Bank Teller Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Customer Funds
NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DEMETRIA MYERS SILVIO, age 32, of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty on October 13, 2021 to Wire Fraud, in violation of…
Postal Worker Charged with Issuing Money Orders Without Receiving Full Payment
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SHANNEL SMITH, age 41, of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, was charged on October 12, 2021 in a one-count superseding bill of…
Laplace Man Sentenced for Violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act
NEW ORLEANS, LA – United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon sentenced RICHARD GRAY, age 60, of LaPlace, Louisiana, on October 7, 2021 to 18 months in the Bureau of Prisons…
Delhi Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Scheme to Defraud the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program
Acting United States Attorney Ellison C. Travis announced that U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Corey Roshel Powell, age 43, of Delhi, Louisiana, to 29 months in federal prison following his…
Two charged for scamming sports tourists out of $126,000 trip to see Tiger Woods
FREEHOLD – Two men have been charged via direct indictment for a six-figure theft connected to a contracted trip for eight people to attend the 2019 Masters Tournament that never materialized, Acting…
Trenton lawmakers lodge fight to protect Italian American heritage as Columbus Day looms
Columbus Day is a federal and state holiday marked on Oct. 11 this year and an annual celebration of Italian American heritage. Senators Joe Pennacchio and Anthony M. Bucco are fighting to…
Two Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Deputies Sentenced to 50 Months Imprisonment for Their Roles in Kickback and Bribery Scheme Involving Contract for Privatization of Work Release Program in St. Tammany Parish
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DAVID HANSON, age 63, from Abita Springs, Louisiana, and CLIFFORD “SKIP” KEEN, age 53, from Covington, Louisiana, were each sentenced today to…
Venezuelan man in ICE custody passes away in Mississippi hospital
NEW ORLEANS – A Venezuelan man in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) passed away Oct. 1 at Merit Health River Oaks (MHRO), Flowood, Mississippi. The preliminary cause of death…
Former Postal Employee Pleads Guilty to Mail Theft at Loranger Post Office
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans, announced that HAROLD SAINTES, JR. age 52, of Franklin, Louisiana pled guilty as charged to a one count Bill of Information for…
Pineapple shipment destroyed after invasive Amazonian caterpillar found
GULFPORT, Mississippi – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists discovered a butterfly larvae pest, informally known as the Saunders 1850, while inspecting a container of pineapples from Costa Rica. The larvae…
Thibodaux Man Sentenced to 24 Months in Prison for Violations 0f the Federal Gun Control Act
NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DONOVAN DIRON JOHNSON (“JOHNSON”), age 27, of Thibodaux, Louisiana was sentenced to imprisonment on September 29, 2021 in federal court before…
Two More Mexican Nationals Are Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to International Timeshare Telemarketing Scam
NEW ORLEANS – CLAUDUA ANTILLON ZAHUITA, age 38, and SERGIO LEON KURI, age 40, both residents and citizens of Mexico, were sentenced to prison on September 29, 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge…
Federal Judge Sentences West Bank Drug Dealer to 140 Months Imprisonment
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DAVID TRAN, age 42, of Bridge City, Louisiana, was sentenced on September 29, 2021 by the Honorable Jane Triche Milazzo to 140 months in the Bureau of Prisons…
Mississippi Man Sentenced for Robbing Kentwood Bank
NEW ORLEANS, LA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that STEVEN WILLIAMS, age 35 of Jackson, Mississippi, was sentenced on September 28, 2021 to 13 years and 8 months in…
Two Plead Guilty to Health Care Fraud Scheme
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced DONALD PETER AUZINE (“AUZINE”) and BONNIE JEAN LAWLESS DIAZ (“DIAZ”) have each pled guilty in federal court relating to their roles in a…
Mandeville Man Sentenced for Defrauding FEMA After a Disaster
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that BRUCE D. COX, age 62, of Mandeville, was sentenced on September 23, 2021 to one year of probation and over $35,000 in…
Shipping Company Fined $2M in a Multi-District Case for Concealing Illegal Discharges of Oily Water into the Atlantic Ocean
WASHINGTON – Diana Wilhelmsen Management Limited (DWM), a Cyprus-based company that operates several commercial vessels, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Norfolk, Virginia,…
Man Sentenced for Attempted Robbery of an ATM
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – TYRIK SCOTT, age 21, a resident of Violet, Louisiana, was sentenced on September 21. 2021 by the Honorable Susie Morgan, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. SCOTT was…
Baton Rouge Laboratory Owner and Florida Woman Charged with Scheme to Pay and Receive Health Care Kickbacks as Part of National Enforcement Action
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force (“MFSF”) is part of a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units to…
Federal Court Permanently Enjoins Tax Return Preparers in Louisiana
A federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has permanently enjoined two New Orleans-area tax return preparers from preparing returns for others and from owning, operating, or…