Score:   1
Docket Number:   CD-CA  5:19-cr-00007
Case Name:   USA v. Valle
  Press Releases:
         LOS ANGELES – As part of a multistate investigation, two San Gabriel Valley residents were arrested this morning on federal charges that allege they orchestrated a scheme in which Chinese nationals paid up to $60,000 to enter into sham marriages with United States citizens in the hope of obtaining lawful permanent resident status – commonly called getting a “Green Card” – that would allow them to legally reside in the United States.

         In addition to the two Los Angeles-area residents, special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested two Chinese nationals who each paid tens of thousands of dollars to enter into sham marriages with United States citizens to obtain Green Cards. The United States citizens in these situations were actually undercover HSI agents.

         The criminal complaint that led to the arrests outlines how the sham marriages were arranged and how the participants were coached to make their marriages appear legitimate. Specifically, the arrangers recruited United States citizens to enter into marriages with Chinese nationals, and then they filed immigration documents with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The arrangers coached the Chinese nationals and United States citizens on how to make their marriages appear genuine and pass interviews conducted by the USCIS, such as by creating a fraudulent paper trail for the couples and memorizing answers to questions immigration service officers could ask during their USCIS interviews.

          The four defendants arrested Thursday morning are:

Xiulan “Cindy” Wang, 46, of San Gabriel, the owner of Pacific Bizhub Consulting;

Chang Yu “Andy” He, 54, of Monterey Park, the owner of Fair Price Immigration Service, who was taken into custody in San Diego County;

Zhongnan Liu, 33, of San Diego, who allegedly paid for a sham marriage; and

Huanzhang Wu, 28, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, who also allegedly paid for a “marriage” to obtain a Green Card.

         A fifth defendant in this case is currently a fugitive being sought by authorities.

         According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, in the course of arranging the sham marriages involving the undercover HSI agents, He coached the “couples” on how to make their relationships appear legitimate to bypass U.S. immigration laws. He allegedly instructed them to obtain joint bank accounts and joint apartment leases, keep clothes in the apartments where the couples supposedly lived together, and visit the apartment several days a week so the neighbors would see them together.

         The affidavit describes how the defendants went to considerable lengths to make the unions appear real. For example, He arranged one “marriage” ceremony at the Chapel of Love inside The Mall of America where Wu and an undercover agent took their wedding vows and swore under oath that the information they provided on their marriage license was true and accurate. After the ceremony and before leaving the mall, He paid the undercover agent $10,000, and then Wu and the undercover agent proceeded to file the marriage certificate with the county clerk.

         The investigation in this case began in March 2017 based on information provided by an anonymous source. Law enforcement authorities believe the defendants’ clients learned about the service through word of mouth or from advertisements in Chinese newspapers.

         Wang made her initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles, and she was ordered released on a $100,000 bond. Wang’s arraignment was scheduled for April 9.

         Wu appeared earlier today in the District of Minnesota, where he was ordered detained pending further proceedings there on Monday. He and Wu are expected to make their first court appearances Friday in federal court in San Diego.

         A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

         If they were to be convicted of the charge of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, each defendant named in this case would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

         This case is the result of a three-year undercover investigation by the Los Angeles Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which is led by HSI and includes the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, and USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security unit. The San Gabriel Police Department, the West Covina Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk assisted in the investigation.

         This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert S. Trisotto and Jerry C. Yang of the Riverside Branch Office.

         LOS ANGELES – A Mexican National who was charged in the first major narcotics trafficking indictment resulting from an investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison for his role in an international narcotics network that transported 21 pounds of pure methamphetamine across the United States-Mexico border on behalf of a drug trafficking organization linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

         Edgar Limon, 39, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who also ordered Limon to pay a $17,500 fine.

         Limon pleaded guilty on July 17, 2019, to participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering. Limon was one of 22 defendants named in a 19-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed in 2017.

         The indictment outlines a scheme to import hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin from Mexico into the United States. The narcotics were distributed throughout the country via a network of cartel associates, and the proceeds from the domestic narcotics sales were then funneled back to Mexico, according to the indictment. The drug trafficking organization stored drugs in “stash houses” in the San Gabriel Valley, one of which Limon managed.

         During the two-year wiretap investigation, members of the Strike Force seized narcotics with an approximate street value in Los Angeles of more than $6 million. The seizures included approximately 290 pounds of methamphetamine, 280 pounds of cocaine, 30 pounds of heroin, and 81 pounds of marijuana.

         Limon is one of nine defendants who were taken into custody pursuant to the 2017 federal grand jury indictment, and he is the last of those to be sentenced. The other eight received prison terms of up to 135 months. Several defendants charged in the indictment remain fugitives and are believed to be in Mexico.

         Between June 2014 and April 2016, there was an agreement between Limon and his codefendants to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, methamphetamine in the Los Angeles area. In one instance, Limon transferred more than 3 kilograms of methamphetamine in El Monte, California. Limon also maintained a stash house in Azusa that served as a distribution point for methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine. 

