USDOJ-Former Memphis Police Officer Found Guilty on 44 Counts of Civil Rights

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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

Former Memphis Police Officer Found Guilty on 44 Counts of Civil Rights, Narcotics, Robbery and Firearms Charges (09-102)

A federal jury in Memphis, Tenn., today found Arthur Sease IV, a former Memphis Police Department officer, guilty on forty-four counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery and firearms offenses. The evidence at trial showed that from November 2003 through April 2006, Sease conspired with other Memphis police officers to use their authority as law enforcement officers, including their service weapons, to rob suspected drug dealers of cash, cocaine and marijuana. Sease and his co-conspirators would then resell the stolen drugs for their own profit. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crt-102.html

U.S. Court Rejects Two Prominent L.A. Real Estate Investors’ Attempt to Use Tax Avoidance Scheme (09-101)

A federal court in Los Angeles invalidated an abusive tax shelter scheme engaged in by prominent real estate investors James Thomas and Edward Fox. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter also imposed the maximum penalty - forty percent - allowed by the tax code against them. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-tax-101.html

Two Individuals Arrested on Federal Sex Trafficking Charges (09-100)

Two men have been arrested and charged in an indictment unsealed today with crimes related to sex trafficking. Tommy Handy and his nephew, Everett Cooney, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Little Rock, Ark., for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking for their roles in using force, fraud and coercion to cause juvenile girls and adult women to engage in commercial sex acts. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crt-100.html

Former Employee at U.S. Embassy in Haiti Pleads Guilty to Theft of More Than $800,000 (09-099)

A former employee at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti pleaded guilty today to one count of theft for stealing more than $800,000 from the U.S. Department of State. According to court documents, Jean G. Saint-Joy, 25, a citizen of Haiti, was employed as a cashier by the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from approximately 1995 until July 2008. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crm-099.html

Minnesota Man Arrested in Connection with Ponzi Scheme (09-098)

A Minnesota man was arrested today on charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme involving commodity pools.
Charles “Chuck” E. Hays, of Rosemount, Minn., was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Minnesota with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crm-098.html

Government Contractor Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison on Bribery Charges (09-097)

A government contractor and former employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury was sentenced in Washington today in connection with a bribery scheme involving contracts at the U.S. Tax Court in the District of Columbia. Daniel Money, 44, of Shady Side, Md., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to 30 months in prison, three years supervised release and a $7,500 fine. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crm-097.html

Member of Human Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges (09-096)

Raul Cortes-Meza, 21, aka “Oscar”, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to sex trafficking of a minor from Mexico. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crt-096.html

Patriot Coal to Pay $6.5 Million to Settle Clean Water Act Violations (09-095)

Patriot Coal Corporation, one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States, has agreed to pay a $6.5 million civil penalty to settle violations of the Clean Water Act. (Read more)

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-enrd-095.html