U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Training In Recognizing Human Trafficking Offered

Not everyone understands what human trafficking is and what it isn’t. But a special training opportunity Thursday morning will explain the differences.

United States Attorneys Will Thompson and William Ihlenfeld will jointly host a human trafficking training event on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at locations in Charleston and Wheeling as well as virtually.

The joint training event is called Human Trafficking: Facts, Fiction, and Federal Law. It will feature participation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Pittsburgh Division, the West Virginia Fusion Center, the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (FRIS), the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network and Angie Conn, a human trafficking survivor, victim advocate and founder of SheWhoDares Consulting LLC.

WHERE:

Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1114 Virginia Street East, Charleston

St. Michael Catholic Church Angelus Center, 1225 National Road, Wheeling

To register call 304-234-7743 or use the QR code below.

Prosecuting COVID-19 Relief Fraud Is An Ongoing Effort

Illegally obtaining COVID-19 relief funds is being called “the greatest fraud of our generation.”

One of the front liners in investigating COVID-19 fraud is U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld for the Northern District of West Virginia .

Randy Yohe spoke with the federal prosecutor about the extent of this crime against taxpayers, and how the public can help fight back.

This story has been lightly edited for clarity.

Yohe: The thumbnail definition of COVID-19 fraud is the illegal use of federal relief funds distributed during the pandemic. What are the particulars of this crime?

Ihlenfeld: COVID fraud comes in a variety of different ways. We look at it from the perspective of Paycheck Protection Program loans that were filed fraudulently. We look at it from the perspective of people who were collecting supplemental unemployment insurance illegally and through other types of fraud related to the pandemic.

A tremendous amount of money was pushed out by the Congress during that time period, and many people took advantage of it. It’s the greatest fraud of our generation. I will tell you, Randy, our greatest focus has been on the PPP loans, because there were over 16,000 of them issued in the Northern District of West Virginia. We’ve identified a large amount of fraud and we are pursuing those matters either through criminal action or civil action. And sometimes there’s a combination. In addition, we’re working closely with Workforce West Virginia to identify those who took advantage of the unemployment insurance that was being pushed out and collected benefits to which they were not entitled.

Yohe: What’s a PPP loan?

Ihlenfeld: So the PPP loan, which stands for Paycheck Protection Program, was rolled out by Congress. The purpose was to help businesses stay open, but allow their employees to stay at home. The idea was to keep people from spreading the virus.

The PPP loans allowed businesses to pay for payroll, to pay for their mortgage interest, if they had a mortgage on their business, to pay their rent and to pay their utilities. Funding also went to to protect their workers who might need the personal protective equipment and other certain operational expenses. There were billions in these loans that were pushed out to allow businesses to keep their folks at home, but not have to shut down their business during the pandemic or or prior to the pandemic concluding.

If the monies were not used for the intended purposes that I just referenced, then there’s a good chance that there was fraud. And we’ve seen many instances where people received these PPP loans, but didn’t use the money for one of the permissible purposes. For example, someone might have purchased a new automobile for their own personal use instead of using the money for its intended purpose. Then we’ve also had a number of cases where individuals misrepresented the size of their payroll or the number of their employees in order to get a larger loan than what they were really entitled to.

Yohe: James Nolte of Bridgeport was recently sentenced to prison for COVID-19 fraud. Can you briefly go through his case?

Ihlenfeld: Mr. Nolte was sentenced recently to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay back over $680,000 in restitution. He is a nurse practitioner from Bridgeport, West Virginia who took advantage of the system. He applied for PPP loans for businesses that he created. Not only did he create the businesses, he created a false payroll. He listed employees relatives of his, including his 10-year-old stepson, and he listed that his 10-year-old stepson was being paid $100,000 a year. He also listed his deceased father as an employee of one of his businesses and indicated that his deceased father was receiving a six figure salary as well. We obtained an indictment. He pled guilty to that indictment. And now he’s headed off to federal prison, and he’ll have to reimburse the federal government for the money that he stole.

