Federal Jury Convicts Chinese National of Laundering Drug Proceeds on Behalf of Traffickers in Mexico

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a Chinese national of laundering illegal narcotics proceeds on behalf of drug traffickers in Mexico.

On three occasions in 2018, XIANBING GAN schemed to have narcotics proceeds totaling approximately $534,206 picked up in Chicago and transferred to various bank accounts in China, in order for the money to ultimately be remitted to drug traffickers in Mexico.  Gan is a Chinese national who facilitated the money transfers while residing in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Unbeknownst to Gan, a purported money courier who picked up the drug proceeds in Chicago was actually an undercover law enforcement agent.

U.S. authorities arrested Gan in November 2018 at Los Angeles International Airport during a brief layover on a flight from Hong Kong to Mexico.  He has remained in U.S. custody since then.

After a nearly two-week trial, a federal jury in Chicago on Thursday convicted Gan, 49, on three counts of money laundering and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.  The jury acquitted Gan on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each money laundering count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, while the maximum sentence for the money transmission crime is five years.  U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin set sentencing for May 21, 2020.

The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; James M. Gibbons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago; and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Sean J.B. Franzblau.

Ware Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

BOSTON – A Ware man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield on sex trafficking and sexual exploitation charges.

Walter Brown, 74, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In October 2019, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking. Brown was arrested on July 14, 2017 and has been detained since that time.

On Oct 11, 2019, co-defendant Claire Poole was sentenced to 125 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking.

Poole moved to the Springfield area in early 2017 and later helped Brown have sex with a teenage girl. Brown induced the girl to provide pornographic videos and to have sex with him on two occasions by paying her money. Poole acted as a go-between, first by conveying Brown’s initial offer to the girl and then by relaying Brown’s messages to the victim, which included negotiations about what Brown would pay. Poole also provided a cell phone to produce the pornographic videos, and Poole transported the minor to Brown’s house in Ware for sex on two occasions.

United States Andrew E. Lelling; Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Ware Police Chief Shawn Crevier; Monson Police Chief Stephen Kozloski; and Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.

This case is the result of the efforts of the Western Massachusetts Human Trafficking Working Group which was established in August 2015 to investigate and prosecute crimes involving commercial sex trafficking.

Clermont Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Downloading Child Pornography

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung today sentenced Sean Ferraresi (34, Clermont) to 10 years and 1 month in federal prison for receipt of child pornography. The court also ordered Ferraresi to forfeit the computers he had used to download and store child pornography.

Ferraresi had pleaded guilty on December 13, 2019.

According to court documents, Ferraresi had downloaded thousands of files depicting the sexual abuse of children. In addition, after Ferraresi was arrested, law enforcement officers discovered sexually explicit text messages between Ferraresi and children, including conversations in which Ferraresi solicited nude images from or sent nude images to children.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Colin P. McDonell.