Prosecutors in the Department of Justice’s Criminal and Fraud and Consumer Protection Divisions had several significant successes recently.

Deputy Attorney General Casey Ewart secured a prison sentence for 27-year old Tyrone Bussey of Yonkers, New York. In March 2015, Bussey, who was staying in his girlfriend’s apartment the 700 block of West 7th Street in Laurel, began arguing about a broken television. Bussey punched the vitim in the face, and also threatened her and her son with a gun. He was convicted in February of two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, two counts of Aggravated Menacing, Breach of Release, Act of Intimidation, Assault 3rd, two counts of Terroristic Threatening, and four counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Bussey was sentenced to a total of 11 years and 5 months in prison.

Deputy Attorneys General Julie Finocchiaro and Tim Maguire secured a prison sentence for Yanique Rainford, 31, of New Castle. In January 2013, officers tried to stop a car driven by Rainford for illegal drug sales in the 100 block of West Avenue in the Holloway Terrace neighborhood in New Castle, but as police approached, the car took off. Police abandoned the chase after Rainford drove on I-495 and into the city of Wilmington on 12th Street. Two weeks later, an undercover officer contacted Rainford about buying heroin, and Rainford was arrested when he showed up at motel on Route 13 in New Castle to make the sale. Rainford was convicted of Drug Dealing, Conspiracy 2nd, Disregarding a Police Signal, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Resisting Arrest, and Aggressive Driving, and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Deputy Attorneys General Christina Kontis and A.J. Roop won a conviction against 20-year-old Nathaniel Gonzalez of Wilmington. In June 2015, Gonzalez and his brother, Isaiah Gonzalez, shot Gabriel Juarez, Sr., 50, Gabriel Juarez, Jr, 26, and Felipe Cruz-Flores, 26, with shotguns outside of the Gonzalez’s apartment in the Lancaster Court Apartments on Lancaster Pike in Wilmington. Gonzalez was convicted of two counts of Assault 1st, three counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Assault 2nd, and three counts of Conspiracy 2nd.

Deputy Attorney General Barzilai Axelrod secured a sentence for Derrick Carroll, 26, of Elkton, Maryland, after a jury convicted the defendant on charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, and Possession of Ammunition by a Person Prohibited. In February 2015, Carroll, who was staying at the Roadway Inn in the 1100 block of South College Avenue in Newark, was linked to a car in the parking lot of the hotel which had been reported stolen during a home invasion in Elkton. Elkton Police had asked the Newark Police Department for assistance in the investigation of the crime. While executing a search warrant on the room, police found a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver and loose ammunition. Carroll was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by six months at Level IV work release, and 2 years Level III probation.

Deputy Attorney General Gillian Andrews of the Consumer Protection Unit secured a prison sentence for a defendant who victimized numerous Delaware consumers through home improvement frauds for HVAC services. Andrew Wilson, 36, of Clayton, was sentenced to the statutory maximum for three counts of home improvement fraud. Although Wilson lacked the requisite HVAC license to perform such services in Delaware, he typically found his victims by working as a technician for legitimate HVAC businesses and then solicited those consumers for often unnecessary heater and air conditioner replacement services which he claimed he could provide outside of his employer for a cheaper rate. Wilson would take a down payment and fail to return to perform any work, or would install lower standard equipment than what the consumers had ordered, and perform the installation in an unworkmanlike manner, usually requiring removal and replacement by a legitimate HVAC contractor. Wilson also advertised himself on Craigslist as an HVAC contractor. Overall, Mr. Wilson defrauded the 5 known victims of approximately $27,000. Wilson will serve 2 ½ years in prison followed by 3 ½ years of probation. Terms of Wilson’s sentence also include injunctions preventing him from soliciting or advertising for home improvement services in the future, and a requirement that this conviction be disclosed to any future employers or consumers. DOJ Special Investigator Alan Rachko was also instrumental in prosecuting this case.

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