Former Federal Court Employee and Husband Sentenced for Leaking Confidential Court Records to Tip Off Defendants About Pending Arrests

A former employee with the federal district court clerk’s office in Los Angeles and her husband were sentenced late Wednesday for their roles in a scheme to access and disclose information contained in sealed court documents in order to tip off organized crime figures prior to arrests, announced André Birotte, Jr., the United States Attorney in Los Angeles; and Bill L. Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The Honorable Michael W. Fitzgerald sentenced the former clerk, Nune Gevorkyan, 36, to six months in federal prison, and her husband, Oganes Koshkaryan, 41, to 57 months in federal prison for their role in the public corruption scheme. In addition, Judge Fitzgerald sentenced Gevorkyan and Koshkaryan to three years’ supervised release, a monetary assessment, and a condition that both abstain from associating with members of Armenian Power, an established criminal enterprise.

Gevorkyan and Koshkaryan, both of Hollywood, were arrested in August 2012 after being charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to obstruct justice. A federal grand jury later returned an indictment in United States District Court in Los Angeles charging Gevorkyan and Koshkaryan in connection with the scheme. Defendant Koshkaryan was also charged with a variety of violations relative to a health care fraud scheme. On January 7, 2013, Gevorkyan pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Koshkaryan pled guilty to multiple counts of the indictment, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; health care fraud; possession of unauthorized access devices; and aggravated identity theft.

Koshkaryan has remained in federal custody since being arrested. Gevorkyan was ordered to report to begin serving her sentence on August 7, 2013.

An investigation that began last year by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force in Los Angeles obtained evidence of the activity during an undercover investigation.

Koshkaryan, who had been fraudulently providing Medicare beneficiary information to an undercover law enforcement officer, advised he could access confidential information from the federal court system in exchange for a fee. On multiple ocassions, Koshkaryan delivered the confidential information that had been obtained from sealed court records to the undercover officer. Some of the compromised records included individuals who were members or associates of the Armenian Power criminal enterprise and subjects of pending federal arrest warrants. Checks of electronic court records confirmed that that Gevorkyan, who was employed as a clerk in the Criminal Intake area of the district court’s clerk’s office, had used her official position to access the sealed court records and gave them to Koshkaryan.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Fitzgerald described the corrupt activity as “unthinkable,” commenting that “the defendant struck a serious blow to not just the court system, but also the city of Los Angeles.” Judge Fitzgerald commented further that defendant Gevorkyan “besmirched the reputation of her co-workers.”

This case was investigated by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which is composed of agents with the FBI; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigative Division; and federally deputized state law enforcement officers with local agencies, including the Glendale Police Department; the Los Angeles Police Department; and the Burbank Police Department.

Koshkaryan and Gevorkyan were prosecuted in Los Angeles by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.

Media Contact

• Assistant United States Attorney Martin Estrada: 213-894-3358
• United States Attorney’s Office Public Affairs: 213-894-6947
• FBI Press Relations: 310-996-3343