentence to a federal prosecutor on the defendant’s behalf.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Lee of the FBI’s Richmond Division and Special Agent in Charge Michael Tompkins of the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after the sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Judge Glen E. Conrad of the Western District of Virginia.  

Kevin C. Moore, 42, of Roanoke, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Dec. 16, 2014, to one count of bribery. 

According to his plea agreement and accompanying statement of facts, between June and September 2014, while Moore was serving as a DEA task force officer, Moore informed a female cooperating defendant that he was in a position to help her with her pending federal methamphetamine trafficking case.  In August 2014, for example, in a series of text messages with the cooperating defendant, Moore made clear that he could recommend a favorable sentence to a prosecutor on the cooperating defendant’s behalf in exchange for sexual favors.  Moore then convinced the cooperating defendant to go for a ride in his official vehicle where she performed a sexual act with Moore.

As part of his guilty plea, Moore also admitted to engaging in similar conduct with two other female cooperating witnesses in federal drug investigations dating back to 2009.  According to the statement of facts, Moore falsely informed these witnesses that he had convinced federal prosecutors not to charge them with federal criminal offenses that would carry significant prison sentences.  Moore then solicited and received sexual favors from the witnesses in exchange for his purported assistance.

Moore was arrested on Oct. 10, 2014, without incident, and was suspended from the police department and DEA task force the same day.  Moore was terminated from his employment with the City of Salem Police Department after pleading guilty in this case.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Charles R. Walsh and Robert J. Heberle of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

Newington Man Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Role in Coast-to-Coast Cocaine Trafficking Ring

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JERMAINE JENKINS, 34, formerly of Newington, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a cocaine trafficking ring.

This matter stems from a joint law enforcement investigation headed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Drug Enforcement Administration into a drug trafficking organization that involved individuals in California using the U.S. Mail and commercial carriers to send large quantities of cocaine to co-conspirators in the Hartford area who sold the narcotics for profit.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Joseph Miller of Los Angeles, formerly of East Hartford, sent kilogram parcels of cocaine from California to JENKINS, Luther Nance and their associates in Connecticut.  JENKINS, Nance and others then distributed the cocaine, or converted the cocaine into crack for street sale.

The investigation revealed that certain co-conspirators traveled to California with a large amount of cash to finance the purchase of cocaine.  Co-conspirators also made numerous cash deposits into local bank accounts, as well as wire transfers.  The cash deposits were made at several branches of the same bank in the Hartford area in amounts of less than $10,000 in order to evade the bank’s currency transaction reporting requirements.

On November 14, 2013, a federal grand jury returned two-count indictment charging JENKINS, Miller and six other defendants.

On June 27, 2013, a federal grand jury returned a 51-count superseding indictment charging Nance and 14 other individuals with narcotics conspiracy and related offenses stemming from the sale of crack cocaine and heroin in several communities throughout Connecticut.

JENKINS’ criminal history includes a federal conviction in 2006 for distributing crack cocaine, and he was on federal supervised release at the time of this most recent offense.  On July 21, 2013, U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant revoked JENKINS’ bond and sentenced him to an additional 18 months of imprisonment.  He has been detained since October 23, 2013.

On October 14, 2014, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Miller and Nance have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford, and the Hartford, Willimantic, East Hartford, Enfield and Middletown Police Departments.

St. Joseph Man Among 14 Defendants Indicted in $4 Million Drug-Trafficking Conspiracy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that 14 defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute more than $4 million worth of methamphetamine and heroin in the St. Joseph, Mo., area and elsewhere.

Mario Alberto Yepez, 40, and Barbara Kay Tracy, also known as “Barbie,” 33, both of Elwood, Kan.; Messiah Edmundo Garcia, 30, of St. Joseph; Mario Enrique Morales, also known as “El Jeffe,” 63, Griselda Yepez-Garcia, 45, Jacquelyn Morales, 34, Manuela Maratinez-Morales, 69, and Enrique Morales, also known as “Henry,” 35, all of Laredo, Texas; Jose Luis Yepez, also known as “Joe,” 45, of Grand Island, Neb.; Cynthia Kaye Buboltz, 50, of Lewis, Iowa; Araceli Duran-Edeza, 20, of Bellflower, Calif.; Reyna Edeza, 26, of Los Angeles, Calif.; and Gracie Ann Edler, 47, and Richard S. Luther, 52, who are incarcerated on unrelated state charges, were charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants.

The federal indictment alleges that 11 of the defendants (with the exceptions of Martinez-Morales, Edeza and Duran-Edeza) participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin between Jan. 1, 2011, and Jan. 27, 2015. The indictment alleges that conspirators distributed 80 kilograms of methamphetamine and three kilograms of heroin during the four-year conspiracy.

All of the defendants are charged with participating in a money laundering conspiracy during the same time frame. They allegedly conducted financial transactions that involved the proceeds of the drug-trafficking conspiracy in order to conceal the nature, source, location, ownership and control of those proceeds and to avoid federal bank reporting requirements. According to the indictment, cash obtained from drug sales was deposited into various bank accounts, or stored, or transported, in such a manner as to conceal its true nature, source, location, ownership and control and to avoid federal bank reporting requirements.

During the conspiracy, the indictment says, law enforcement cooperators paid cash for controlled substances, which was deposited into various banks. Cash deposits made in close proximity to where the drug sales occurred, the indictment says, were quickly withdrawn in Texas and California.

In addition to the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies, the indictment also charges Mario Yepez with being a felon in possession of firearms. According to the indictment, Yepez, who has a prior felony conviction, was in possession of an FHN .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, a Spikes Tactical AR rifle, a Ruger 9mm handgun, a Dan Wesson Arms .357-caliber revolver, a stolen Cobra .380-caliber handgun, a stolen Hi-Point .45-caliber rifle, two Norinco SKS 7.62x39 rifles, a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber handgun and a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber pistol.

The indictment also charges Mario Yepez, Tracy, Garcia and Enrique Morales with aiding and abetting the use or possession of the same firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

The federal indictment contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged violations, including a money judgment of $4,011,000. That is based on a conservative street price of $1,300 per ounce of methamphetamine and an overall conspiracy distribution of approximately 80 kilograms, and a street price of $3,500 per ounce of heroin and an overall conspiracy distribution of approximately three kilograms.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Buchanan County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department, the Grand Island, Neb., Police Department and the Grand Island, Neb., FBI Task Force.