Yohe: I understand that your team is sifting through thousands of relief loans. What are you looking for when you’re looking for COVID-19 fraud?

Ihlenfeld: We hired a COVID fraud analyst. That’s all she does is look at these loans. She does have other people on the team that assist her. Our COVID fraud analyst and the rest of the team are looking for a number of things to identify fraudulent loans. And a lot of these are publicly available data points.

For example, we’re looking to see if this business was actually registered. We’re checking with the Secretary of State’s website to see if it is actually a real business, we’re looking to see how many employees they listed on their application and to see if that number of employees is consistent with what a business of that type would typically have.

If somebody claims that they’re running a barber shop, which might have a few employees typically, but they listed their barber shop has 25 employees, well, then that’s a red flag for us. Obviously, we’re looking to see where they list their primary address for the business. Then we go and check and see if there’s actually a business at that location. We’re also looking to see if these businesses have the appropriate licenses.

If somebody claims to be running a daycare, we check and see if they actually were licensed to run a daycare. And if they didn’t have the appropriate licensure, then that’s an indication that perhaps the business was fraudulent. And then finally, we’ll look to see if the person applying had a recent felony conviction, which can prohibit applying for these loans, or if they’ve recently filed for bankruptcy, which is also another prohibiting factor in applying for one of these loans. There’s a few more factors. I don’t want to give away all of our secrets. But those are some of the things that we’re looking for when we’re reviewing all of these loans.

Yohe: Do you think there’s a lot more of these problematic loans out there?

Ihlenfeld: I do. Fortunately, Congress extended the statute of limitations for the bringing of these cases to 10 years. So, we have a lot of time to look at this. But I do believe there’s more. We’re identifying suspicious loans every week. Just because it’s suspicious, though, doesn’t mean it’s criminal, or that we’re going to take any particular action, but it’s something that we’re going to do a deep dive on. But every week, we identify loans like that.

We also receive tips from the public, and those are very helpful. The example I mentioned before, where someone might have purchased a new car with the loan instead of using it for its intended purpose. Sometimes people brag, and they’ll tell their neighbor that they got a new Ford F-150 with COVID money. And sometimes those neighbors don’t like to see that, and they will send us an anonymous letter, and they’ll let us know what they’ve seen and draw our attention to something that we weren’t previously aware of. We greatly appreciate any input that the public has, in regard to potential covid fraud.

Ihlenfeld asks anyone aware of COVID-19 fraud to report it via email to wvfraud@fbi.gov, by telephone to 304-234-0100, or via regular mail to the U.S. Attorney, P.O. Box 591, Wheeling, WV 26003.

Federal Prosecutors Often Pursue Human Traffickers In W.Va.

There is a chance that human trafficking is going on right in front of us, but most of us don’t know what to look for. In the second of our three-part series on human trafficking in West Virginia, we learn more about the law enforcement and prosecution side of the issue.

Editor’s Note: There is no explicit language in this reporting, but some of the topics may be difficult for some. The first story in this three-part series gave an overview of human trafficking in West Virginia. This second story covers law enforcement and prosecution. In the final story, we’ll hear more from a survivor about her experiences.

There is a chance that human trafficking is going on right in front of us, but most of us don’t know what to look for.

William Thompson, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, said it isn’t only an international crime, but also a local one.

“We’re not seeing young girls being kidnapped off the streets of West Virginia and being shipped overseas,” he said. “Unfortunately, crime is happening right here in our backyard.”

He said teachers and faith and group leaders can be on the lookout for young people caught up in human trafficking.

“Watch for absences, like on Fridays, and Mondays for long weekends,” he said. “Also watch for all of a sudden a person comes in with a new expensive phone or toy or something that doesn’t quite fit.”

He explained that sometimes people being trafficked may have new tattoos that the trafficker uses to keep track of them.

“Look for them to have a person, a significantly older boyfriend or female companion,” Thompson said.

The weekend absences may mean young people may be taken elsewhere for sex work.

