All Six N.C. Wyeth Paintings Recovered by FBI to be Displayed at @PtldMuseumofArt

The FBI, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, and the Portland Police Department are proud to announce the successful recovery of the remaining two N.C. Wyeth paintings that were stolen from a Portland, Maine businessman in 2013. The paintings are identified as “The Encounter on Freshwater Cliff” and “Go Dutton, and That Right Speedily.” To date, no reward money has been requested and no additional arrests have been made. However, the FBI’s investigation into the theft remains active and ongoing.

The FBI recovered both of the paintings on Friday, October 9, 2015, when a third party surrendered them to retired FBI agent Jim Siracusa in the greater Boston area. That individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, directed Mr. Siracusa to turn the artwork over to the FBI, which for months has been aggressively working towards its successful recovery.

Both paintings were found in good condition inside cardboard boxes and in their original frames.

The four other paintings that were stolen were recovered by the FBI in Los Angeles last December.

The criminal investigation into the robbery was initiated in June 2013 after the Portland Police Department requested the FBI’s assistance in investigating the theft of six N.C. Wyeth paintings. It is believed to be one of the most significant thefts in the history of the state of Maine.

In November 2014, after a lengthy investigation, the FBI in Portland requested assistance from the FBI in Los Angeles after it obtained information indicating the stolen paintings had been transported to that area. In December, the FBI’s Los Angeles Division recovered four of the paintings at a pawnshop in Beverly Hills. To date, three individuals, Lawrence Estrella, Oscar Leroy Roberts, and Dean Coroniti, have been charged in connection with this investigation.

Estrella, 65, of Worcester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property on February 20, 2015. He was sentenced in the United States District Court in Portland, Maine to 92 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. According to court records, Estrella transported four of the six stolen paintings to California in an effort to sell them. Law enforcement officers in California located his vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel in North Hollywood. Estrella’s room at the hotel was searched and a firearm was located, but no paintings were found.

Roberts, 37, of North Hollywood, California, the man who used the stolen paintings to secure a loan from the Beverly Hills pawn shop, pleaded guilty on February 2, 2015 and was sentenced on April 29, 2015 to serve 28 months in federal prison.

Coroniti, 55, also of North Hollywood (and formerly of Boston) also pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property on March 19, 2015. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.

At the owner’s request, the recovered artwork will remain in possession of the Portland Museum of Art for visitors to enjoy. For more information about the upcoming exhibit, call 207-775-6148 or visit www.portlandmuseum.org.

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'Fugitive of the Week' Arrested by U.S. Marshals

“Fugitive of the Week,” Leela Cable (aka: Nina Ouelette), 19, was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Florida/Caribbean Fugitive Task Force at a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. bus station. Cable was featured as the “Fugitive of the Week” on October 7, 2015.

Ms. Cable was wanted on an arrest warrant issued out of the Hillsborough County (NH) Superior Court for failing to appear on a charge of first degree assault by stabbing. Cable was indicted after an investigation conducted by the Manchester Police Department into a stabbing that occurred on June 9th, 2014. During this incident, Cable is alleged to have stabbed the victim multiple times with a piece of glass, resulting in serious bodily injuries.

The “Fugitive of the Week” was broadcasted on WTPL-FM, WMUR-TV, The Union Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, The Patch, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Manchester Information, The Manchester Ink Link and prominently featured on the internet. This program has been a remarkably successful tool that has resulted in the location and arrest of numerous fugitives since its implementation in 2007. It was based on this feature that the U.S. Marshals received numerous tips, which pointed investigators to both Florida and the Manchester, NH area. All of these leads were followed up on and we were able to determine that Cable was likely in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area of Florida. Recently, the NH Joint Fugitive Task Force sent all of the information on Cable to our counterparts in the Florida/Caribbean Fugitive Task Force. This investigation resulted in the arrest of Leela Cable by the U.S. Marshals in Fort Lauderdale without incident. After her arrest, Leela Cable was brought to the Broward County Jail, where she will be processed and held as a fugitive from justice on the outstanding Hillsborough County (NH) arrest warrant. Cable will be held without bail pending her return to Manchester to face these very serious charges.

