DAVENPORT, IA - On July 19, 2012, Dale Lee Shorter, age 36, of Davenport, Iowa, was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment by United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey, having previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Shorter also was ordered to serve five years on supervised release following imprisonment and pay $100 towards the Crime Victims Fund.

Six other co-defendants in this case have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing - Charles Bateman, Charles Harrington, Roscoe Lee, David Minor, Alon Shorter and Kadar Wall.

From approximately October 2007 until June 2011, Dale Shorter and his co-conspirators distributed in excess of 2.8 kilograms of cocaine base. This investigation included two controlled purchases of crack cocaine directly from Dale Shorter. The investigation also included five controlled purchases of crack from Harrington and Bateman, who distributed crack cocaine provided by Dale and Alon Shorter.

Shorter admitted that other co-defendants, including Bateman, Harrington, Minor and Wall, distributed crack cocaine for him and other co-conspirators at multiple locations in Davenport, Iowa, including an apartment on Heatherton Drive. Shorter also cooked powder cocaine into crack cocaine that was later distributed as part of the charged conspiracy.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Davenport, Iowa, Police Department.

# # #

DAVENPORT, IA - On June 8, 2012, Yolanda Marie Fitts, age 47, of Davenport, Iowa, was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day of imprisonment for two counts of wire fraud and one count of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. United States Chief District Judge James E. Gritzner also ordered Fitts to serve a term of 3 years supervised release, pay an assessment of $300 to Crime Victims Fund, and pay $ 64,189.10 in restitution.   At her guilty plea, Fitts admitted the following:

• of an individual with the initials "AS" be liquidated and transferred to the defendant's account at RIA Federal Credit Union (RIA), thereby causing the resulting funds to be wire transferred from the account of "AS" at PNC Bank in Pennsylvania to Members United Corporation Federal Credit Union (Members United) in Warrenville, Illinois, Members United being a correspondent credit union handling incoming wire transfers for RIA.

• certification/notarization known as a Medallion Stamp Guarantee (MSG) on each letter of intent, a notarization required to certify the legitimacy of the letters of intent.

• Fitts created and mailed two bogus letters of intent directing that certain investments Utilizing the services of MidWest One Bank, Fitts fraudulently procured a letters of intent to PNC Funds in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

• the PNC funds on the Member's United computer system in Illinois to the defendant's RIA account. She then withdrew the funds for personal use via RIA's branch in Bettendorf, Iowa.

•  RIA account in ten separate wire transfers beginning on March 18, 2008, and continuing through March 20, 2008. From March 18, 2008, through March 24, 2008, the defendant withdrew $64,189.10 from her RIA account for personal use.

•  time she went to the bank, the defendant said that the first time she went in a lady at the bank told her that with a withdrawal of $10,000 or more the IRS would be notified. The defendant made the decision to take out less that $10,000 each time so that she would not have to fill out the paperwork

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bettendorf, Iowa, Police Department, and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa.

Fitts forged the signature of "AS" on the letters of intent. She then mailed the bogus Fitts caused RIA employees to transfer, by means of wire communication, credits for As a result of Fitt's actions, credits for $113,125.79 were wire transferred into her
When asked by law enforcement if she purposely withdrew less than $10,000 each

# # #