Drug Traffickers Glorified in Narco Ballad Sentenced to 37 Years in Federal Prison

DALLAS - Two drug traffickers from Michoacán, Mexico were sentenced to a combined 37 years in federal prison today after prosecutors admitted into evidence a song glorifying their criminal lifestyle, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

Felix Giovanni Ruiz Mendoza, 27, pleaded guilty in November 2018 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 18 years imprisonment. His younger brother, coconspirator Gustavo Ruiz Mendoza, 24, pleaded guilty in January 2019 to the same charge and was sentenced today to 19 years imprisonment.

The brothers, who were in the United States illegally at the time of their arrests, were found in control of more than 90 kilograms of meth with a wholesale value of approximately $500,000 in June 2018.

In plea papers, the Ruiz Mendozas admitted they conspired to prepare and deal drugs out of two residences in Balch Springs, Texas. The elder brother admits that he used one property as a “methamphetamine conversion lab” and the other as a meth distribution house, and that some of the money he made from dealing was sent to Mexico to cover importation fees.

At the sentencing hearing today, prosecutors played a narco corrido, a narrative ballad used by the cartels to glorify their violent criminal lifestyle.  The song, Guiovani Ruiz (listen here), is written from the perspective of the elder Mr. Ruiz Menodza, and details the law enforcement raid of his meth house and ensuing imprisonment:

“The FBI, SWAT, police and other government dogs fell upon me,” the song says in Spanish. “I will pay them for my crime.”

Experts at the sentencing testified that the band – which is not accused of criminal activity – likely had to get permission from the at least one of the cartels in control of the area around Michoacán in order to write and perform the piece, which the drug traffickers used as propaganda glamorizing their way of life. (Cartel control of Michoacán has shifted back and forth over the years between La Familia Michoacán, Los Caballeros Templarios, Los Viagras, and Cartel Nueva Generación de Jalisco, or CJNG.)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Dallas Police Department, Balch Springs Police Department, and IRS - Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted both cases.

The cases are part of an Organized Crime Drug Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  The OCDETF program was established in 1982 to attack and reduce the supply of illegal drugs entering the United States and to diminish violence and other criminal activity associated with the drug trade.  The OCDETF program works with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to identify, disrupt, and dismantle, drug traffickers and drug trafficking networks.

Former police officer sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography

DENVER – A former police officer was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing images of child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Jason R. Dunn, District of Colorado, announced the sentence. This case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Colorado Department of Adult Parole and the Denver Police Department.

David Delaney, 29, of Golden, Colorado, was also ordered pay $3,000 in restitution to a victim of his crime. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Delaney was remanded to custody of the United States Marshal Service. HSI Special Agent in Charge Steven W. Cagen joined in today’s announcement.

According to court records, the defendant’s plea agreement and publicly available employment information, Delaney was an officer with the Red Rocks Community College Police Department prior to his arrest. In June 2018, law enforcement officers in Colorado from four agencies independently discovered Delaney’s computer offering child pornography for distribution online via a file-sharing program. Each of these officers downloaded files from Delaney’s computer and confirmed that the files were images and videos of child exploitation, including many graphic videos of child sexual assaults.

On July 31, 2018, and Aug. 3, 2018, search warrants were executed by the Golden Police Department and HSI at Delaney’s residence. Delaney was not present during the search because he had been traveling internationally. Authorities seized electronic media, including an SD card that had been hidden in Delaney’s bedroom. The SD card revealed a deleted folder containing remnants of a video depicting the sexual assault of a minor girl by an adult man. Officers also discovered a shelf in Delaney’s bedroom that contained pictures depicting Delaney and a child, along with various notes and memorabilia involving Delaney and the child. Further investigation revealed that Delaney had access to another child. During the sentencing hearing, the Court found that Delaney had engaged in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse of the second child and that he was grooming the first child for abuse.

On Aug. 6, 2018, Delaney returned to the United States and was found to be in possession of various electronic media which was searched pursuant to a federal search warrant. Child pornography as well as remnants of several file-sharing programs were found in deleted space on that media.

“These actions are reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “As a police officer, the defendant took an oath to uphold the law. Today, the law was upheld, and this defendant is held to account.”“Plain and simple, this criminal’s disgusting actions stripped these victims of their innocence and dignity,” said Steven Cagen, special agent in charge of HSI Denver. “HSI special agents are highly skilled and trained to use the most advanced technology available to locate, identify and investigate these criminals. We aggressively work with community members and our law enforcement partners to rescue these innocent children and prosecute their exploiters.”

