U.S. Attorneys’ Roundtable
NAPABA Conference
November 7, 2015
Albert Lin
Ice Miller LLP
250 West Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 462-2233
Albert.Lin@icemiller.com
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Columbus 5005196
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Agenda
Introduction
The Districts and U.S. Attorneys
The Appointment Process
Trends & Cases
Policies
Conclusion
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Introduction
U.S. Attorneys are the “local” office for the Department of
Justice
Districts have a large geographic footprint, large population
Post-financial crises, there is a renewed focus on criminal
and civil enforcement
Provide information on:
U.S. Attorneys
Trends
Cases
Better understand the offices
Familiarity in resolving cases
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U.S. Att’y for S.D. Ohio: Carter Stewart
Appointed in 2009
U.S. Attorney for S.D. Ohio
District covers southern
Ohio, including Columbus,
Dayton, Cincinnati
Population of over 5
million
Member of AG’s Advisory
Committee 2012-14
Child Exploitation Working
Group
Racial Disparities Working
Group
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U.S. Att’y for D. Hawaii: Florence Nakakuni
Appointed in 2009
U.S. Attorney for D.
Hawaii
District covers Hawaii
Population of 1.4 million
Over 150,000 square
miles of protected
federal lands and ocean
Over 35 years in federal
service
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U.S. Att’y For D. Guam & N. Mariana Islands:
Alicia Limtiaco
Appointed in 2010
Jurisdiction covers District of
Guam and District of NMI
Population:
Guam 162,000
NMI
53,000
Guam 212 sq miles (549 sq
km)
3x size of Washington DC
NMI 179 sq miles (464 sq km)
NMI (14 islands including
Saipan, Rota and Tinian)
2.5x size of Washington DC
Former elected A.G. of Guam
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Guam & N.M.I.: Gateway to Asia
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The U.S. Attorney Appointment Process
What attracted you to the position
Public service
Management
Prosecutorial discretion
Wide-angle impact
Like most federal positions, an open application
process
Approved by home state Senator or Delegate
Vetted by DOJ
Appointed by President
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Getting Noticed
Reputation as lawyer
Civil v. Criminal
Experience in federal service
Relationships
With Senate staff
With the presidential administration
With state government
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The Application
Detailed FBI background check
Voluminous and detailed disclosures
Every place you have lived
Every case you have litigated
Every place you have worked
Every supervisor you had
Every speech you’ve made, every writing you have
published
Recommendations
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The Home State Interview: Hawaii
Staff Interview
Detailed inquiry into past work performance
Making sure had substantial litigation experience
Relationships
Sen. Inouye Interview
Sen. Akaka Interview
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The Home State Interview: S.D. Ohio
Vetting by Sen. Brown Staff
Judicial appointment panel interview
Over a dozen prominent attorneys from the N.D.
Ohio
Competitive interview process
Detailed inquiry into background and work history
Sen. Brown Interview
Sen. Voinovich
Management experience
Record as AUSA and in private practice
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The Home State Interview:
D. Guam & D. N.M.I.
Elected A.G. 2006, served 2007 to 2010
Meetings with Congresswoman Bordallo
Record as A.G.
Professionalizing the office
Collaboration and cooperation
Criminal prosecution and civil enforcement
Victims and families
Multidisciplinary task forces and coalitions
Commitment to public service as prosecutor
Community service and involvement
Government, nonprofits, civic orgs. and private sector
Experience in private practice
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DOJ Interviews
Staff Interview
Background and Work History
David Margolis
Policy questions
Legal heroes
AG Interview
Questions about background
Skeletons
Ideas for the Office
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Appointment Takeaways
Keep great historical records
Disclose everything up front
Policy position at odds with current administration
Prior indiscretions
Reputation and standing in local community
matters a lot
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Trends & Cases
National Security
Environmental
Public Corruption
Human Trafficking
White Collar Cases
Drugs & Violent Crime
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National Security
Every district’s top priority
Terrorism
Government or military espionage
Industrial espionage
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National Security: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Abdirahman Mohamud
23 year old Columbus resident
Charged with providing material support to terrorists
Travelled to Syria to obtain terrorist training
Instructed to return to U.S. to commit an act of
terrorism
United States v. Cornell
21 year old Cincinnati resident
Charged with attempting to provide material support
to ISIL
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National Security: Cases: Hawaii
United States v. Noshir Gowanda
Stealth bomber engineer with Northrup
Selling defense information to China and other
countries
Assisted PRC in designing a low observable cruise
missile exhaust system nozzle capable of rendering
missile less susceptible to detection and
interception
17 counts including espionage, conspiracy, money
laundering, and tax offenses
Serving 32 year federal sentence
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National Security: Cases: Hawaii
United States v. Benjamin Bishop
59 year old Hawaii resident
Lt. Col. In Army Reserve
Charged with disclosing classified information to
27 year old Chinese graduate student with whom
he had a romantic relationship
Information relating to nuclear weapons systems,
early-warning radar systems and other U.S.
