Central District of California

WASHINGTON – Malone Lam, 22, a citizen of Singapore and recent resident of Miami, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. in connection with his role as ringleader of an international cybercrime conspiracy that used social engineering to steal and launder cryptocurrency valued at more than $245 million, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.  

“If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “This defendant led an international network that preyed on victims through deception, invaded their privacy, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Working with our partners at the FBI and IRS-CI, we will continue to hunt down the criminals who weaponize technology to steal from innocent people.” 

Lam pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to one count of participating in a RICO conspiracy. Judge Kollar-Kotelly set a status hearing December 8, 2026. 

According to court documents, the criminal enterprise began no later than October 2023 and continued through at least May 2025. The scheme developed through connections made on online gaming platforms and was comprised of individuals based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and abroad. The RICO conspiracy used social engineering and occasional home break-ins to obtain information that allowed the conspirators to drain their victims’ cryptocurrency wallets. 

Lam, aka “Anne Hathaway,” “$$$,” “King Greavy,” organized the social engineering enterprise, identified target victims, and coordinated the roles of the different conspirators.  

Members and associates of the conspiracy used the stolen cryptocurrency to purchase, among other things, nightclub services ranging up to $500,000 per evening, luxury handbags valued in the tens of thousands of dollars which were given away at nightclub parties, luxury watches valued between $100,000 up to over $500,000, luxury clothing valued in the tens of thousands of dollars, rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami, private jet rentals for travel, a team of private security guards, and a fleet of exotic cars, ranging in value from $100,000 to $3,800,000. 

Law enforcement arrested Lam on Sept. 18, 2025, at his rental home in Miami. 

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office. Significant investigative and operational support was provided by the FBI’s Los Angeles and Miami field offices, as well as the United States Attorney’s Officers in the Central District of California, Southern District of Florida, and the District of New Jersey.  

The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher R. Howland and David Liss of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President JD Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs. 

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LOS ANGELES – A former Oregon-based AT&T Store employee was sentenced today to 16 months in federal prison for selling his access to his employer’s network to a hacker by “SIM swapping” customers – fraudulently reassigning customers’ cell phone numbers – so the hacker could take control of the victims’ bank accounts and steal their money, causing nearly $600,000 in intended losses.

Kenneth Carter, 44, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., who also ordered him to pay $99,528 in restitution.

Carter pleaded guilty on March 24 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

“SIM swapping” is a technique in which a criminal fraudulently induces a mobile carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber’s Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to a SIM card controlled by another without the legitimate subscriber’s authorization or knowledge. This process allows a criminal to intercept two-factor authentication codes sent to the victim via phone call or text message, and to gain access to the victim’s various accounts.

According to Carter’s plea agreement, from May 2018 to November 2019, Carter worked at an AT&T retail store in Portland, Oregon. As part of the conspiracy, a co-conspirator identified potential victims who had bank accounts that could be accessed online and would obtain personal identifying information (PII) and cell phone numbers for those potential victims. This co-conspirator then sent to Carter victims’ PII and cell phone numbers so Carter could do the SIM swap, which he could do as an AT&T Store employee.

Carter, at the co-conspirator’s direction, then used the victim’s PII to fraudulently cause AT&T to swap the victim’s SIM card from the victim’s cell phone to a different cell phone controlled by Carter and other co-conspirators. 

A co-conspirator then caused password reset information and two-factor authentication codes for a victim’s online bank account to be sent by text message to a phone Carter and his co-conspirators controlled. He and others then forwarded the information and codes to a co-conspirator, who then accessed the victim’s online bank account and made fraudulent wire transfers from it. Carter and the other conspirators received a cut of the illicitly obtained proceeds, typically $1,000 to $2,000 per SIM swap, one of which occurred at an AT&T Store in Lancaster.

In November 2019, law enforcement searched Carter’s residence in Oregon and found that he possessed PII belonging to victims, including the cell phone number, name, and Social Security number of a victim who had $99,528 fraudulently transferred to a Portuguese bank account controlled by Carter’s co-conspirators.

In total, three victims targeted in this scheme suffered a combined intended loss of at least $593,963. Carter further admitted that in addition to these three victims, he performed SIM swaps on the accounts of other AT&T customers.

AT&T terminated Carter in 2019.

“[Carter] abused the trust of his employer and sold his access to AT&T’s network to a hacker by SIM swapping AT&T customers so the hacker could take control of victims’ accounts and deplete their funds,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “One victim lost nearly $100,000, and other victims may have lost more had it not been for fraud prevention at various banks, which stopped the transfers the funds before they were wired overseas.”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew M. Roach and Nisha Chandran of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.

RIVERSIDE, California – A San Diego County man has been federally charged with mailing to a mosque in Riverside County a letter that included threats of perpetrating a mass killing of Muslims, the Justice Department announced today.

Louis White, 60, of Warner Springs, was charged Thursday in a federal criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications. White is in state custody but is expected to be transferred to federal custody in the coming weeks.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, on August 26, the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, a mosque in Temecula, reported to law enforcement that it had received a threatening letter that read, in part, “I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE DAY TO KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU, IT CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH!”

Under the text was a hand drawing of crosshairs containing a bearded face with X’s for eyes and wearing a hat stating, “[expletive] Allah.”

Law enforcement investigated and traced the letter to White. During a search of White’s residence on August 29, law enforcement seized several firearms, including one believed to be an AR15-style short-barreled rifle with no serial number – commonly referred to as a “ghost gun.”

White was arrested and is currently in state custody in a Riverside County jail.

A criminal complaint contains merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, White would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department are investigating this matter. The Temecula Police Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Barr Benyamin of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A resident of the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles and one-time podcaster was arrested today on a three-count federal grand jury indictment charging him with threatening to kill President Donald Trump and cyberstalking and harassing President Trump’s personal lawyer and that lawyer’s family.

Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Southworth is charged with one count of threats against the President, one count of cyberstalking, and one count of harassing telephone calls in interstate communications.

“As threats against President Trump’s life escalate, the Department of Justice will respond with the full force of the law,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We will hold perpetrators of violent threats accountable, and anyone who makes these threats online will not be allowed to hide behind their screens.”

“There is zero tolerance for political violence, especially for threats directed at the President,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Threatening an elected official with violence is a serious offense, and you will be arrested and charged as Mr. Southworth found out this morning.”

“The U.S. Secret Service has zero tolerance for threats against the President of the United States,” said Armando Marquez, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The safety and security of those we protect is our highest priority, and we are committed to ensuring that anyone who threatens that – whether online or otherwise – will face justice. We are grateful for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California for their partnership and thorough work in this case.”

“Cyberstalking and threats of murder are not considered mere political rhetoric under the law, but are serious criminal offenses that lead to prosecution, as today’s arrest highlights,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The FBI, working with our partners at the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will ensure that threats and harassment against the President and others are addressed before threats turn to violence.”

According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Wednesday, from January 2026 to May 2026, Southworth used social media accounts on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as well as a website to publicly express his hatred toward President Trump and the President’s supporters. Southworth used these online platforms to publicly engage in and encourage the abuse and harassment of the President and to threaten violence against the President.

On April 7, 2026, Southworth posted a video on his Instagram account that contained a series of threats against President Trump, including, “I have been vocal in calling for the execution of Donald Trump” and “This government is illegitimate and out of control. It’s time for course correction. Kill Donald Trump.”

Three months earlier, Southworth published a post on his TikTok account listing the home address of a Victim 1 – an attorney who had been President Trump’s personal lawyer – along with a photograph of Victim 1 and another photograph of Victim 1’s residence. In the same posted, Southworth stated, “No peace for traitors.”

From January 2026 to May 2026, Southworth left a series of abusive messages online and over voicemail to Victim 2, who is Victim 1’s son, and made harassing telephone calls to Victim 3, who is Victim 1’s wife.

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

If convicted, Southworth would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for threatening the President, a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for cyberstalking, and a statutory maximum sentence of two years in federal prison for telephonic harassment.

The United States Secret Service and the FBI are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney William Kanellis of the Domestic Security and Immigration Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

SANTA ANA, California – A South Los Angeles man pleaded guilty today to committing an armed robbery spree in Southern California parking lots, including one incident in which he forced a firearm into a victim’s mouth, breaking the victim’s teeth, and another incident in which he shot a victim outside an Orange County shopping mall during an attempted carjacking.

Oshae Pollard, 23, of the Manchester Square neighborhood of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of possessing, using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of, and during and in relation to, a crime of violence.

Pollard has been in federal custody since December 2024.

According to his plea agreement, on August 25, 2024, Pollard robbed a victim at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Hustler Casino in Gardena, stealing $1,000 in the process. Pollard pushed the victim to the ground and began pulling on the victim’s purse. He then forced his firearm into the victim’s mouth, breaking her teeth. He threatened to kill the victim if she yelled.

On August 26, 2024, Pollard robbed another victim at gunpoint, stealing the victim’s wallet and cellphone, while the victim was seated in his taxi in a Winchell’s Donut House parking lot in Carson. Pollard pointed a firearm at this victim and struck the victim in the face.

Later that same day, Pollard robbed another victim in the parking lot of Fashion Island in Newport Beach, stealing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch, a monogrammed brown Berluti wallet, and Rolls-Royce car keys – in total, worth approximately $44,000. 

At the same time, Pollard and a co-conspirator attempted to rob another victim and fired a bullet into that victim’s car – barely missing that victim as he tried to escape.

On September 22, 2024, Pollard attempted to steal a Lamborghini Urus from a victim in the parking lot of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Pollard pointed a firearm at the victim, demanded the vehicle and other property, threatened to fatally shoot the victim, and then shot the victim in the hand and thigh in an attempted carjacking.

On October 16, 2024, Pollard was arrested and released after a traffic stop with the loaded pistol he used to commit the robberies and attempted carjacking, as well as a black ski mask.

