New York Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

On Monday, January 7, 2013, a Niagara Falls, N.Y., man pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to conspiracy to possess, with the intent to distribute, 100 kilograms of marijuana. The man faces up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

Wally Reynolds, 36, supervised other individuals in a drug conspiracy who imported marijuana from Canada into the United States. The defendant then distributed the marijuana to his customers in the United States.

The plea is the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Sentencing is scheduled for May 6 before Judge Arcara.

Dutch Citizen Pleads Guilty to Tax and Mortgage Fraud

A Dutch citizen and resident of Canada pleaded guilty Friday, December 28, 2012, to several tax and mortgage fraud charges, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Criminal Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

Rudolf Straat, 49, of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, failure to file a tax return and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In March, a federal grand jury in Tallahassee, Fla., returned an eight-count indictment against Straat and his wife and co-conspirator, Maria Gudelis, 45, of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Both were accused of falsely obtaining mortgage loans in excess of $8.8 million to purchase homes in Sandestin, Fla. Straat claimed he was a U.S. citizen, but he is a citizen of the Netherlands. He claimed that he was single, even though he married Gudelis in May 2000. He also misrepresented his employment status.

Additionally, Straat and Gudelis both lived in Sandestin from at least October 2005 through July 2007. While living in Sandestin, Straat did not file 2005 and 2006 income tax returns. As a result, he failed to report more than $1 million to the IRS during those years. Straat used a portion of his unreported capital gains to fraudulently obtain additional properties.

Straat faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and mail fraud. He faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and up to one year in prison for failing to file tax returns. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 12.

Gudelis, a Canadian citizen, is charged with the same crimes included in the indictment against her husband. She turned herself in to authorities Thursday, December 27, 2012, and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Friday, December 28, 2012. Her trial is scheduled to commence Feb. 4. 

Canadian National Sentenced for Smuggling Ecstasy into U.S.

Following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a Canadian man was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import large amounts of ecstasy pills into the United States.

James Elliott, 62, of Windsor, Ontario, was sentenced Thursday, December 6, 2012, in federal court to eight years in prison.

"HSI will not tolerate the illegal movement of drugs into the United States," said John Kelleghan, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia. "HSI stopped these criminals, who are motivated by greed, from distributing large quantities of illegal drugs in our community and endangering the welfare of our citizens."

Elliott helped recruit and organize a group of smugglers, mostly from the Windsor area, who imported large quantities of drugs into the United States. These drugs were manufactured in Canada by Asian drug trafficking organizations. These organizations then hired Elliott and his couriers to transport the drugs to other drug dealers across the United States. Elliott's conduct came to light in September 2007 when two couriers were stopped in Philadelphia and law enforcement officers seized 102,000 ecstasy pills which the couriers had attempted to distribute to drug dealers in Philadelphia and Boston.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Livermore prosecuted the case.

Cheese Smuggling Ring Lands Two Men in ICE Custody

One officer and a former officer with the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRP), and an associate are in custody in Canada Thursday, September 27, 2012, following an investigation into a cheese smuggling scheme. The investigation is being conducted by members of Buffalo's Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST).

The arrests were announced by James Spero, special agent in charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the NRP, all members of the Buffalo BEST.

Scott Heron, 39, Casey Langelaan, 48, and Bernie Pollino, 44, all of whom reside in Fort Erie, Ontario, have been charged for smuggling goods, evasion of duties and other related charges under Canadian laws. The NRP arrested the three men the morning of Thursday, September 27, 2012. Heron is a member of the NRP. He was suspended from duty as the result of this investigation. At the time of the alleged criminal activity, Langelaan was also a member of the NRP. He was suspended at the time of the investigation and is no longer with the force. Pollino is not an officer but is alleged to have participated in the scheme with Heron and Langelaan.

The network involved the purchasing of cases of cheese and other food items in the United States and transporting them into Canada without declaring the items or paying duty. Once the products arrived in the country, they were sorted and prepared for distribution to a variety of restaurants in southern Ontario.

The investigation revealed that there was a significant financial gain to be made in the cheese smuggling operation due to the fact that duty imposed on cheese and dairy products imported from the United States ranged from 250-400 percent. The investigation also revealed over $200,000 worth of cheese and other products were purchased and distributed for an estimated profit of over $165,000.

The subjects were scheduled for an initial appearance Sept. 27 in court in Ontario.

In January 2006, DHS adopted the BEST initiative as a DHS task force in order to leverage federal, state, local, tribal and international law enforcement and intelligence resources in an effort to identify, disrupt and dismantle organizations that seek to exploit vulnerabilities along the U.S. borders and threaten the overall safety and security of the American public. BEST is designed to increase information sharing and collaboration among the participating agencies, focusing toward the identification, prioritization and investigation of emerging or existing threats.