“Because of our location, six, eight hours in a car and you can be within probably 50 percent of the United States population,” Thompson said. “We’re not that far from a lot of major metropolitan areas. They’re being trafficked to Columbus, Detroit, New York, some of the same places where we get illegal, other bad things coming to us.”

William Ihlenfeld, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, explained that whether it is labor trafficking or sex trafficking, victims are isolated from anyone who can help.

“Basically, they’re cut off from communication with anyone that might be able to help them,” Ihlenfeld said. “They’re not necessarily being moved from place to place when it comes to labor trafficking, although that’s possible. With sex trafficking, police officers might think it was just a prostitution ring, but in many instances, the females who are involved are victims, and they are being forced to engage in this type of activity by the person who is in control of the situation.”

According to Ihlenfeld, these are often vulnerable people. They might be a runaway. They may have suffered some sort of trauma, or they might have a substance abuse problem, and it is often a family member committing the crime.

“We just recently had someone sentenced to 40 years in prison for the sex trafficking of her daughter,” Ihlenfeld said. “It’s not something that is always obvious. I’ve heard it referred to as an invisible crime, because it’s very difficult to see, but that’s where training comes in. I think all new officers should be trained in how to identify human trafficking.”

One way law enforcement becomes aware of the problem is when traffickers begin exchanging images or electronic messages.

“The reason that we came on to the case that I mentioned was because of images that were being exchanged between the mother of our victim, and another person involved in the conspiracy,” Ihlenfeld said.

Because of the nature of these crimes, the West Virginia Fusion Center, a data clearinghouse for law enforcement, has set up a human trafficking program. Samantha Dial is the human trafficking intelligence analyst there.

“I use different software and resources available to me at the fusion center, to look through different platforms and look through different areas that traffickers may be utilizing to exploit their victims,” she said. “I will look for red flags and different things that may lead me to believe that they are a potential victim or a potential trafficker.”

Dial said she compiles the information and presents what she finds to the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security.

“When I do find a potential victim, or a potential trafficker, we are very closely partnered with Homeland Security Investigations in West Virginia,” she said. “I will put together, a lead is what we call it, and it’s a report. I will take that information that I can gather and send that to Homeland Security Investigations here in Charleston. And we kind of put our heads together, and they will open a case on whatever information I found if they found that viable.”

Human trafficking is both a state and federal crime. Often, though, it falls to the U.S. attorneys to prosecute it. For Thompson, that’s a good thing.

“We have the resources at the federal level,” he said. “I come from the state level. I was a state court judge for 15 years, I’ve seen a lot of it. And some of it is prosecuted at the state level, but we have the resources. And our sentences are harsher on the federal level. This is one time where I’m very glad they’re harsher on the federal level. It’s good for us to get involved if we can.”

Like most crimes, prosecution of human trafficking can take a long time. It may be hard to find evidence and witnesses and victims may be reluctant to come forward and testify. It takes a team effort of investigators, prosecutors and victim support staff to bring it all together.

This story is the second in a three-part series on human trafficking in West Virginia. In the final story, we’ll hear from a survivor.

Human Trafficking Resources:

If you or a loved one is the victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, text 233733 or dial 911.

Jewish Fears, Zero Hate Crime Tolerance Highlight W.Va. Antisemetic Law Enforcement Training

Federal officials say antisemitism in America is up 400 percent since the Hamas-Israel War began a month ago, and West Virginia law enforcement is on high alert.

The U.S. attorneys for the northern and southern districts of West Virginia partnered Monday with the American Jewish Committee and the FBI to conduct antisemitism training for state law enforcement.

In his welcoming remarks, Rabbi Victor Urecki spoke with a voice of fear and a heart of hope. He told those gathered at his B’nai Jacob Temple in Charleston that his once open day and night temple doors, now stayed locked. He said his congregation has endured active shooter training, his temple has security alarms, and there’s now a police presence during the Jewish High Holy Days.

“That is not the way America is,” Urecki said. “I think if we can find the causes of this, find what we can do to tamp down that hate and let it go back down into the ground as opposed to being as violent as we’ve seen it today.”