United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter scheduled a January 21, 2027, sentencing hearing, at which time Pollard will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Orange County Violent Crime Task Force investigated this case. This task force is comprised of federal and local law enforcement agencies, which include ATF, the Brea Police Department, the Placentia Police Department, the Fullerton Police Department, the Santa Ana Police Department, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the Newport Beach Police Department and the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jena A. MacCabe and Kevin J. Butler of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – The Department of Justice today announced a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, in collaboration with private industry partners CrowdStrike and the Shadowserver Foundation, to disrupt the botnet and malware known as Sality and take down its infrastructure.

Coordination between the private sector and government partners was central to this effort and advanced the first pillar of President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America – “Shape Adversary Behavior.” Federal law enforcement worked with the private sector to identify and disrupt malicious networks, scale national capabilities, and shape adversary behavior by degrading their tools and infrastructure.

“Cybercriminals, botnets, and malware are a clear and present danger to our nation’s security and economy,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This successful effort to take down the Sality botnet shows that by working together the public and private sectors can be a powerful force for good.”

“This unique collaboration among international law enforcement and private sector partners only enhances the FBI’s cyber security capabilities and our efforts to neutralize the threat posed by the Sality botnet,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The FBI will continue working with our partners to prevent further cyber-enabled attacks and theft from victims in the United States.”

“Protecting the integrity of the Department of Defense Information Network from clear threats like the Sality botnet is a top priority for us,” said Special Agent in Charge Kenneth DeChellis of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Cyber Field Office. “Today’s announcement is the result of the shared commitment and long-standing partnership between international law enforcement and the private sector.”

Since 2003, the Sality botnet has installed malicious software (malware) on compromised devices, enabling cryptocurrency theft and cyberattacks on victims in the United States and abroad.

The victim computers infected with Sality were part of a peer-to-peer (P2P) botnet, which is a network of computers (each a “bot”) infected with the Sality malware and controlled by the Sality operator. A P2P botnet is a decentralized network of bots that communicate directly with each other to share commands. The owners of the victim computers were typically unaware that their devices had been misappropriated as bots by Sality.

On Monday, CrowdStrike’s Counter Adversary Operations team, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, FBI, DCIS, international law enforcement, and private industry partners executed a peer-to-peer sinkhole operation and coordinated disruption of the Sality botnet.

As part of the international operation, the Department of Justice, FBI, and DCIS seized Sality-linked domains in the United States. International law enforcement partners in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania took action against additional Sality-linked domains hosted in Europe.

In conjunction with these efforts, private industry partner The Shadowserver Foundation is working with internet service providers and Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) to identify infections and aid in victim notification and remediation.

Investigators and prosecutors from multiple jurisdictions provided crucial assistance, including Bulgaria’s General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation Cybercrime Department, Romania’s Romanian Police / Directorate for Combating Organized Crime / Central Cybercrime Unit, Eurojust, and Europol. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Restrepo of the National Security Division, along with the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and DCIS led the U.S. efforts.

Venezuelan national and illegal alien Rafael Enrique Gamez Salas, 40, has been extradited from the United States to Chile, at the request of the Government of Chile, so that he may be prosecuted on seven charges stemming from his alleged role as a leader of “Los Piratas,” the primary Chilean cell of the Venezuelan transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Chile accuses Gamez Salas, who was surrendered to Chilean authorities on Thursday, of directing multiple extortions and kidnappings on behalf of TdA, one of which resulted in the highly publicized murder of a former Venezuelan military officer. This extradition brings Gamez Salas, who also has criminal convictions in the United States for human smuggling and illegal reentry after deportation, one step closer to facing justice in Chile after illegally attempting to seek refuge in the United States.

“The United States is not a safe haven for dangerous criminal aliens,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Rafael Enrique Gamez Salas should never have been in our country in the first place, but under the Biden administration, open-border policies left the doors wide open, and hundreds of suspected and convicted Tren de Aragua terrorists poured into this country. Gamez Salas’s extradition is evidence of the strong cooperation with our Chilean partners to combat transnational crime, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, and hold members accountable for their heinous criminal acts.” 

“At the time of TdA leader Rafael Enrique Gamez Salas’s arrest on the Chilean extradition charges, he was finishing a sentence here for illegal re-entry into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Instead of deporting him to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals, he now will be sent to Chile to face charges there that include murder, kidnapping, and extortion. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked extensively with Chilean authorities to extradite this defendant and ensure that another violent, illegal alien who came here unlawfully will be punished for breaking our laws and then go to Chile to face the charges levied there. When governments work cross borders together, all communities benefit and become more safe.” 

“Thanks to the previous administration’s open borders, a murderous terrorist was allowed to enter our country,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “I commend our law enforcement partners in the United States and Chile for removing this criminal, who will hopefully never see the outside of a prison again.”

Gamez Salas, also known as “Adrian Rafael Gamez Finol” and “Turko,” is accused of overseeing the criminal activities of Los Piratas in Chile. According to Chilean authorities, he planned and coordinated kidnappings, homicides, extortions and other offenses on behalf of the TdA affiliate, which included instructing subordinates to obtain necessary resources to execute the offenses and ensuring that financial resources generated for Los Piratas were transferred abroad. Chile sought Gamez Salas’s extradition so that he may stand trial for one count of criminal association, two counts of extortion, two counts of unjustified firearm discharge, one count of kidnapping resulting in homicide and one count of kidnapping for extortion, arising from separate crimes against multiple victims.

Chile alleges, among other things, that Gamez Salas, acting under the supervision of senior TdA leadership, directed and planned the February 2024 kidnapping and murder in Santiago, Chile, of a former Lieutenant in the Venezuelan military.

According to Chile, members of Los Piratas arrived at the victim’s apartment building in the middle of the night armed with firearms and in a car equipped with a blue light in an apparent attempt to impersonate officers of the Chilean Investigative Police. After using a battering ram to force entry into the victim’s apartment, the perpetrators handcuffed the victim and forcibly removed him from the building and into a car.

Around one week later, in response to a tip from a witness, authorities discovered the victim’s body by drilling into the concrete floor of a makeshift dwelling in a housing development elsewhere in Santiago, Chile. The victim’s body was found covered in lime, concealed inside a suitcase, buried in concrete more than three feet deep and sealed beneath a concrete slab.

An autopsy determined that the victim’s cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, and the victim’s body showed signs of suspension by the upper extremities, lesions consistent with torture and partial postmortem dismemberment. Testimony obtained in the Chilean investigation revealed that the victim’s kidnapping and murder was allegedly ordered by leaders of TdA and directed to be paid for from outside of Chile.

Additionally, in an intercepted conversation, Gamez Salas allegedly told other Los Piratas members that he had been assigned “from above” the task of coordinating and executing the crime.

In support of its other charges against Gamez Salas, Chile also alleges that he played a leading role in an April 2024 deadly armed confrontation that killed a Chilean police officer; February and June 2024 kidnappings for extortion; and a March 2024 attempted kidnapping, among other offenses.

In 2023, Gamez Salas was removed from the United States to Venezuela for having entered the United States illegally. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States and was prosecuted for human smuggling by the Val Verde County District Attorney’s Office in Texas. He was convicted in February 2025, after which he was indicted in the Southern District of Texas for illegally reentering the United States. He pled guilty to the illegal reentry charge in April 2025 and was serving his prison sentence in the Central District of California when he was arrested on Chile’s provisional arrest request in this matter. Gamez Salas was also subject to an order of removal to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals.

On June 30, following Chile’s submission of a formal extradition request, Gamez Salas consented to extradition, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick for the Central District of California certified his extradition to the Secretary of State. The U.S. Department of State subsequently issued a surrender warrant authorizing Gamez Salas’s extradition. The extradition matter for Gamez Salas was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Lulejian for the Central District of California and Trial Attorneys Reena T. Mittelman and Ruxandra Barbulescu of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The U.S. Marshals Service provided significant assistance in this case and ensured a smooth and safe transfer of custody to Chilean authorities so that Gamez Salas could be transported back to Chile to face trial.

Previously, in September 2025, the United States extradited to Chile another alleged TdA member, Edgar Javier Benitez Rubio, who was charged in Chile with multiple offenses arising from this same kidnapping and murder of the former Venezuelan Lieutenant. That extradition matter was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from Venezuela has been extradited at the request of the Government of Chile so that he may be prosecuted on seven charges stemming from his alleged role as a leader of “Los Piratas,” the primary Chilean cell of the Venezuelan transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas, 40, who was surrendered to Chilean authorities on Tuesday, is accused of directing multiple extortions and kidnappings on behalf of TdA, one of which resulted in the highly publicized murder of a former Venezuelan military officer. 

This extradition brings Gámez, who also has criminal convictions in the United States for human smuggling and illegal reentry after deportation, one step closer to facing justice in Chile after illegally attempting to seek refuge in the United States.

“The United States is not a safe haven for dangerous criminal aliens,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas should never have been in our country in the first place, but under the Biden administration, open-border policies left the doors wide open, and hundreds of suspected and convicted Tren de Aragua terrorists poured into this country. Gámez Salas’s extradition is evidence of the strong cooperation with our Chilean partners to combat transnational crime, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, and hold members accountable for their heinous criminal acts.” 

“At the time of TdA leader Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas’s arrest on the Chilean extradition charges, he was finishing a sentence here for illegal re-entry into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Instead of deporting him to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals, he now will be sent to Chile to face charges there that include murder, kidnapping, and extortion. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked extensively with Chilean authorities to extradite this defendant and ensure that another violent, illegal alien who came here unlawfully will be punished for breaking our laws and then go to Chile to face the charges levied there. When governments work cross borders together, all communities benefit and become more safe.” 

“Thanks to the previous administration’s open borders, a murderous terrorist was allowed to enter our country,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “I commend our law enforcement partners in the United States and Chile for removing this criminal, who will hopefully never see the outside of a prison again.”

Gámez, also known as “Adrián Rafael Gámez Finol” and “Turko,” is accused of overseeing the criminal activities of Los Piratas in Chile. According to Chilean authorities, he planned and coordinated kidnappings, homicides, extortions and other offenses on behalf of the TdA affiliate, which included instructing subordinates to obtain necessary resources to execute the offenses and ensuring that financial resources generated for Los Piratas were transferred abroad. 

