Montgomery – Attorney General Luther Strange welcomed Federal Judge Callie Granade’s decision Sunday night to grant a 14-day stay in her January 23, 2015, order enjoining the Attorney General from enforcing Alabama’s laws prohibiting same-sex marriage.
“Judge Granade’s decision to grant a stay of her January 23, 2015, ruling concerning Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriages is a step in the right direction,” said Attorney General Luther Strange. “While I would have preferred a longer stay to allow the matter to be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s anticipated ruling in June, the 14-day stay allows more time for my office to prepare our stay request to the 11th Circuit Court while also affording the public time to resolve the confusion over the impact of the recent ruling.”
AG Strange Announces Indictments in Multi-State Credit Card Fraud Scheme
MONTGOMERY)–Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrests yesterday of two North Alabama men on felony charges in a multi-state credit card fraud scheme. Jonathan William Sharpton, 31, of Colbert County and Barry Gene Holder, 53, of Lauderdale County were indicted on charges of first-degree theft of property, fraudulent use of a credit card, identity theft, and conspiracy to commit identity theft.
Attorney General Strange’s Office presented evidence to an Elmore County grand jury on January 8 resulting in Sharpton’s and Holder’s indictments**. Specifically, the indictments charge the two men with:
· One count of first-degree theft of property by knowingly obtaining, by deception, a credit card valued at more than $2,500 with the intent to deprive the owner of said property
· One count of fraudulent use of a credit card to obtain property or service with the knowledge that the card was stolen, had been cancelled or revoked, or without authorization from the owner of such card
· One count of identity theft to obtain goods or services through the use of identifying information of the victim, without authorization, consent, or permission of the victim, and with the intent to defraud for his own benefit or the benefit of a third person
· One count of conspiracy to commit identity theft in agreement with one or more persons to obtain goods or services through the use of the credit card number of the victim without the authorization, consent or permission of the victim, and with the intent to defraud
If convicted, Sharpton and Holder face a maximum penalty of two to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $30,000 for each of the counts of first-degree theft and identity theft, which are class B felonies; and one to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $15,000 for each of the counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and conspiracy to commit identity theft, which are class C felonies.
Sharpton allegedly committed the crimes while he was incarcerated in the Elmore County Detention Facility. He currently is incarcerated in the Limestone Correctional Facility. Holder is being held at the Elmore County Jail. No trial date has been set at this time.
No further information about the investigation or about the alleged crimes may be released at this time.
Attorney General Strange commended those who are handling this case, noting in particular Assistant Attorney General John Hensley of the Attorney General’s Criminal Trials Division, Special Agents of the Attorney General’s Investigations Division, and the Sheffield Police Department.
Conspirators in Gulf Oil-Spill Fund Fraud Sentenced
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge has sentenced three south Alabama family members to prison for running a scheme to steal more than $3 million from the claims fund established by British Petroleum for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn sentenced Marcella Truss, 53, to 12 years and one month in prison. The judge also ordered Truss to pay $1.9 million in restitution and to forfeit that same amount as proceeds of illegal activity. Judge Blackburn sentenced Truss’ husband, Martee Davis, 42, to 13 years and three months in prison. The judge ordered Davis to be responsible for the same restitution and forfeiture as Truss. Judge Blackburn sentenced Truss’ brother, Howard Lenard Carroway, 42, to 8 years in prison. Truss and Davis lived in Grand Bay, Ala., and Birmingham, and Carroway lived in Mobile during the course of the scheme.
The overall conspiracy involved the filing of more than 50 fraudulent claims, in the names of 37 people, over about 18 months with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, according to the government’s sentencing memoranda for the three defendants. The conspirators executed their scheme by wire, mail and in person in three states, spanning four jurisdictions, according to the government. The scheme involved the repetitive and coordinated use of emails, phones, and a variety of falsified documents, including tax and payroll records.
“Stealing money intended to help disaster victims recover is a serious and heartless crime, as today’s sentences reflect,” Vance said. “These defendants saw a disaster that blackened and fouled the Gulf of Mexico, spoiled much of its coastline and damaged or destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people, and they chose to exploit the tragedy for their own criminal profit. We place a high priority on investigating and prosecuting such fraud to ensure that funds available to help victims of natural and man-made disasters do not fall into the hands of criminals,” she said.
“Relief funds meant to assist individuals, businesses and communities are essential in order to restore normalcy after a disaster,” Stanton said. “This process is hampered by those few, like today’s defendants, who wish to defraud and siphon relief and disaster funds away from those who are most at need. The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who defraud the government for their own personal gain,” he said.
A federal jury in October found Truss, Davis and Carroway guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud between August 2010 and December 2011 for filing false claims with BP Gulf Coast fund. Evidence at trial showed the oil spill fund paid almost $2 million on the fraudulent claims. The jury also convicted the trio of aggravated identity theft in carrying out the scheme.
The jury further found Truss guilty on 31 counts of wire fraud for submitting, or causing to be submitted, false claims to the GCCF, and on one count of mail fraud related to a check received as part of the scheme. It convicted Davis on three wire fraud counts.
The jury convicted Truss and Davis of laundering money stolen from the GCCF. It found Carroway guilty on five wire fraud counts and on two counts of obstructing justice for telling recruits in the scheme to lie to prosecutors.
BP owned the Macondo Oil Well where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in 2010. The company established the GCCF in June 2010 to administer and settle claims made against it by individuals or business for losses, damages or other costs resulting from the massive oil spill.
Truss, Davis and Carroway originally were charged along with two other people, Truss’ son, Robert Truss III, 26, of Houston, and Cedric Dion Ravizee, 37, of Birmingham. Robert Truss pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy, money laundering, wire fraud and mail fraud, and Ravizee pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
In total, 20 people have been convicted in the Northern District of Alabama on charges related to the scheme to defraud the GCCF. Marcella and Robert Truss, Davis and Carroway recruited the 16 other defendants to provide personal information that was used to file false claims. Those recruited then received claim payments and provided a portion of the payments to the ringleaders. The 17 remaining defendants in the fraud are to be sentenced this week.
All of the fraudulent claims submitted to the GCCF falsely stated that the individual had worked for a company called Built by Request and had lost wages because of the Deepwater Horizon incident. Marcella Truss owned BBR and dissolved the company after the scheme played out.
The FBI investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Cornelius, Jacquelyn M. Hutzell and Xavier O. Carter are prosecuting the case.
