Ex-BLM employee admits using government credit card to defraud agency, buy pottery

MISSOULA – A former Bureau of Land Management employee today admitted he used government credit cards to steal from the agency, including buying pottery for his personal use, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Adrian Anthony Aragon, 49, of Butte, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Aragon faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided. The Court detained Aragon and set sentencing for Aug. 14.

The prosecution said in court records filed in the case that Aragon worked as an administrative assistant for the BLM and had been issued government travel and purchase cards to be used only for official business. An investigation found that in 10 months, Aragon attempted to obtain about $20,901 by improperly using his government cards. On July 28, 2019, Aragon used his card to spend $2,500 to buy pottery for his personal use. To cover the fraudulent purchase, Aragon doctored the account statement to omit the transaction and then submitted the statement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Land Management, Office of Law Enforcement and Security.

Man sentenced for illegal gun possession in Baker deer poaching investigation

BILLINGS—A Louisiana man who admitted illegally having a firearm after confessing to shooting a mule deer buck in the Baker area was sentenced today to 15 months in prison and to three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Matthew Stephen Hays, 32, of Rayville, LA, pleaded guilty in November to prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The prosecution said in court documents that Hays was convicted of felony theft of a firearm in Louisiana in 2014. In January 2019, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens were investigating reports of deer poaching in eastern Montana. While on Sheep Mountain Road, the wardens saw a small pickup truck, heard four shots and saw the truck drive away. The wardens drove to where the truck had stopped and found a mule deer buck thrashing in sage brush about 150 yards from the road. The wardens hiked to the animal and found it dead from several gunshot wounds.

Four days later, one of the wardens saw in a Baker parking lot a truck matching the description of the truck that had been seen on Sheep Mountain Road. There were deer antlers in the back of the pickup and a rifle and several boxes of ammunition in the back seat of the cab. Hays emerged from a nearby store and walked to the truck. He confessed to the warden that he shot mule deer buck with his .22-caliber rifle. During a search of the truck, the warden recovered a .22-caliber rifle and a second firearm. Hay also told the warden he had a prior felony conviction.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Painter prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This case is part of Project Guardian, the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws, and Project Safe Neighborhoods, the USDOJ’s initiative to reduce violent crime. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in Montana increased by 36% from 2013 through 2018. Through these initiatives, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.

Newport Beach Man Gets Federal Prison Time for Stealing Endangered Ring-Tailed Lemur from Santa Ana Zoo

          SANTA ANA, California – An Orange County man was sentenced today to three months in federal prison for breaking into the Santa Ana Zoo after hours and stealing North America’s oldest ring-tailed lemur in captivity to keep the endangered animal as his pet.

          Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, was given the 90-day prison sentence by United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford, who also ordered him to pay $8,486 in restitution to the zoo.

          Kasbar pleaded guilty on July 8 to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species. He broke into the Santa Ana Zoo on July 27, 2018 after it had closed for the day. He then used bolt cutters to cut a hole in the zoo’s enclosures for lemurs and capuchin monkeys, which enabled several of the animals to escape, though they were later recovered.

          While inside the zoo, Kasbar stole Isaac, a 32-year-old, ring-tailed lemur (lemur catta) and the oldest such lemur in captivity in North America. (Isaac turned 33 years old in July; a lemur’s lifespan typically is between 20 years and 25 years.) The ring-tailed lemur is native to Madagascar and is on a list of the 25 most endangered primates, according to court documents. Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered, in part, because of the illegal pet trade, court papers state.

          Kasbar then placed Isaac in a plastic drawer that lacked ventilation holes, court papers state. The next day, Kasbar abandoned the animal in front of a Newport Beach hotel, leaving him in the same plastic drawer with two notes placed on it, which read, “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police,” according to court documents. Kasbar’s actions resulted in a loss to the Santa Ana Zoo of approximately $8,486. Isaac later was returned unharmed to the zoo.

         his case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Newport Beach Police Department, and the Santa Ana Police Department.

          This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel H. Ahn of the Santa Ana Branch Office and Erik M. Silber of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section.