         In relation to the money laundering offense, Limon and his codefendants conducted financial transactions in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere with the intent to conceal and disguise the nature of the drug trafficking proceeds. Limon received cash that he knew to be drug proceeds, and he conducted financial transactions designed to conceal the money’s illegal origins.

         Limon is the brother of Jeuri Limon Elenes, the lead defendant in the indictment who is currently a fugitive and believed to be in Mexico. Limon’s mother and cousin were also charged in the indictment, and both were sentenced to 87 months in federal prison.

         The Los Angeles Strike Force investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshals Service and the Azusa Police Department.

         The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to target Mexican drug cartels that use the Los Angeles metropolitan region as a primary hub for the distribution of narcotics across the United States. The goals of the Strike Force are to target high-level narcotics traffickers, disrupt and dismantle the cartels’ narcotics trafficking and related money laundering activities, and arrest and prosecute the cartels’ leaders and operatives.

         This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Carley Palmer of the Criminal Appeals Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A Mexican Mafia member and “shotcaller” of the Santa Fe Springs and Whittier-based Canta Ranas street gang was sentenced today to life plus an additional 30 years in federal prison for leading the wide-ranging criminal enterprise and for murdering a rival gangster at a San Gabriel Valley restaurant in 2016.

          Jose Loza, 41, was sentenced by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who also set a June 1 hearing to determine the amount Loza will pay as restitution to his victims.

          Loza is the lead defendant in a 2016 federal grand jury indictment charging 51 Canta Ranas members and associates with racketeering and other related offenses.

          After a month-long trial in August 2019, a jury found Loza guilty of 12 felonies. Specifically, the jury found Loza guilty of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, four counts of engaging in violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR), one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, three counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

          Loza implemented the orders of David Gavaldon, an imprisoned senior Mexican Mafia member who was himself a long-time member of the Canta Ranas street gang and who was not charged in this case as he is serving a life-without-parole sentence in Pelican Bay State Prison. Gavaldon exerted control over Canta Ranas and other gangs in Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Riverside, and Stockton, and he received compensation in the form of “rent” or “taxes” generated by drug trafficking and other offenses committed in gang territory.

          In addition to implementing Gavaldon’s orders, Loza murdered a fellow Mexican Mafia member who was marked for death by the prison gang after he was perceived as encroaching upon the territories of other Mexican Mafia members. During the April 19, 2016 incident at a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley community of Basset, the victim was shot six times, his bodyguard was severely wounded, and an innocent restaurant patron was shot multiple times.

          Loza’s accomplice in the 2016 murder, Leonardo Antolin, 25, of Whittier, pleaded guilty to five felonies in this case and has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for his crimes.

          Prosecutors have secured 48 convictions so far in this matter, which is the result of Operation Frog Legs. During the course of that three-year investigation, law enforcement seized 56 firearms and made several narcotics seizures, including nearly one pound of methamphetamine seized during the execution of search warrants after Loza murdered the other Mexican Mafia member.

          Operation Frog Legs is the result of an investigation by the Southern California Drug Task Force, which is led by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. The Task Force members that participated in Operation Frog Legs were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation, the Whittier Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Correctional Safety, Special Service Unit. This investigation was conducted with the support of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

          This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carol Alexis Chen, Chief of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Kathy Yu, also of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section and Victoria A. Degtyareva of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A member of a Mexican Mafia-affiliated street gang that operates in Whittier and Santa Fe Springs was sentenced today to 480 months in federal prison for a series of violent crimes that included the 2016 murder of a rival gang member outside a San Gabriel Valley restaurant.

          Leonardo Antolin, 25, a.k.a. “Rowdy,” of Whittier, was sentenced by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who said that Antolin had shown a “lack of concern for members of the community” through his acts of violence, and “all of that counsels for a very lengthy sentence.”

          Antolin – a member of the Canta Ranas gang – pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

          On April 19, 2016, Antolin murdered Dominic Gonzales, a Mexican Mafia member who wanted to expand his influence and challenge the authority of other Mexican Mafia members in the San Gabriel Valley. During the incident at a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley community of Bassett, the Mexican Mafia member was fatally shot, his bodyguard was severely wounded, and an innocent restaurant patron was severely wounded when she was shot six times while sitting with her husband in the direct line of fire.

          Antolin’s conviction arose from a 2016 federal grand jury indictment charging 51 defendants that was the result of Operation Frog Legs. Prosecutors have secured more than 40 convictions so far in this matter. The case’s lead defendant, Jose Loza, 41, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 24. Loza faces a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison after a federal jury in August 2019 found him guilty of 12 felonies, including Gonzales’ murder, after a 15-day trial.

          “There can be no more serious offense than taking the life of another human being and here, defendant conspired to murder, and did, in fact, murder (the) victim…pursuant to a premeditated, cold-blooded plan hatched by co-defendant Loza,” prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

          Antolin also was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking on the gang’s behalf. He also acted as an enforcer who collected extortionate taxes which were required to be paid by not only members and associates of the criminal enterprise but also any individual who committed revenue-generating crimes within the enterprise’s territory.

