Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy for Participation in Fraudulent Driver's License Ring

GUO XING SONG, a/k/a “Andi Chen,” 43, of Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty today in federal district court to two charges in connection with his participation in a fraudulent driver's license ring and to a charge of aggravated identity theft in connection with the sale of a Social Security card issued to another individual by the Social Security Administration.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant, along with his coconspirator who worked for Georgia Driver's Services, arranged for illegal Chinese nationals to obtain Georgia driver's licenses without documentation and without even taking the driver's exam. The customers paid $2000 to $3000 for real driver's licenses. Now the defendants face real time.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: SONG, who lived in Atlanta between 2001 and 2006, placed ads in a Atlanta area Chinese language newspaper, claiming he could assist persons who did not have documentation to obtain driver’s licenses in Georgia and other states. Persons responding to the ads were instructed to meet SONG or a co-conspirator at a designated location, usually a gas station or shopping center parking lot. They were then driven from the Atlanta area to Georgia Driver’s Service locations in either Colquitt or Thomasville, Georgia. The alleged co-conspirators in that part of the scheme, ZHONG LIANG LI, 34, and his brother, ZHONG HUA LI, 31, formerly of Colquitt, Georgia, were indicted by a federal grand jury on January 19, 2010, and are awaiting trial.

A co-defendant in the case who has already pleaded guilty, CLEVELAND SPENCER, 47, of Thomasville, Georgia, is a former Georgia Driver’s examiner who worked at those Driver’s Service locations. He admitted issuing driver’s licenses to SONG’s customers without requiring any documentation showing legal residence in the United States or the state of Georgia. SPENCER also did not issue the required written and road test examinations to SONG’s customers. SONG or his alleged co-conspirators paid SPENCER for fraudulently issuing the licenses. SPENCER reportedly received $250 to $400 per license. SONG’s customers paid SONG approximately $2,000 to $3,000 for the licenses. Georgia Driver’s records indicate that approximately 300 licenses were fraudulently issued.

In December 2006, SONG sold a genuine Social Security card to a confidential informant, who was purportedly buying it for a Chinese national who was illegally in the United States. The Social Security card actually belonged to an individual who had previously been in the United States on a temporary work visa and returned to China.

SPENCER pleaded guilty to the conspiracy on April 27, 2010, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14, 2010, at 10:30 a.m.

SONG was indicted on the charges on January 19, 2010. Today he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. He could receive a maximum possible sentence of up five years in prison on the conspiracy count, and faces a minimum mandatory sentence of two years for the aggravated identity theft. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. In determining the actual sentence on the conspiracy count, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 2, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., before United States District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr.

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Hall County School Bus Driver Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography

JOHN COOPER SPINKS, 41, of Oakwood, Georgia, a bus driver for the Hall County (Georgia) school system, pleaded guilty June 18 in federal court in Gainesville to the distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “As a school bus driver, this defendant assumed a position of trust with respect to the parents and children of Hall County. He betrayed that trust by distributing sexually exploitative images of children using his home computer. Thanks to the work of undercover FBI agents, the defendant has now pleaded guilty to the charges and faces serious consequences for his conduct.”

According to United States Attorney Yates and information presented during today’s guilty plea hearing: SPINKS distributed images of child pornography over the Internet to an undercover law enforcement officer who he encountered in a chat room named “#baby&toddlerlove.” In January 2010, SPINKS was again found in a chat room known for trading images of child pornography. On March 25, 2010, federal agents executed a search warrant at SPINKS’ home and seized a laptop computer and several other pieces of electronic media. SPINKS admitted to agents that he had searched for, downloaded, and viewed images of child pornography and that he had distributed child pornographic images over the Internet. On his computer, the FBI found numerous images of child pornography.

SPINKS faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $500,000. No sentencing date has yet been set by the court. In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

This case is being investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Former UGA Football Star and NFL Player Arthur Marshall Sentenced to 69 Months in Prison for Mortgage Fraud

ARTHUR JAMES MARSHALL, JR., 41, from Augusta, Georgia, was sentenced late June 14 by United States District Judge J. Randal Hall to 69 months in prison and five years of supervised release for his mortgage fraud convictions. MARSHALL was also ordered to pay more than $3.6 million restitution to his victims.

Before imposing sentence, Judge Hall remarked that mortgage fraud was a major factor in pushing the country’s economy to “the brink of depression.”

