A federal grand jury in Maryland has handed up a new indictment against embattled insurance company owner Jeffrey B. Cohen, adding multiple counts of obstruction of justice related to his alleged plot to kill a judge overseeing his company's liquidation.
The new 31-count indictment adds those charges along with counts of aggravated identity theft to the fraud and money-laundering charges Cohen was already facing. It also calls for Cohen, a Reisterstown resident, to forfeit more than $100 million.
The charges were filed Tuesday, as Cohen and two other inmates awaiting trial filed a lawsuit against Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, alleging violations of their speedy trial rights. The inmates say in the lawsuit that they have banded together under the name "Ragents of Change."
Cohen was first charged in June with misleading regulators, following months of proceedings in Delaware regarding his Sparks-based company, Indemnity Insurance Corp. Authorities allege that Cohen falsified documents in order to mislead insurance policyholders and regulators, allowing the company to obtain $100 million in insurance premiums that it would have been unable to pay out.
When investigators searched Cohen's home, they said they found evidence that he had plotted to attack two officials, the Delaware judge overseeing the liquidation of his business and the state's lieutenant governor.
That evidence included maps of their homes, weapons, and a recording Cohen made while allegedly on a "reconnaissance" mission in Delaware. Authorities also found a will, "survivalist gear," and ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make explosives, in a storage facility.
Until this week, Cohen had not been charged in connection to any of those allegations.
His lawyers had argued for Cohen's release pending trial, saying it was unprecedented for someone facing such white-collar charges to be detained. When they were unsuccessful, Cohen fired them and elected to represent himself.
Since then, he has filed several motions and letters seeking to expedite the proceedings in the case.
"Cohen asserts that there is no evidence in the possession of the government that Cohen is not familiar with and the majority of the evidence was authored by Cohen himself," he wrote in one recent filing. "The gov't seems overwhelmed and not prepared with this matter."
His latest move is a civil lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, in which Cohen contends that he is being wrongly held. The suit says he and two other inmates, Damien Riley and Christopher Palmer, have interviewed "a majority of the current detainees" at the Chesapeake Detention Facility and "95 percent" are being held in violation of rules that say they should face trial within 90 days.
"This abhorrent practice has become an accepted custom within this district to violate the rights of and harm detainees," Cohen wrote in the filing.
The plaintiffs ask in the lawsuit to be collectively referred to as the "Ragents of Change," which is not defined or explained but could be a combination of "rage" and "agents."
Cohen had previously raised such issues in a motion to the judge in his case. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. denied that motion on Nov. 25, saying Cohen had miscalculated the time elapsed that counts toward the speedy-trial clock. As of that day, Quarles said only 52 days had elapsed, not more than 90.
Riley is facing multiple drug-related charges and was indicted in October 2013. Palmer, who is charged with possession of a machine gun and conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, was charged in November 2013.