Defense programs
87 month sentence
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National Security: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
No charged cases
Assist other districts – removed from Guam to
district where offense allegedly occurred
Computer hacking scheme
Foreign Extraditions – criminal defendants to
Korea and Palau.
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National Security: Trends
Increased military resources in the Pacific
More foreign intelligence activity
Industrial espionage
Terrorism
Traveler cases
Domestic radicalization
Use of social media
Terrorist propaganda is slick, targeted, and
appealing to youth
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Environmental: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Gov’t of
Guam/DPW - Closure of a
toxic dump (Ordot)
20 years of pollution
Fires & Evacuations
River and Shoreline
Pollution
Worker Exposure
45 acres
280 Tons of solid waste
per day
Rain percolation/ 55
million gallons annually
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Environmental: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
Opening of a sanitary landfill (Layson Landfill)
Use of Receivership and loss of local control
New Solid Waste Management Plan
Recycling, reduction, long-term feasibility
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Environmental: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. GWA/Gov’t of Guam
Treatment of sewage
Saving the rivers, streams, and coastline
U.S. v. CUC/CNMI
Providing clean water to homes & businesses
National standards
Water treatment
Modernize delivery systems, leak
detection, planning
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Environmental: Cases: Hawaii
Matson Terminals, Inc.
Underwater pipe that transported molasses to disposal area
Pipe was leaky
233,000 gallon molasses spill in September 2013
Killed more than 25,000 fish and other marine life
Agreement to pay $1 million restitution
Keoje Marine Co., Ltd.
Chief Engineer of an oil tanker and assistant engineer were convicted of
dumping oily waste into Hawaii waters
$1.15 million criminal penalty, $250k to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
to support projects to protect and restore marine resources
Hawaiian Accessories Inc.
A Hawaii company, its owner, and other employees were indicted in June
2015 for conspiracy to smuggle; walrus ivory carvings; whale bone carvings;
and black coral carvings
Trial set for 2016
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Environmental: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Daniels
Defendants New Energy Fuels and Chieftan Biofuels
purported to produce biodiesel, which would have earned
tradeable energy credits and tax credits worth $1 per gallon
Defendants were not producing biodiesel, but a cheaper,
lower quality fuel known as “cutter” or “bunker”
Improperly claimed $7 million in tax credits; $15 million in
tradeable energy credits
United States v. Beatty
First prosecution under Native American Grave Protection
Act in Southern Ohio
4 Defendants charged with digging up Native American
bones and artifacts
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Environmental: Trends
Interagency coordination and community outreach
Resulting in more effective environmental enforcement
Example: Coast Guard
Large scale agriculture may result in significant adverse
effects
Fertilizer and manure run-off
Illegal harvesting of fish
Ohio River: harvesting of paddlefish and catfish for roe is
endemic
Coordination is difficult due to differing state laws covering
this activity
Oil spills and pollution
Fracking boom
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Public Corruption: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Amer Ahmad
Former Deputy Treasurer to State of Ohio, pleaded
guilty to federal program bribery and conspiracy
Ahmad directed brokerage work for the Ohio Treasury
to Douglas Hampton, a securities broker in return for
payments
Hampton received $3.2 million in commissions
Ahmad and other co-conspirators received $500k from
Hampton
Fled to Pakistan
First person extradited from Pakistan to U.S.
