Shelby County Today

October 7, 2021 - A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment against four California-based defendants for their alleged roles laundering fraud proceeds stored on gift cards. The indictment, which was unsealed recently, charges U.S. citizen Blade Bai, 33, of El Monte; and Chinese citizens Bowen Hu, 26, of Hacienda Heights; Tairan Shi, 27, of Diamond Bar; and Yan Fu, 58, of Chino Hills, with conspiring to launder proceeds of wire fraud that were stored on gift cards issued by retailer Target.

According to the indictment, defendants Bai, Hu and Shi obtained over 5,000 gift cards from a group known as the “Magic Lamp.” Defendants Bai, Hu and Shi caused the gift cards to be distributed to “runners” like defendant Fu who used the funds on the cards at Target stores in Los Angeles and Orange County and elsewhere to purchase, among other items, consumer electronics and other gift cards. Through the purchases, returns and other transactions at multiple Target stores, the defendants and their co-conspirators sought to conceal the fact that the gift cards had been originally funded with fraudulent proceeds. 

The indictment further alleges that perpetrators of the fraud schemes induced victims to send proceeds to defendants’ associates, and defendants then conspired to launder the proceeds. The indictment also alleges that victims of the schemes are spread throughout the United States, including California, Texas, Illinois and Georgia. 

“The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to tackling fraud schemes from every angle,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Individuals who knowingly facilitate the victimization of American consumers make fraud possible, are criminally culpable for the offenses and should expect to be held accountable.”

“This case offers an important reminder to consumers that gift cards are for presents to friends and loved ones – they should never be used for payments to any government or corporate entity,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison for the Central District of California. “Don’t be fooled by callers claiming to be with a government agency, a bank or any other institution demanding that you purchase gift cards. There is no reason to purchase a gift card to resolve a problem with an account, your Social Security number or a supposed criminal case.”

“The case against these defendants is the result of the impressive work by Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Los Angeles-led El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force,” said Special Agent in Charge David A. Prince for HSI Los Angeles. “These types of crimes have devastating effects on the victims. Through coordinated investigative efforts by law enforcement and our prosecution partners, HSI will continue to aggressively investigate those who prey on our elderly population.”

Defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by HSI Los Angeles’ El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, a multi-agency task force comprised of federal and state investigators focused on financial crimes in Southern California, with substantial assistance from the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. Investigative assistance was also provided by the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Tait of the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Wei Xiang of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case.

The Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California are part of the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, which investigates and prosecutes scams run by transnational criminal organizations, including mass mailing, telemarketing, and tech support scams.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

October 6, 2021 - With the impending withdrawal of Cellular One from the area, Shelby County Commissioners continued their discussion October 6, 2021, over cellular phone service utilized by the county.

Offices such as the Shelby County Sheriff's Department are heavily affected by this as Cellular One is the service provider for the department's cellular phones.

Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, organized a meeting via phone conference with Verizon Wireless representative Jerry Love, Verizon Government Account Manager, to try and understand what they will be offering in the Shelby County area. She was joined by Leah Chase, representing the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, and the conclusion after meeting with Verizon Wireless representatives is they would send a phone allowing the Sheriff's Department to test out the service in Shelby County.

"We did not get the phone yet, I did hear back from Mr. Love this morning," said Chase. "He stated that each line would be $40 per line."

Chase went on to reference email communication from Love saying service plans for the phones would be $39.99 for their Public Safety plan, which provides unlimited talk, text and data and allows for the lines to have priority on the cellular network in the event of an emergency.

As of the meeting, the phone had not yet been received. Blackwell indicated a little uncertainty from Verizon Wireless in how they would be providing service in the Shelby County area when asked if they would be using the Cellular One towers.

"His answer was well, they have the leasing rights to those towers but they would be bringing in their own infrastructure," said Blackwell. "So, it sounded like to me they might be using their towers, they may not and they didn't really know if their service was active here yet, or had gone live."

Blackwell said, as of November 30 the Sheriff's Department, Constables, Justice of the Peace, and District Attorney's Office will be without service unless a plan is made on what service to use.

"We're trying to figure out what our options are, because AT&T is not an option. They don't work, it doesn't work," said Blackwell. "We're hoping that Verizon will, but if they don't I don't know."

