DAWN N. ISON

A convicted murderer from Detroit has received 15 years in prison thanks to a tip from Crime Stoppers.

A Michigan man was indicted by a grand jury for threatening to kill Jewish government officials, according to United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

DETROIT – A Michigan real estate investor has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $3 million in a wire and bankruptcy fraud scheme, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Wednesday. Sean Phillip Tissue, 37, of Social Circle, Georgia, and formerly of Rochester, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud. According to the information unsealed at his guilty plea hearing, Tissue engaged in a real estate investment fraud scheme from 2015 through 2021. To further the scheme, Tissue caused various false documents to be provided to investors, including fake deeds, fake wiring instructions, fake bank statements, fake leases, and fake inspection reports. Tissue faces statutory maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and 5 years in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

A Dearborn woman is being charged with wire fraud related to a pharmaceutical coupon scheme that obtained $65 million.

An Inkster man who robbed a Dearborn bank and was found in a porta-potty by police is now facing seven years behind bars in federal prison.

A 36-year-old Pontiac man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the sexual exploitation of a minor.

DETROIT – A Michigan real estate investor has been charged in federal court with multiple counts of bankruptcy fraud totaling more than $1.1. Sean Phillip Tissue, 37, of Social Circle, Georgia, and formerly of Rochester is accused of multiple counts of concealment of assets, false oaths, false declarations and withholding recorded information as part of the scheme. Tissue is the owner of numerous companies, including Greystone Home Builders, Sycamore Homes, Sycamore Construction, Lenovo Homes, and Metro Detroit Home Solutions,He was previously charged in August in a wire fraud scheme in which he allegedly defrauded Israeli investors of more than $600,000 in fraudulent real estate investments. “This defendant used a number of apparently legitimate companies, sophisticated methods, and lies to defraud potential real estate investors, many from outside the United States. He then declared a fraudulent bankruptcy in an effort to avoid re-paying his victims.” said United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison in a statement.

A federal grand jury in Detroit has charged six people with drug, gun, and money laundering crimes.

So far, the investigation has led to criminal charges against a former councilman and at least five cops

DETROIT – A Detroit man had pleaded guilty to a spree of violent carjackings. Sturgis also pled guilty to additional charges of using and discharging a firearm during crimes of violence. In the first carjacking on June 10, 2020, Sturgis pulled out a gun, pointed it at the victim, and forced her out of her car before stealing it. Finally, on July 7, 2020, Sturgis got a ride from the third victim, before pistol whipping him and stealing his car and driving away. The case was investigated by special agents of the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew R. Picek.

DETROIT - A registered nurse was working at a Detroit hospital when she took liquid painkillers out of vials and syringes and replaced them with saline, officials said. Mary Cheatham, 42, of Ypsilanti, pleaded guilty in federal court to tampering with the painkillers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. The vials and syringes of hydromorphone were intended to be given to patients for pain relief, which Cheatham knew, prosecutors said. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. “Patients entering a hospital must have confidence they will receive the treatment they are promised,” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said.

A Pontiac man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for advertising and selling child porn online.

The former president of the Madison District Public School Board of Education and a local district contractor are charged in connection with a $560,000 bribery scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A Southgate nurse admitted that she stole COVID vaccine cards from a Detroit hospital and sold them to residents for $150-$200.

DETROIT - A former Detroit Police Department will spend time in prison for taking $3,200 in cash bribes. Alonzo Jones, 55, of Detroit, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and two years of supervised release based on his plea of guilty to accepting bribes, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Tuesday. Michael Stout, 60, of St. Clair Shores, who left the Hamtramck Police Department in 2020, was charged with bribery in March. In December 2021, Michael Pacteles, 44, of Southgate, a former Detroit police officer who was working as an officer in Hamtramck, was charged with bribery. In September 2021, Detroit City Council member Andre Spivey pleaded guilty to accepting bribes related to oversight of towing policy; he later resigned.

DETOIT – A former treasurer of the Detroit Firefighters Union was sentenced to one year in federal prison for embezzling more than $200,000 in union funds, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Tuesday. Day also used DFFA credit cards as her own personal credit cards while she was treasurer and after she retired. Her purchases on DFFA credit cards included flights, hotel rooms, cruises, car insurance premiums, satellite and cable TV service, national and state parks fees, and furniture. In one instance, Day used a DFFA union credit card to charge $9,553 for a cruise with Royal Caribbean cruise lines in 2017. Day also used a union credit card to pay for another Royal Caribbean cruise costing $8,975 on the Liberty of the Seas in 2019.

A former Treasurer of the Detroit Fire Fighters Union was sentenced to one year in federal prison for embezzlement.

