Washington Man Sentenced to 92 Months in Federal Prison for Possession of a Stolen Silencer Spokane Man Sentenced in Federal Court

Spokane – William D. Hyslop, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Joseph W. Aarnes, age 38, of Spokane, Washington, was sentenced today after having pleaded guilty on July 16, 2019, to possession of a stolen firearm. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. sentenced Aarnes to a 92-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a 3-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, on June 6, 2018, Aarnes was arrested by the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC). Two days later, a third party notified DOC that there was a firearm “silencer,” also known as a suppressor, among Aarnes’ personal belongings at a residence. After obtaining consent to search the residence, officers seized a Gemtech, model Outback 2d, silencer. Investigators determined the silencer had been reported stolen. Under federal law, a “silencer” is considered a firearm.

William D. Hyslop said, “Possession of a stolen ‘silencer’ presents unnecessary risks to the community. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington will continue to prosecute aggressively those individuals who illegally possess firearms and ammunition. I commend the outstanding work of the FBI, ATF, Washington State Department of Corrections, and the Spokane Police Department in investigating this case.”

This case was prosecuted under the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program. PSN is a federal, state, and local law enforcement collaboration to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals responsible for violent crimes in our neighborhoods. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement to specifically identify the criminals responsible for violent crime in the Eastern District of Washington and pursue criminal prosecution.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. The United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this case with support from the following Project Guardian partners: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Spokane Regional Safe Streets Task Force, the Spokane Regional Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Washington State Department of Corrections, and the Spokane Police Department. For more information about Project Guardian, please see: https://www.justice.gov/ag/project-guardian-memo-2019/download.

This case was prosecuted by Patrick J. Cashman, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. 

Crack Dealers Sentenced to Prison

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that two men involved in a New Haven-based drug trafficking organization were sentenced today in Hartford federal court.  U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant sentenced MARVIN SPRUILL, 27, of West Haven, to 57 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and CARNELL EDWARDS, 49, of Bridgeport, to 30 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2017, the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force initiated an investigation into a New Haven drug trafficking organization headed by Jermayne Butler.  The investigation, which included physical surveillance, 13 controlled purchases of narcotics, and court-authorized wiretaps on multiple phones, revealed that members of the organization were distributing crack cocaine and oxycodone in and around New Haven.  Both Spruill and Edwards purchased crack from other members of the conspiracy and sold the drug in smaller quantities to their own customers.

Butler, Spruill, Edwards and several other members of the organization were arrested on federal criminal complaints on February 6, 2018.  On February 8, 2018, a grand jury in New Haven returned a 30-count indictment charging 19 individuals with various offenses.

Spruill and Edwards each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, cocaine base “crack.”

Butler also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force, which includes members from the New Haven Police Department, Milford Police Department, West Haven Police Department and Connecticut Department of Correction.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick F. Caruso and David C. Nelson.

Court Sentences North Carolina Bloods Gang Members for Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Murder

Four North Carolina members of the United Blood Nation (UBN or Bloods) street gang were sentenced in Charlotte, North Carolina, after pleading guilty to federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina.

Tyquan Ramont Powell, aka Savage, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Lamonte Kentrell Lloyd, aka Murda Mo and Moo, 26, of Scotland Neck, North Carolina, Thomas Oliver, aka T.O., Recon, Rex, and Mr. Trippbadd, 34 of Gastonia, North Carolina were each sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney to serve 35 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.  Each of these defendants pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy charges involving murder.  Judge Whitney also sentenced Marquel Michael Cunningham, aka Mayhem, 23, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, to 15 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release following his guilty plea to RICO conspiracy and his role in an attempted murder.

According to court documents and evidence presented at May 2018 and October 2019 trials of co-defendants, the UBN is a violent criminal street gang operating throughout the east coast of the United States since it was founded as a prison gang in 1993.  UBN members are often identified by their use of the color red, and can also often be identified by common tattoos or burn marks.  The UBN has a militaristic structure, with positions of Godfather, High, Low, Five-Star to One‑Star Generals and soldiers.  UBN members use distinct hand signs and written codes, which are used to identify other members and rival gang members, as well as to try to thwart law enforcement efforts against them.

Members of the UBN are expected to conduct themselves and their illegal activity according to rules and regulations set by their leaders.  Prominent among these is a requirement to pay monthly dues to the organization, often in the amounts of $31 or $93.  UBN gang dues are derived from illegal activity performed by subordinate UBN members including narcotics trafficking, robberies and wire fraud, among other forms of illegal racketeering activity.

According to court documents, Powell and Lloyd were members of the UBN and together committed two murders and three attempted murders in January and February of 2016.  Powell and Lloyd committed the first murder in Scotland Neck, North Carolina, by shooting into a car with three occupants because they believed one of the occupants was cooperating with law enforcement and intended to testify in a criminal case against a close associate of the defendants.  Bullets struck all three occupants and the intended target of the shooting was killed.  The defendants then fled to, among other places, Charlotte, North Carolina, where they received refuge and resources from UBN members and associates while attempting to evade arrest.

Powell and Lloyd also committed murder in Gastonia, North Carolina, while attempting to rob four victims using handguns.  When the victims resisted the defendants’ robbery attempt, Powell fired his gun and killed one of the victims, who was attempting to flee to safety.  Powell and Lloyd also attempted to rob another victim in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Lloyd shot the victim in the back of the head, but the victim was effectively treated for his injuries at the hospital and lived.

According to court documents and evidence presented at an October 2019 trial of a co-defendant, Oliver drove himself and four other UBN members from Cleveland County, North Carolina, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in order to rob an 18-year-old victim of marijuana and money.  Oliver coordinated the crimes as a local UBN leader, and was present when his fellow gang members shot and killed the robbery victim and attempted to kill the victim’s friend, who survived a gunshot wound to his arm.

Also according to court documents, Cunningham committed an armed robbery for the UBN, as well as an assault of a fellow UBN member for violating UBN gang rules.  Court documents and evidence presented at sentencing also showed that Cunningham was present in a car with UBN co‑conspirators in November 2014 when they saw a man who Cunningham believed to be a member of the rival gang called the Crips.  Cunningham pointed the man out to his fellow Bloods and flashed UBN gang hand signs.  Occupants of the car then opened fire on the victim, exited the car, and chased the victim while shooting approximately a dozen times.  No one was injured in the attempted murder.

In May 2017, 83 UBN gang members were indicted in the Western District of North Carolina for RICO conspiracy and other crimes.  In all, 82 defendants have been adjudicated guilty from the investigation.  A jury convicted three top leaders of the UBN of racketeering conspiracy in May 2018, one defendant was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy at a bench trial in July 2019, and a jury convicted four defendants of racketeering conspiracy and other charges in October 2019.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office; the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department; the Shelby Police Department; the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office; the Gastonia Police Department; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office; the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Adult Corrections and Juvenile Justice; North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles; Scotland Neck Police Department; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office; the U.S. Federal Probation; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations.  Trial Attorney Beth Lipman of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Warren and Christopher Hess for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.