U.S. Marshal David Cargill, Jr. says, “I am very proud of the work that the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force does on a daily basis.” Marshal Cargill continues, “This case is a great example of how the Marshals task forces around the country work seamlessly together to track down dangerous fugitives like Leela Cable.”

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Gun Owner Fights Off Four Armed Home Intruders

A group of four people attempted to break into a home in San Antonio, Texas by removing an air conditioning unit from a window and crawling inside. The homeowner responded to the break-in by retrieving a gun and firing at the intruders, striking and killing one, and causing the others to flee. A knife and a bag, containing a gun and burglary tools, was found next to the body of the deceased intruder.

Police captured the three intruders, who fled the gunfire, a short distance from the home.

Per KSAT.

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Member of @FARC_COLOMBIA Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Hostage-Taking of Three U.S. Citizens

Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran, 43, a member of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas (FARC) terrorist organization, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 27 years in prison on hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2003 kidnappings of three U.S. citizens in Colombia.

The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia, and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Division.

Navarrete Beltran was extradited from Colombia to the United States in November 2014 to face charges in a superseding indictment that was returned in February 2011. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 26, 2015, to three counts of hostage-taking. He was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the District of Columbia. Navarrete Beltran is among three FARC leaders who have been convicted for their roles in the hostage-taking.

“Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran participated in the hostage-taking and captivity of three Americans by the FARC, a Colombian terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “This case underscores our resolve to hold accountable those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world, no matter how long it takes.”

“Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran and other FARC guerillas ruthlessly subjected their American hostages to constant threats of violence while holding them in one camp after another in the remote jungles of Colombia,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “For over 16 months, this defendant was among the armed guards who prevented their escape. Today’s 27-year sentence provides justice for the three victims who were subjected to repeated barbaric abuse by the defendant and others while part of this terrorist organization.”

“Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran now faces a long time behind bars for his participation in the hostage-taking of three U.S. Citizens in Colombia,” said Special Agent in Charge Piro. “To all hostage-takers the message is clear: target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world and we will hold you accountable for your actions.”

According to a statement of offense submitted as part of the plea hearing, the FARC is an armed, violent organization in Colombia, formed in 1964 as the armed wing of the Colombian Communist Party. It has evolved into a major armed force financed by drug trafficking, hostage-taking and extortion. International human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the FARC of serious crimes, including kidnapping, murder, use of land mines, threats, the recruitment of minors, forced displacement and hostage-taking. The FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated.

As described in the statement of offense, Navarrete Beltran was a member of the First Front in the FARC’s Eastern Bloc.

In his plea, he admitted taking part in the hostage-taking of three U.S. citizens, Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes and Keith Stansell. These three individuals, along with Thomas Janis, a U.S. citizen, and Sergeant Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were seized on Feb. 13, 2003, by the FARC after their single engine aircraft made a crash landing near Florencia, Colombia. Janis and Cruz were murdered at the crash site by members of the FARC.

For the next five and a half years, according to the statement of offense, Gonsalves, Howes, Stansell and many others were held prisoners by the FARC and used to bargain with the Colombian government. Along with about a dozen Colombian hostages, they were forced to march from one site to another to prevent their rescue. They were threatened, chained and forced to participate in proof-of-life videos. In early October 2006, the hostages were delivered to the FARC’s Eastern Bloc’s First Front and were held prisoners by the First Front of the FARC.

From October 2006 through mid-June 2008, according to the statement of offense, Navarrete Beltran and other guerillas kept the hostages under the control of the FARC’s First Front. In particular, Navarrete Beltran often served as an armed guard of the American hostages.

In July 2008, the Colombian military conducted an operation which resulted in the rescue of the hostages. All told, members of the FARC held the Americans hostage for 1,967 days.