Blackwell suspects it will be several weeks before the commissioners will have enough information to make an informed decision.

"Of the five constables there's only two of them that use their cell phone. One [Zack Warr] and two [Jamie Hagler] said that they did not want a county phone, so we'll take those off. I'll check with five [Josh Tipton], he doesn't use his. He has one, he doesn't use it," said Blackwell.

According to Blackwell, the District Attorney's office only wants one cellular phone.

Judge Allison Harbison asked Chase to provide feedback to Blackwell once they have received the phone, and find out how it works.

Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner 4, inquired what the direction forward should be.

"Honestly, the Tracfone sounds like the next best option until something better comes along. AT&T is not going to work, there is no point in going with AT&T. You'll be doing like I do now paying for service that you don't have," said Blackwell.

Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, said AT&T installed a tower 1/2 a mile from his house, "my wife, she's on AT&T, she can't call in my yard and she's just a 1/2 a mile."

Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, asked what Cricket is and Jennifer Fountain, County Clerk, stated Cricket utilizes AT&T towers.

"If Verizon will work here they're going to get a lot of business, because there's a lot of AT&T people that'll switch, but I don't know right now and those guys (Verizon) did not really know," said Blackwell.

Chase said there was an extreme amount of uncertainty and the Verizon representatives couldn't confirm anything; however, they have been working on their move into Shelby County for the past four years.

Judge Harbison said if the phone isn't received on the day of the meeting, she asked Chase and Blackwell to contact Verizon and tell them the phone is needed right away.

A motion carried by the commissioners to table the cell phone discussion.

During the meeting a motion carried to appoint Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, and Robin Connell to the Shelby County Appraisal District Board.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:57am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses.
2. Nominate Tom Bellmyer and Robin Connell to the Shelby County Appraisal District Board.
3. Adjourn.

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Execute the Contract for the American Rescue Plan Act Administrative Services between Shelby County and Grantworks, Inc.
2. Transition the cell phone contracts to another service.

October 6, 2021 - Office on Violence Against Women Invests More Than $476 Million in Grants to Address Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking

The Justice Department joins law enforcement partners, victim services professionals, advocates and communities across the country in observing October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and announces more than $476 million in Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grants. The funding supports projects that meaningfully address the needs of underserved and marginalized survivors, improve access to justice, enhance survivor safety, hold accountable those who have caused harm, and provide training and technical assistance to an array of professionals and systems working to address sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in every state and territory, as well as dozens of tribal communities.

“Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a sobering reminder of the harm domestic violence inflicts across our country, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic means that for many survivors, abuse may be compounded by being isolated with an abuser, loss of income and stress over the virus itself,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “These OVW grants will provide local organizations with resources to support survivors as they heal, promote victim access to justice, and further local, state and tribal training efforts to best prepare officials to respond to these dangerous calls.”

“The grant awards we make this year will not only touch the lives of millions of survivors of domestic violence, but also help our nation prevent and end sexual assault and stalking,” said Acting Director Allison Randall of OVW. “OVW is proud to be the leading federal voice in the country’s fight against these devastating crimes. Grant awards announced today will fund victim services, culturally specific responses, legal assistance, law enforcement and prosecution services, and court practices, as well as training and technical assistance to an array of professionals who help survivors every day.”

In addition to administering grant funding, the department is combatting domestic and sexual violence in local and tribal communities on other fronts. The department has outlined a comprehensive strategy to address violent crime, which asked U.S. Attorneys to evaluate the current drivers of violent crime in their regions, including domestic violence, and to develop strategies to address these drivers. OVW’s announcement today of over $476 million in grants is a key part of that strategy. In addition, on Sept. 20, the department’s Office of Justice Programs announced more than $1.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2021 Victims of Crime Act funding.

In his Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation, President Joseph R. Biden, the original author of the Violence Against Women Act, called on all Americans to reaffirm their commitment to ending this violence, and in his Fiscal Year 2022 budget, proposed a historic $1 billion for grant programs administered by OVW.