          Operation Frog Legs is the result of an investigation by the Southern California Drug Task Force, which is led by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. The Task Force members that participated in Operation Frog Legs were Homeland Security Investigations, the Whittier Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Correctional Safety, Special Service Unit.

          This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carol Alexis Chen, Chief of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section; Kathy Yu, also of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section; and Victoria A. Degtyareva of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A San Gabriel Valley man was arrested today on federal criminal charges that he participated in a $23.8 million scheme to manufacture and ship counterfeit laptop computer batteries and other electronics from China to the United States, where the bogus batteries were sold to unsuspecting buyers in online marketplaces.

          Zoulin Cai, a.k.a. “Allen Cai,” 28, of La Puente, was arrested at his residence this morning on a federal grand jury indictment unsealed today. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

          The three-count indictment alleges that Cai, a Chinese national who moved to Los Angeles County in 2012, worked for Shenzhen Theseus Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based company. Theseus Technology, which was owned and operated by Cai’s relatives, manufactured counterfeit lithium-ion batteries, some of which were designed for laptop computers.

          Cai and his co-conspirators sold and shipped the counterfeit batteries to unsuspecting individual buyers via eBay and Amazon, falsely advertising them as brand-name new, genuine, original, or OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products, the indictment alleges. The batteries allegedly bore counterfeit trademarks of companies such as Apple, Dell, HP, and Toshiba, as well as counterfeit certification marks of UL, a company that tests and certifies the safety of electronic products.

          Counterfeit lithium-ion laptop batteries pose significant safety risks – including the risk of extreme heat, fire, and explosions – and the batteries that Cai and his co-conspirators allegedly shipped frequently lacked required essential internal safeguards.

          “Counterfeit goods are not manufactured with the same care as legitimate products backed by well-known companies and their highly developed intellectual property,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “The batteries involved in this case were sold to numerous unsuspecting online buyers, including one victim whose laptop started smoking and nearly caught fire after the battery was installed. Consumers need to exercise great caution when purchasing discounted items, particularly electronic goods, because these items pose very real safety risks.”

          “Counterfeit products not only attack the name and value of a known business, but, in many cases, can cause harmful, and sometimes fatal, consequences for the unsuspecting buyer,” said Mark Zito, Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. “These fakes have no place in a fair, legitimate marketplace. While we hear about consumer fraud on a daily basis during the holiday season, the public should be assured that HSI, along with our federal and state law enforcement partners – including Customs and Border Protection and the Los Angeles Police Department – is committed to targeting the unscrupulous vendors of substandard merchandise year round. They are the ones who may pay the steep price.”

          The counterfeit batteries allegedly were imported, sold, and shipped from warehouses in La Puente and the City of Industry, which Cai ran and where federal agents made undercover purchases of counterfeit laptop batteries from Cai on several occasions.

          The indictment further alleges that from 2014 through June 2019, Cai and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained at least $23.8 million from the sale of counterfeit laptop batteries through eBay and Amazon. They laundered those funds, including more than $18 million wired directly to Chinese bank accounts in the name of Theseus Technology as well as other Chinese businesses involved in the conspiracy. Cai allegedly used his ill-gotten gains for a variety of personal expenses, including monthly payments for a Maserati sports car he leased.

          Cai is charged with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and labels, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

          If convicted of all charges, Cai would face a statutory maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison.

          This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, which was assisted in this investigation by the brand-holding companies.

          This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anil J. Antony and Julia S. Choe of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, and Katherine Schonbachler of the Asset Forfeiture Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A Mexican Mafia member and “shotcaller” of the Santa Fe Springs- and Whitter-based Canta Ranas street gang has been found guilty by a federal jury of multiple crimes resulting from his control of a wide-ranging racketeering criminal enterprise, including the murder of a rival Mexican Mafia member at a San Gabriel Valley restaurant.

          Jose Loza, 40, the lead defendant in a 2016 federal grand jury indictment charging 51 Canta Ranas members and associates, was convicted Thursday afternoon of 12 felonies. Canta Ranas is a multi-generational criminal enterprise engaged in murder, attempted murder, assault, extortion, money laundering, and drug distribution.

          Specifically, the jury found Loza guilty of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, four counts of engaging in violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR), one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, three counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

          United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips has scheduled a December 16 sentencing hearing, at which time Loza will face a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison stemming from his conviction for the murder alone.

          According to the evidence presented at Loza’s month-long trial, Loza implemented the orders of David Gavaldon, an imprisoned senior Mexican Mafia member who was himself a long-time member of the Canta Ranas street gang and who was not charged in this case as he is serving a life-without-parole sentence in Pelican Bay State Prison. Gavaldon exerted control over Canta Ranas and other gangs in Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Riverside, and Stockton, and he received compensation in the form of “rent” or “taxes” generated by drug trafficking and other offenses committed in gang territory, according to trial evidence.

