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TIGER KING NETFLIX: Feds seize 68 big cats and jaguar from 'Tiger King' park

Updated: 7:31 AM PDT May 21, 2021
KOCO Staff
Related Video Above: 'Tiger King' zoo closed effective immediately; Jeff Lowe says he forfeited USDA exhibitors licenseThe federal government said Thursday it has seized 68 protected lions, tigers, lion-tiger hybrids and a jaguar from an animal park in Oklahoma featured in Netflix's "Tiger King."According to a news release from the Justice Department, this was due to a judicially authorized search and seizure warrant for ongoing Endangered Species Act violations.The Justice Department will seek civil forfeiture of these animals and any offspring pursuant to the ESA's forfeiture provision, officials said. The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has conducted three inspections of Tiger King Park since mid-December 2020. Officials said Jeff and Lauren Lowe received citations for failing to provide the animals with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition, and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior. The Lowes were recently found in contempt after "months of noncompliance with court orders requiring the Lowes, in part, to employ a qualified veterinarian and establish and maintain a program of veterinary care that meets the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act," the news release said.Daniel Card, an attorney for the couple, told a federal judge that the Lowes "want out completely.""They don't want to fight this anymore. They don't want to do it," Card told the judge.Jeffrey Lowe was a central figure in "Tiger King" that featured a mullet-wearing zookeeper named Joe Exotic and became a cultural phenomenon last year. Joe Exotic, a pseudonym for Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison in Texas for his 2020 conviction on charges that he participated in a murder-for-hire plot and violated federal wildlife laws. "This seizure should send a clear message that the Justice Department takes alleged harm to captive-bred animals protected under the Endangered Species Act very seriously," acting assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division said. "This important animal rescue operation of nearly 70 endangered and allegedly abused lions, tigers, and a jaguar shows how effective civil forfeiture can be when utilized in conjunction with statutes like the Endangered Species Act," acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the DOJ's Criminal Division said. "We are proud to have partnered with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to protect these amazing animals, and will work to ensure that they go to responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Oklahoma , United-states , Texas , Jeane-williams , Jeffrey-lowe , Jeff-lowe , Netflix-tiger-king , Tiger-king , Joseph-maldonado , Lauren-lowe , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Natural-resources-division

Eleven Defendants Charged with Murder in Indian Country

Eleven Defendants Charged with Murder in Indian Country
Published: 15 May 2021 15 May 2021
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Oklahoma has returned separate indictments charging 11 defendants with murder and other various violent crimes arising out of Indian Country.
Over the course of a three-day grand jury session in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, trial attorneys with the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, working with and in support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, obtained the indictments charging the 11 defendants. These indictments followed the reversal or dismissal of state cases as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.

State-of-oklahoma , Oklahoma , United-states , Oklahoma-city , Americans , Christina-taylor , Rebecca-dunnan , John-duncan-stubbs , Jimcy-mcgirt , Kristen-taylor , Brian-mack , Robert-mitchell

Deputy U.S. Marshal Ian R. Diaz Charged with Cyberstalking and Perjury

Details
Written by Imperial Valley News
Los Angeles, California - A federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned an indictment Wednesday charging a Deputy U.S. Marshal Ian R. Diaz with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, and perjury.
According to the indictment, Ian R. Diaz, 43, of Brea, California, who serves as a Deputy U.S. Marshal with the U.S. Marshals Service, along with his former wife, who is alleged to be an unindicted co-conspirator, agreed to and did pose as a person with whom Diaz was formerly in a relationship (Jane Doe) and, in that guise, sent to themselves harassing and threatening electronic communications that contained apparent threats to harm Diaz’s former wife; solicited and lured men found through Craigslist “personal” advertisements to engage in so-called “rape fantasies” in an attempt to stage a purported sexual assault on Diaz’s former wife; and staged one or more hoax sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults on Diaz’s former wife. Diaz and his then-wife then reported this conduct to local law enforcement, falsely claiming that Jane Doe posed a genuine and serious threat to Diaz and his then-wife, and thereby caused local law enforcement to arrest, charge, and ultimately detain Jane Doe in jail for nearly three months for conduct for which they framed her and in fact perpetrated themselves.

California , United-states , Jane-doe , Deputy-us-marshal , Keitha-bonanno , Marcoa-palmieri , Douglasf-mccormick , Ianr-diaz , Los-angeles , Rebeccag-ross , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Mona-sedky

Prison Official Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes to Smuggle Contraband to Inmates

Prison Official Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes to Smuggle Contraband to Inmates
Details
Written by Justice Department
Charlotte, North Carolina - A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a bribery and smuggling scheme in which he abused his position as a prison official to funnel drugs and other contraband into Caledonia Correctional Institution.
According to court documents, Ollie Rose III, 62, of Pleasant Hill, worked as a case manager at Caledonia Correctional Institution, a state prison in Halifax County. Rose admitted to agreeing to use his position, from at least November 2018 through October 2020, to smuggle contraband — including oxycodone, marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids — into the prison for inmates. Rose further admitted that he did so in exchange for payments ranging from $500 to $1,200 and received more than $40,000 in total in bribes. He was paid both in cash and via a mobile application, and he sometimes also accepted a portion of the drugs he smuggled into the prison as payment.

