Scheme

A federal grand jury in Camden, N.J., has indicted six people, including two from Maryland, and two companies for their part in an alleged oyster poaching scheme from 2004 to 2007. Mark Bryan of New Market and Pam Meloney of Secretary were arrested and charged with creating false federal and state reports for two oyster businesses, Harbor House Seafood in Seaford, Del., and Reeves Brothers of Port Norris, N.J., to hide that they exceeded their New Jersey quota. The indictment says Reeves overharvested some years by as much as 90 percent, with the value of the illegal oysters in excess of $600,000.

An Odenton man who tricked a mentally disabled Glen Burnie postal worker into giving him more than $250,000 over the course of three years pleaded guilty Wednesday to exploiting a vulnerable adult, according to Anne Arundel County prosecutors. Eugene Allen Hinson, Jr., 59, of the 1300 block of Tab St. in Odenton was sentenced by Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul Hackner to serve 18 months of a 10-year prison term, prosecutors said in a news release. Hackner also required Hinson to pay full restitution to Thomas "Tommy" Newberger, 50, who is mentally retarded and has worked various jobs at the U.S. Post Office in Glen Burnie for about 30 years, prosecutors said.

Osvaldo Valentine, a 40-year-old Baltimore police officer, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Thursday for taking kickbacks from an auto repair company, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Sixteen Baltimore officers were convicted in the scheme, which involved referring car crash customers to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments, falsifying police reports and increasing damage to vehicles to boost the insurance payouts. Valentine is the ninth officer sentenced to federal prison thus far. His term is on the high end of the range, which spans eight to 30 months.

A Baltimore home builder pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with a construction investment scheme that defrauded victims of more than $14 million, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office said. Brian McCloskey, 44, spent at least two years — from 2009 to 2011 — targeting people with money to invest in construction projects or who needed financing for their own projects, including a hotel in Bowie. He told the investors to put "large sums of money" in an escrow bank account to prove liquidity for purposes of getting financing, and that they would receive a high rate of return for their efforts, according to his plea agreement.

Two Owings Mills-based mortgage firms accused of running a "foreclosure rescue scheme" have agreed to pay $110,000 in cash restitution as part of a settlement that saved the Ellicott City homes of two elderly women, one of whom has since died after becoming a victim. Poor health and related bills left the two women behind on mortgage payments in 2006, when they responded to a refinancing offer contained in packets labeled "Your Best Hope has just arrived." But instead of a promised rescue from the brink of foreclosure, the women found that they had unwittingly signed away the titles to their homes and were facing eviction.

Two business partners who misused money intended for building new homes in Baltimore County were sentenced Friday to eight years in prison, with five of those years suspended, the state attorney general's office said. Walter Osborne Ely Jr., 46, and sister Kimberly Zahrey, 44, were also ordered to pay $188,768 to 19 victims after they get out. The state is pursuing a separate civil case against the siblings to try to get more money back. The state said the two, operating as JAE Developers, took payments as large as $50,000 from clients and spent the money on expenses with no connection to the buyers' homes.

Five illegal immigrants living in Maryland have been federally charged in connection with a prostitution ring that ran brothels in Annapolis and Easton, among other state locations, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. Charged in the criminal complaint are: German de Jesus Ventura, 32, of Capitol Heights; Kerlin Esau Esquivel-Feuntes, 23, of Annapolis; and Luis Alberto Reyes, 28, Isidro Jiminez-Sanchez, 32, and Wibert Alejandro Herrera-Aranda, 32, all of Easton.

Two Maryland seafood dealers and the largest fish wholesaler in Washington will have to pay fines and restitution of nearly $890,000 for their part in what prosecutors and a federal judge have labeled the largest commercial fish poaching scheme in the history of the Chesapeake Bay. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte sentenced OceanPro Industries Ltd., also known as Profish, to pay $575,000 in fines for buying tens of thousands of pounds of fish...

A second Baltimore police officer was sentenced to federal prison Monday for participating in an extortion scheme that led to the criminal conviction of 16 city officials and the suspension of 14 others. Jerry Diggs Jr., 25, was sentenced to 30 months and ordered to pay restitution of $13,105 for illegally referring car owners to Majestic Auto Repair for towing services and repairs after crashes in exchange for cash. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion in October in Baltimore's U.S. District Court.

Apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers complained about the Ravens chop blocking, and it was only a matter of time before NFL teams called the Ravens out. The Ravens are using a blocking scheme similar to the one used in Denver when John Elway was the quarterback and Terrell Davis was the featured running back. Back then, many  teams complained about the Broncos' chop blocks. When the Ravens played the Denver back in the early 2000's, the Ravens often complained about how the Broncos illegally chopped defensive linemen.

