Brevard County Man Sentenced To 20 Months In Federal Prison For Bankruptcy Fraud

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger today sentenced Jason Arise Smith (45, Indialantic) to 20 months in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud. The court also ordered Smith to pay $3,400 in restitution to victim C.S., who was his spouse at the time of the offenses.

Smith had pleaded guilty on January 6, 2020.

According to court records, in September 2016, Smith had a bankruptcy attorney file a fraudulent bankruptcy petition in the name of C.S., in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division. Smith had this petition filed without C.S.’s knowledge or consent, in order to delay foreclosure proceedings on their home and to hide the fact that Smith had not been making payments on their mortgage. To enable the filing of this petition without C.S.’s knowledge, Smith falsely represented to the bankruptcy attorney that C.S. was hospitalized with terminal brain cancer. After this first bankruptcy case was dismissed by the bankruptcy court, Smith forged C.S.’s signature on paperwork and caused a second bankruptcy petition to be filed with the court in his and C.S.’s names, again without C.S.’s knowledge, to further delay foreclosure proceedings.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt.

Rapid City Woman Sentenced to 10 Years for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, woman who pled guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on March 30, 2020, by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken. 

Bryaunah Stewart, age 28, was sentenced to a total of 10 years in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

From approximately November 2017 to June 2018, Stewart distributed methamphetamine in the area of Rapid City.  The methamphetamine she distributed was brought to South Dakota from Colorado by another woman, Cathy Wells, who was sentenced in July 2019 to 20 years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and the South Dakota National Guard.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.

Stewart was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Suspect in Custody Connected to Bad Wig Bandit Robberies

A man is in custody in Columbus, Georgia, in connection to four bank robberies in North Carolina and one store robbery in Charlotte. Patrick Alexander was taken into custody at Fort Benning, Georgia, on March 30, 2020, when he attempted to enter the installation. When Military Police ran his identification, which is standard procedure to enter a military installation, an active robbery warrant was discovered. Alexander is currently facing one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon related to the Charlotte convenience store robbery and one count of common law robbery for the Huntersville bank robbery. He is currently being held at the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus, Georgia.

Alexander is a suspect in the following robberies in North Carolina;

    December 13, 2019 - BB&T Bank 16710 Northcross Drive, Huntersville;

    January 7, 2020 - New Horizon Bank 6440 Wilkinson Boulevard, Belmont;

    January 7, 2020 - Wells Fargo 403 Cox Road, Gastonia;

    January 16, 2020 - BB&T Bank 100 Dana Road, Hendersonville; and

    January 23, 2020 - Circle K 100 Red Roof Road, Charlotte.

The FBI, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the Huntersville Police Department, the Belmont Police Department, the Gastonia Police Department, and the Hendersonville Police Department are continuing to investigate. Additional charges are likely. FBI Atlanta assisted in the investigatio