Latest news with #JayMcCormack
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Two Turkish nationals 'covered in snow' arrested in NH for illegally entering U.S. from Canada
Two Turkish men were arrested for illegally entering the U.S. near Hall Stream, a river that runs along the border between Pittsburg, New Hampshire and Canada, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack said Friday. Serif Alihan, 33, and Mustafa Kaya, 32, both of Turkey, were each charged with one count of illegal entry, McCormack said. Both men were set to appear in federal court later Friday. According to the charging documents, on Wednesday, a Beecher Falls Border Patrol agent encountered Alihan and Kaya near Hall Stream. 'The two men were covered in snow and their clothes were wet,' prosecutors said. The snow in the area was about knee-deep and the Border Patrol agent followed the men's footprints back to Hall Stream. The footprints ended at the New Hampshire side of the stream and resumed on the Canadian side of the stream, prosecutors said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter is prosecuting the case. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
NY man, mustard company plead guilty to polluting Souhegan River
Feb. 24—A New York man and a mustard and vinegar manufacturing company have pleaded guilty in federal court to discharging acidic water into the Souhegan River, federal officials said Monday. Charles Santich, 59, of New York, and Old Dutch Mustard Co., Inc., doing business as Pilgrim Foods, Inc. ("Old Dutch Mustard") pleaded guilty to knowingly discharging a pollutant without a permit, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gufstafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said. U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty scheduled sentencing for June 23. The Clean Water Act (CWA) prohibits the discharge of any pollutant into navigable waters of the United States without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Federal prosecutors said Old Dutch Mustard has been subject to several enforcement actions by the EPA, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office due to a long history of CWA non-compliance dating back to the 1980s. As a result of these actions, EPA and NHDES have required continuous monitoring of an unnamed brook that flows underneath and in front of the facility, eventually flowing into the Souhegan River — one of 19 rivers in the state designated as an important natural resource. Charles Santich is the president and owner of Old Dutch Mustard, a New York corporation with a manufacturing facility in Greenville. The company manufactures vinegar and mustard products, which generate acidic wastewater. In addition, stormwater flows through the property, including an outdoor area where the company stores their product in large tanks. Both the wastewater and stormwater at Old Dutch Mustard becomes acidic and is categorized as a pollutant under the CWA, and prosecutors say Old Dutch Mustard did not have the necessary permit to discharge the acidic wastewater or stormwater into the environment. "Instead, Old Dutch was required to store the polluted water in tanks and pay a trucking company to haul all the wastewater off-site to a publicly owned treatment plant," federal prosecutors said in a statement. "Beginning in the spring of 2015, Santich hired an excavation company to bury a pipe from the Old Dutch Mustard facility to discharge the acidic wastewater and stormwater in the general direction of the Souhegan River along an abandoned railroad bed. "This discharge point was downstream of, and not detectible by, the continuous environmental monitoring required by the EPA and state of New Hampshire."
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Massachusetts leader of ‘large-scale' drug trafficking ring pleads guilty in New Hampshire
The Massachusetts leader of a 'large-scale' drug trafficking ring has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and cocaine in New Hampshire, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack said Wednesday. Juan Ramon Soto Baez, 55, of Boston, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in federal court in Concord on Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, namely, cocaine and fentanyl, McCormack said in a statement. U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott scheduled sentencing for May 29. On April 26, 2023, Soto Baez was charged along with 20 other defendants. To date, 10 defendants have been convicted. According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Soto Baez was the leader of a Massachusetts-based drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in New Hampshire, particularly Manchester, between September 2019 and April 2023. The organization was 'run like a business,' operating 'dispatch' telephone lines where customers could call in to order drugs, prosecutors said. Soto Baez or another person working for him would take customer orders on the phone, and then he would either deliver the order himself or send a runner to conduct the drug sale at an arranged meeting location, prosecutors said. Between September 2019 and April 2023, law enforcement agents saw and recorded Soto Baez and his associates selling fentanyl and cocaine on 19 occasions, prosecutors said. On the day of Soto Baez's arrest, investigators searched a home associated with the drug ring and found $15,000 and drug ledgers, prosecutors said. A search of a vehicle used by the drug trafficking ring yielded roughly 94 grams of fentanyl and 196 grams of cocaine packaged in small baggies for distribution. Soto Baez faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $1 million. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Leader of Manchester drug trafficking ring pleads guilty in federal court
Feb. 19—A Boston man pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Concord to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and cocaine in New Hampshire, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack said. Juan Ramon Soto Baez, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (cocaine and fentanyl). U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott scheduled sentencing for May 29. On April 26, 2023, Soto Baez was charged along with 20 other defendants. To date, 10 defendants involved in the conspiracy have been convicted. According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Soto Baez was the leader of a Massachusetts-based drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in New Hampshire, particularly Manchester, between September of 2019 and April of 2023. Prosecutors said the organization was run like a business, operating "dispatch" telephone lines where customers could call in to order narcotics. Soto Baez or a member of the drug trafficking ring working for him would take customer orders on the phone, then either deliver the order himself or send a runner to conduct the drug sale at an arranged meeting location. When Soto Baez, known on the streets as "Ricky," was charged, former Manchester police chief Allen Aldenberg called it the largest drug takedown in the department's history. The investigation was conducted in coordination with the Boston Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. At least three Manchester police officers were assigned to the case. The investigation included surveillance and more than 50 undercover purchases. Between September 2019 and April 2023, law enforcement agents observed and recorded Soto Baez and his co-conspirators selling fentanyl and cocaine on 19 occasions, prosecutors said. On the day of Soto Baez's arrest, a search of a residence associated with the drug trafficking ring yielded $15,000 and drug ledgers. A search of a vehicle used by drug traffickers yielded roughly 94 grams of fentanyl and 196 grams of cocaine packaged in small baggies for distribution. The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
