Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 3-24-17

Crime
Stolen Social Security Checks Nets Man 7-Year Prison Sentence
Gunfire Exchange With Police Lands Teen In Jail,
Another Sought
Nurse Charged With Sex Crime Against Hospital Patient
A 45-year-old health profes- sional has been charged with sexual battery in connection with an assault on a patient. The incident took place last year.
According to the Tampa Po- lice Department, Simbarashe Ngindi, of Riverview, is a Reg- istered Nurse. He was working at Memorial Hospital under contract. The victim was a pa- tient in the hospital under his care.
The victim said Ngindi ad- ministered medication to her and the medication placed her in a helpless state. At that point, Ngindi allegedly had non-consensual sex with the victim, who was unable to de- fend herself against him.
Once the victim was able to communicate, she reported the offense to hospital staff, who contacted the Tampa Police Department.
Ngindi denied having at- tacked the woman. And, he agreed to allow his DNA to be collected. The hospital con- ducted a sexual battery exami- nation on the patient. A CODIS
SIMBARASHE NGINDI ... Charged with sexual bat- tery on a patient
hit confirmed that Ngindi’s semen was found on the vic- tim’s body.
After completing their inves- tigation, detectives sent the case to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office. But, they were unable to make contact with the victim.
Ngindi was taken into cus- tody Monday and is currently being held at the Hillsborough County Jail under a $200,000 bond.
ISRAEL MAGWOOD
... Charged with shooting at police
RICHARD LEE ANDERSON
STACY DARNELL MITCHELL ... Former Postal Employee
A 38-year-old Tampa man was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison earlier this week. His co-defendant was also indicted on federal charges as well.
According to his plea agree- ment, Richard Lee Ander- son, of Tampa, admitted that between May and October 2012, he was involved in the theft of Social Security bene- fit checks, totaling at least $2,275,000. He obtained the checks from his alleged ac- complice, Stacy Darnell Mitchell, 48, a former United States Postal Service mail handler who worked at the Processing and Distribu- tion Center (PDC) facility in St. Petersburg.
The checks were all ad- dressed to beneficiaries living
in Pinellas County. Ander- son then sold the checks to various individuals for a per- centage of their face value and those individuals, in turn, cashed the checks or employed others to do so for them. Anderson paid the mail handler a percentage of the checks’ face value.
In addition to the theft charges in this case, Ander- son is also facing drug and firearms charges in a separate federal case.
Mitchell was indicted l a s t Friday on the charges of theft of government property and theft of mail. If he is con- victed of the charges, he is facing a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. A trial date has not been set for Mitchell.
Early Wednesday morning, Tampa Police observed two men riding bicycles with no lights in the front or back. The officers attempted to make a traffic stop at the corner of Central and Floribraska.
But what began as a simple traffic stop quickly turned into an exchange of gunfire after the suspects jumped off of their bicycles and ran. As they ran away, one of them fired shots at the pursuing officers and one of the officers re- turned fire. No injuries were reported.
After the exchange of gun- fire, police captured and ar- rested 19-year-old Israel Magwood. He was charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, resisting an officer without violence, and loitering or prowling. Additional charges are pending as the in- vestigation continues,” Steve Hegarty, spokesman for the Tampa Police Department said.
Hegarty further stated that the officers quickly estab- lished a perimeter around the area as they searched for the second man. Streets were closed as they searched for the second man for more than 4 hours. They didn’t find the second man, but they located two guns found at the scene.
The search for the second man involved in the offense is continuing, Hegarty said.
Woman Gets 3 Years For Bank Fraud
EBONY CHAMBERS STILLWELL
DAVID CHAMBERS OPEMBE
A U. S. District judge sen- tenced a Tampa woman to 3 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy with her brother to commit bank fraud. She was also ordered to forfeit $252,107.07, which was con- sidered traceable proceeds of the crime.
Judge Virginia Coving- ton sentenced Ms. Ebony Chambers Stillwell to serve 3 years in federal prison. Ms. Stillwell pleaded guilty on Oc- tober 25, 2016.
Her brother, David Cham- bers Opembe, 25, of Hous- ton, Texas entered a guilty plea on November 14, 2016.
Judge Covington sen- tenced him to 3 years in federal prison earlier this month. The Court also ordered him to for- feit $252,107.07, which are traceable to proceeds of the of- fense.
As part of her duties, Ms. Stillwell received and processed invoices from ven- dors and contractors for pay- ment for her job.
On January 22, 2015, her
brother, Opembe, registered a shell company in an actual company’s real name, and the on the same date, opened a bank account at Regions Bank in the name, listing himself as the sole signatory on the ac- count and his home address in Texas.
No one at the actual com- pany was aware of or approved the establishment of the Texas corporation or business bank account.
Between January 22, 2015, and October 23, 2015, Ms. Stillwell issued approximately 21 checks from the disbursing account to the “fake” company.
Ms. Stillwell directed that all of these checks be delivered to her office, rather than mail them to the real company. She then deposited those checks into the “fake” bank account opened by her brother at Re- gions Bank.
The account at Regions was also used by Opembe and Ms. Stillwell to make their car payments and for other per- sonal expenses.
UNCLE SANDY SAYS
The first sign 4, 17, 19, 38 of corruption in a society 30, 32, 59, 63 that is still alive 6, 20, 35, 40, 43 is that the end justifies the means. 8, 14, 54, 58
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 23-A