15-year sentence
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Public Corruption: Cases: Hawaii
Ofc. Roddy Tsunezumi
Former HPD police officer
Extortion and protection racket relating to local
businesses
33 months
Ofc. Feso Malufau
Conspired to smuggle meth through USO Family
prison gang
97 months
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Public Corruption: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Juan Ayuyu (Saipan, NMI)
Former NMI senator pled guilty to conspiracy to
violate Endangered Species Act, other offenses
Transported 8 federally protected Marianas fruit
bats from Rota to Saipan on board commercial
flight, with help from his legislative aide
Asked aide to lie to grand jury about their
involvement
41 months
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Public Corruption: Cases: Guam
U.S. v. Linda San Nicolas (Guam)
Former administrator of Guam’s Dept. of Labor Alien
Processing & Certification Division, pled guilty to
federal program bribery;
Solicited and received $15,600 cash from two
businesses in connection with her assistance in
application/certification of H-2B temporary workers;
46 months
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Public Corruption: Trends
Increased use of camera phones and
surveillance video making public corruption
cases more viable
“Under color of law” – no longer officers words
against victim
Uptick in bribery involving federal programs
Usually involving large dollar amounts to
incentivize public officials
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Human Trafficking: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Annette N. Basa (Saipan, NMI)
Allowed runaway girls to live with her, gave them
meth, and had them perform sex acts for money
Pled guilty to sex trafficking of children
210 months; $9,102.39 restitution
U.S. v. Chang R.M. Backman (Saipan, NMI)
PRC citizen and bar owner convicted by jury of sex
trafficking of Chinese woman
Travelled to Saipan with false promises of jobs, and
forced to engage in commercial sex acts
235 months; $9,750 restitution
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Human Trafficking: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Wei Lin (Saipan, NMI)
PRC citizen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit
sex trafficking
Induced women from China to travel to Saipan on
false promises of jobs, forced to engage in commercial
sex acts at a bar and in his apartment
235 months; $21,517.17 restitution
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Human Trafficking: Cases: Hawaii
Mac Farms, Kauai Coffee Co., Kelena Farms,
Captain Cook Coffee
Enforcement action brought in conjunction with EEOC
Over 400 Thai workers
Debt bondage, unsanitary conditions, threats of
violence
One of the largest labor trafficking cases in U.S.
$2.4 million settlement
Rodney D. King
Sex trafficking case involving minors and adults
25 year sentence
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Human Trafficking: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Arrick
Father and son advertised services for prostitutes
Coerced victims through heroin, threats of force
Son serving 10 year sentence
Father serving 13 year sentence
United States v. Alexander
16 year old victim introduced by Thomasina Howard to
sex trafficker (Valerio Alexander) in exchange for drugs
Trafficker took photos of the victim and posted on sex
services website, backpage.com
Victim was made to engage in intercourse for money at
trafficker’s direction
15 year prison sentence
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Human Trafficking: Trends
Increasing understanding of sex trafficking, with
sex workers being viewed as victims, rather than
perpetrators
Greater number of cases being investigated and
prosecuted
Better investigative techniques and coordination
Uncovering organized crime’s involvement in
trafficking
More international cooperation
Thai Judges and Prosecutors
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White Collar: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Harrison
Fraud case involving scam product OXY Water, similar
to Vitamin Water
Victims included: R&B artist Ne-Yo, Greg Jennings
(NFL), other professional athletes
Defendants used investors’ funds to support lavish
lifestyle
Victims lost over $9 million
United States v. Zafar
$10.1 million fraud scam involving investments into
purported Pakistani real estate
Defrauded over $3.5 million from employees of the
Miami Heat
72 month sentence
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White Collar: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Renee Jasmin
Former account manager of UOG Endowment Foundation,
embezzled from employer
Pled guilty to 12 counts bank fraud
15 months; $106,815 restitution
U.S. v. Pamela Dorion
Former customer service manager of Wesco (Fortune 500
company), sold copper wires to scrap metal dealer and
created fictitious sales invoices to reflect other companies
ordered supplies
Pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy
21 months; $140,000 restitution
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White Collar: Cases: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Natarajan Gurumoorthy
Malaysian citizen traveled to Guam from Bali,
Indonesia for 8-day visit
FedExed to Guam hotel 60 counterfeit credit/debit
cards, laptop w/ 200+ compromised financial data,
and reader/encoder.
After controlled delivery, used ATMs to withdraw
cash. Affected UK citizens and financial institutions.