A civilian employee of the U.S. Navy who for years sold government scrap metal from Naval installations for a personal profit was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 30 months in prison for the scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein. Christopher M. Hill, 47, of Lusby, who handled recycling and scraps for the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and other military installations, was also ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow to pay more than $630,000 in restitution to the Navy and almost $135,000 in restitution to the IRS. According to a plea agreement in the case, a private contractor collected scrap metal owned by the government — but Hill had the firm submit payments for those scraps directly to him. Between 2004 and 2010, Hill deposited 124 checks from the company into his personal bank accounts, and did not report the earnings to the IRS. In a statement, Robert Craig, special agent in charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, one of the agencies involved in the investigation, said Hill's arrest shows those agencies and Rosenstein's office "will doggedly investigate and prosecute those that decide to break the rules — or make-up their own rules — to steal and cheat from the Department of Defense.

Osvaldo Valentine, a 40-year-old Baltimore police officer, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Thursday for taking kickbacks from an auto repair company, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Sixteen Baltimore officers were convicted in the scheme, which involved referring car crash customers to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments, falsifying police reports and increasing damage to vehicles to boost the insurance payouts. Valentine is the ninth officer sentenced to federal prison thus far. His term is on the high end of the range, which spans eight to 30 months.

A sixth Baltimore Police officer was sentenced Friday for his role in a massive kickback scheme involving an auto body shop, receiving two years in prison and being ordered to pay $24,000 in restitution. Officer Rafael Concepcion Feliciano Jr., 31, admitted last year that he referred accident vehicles to the Majestic Auto Body shop in Rosedale after being introduced to the store's owners by a fellow officer, Rodney Cintron, prosecutors said. Prosecutors estimate that Feliciano alone caused a loss of between $120,000 and $200,000.

The last of 17 Baltimore police officers charged in a kickback scheme pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy and extortion in federal court, bringing the prosecution phase of the case to a close. Over a five-month period, Jaime Luis Lugo Rivera, 36, steered car crash victims to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments worth at least $6,000, falsified police reports, persuaded at least one vehicle owner to submit a false insurance claim and supported efforts by the body shop owners to increase damage for bigger insurance payouts, according to his plea agreement.

A second Baltimore police officer was sentenced to federal prison Monday for participating in an extortion scheme that led to the criminal conviction of 16 city officials and the suspension of 14 others. Jerry Diggs Jr., 25, was sentenced to 30 months and ordered to pay restitution of $13,105 for illegally referring car owners to Majestic Auto Repair for towing services and repairs after crashes in exchange for cash. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion in October in Baltimore's U.S. District Court.

A Bulgarian man living in Howard County was sentenced to more than six years in prison Friday for his part in an debit card skimming scheme that stole more than $400,000 from at least 526 people, prosecutors said. Ivo Svetozarov Damyanov, 32, was given 75 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to obtain ATM card account and personal identification numbers, Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. For at least two years, from Feb. 2009 though Feb. 2011, Damyanov and his conspirators placed "skimmers" into the card-reading slots of ATMs throughout Maryland, the statement said.

A Reisterstown financial advisor was sentenced Friday to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for mail fraud in connection with defrauding clients, including a child suffering from cerebral palsy, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake also ordered Ralph Edward Thomas Jr. to pay $838,350 in restitution and to forfeit property in order to do so, including funds related to investment accounts, his home and his luxury cars.

The Ravens two losses this season came against the Titans and Jaguars, both teams which play at 4-3 defense. Traditionally, the Ravens have struggled against the Colts and Bengals, both of which play the 4-3 scheme.  In the next two weeks, the Ravens play Seattle and the Bengals, so they'll be going against the 4-3 again. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said the team has looked over previous game plans and might make some changes to see if they can be more successful. One area of concern has been the Ravens lack of ability to get to and block the middle linebacker.

An Edgewater man was sentenced to six years in prison and a Crofton man pleaded guilty Friday for their involvement in a Gambrills-based mortgage fraud scheme in which they stole nearly $5 million for their personal use, prosecutors said. Gary Pierce, 44, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for his part in a wire fraud conspiracy to divert funds that were supposed to be used to pay off mortgages during home transfers on 17 Maryland properties, according to a statement from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office.

A Bowie man whose fraud scheme sent more than a dozen homes into foreclosure and caused owners to lose more than $1.2 million in home equity was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison, prosecutors said. Charles Donaldson, 58, recruited homeowners struggling with their mortgages for what he said would be a foreclosure rescue plan: They would sell their homes to investors, remain there as renters for 12 to 18 months and then buy the properties back after repairing their finances, according to a statement Thursday from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office.