| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 29, 2007 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Maleka May was sentenced today to six months home confinement as part of a three year term of probation and ordered to serve 240 hours of community service in lieu of a fine. This sentence is the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Marshals Service.
Ms. May, age 34, pleaded guilty on October 11, 2007 to one count of making a false statement to Customs and Border Protection Officers in the Northern District of California and one count of making a false statement to a Deputy of the United States Marshals Service in the Eastern District of Washington. According to the plea agreement, Ms. May admitted to telling lies to federal agents about her contacts with her husband Kenneth Freeman, who was at that time a fugitive, wanted on multiple counts of child rape and manufacturing, possessing, and distributing child pornography. Kenneth Freeman, who is currently in custody awaiting trial in the Eastern District of Washington, was, before his apprehension in Hong Kong, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Top Ten Fugitive, a U.S. Marshals Service Top Fifteen Fugitive, and the subject of an international manhunt.
Ms. May admitted to lying to federal investigators when she told them that she did not know the whereabouts of Kenneth Freeman, when in fact she knew that he had fled to China on March 23, 2006, the day he was scheduled to appear on rape charges in Benton County, Washington. Ms. May admitted to having accompanied Freeman on March 23, 2006 to the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for his flight to China. Ms. May further admitted to lying to federal officers on April 23, 2007 at San Francisco Airport. On that date, she stated she had not seen or had any contact Kenneth Freeman for two years when in fact she had been in direct contact with him and was traveling to China to meet him.
Ms. May’s sentence was handed down by Chief United States District Judge Vaughn Walker following her two felony convictions, one for making a false statement to an agency of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, charged in an indictment from the Northern District of California and one for making false statements at an agency of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, charged in an information from the Eastern District of Washington.
Allison Danner, Julie Arbuckle, and Tamara Weber are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case in the Northern District of California with the assistance of Rawaty Yim. Stephanie Lister is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case in the Eastern District of Washington. The prosecutions are the result of investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Marshals Service.
Further Information:
Case #: CR-07-0333-VRW
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.