Law Enforcement | WPN World People News

Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today the waiver of indictment and plea of guilty to a felony information by Debra Shannon, age 56, of Pocahontas, Arkansas. The information, which was filed in open court today, charges Shannon with one count of mail fraud.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Nelson Burtnick, who previously served as director of payments for Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker, pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to commit unlawful Internet gambling, bank fraud, money laundering, and gambling offenses in connection with a scheme to deceive banks into processing hundreds of millions of dollars of Internet gambling transactions.

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Baltimore City Police officer Daniel Redd, age 41, of Baltimore, today to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and for using a gun in a drug trafficking crime.

A former senior vice president and loan officer at Pierce Commercial Bank pleaded guilty late today to a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in the collapse of the bank, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. Shawn L. Portmann, 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements in loan applications and to make false statements to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and one count of making a false statement in loan applications.

A six-count indictment was unsealed today charging San Ramon attorney Mary Nolan with tax evasion and unlawfully intercepting communications, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Nolan, 60, was arrested today in her home in Oakland, prior to making her initial appearance in federal court.

A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., charged James Timothy Turner, also known as Tim Turner, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, attempting to pay taxes with fictitious financial instruments, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), failing to file a 2009 federal income tax return and falsely testifying under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding, the Justice Department, the IRS, and the FBI announced today.

John Fanning, 34, of Dacula, Georgia, and Carl “Skip” Cain, 65, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, were both sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., to four years and nine months in prison for public corruption and drug offenses. Lassiter and Cain pled guilty to participating in a scheme to sell former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter’s vote on a proposed real estate development project, and for conspiring to traffic cocaine.

Pontiac City Councilman Everett Seay was one of three defendants charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, drug-related offenses, and aiding and abetting, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade. announced today.

A former official with the New Jersey Department of Transportation admitted today to accepting a $24,000 bribe from a contractor as payment for his official assistance on a federally funded road construction project, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Cox pled guilty today in federal court to charges of mail fraud and filing a false income tax return stemming from her employment at Century Design Inc. (CDI), in San Diego, California, announced United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy.