Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 1 of 1 MJ 15-00053-B United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins Digitally signed by United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins DN: cn=United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins, o=Federal Judiciary, ou=U.S. District Court Southern District Of Alabama, email=efile_bivins@alsd.uscourts.gov, c=US Date: 2015.05.05 14:03:49 -06'00' Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1-1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 1 of 5 Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint 1. I, Eric Lawson, do solemnly state as follows: 2. I am currently employed as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and am assigned to the Mobile, Alabama Field Office in the Monroeville Resident Agency. I have been a Special Agent with the FBI for nine years. As a Special Agent I have investigated financial crimes including health care crimes, fraud against the government, bank robberies, interstate transfer of stolen property crimes, crimes against children and numerous other criminal violations. 3. Prior to becoming a Special Agent with the FBI, I was an Armor Officer in the United States Army for six years followed by three years employment by the Home Depot as a Store Manager. 4. This affidavit is made in support of a criminal complaint in relation to violations of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1503 (Influencing or injuring officer or juror generally). Section 1503 punishes any person who “corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, endeavors to influence, intimidate, or impede any grand or petit juror . . . or corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice[.]” The information contained within this affidavit is either personally known to me or was provided to me by other law enforcement officers involved in the investigation of this case and does not contain each and every fact known to me concerning the investigation. 1 Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1-1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 2 of 5 Investigation 5. On Monday, April 27th, 2015 I was contacted by a Special Agent in the Mobile Field Office and informed that potential jury tampering had occurred regarding the trial of John Hastie. I was requested to contact Task Force Officer (TFO) Alfred Carter of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, who had been made aware of this incident prior to my notification, in order to determine what had occurred and the identities of the individuals involved. Upon contacting TFO Carter I learned he had been called by the United States Attorney’s Office and informed of a potential jury tampering incident. TFO Carter explained that at jury selection that morning (April 27th), a potential juror had notified the court that his wife was approached by an individual at her workplace, a restaurant located in Monroeville, Alabama and that the individual had requested a favor from her and her husband since the husband was a potential juror. TFO Carter had already briefly spoken to the employee, JT, and identified the individual who approached her as Jonathan Oneal, a resident of Monroeville. 6. That afternoon on Monday, April 27th Jonathan Lawrence Oneal was interviewed at his residence and provided Agents with the following information: Oneal stated he is an employee of Cooper Marine and Timber and John Hastie is his boss. On Friday, April 24th Hastie provided Oneal the names of some potential jurors and their workplaces. One woman named JT worked at a specific restaurant and she was identified as the wife of a potential juror named ST. Oneal stated that Hastie asked if he (Oneal) knew this woman and when Oneal said he did, Hastie asked Oneal if he would talk to JT in order to ask her and her husband to pray for Hastie on Oneal’s behalf since Hastie is Oneal’s boss. Oneal told the agents that is all Hastie asked. 2 Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1-1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 3 of 5 Oneal stated he did not personally speak to JT until Monday morning, April 27th and he said all he asked her to do is pray for Hastie. Oneal stated that he left a message with JT’s boss, SH, on Friday April 24th for her to pass on to JT but again, all he asked JT and her husband to do was pray for Hastie. 7. Following the interview of Oneal, Agents contacted JT’s boss, SH, and arranged an interview whereupon she provided the following information: SH stated that Jonathan Oneal came by the restaurant on Friday, April 24th and requested to speak to JT. SH was shown a photograph of Oneal and she confirmed it was the same Jonathan Oneal she was talking about. When Oneal learned that JT was off work, Oneal asked SH to pass on a message to JT. SH stated Oneal told her that he had found out that JT’s husband was on the jury list for the Hastie trial and Oneal wanted JT to know that Hastie was on trial in Mobile and that Hastie was a good man. Oneal said Hastie is accused of embezzlement and he did not do it, Hastie just forgot to pay his taxes since he did not receive anything in the mail to remind him to pay. SH stated that was when Oneal informed her that Hastie was his boss and wanted her to know he was a good man. Oneal concluded by telling SH that the investigators were pulling Hastie’s wife’s records and also his daughter’s college financial records. SH took Oneal’s message and passed it on to JT right after Oneal departed. 8. On Monday, May 4th, Agents contacted and interviewed JT while her husband ST was present. JT stated this event started on Friday, April 24th when her boss, SH, called her and passed a message to her from a customer named Jonathan Oneal. SH informed JT that Oneal wanted JT to know that his boss was on trial in Mobile for embezzlement but his boss did not 3 Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1-1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 4 of 5 do it and he was a good man. Oneal said his boss just forgot to pay his taxes because he never got a reminder in the mail and during the investigation the investigators were looking at his boss’s wife’s records and their daughter’s college financial records too. JT stated she was very nervous to learn how anyone could find out who she was and that her husband was a potential juror. JT immediately contacted her husband and informed him of the message SH has passed on from Oneal. ST then called the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident and was told to report the incident to the court first thing on Monday morning during jury selection, which is what ST did. 9. JT then explained Oneal came to the restaurant on Monday morning, April 27th and started a conversation with her. JT was very reluctant to listen to Oneal but because he was a customer she heard him out. Oneal told her his boss was a good guy and was accused of tax fraud and that even his wife and daughter were being dragged into the investigation. Oneal stated all he wanted her and her husband to do was pray for his boss. JT stated Oneal never mentioned his boss by name and she didn’t learn his boss was John Hastie until that afternoon when she spoke to TFO Carter. Conclusion 10. Based on the information learned during the course of this investigation as stated above, and the information provided by other law enforcement officers, I believe Jonathan Lawrence Oneal corruptly endeavored to influence a member of a jury in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1503. 4 Case 1:15-mj-00053-B Document 1-1 Filed 05/05/15 Page 5 of 5 5th United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins Digitally signed by United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins DN: cn=United States Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins, o=Federal Judiciary, ou=U.S. District Court Southern District Of Alabama, email=efile_bivins@alsd.uscourts.gov, c=US Date: 2015.05.05 14:06:27 -06'00'