          In addition to implementing Gavaldon’s orders, Loza murdered Dominic Gonzales, a fellow Mexican Mafia member who was marked for death by the prison gang after he was perceived as encroaching upon the territories of other Mexican Mafia members. During the April 19, 2016 incident at a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley community of Basset, Gonzales was shot six times, including to the head and chest, his bodyguard was severely wounded, and an innocent restaurant patron was wounded, receiving six gunshots to the abdomen, back, buttocks, and legs.

          In what’s believed to be a first-time occurrence, Loza as well as other Mexican Mafia members and high-level associates of the prison gang, including a death row inmate from San Quentin, took the unusual step of testifying about the gang’s existence, activities, and power both inside and outside prison systems.

          Prosecutors have secured more than 40 convictions so far in this matter, which is the result of Operation Frog Legs. During the course of that three-year investigation, law enforcement seized 51 firearms and made several narcotics seizures, including nearly one pound of methamphetamine seized during the execution of search warrants after Loza murdered the other Mexican Mafia member.

          Loza’s accomplice in the 2016 murder, Leonardo Antolin, 25, of Whittier, pleaded guilty to five felonies in this case and has agreed to a prison sentence of 33 years to 40 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 23.

          Operation Frog Legs is the result of an investigation by the Southern California Drug Task Force, which is led by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. The Task Force members that participated in Operation Frog Legs were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation, the Whittier Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Correctional Safety, Special Service Unit.

          This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carol Alexis Chen, Chief of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Victoria A. Degtyareva and Kathy Yu, also of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A member of a street gang that operates in Santa Fe Springs and Whittier pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges, including ones stemming from the April 2016 murder of a rival gangster outside a San Gabriel Valley restaurant.

          Leonardo Antolin, 25, of Whittier, pleaded guilty to five felonies before United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who scheduled a September 23 sentencing hearing. In a plea agreement filed in this case, Antolin has agreed to serve a sentence of 33 to 40 years in federal prison.

          Antolin – a member of the Mexican Mafia-affiliated Canta Ranas gang – admitted in the plea agreement that on April 19, 2016, he executed a Mexican Mafia member whom prosecutors allege wanted to expand his influence and challenge the authority of other Mexican Mafia members in the San Gabriel Valley. During the incident at a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley community of Bassett, the Mexican Mafia member was fatally shot, his bodyguard was severely wounded, and an innocent restaurant patron was shot six times in the abdomen, back, buttocks and legs. Antolin also admitted to aiding in the trafficking of methamphetamine on behalf of Canta Ranas.

          Antolin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

          This guilty plea arose from a 2016 federal grand jury indictment charging 51 defendants that was the result of Operation Frog Legs. Prosecutors have secured more than 20 convictions so far in this matter. A trial for Jose Loza, 40, a Mexican Mafia member and Canta Ranas shot caller, and Ronald Sotello, 43, is scheduled to begin on July 30.

          Operation Frog Legs is the result of an investigation by the Southern California Drug Task Force, which is led by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. The Task Force members that participated in Operation Frog Legs were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation, the Whittier Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Correctional Safety, Special Service Unit.

          This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carol Alexis Chen, Chief of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Victoria A. Degtyareva and Kathy Yu, also of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section.

          LOS ANGELES – More than 500 law enforcement personnel executed a major operation this morning, taking into custody 32 defendants who are charged in two federal racketeering indictments, one of which outlines how members of the Mexican Mafia were able to control drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of prisoners inside the Los Angeles County jail system (LACJ).

          The defendants arrested this morning are among 83 defendants who were charged by a federal grand jury in the two indictments unsealed today. A total of 35 defendants are already in custody in state prison or county jail facilities and are expected to be brought to federal court in the near future. Authorities continue to search for 16 fugitive who are expected to be arrested in the near future.

          The indictments – which allege a host of criminal violations, including conspiracies to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) – detail the power structure of the Mexican Mafia and its violent exercise of authority over Latino street gangs in Southern California and inside the sprawling LACJ.

          According to the indictment that focuses on the LACJ, a criminal enterprise led by members of the Mexican Mafia allegedly engaged in five broad areas of criminal activities that collectively served to enrich members of the enterprise and to maintain control and authority over LACJ, which includes the Men’s Central Jail and the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. The criminal offenses carried out by this enterprise fall generally into five categories:



the Mexican Mafia-sanctioned smuggling of drugs into LACJ, narcotics that were sold to inmates to generate profits for the enterprise;





the “taxing” of other drugs smuggled into LACJ in what the indictment labels “widespread extortion”;





another LACJ extortion scheme in which all Latino inmates were required to contribute a percentage of their commissary spending on food and hygiene items into a “kitty” that generated additional income for the Mexican Mafia member when the kitty was sold to an inmate;





the disciplining and extortion – through assaults and fines – of Mexican Mafia associates who ran afoul of the rules imposed by the organization; and





money laundering of the criminal proceeds from these activities.



