Three Kilos of Cocaine Seized by Local, State, Federal Law Enforcement

A man was held on a quarter-million dollars’ cash bail and his alleged associate on $75,000 after they were arraigned on cocaine trafficking charges that stem from the interception of three kilograms of cocaine shipped from California, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ROBERT CONLEY (D.O.B. 11/26/65), who is represented by William Keefe, Of Counsel to our firm, and MYISHA WILKERSON (D.O.B. 7/6/82), both of Dorchester, arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges of trafficking in more than 200 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to violate the state’s drug laws. Robert Conley was additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition for an unregistered handgun recovered from his residence during the execution of a search warrant last night.

US Postal Service inspectors yesterday intercepted Express Mail packages shipped from Los Angeles to three separate addresses in Dorchester. Drug-sniffing dogs alerted on the packages as containing narcotics, and officials obtained federal search warrants for each. Working with State and Boston police detectives, they arranged for the controlled deliveries of those packages.

At about 11:00 yesterday morning, investigators delivered one of the packages to a Chamberlain Street residence, where Robert Conley took custody of it using the name “Tony Williams.” Additional officers now approached, informed him of the search warrant for the package, and opened it, revealing about a kilogram of cocaine. The suspect was taken into custody and the residence was later searched pursuant to a Dorchester District Court warrant.

Investigators recovered abundant paraphernalia related to drug trafficking, including a currency counter, two digital scales, a respirator, and a razor knife with white residue on the edge. Also recovered was a .38 caliber Colt revolver loaded with six rounds of ammunition.

At about 11:30 yesterday morning, another team executed a similar delivery to a Sumner Street residence, where Wilkerson took custody of it. As with the previous delivery, investigators moved in, opened the package, and recovered from it a kilogram of cocaine. She, too, was taken into custody.

At about noon yesterday, a third team executed a similar delivery to a Brookledge Street residence, where TANISHA CHERRY (D.O.B. 7/22/83) took custody of it. As with the other deliveries, investigators moved in, opened the package, and recovered from it a kilogram of cocaine. She was taken into custody as well. Based on information developed throughout the day and evening, however, prosecutors did not request bail at her arraignment this morning and she was released on her own recognizance. Investigators believe she was instructed to sign for the package by a family member and was not told about its contents.

Ramon Quintero Sanclemente to 210 months in prison

On November 19, 2012, U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas sentenced Ramon Quintero Sanclemente to 210 months in prison. In addition, the court ordered Quintero Sanclemente to forfeit to the United States $1.5 million in assets.

Quintero Sanclemente pled guilty on September 7, 2012 to charges that he had conspired with others to import five or more kilograms of cocaine into the United States from 1998 until December 4, 2008. Quintero Sanclemente was a former top lieutenant in the North Valley Cartel and, at the time of his capture, his drug trafficking organization was responsible for obtaining more than 50 metric tons of cocaine annually to export to Mexico, Europe and the United States. On January 14, 2010, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Colombian national Ramon Quintero Sanclemente as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “The success of this prosecution was due to the outstanding work and cooperation of our Colombian law enforcement partners. Thanks to their unyielding support, along with the DEA’s dedication to the war on drugs, we were able to prosecute and convict this notorious and dangerous narco-trafficker.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Mark R. Trouville stated, “The significance of Mr. Sanclemente’s sentence is clear that DEA’s perseverance will prevail no matter how long it takes or how these drug lords try to conceal their crimes.” The DEA is committed to working with our international and domestic counterparts to bring justice to all drug traffickers who seeks to gain power based on fear and violence.”

The prosecution of Quintero Sanclemente is the result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) led by DEA.

Foreign Exchange Trader to Serve Eight Years in Federal Prison

Lyndon Lydell Parrilla, 32, of Los Angeles was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to 97 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, following his guilty plea to seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering for his role in the operation of Green Tree Capital. Parrilla also was ordered to pay approximately $4.6 million to his victims.

According to the United States Attorney for Boston, Massachusetts Mr. Parrilla, through his company Green Tree, solicited more than $5 million from customers, purportedly for trading in the foreign currency exchange (FOREX) market. Mr. Parrilla traded only a small portion of the customer funds in FOREX and instead spent most of it on personal expenses for himself and his employees. The Government says that, to hide this fraud, Green Tree e-mailed account statements to customers, showing fabricated trading results. Many of the account statements falsely showed that customers were making money through successful FOREX trading. The allegation is that Mr. Parrilla defrauded the Green Tree customers out of almost all of the more than $5 million they entrusted to him. As part of this prosecution, the government has seized from Mr. Parrilla a Mercedes S63, which is subject to forfeiture.

Mr. Parrilla’s partner in Green Tree, Ryan Manzanilla has also pleaded guilty to wire fraud for his role in defrauding Green Tree customers. Mr. Manzanilla’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2013, before Judge O’Toole.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which conducted a parallel civil investigation, referred the case to the United States Attorney’s Office and provided critical cooperation to criminal authorities.

Colombo Family “Street Boss” Sentenced to 199 Months on Racketeering and Firearms Charges

Ralph F. Deleo, 69, of Somerville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 235 months in prison, with credit for 36 months of time served, for a total of 199 months, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine. In May, Mr. Deleo pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Judge Woodlock accepted Deleo’s guilty plea today and imposed sentence.

According to the Office of the US Attorney for Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. Deleo was the “street boss” of the Colombo Family of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) and the head of the DeLeo Crew, a criminal enterprise based in Somerville which engaged in the importation, trafficking, and distribution of narcotics and controlled substances, including cocaine and marijuana; extortion; loan sharking; and interstate and foreign travel in aid of racketeering. The Deleo Crew, as Mr. Deleos' alleged wing of the organization was called, operated principally in the areas of Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida and New York.