Chile sought Gámez’s extradition so that he may stand trial for one count of criminal association, two counts of extortion, two counts of unjustified firearm discharge, one count of kidnapping resulting in homicide and one count of kidnapping for extortion, arising from separate crimes against multiple victims.

Chile alleges, among other things, that Gámez, acting under the supervision of senior TdA leadership, directed and planned the February 2024 kidnapping and murder in Santiago, Chile, of a former Lieutenant in the Venezuelan military.

According to Chile, members of Los Piratas arrived at the victim’s apartment building in the middle of the night armed with firearms and in a car equipped with a blue light in an apparent attempt to impersonate officers of the Chilean Investigative Police. After using a battering ram to force entry into the victim’s apartment, the perpetrators handcuffed the victim and forcibly removed him from the building and into a car.

Around one week later, in response to a tip from a witness, authorities discovered the victim’s body by drilling into the concrete floor of a makeshift dwelling in a housing development elsewhere in Santiago, Chile. The victim’s body was found covered in lime, concealed inside a suitcase, buried in concrete more than three feet deep and sealed beneath a concrete slab.

An autopsy determined that the victim’s cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, and the victim’s body showed signs of suspension by the upper extremities, lesions consistent with torture and partial postmortem dismemberment. Testimony obtained in the Chilean investigation revealed that the victim’s kidnapping and murder was allegedly ordered by leaders of TdA and directed to be paid for from outside of Chile.

Additionally, in an intercepted conversation, Gámez allegedly told other Los Piratas members that he had been assigned “from above” the task of coordinating and executing the crime.

In support of its other charges against Gámez, Chile also alleges that he played a leading role in an April 2024 deadly armed confrontation that killed a Chilean police officer; February and June 2024 kidnappings for extortion; and a March 2024 attempted kidnapping, among other offenses.

In 2023, Gámez was removed from the United States to Venezuela for having entered the United States illegally. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States and was prosecuted for human smuggling by the Val Verde County District Attorney’s Office in Texas. He was convicted in February 2025, after which he was indicted in the Southern District of Texas for illegally reentering the United States. 

He pleaded guilty to the illegal reentry charge in April 2025 and was serving his prison sentence in the Central District of California when he was arrested on Chile’s provisional arrest request in this matter. Gámez was also subject to an order of removal to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals.

On June 30, 2026, following Chile’s submission of a formal extradition request, Gámez consented to extradition, and United States Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick for the Central District of California certified his extradition to the Secretary of State. The U.S. Department of State subsequently issued a surrender warrant authorizing Gámez’s extradition. 

Assistant United States Attorney John J. Lulejian and Trial Attorneys Reena T. Mittelman and Ruxandra Barbulescu of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs handled this extradition matter. 

The United States Marshals Service provided significant assistance in this case and ensured a smooth and safe transfer of custody to Chilean authorities so that Gámez could be transported back to Chile to face trial.

Previously, in September 2025, the United States extradited to Chile another alleged TdA member, Edgar Javier Benítez Rubio, who was charged in Chile with multiple offenses arising from this same kidnapping and murder of the former Venezuelan Lieutenant. That extradition matter was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

LOS ANGELES – Two Chinese nationals – one of them an illegal alien – living in the Inland Empire were sentenced to federal prison today for leading a large-scale, trans-Pacific scheme to defraud Apple Inc. through the fraudulent “returns” of thousands of counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other Apple goods that caused the Cupertino-based technology company at least $16.2 million in losses.

Wenhui Huang, 41, of Chino Hills, the group’s ringleader and an illegal immigrant, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison by United States District Judge André Birotte, Jr., who also ordered him to pay $16,239,254 in restitution. 

Huang pleaded guilty in May 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

Judge Birotte today also sentenced Yang Song, 39, of Corona, the group’s second-in-command, to 57 months in federal prison, and ordered him to pay $16,997,415 in restitution.

Song pleaded guilty in June 2025 to 21 counts of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, in addition to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for a separate scheme involving the funneling of proceeds of various frauds to overseas.

Huang and Song are the final defendants to be sentenced in this case. 

According to court documents, from at least December 2015 to March 2024, Huang, Song, and others coordinated with co-conspirators in China to smuggle counterfeit Apple iPhones, iPads, and other devices to them and other U.S.-based co-conspirators. 

The counterfeit Apple devices smuggled to Huang, Song, and others in the U.S. were designed to look like genuine Apple devices and included identification numbers matching the numbers on real Apple products that had been sold in North America, were owned by real people, and were under warranty through Apple’s manufacturer warranty and AppleCare+, Apple’s extended warranty program.

The real identification numbers and serial numbers on the counterfeit devices that defendants returned were designed to essentially impersonate the real Apple devices owned by real people throughout the United States – and therefore deceived Apple into replacing the counterfeit devices with real devices under Apple’s warranty programs.

Once the counterfeit devices were smuggled into the U.S., the defendants fraudulently returned the counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other devices to Apple as if they were genuine and had been legitimately purchased, were eligible for Apple’s warranty programs, and as if they were the lawful possessor of the Apple devices. 

The defendants knowingly and fraudulently represented that the counterfeit Apple devices they returned were genuine but were broken or non-operational and were covered by the company’s warranty programs. 

Some of the false reasons given to Apple store employees were because the devices purportedly would not power on, were physically damaged, or had other defects. But the defendants knew that the Apple devices they were returning were counterfeit and fraudulently used the identification numbers and serial numbers of real people’s Apple devices to victimize both Apple and the device owners.

As part of the scheme, the defendants visited multiple Apple stores throughout Southern California, including stores in Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga, Cerritos and at shopping malls such as The Grove in Los Angeles, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Fashion Island in Newport Beach, and The Americana at Brand in Glendale. In many cases, they visited as many as 10 different Apple stores where they would allegedly return counterfeit devices.

Once at the Apple stores, Apple employees either replaced or repaired the counterfeit Apple device with a genuine Apple device during the same visit or, on other occasions, took the defendants’ counterfeit devices and shipped them to a repair center. 

Apple then shipped to the defendants a genuine replacement Apple device or a repaired device to either an Apple store, where the defendants returned to pick up the new device, or at the dozens of mailboxes at UPS Stores that the defendants rented across Southern California to receive counterfeit devices from China and receive genuine replacement devices from Apple.

After successfully returning the counterfeit Apple devices for genuine ones, the defendants shipped the genuine devices to co-conspirators both in the United States and abroad, primarily in China, where the genuine Apple devices were resold at a substantial profit.

Federal prosecutors secured six convictions in this case, including for Yushan Lin, 32, and Shuyi Xing, 36, both of Corona, whom Judge Birotte on Wednesday sentenced to 18 months of home detention and 38 months in federal prison, respectively, and ordered to pay $16,239,254 and $17,343,549 in restitution, respectively. Lin and Xing fraudulently returned and attempted to return at least 1,584 counterfeit devices to Apple, causing at least $1,116,544 in actual losses to the company in their part of the overall conspiracy. 

Two other defendants, Zhengxuan Hu, 28, of Alhambra, an illegal alien, and Junwei Jiang, 39, of East Los Angeles, were previously sentenced to prison terms of 24 months and 36 months, respectively, for their role in the scheme and were ordered to pay $16,239,254 in restitution. 

Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles Police Department provided substantial assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew M. Roach of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Honduran national and lawful permanent resident living in the San Fernando Valley was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with fraudulently registering to vote in United States elections.

Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores, 30, of Winnetka, is charged with two felonies: false claim to U.S. citizenship and fraudulent voter registration.

Rivera was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

“Noncitizens who commit fraud so they can vote in American elections do so in violation of federal law and should expect to be prosecuted,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Let this criminal complaint serve as a reminder that the Justice Department stands ready to enforce the laws Congress enacted to ensure only American citizens vote in federal elections.” 

“Today’s arrest is the first of many to come,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Unfortunately, because states like California allow non-citizens to easily register to vote and receive a ballot by mail, there’s no telling how many non-citizens are currently registered to vote. We again renew our request that California immediately comply with our requests to audit their voter rolls so that all voters can have confidence in our elections.” 

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Rivera was born in Honduras, entered the United States in 2002, and is present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (commonly known as “green card” holder). He is not a U.S. citizen.

In February 2026, Rivera physically disrupted immigration law enforcement operations at the federal building in Camarillo, was issued a misdemeanor citation to which he pleaded guilty and was placed on one year of probation. 

In April 2026, Rivera sent a federal agent a series of text messages, which read in part, “Your not the good guy  I can’t wait until the mid terms you dont have qualified immunity then we can start and indict all you guys one bye one.” Rivera continued texting the federal agent until July 2026.

Law enforcement investigated and discovered an online voter registration record in the name of “Darwin Rivera” associated with Rivera’s Winnetka address. Law enforcement also obtained a certified voter registration application number, a voter registration receipt, and a signature image from the California Secretary of State, Elections Division. 

The voter registration name was listed as “Darwin J Rivera” and listed Rivera’s address in Winnetka. Under the application question of “Did someone help you fill out this form” the answer “no” was checked, and a check mark was provided next to the application wording “I am a U.S. citizen.”

Following a declaration under penalty of perjury warning, the voter registration application deadline was dated November 4, 2025.

Additional records from California Secretary of State and the County of Los Angeles, the birthplace listed under Rivera’s name was “United States of America.”

There is no record of Rivera seeking or obtaining U.S. citizenship. Rivera also has not voted in an election.

A criminal complaint contains merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Rivera would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on each charge.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael G. Wheat of the Orange County Office is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An aspiring rapper is among two defendants arrested – and a total of three defendants charged – in a 25-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they illegally possessed more than 50 stolen United States Treasury checks and hundreds of other checks belonging to individuals and businesses, totaling more than $8.1 million, then cashed and attempted to cash stolen checks at lenders throughout Southern California, the Justice Department announced today.

Ada William Obayuwana, 31, a.k.a. “ColdheartedAC” and “AC,” of Quartz Hill, is charged alongside Albert Tai Vu, 28, of Westminster, and Cassandra Marie Murrillo, 31, of San Diego, with nine counts of bank fraud. 