          “These cases have delivered a major blow to the Mexican Mafia and leaders of many of the street gangs under the control of the organization,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “By taking out the gang members who control the jails, and by disrupting their communications network, we undermined the Mexican Mafia’s ability to coordinate street gang activity.”

          Today’s takedown is the result of an investigation done under the auspices of the FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force, which is made up of agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Pomona Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

          “Gang violence in the jails also spills over to the streets and adversely affects our communities,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This three-year investigation focused on players at all levels for their role in the conspiracy – from the shot-caller, to the secretary, to the dealer, to the smuggler. Today’s successful operation is a direct result of law enforcement partners working cooperatively at all levels of government.”

          The jails indictment focuses on a period when Mexican Mafia member Jose Landa-Rodriguez and two now-deceased members of the prison gang allegedly controlled the criminal enterprise in LACJ. The indictment explains how Landa-Rodriguez, who was incarcerated in LACJ at the time, and other leaders of the enterprise exercised power with the help of trusted “shot-callers,” facilitators and associates. “These Mexican Mafia members and associates, working together to control criminal activity within LACJ, have become their own entity or enterprise and effectively function as an illegal government within LACJ custody facilities,” the indictment states.

          Landa-Rodriquez, 55, orchestrated a host of criminal activities, according to the indictment, which alleges that he sanctioned murders, a series of assaults, and the kidnapping and planned murder of the relative of a gang member who had defied him.

          A second Mexican Mafia member, Luis Vega, 33, is named as the number 2 defendant in the LACJ indictment. Vega allegedly ordered a murder and directed assaults against those who showed disrespect or failed to follow Mexican Mafia rules.

          “Operation Dirty Thirds lifts the veil on only one aspect of the complicated factors behind inmate-on-inmate assaults and the dangers to our custody staff,” said Sheriff Jim McDonnell. “Many assaults have been directed, and carried out, by the Mexican Mafia and are documented in this investigation that took more than four years.”

          One of the key facilitators for Landa-Rodriguez allegedly was attorney Gabriel Zendejas-Chavez, who was arrested this morning. The indictment, which notes that attorneys are particularly valued members of the operation because attorney-client privilege can serve as a shield to conceal criminal activity from law enforcement, accuses Zendejas-Chavez of conveying messages and orders related to the criminal enterprise. According to the indictment, Zendejas-Chavez travelled to state and federal prisons to convey messages to Mexican Mafia members, including those incarcerated at ADX Florence; conveyed information, including the names of people potentially cooperating with law enforcement, to members of the LACJ racketeering enterprise; and facilitated a plot to extort $100,000 from the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.

          Inside the jails, drug trafficking generated revenues for leaders of the criminal enterprise in two ways, according to the indictment. Once narcotics were smuggled into jail facilities at the direction of the Mexican Mafia members and their shot-callers, the narcotics were sold to inmates – and those who possessed other narcotics were not allowed to sell their drugs until the Mexican Mafia member’s drugs were sold. Second, the Mexican Mafia collected a “thirds” tax on all other drugs smuggled into LACJ. This meant that one-third of all narcotics smuggled into LACJ had to be “broken-off” and given to the Mexican Mafia member or his shot-caller in control of the facility. If the Mexican Mafia member decided to sell the “thirds-tax” portion of the drugs, others in the facility were prohibited from selling drugs until the Mexican Mafia member had sold his “thirds.” This rule led to the name of the investigation: Operation “Dirty Thirds.”

          “The Mexican Mafia prison gang is a key component of the illicit drug supply chain, largely controlling narcotics distribution perpetrated by violent street gangs,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge David J. Downing. “Extinguishing La eMe’s ability to facilitate organized rackets, drug crimes, and associated violence is a top priority for DEA, and we’re embedded with countless law enforcement partners in this ongoing effort.”

          “CDCR and the Office of Correctional Safety would like to thank our partners in the San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Gang Task Force,” said John Prelip, CDCR Special Service Unit Special Agent-In-Charge. “We know the Mexican Mafia operates within state prisons to conduct criminal activities on the outside through very sophisticated networks. Our hope is that investigations such as these send a message to these gangs that law enforcement – both inside and outside prisons or jails – will continue to work together to dismantle their operations, and protect the community.”

          The second RICO indictment unsealed today focuses on a second criminal enterprise that allegedly was run by another incarcerated member of the Mexican Mafia, Michael Lerma, 61, also known as “Pomona Mike.” Lerma exercised control over, and extorted drug proceeds from, Latino street gangs in and around Pomona, as well as from incarcerated Latinos in Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County. Members of Lerma’s criminal enterprise also allegedly engaged in robberies, identity theft and fraud, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and other acts of violence. Lerma profited from these criminal activities when top-level female associates known as “señoras” deposited proceeds into his prison account, according to the indictment.