DETROIT – A Farmington Hills man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for an elaborate scheme in which he illegally obtained other people’s credit cards, as well as COVID-19 unemployment benefits he wasn’t entitled to. Andre Taylor Jr., 28, was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced. Taylor Jr. pleaded guilty in December 2021.

DETROIT – A Detroit man has been sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for carjacking. Deloneo Breham, 32, was sentenced in federal court for carjacking and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Tuesday. Breham, who has been in custody since his arrest in February 2021, is also sentenced to six years of supervised release. Armed with a handgun, he told the victim to give him the keys to the truck. Additional facts presented to the court established that six months earlier on Aug. 31, 2020, Breham carjacked a woman at her home.

DEARBORN, MI – A Michigan doctor has pleaded guilty to distributing thousands of opioids to people who did not need them. According to court records, Dr. Oniango admitted to prescribing 12,500 dosage units of hydrocodone, a powerful, commonly abused Schedule II controlled substance, without regard to medical necessity. Oniango issued the prescription drugs outside the course of professional medical practice and without any legitimate medical need for the drugs, officials said. “Hydrocodone is extremely addictive and can lead to addiction and eventual heroin use,” Ison said in a statement. “Physicians who provide prescription drugs without a legitimate medical purpose are contributing to the drug epidemic in our community,” Tarasca said in a statement.

Kaden Elizabeth Gilbert, 22, was sentenced to federal prison last week for pleading guilty to second-degree murder on the Isabella Reservation.

DETROIT – A Detroit couple has been sentenced to prison time for their role in a multi-million-dollar, multi-state unemployment fraud scheme that was run by a state contractor during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced. The scheme involved the theft of more than $3.7 million in funds earmarked for unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman sentenced Richardson to 97 months and Taylor to 30 months in federal prison. Richardson and Taylor, either themselves or through others, filed dozens of fraudulent unemployment claims in Michigan and at least four other states. Some of the claims filed by Richardson and Taylor used their own information while others were filed using stolen identities.

Former violin professor at the University of Michigan Stephen Shipps will serve prison time for child exploitation.

DEARBORN, MI – A Michigan man who was involved with more than 600 images of child pornography, including infants and toddlers, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, officials announced. According to court records, McClanahan sent a link containing files of child pornography to an undercover officer on July 1, 2018. As part of his plea agreement, he further admitted to involvement with more than 600 images of child pornography and images of infants and toddlers. At the time of the second offense, he was still on supervised release for the first offense. READ MORE:Sexual partner turns in Michigan man after seeing child porn on phoneTikTok video of huge illegal dumping site spurs cleanup in MichiganU.P.

Officials have announced that 51-year-old Sean McClanahan was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison on charges of distributing child pornography.

DETROIT – A Detroit man was sentenced this week to 39 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1.6 million from unemployment programs in nine states amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said. Jordan Armstrong, 29, of Detroit, was sentenced on charges of wire fraud and identity theft, in connection with the scheme, by U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts in United States District Court in Detroit on Wednesday, March 30, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was also ordered to pay $1,611,202 in restitution to the victim-states. “Today’s sentence is another example of our ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute the unprecedented theft of unemployment insurance benefits that occurred during the pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said in a statement. These expanded unemployment insurance benefits were intended as a lifeline for those needing help during a time of great stress and uncertainty.”

A Southfield man is sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl.

A self-described “sick monster” from Waterford Township has been sentenced to decades in prison after he sexually exploited at least 10 children through means such as blackmail, child pornography and assault.

While working as an officer in Hamtramck, Stout is accused of accepting bribes, including a vehicle and $1,500 in cash, from a towing company operator. In return, Stout allegedly provided information from the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network, or LEIN, a restricted law enforcement database, to the towing company operator. For instance, when the towing company operator told Stout that he was worried that a police vehicle had been following him, Stout allegedly called an unwitting police department employee to search LEIN. Stout then allegedly provided the vehicle’s registration information to the towing company operator. In September, Detroit City Council member Andre Spivey pleaded guilty to accepting bribes related to oversight of towing policy; he later resigned.

A Bay City vascular surgeon pleaded guilty Tuesday in a scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare, and Blue Cross Blue Shield out of about $19.5 million.

HIGHLAND PARK, MI – A Michigan police detective is facing up to 40 years in prison for dealing fentanyl-laced heroin, FOX 2 Detroit reports. Tiffany Lipkovitch, 46, of Detroit was an officer and detective for the Highland Park Police Department since 2011, authorities said. She pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, along with Amber Bellamy, 38, of Detroit. Eventually, Lipkovitch introduced the third party to Bellamy and Bellamy sold that person the fentanyl-laced heroin. RELATED: Detective with Highland Park police charged with trafficking heroin“Drug trafficking and drug addiction have created a crisis in our communities, something our law enforcement partners know all too well,” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said in a statement.