U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore pronounced the sentence. The case was investigated by HSI in collaboration with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Golden Police Department, the FBI, the Durango Police Department and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.

In fiscal year 2019, more than 3,500 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

This matter is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."

For Internet safety information for educators, parents, and children alike, please visit https://www.ice.gov/topics/iGuardians to learn about HSI’s iGuardian program.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

Five Texas Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Their Roles in Scheme to Launder Millions from Business Email Compromise Fraud

In Austin this afternoon, a federal judge sentenced a Nigerian National formerly residing in Houston to 135 months in federal prison for his role in laundering millions derived from Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio; and, Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Houston Division.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered that 32-year-old Bameyi Kelvin Omale pay $5,378,292.03 in restitution. 

“At DOJ we take cyber-theft extremely seriously, and we work tirelessly to protect our economy from sophisticated criminal schemes that target American businesses and consumers,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash.

“Today’s sentencing highlights HSI’s commitment to imposing consequences on cybercriminals, no matter who they are or where they are,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Folden.  “The vast scope of this criminal scheme had a devastating effect on businesses, consumers and financial institutions.  HSI is uniquely positioned to investigate and mitigate weaknesses within the U.S. financial, trade, and transportation sector that can be exploited by transnational criminal networks.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use,” stated USPIS Inspector in Charge Gonzalez.  “The sentence handed down today will send a clear message to those criminals who decide to use the U.S. mail in furtherance of their deceptive schemes.  Postal Inspectors will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring them to justice.”

On September 24, 2019, Omale pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.  Prior to Omale, three of his four co-defendants–Chinonso Agbaji, a 30-year-old resident of Houston; Igho Calaba, a 26-year-old resident of Austin; and Chibuzor Stanley Uba, a 31-year-old resident of San Antonio–also pleaded guilty to the same charge.  Last month, Judge Pitman sentenced: Agbaji to 78 months in federal prison; Uba to 36 months in federal prison; and, Calaba to 30 months in federal prison.

The fourth co-defendant, Nnamdi Nwosu, a 33-year-old resident of Houston, is charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to launder money instruments and one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy.  Nwosu remains a fugitive in this case.

Two other defendants involved in this scheme have also pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced.  In December, Judge Pitman sentenced Joseph Odibobhahemen, a 29-year-old resident of Austin who pleaded guilty to the same money laundering conspiracy charge, to 78 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $1,639,419.57 in restitution.  Judge Pitman is scheduled to sentence the final defendant, Nosa Onaghise, next week.  In December 2018, the 33-year-old resident of Austin, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy. As alleged in court documents, they were acting as part of the same scheme to launder funds from BEC fraud. 

According court records, the funds were largely derived from BEC schemes perpetrated against U.S. and foreign victims. Over $10 million was allegedly sent by victims to accounts controlled by the defendants, who were able to take in excess of $3 million before law enforcement or financial institutions stopped the fraudulent transfers.  In a BEC scheme, scammers target businesses and individuals making wire transfer payments, often targeting employees with access to company finances. The scammers trick the employees into making wire transfer payments to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners—except the money ends up in accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Sometimes the scammers use computer intrusion techniques to alter legitimate payment request emails, changing the recipient bank accounts. Sometimes they send spoofed emails from email addresses similar to trusted partners.

Whatever the BEC method used, the scammers need bank accounts controlled by coconspirators to collect the stolen money. The indictment alleges that the conspirators acquired or controlled dozens of bank accounts opened in the U.S., including in Austin, TX, utilizing fraudulent identification documents, including fraudulent foreign passports in fake names.  The indictment alleges that once the funds were fraudulently procured and deposited into these bogus accounts, the defendants worked quickly to withdraw or transfer the funds.

The indictment further alleges that some of the conspirators also received funds sent by the victims of romance fraud.

This indictment resulted from a continuing investigation by HSI and USPIS.  The FBI also assisted in the investigation as did the California Highway Patrol. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Texas and the Southern District of New York also provided assistance.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Galdo and Keith Henneke are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Nnamdi Nwosu is asked to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  ICE encourages the public to report any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Money laundering conspiracy calls for up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction; passport fraud calls for up to 10 years in federal prison upon conviction.

It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  Nwosu is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.