Funds being awarded this year by OVW formula grant programs include:

Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors (STOP) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program: $153.1 million awarded to all states and territories to support communities, including American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, in their efforts to develop and strengthen effective responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The STOP Formula Grant Program – authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation – requires that 30% of funds be allocated for victim services, of which at least 10% must be distributed to culturally specific, community-based organizations. No less than 25% of a state’s formula funding must be allocated for law enforcement, 25% for prosecution and 5% to courts.

Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) Formula Grant Programs: $28.2 million awarded to states and territories for direct intervention and related assistance for victims of sexual assault. The SASP Formula Grant Program directs grant dollars to states and territories to assist them in supporting rape crisis centers and other nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations or tribal programs that provide services, direct intervention and related assistance to victims of sexual assault. Funds provided through SASP are designed to supplement other funding sources directed at addressing sexual assault on the state and territorial level.

State and Territorial Coalitions Program: $15.1 million awarded to fund 87 state and territorial domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions (determined by the Department of Health and Human Services) to coordinate victim services activities. These coalitions support member rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and other victim service providers through funding, training and technical assistance, public awareness activities, and public policy advocacy.

Tribal Coalitions Program: $6.1 million awarded to support 18 nonprofit, nongovernmental tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions. Tribal coalitions provide education, support and technical assistance to tribal victim service providers and tribes to enhance their response to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and sex trafficking.

For more information about these grants, please see OVW’s Formula Grant Programs fact sheet.

OVW discretionary program funding for 2021 includes:

Legal Assistance for Victims: $35.8 million awarded to 59 projects to provide a range of services, including legal assistance for victims and the implementation, expansion and establishment of efforts and projects to provide competent, supervised pro bono legal assistance for victims. See the Legal Assistance for Victims Program fact sheet.

Transitional Housing: $35.3 million awarded to 68 programs to support funding for: the operating expenses of newly developed or existing transitional housing programs; short-term housing assistance, including rental or utilities payments assistance and assistance with related expenses; and voluntary services designed to enable a minor, an adult, or a dependent of such minor or adult, who is fleeing a situation of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking, to locate and secure permanent housing, secure employment (including obtaining employment counseling, occupational training, job retention counseling and counseling concerning re-entry into the workforce), and integrate into a community by providing that minor, adult, or dependent with services such as transportation, counseling, child care services, case management and other assistance. See the Transitional Housing fact sheet.

Rural Program: $34.6 million awarded to 46 programs to identify, assess and appropriately respond to child, youth and adult victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in rural communities by encouraging collaboration among service providers, criminal justice service providers, human and community service providers, educational institutions, and health care providers; establish and expand nonprofit, nongovernmental, state, tribal, territorial and local government victim services in rural communities; and increase the safety and wellbeing of women and children in rural communities. See the Rural Program fact sheet.

Grants to Tribal Governments: $32.4 million awarded to 40 programs for a wide range of support, including: increasing tribal capacity to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking and stalking crimes against American Indian and Alaska Native women; strengthening tribal justice interventions; enhancing victim services; providing transitional housing for victims, including rental or utilities payment assistance and assistance with related expenses and support services, to enable victims to locate and secure permanent housing and integrate into a community; and developing, strengthening and implementing policies, protocols and training for law enforcement regarding cases of missing or murdered Indians. See the Tribal Governments Program fact sheet.

Improving Criminal Justice Responses: $30.8 million awarded to 41 programs that address a wide range of support across the criminal justice system so that domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking are treated as serious violations of criminal law requiring the coordinated involvement of the entire criminal justice system and partnerships with victim service providers. See the Improving Criminal Justice Responses Program fact sheet.

Campus Program: $16.2 million awarded to 52 programs to support a wide range of  projects that develop a comprehensive coordinated community approach to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking on campuses that enhances victim safety, provides services and support for victims, and supports efforts to hold offenders accountable. See the Campus Program fact sheet.

Justice for Families: $13.6 million awarded to 24 projects to improve the response of the civil and criminal justice systems to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse, including by supporting court-based programs, supervised visitation and safe exchange of children, training for court personnel, and civil legal services. See the Justice for Families Program fact sheet.

Consolidated Youth and Engaging Men: $9 million awarded to 20 programs to provide services and training to address the needs of children and youth impacted by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking; and engage men to prevent violence against women and girls. See the Consolidated Youth and Engaging Men Program fact sheet.

