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DALLAS (AP) —
Authorities say four people have died in a fiery wreck on a Dallas overpass after their vehicle became entangled with a tractor-trailer carrying lumber.
Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokesman Raul Reyna said they are still investigating what caused the wreck early Monday morning. He said two adults, including a pregnant woman, and two children died in the vehicle that became entangled with the tractor-trailer. He says the driver of the tractor-trailer was unharmed.
Reyna says that when the vehicles became entangled, the gas tanks on the tractor-trailer ruptured, causing the large fire. Burning lumber fell from the overpass onto the ground below.
The accident happened on the bridge from westbound Interstate 20 to southbound Interstate 35.
LUBBOCK, Texas —
Ten defendants have been charged in a federal indictment with felony offenses stemming from their role in a cocaine and crack cocaine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Most of the defendants, from the Lubbock, Texas, area were arrested last week in a joint operation led by the Texas Department of Public Safety, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Lubbock and Terry County Sheriff’s Offices, the Lubbock Police Department, and the Hockley, Lamb, and Lubbock County District Attorney’s Offices. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Tabatha Williams in Fort Myers, Florida. Two defendants, Joshua Cubit and Mackie Washington, were in state custody on unrelated charges.
Some detention hearings are set for Wednesday, October 7, 2015. A November 2, 2015, trial date, before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, has been set.
The 24-count indictment, just unsealed, charges each of the following with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances:
Timothy Paul Adame, 28
Jaime Lee Escalante, 33
Jerry Don Watley, II, 37
Joshua Deshawn Cubit, 27
Freddrick Lamont Huey, 33
Tyrone Bernard Williams, 32
Dianne M. Winn, 40
Mackie Lee Washington, Sr., 58
Tabatha Roxana Williams, 44
Juan Bernard Ledesma, 27
In addition, Adame is charged with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base; one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine; and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Watley is also charged with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine; nine counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; one count of possession with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base; and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Huey is also charged with two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
Tyrone Williams is also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Winn is also charged with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
Washington is also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
Tabatha Williams is also charged with three counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. The other drug counts carry a maximum statutory penalty ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. The firearm count carries a statutory penalty of not less than five years or more than life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag is in charge of the prosecution.
HOUSTON –
With the sentencing of Leatrice Reynaud, 45, three Houston women have now been held accountable for their crimes of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Reynaud previously pleaded guilty as did Houston cousins, Tonya Beverly, 39, and Demetria Jones, 41.
Today, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ordered Reynaud to serve a sentence of 57 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. Beverly was sentenced last month to a term of 63 months in prison, while Jones, who was a minor participant, received 12 months and one day in custody. The three conspirators were further ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution to USAA Federal Savings Bank - the ultimate financial victim of the crime. As part of their plea agreements, the conspirators have agreed to forfeiture of $106,383.51 in unlawful proceeds to the United States.
Beverly, Reynaud and Jones admitted they conspired together to create and access false and fraudulent USAA Federal Savings Bank accounts using stolen personal identification information, including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Beverly admitted she stole the personal information from the patient files of health care providers with whom she had been employed.
In less than two years, the conspirators created 33 false and fraudulent USAA accounts and transferred approximately $205,719 into those accounts from the real bank accounts of at least 35 individuals. Several of the victims were elderly, including one who was born in 1922 and another who was born in 1929 as well as another victim who was caring for her terminally ill husband when the crime occurred.
Today, the prosecutor read a portion of a victim statement to the court that described the mental anguish and stress caused by the conspirators’ actions. The amount of loss for each victim varied - $23,800 was taken out of the account of the victim born in 1922, while $24,000 was taken from another victim.
At least 16 different banks were affected by the defendants’ actions. As part of the fraud scheme, the conspirators used homes that were listed for sale or vacant as the recipient addresses for debit cards mailed by USAA for the false and fraudulent accounts. Jones received one of the false and fraudulent debit cards at her home address. The USAA debit cards in the victims’ real names were used to withdraw cash from ATM machines, including machines located in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Texas and to make purchases, including plane tickets to Los Angeles, California, for the defendants and the children of one of the defendants. The conspirators also used phones registered in the name of another victim of identity theft to access the fraudulent USAA accounts and perform account functions.
The women were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading in this case was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Redlinger prosecuted the case.