Federal Inmate and Four Others Charged With 2016 Kidnappings and Murders in Oakland Park and Lauderhill

MIAMI - Palacio Valdes Farley, 45, a federal inmate serving consecutive sentences totaling 34 years for conspiring to commit drug-trafficking and money laundering offenses, and conspiring to rob drug-traffickers of narcotics, money, and other property, made his initial appearance in federal court on Jan. 27 to face new charges arising from the August 2016 kidnapping and murders of two victims.

According to court records, Farley and his co-conspirators allegedly planned and carried out the robbery of an apartment in Oakland Park used to store narcotics and drug-trafficking proceeds. Farley recruited Frederic Wayne Mordon, Jr., 44, Emmanuel Xavier White, 51; Walter James Tillman, 37; Andrew Francois Martin, 33; and Joassaint Josiah Aristil, Jr., 30, to execute the robbery.

In preparation, the defendants allegedly purchased GPS tracking devices, clothing bearing the letters "DEA," masks, holsters, and flashlights, and rented two vehicles. They placed a GPS tracking device on a vehicle belonging to a drug-trafficker, "John Doe," who used the Oakland Park apartment as a narcotics stash house.

On Aug. 18, 2016, the defendants met at a staging location in Lauderhill and used the GPS tracking device to locate Doe's vehicle, which was parked at an apartment complex in Lauderhill. The defendants drove to the apartment complex in the two rental vehicles. When the defendants arrived, Doe was seated in the driver's seat of his vehicle, with his acquaintance, Tiara Jeanne Register, seated in the front passenger seat. Farley, Mordon, and White allegedly approached wearing DEA-style shirts and masks and carrying firearms, announced they were the DEA, and ordered Doe and Register to put their hands up.

Farley forcibly removed Doe at gunpoint from the vehicle and placed him in the back seat, while Martin got into the driver's seat. White removed Register from the vehicle and handed her to Mordon, who placed her into one of the rental cars. Aristil and Tillman allegedly served as lookouts during the carjacking and kidnappings of Doe and Register.

After leaving the Lauderhill complex, Mordon took Register back to the staging location and handed her over to Aristil to hold her captive. Meanwhile, Martin, Farley, and White drove Doe to the Oakland Park stash apartment. Upon arrival, Farley and White took Doe out of his vehicle, intending to use Doe to access his apartment. However, Doe's associate, Eric Orlando McNair, was standing at the bottom of the stairs smoking a cigarette, saw them, and fled upstairs to the apartment. Doe struggled with White, attempting to disarm him. Farley allegedly shot Doe twice, and Doe fell to the ground. Doe survived and fled the scene.

Farley and White then pursued McNair upstairs. Inside the stash apartment, Farley and White pursued McNair into a bedroom, where Farley fatally shot McNair in the head and the neck, killing him. Farley and White collected narcotics and cash from inside the apartment and fled the scene in Doe's vehicle, driven by Martin.

Following the robbery, Martin, Farley, White, Mordon, and Tillman met up at White's residence in Lauderhill. Soon after, Aristil arrived in one of the rental cars, with Register. Farley handed Martin a firearm and instructed him to take Register to a nearby cul-de-sac and kill her. Martin and Aristil drove Register to the dead end, where Martin shot her in the head, killing her. Aristil and Martin then returned to White's house, where Martin reported to Farley that he had executed Register.

The defendants are charged with two counts of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of causing the death of a person in furtherance of a crime of violence and a drug trafficking crime. Farley, Martin, and Aristil are also charged with killing a witness. If convicted, the defendants face mandatory sentences of life imprisonment on the kidnapping counts. The maximum penalty for all counts is death or life in prison.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony of the Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO), and Chief Constance Stanley of the Lauderhill Police Department (LPD) made the announcement.

FBI Miami, BSO, and LPD are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwayne E. Williams is prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Miami comprises agents and officers from FBI Miami, Broward Sheriff's Office, and the Lauderhill Police Department with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

An indictment/complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.sdfl.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., under case numbers 25-cr-60305, and 24-cr-60063 (Mordon).

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