Obayuwana is also charged with three counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks and one count of aggravated identity theft. Vu is charged with five counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks, four counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Murillo is charged with an additional count of delivering stolen Treasury checks.

Obayuwana was arrested and made his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday. His detention hearing is scheduled for today. He remains in federal custody.

Vu was arrested Thursday and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Murrillo is expected to surrender to federal authorities on Monday in Los Angeles.

According to the indictment, from at least April 2022 to December 2023, the defendants illegally obtained and possessed stolen checks totaling more than $8.1 million, including more than 50 stolen U.S. Treasury checks. The stolen U.S. Treasury checks contained tax refunds, veterans’ benefits, and Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits. The defendants then forged endorsements on the Treasury checks or altered names and addresses on the checks for the purpose of stealing them.

The defendants opened bank accounts for the purpose of receiving the fraudulently transferred funds. Sometimes, they used business documents mimicking the names and other identifiers of the victims to cash stolen checks. The defendants then deposited stolen funds into accounts at bank and credit union branches in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.

From April 2022 to December 2023, Obayuwana attempted to cash at least three Treasury tax refund checks with a total value of approximately $382,109. He ultimately successfully cashed one of those checks, withdrawing a total of approximately $229,109 in funds that were in the possession, control, and custody of the banks.

In December 2023, Obayuwana possessed in his car in Oceanside more than 100 stolen or fraudulent checks, cumulatively worth more than $6.1 million. Among those checks were 48 stolen U.S. Treasury checks worth approximately $2,555,417 in tax refunds, veterans’ benefits, and SSA benefits. Of the checks he illegally possessed, eight were successfully cashed for a total value of approximately $1,701,507.

From April 2022 to December 2023, Vu attempted to cash at least six Treasury checks with a total value of $2,151,391 and successfully cashed two tax refund checks worth $772,159.

During that period, Murillo attempted to cash at least two checks worth $60,193 and successfully cashed one of them worth $31,405.

In April 2023, Vu executed two cashier’s checks – each in the amount of $250,000 – at a bank in Anaheim. He used funds from a None to Lose LLC account that were derived from unlawful activity. The first check was paid out to a co-schemer’s LLC, and the funds were used to purchase a Range Rover vehicle, while the second check was paid to Murillo. 

Obayuwana and Vu also used stolen identities in furtherance of their bank fraud activities. 

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

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each bank fraud count, a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each counterfeit Treasury check- and money laundering-related count, and a mandatory consecutive two-year federal prison sentence for each count of aggravated identity theft.

The United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Diane Roldán of the Major Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An Orange County woman pleaded guilty today to submitting more than $2.2 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for hospice services for beneficiaries who were not terminally ill, on which Medicare paid her company more than $2.1 million.

Lynn Galbraith, 60, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.

According to her plea agreement, Galbraith was the co-owner and operator of the Garden Grove-based Azure Hospice Care Inc. from September 2019 to July 2022, after which time she became the company’s sole owner until February 2024. During this time, she knowingly and willfully submitted and caused the submission to Medicare for reimbursement of hospice services for beneficiaries who did not have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness ran its normal course.

In submitting the false claims to Medicare, Galbraith either knew the beneficiaries did not qualify for hospice or knew that they did not have sufficient medical records supporting a diagnosis and prognosis that qualified them for hospice benefits. She did not routinely coordinate with the beneficiaries’ primary care physicians about their purported conditions or terminal prognoses.

Galbraith knew and intended that Medicare would rely on her false representations that the patients were eligible for hospice services, and that the false representation would cause Medicare to send payment to Azure Hospice Care for the claimed services.

For example, in October 2022, Galbraith submitted a claim to Medicare for $6,600 for reimbursement of hospice services provided to a beneficiary, knowing that there was insufficient medical record documentation to establish Medicare hospice eligibility for this beneficiary.

In total, Galbraith submitted a total of approximately $2,266,694 in false claims to Medicare on behalf of Azure Hospice Care. Of this total, Medicare ultimately paid approximately $2,140,606 to Azure.

United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt scheduled a December 3 sentencing hearing, at which time Galbraith will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) is investigating this matter.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs. 

Assistant United States Attorney Rosalind Wang of the Orange County Office is prosecuting this case.

A skin cancer testing company formerly known as DermTech Inc. has agreed to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims for unreliable skin cancer tests to the Medicare program. DermTech is now liquidating as DTech Liquidating Inc. after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware in June 2024. As part of the resolution announced today, the United States received an Allowed Class Three General Unsecured Claim of $5,038,011 in the bankruptcy proceeding.

The settlement resolves allegations that DermTech submitted claims to Medicare for skin cancer tests despite knowing the tests had quality control issues. First, from October 2022 to March 2023, DermTech billed Medicare for skin cancer tests that it conducted after switching to an unvalidated positive control range for one of the test’s two key melanoma markers. Without a validated positive control range, it is impossible to confirm that the positive control is working and thus impossible to verify whether the test results are accurate. Second, from January 2020 to February 2022, DermTech billed Medicare for skin cancer tests that did not contain enough patient RNA to be tested but still generated positive or negative test results. For both categories of tests, DermTech reported results to patients. When concerns were raised about these tests, DermTech neither retracted the test results nor adequately refunded Medicare.

“The Justice Department is committed to protecting Medicare patients, especially in an area as serious as skin cancer testing,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will hold accountable health care providers who put patients at risk by billing Medicare for grossly substandard services.”

“This company billed Medicare for unreliable tests that may have misled patients and their doctors,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “This settlement is a perfect example of why the Department’s focus on fraud against the taxpayer directly leads to improved health and safety for Medicare patients.”

“Patients must be able to rely on the accuracy and integrity of diagnostic testing when making critical healthcare decisions,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Submitting claims to Medicare for tests that fail to meet established clinical standards undermines patient safety and public trust. HHS-OIG remains committed to ensuring that healthcare providers deliver services that meet federal requirements and to pursuing accountability for alleged misconduct.”

“DermTech Inc. allegedly administered inadequate skin cancer tests that led to the fraudulent billing of Medicare, raising serious concerns about the company’s practices,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “FBI San Diego, along with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to investigating any company whose illicit actions may undermine the integrity of our healthcare system and ensure they are held accountable.”

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by a former DermTech employee. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Luong v. DermTech, Inc. et al., No. 3:23-cv-01404 (S.D. Cal.). Ms. Luong will receive 20% of the recovery received from the bankruptcy court in connection with the settlement.

The claims resolved by the settlement pertain to DermTech Inc., a company that is now bankrupt. These claims do not pertain to DermTech LLC, a company that purchased DermTech Inc.’s assets in 2024 as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.

The resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act (FCA). Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Clare Elizondo and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen H. Wong for the Southern District of California.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Monogram Health Professional Services PC and Monogram Health Inc., (Monogram Health), headquartered in Tennessee, have agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by causing the submission of false diagnosis codes in order to increase payments that they received from the Medicare Advantage program.

“When companies submit false diagnosis codes, they unlawfully exploit a system built to support vulnerable seniors,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement reinforces the Department’s commitment to protecting taxpayer money and ensuring that Medicare Advantage payments are based on accurate information.”

“When it comes to how federal money is being spent, taxpayers deserve to know that this Justice Department is looking out for them,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “My office will continue to work to ensure that money for public health programs is spent how it’s intended, as today’s settlement shows.”

“Health care companies that seek to inflate profits by inaccurately reporting the medical conditions of Medicare Advantage enrollees will be held accountable,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “This settlement underscores HHS‑OIG’s commitment to protecting the integrity of taxpayer‑funded federal health care programs. Medicare Advantage exists to deliver medically necessary care to beneficiaries, not to serve as a vehicle for improper financial gain.”

Under the Medicare Advantage (MA) Program, also known as Medicare Part C, Medicare beneficiaries may opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in private health plans offered by insurance companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations, or MAOs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the MAOs a fixed monthly amount for each Medicare beneficiary enrolled in their plans. CMS adjusts these monthly payments to account for various “risk” factors that affect expected health expenditures for the beneficiary. In general, CMS pays MAOs more for sicker beneficiaries expected to incur higher healthcare costs and less for healthier beneficiaries expected to incur lower costs. To calculate the payment amounts, CMS uses a health-based risk adjustment model — the Hierarchical Conditions Category (HCC) model — that takes into account diagnoses reported by healthcare providers.

In general, the more severe the diagnosis or costly the associated treatment, the higher the risk score and the higher the corresponding payments to the MAO. The diagnoses must be supported by the medical record of a face-to-face visit between a patient and a provider, and for outpatient visits, must have required or affected patient care, treatment, or management at the visit.

Monogram provides in-home care and related services to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in MA Plans pursuant to contracts with certain MAOs. Under these contracts, Monogram was eligible to be paid more by the MAOs if the beneficiaries in its care had higher risk scores because the MAO received higher payments from CMS for those beneficiaries.  These risk sharing arrangements gave Monogram a financial incentive to submit additional diagnosis codes in order to increase its patients’ risk scores and the corresponding payments made by CMS.

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that, during the period from Jan, 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2023, Monogram knowingly submitted diagnosis codes within the following four HCCs that were not clinically accurate, not supported by documentation in the beneficiary’s medical records, and/or did not require or affect patient care, treatment or management: HCC 21 (Protein-Calorie Malnutrition), HCC 55 (Substance Use Disorder); HCC 48 (Coagulation Defects and Other Specified Hematological Disorders), and HCC 88 (Angina Pectoris). The submission of these diagnosis codes resulted in false claims that inflated the risk scores of the Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, thereby causing CMS to make higher capitated payments to the MAOs than it would have paid without these diagnosis codes.

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Ajay Gupta, a physician formerly employed by Monogram. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Dr. Gupta will receive approximately $380,000 as his share of the recovery in this case. The lawsuit is captioned U.S. ex rel. Dr. Ajay Gupta v. Monogram Health Professional Services, et. al., Case No. 2:22-cv-08758 MWF-JCx (C.D. Cal.).

Monogram received credit under the Department of Justice’s guidelines in Justice Manual § 4-4.112 for taking cooperation into account in cases involving False Claims Act allegations.