Culturally Specific Services: $6.8 million awarded to 23 projects to increase communities’ capacity to provide culturally specific resources and support for victims; provide culturally specific resources and services that address the safety, economic, housing and workplace needs of victims; provide training for law enforcement, prosecution, courts, probation and correctional facilities on culturally specific responses; and examine the dynamics of culture and its impact on victimization and healing. See the Culturally Specific Services fact sheet.

Underserved Program: $4.9 million awarded to 11 programs to develop or enhance services for populations or implement outreach strategies targeted at adult or youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking in underserved populations, who often face challenges in accessing victim services that are accessible, culturally relevant, and responsive to their needs. See the Underserved Program fact sheet.

Disabilities Program: $4.1 million awarded to 10 programs to provide a range of resources including personnel, training, technical assistance, advocacy, intervention, risk reduction and prevention to disabled victims, and to develop model programs. See the Disability Grant Program fact sheet.

Sexual Assault Services Culturally Specific Program: $4 million awarded to 14 programs to create, maintain and expand sustainable sexual assault services provided by organizations that are uniquely situated to respond to the needs of sexual assault victims from culturally specific populations. See the Sexual Assault Services Culturally Specific Program fact sheet.

Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program: $3.8 million awarded to 10 programs to support the establishment, maintenance and expansion of programs and projects within Indian country and Alaska Native villages to assist those victimized by sexual assault. See the Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program fact sheet.

Research and Evaluation Initiative: $2.3 million awarded to seven projects on a range of topics including measuring effectiveness of a wide breadth of funded activities, including victim services, policing, prosecution and court responses. See the Research and Evaluation Initiative Solicitation.

Abuse in Later Life: $1.4 million awarded to four programs to provide training, establish and support multidisciplinary collaborative community responses, provide and enhance services for victims, and conduct outreach and awareness campaigns to support projects that provide a comprehensive approach to addressing elder abuse. See the Abuse in Later Life Program fact sheet.

National Tribal Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault: $1 million awarded to one program to establish, sustain and expand a repository that provides resources, training opportunities, educational materials and technical assistance on issues relating to sexual assault of American Indian and Alaska Native women.

Resource Center on Workplace Responses to Assist Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence Program: $1 million awarded to one program to manage the National Resource Center on Workplace Responses, which provides information, resources, tools and technical assistance to employers and labor organizations to better equip them to respond to victims. These efforts address the needs of employees in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking impacting the workplace.

Special Domestic Violence Jurisdiction Program: $733,691 awarded to two programs to assist Indian tribes in planning, implementing and exercising “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” to hold accountable non-Indians who commit crimes of domestic violence or dating violence or violate certain protection orders in Indian country. For more information, see the Tribal Jurisdiction Program fact sheet.

Training and Technical Assistance Program: $36.2 million awarded to 65 programs that provide training, expertise and problem-solving strategies to meet the challenges of addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Technical assistance projects offer in-person and online educational opportunities, peer-to-peer consultations, on-site technical assistance, and tailored assistance for OVW grantees and potential grantees. In more limited circumstances, OVW's technical assistance projects offer technical assistance to a small number of pilot sites as part of demonstration initiatives or assessments of newly developed training curricula or tools. For more information, please visit OVW’s Training and Technical Assistance website.

October 3, 2021 - Tenaha Street near the intersection of Foster Street in Center was the scene of a two-vehicle crash September 25, 2021.

According to Center Police Officer Michael Davidson, at 3:45pm September 25, a white 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 driven by Laura Nowlin, 61, of DeBerry was southbound on Tenaha Street when Nowlin attempted to turn left into a car wash and misjudged the speed of oncoming traffic.

As a result, the Chevrolet turned in front of a northbound 2018 Honda CR-V driven by Robert Flood, 71, of Bedford causing the Honda to strike the passenger side of the Chevrolet.

Nowlin, Flood and his passenger Jill Flood, 72, were all transported by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Shelby Emergency Department for treatment of possible injuries.

No citations were issued.

Center Fire Department assisted Center Police Officers in directing traffic at the scene.