USAO NDTX Weekly Roundup -- 11/01/18

SENTENCING -- Tanya Scroggins
On Oct. 25, Tanya Lynn Scroggins was sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison for her role in a methamphetamine ring managed by white supremacists.  In July, Scroggins pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute, after Texas DPS agents found her with a significant amount of methamphetamine, multiple firearms, and a large amount of cash.

SENTENCING – Garry Newton, 21
On Oct. 31, Garry Dewayne Newton was sentenced to just shy of 3 years in federal prison on drug and firearms charges. He was one of 15 defendants indicted in December 2017 following an ATF investigation targeting a violent Dallas street gang known as “YNB StretchGang.” After agreeing to sell meth to a customer he later learned was an uncover law enforcement officer, Newton was arrested carrying multiple drugs, drug paraphernalia, and a stolen 9mm Taurus handgun. He later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a user of a controlled substance. Newton admits that he and other YNB StretchGang members sold controlled substances, including meth, cocaine, alprazolam (Xanax), and marijuana, and produced music videos glorifying violence.

SENTENCING -- Shakil Mukadam
On Oct. 31, Shakil Mukadam was sentenced to more than 6 years in federal prison for robbing four Dallas banks over a two-day period in December 2017.  In March, Mukadam pled guilty to one count of robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in Dallas but admitted robbing a Chase Bank and two BBVA Compass Bank locations as well.  The FBI conducted the investigation.

SENTENCING -- Antwan Dickerson
On Oct. 31, Antwan Dickerson was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for firearm possession by a convicted felon.  When Dallas Police Department executed a narcotics search warrant at Dickerson’s residence, they found multiple guns inside, including a shotgun that had been stolen from a federal firearms licensee.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Dallas Police Department investigated the case.

PLEA – Patricia Armstrong, 32
Patricia Armstrong of Coppell, TX pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud on Nov. 1. Armstrong admits to participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid of over $60 million by causing those programs to be billed for hospice beneficiaries who were ineligible for hospice care, were fraudulently recruited to hospice care, or who were not provided billed-for services. She now faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The FBI, HHS-OIG, and MFCU investigated.

SENTENCING – Yousef Hendi, 26
On Nov. 1, Yousef Hendi was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual exploitation of children.  Hendi, a Palestinian national, coerced more than 34 minors, many of them inside the U.S., into sending sexually explicit images and videos. (Investigators have identified 19 of those victims thus far.) Hendi found a number of his victims by impersonating a female and joining an online, teen-only group, where he would challenge members to prove they were really female. Once Hendi had obtained a nude image of the minor, he would then threaten and coerce her into sending additional sexually explicit images and videos.  HSI conducted the investigation.