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Conviction in Largest Single No Fault Automobile Insurance Fraud Scheme

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL DANILOVICH was found guilty on racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges following a five-week jury trial before United States District Judge Deborah A. Batts. The jury convicted DANILOVICH of racketeering arising out of his operation, from 2007 through 2012, of the largest single no fault automobile insurance fraud scheme ever charged; his operation, from 2007 to 2009, of two investment fraud schemes, Lyons Ward & Associates and the Rockford Group; and his attempted operation, from 2011 to 2012, of a third investment fraud scheme, Baron & Caplan, including after he was arrested and released on bail in this case.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Michael Danilovich has been convicted by a unanimous jury of committing several frauds. As the jury found, he took a lead role in scamming insurance companies of over $100 million in fraudulent medical treatments and in engaging in other investment scams that swindled investors out of another $18 million. Today’s verdict ensures that Danilovich will be punished for the wide-ranging frauds he perpetrated.”

According to the Superseding Indictment and evidence admitted at trial:

From 2007 through 2012, DANILOVICH was a leader of an enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering that included a massive scheme to defraud automobile insurance companies under New York’s no fault insurance law, multiple securities fraud schemes, money laundering, and the operation of illegal gambling businesses.

Under New York State Law, every vehicle registered in the State is required to have no fault automobile insurance, which enables the driver and passengers of a registered and insured vehicle to obtain benefits of up to $50,000 per person for injuries sustained in an automobile accident, regardless of fault (the “No Fault Law”). The No Fault Law requires prompt payment for medical treatment, thereby obviating the need for claimants to file personal injury lawsuits in order to be reimbursed. Under the No Fault Law, patients can assign their right to reimbursement from an insurance company to others, including medical clinics that provide treatment for their injuries. New York State Law also requires that all medical clinics in the State be incorporated, owned, operated, and controlled by a licensed medical practitioner in order to be eligible for reimbursement under the No Fault Law. Insurance companies will not honor claims for medical treatments from a medical clinic that is not actually owned, operated, and controlled by a licensed medical professional.

From 2007 through 2012, DANILOVICH’s organization defrauded automobile insurance companies of more than $100 million by, among other things, creating and operating medical clinics that provided unnecessary and excessive medical treatments in order to take advantage of the No Fault Law. In addition, Danilovich’s organization fraudulently owned and controlled more than a dozen medical professional corporations (“PCs”)—including no fault clinics, MRI offices, and acupuncture and chiropractic PCs—by paying licensed medical professionals to use their licenses to incorporate the professional corporations. DANILOVICH and his co-conspirators paid kickbacks of thousands of dollars to runners to recruit patients to receive the same battery of tests and treatments, and received kickbacks from other co-conspirators for referring patients for additional unnecessary treatments. All told, Danilovich’s organization billed insurance companies for tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent medical treatments. Furthermore, DANILOVICH and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of the fraud through check cashing entities and shell companies, and used the money to pay for luxury cars, watches, and vacations.

In addition to the no fault insurance fraud scheme, DANILOVICH was convicted for operating two investment fraud schemes that swindled innocent victims out of nearly $18 million. Both schemes—Lyons Ward & Associates and the Rockford Group—purported to be settlement claims funding companies that invested in lawsuits in return for a portion of future settlements. DANILOVICH also attempted to operate a third scheme, Baron & Caplan, including after he was arrested and released on bail in this case. As part of these schemes, DANILOVICH and his co-conspirators created bogus documents and account statements used by cold-callers to solicit victims through false representations. In reality, there was no investment fund at all; instead, DANILOVICH and his co-conspirators simply stole the money invested by victims and laundered the proceeds by wiring them overseas to shell companies in Eastern Europe, which were then turned into cash in the United States.

DANILOVICH’s organization also operated high-stakes illegal poker games and illegal sports books.

DANILOVICH was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. In addition, DANILOVICH was convicted of conspiracies to commit securities fraud, health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, as well as substantive counts of securities fraud, health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, which, in total, carry a maximum sentence of 260 years in prison. In total, DANILOVICH faces a maximum sentence of 280 years in prison. DANILOVICH is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2016, at 11:00 a.m., before Judge Batts. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

DANILOVICH, 41, of Brooklyn, New York, is the thirty-sixth defendant convicted in this case. DANILOVICH was remanded pending sentencing following his conviction.

At DANILOVICH’s first trial in the fall of 2013, a mistrial was declared after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on all counts.

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