The Government attorneys claim that if the case had gone to trial, they could have proven that Mr.Deleo:
•arranged and paid for a two kilogram cocaine deal;
•traveled to Florida, New York and Connecticut, on Colombo Family business on various occasions;
•attempted to collect an extension of credit by extortionate means in Canton, Massachusetts, on March 11, 2009;
•conspired with other members of the DeLeo Crew and a businessman to administer a beating to the financial advisor of the businessman’s brother, with whom he had a dispute;
•conspired with other members of the DeLeo Crew and other members and associates of the Colombo Family to import marijuana from Canada; and
•maintained in a hidden location a cache of at least eleven firearms, together with a silencer, ammunition, police uniforms, patches from at least three different police departments, wigs, masks, and zip ties.

La Cosa Nostra, also known as the "mafia," is according to the Government of the United States a criminal organization that operates in various parts of the United States and Canada through entities known as "families." The five most powerful families of LCN are based in New York City. The Colombo Family is one of those five families. The Deleo Crew was a separate entity from the Colombo Family.

North Miami Beach Resident Sentenced for Filing False Income Tax Returns

-Miami, FL.

Maurice Rodriguez, of North Miami Beach. At today’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno sentenced Rodriguez to nine months in prison on each of eight counts, to be served concurrently, followed by one year of supervised release. Rodriguez was also ordered to pay $54,711 in restitution to the IRS.

Rodriguez pled guilty on March 16, 2012 to two counts of willfully filing false personal income tax returns, and six counts of aiding in the preparation of numerous false federal income tax returns. More specifically, Rodriguez pled guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment, which charged him with knowingly making and subscribing a false Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, for calendar years 2005 and 2006. In this regard, Rodriguez admitted to inflating his wife’s income, and other business expenses in 2005 and 2006, and filing the tax returns with the IRS knowing that the returns were not accurate as to every material matter, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206 (1).

Cape Cod Brothers Charged in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Boston - Federal agents and task force officers today arrested a long-time Cape Cod drug trafficker and are lodging a federal detainer against his brother.

Stanley Gonsalves, 34, of Sandwich, and Joshua Gonzales, 32, of Dennisport, were charged on Nov. 1, 2012, with participating in a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy which began as early as 2009. The indictment was unsealed today after Stanley Gonsalves’s arrest in Sandwich this morning. Stanley Gonsalves was arraigned on the charges in district court in Boston this afternoon, and is being detained in custody until a hearing to be held on Dec. 4, 2012. Joshua Gonsalves, who is in state custody at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, will be brought to Boston for an initial court appearance on Nov. 15, 2012.

The government alleges that the Gonsalves brothers obtained tens of thousands of Oxycodone tablets from, among others, John Willis and other members of Willis’s Florida-to- Massachusetts Oxycodone trafficking organization. Willis’s organization was separately indicted in May 2011. The federal case against Willis is still pending. The pills obtained by the Gonsalves brothers from Willis and other sources were then distributed to various Cape Cod drug dealers for sale to individuals.

For more information on this or any other criminal matter do not hesitate to contact Mercado & Rengel experienced criminal defense lawyers.

Ludlow, Massachusetts Man Guilty of Insider Trading

Boston - A resident of Ludlow was convicted today on charges related to insider trading.

Following a jury trial before United States District Judge Michael A. Ponsor, Carl E. Binette, 31, was convicted of seven counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and false statements.

In April 2008, Binette’s uncle and co-conspirator, Peter Talbot, who was then employed by the Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO), determined through confidential information he obtained during his employment, that the insurance company Safeco Corp. was a potential acquisition target of HIMCO’s parent company, the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Talbot tipped off Binette regarding Safeco’s status as a potential acquisition target, and the two set up an online brokerage account in Binette’s name to buy Safeco securities, primarily Safeco call options, beginning on April 17, 2008 and lasting until April 22, 2008. Talbot and Binette established substantial positions in Safeco securities during this time, and after Safeco’s acquisition by Liberty Mutual on April 23, 2008, Talbot and Binette sold off all of the Safeco securities for a profit of more than $615,000. On Jan. 9, 2012, Talbot pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud in connection with these activities.

In May 2008, after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission commenced an investigation into Binette's trading activities, Binette, during a telephone call with three SEC attorneys, made several false statements regarding whether he had spoken to anyone prior to engaging in the trading of Safeco securities, and what had led him to make his investment. Binette persistently denied speaking to anyone before engaging in these trades, despite the fact that his trading was based on the tip he received from Talbot. Furthermore, Binette falsely stated that his purchases of Safeco securities had been based on Internet research he had done as well as a dream he had in which a deceased relative appeared to him and said that she was “safe,” thereby ostensibly prompting his investment in Safeco.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 26, 2013. Binette faces up to five years in prison and a fine of over $1.2 million for the conspiracy count; 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million for each count of securities fraud; and five years in prison and a fine of over $1.2 million for the false statements count, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is also appreciative of the assistance provided by the Miami Regional Office of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vassili Thomadakis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Harman Burkart of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.

Vence plazo para DV Loterry (Lotería de Visas) para EEUU

El sorteo para el Programa de Visas por Diversidad (DV-2014) de Estados Unidos, conocido como lotería de visas, concluye el sábado 3 de noviembre, 12 pm, según las reglas establecidas por el Departamento de Estado.

La convocatoria está abierta desde Octubre 2. Las solicitudes del programa se realizan por vía electrónica.

Para más información vean nuestra página www.mercadorengel.com