          In one incident alleged in the indictment, members of Lerna’s criminal enterprise attempted to steal a Mercedes-Benz automobile that was owned by a LACJ inmate. When the caretaker of the car refused to turn over the vehicle, one of the defendants named in the indictment shot him. In another incident allegedly involving members of Lerma’s organization, a woman was kidnapped, held for several days while being extorted for money, and was going to be murdered before the plot was disrupted by law enforcement.

          “The Pomona community certainly suffered from the criminal acts of those indicted,” said Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri. “I am very pleased with the success of this long-term investigation, and I am looking forward to more collaboration with our law enforcement partners in future investigations.”

          The two indictments unsealed today charge a host of criminal offenses, including conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity; violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity; carjacking; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana; distribution of and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; money laundering; possession of at least 15 access devices (credit card numbers); aggravated identity theft; and use, possession or discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. If convicted, most of the defendants could be sentenced to decades in federal prison, and some could face life without parole.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

          Most of the defendants arrested this morning are expected to be arraigned on the indictments this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

          Operation Dirty Thirds was conducted by the FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force. The Pomona Police Department is the sponsoring agency of the Task Force and has been the headquarters for the task force since its inception in 2008.

          A number of law enforcement agencies provided substantial assistance during this morning’s takedown, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Ontario Police Department; IRS Criminal Investigation and other agencies.

          The RICO cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Max B. Shiner and Shawn J. Nelson.

          SANTA ANA, California – A San Gabriel Valley doctor who pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge for illegally distributing the powerful opioid best known by the brand name OxyContin was sentenced today to over 13 years in federal prison.

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          Dr. Daniel Cham, 49, a Covina resident who formerly operated a clinic in La Puente, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford.

          As he was sentencing Cham today, Judge Guilford expressed concern “that other doctors haven’t gotten the message of the seriousness of this activity.”

          Cham pleaded guilty in April 2016 to one count of distribution of oxycodone, a powerful and addictive painkiller marketed under various names, including OxyContin, Vicodin and Norco. Cham also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.

          In documents filed in relation to today’s sentencing, prosecutors wrote that Cham “stands before the court for selling prescriptions for massive amounts of oxycodone to persons he well knew were drug dealers and addicts, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Defendant’s illegal prescriptions killed at least two addicted youths, including a 22-year-old woman and 28-year-old man.”

          The young woman, who was a resident of Oregon, died after ingesting narcotics prescribed by Cham to members of Oregon-based drug trafficking conspiracy. Cham issued prescriptions in the names of the Oregon drug traffickers – many of whom he had never met – and Cham created fake paperwork to make it falsely appear he had examined the “patients.” Investigators in Oregon identified over 12,000 pills of oxycodone that Cham illegally prescribed to the drug traffickers in that state.

          “There is an opioid-abuse epidemic in this nation, and some of that drug abuse is fueled by unscrupulous doctors like this defendant,” said United States Attorney Nicola T. Hanna. “The lengthy sentence imposed in this case is the direct result of this defendant’s profiting from prescribing narcotics to persons he knew to be addicts and drug dealers – actions that led to fatal overdoses for two people.”

          In a plea agreement filed in this case, Cham admitted that he unlawfully prescribed oxycodone to an undercover agent posing as a patient in March 2014 in exchange for $300 in money orders, which Cham then deposited into a bank account held in the name of another business. Cham made the deposit “knowing that the transaction was designed to conceal and disguise the nature and source of the money orders,” according to the plea agreement.

          Acting on tip about a pharmacy that was filling a large number of prescriptions written by Cham, special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered a “large-scale criminal operation” in which Cham was writing thousands of prescriptions for powerful painkillers, often in combination with alprazolam (often sold under brand name Xanax) or carisoprodol (often sold under the brand name Soma), according to court documents. “The combination of these drugs is particularly dangerous, and is associated with the majority of overdose deaths,” according to a sentencing memorandum filed in court.

          A doctor who specializes in pain management and addiction reviewed Cham’s history of writing prescriptions and found “gross and overwhelming evidence of inappropriate prescribing of narcotics and controlled drugs.” The expert also reviewed recordings made by undercover operatives who obtained prescriptions from Cham and found that the doctor was “essentially at that point dealing drugs.”

          An affidavit previously filed in this case discussed how an undercover officer made three visits to Cham’s La Puente office in 2014, and how Cham wrote prescriptions for controlled substances in exchange for $200 or $300 in cash or money orders. As discussed in the court document, Cham issued a prescription for oxycodone even though the undercover operative said he “had been high and drunk while receiving controlled substance prescriptions” previously from Cham. On another occasion, Cham prescribed oxycodone even though the undercover law enforcement officer presented, in lieu of photo identification, a written notice that his license had been suspended for driving under the influence.

          “Dr. Cham broke the Hippocratic Oath he swore to uphold when he became a physician – instead of serving the public good, his actions caused harm and death,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge David J. Downing. “Cham was no longer functioning as a healer but a common drug dealer, and his sentence should serve as a cautionary tale to other physicians who would choose this path for the sake of greed.”