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

The matter was investigated by Fraud Section Attorney Jennifer Cook and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter B. Thomson for the Central District of California.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Note: This release has been updated from a previous version

LOS ANGELES – Monogram Health Professional Services PC and Monogram Health Inc., headquartered in Tennessee, have agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by causing the submission of false diagnosis codes to increase payments that they received from the Medicare Advantage program.

“When it comes to how federal money is being spent, taxpayers deserve to know that this Justice Department is looking out for them,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “My office will continue to work to ensure that money for public health programs is spent how it’s intended, as today’s settlement shows.”

“When companies submit false diagnosis codes, they unlawfully exploit a system built to support vulnerable seniors,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement reinforces the Department’s commitment to protecting taxpayer money and ensuring that Medicare Advantage payments are based on accurate information.”

“Health care companies that seek to inflate profits by inaccurately reporting the medical conditions of Medicare Advantage enrollees will be held accountable,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “This settlement underscores HHS‑OIG’s commitment to protecting the integrity of taxpayer‑funded federal health care programs. Medicare Advantage exists to deliver medically necessary care to beneficiaries, not to serve as a vehicle for improper financial gain.”

Under the Medicare Advantage (MA) Program, also known as Medicare Part C, Medicare beneficiaries may opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in private health plans offered by insurance companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations, or MAOs. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the MAOs a fixed monthly amount for each Medicare beneficiary enrolled in their plans. CMS adjusts these monthly payments to account for various “risk” factors that affect expected health expenditures for the beneficiary. 

In general, CMS pays MAOs more for sicker beneficiaries expected to incur higher healthcare costs and less for healthier beneficiaries expected to incur lower costs. To calculate the payment amounts, CMS uses a health-based risk adjustment model — the Hierarchical Conditions Category (HCC) model — that considers diagnoses reported by healthcare providers.

In general, the more severe the diagnosis or costly the associated treatment, the higher the risk score and the higher the corresponding payments to the MAO. The diagnoses must be supported by the medical record of a face-to-face visit between a patient and a provider, and for outpatient visits, must have required or affected patient care, treatment, or management at the visit.

Monogram provides in-home care and related services to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in MA Plans pursuant to contracts with certain MAOs. Under these contracts, Monogram was eligible to be paid more by the MAOs if the beneficiaries in its care had higher risk scores because the MAO received higher payments from CMS for those beneficiaries. These risk sharing arrangements gave Monogram a financial incentive to submit additional diagnosis codes to increase its patients’ risk scores and the corresponding payments made by CMS.

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that, during the period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023, Monogram knowingly submitted diagnosis codes within the following four HCCs that were not clinically accurate, not supported by documentation in the beneficiary’s medical records, and/or did not require or affect patient care, treatment or management: HCC 21 (Protein-Calorie Malnutrition), HCC 55 (Substance Use Disorder); HCC 48 (Coagulation Defects and Other Specified Hematological Disorders), and HCC 88 (Angina Pectoris). 

The submission of these diagnosis codes resulted in false claims that inflated the risk scores of the Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, thereby causing CMS to make higher capitated payments to the MAOs than it would have paid without these diagnosis codes.

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Ajay Gupta, a physician formerly employed by Monogram. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Dr. Gupta will receive approximately $380,000 as his share of the recovery in this case. The lawsuit is captioned United States of America ex rel. Dr. Ajay Gupta v. Monogram Health Professional Services, et. al., Case No. 2:22-cv-08758 MWF-JCx (C.D. Calif.).

Monogram received credit under the Department of Justice’s guidelines in Justice Manual § 4-4.112 for taking cooperation into account in cases involving False Claims Act allegations.

This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. 

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

The matter was investigated by Assistant United States Attorney Hunter B. Thomson of the Civil Division’s Civil Fraud Section and Justice Department Fraud Section Attorney Jennifer Cook.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

LOS ANGELES – Two former city councilmen for Baldwin Park and Compton were each sentenced to 18 months in federal prison terms today for engaging in corrupt acts while they were elected officials, including the payment and acceptance tens of thousands of dollars in bribes for a police union’s support and to obtain official city permits for marijuana cultivation.

Ricardo Pacheco, 63, of Baldwin Park, who served on the Baldwin Park City Council from 1997 until his resignation in 2020 and served as the city’s mayor pro tempore in 2018, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II, who also fined him $10,000 and ordered him to forfeit $219,755. A restitution hearing will be scheduled in the coming weeks.

Judge Wright today also sentenced Isaac Jacob Galvan, 39, of Compton, who served on the Compton City Council from 2013 to 2022, to 18 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $323,557 in restitution.

          Ricardo Pacheco

Pacheco pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one count of federal program bribery and admitted to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes – including $20,000 in cash – from a Baldwin Park Police officer working at the FBI’s direction, in exchange for the councilmember’s political support of the Baldwin Park Police Association’s contract with the city.

Pacheco, who agreed to fully cooperate with federal prosecutors, solicited and received a total of $37,900 in bribes from a Baldwin Park police officer from January through October 2018 to support and vote for the Police Association’s contract, which was worth at least $4.4 million over three years. The police officer who made the payments did so at the direction of the FBI after another officer and he approached the FBI and agreed to assist in its ongoing corruption investigation. In exchange for the payments, Pacheco voted in favor of the Police Association contract in March 2018.

The payments to Pacheco included a $20,000 cash bribe in October 2018, which the police officer provided to him in an envelope in a Baldwin Park coffee shop. Pacheco also solicited and received $17,900 in checks that he directed be made out to his church and sham political action committees he had set up using other individuals’ names but which he controlled.

In June 2020, Pacheco resigned from his Baldwin Park City Council seat as part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors. He also forfeited $83,145 in cash proceeds seized by the FBI, which included $62,900 that Pacheco said he had buried in his backyard in two locations.

The FBI investigated this matter.

          Isaac Jacob Galvan

Galvan pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of federal program bribery and one count of evasion of tax assessment. He admitted to paying $70,000 in bribes to Pacheco – then serving on the Baldwin Park City Council – in exchange for Pacheco’s votes and support for commercial marijuana permits and further admitted to failing to report to the IRS more than half a million dollars in income.

In June 2017, Baldwin Park began permitting the cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of marijuana within its city limits. Soon afterward, Pacheco began soliciting bribes from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city. In exchange for the illicit payments, Pacheco agreed to use his position in city government to assist the companies with obtaining marijuana permits, including voting in their favor. 

Galvan – then serving on the Compton City Council – offered his consulting services to W&F International Corp., a Diamond Bar-based import-export business, who wanted a marijuana permit in Baldwin Park. After securing W&F International Corp. as a consulting client, Galvan facilitated $70,000 in bribes to Pacheco from Yichang Bai, 52, of Arcadia, W&F’s the owner and operator.

Galvan paid the bribes in exchange for Pacheco’s political support of and promise to deliver Baldwin Park’s approval of marijuana permits for W&F. Pacheco then delivered, voting in favor of W&F’s marijuana permit in June and July of 2018 and voting later that year in favor of W&F’s bid to relocate its operations.

Throughout the scheme, Galvan and Bai took steps to cover up their illegal payments to Pacheco by concealing Bai and W&F’s connection to the payments for Pacheco. For example, Bai collected checks from third parties who owed him money and then gave Galvan the checks with blank payee lines. Galvan then gave the checks to Pacheco.

Shortly after the votes to approve W&F’s relocation, Pacheco contacted Galvan and asked him to obtain more money from W&F for his legal defense fund. Galvan told Bai that Pacheco wanted $25,000 for his fundraiser, but Bai insisted only on paying $20,000. Bai provided a total of seven checks from different bank accounts that were not Bai’s or W&F’s. Galvan arranged for the checks to be delivered to Pacheco as further payment in exchange for his votes and support of W&F’s marijuana permit.

Galvan also failed to file federal individual tax returns for the years 2017 through 2020, evading assessment of the federal taxes he owed in several ways. For example, he concealed his ownership and control of I&I LLC, a shell company Galvan used to solicit bribes for public officials and to facilitate paying those bribes. 

Galvan also directed individuals to issue checks with blank payee lines to later be cashed and converted into income for himself, and he individuals to write checks for income he earned to conduits, who would pay for Galvan’s living expenses, including his rent.

In total, Galvan failed to report approximately $560,525 in income for the tax years 2017 through 2020, causing a total loss to the United States Treasury of $115,816.

Bai pleaded guilty on February 23 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. On July 6, Judge Wright sentenced him to 20 months in federal prison and fined him $3,000.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Morse and Kedar S. Bhatia of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Neil P. Thakor of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted both Pacheco and Galvan.

LOS ANGELES – An employee of a service provider working at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and a fellow South Bay resident have been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with possessing a bag containing approximately 11 kilograms (24.3 pounds) of fentanyl in an airport bathroom, where it was to be taken and transported on a Minnesota-bound flight, the Justice Department announced today.

Miguel Angel Tuz-Noh, 24, of Lennox, who works at LAX, and Anthony Olvera, 23, also of Lennox, are charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Both defendants were arrested on August 19 and made their initial appearances on August 21 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. A federal magistrate judge ordered each of them released on $10,000 bond. Their arraignments are scheduled for September 17.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Tuz-Noh is an LAX employee whom law enforcement believes has ties to a drug trafficking organization. On August 19, law enforcement observed Tuz-Noh and Olvera attempt to exchange narcotics in a men’s bathroom at one of the airport’s terminals. 

Soon afterward, law enforcement detained both defendants and opened a duffle bag Olvera had carried. Inside the duffle bag were 10 brick-type packages containing a total of approximately 11 kilograms of fentanyl. Law enforcement believes Olvera had agreed to fly with the fentanyl to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

A criminal complaint contains merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Los Angeles Airport Police are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Kent M. Walters of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

RIVERSIDE, California – A registered sex offender from Riverside County was sentenced today to 480 months in federal prison for using social media and other internet platforms to solicit minor victims to produce and provide him with child sexual abuse material (CSAM) featuring themselves, sometimes in exchange for money.