West Virginia Southern District U.S. Attorney Will Thompson was the training host in Charleston. Northern District U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld joined in virtually from Wheeling. Thompson said this training was planned for months. He said before the war began on Oct. 7, hate crime preparedness was preventive, now it’s alarmingly vital.

“I regret that we still have Nazis as part of our news cycle,” Thompson said. “That’s really sad, but we are seeing it. We want them here to realize what antisemitism is and how to recognize signs of it. People might not realize it, when they first initially see it.”

The FBI is the lead agency for hate crime violations. FBI Agent Tony Rausa referred to a Charleston neighborhood. He said antisemetic red flags can be raised beyond hate inspired rallies.

“There were individuals disseminating some messages of hate along the west side,” Rausa said. “We saw someone dropping leaflets in plastic bags with some material indiscriminately throwing them out across people’s properties. We want to be able to look into that and figure out what’s going on behind the scenes to see if there is a greater message of hate that we’re not seeing on the surface.”

An FBI agent and two law enforcement officers attend antisemitic training.

*Credit: Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department Captain Eric Drennan said his team is ready in case any hate crime rally might get out of hand.

“People come out and do their protests and are usually well behaved,” Drennan said. “We do have contingency plans in place in case something out of the ordinary would happen.”

All involved in the training said the Jewish defense of Israel is a fight against Hamas terrorism. Thompson said he’s been reaching out to those of the Muslim faith as well, to make sure they are protected. He said West Virginia authorities will have no tolerance of any hate crimes, including Islamophobia.

“This is not a war against the babies of Palestine, the children and families of Palestine,” Thompson said. “This is a war against terrorists. We want to make sure people understand that. We want to make sure all parts of our community live together, work together, prosper together.”

Urecki said he hopes those attending the training here, and joining from around the state virtually, would leave this gathering with a sense of purpose – and hope.

“As members of the Jewish community right now, we’re scared,” Urecki said. “We’re scared from what we’re seeing from the far right and from the far left regarding a dramatic rise of hatred and antisemitism. What we are seeing here today is an outpouring of a sense of responsibility and a sense of urgency that we must try to see what we can do to help create peace among all peoples.”

Both Thompson and Urecki said they were sad that a law enforcement presence was required outside the temple, protecting those attending this training.

U.S. Attorney Launches Hotline For Information On Federal Prison

A hotline has been set up to gather more information about abuses at a federal prison in Preston County.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking information from witnesses or victims of physical assault while incarcerated at Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton.

William Ihlenfeld, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, said that for the past several years, his office has received allegations of and investigated civil rights incidents at Hazelton.

“We are interested in learning what correction officers know or former inmates know or members of the public know about incidents that have occurred at Hazleton, and we want those people who have information to know how they can get that information to us and we wanted to make it as simple as possible,” he said.

Ihlenfeld said his office’s goal is to enforce federal law, and the number and types of incidents coming out of Hazelton demands that more be done.

“Sometimes through enforcing federal law, we identify ways that a particular facility can be improved,“ he said. “For anyone that might be at FCC Hazleton, or a comparable complex, we’re not an entity that is set up to make those kinds of systematic changes within an institution. We’re not the Bureau of Prisons. However, if we identify something that is a problem that, if addressed, could improve the conditions within a facility, we will certainly share that information at the appropriate time.”

The hotline number is 1-855-WVA-FEDS (982-3337). Complaints and tips can also be sent to wvafeds@usdoj.gov.

Ohio County Deputies to Carry Opioid Overdose Antidote

Ohio County sheriff’s deputies are soon going to start carrying antidotes for opioid overdoses.

WTRF-TV reports that the Ohio County commission on Tuesday announced their approval for deputies to carry Naloxone, which reverses the symptoms of an opioid overdose.

All deputies with the sheriff’s office will receive training on how to administer the medication and how to identify the symptoms of an opioid overdose.

U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld says it is especially important for the Ohio County deputies to have the antidote because the county is in a rural area and deputies are oftentimes the first to the scene.

Federal funding will be used for the start-up costs.