          “Not only did defendant Cham abdicate his oath as a physician, he deliberately caused harm by continuously drugging addicts who were in need of rehabilitation,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to end illegal drug networks operating out of doctors’ offices.”

          In his plea agreement, Cham also agrees to forfeit to the government more than $60,000 in cash that he admits are “proceeds of illegal activity.”

          “While exploiting his patients’ addictions for his own personal gain, Cham laundered tens of thousands of dollars in cash and money orders through bank accounts held in fake business names such as Good Life 2 LLC. The good life Cham created for himself was fueled by a callous disregard for his patients’ well-being,” stated R. Damon Rowe, Special Agent in Charge for IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS Criminal Investigation contributes our financial expertise in an effort to stop criminals who profit from the illegal trade of dangerous narcotics and take away any financial benefit they receive from their criminal activity.”

          The investigation into Cham was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Los Angeles and Portland Field Offices, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force, the California Medical Board, and the Los Angeles Police Department.

          The case against Cham was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin Barron of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

          LOS ANGELES – A Tijuana woman who was charged in the first major narcotics trafficking indictment resulting from an investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison for transporting 21 pounds of pure methamphetamine across the United States-Mexico border on behalf of a drug trafficking organization linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

          Diana Margarita Ortega Garcia, 25, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer.

          A federal jury found Ortega guilty in August of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine following a three-day trial.

          Ortega was one of 22 defendants named in a 19-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed in June. The defendants allegedly were responsible for the importation of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin from Mexico into the United States. The narcotics were distributed throughout the country via a network of cartel associates, and the proceeds from the domestic narcotics sales were then funneled back to Mexico, according to the indictment.

          During the two-year wiretap investigation, members of the Strike Force seized narcotics with an approximate street value in Los Angeles of more than $6 million, including approximately 290 pounds of methamphetamine, 280 pounds of cocaine, 30 pounds of heroin and 81 pounds of marijuana.

          Ortega is one of 10 defendants who have been taken into custody pursuant to the indictment. The other nine defendants are currently scheduled to go on trial on March 13.

          The evidence presented during Ortega’s trial showed that she used her own vehicle to drive the concealed methamphetamine across the international border on February 1, 2015. Ortega agreed to smuggle the narcotics in exchange for $6,000, and she took the 21 pounds of methamphetamine to a drop house in the Moreno Valley. Most of the methamphetamine was seized by law enforcement in the days after the delivery.

          The Los Angeles Strike Force investigation is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshals Service and the Azusa Police Department.

          The indictment issued as a result of the Strike Force investigation revealed a sophisticated international drug trafficking network that regularly transported narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border and at times stored drugs in “stash houses” located in the San Gabriel Valley. The narcotics then were distributed throughout the United States.

          The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to target Mexican drug cartels that utilize the Los Angeles metropolitan region as a primary hub for the distribution of narcotics across the United States. The goals of the Strike Force are to target high-level narcotics traffickers, disrupt and dismantle the cartels’ narcotics trafficking and related money laundering activities, and arrest and prosecute the cartels’ leaders and operatives.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

          If the remaining defendants in this case are convicted, all of them would face potential sentences of life without parole in federal prison.

          This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer A. Corbet and A. Carley Palmer of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and Scott Lara of the General Crimes Section.

          LOS ANGELES – The first major narcotics trafficking indictment resulting from an investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force was unsealed today as authorities arrested seven defendants charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons offenses.

          The indictment charges a total of 22 defendants who allegedly were members of a drug trafficking organization linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The charged defendants allegedly were responsible for the importation of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin from Mexico into the United States. The narcotics were distributed throughout the country via a network of cartel associates, and the proceeds from the domestic narcotics sales were then funneled back to Mexico, according to the indictment.

          In addition to the seven defendants arrested this morning, one of the defendants was already in a California prison on unrelated charges. The remaining 14 defendants, including four whose true names are not yet known, are fugitives, most of whom are believed to be in Mexico.

          During the two-year wiretap investigation, members of the Strike Force seized narcotics with an approximate street value in Los Angeles of more than $6 million, including approximately 290 pounds of methamphetamine, 280 pounds of cocaine, 30 pounds of heroin and 81 pounds of marijuana. During the investigation, authorities also seized 33 firearms, three vehicles with hidden compartments and $1.3 million in cash.

          The indictment specifically details 14 significant seizures, one of which involved more than 15 kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as over 28 firearms. Another seizure involved more than 70 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin as well as two vacuum-sealed bundles of cash.

          The Los Angeles Strike Force investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshals Service and the Azusa Police Department. These Strike Force members uncovered a sophisticated international drug trafficking network that regularly transported narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border and at times stored drugs in “stash houses” across the San Gabriel Valley. The narcotics then were distributed throughout the United States.

          “The Strike Force has become a leader in using innovative investigative techniques to target Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations,” said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown. “We are committed to stemming the illegal flow of narcotics into our country, and law enforcement initiatives like the Strike Force will continue to have a significant impact in protecting Americans from dangerous drugs and the violence that often accompanies illegal drug trafficking.”