Ricardo Francisco Aguado, 30, of Riverside, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sunshine S. Sykes, who also ordered him to pay $3,200 in restitution and placed him on lifetime supervised release.

Aguado pleaded guilty on April 24 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of commission of a felony offense involving a minor while required to register as a sex offender. He has been in federal custody since August 2024.

According to his plea agreement, Aguado was convicted in 2015 in Riverside County Superior Court of multiple child sexual exploitation-related criminal charges, including possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. As a result of these convictions, Aguado was subject to lifetime registration as a sex offender. 

He was sentenced to 40 months in California state prison and was released from state custody in 2017.

In August 2020, Aguado befriended the victim on the Discord instant messaging platform. Aguado used Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, and other online platforms to solicit the victim to produce and provide him with images and videos of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct, sometimes in exchange for cash.

In May 2022, Aguado contacted the victim – then a 14-year-old boy – via Instagram and cellphones, and arraigned to pay the victim $40 via CashApp for sexually explicit images and videos depicting the victim. Days later, Aguado distributed to another Snapchat user via his own Snapchat account a sexually explicit video of the victim.

An investigation into Aguado’s online accounts and digital devices revealed that he had communicated with several minors online over several years and had solicited them to provide him with images of themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. These victims ranged in age from 12 years old to 15 years old and were residents of Florida, New York, South Carolina, and Texas.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this matter with assistance from the Rockford (Illinois) Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Sonah Lee of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – Since its launch last year, Operation Guardian Angel, a program that seeks to neutralize California’s sanctuary state policy, has resulted in 362 arrests of criminal illegal aliens from county jails into federal custody in the Los Angeles area, the Inland Empire, and the Central Coast.

The Central District of California, comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, is home to an estimated 1.5 million illegal aliens, including gang members and other dangerous felons.

Operation Guardian Angel’s goal is to apprehend criminal illegal aliens incarcerated in county jails, whose cooperation is prohibited by “sanctuary state” laws from cooperating with federal immigration officials. SB 54, also known as the California Values Act, signed into law in 2017, limits state and local police cooperation with federal immigration officers and restricts local resources from being used to remove illegal aliens – including violent felons.

Operation Guardian Angel works by securing federal arrest warrants for aliens recently arrested by local law enforcement. Once issued, local jails are legally required to honor the arrest warrants and must hand over the criminal illegal alien in their custody to the federal government. 

The operation began in May 2025 and has resulted in 769 arrest warrants issued, and the actual transfer of 362 defendants – 347 of whom are federally charged with illegally re-entering the United States following removal, or another federal offense. Other federal charges include unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, using a firearm in drug trafficking or a crime of violence, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

“Broken California ‘sanctuary state’ policies endanger the public and cannot go unchallenged by the federal government,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Operation Guardian Angel is an answer to these misguided policies. Through this task force we are forcing California to do the thing it hates most: handing hundreds of criminal illegal aliens into federal custody to face justice and deportation.” 

“ICE ERO’s mission is to identify, arrest, detain, and remove those who are in the United States illegally,” said Thomas Giles, Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Los Angeles Field Office for Enforcement and Removal Operations. “Unfortunately, California’s politicians are forcing local law enforcement agencies to release criminal illegal aliens back into our communities to create more American victims. Our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in the Central District of California through Operation Guardian Angel allows us to keep rapists, gang members, and murderers, who shouldn’t be in the U.S. at all, off the streets of California. We will not be deterred. We are not going away. We will continue to enforce the laws passed by the people’s representatives in Congress here in California and everywhere in the United States.”

Among the defendants taken into federal custody under this program are:

• Jaime Rodríguez Ladesma, 70, of Long Beach, an illegal alien from Mexico who was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court in October 2023 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and who was removed in December 2023. He subsequently illegally returned to the United States and was convicted of being found in the U.S. following removal. He was removed to Mexico in March 2026.
• Héctor Bueno-Moreno, 55, of San Luis Obispo, an illegal alien from Mexico who was removed in September 2001 and January 2020, whose criminal history includes a 1995 rape conviction in Kern County Superior Court. He was arrested in August 2025 by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office on a bench warrant out of Santa Barbara County prior to his federal arrest. He pleaded guilty last year to improper entry by an alien. He was removed to Mexico in September 2025.
• Ricardo López Jaramillo, 50, a.k.a. “Sharky,” of Pasadena, a five-times-deported illegal alien from Mexico and gang member whose criminal history includes multiple felony robbery convictions in Los Angeles Superior Court, and a 2007 conviction in San Diego federal court of three counts of illegal entry, for which he was sentenced to three years in federal prison. In November 2025, he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a single-count information charging him with illegal alien found in the U.S. following removal. He was removed to Mexico in June 2026.
• Alejandro Lima Ramírez, 46, a.k.a. “Fidel Garcia Vasquez,” of Santa Maria, a four-times-deported illegal alien from Mexico, whose criminal history includes convictions for drug trafficking, stalking, domestic violence, robbery, theft, and driving under the influence. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office transferred him to federal custody last year after Lima was arrested for drug-and-traffic violations. He is serving a 30-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2025 to illegal alien found in the U.S. following removal.
• Andrés Velásquez Ocampo, 37, of Santa Ana, an illegal alien from Mexico who was deported in January 2019 and was arrested in South Gate in May 2025 on drug charges. His criminal history includes convictions for carjacking and hit-and-run with property damage. He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to one count of illegal alien found in the U.S. following removal, was sentenced to three months in federal prison, he was removed to Mexico in December 2025.
• In February 2025, José Cristián Saravia-Sánchez, 31, of Mexico, shot and killed an Inglewood man who tried to stop him from stealing a catalytic converter. Despite the fact he was an illegal alien who had been convicted of vehicle theft, was removed from the United States in 2013, and had been arrested 11 times between June 2022 and August 2024, local law enforcement was prevented by state law from complying with an immigration detainer request. While his state criminal case is pending, he also faces federal criminal charges of illegal alien found in the United States following removal and alien in possession of a firearm.

Operation Guardian Angel is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and to protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. 

LOS ANGELES – Federal law enforcement today announced a $5,000 reward and a new FBI tip line, for information leading to the successful prosecution of criminals who violate the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, a federal law that carries penalties of up to seven years in prison.

This statute, which President Trump signed into law in November 2019, criminalizes engaging in animal abuse in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce and making “animal crushing” videos that depict obscene animal abuse.

Those who have evidence against anyone suspected of breaking this law is encouraged to email the FBI at [email protected]. 

Successful tips include specific evidence: photographs, videos, dates, times, locations, and a description of who is committing these crimes.

This dedicated email account will be reviewed by the Animal Abuse Task Force which was created last year and is led by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section working in partnership with the FBI, the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles City Animal Control, and other state and local law enforcement officers. 

This task force focuses on charging serious animal abuse crimes throughout the Central District of California, the most populous federal district in the country. The seven-county district is home to nearly 20 million residents and is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

Mike Escobar, also known as “Risky,” 43, a member of the Little Hood gang in Anaheim, California; James Mendez, also known as “Buck,” 47, a Sureño gang member from Garden Grove, California; and Kevin Trejo, also known as “Minor,” 38, a member of the Jeffrey Street gang in Anaheim, California, were each sentenced yesterday to life in prison for their trial convictions of murder in aid of racketeering relating to their association with the Mexican Mafia.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that has immense control over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from prisons and collecting a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes committed on the streets.           

According to the evidence presented at the 10-day trial that occurred in October 2023, the defendants, in August 2017, murdered the victim, a member of a Costa Mesa, California, street gang and associate of the Mexican Mafia. At the time of his murder, the victim was involved in trafficking drugs and collecting taxes from other Orange County gangs on behalf of a Mexican Mafia leader in charge of criminal activities, who was in prison. The Mexican Mafia leader who ordered the murder is scheduled for trial in August 2027. 

“Gang members directing murders from behind bars will be charged and prosecuted just like those who pull the triggers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the murder. The Criminal Division will maintain its commitment to eradicate gangs at all levels and make America safe.”

“We will never tolerate violence ordered by imprisoned gangsters operating from behind bars,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Yesterday’s life sentences demonstrate our commitment to holding these thugs accountable until their dying day.”

“Gang members committing violent acts of murder on the streets of America violates everyone’s sense of safety and security in our neighborhoods,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Three more members of the Mexican Mafia who steal from society and degrade our communities are off the streets for the rest of their lives thanks to the joint efforts of the Orange County Violent Gang Task Force and the Homeland Security Task Force.”

On the night of the murder, Escobar, Mendez, and Trejo tricked the victim into driving with them to a residential neighborhood in Orange, California. There, they shot him seven times in the back and once in the head. 

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; the Orange Police Department; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Placentia Police Department; the Orange County District Attorney’s Office; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Grace Bowen and Christopher Matthews of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Scally for the Central District of California.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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 U.S. 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.

LOS ANGELES – A Thousand Oaks tax preparer was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison for filing more than 1,700 false tax returns for her clients.   

Ann Quach, 50, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also ordered her to pay $6,481,731 in restitution.

Quach pleaded guilty on February 18 to one count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns for the clients of her business AQ Financial, also known as A2Z Tax Solutions. She also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

From 2011 to 2024, Quach prepared 1,734 Form 1040 returns resulting in the multi-million losses to the United States Treasury.

She included made-up losses for fake businesses that didn’t exist and used those fictitious losses to offset her client’s income. Quach also frequently included false deductions for medical expenses and charitable contributions. 

These false entries on the tax returns fraudulently reduced the taxes the clients owed – often to the point of generating refunds. Quach collected substantial fees from her satisfied clients, many of whom returned year after year.

“Tax fraud is a serious crime that corrodes the foundation of a functional society,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “[Quach’s] tax fraud was serious. It was not committed because of a brief lapse in judgment. For years, [Quach] used her tax expertise to help clients evade tax on their income, causing significant losses to the U.S. Treasury.”

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this case. 

Assistant United States Attorney Ranee A. Katzenstein and Matthew R. Hoffman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Tax Section, prosecuted this case.