Pled guilty w/o agreement to possessing counterfeit
devices and device making equipment
54 months
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White Collar: Cases: Hawaii
Mahealani Ventura Oliver
Hawaiian woman who ran a charitable organization focused on
benefitting Native Hawaiians
Defrauded $468k in mortgage, credit card, and debt elimination
scams
6½ year sentence
George Lindell and Holly Hoaeae
Ponzi scheme involving $26 million invested by 166 Maui residents
Over $9 million lost in scheme
Using radio and TV ads, urged investors to attend weekly workshops
to “harness” the equity in their homes by investing in secure
corporate bonds
In fact, Defendants invested in “junk” bonds, and used the remainder
to support their luxurious lifestyle
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White Collar: Cases: Hawaii
Andy Yip
Businessman who operated an off the books business
that sold watches
Failed to report income from off the books business
Hong Kong bank accounts in wife’s name that were
not reported
Civil audit finds unexplained deposits of $600k
2 counts of failure to report foreign financial agency
transactions
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White Collar: Trends
Increase in cyber-crime
For companies, government and other institutions, not a question of “if,” but
“when”
Increased use of scamming, phishing, and other fraudulent email scams to
companies
Coordination between private sector and government
Credit card fraud rings
4-5 day shopping spree to buy high-end merchandise
Use of off-shore accounts
U.S. can issue subpoenas to identify taxpayers in tax havens
Logical next focus is in the Asian Pacific region, such as Singapore
Affinity frauds
Members of closely knit ethnic, cultural, religious or professional groups are
targeted by con artists
Con community leaders, and then rest of the community follows
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Drugs & Violent Crime: Cases: Hawaii
Naeem Williams
Only capital case in Hawaii, which has no state
death penalty
Convicted of killing 5-year old daughter
Repeated child abuse
Jury could not agree on death sentence; received
LWOP
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Drugs & Violent Crime: Cases: Ohio
United States v. Fletcher; United States v. Ledbetter (the
“Short North Posse Cases”)
Fletcher involves 22 person conspiracy charged with
distributing cocaine, oxycodone, crack, and marijuana
Ledbetter is the largest federal murder indictment in Ohio,
involving 20 co-conspirators
Covers 13 previously unsolved murders
Involves wide ranging drug enterprise
United States v. Temperance
Involves father and daughter physicians who allegedly
operated a pill mill in Portsmouth, Ohio
Seeing 20 customers a day, charging cash for opioids
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Drugs & Violent Crime: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Kalidhassan Magalingam & Kaali Chellathura
Malaysian nationals travelling from Taiwan under
Guam-CNMI visa waiver program
Meth concealed in soles of their shoes
K.M. and K.C. carried 300 g (98.6% purity) and 660 g
(99.7% purity), respectively
Guilty pleas
51 months for each defendant
U.S. v. Michael J. Castro
Picked up package from USPS w/ over 1300 g of 98%
meth from San Diego
Guilty pleas to drug distribution conspiracy
174 months
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Drugs & Violent Crime: Guam & N.M.I.
U.S. v. Jimmy Turrubiartes
Child pornographer used peer-to-peer network and
received approx. 150 movies that depicted sexual abuse of
young children
Pled guilty to receipt of child pornography;
57 months
U.S. v. James Leon Guerrero
Conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery by jury verdict
Life sentence (3 strikes criminal record)
Murdered federal prison guard in CA facility; pled guilty to
murder in ED CA to avoid death penalty
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Drugs & Violent Crime: Trends
Prescription opiates are becoming expensive
“Pill mill” prosecutions of corrupt doctors and service
providers have been successful
Cartels are flooding the market with cheap heroin to
meet demand
In Hawaii, 95% of cases involve methamphetamine or
“Ice,” similar in Guam & NMI
Has gotten cheaper, purer, more prevalent over time
99% pure meth is common
Five pound seizure was rare 6 years ago
Ten pound seizure is now routine
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Policy Developments
National Security
More frequent and effective coordination
Joint Terrorism Task Force
Review of internet and other data
Public Corruption
Federal programs account for $500 million in tax
incentives
Increasing risk of bribery
Creation of multi-jurisdiction task force in State
capitals to focus on corruption
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Policy Developments
Cyber-crime
Corporate hacking
Identity theft
Child pornography
Partnering with private sector
Access of phone data
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Conclusion
Questions?
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Thank you!
Albert G. Lin
Ice Miller LLP
250 West Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 462-2233
Albert.Lin@icemiller.com
Carter Stewart
U.S. Attorney’s Office
303 Marconi Boulevard
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 469-5715
Carter.Stewart@usdoj.gov
Florence Nakakuni
U.S. Attorney’s Office
300 Ala Moana Blvd., #6-100
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
(880) 541-2850
Florence.Nakakuni@usdoj.gov
Alicia A.G. Limtiaco
U.S. Attorney’s Office
108 Hernan Cortez, Sirena Plaza, Ste. 500
Hagatna, GU 96910
(671) 479-4142
Alicia.Limtiaco@usdoj.gov
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