USAO NDTX Roundup -- 11/29/1

SENTENCING –Anthony Turner, 26,  Xavier Ross, 26  & Afraybeom Jackson, 28
On Nov. 28, Anthony Turner and Xavier Ross were sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for their roles in a robbery.  Co-conspirator Afraybeom Jackson was sentenced to nearly 6 years. The defendants pled guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence after they were arrested for robbing a jewelry store in Irving, Texas. The FBI investigated the case.

SENTENCING – a Drug Trafficking Ring
On Nov. 28, six defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn for their roles in a cocaine trafficking organization:

• Bruce Turner, 40, aka “BK” – 12.5 years
• Desmond Keith Wright, 36, aka “Deedy Weedy” – 9 years
• Datanya Deone Jones, 37, aka “Worm” – 6.5 years
• Gerald Jerome Duncan, 30, aka “Bear” or “Osso” – 18 months
• Kennard Henry Richards-Darby, 28, aka “Boom” – time served
• Johnny Lee Edwards, 37, aka “Bubba” – 3 years’ probation

The FBI investigated the case; ATF, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, and Dallas Police Department assisted with the takedown.

INDICTMENT* – Jared Rice, 30
On Nov. 28, AriseBank CEO Jared Rice Sr. was arrested by the FBI, charged with duping hundreds of investors out of more than $4 million in a cryptocurrency scheme. According to the indictment, Rice lied to would-be investors, falsely claiming that AriseBank could offer consumers FDIC-insured accounts and traditional banking services, including Visa-branded credit cards. If convicted, he faces 120 years in prison. The FBI investigated the case. Press release here.

SENTENCING – Jose Valentin, 39, Juan Gomez-Moreno, 28, & Gabriela Morales, 32.
On Nov. 28 and 29, three defendants were sentenced for their roles in a cocaine and methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. Jose Guadalupe Valentin, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, pleaded guilty in June after Dallas DEA agents intercepted him on a wiretap negotiating and purchasing cocaine from a codefendant, and discovered cocaine, currency, and firearms at his home during a raid. Juan Alberto Gomez-Moreno, who was sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison, pleaded guilty in January, after DEA agents intercepted him on a wiretap negotiating meth. Gabriela Morales, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, also pleaded guilty in January after DEA agents intercepted her on a wiretap making multiple deliveries of meth and cocaine to various customers in the Dallas area and collecting currency that represented the proceeds from drug trafficking.

PLEA – Marcus Jones, 29
On Nov. 27, Marcus Darwyn Jones of Arlington pleaded guilty to two counts of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise.  Jones admitted to using Backpage.com to facilitate prostitution of two minor victims.  Homeland Security Investigations, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated.

PLEA – Marcus Pierson
On Nov. 27, Marcus Jerod Pierson of Dallas pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. When Pierson was arrested, he had methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and a handgun in his vehicle.  He faces up to 20 years  in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. The DEA conducted the investigation.

PLEA – Christina Hickson, 23
On Nov. 27, Christina Michelle Hickson of Arkansas pleaded guilty to escape from federal custody. Hickson admits that on or about May 1, she escaped from the Volunteers of America Residential Re-Entry Center after a conviction for the commission of a bank robbery.  She faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  The United States Marshal’s Service investigated.   

SENTENCING – Bruce Brick, 51
On Nov. 26, 2018, Bruce Brick was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for escaping from a half-way house where he was residing for failure to register as a sex offender. On June 21, 2018, Brick pled guilty to one count of escape, after he was arrested in California and transported back to Texas by the U.S. Marshal’s Service. His new sentence is to run consecutively to the sentence he received in federal court in June 2015.

* An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.