Tag Archives: Rod J. Rosenstein

Four Indicted in a Series of Armed Commercial Robberies

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BALTIMORE, MD—A federal grand jury has indicted Nikolaos Mamalis, age 57, of Edgewood, Maryland; Daniel Chase, age 64, of Brownsville, New Jersey; Evangelos Tsoukatos, age 47, of Glen Burnie, Maryland; and Antwone Bell, age 25, of Rosedale, Maryland, for conspiring to commit a series of armed commercial robberies, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the indictment, the defendants were part of a conspiracy to steal the proceeds of commercial businesses along with the cash and personal property of the owners of those businesses.

Specifically the indictment alleges that on July 29, 2009, Mamalis, Chase and Tsoukatos, with the assistance of others, robbed Precision Vending in Baltimore City. According to court documents, when police arrived, they found the owner of the business zip-tied and duct taped to a chair. The victim nodded his head when asked if he had been robbed, but was unable to speak. The victim died on August 11, 2009.

According to the indictment, on September 2, 2009, Mamalis, Chase and Tsoukatos, with the assistance of others, robbed the owner of Citizens Pharmacy Services, located in Havre de Grace, Maryland, during an armed home invasion robbery at his Pikesville residence. The indictment alleges that the conspirators stole the business owner’s personal property, as well as cash, which was proceeds from the pharmacy.

The indictment further alleges that on September 29, 2009, Mamalis, Chase, Tsoukatos and Bell robbed the owner of the Sparrows Point Restaurant of cash, which was proceeds from the restaurant, during a home invasion at his residence in Cockeysville, Maryland.

Finally, the indictment alleges that Mamalis, Chase, Bell and others planned and prepared to commit a robbery in New Jersey on November 11, 2009. According to court documents, the three men were arrested after meeting at a café in Atlantic City.

The defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy. All four defendants are currently detained and are expected to have an initial appearance on Friday, December 4, 2009.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked: the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore City Police Department; Baltimore County Police Department; New Jersey State Police; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger and their offices for their work in this investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Michael C. Hanlon, Debra L. Dwyer and Thiru Vignarajah, who are prosecuting the case.&/p

Source: FBI

Essex Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Attempting to Erase Computer Files in a Child Pornography Investigation

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BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced James A. Vilkas, age 26, of Essex, Maryland, today to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for seeking to obstruct a federal child pornography investigation by erasing images from his computer, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Blake ordered that the federal sentence be served consecutive to the sentence Vilkas received last December on related state charges of 10 years in prison, with all but three years suspended.

According to Vilkas’ guilty plea, on January 26, 2008, a woman advised the Baltimore County Police that she believed her 14-year-old daughter had met an adult male, only known to her as “Jimmy,” on the Internet social networking website MySpace.com. The woman provided “Jimmy’s” cell phone number to the officer. Baltimore County officers contacted “Jimmy,” who was James Anthony Vilkas, and asked him to come in for an interview the next day. During the interview on January 27, 2008, Vilkas admitted to meeting the girl on MySpace.com and that he continued to contact her via e-mail and cell phone, even after she advised him that she was 14 years old. Vilkas told the officers that he invited the minor female to his house on January 26, 2008 and that they engaged in sexual activity.

At a second interview conducted with Vilkas on January 28, 2008, Vilkas admitted that he asked the minor female to send him sexually explicit pictures via e-mail, which she did. A search warrant was executed at Vilkas’ home that same day. Upon entering the bedroom belonging to Vilkas, officers saw that a program designed to erase data from the computer was running on the computer. The program was immediately stopped in an attempt to preserve evidence. Vilkas’ computers were seized and submitted for forensic examination pursuant to a federal search warrant. One of the files located on the desktop computer is a log of an Internet chat occurring on January 27, 2008, between James Vilkas, and “Coren.” In the chat, Vilkas requested assistance from “Coren” in erasing his computer hard drive.

Vilkas used computer software from January 27 through January 28, 2008 to erase the pictures sent to him by the 14-year-old minor female so that they would not be discovered by law enforcement authorities.

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 Divisions 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. Details about Maryland’s program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Baltimore County Police Department and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger for their work in this investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg who prosecuted the case.

Source: FBI

Member of $19 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison

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BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Terrence White, age 35, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, today to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of 25 properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia using false mortgage and settlement documents, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Motz also entered a restitution order against White in the amount of $4,196,967.

According to his plea agreement, White, Timothy Reed, Osman Al-Bari, and others paid over 15 straw purchasers $10,000 per property to purchase houses for White and others. White created false mortgage and settlement documents, many of which misrepresented the straw purchasers’ income and assets. White, Reed, and Al-Bari also created false invoices to claim that their company, Brotherly Investment Group, performed “renovations” on some of the properties. Using these false invoices, White and his co-conspirators were “repaid” at closing for the purported renovations.

This scheme involved fraudulent loans worth over $19,021,366. Over 10 individuals and banks were harmed. The loss amount foreseeable to White is between $2.5 and $7 million. Many of the purchased properties have been foreclosed upon.

Kara McIntosh, age 47, and Sabrina Weinberg, age 44, both of Bethesda, Maryland, were sentenced to three years and two years in prison, respectively, for mail fraud. Osman Sharrieff Al-Bari, age 35, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Jamilah Al-Bari, age 37, of District Heights, Maryland, and Timothy Reed, age 44, of Beltsville, have pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with their participation in this scheme and are scheduled to be sentenced in the next two months.

This prosecution has been brought as part of the Maryland Mortgage Fraud Task Force, a group of more than 15 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in Maryland. The Task Force was formed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention, and prosecution of various kinds of mortgage fraud schemes. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Task Force, demonstrates the commitment of Maryland’s law enforcement agencies to protect consumers from fraud and help to ensure the integrity of the mortgage market and other credit markets. Information about mortgage fraud prosecutions is available on the Internet at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Mortgage-Fraud/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office – Economic Crimes Unit and the U.S. Secret Service for their investigative work and assistance. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Kwame J. Manley, who prosecuted the case.

Source: FBI