Charlotte , North-carolina , United-states , Halifax-county , Criminal-division , Pleasant-hill , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Justice-department-criminal-division , Caledonia-correctional-institution , Charlotte-field-office , Carolina-department-of-public-safety

Man Sentenced for $1.3 Million Securities Fraud Scheme

Details
Written by Justice Department
Miami, Florida - A Florida man was sentenced yesterday to more than four years in prison for operating an investment scheme in which he used investor funds to repay other investors and misappropriated funds for himself.
David C. Coggins, 42, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud on March 2, 2021. According to court documents, Coggins solicited investors to his investment fund between 2015 and 2020 by touting the fund’s successful performance and total assets under management. Over time, the fund lost money and Coggins used money from new investors to pay other investors. Coggins also misappropriated funds for his personal purposes. To conceal the fund’s actual losses and persuade investors to part with their money, Coggins fabricated reports purportedly showing the fund’s successful performance and created a fraudulent independent auditor’s report. By the end of 2020, the net asset value of the fund was nearly zero.

Miami , Florida , United-states , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Juan-antonio-gonzalez , Davidc-coggins , Emily-scruggs , Justice-department-criminal-division , Division-fraud-section , Assistant-attorney-general-nicholas , Justice-department , Criminal-division

Two Indicted for $2 Million Scheme that Defrauded Over 20 Investors

Two Indicted for $2 Million Scheme that Defrauded Over 20 Investors
Details
Written by Justice Department
Washington, DC - An indictment charging a District of Columbia man and Connecticut woman with perpetrating an advance fee and investment fraud scheme that defrauded more than 20 victims of more than $2 million was unsealed today in the District of Columbia.
According to court documents, Paul Maucha, 56, of Washington, D.C., and Melisa Shapiro, 63, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, conspired to engage in a scheme through a shell company they controlled, American Eagle Services Group (AESG), to make numerous misrepresentations about AESG, its assets and its access to money and capital.

United-states , District-of-columbia , Washington , Connecticut , American , Channingd-phillips , Joshuas-rothstein , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Melisa-shapiro , Paul-maucha , Kylew-maurer , Williame-johnston

Man Sentenced After Fraudulently Obtaining $3.9 Million in PPP Loans

Details
Written by Justice Department
Miami, Florida - A Florida man was sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $3.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and using those funds, in part, to purchase a $318,000 Lamborghini luxury car for himself.
David T. Hines, 29, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on February 10. According to court documents, Hines submitted multiple PPP applications to a PPP-participating lender, claiming to have had dozens of employees and millions of dollars in monthly payroll. In addition to submitting false and fraudulent IRS forms to support the applications, Hines also assisted other individuals in obtaining fraudulent PPP loans. As part of the sentence, the court ordered Hines to forfeit the $3.4 million in fraudulent loan proceeds that law enforcement seized and the 2020 Lamborghini Huracan that Hines purchased for approximately $318,000.

Miami , Florida , United-states , Americans , Juan-antonio-tony-gonzalez , Nicole-grosnoff , Tylerr-hatcher , Kylea-myles , Josephw-cronin , Davidt-hines , Michael-berger , Stephen-donnelly

Two Individuals Charged for their Roles in Massive Cattle Ponzi Scheme

Two Individuals Charged for their Roles in Massive Cattle Ponzi Scheme
Details
Written by Imperial Valley News
Denver, Colorado - A federal grand jury in Colorado returned an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday charging an Illinois woman and a Georgia man with running a Ponzi scheme that raised approximately $650 million from investors across the country.
According to court documents, Reva Joyce Stachniw, 69, of Galesburg, Illinois, and Ron Throgmartin, 57, of Buford, Georgia, were charged with running a Ponzi scheme, along with a third co-conspirator, Mark Ray, from late 2017 until early 2019. Ray was previously charged by criminal information for his role in the Ponzi scheme in the Central District of Illinois in February 2020.

Georgia , United-states , Colorado , Illinois , Galesburg , San-antonio , Texas , Chicago , Denver , N-reid-neureiter , Reva-joyce-stachniw , Nicholasl-mcquaid

US Department Of Justice: Florida Man Sentenced For $1.3 Million Securities Fraud Scheme

US Department Of Justice: Florida Man Sentenced For $1.3 Million Securities Fraud Scheme
Date
14/05/2021
A Florida man was sentenced today to more than four years in prison for operating an investment scheme in which he used investor funds to repay other investors and misappropriated funds for himself.
David C. Coggins, 42, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud on March 2, 2021. According to court documents, Coggins solicited investors to his investment fund between 2015 and 2020 by touting the fund’s successful performance and total assets under management. Over time, the fund lost money and Coggins used money from new investors to pay other investors. Coggins also misappropriated funds for his personal purposes. To conceal the fund’s actual losses and persuade investors to part with their money, Coggins fabricated reports purportedly showing the fund’s successful performance and created a fraudulent independent auditor’s report. By the end of 2020, the net asset value of the fund was nearly zero.

Miami , Florida , United-states , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Juan-antonio-gonzalez , Davidc-coggins , Emily-scruggs , Justice-department-criminal-division , Division-fraud-section , Assistant-attorney-general-nicholas , Justice-department , Criminal-division

Two charged for roles in massive cattle Ponzi scheme

Defendants raised more than $650 million from investors, who lost tens of millions of dollars.

Colorado , United-states , Illinois , Georgia , Galesburg , San-antonio , Texas , Chicago , N-reid-neureiter , Reva-joyce-stachniw , Nicholasl-mcquaid , Ron-throgmartin