          “The stream of narcotics coming into the United States fuels violence in local neighborhoods and contributes to the current drug epidemic in the United States,” said Deirdre Fike, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Today’s multi-agency operation is the result of a lengthy investigation targeting cartel members for their roles in an international drug importation network that enriched Mexico-based cartel members while American communities were being adversely affected. The FBI will continue to address this crime problem by working with our law enforcement partners, and by engaging with leaders of communities affected by narcotics trafficking.”

          “The indictment and today’s arrests demonstrate the Strike Force’s ability to reach both sides of the border, impacting the Sinaloa Cartel by disrupting their drug supply chain and neutralizing key players in the organization,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge David J. Downing. “We’ve sent a message to the cartels – they won’t be allowed to operate freely in Los Angeles or conduct business as usual.”

          The 19-count indictment specifically charges the defendants with being members of a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The indictment contains 14 counts alleging possession with the intent to distribute narcotics. One defendant also is charged with illegally possessing seven handguns while engaged in drug trafficking activities.

          The seven defendants arrested today are:



Julian Rocha, also known as “JRoc,” 33, of Azusa, who is charged with being a Los Angeles-based purchaser of Mexican narcotics;





Froilan Villarreal, also known as aka “DeL MoNtE,” of Azusa, who allegedly illegally possessed seven firearms when authorities seized large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from his El Monte residence;





Oscar Arredondo, 53, of Bakersfield, an alleged drug transporter who was arrested in the Eastern District of California;





Maria Ernestina Limon Elenes, 64, of Azusa, an alleged facilitator and the mother of lead defendant/fugitive Jeuri Limon Elenes;





Antonio Orozco, also known as “El Sr.,” 45, of Long Beach, who allegedly transported narcotics across the international border;





Martin Ruiz Saldana, of Santa Ana, who allegedly received narcotics from Villarreal; and





Audrey Rose Urrea, of Chula Vista, who allegedly attempted to transport narcotics across the international border and who was arrested this morning in the Southern District of California.



          The five defendants arrested today in the Central District of California are being arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

          One additional defendant – Fernando Madueno Sanchez – was already in state prison. Prosecutors will seek to transfer him to federal custody to face the charges in the indictment unsealed today.

          The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to target Mexican drug cartels that utilize the Los Angeles metropolitan region as a primary hub for the distribution of narcotics across the United States. The goals of the Strike Force are to target high-level narcotics traffickers, disrupt and dismantle the cartels’ narcotics trafficking and related money laundering activities, and arrest and prosecute the cartels’ leaders and operatives.

          The lead defendant in the indictment – Jeuri Limon Elenes (also known as “Prude,” “Rzr,” “Fox,” and “Royal Nuevo”) – is charged with acquiring narcotics in Mexico and arranging for the transportation of the drugs into the United States. Limon is a fugitive at this time.

          In addition to the narcotics and weapons offenses, the indictment includes a charge of conspiracy to launder money that alleges the drug trafficking organization used the United States banking system to launder drug proceeds by making multiple cash deposits into purportedly legitimate accounts to disguise the origin of thousands of dollars of illicit funds.

          “When drug traffickers amass large quantities of cash from narcotics sales, they often attempt to legitimize these ill-gotten profits through the use of banks and financial institutions,” said R. Damon Rowe, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation. “This joint investigation demonstrates our efforts to ensure that the banking industry will not be abused by large-scale narcotics traffickers, but will be operated in a fair and honest manner to promote the public interest.”

           An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

          If they are convicted in this case, all of the defendants would be subject to potential sentences of life without parole in federal prison.

Docket (0 Docs):   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/159nfR5tV9muPbBAQeYYPCYej7LJv5Jad1Q64PtGow2Q
  Last Updated: 2023-10-19 04:56:46 UTC
Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY

Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5

Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15

Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1

Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2

Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code indicating the event by which a defendant appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5

Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The number of days from the earlier of filing date or first appearance date to proceeding date
Format: N3

Description: The number of days from proceeding date to disposition date
Format: N3

Description: The number of days from disposition date to sentencing date
Format: N3

Description: The code of the district office where the case was terminated
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant at the time the case was closed
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense that carried the most severe disposition and penalty under which the defendant was disposed
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with TTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with TTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with TTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with TTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The code indicating the nature or type of disposition associated with TTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The number of months a defendant was sentenced to prison under TTITLE1
Format: N4

Description: The number of months of probation imposed upon a defendant under TTITLE1
Format: N4

Description: A period of supervised release imposed upon a defendant under TTITLE1
Format: N3

Description: The fine imposed upon the defendant at sentencing under TTITLE1
Format: N8

Description: The total prison time for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and prison time was imposed
Format: N4

Description: The total probation time for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and probation was imposed
Format: N4

Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8

Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10

Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2

Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
Format: YYYY

Data imported from FJC Integrated Database
F U C K I N G P E D O S R E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E