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, “Mortgage fraud poses a significant threat to our nation’s financial system. This prosecution demonstrates the ongoing response of the United States Attorney's Office to protecting the integrity of the financial system of this nation. Relying on the joint efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, this office will aggressively prosecute those who defraud financial institutions and other victims of mortgage fraud.”

Evidence presented at sentencing revealed that MARSHALL falsified sales contracts, personal finance records and other documents as part of his mortgage fraud scheme. The victims of MARSHALL’s scheme included banks, a family who never got a property title from MARSHALL after paying him $100,000 for a home, and members of the American Legion.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

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Augusta Financial Advisor Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $400,000 from Client

ALVIN CHARLES RAMSEY, 44, a financial advisor from Martinez, Georgia pleaded guilty before United States District Court Judge J. Randal Hall to defrauding a client out of more than $400,000.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver said, “The United States Attorney's Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those within the financial services industry who abuse the trust placed in them by stealing their clients’ money.”

Evidence presented during the guilty plea hearing revealed that Ramsey obtained a power of attorney over his client’s investments and then, without that client’s knowledge or permission, stole more than $400,000 out of her investments for his personal use.

Ramsey faces a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. He remains on bond pending his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

U.S. Attorney Tarver applauded the efforts of the FBI, and particularly FBI Special Agent Paul Kubala, in investigating this case.

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Bibb County Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced for Seeking Sex with 7-Year-Old Girl

Having been found guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sex, GREGORY TODD BOWDEN, 44, of Byron, Georgia, was sentenced June 11 to 20 years in federal prison.

“Defendant Bowden sought to have sex with a 7-year-old girl. Seven years old. At the time of his crime, Bowden was a sheriff’s deputy—someone who had sworn to enforce the law and protect the public. He failed on both counts. With today’s sentence, the law has been enforced and the public will be protected from Bowden’s predations for 20 years,” said Sally Quillian Yates, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

According to United States Attorney Yates and the evidence presented during the trial: BOWDEN, an eight-year veteran of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department, frequented online chat rooms in which he engaged in fantasy role-playing about incest and other child sex acts. In October 2008, he befriended a woman online whom he believed to have a 7-year-old daughter. This woman—actually an undercover FBI task force agent—told BOWDEN she was willing to make her daughter available to him for sex. In February 2009, BOWDEN and the mother, through additional chats, e-mails, and phone calls, agreed to meet for the purpose of having three-way sex: BOWDEN, the mother, and the 7-year-old daughter. On February 11, 2009, BOWDEN drove 110 miles from his home in Byron to Sandy Springs, where he expected to meet the mother and her daughter. He was arrested at the scene. Agents later recovered a computer from his home on which they found child pornography and other evidence of interest in incest and sex with minors.

District Court Judge William S. Duffey, Jr., sentenced BOWDEN to 20 years in custody in the Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by agents and officers of the Atlanta Safe Child Task Force, which is led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Atlanta Division.

Assistant United States Attorneys Robert McBurney and Corey Steinberg prosecuted the case.

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"Limping Bandit" Pleads Guilty to 23 Bank Robberies

United States Attorney William N. Nettles stated today that Cecil Stephen Haire, age 52, of Douglas, Georgia, pled guilty June 7 in federal court in Charleston, to 23 counts of bank robbery. United States District Judge Sol Blatt of Charleston accepted the plea and will impose sentence at a later date after he has reviewed a presentence report.

Evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that Haire traveled across the Southeast committing robberies beginning in June of 2006. The first banks that he robbed were in three small towns in Georgia. Over the next three years, he robbed eight more banks in Florida and Alabama. During that time, he also committed 13 bank robberies throughout South Carolina in Summerville, Orangeburg, Aiken, Sumter, Edgefield, Camden, Charleston, and Mount Pleasant.

His robbing spree came to an end on July 17, 2009. Haire entered the National Bank of South Carolina on Highway 17 North in Mount Pleasant. He handed the teller a brown paper bag, pointed a gun at her and demanded that she put money in the bag. After Haire fled the bank, he was followed by an individual who gave a description of his vehicle to the Mount Pleasant Police Department. Approximately 20 minutes later, the police located Haire sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of a retirement home. The police found the clothing that he wore in a nearby dumpster, as well as a BB gun pistol that he used to commit the robbery.

While he was still a suspect, Haire acquired the nickname “The Limping Bandit” because many of the bank tellers described a noticeable limp in his walk. After his arrest, the FBI confirmed that Haire’s limp is a result of childhood polio.

In 1986, Haire was convicted in Georgia for seven counts of armed robbery and one count of bank robbery. He was released on parole in 2006.

Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty Haire can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 25 years for each count.

The case was investigated by agents of the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Alston C. Badger of the Charleston office handled the case.

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Owners of Employment Agencies and Restaurants Indicted

Five individuals have been indicted by a federal grand jury in three separate indictments on charges of conspiring to induce undocumented aliens to enter and remain in the United States by providing them with employment, predominantly at Chinese restaurants, all for commercial gain. In addition, three more individuals were arrested yesterday on criminal complaints and are expected to have their bond hearings and arraignments today before United States Magistrate Judge Janet F. King.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “These defendants allegedly provided jobs that frequently exploited the workers by subjecting them to long shifts, six days a week, often with substandard pay and living conditions. On top of that, the defendants took large deductions from the workers’ pay to reimburse themselves for the costs of the employment agencies’ illegal services.”

“We are focused on finding and penalizing employers who believe they can unfairly get ahead by cultivating illegal workplaces and by exploiting illegal aliens,” said ICE Acting Special Agent in Charge, Robert Andrews. “By joining forces with the FBI, we will continue rooting out this criminal activity. The message is clear: all employers must play by the rules.”

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Lamkin said, “Yesterday and today's joint FBI/ICE operation should serve as notice to those individuals and businesses that traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. The FBI remains committed to working with U.S. ICE agents as we enforce federal law.”

The three indictments were unsealed after ICE and FBI conducted joint field operations to arrest the defendants and execute search warrants yesterday and today. Named in the indictments as part of the criminal conspiracies are:

* PILI CHEN, 55, of Tucker, Georgia;
* AI LIN FU, 40, of Norcross, Georgia;
* CHUN YAN LIN, 44, of Chamblee, Georgia;
* XIANG MEI KE, 32, of Duluth, Georgia; and
* JING XING JIANG, 42, of Lawrenceville, Georgia;

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: CHUN YAN LIN, AI LIN FU and PILI CHEN, owned employment agencies, named “New Fuzhou,” “Zhong Mei,” and “Lucky,” all in Chamblee, Georgia, and conspired with others to transport and provide jobs to illegal aliens. The agency owners primarily placed the illegal aliens mainly in restaurant jobs in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia. The employment agencies did not require or request any proof that the aliens had permission to be or work in the United States. The employment agencies allegedly advertised in Asian language newspapers and on the Internet. They charged the undocumented aliens a commission and transportation fee to place them in a restaurant or other job site and to drive them there, or in some cases charged the restaurant owners, who deducted the fees from their illegal workers’ modest pay. Another individual arrested yesterday during the ICE/FBI joint enforcement operation, CHUNBIAO XU, 33, of Norcross, Georgia, now faces the same charges as the other employment agency defendants.

Co-conspirators XIANG MEI KE and JING XING JIANG owned and operated restaurants, named “Hong Kong Super Buffet,” in Gainesville, Georgia, and “Fuji Buffet,” in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where they used undocumented aliens brokered by the conspiring employment agencies. The restaurant owners often provided housing, sometimes in their own houses, to the workers in order to better monitor them and shield them from detection, and paid the workers in cash to avoid paying unemployment taxes. Also arrested yesterday were LIANG FENG CHEN, 32, and SAU TING CHENG, 41, both of Duluth, Georgia, who owned and operated “Grand Buffet and Grill,” a restaurant in Duluth, Georgia, and were charged in criminal complaints with conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to reside illegally in the United States.

PILI CHEN also allegedly transported the undocumented aliens in a private vehicle from the employment agencies to the illegal job sites. The employment agencies used paid drivers to minimize contact between the undocumented aliens and the outside world, including law enforcement.

All defendants face federal charges of conspiring to induce undocumented aliens to enter and remain in the United States by providing them with employment, predominantly at Chinese restaurants, all for commercial gain. AI LIN FU faces additional charges of transporting aliens for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, in reckless disregard of the fact that the aliens were in the United States and remained here in violation of the law. This joint ICE/FBI investigation continues.

During yesterday’s joint operation, 39 individuals were administratively detained by ICE for being in the United States without documentation. Their cases are expected to be handled administratively and they are expected to be deported from the United States.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The transportation charge also carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Governor Signs Seatbelt Legislation

Governor Sonny Perdue announced June 3 that he has signed Senate Bill 458, legislation removing the truck exemption for seatbelts. The Governor was joined in Dalton by bill sponsor Sen. Don Thomas, who is retiring after 14 years of service in the General Assembly.

