Indictments Announced

RAMIREZ-FERNANDEZ

ANTONIO RAMIREZ-FERNANDEZ, age 25, of Mexico, was charged in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that on August 4, 2009, RAMIREZ-FERNANDEZ, an alien who had been previously deported from the United States, illegally re-entered the United States without permission, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a). The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for two years.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hunter Young of the Columbia office for prosecution.

TRIBBLE

SETH ALEXANDER TRIBBLE, age 50, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged in an eight-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that on six separate occasions from January 2008 to July 2008, TRIBBLE received unemployment compensation benefits with the South Carolina Employment Security Commission by filing an application under the identity of another individual, having the unemployment checks mailed to a certain address, and then cashing the checks, violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. The maximum penalty for each offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 20 years.

TRIBBLE is further charged with stealing and converting to his own use funds in excess of $1,000 that belonged to the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641. The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 10 years.

Finally, TRIBBLE is charged with using the identity of another person to obtain and receive unemployment compensation benefits, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of 250,000 and imprisonment for two years consecutive to any other term of imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hunter Young of the Columbia office for prosecution.

TECPILE-ROSAS

JESUS TECPILE-ROSAS, age 23, of Mexico, was charged in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that on August 4, 2009, TECPILE-ROSAS, an alien who had been previously deported from the United States, illegally re-entered the United States without permission, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a). The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for two years.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hunter Young of the Columbia office for prosecution.

TURNER

KENNETH MICHAEL TURNER, age 50, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was charged in a three-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that on May 7, 2008, TURNER made a false statement in response to a Voluntary Petition in Bankruptcy in which he failed to list all prior bankruptcy cases he had filed in the past eight years, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 152(3). The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for five years.

Additionally, the Indictment alleges that on May 7, 2008, TURNER disobeyed a lawful order of a court, which prohibited him from filing a bankruptcy petition until after August 30, 2008, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 401(3). The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine and/or imprisonment to be determined by the sentencing court.

Finally, TURNER is charged with executing a scheme and artifice to defraud the United States Bankruptcy Court by mailing various documents, including a Voluntary Petition in Bankruptcy, on May 7, 2008, and filing them with the Bankruptcy Court in Columbia, South Carolina, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. The maximum penalty for this offense is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 20 years.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hunter Young of the Columbia office for prosecution.

The United States Attorney stated that all charges in these Indictments are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.