SANTA ANA, California – Three Orange County street gang members were each sentenced today to life in federal prison for murdering a gangster in August 2017 who had come into conflict with a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

Mike Escobar, 43, a.k.a. “Risky,” a member of the Little Hood gang in Anaheim; James Mendez, 47, a.k.a. “Buck,” a Sureño gang member from Garden Grove; and Kevin Trejo, 38, a.k.a. “Minor,” a member of the Jeffrey Street gang in Anaheim, were sentenced by United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter. 

At the conclusion of an eight-day trial, a jury in October 2023 found the defendants guilty of one count of murder in aid of racketeering.

“We will never tolerate violence ordered by imprisoned gangsters operating from behind bars,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s life sentences demonstrate our commitment to holding these thugs accountable until their dying day.”

“Gang members directing murders from behind bars will be charged and prosecuted just like those who pull the triggers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the murder. The Criminal Division will maintain its commitment to eradicate gangs at all levels and make America safe.”

“Gang members committing violent acts of murder on the streets of America violates everyone’s sense of safety and security in our neighborhoods,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Three more members of the Mexican Mafia who steal from society and degrade our communities are off the streets for the rest of their lives thanks to the joint efforts of the Orange County Violent Gang Task Force and the Homeland Security Task Force.”

According to evidence presented at trial, on August 21, 2017, the defendants murdered the victim, a member of a Costa Mesa street gang. At the time of his murder, the victim trafficked drugs and collected “taxes” from gangs in Orange County for imprisoned Mexican Mafia member Johnny Martinez, 50, a.k.a. “Crow,” a co-defendant in this case who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and who is scheduled to go to trial in August 2027.

The defendants tricked the victim into driving with them just before midnight from his home in Anaheim to a residential neighborhood in Orange, where they shot him seven times in the back and once in the head. Escobar, Mendez, and Trejo were acting on orders from Martinez, who issued the order to kill the victim because the victim on two occasions stole drugs and money controlled by Martinez. 

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; the Orange Police Department; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Anaheim Police Department; the Fullerton Police Department; the Placentia Police Department; the Orange County District Attorney’s Office; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) investigated this matter.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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.

Assistant United States Attorney Greg Staples of the Orange County Office and Trial Attorneys Grace Bowen and Chris Matthews of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case, with substantial assistance from Assistant United States Attorney Greg Scally of the Orange County Office.

LOS ANGELES – The owner of an Orange County-based fruits-and-vegetables food truck that law enforcement believes is the highest-redeeming vendor of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits among nearby fruit-and-vegetable stores and large grocery stores, has been indicted on food stamp fraud charges, the Justice Department announced today.

Esmeralda Soriano, 48, a.k.a. “Esmeralda Aguilar” and “Esmeralda Silva,” of Santa Ana, is charged with two counts of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits.

Soriano’s arraignment is scheduled for August 13 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. She is free on $5,000 bond.

According to an indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Wednesday and other court documents, Soriano Produce is a low-volume fruits-and-vegetables mobile food truck operating in Santa Ana and, in March 2023, was authorized as an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)-SNAP retailer. The business has one point-of-sale device that is used to complete EBT-SNAP transactions. Its lack of scanners coupled with consistent high-dollar transactions and rapid back-to-back transactions are indicators of possible fraud.

Law enforcement identified similar SNAP-authorized fruits-and-vegetables businesses between April 2025 and April 2026 that were within a 20-mile radius from Soriano Produce and determined that Soriano’s business was the largest SNAP-authorized redeemer with a total store volume of approximately $640,924, more than six times its nearest competitor, and an average purchase amount of $151.41.

Compared to large grocery stores within a five-mile radius during this same period, Soriano Produce was also the highest redeeming store of SNAP benefits, despite having more than 9,700 fewer transactions than the closest store. Further, Soriano Produce had the highest average transaction amount. 

Law enforcement also discovered numerous excessively large EBT-SNAP transactions at Soriano Produce for a store of its type, with a dozen reaching or exceeding $1,000, far surpassing the California average of $17.72 for a fruits-and-vegetables store. 

If convicted, Soriano would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.

In a separate case, a federal grand jury on July 31 indicted Jesse Cervantes-Gomez, 30, a.k.a. “Ventura,” of Fontana, on three counts of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits. Cervantes-Gomez was arrested on July 2 for exchanging SNAP benefits for cash at Escamex, a downtown Los Angeles-based store. His arraignment is scheduled for August 11 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. He is free on $5,000 bond and, if convicted, would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.

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

Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General are investigating these matters with assistance from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. 

Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Jones of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.

LOS ANGELES – A Calabasas man was sentenced today to 324 months in federal prison for running what prosecutors called a “DoorDash for drugs” service that delivered illicit narcotics to buyers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and resulted in two fatal fentanyl overdoses.

Erick Oved Estrada, 37, a.k.a. “Franco Sanchez” and “Eric Freddy Hook,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who also ordered him to pay $43,145 in restitution.

Estrada, who has been in federal custody since November 2023, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.

According to court documents, from May 2019 to March 2023, Estrada obtained narcotics, including cocaine and purported oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl. Estrada and his accomplices then provided these drugs to a network of drug delivery drivers for further distribution to customers or other drug distributors. The delivery drivers then directly provided the drugs to customers or distributors and collected payment.

On June 8, 2022, Estrada sold 25 fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills to co-defendant Arian Alani, 37, a Danish national living in Burbank, and a delivery driver. The following day, Alani sold some of these pills to the victim, identified in the indictment as “C.N.,” who ingested them and died of a drug overdose. Two days later, Alani confronted Estrada via text message and wrote, “my boy just died yesterday” – a reference to C.N. – and that Estrada “[s]houldn’t be selling [expletive] with fentanyl.”

In March 2023, Estrada knowingly and intentionally distributed fentanyl to a victim – identified in court documents as “S.M.” The victim earlier had texted someone to purchase two Xanax pills and two oxycodone pills for $80. 

On the evening of March 8, 2023, Estrada’s driver, on Estrada’s behalf, provided to S.M. the purported Xanax pills and oxycodone pills, which contained fentanyl. S.M. then returned home, where she ingested the fentanyl she received from Estrada’s drug delivery service, which caused her to suffer a fatal drug overdose.

Alani pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and is scheduled for sentencing on December 2 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The DEA Overdose Justice Task Force, the Simi Valley Police Department, the Burbank Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy K. Beecher of the Transnational Organized Crime Section and Nicholas G. Purcell of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A correctional officer at a federal prison in Santa Barbara County and his wife pleaded guilty today to smuggling contraband – including a drug used to treat opioid addiction – to a prison inmate in exchange for a total of $6,650 over several months.

Paul Betancourt, 38, and Sylvia Betancourt, 49, of Lompoc, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide contraband to a federal inmate.

According to their plea agreements, Paul Betancourt was employed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) as a correctional officer at Federal Correction Complex, Lompoc. From May 2023 to September 2023, Paul Betancourt agreed to provide contraband to an FCC Lompoc inmate. Sylvia Betancourt received payment and contraband from the inmate through the inmate’s intermediaries, which she then delivered to her husband.

The defendants admitted that on at least 13 occasions, they met with, or received payment from, a Lompoc inmate or one of the inmate’s intermediaries for the delivery of contraband, including controlled substances such as suboxone. The payments ranged from $100 to as much as $1,500, according to court documents.

In total, the inmate paid the defendants $6,650 to provide contraband to him at FCC Lompoc.

The BOP has indefinitely suspended Paul Betancourt.

United States District Judge Anne Hwang scheduled sentencing hearings for January 27, 2027, at which time the defendants will each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The United States of Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher C. Kendall and Patrick Castañeda of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Downey man arrested over the weekend at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles while possessing ammunition on his person and a loaded firearm in his pickup truck was charged today in a federal criminal complaint with a firearm offense.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, is charged with possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Taele, who also faces criminal charges in Los Angeles Superior Court stemming from the same incident, is expected to make his initial appearance tomorrow in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

“While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the President’s visit,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Federal and local law enforcement stepped in early and prevented what could have been a dangerous situation from occurring. This investigation remains ongoing.”

“Mr. Taele’s troubling behavior at the President’s public golf course merely days before the President was expected to arrive raised serious red flags for law enforcement and led to the discovery of an unregistered firearm, a loaded weapon, as well as additional items of concern,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life, and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, working with our partners at the U.S. Secret Service, the ATF, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, will investigate this case thoroughly.”

“The ATF was honored to offer our subject matter experience to assist this investigation,” said Kenneth R. Cooper, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Los Angeles Field Division. “A potential tragedy was averted due to the exceptional whole-of-government approach in providing the very best public safety response to all citizens in this great nation that we are proud to serve.”

“This case is a strong example of the important work our agents do to keep the individuals we protect and our protected sites safe, starting well before each and every visit,” said Armando Marquez, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Since the moment our agents became aware of this individual, they’ve worked tirelessly with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and our federal partners to investigate this case. We take seriously any information that could indicate a potential threat to individuals under Secret Service protection and we’re deeply grateful for the prompt and thorough work by our agents and law enforcement partners.”

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, on July 31, federal agents conducted a security assessment at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes taken in advance of a visit to the club by President Donald J. Trump on August 4.

During this security assessment, federal agents saw a suspicious individual later identified as Taele at the club. Taele was seen walking throughout the golf course at Trump Golf Club, was wearing an earpiece, and took photographs and filmed videos of federal agents’ security-planning activities. Taele later left the area and drove away.

On August 2, Taele returned to Trump Golf Club. Golf course staff notified federal agents, who were continuing their security assessment. Taele approached the federal agents and stated that he was employed by the State Department and was at the location for security detail. Taele further admitted to having a loaded firearm in his car, which was parked in the Trump Golf Club parking lot.

Federal agents contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and sheriff’s deputies arrived at the club. LASD deputies learned that Taele was wanted in connection with a robbery case out of El Segundo. Taele was detained and a 16-round magazine containing hollow-point ammunition was found in his pants pockets.

A search of Taele’s pickup truck led to the seizure of a loaded 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine containing hollow-point ammunition, a pair of binoculars, and a badge that read, “security protection agent.”