“Pick-ups have changed over the years, and are often used to get back and forth to work on an everyday basis.  Today, they are out on our expressways and bypasses, as well as farms,” said Governor Perdue. “We all recognize that seatbelts save lives. With this legislation we look to continuing to build a ‘Safer Georgia’ for the next generation.”

SB 458 removes the pickup truck exemption to the law requiring seatbelts to be worn when driving on Georgia roads. The legislation excludes motorcycles, motor driven cycles, off road vehicles and pickup trucks being used in connection with agricultural pursuits.

“This long-overdue legislation is a victory for all Georgians. We have fought hard for years to make sure that everyone driving on Georgia roads is safely buckled-up,” said Sen. Thomas. “Thank you to the Governor and all in the legislature who worked diligently to ensure this life-saving measure becomes law.”

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FBI and Savannah River National Laboratory Put Science to Work to Protect the Nation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) today (June 3) announced the opening of a major expansion of the FBI’s facilities for the forensic examination of radiological material and associated evidence. The FBI’s newly expanded Radiological Evidence Examination Facility (REEF), located at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina, provides a major enhancement in the FBI's ability to protect the nation from crimes involving radiological material and bring to justice those who would use these materials to harm the nation's citizens.

The first phase of the REEF opened at SRNL in 2006, providing facilities and equipment where trained FBI personnel can safely perform forensic examination on radiologically contaminated evidence. The new facility expands that original suite to about six times its original size and provides the capabilities for many more kinds of forensic examination. The new radiological forensic laboratory takes advantage of the long-standing security, safety and radiological protection capabilities already in place at SRNL while allowing the FBI to focus on forensic examination, in consultation with SRNL experts.

The expanded facility offers the FBI the ability to conduct the full spectrum of traditional forensic analysis on contaminated evidence. Working together, FBI and SRNL personnel have developed innovative solutions to adapt existing DNA, latent fingerprints, trace hairs and fiber, document exams, and forensic photography techniques for safe use in a radiation-controlled environment. For example, new microscope slide holders, as well as digital photography and x-ray capabilities have been developed. Digital fingerprint comparisons can now be conducted using secure computer terminals linked to the FBI’s national fingerprint database. The REEF includes a fully functional FBI satellite office, where forensic examiners can securely share information via voice, data, or video with any other FBI office. The facility has a dedicated evidence storage room, where radiological evidence can be safely and securely stored to maintain its integrity for judicial proceedings.

At the FBI Laboratory in Quantico Virginia, traditional forensic examinations of non-hazardous evidence are conducted in support of law enforcement investigations. The new FBI Laboratory facility at SRNL provides FBI forensic examiners with the ability to perform these examinations on radiologically contaminated evidence in a fully equipped, safe, secure forensic laboratory setting.

“We at SRNL are particularly proud of our partnership with the FBI, putting science to work to give the FBI the ability to conduct investigations that help keep our nation safe from nuclear terrorism,” says SRNL Acting Director Dr. Paul Deason. As host to the FBI’s radiological evidence laboratory, SRNL conducted several years of research and development to adapt existing FBI forensic methods for application to radiological evidence, using their expertise in the safe handling of radiological materials. This successful partnership is continuing; future developments already under way include the ability to use remote manipulators and “hot cells” to collect and analyze evidence from items containing sources of neutron or gamma radiation.

In addition, SRNL provides radiological crime scene training to FBI agents from around the country, and has developed special evidence packaging to allow investigators to collect and deliver radiological evidence to the laboratory.

SRNL is the Department of Energy’s applied research and development national laboratory at the Savannah River Site (SRS). SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of environmental management, national and homeland security, and energy security. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.

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Mableton Man Pleads Guilty to Multi-Million-Dollar Cargo Theft Conspiracy

JOHN RAYMOND SMITH, JR., a/k/a “Johnny Ray Smith,” 50, of Mableton, Georgia, pleaded guilty June 2 in federal district court to conspiring to buy, receive, and possess goods stolen from multiple interstate tractor trailer and container shipments throughout Georgia and the southeastern United States between May 2005 and July 2009. Smith also pleaded guilty to related cargo theft and money laundering charges.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of today’s plea, “Metro Atlanta is a major transportation hub, which makes it an attractive target for cargo thieves. By creating a market in this area for stolen goods, dealers like SMITH encourage others to steal interstate shipments, knowing that they will have a safe haven to unload and sell their truckloads of stolen goods. Consumers who buy these products should suspect they are stolen if they seem to be first-quality, name-brand products at unrealistically low prices.”

IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent In Charge Reginael D. McDaniel said, “Money laundering is not a victimless crime. This case is a prime example of how a criminal enterprise creates an underground, untaxed economy that harms our country's overall economic strength.”

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Kennan said, “Cargo theft is an under-reported criminal phenomenon that has disastrous cascading economic consequences to Georgians. This annual estimated five billion dollar criminal activity negatively impacts transportation providers, retailers and consumers through higher shipping, insurance premiums and retail costs. These modern-day pirates cruise the nation's asphalt interstate corridors and parking lots, much like their predecessors who sailed the open seas for unsuspecting targets of opportunity. These pirates have been stopped.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: Between May 2005 and July 2009, SMITH, who operated “Smith Sales Company”out of warehouses in Mableton and Hiram, Georgia, conspired with ROBIN L. CHEATWOOD, who operated “A-Z Discount” in Cedartown, Georgia, and other co-conspirators to buy, receive, and possess goods stolen from nearly two dozen interstate tractor trailer and container shipments valued at over $3 million throughout the Southeastern United States, including shipments stolen in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The tractor trailers and containers were stolen while parked at truck stops, motels, and container storage facilities, often at night. SMITH, CHEATWOOD, and others then sold the goods at discounted prices to consumers and wholesalers.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers recovered portions of the stolen interstate shipments during searches of warehouses controlled by SMITH, CHEATWOOD, and others in 2005, 2007, and 2009. The stolen goods included a $123,000 shipment of brand name TVs and computers, a $164,000 shipment of “Casio, Inc.” electronics, $100,000 in “GT One” cigarettes, a $1.8 million shipment of computerized “Husqvarna” and “Pfaff” sewing machines, an $86,000 shipment of “Starkist” canned tuna, $40,000 in “Carter’s, Inc.” baby clothes, and $64,000 in “Wrigley’s” chewing gum. Many of the stolen shipments were bound for major retailers such as “Best Buy,” “Lowe’s,” “Sam’s Club,” “Target,” “Wal-Mart,” “OfficeMax,” and “Office Depot.”

As part of a plea agreement with the government, SMITH pleaded guilty to a three count Criminal Information filed on May 17, 2010, charging one count of conspiracy; one count of buying, receiving, and possessing goods stolen from an interstate cargo shipment; and one count of money laundering. He could receive a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy count, 10 years in prison on each of the cargo theft and money laundering counts, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

CHEATWOOD, who cooperated in the investigation, pleaded guilty to charges related to the stolen goods recovered by law enforcement in 2005. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Rome, Georgia on September 11, 2009, and is currently serving a ten month prison sentence. Neither SMITH nor CHEATWOOD are charged with the actual theft of the cargo containers.

The investigation is ongoing. The GBI has asked that any members of the public who may have seen semi-trailer trucks being unloaded at rest stops, truck stops, industrial areas or residential areas, particularly at night or on weekends, and believe such off-loading may be suspicious, to call the GBI’s Major Theft Unit at 404-244-2600.

SMITH’s sentencing is scheduled for August 17, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., before United States District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr.

The prosecution is the result of a joint investigation conducted by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, and by Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Major Theft Unit of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Multiple additional local law enforcement agencies and offices assisted with the investigation, including the Marietta-Cobb-Smyrna Organized Crime Intelligence Unit, Cobb County Police Department, Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, the DeKalb County Police Department, and the Cedartown Police Department.

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Georgia Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography

Galen E. Vanord, 53, of Millen, Georgia, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of distribution of child pornography. Vanord will be sentenced on August 27, 2010, by United States District Judge Henry Hudson. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. As a result of this conviction, Vanord will also be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Michael F.A. Morehart, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office announced the plea.

According to court documents, Vanord was identified by law-enforcement officers during an undercover investigation of individuals trading images of child pornography over the Internet. Officers downloaded 600 images of child pornography and one video from Vanord. In the course of their investigation, agents seized Vanord’s computer, on which they found over 16,000 images of child pornography.

This case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Aber Brumberg prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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Georgia Man Admits to Producing Child Pornography

Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 53-year-old Georgia resident pleaded guilty May 28 before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to producing child pornography as an aider and abettor during November 2008.

Pfannenschmidt stated that Scott Swanson, of Hiwassee, Georgia, admitted to persuading a minor to create sexually explicit images of the minor and transmit them from Pennsylvania to Georgia via computer.

Swanson was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2009. Swanson’s charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Scranton Police, and the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office.

Pfannenschmidt noted that as a result of the guilty plea, Swanson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Sentencing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Pfannenschmidt noted that this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Pfannenschmidt noted that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

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