A search of Taele’s residence on August 3 led to the seizure of an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, other firearms, body armor, high-capacity magazines, an earpiece, two radio signal devices, and multiple notebooks containing concerning statements. 

A criminal complaint contains merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI, the United States Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating this matter with substantial assistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Patterson of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from Mexico living in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles was sentenced today to 37 months in federal prison for pouring two bottles of lighter fluid onto a burning California Highway Patrol (CHP) vehicle and throwing an electric scooter over a freeway overpass near officers during an anti‑immigration law enforcement riot in a downtown Los Angeles last year.

Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $253,415 in restitution. 

Flores pleaded guilty on April 27 to one count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. 

“Violent attacks on law enforcement will result in federal prison time,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Those who escalate chaos and endanger officers will be held accountable. Today’s sentence reflects our commitment to protecting the men and women sworn to keep our communities safe.”

According to his plea agreement, during the evening of June 8, 2025, a Flores, participated in a riot on the Main Street overpass of U.S. Highway 101 when law enforcement officers were trapped below the overpass as protesters threw rocks, chunks of concrete, scooters, street signs, fireworks, and lighted debris at them.

Flores poured lighter fluid from a plastic water bottle onto a burning CHP vehicle, causing the flames to intensify. He then pointed and directed another individual who lit a liquid substance on fire and poured the flaming liquid onto the same CHP vehicle. 

Immediately afterward, Flores poured lighter fluid from a second bottle onto the burning vehicle. Minutes later, Flores, along with another individual, threw an electric scooter over the overpass railing near CHP vehicles and officers below. Flores admitted in his plea agreement that he knew the officers were under the freeway overpass. He further admitted that he knew that throwing objects and burning debris created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to the officers.

The FBI, with assistance from the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department, investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jenna W. Long and Lana Morton Owens of the National Security Division, and Assistant United States Attorney Sebastian Bellm of the General Crimes Section, prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Swedish national who licensed the rights of the late Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar was sentenced today to 48 months in federal prison for defrauding investors by marketing and selling products – including flamethrowers and cellphones – that he never delivered.

Olof Kyros Gustafsson, 32, a.k.a. “El Silencio,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, who also fined him $25,000, and ordered him to pay $1,300,193 in restitution. Gustafsson has agreed to forfeit funds that were proceeds of the fraud schemes, including money currently held in a bank account in Sweden.

Gustafsson pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of concealment money laundering, and one count of international concealment money laundering.

Gustafsson was the CEO of Escobar Inc., a corporation registered in Puerto Rico that held successor-in-interest rights to the persona and legacy of Pablo Escobar, the deceased Colombian narco-terrorist and late head of the Medellín Cartel. Escobar Inc. used Pablo Escobar’s likeness and persona to market and sell purported consumer products to the public.

From July 2019 to November 2023, Gustafsson identified existing products in the marketplace that were being manufactured and sold to the public. He then used the Escobar persona to market and advertise similar and competing products purportedly being sold by Escobar Inc., advertising them at a price substantially lower than existing counterparts being sold by other companies.

Gustafsson then purportedly sold the products – including an Escobar Flamethrower, an Escobar Fold Phone, an Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone, and Escobar Cash (marketed as a “physical cryptocurrency”) – to customers, receiving payments via PayPal, Stripe, and Coinbase, among other payment processors, as well as bank and wire transfers.

Despite receiving customer payments, Gustafsson did not deliver the Escobar Inc. products to paying customers because the products did not exist.

In furtherance of the scheme, Gustafsson sent crudely made samples of the purported Escobar Inc. products to online technology reviewers and social media influencers to attempt to increase the public’s demand for them. For example, Gustafsson sent Samsung Galaxy Fold Phones wrapped in gold foil and disguised as Escobar Inc. phones to online technology reviewers to attempt to induce victims who watched the online reviews into buying the products that never would be delivered.

Also, rather than sending paying customers the actual products, Gustafsson mailed them a “Certificate of Ownership,” a book, or other Escobar Inc. promotional materials so there was a record of mailing from the company to the customer. When a paying customer attempted to obtain a refund when the product was never delivered, Gustafsson fraudulently referred the payment processor to the proof of mailing for the Certificate of Ownership or other material as proof that the product itself was shipped and that the customer had received it so the refund requests would be denied.

Gustafsson also caused bank accounts to be opened under his name and entities he controlled to be used as funnel accounts – bank accounts into which he deposited and withdrew proceeds derived from his criminal activities. The purpose was to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds. The bank accounts were located in the United States, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates.

Gustafsson has been in federal custody since March 2025, when he was extradited to the United States from Spain, where he was arrested in December 2023.

IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General are investigating this matter, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the United States Marshals Service, Eurojust, Spanish authorities, and French judicial authorities.

Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua O. Mausner of the National Security Division and James E. Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A jailed South Los Angeles gang leader, music label owner, and purported anti-gang activist awaiting a federal trial was charged today with seven additional federal felonies, including that he solicited two fellow jail inmates to murder or seriously injure a witness against him and attempting to tamper with that witness’s testimony.

Eugene Henley, Jr., 59, a.k.a. “Big U,” of the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles and who has been in federal custody since March 2025, previously was charged with dozens of felonies, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, robbery, extortion, and tax evasion.

A federal grand jury today charged Henley – a long-time member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips street gang – with seven additional felonies: two counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence, two counts of tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant, one count of conspiracy to transport an individual in interstate commerce with intent that the individual engage in prostitution, and two counts of wire fraud.

Henley and six other defendants charged in this case are scheduled to go to trial in February 2027. 

Since last year, Henley has been charged with operating what prosecutors call the “Big U Enterprise,” a racketeering organization that used his stature and long-standing association with the Rollin’ 60s to extort businesses and individuals, traffic and exploit sex workers, and defraud donors, lenders, and a federally funded anti-gang charity. Henley is also accused in the underlying racketeering conspiracy charge with the January 2021 murder of an aspiring musician, R.W., in Las Vegas.

According to the superseding indictment returned today, on June 10, 2026, Henley asked two inmates about the layout of a housing unit where he believed a witness, identified in the indictment as “Victim-1,” was being held. Henley offered to pay the inmates to kill or harm Victim-1 to prevent Victim-1 from testifying at trial against members of Henley’s criminal enterprise.

Henley also is charged with paying co-defendant Armani Aflleje, 39, a.k.a. “Mani,” of Koreatown, to transport women across state lines to engage in prostitution. In November 2022, he paid Aflleje $1,000 via Zelle to rent a car to transport the women from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Aflleje sent text messages to Henley of photographs of the women she was transporting. The following week, Henley sent Aflleje an additional $500 for the trip.

From November 2022 to January 2023, Henley and Aflleje schemed to rent vehicles and locate women on multiple occasions to engage in prostitution.

Henley is further charged with submitting in June 2020 a false and fraudulent application for a COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loan under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program for his business, Celebrity Socks. The false statements concerned the business’s gross revenue and the costs of goods sold for the business for the 12-month period preceding the pandemic.

The superseding indictment returned today also adds new overt acts to the indictment’s racketeering conspiracy charge. These acts include the following allegations:

• In 2014, Henley and his associates assaulted and chased a Grammy-winning recording artist through Los Angeles International Airport to collect a debt and for failing to show respect;
• Henley embezzled in 2019 additional charitable donations intended for Developing Options, his federally funded anti-gang nonprofit;
• Henley in March 2023 prepared to provide false information to a court and a county prosecutor to fabricate an individual’s employment with Developing Options; 
• In June and July of 2020, Henley sought and was denied additional COVID-19 pandemic-relief loans on behalf of Developing Options; and
• In February 2023, Henley threatened to shut down a cannabis business unless its owner paid Henley and co-defendant Sylvester Robinson, 60, a.k.a. “Vey,” of Northridge.

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

If convicted, Henley would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison for the racketeering conspiracy count. The newly added witness tampering counts carry an additional statutory maximum of life in federal prison on each count. 

The FBI’s Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs; IRS Criminal Investigation; the United States Department of Justice Office of Inspector General; the Los Angeles Police Department; and the North Las Vegas Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Butler and Jena A. MacCabe of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case. 

LOS ANGELES – A man from the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for throwing rocks and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers trapped underneath a downtown Los Angeles freeway overpass – with a CHP vehicle set ablaze during a violent anti-immigration law enforcement protest last year, the Justice Department announced today.

Ismael Vega, 42, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $253,415 in restitution.

Vega pleaded guilty on April 29 to one count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.

According to his plea agreement, during the evening of June 8, 2025, two days after violence erupted against federal agents enforcing U.S. immigration laws, Vega was part of a large group of protesters on the Main Street overpass above U.S. Highway 101 in downtown Los Angeles. These protesters picked up debris – including cardboard and vegetation – and fireworks, lit them on fire and dropped them over the freeway overpass’s railing, aiming for a nearby CHP vehicle, which was within feet of CHP officers trapped underneath the overpass.

Vega admitted in his plea agreement that he knew the officers were under the freeway overpass and that the objects thrown and burning debris dropped onto a vehicle created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to the officers.

Multiple times, Vega attempted to help other individuals who were trying to light debris on fire on the 101 Freeway overpass. He lit a large piece of cardboard on fire, held it over the railing to line it up to land on the hood of a CHP vehicle, which it did after he dropped it. Then, as another individual – co-defendant Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights – poured a liquid increasing the size of the flames, Vega was next to co-defendant Flores and used his hands to motion towards and gesture at the flames.

Vega also picked up and threw multiple rocks at law enforcement officers as these officers attempted to clear the overpass. He further admitted that he knowingly engaged in that behavior intending that it obstruct, impede, and interfere with the law enforcement officers and their duties.

“This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “A sergeant in the California Highway Patrol with nearly three decades in law enforcement wrote a statement about how this incident stood apart and the impact it had on him and his son. His experience underscores how violent this incident became and the deep toll it took on all law enforcement present.”

Vega is the fifth defendant sentenced in connection with this case. Flores faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison at his August 3 sentencing hearing. The case’s lead defendant, Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, has a December 14 sentencing hearing scheduled, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The FBI, with assistance from CHP and the Los Angeles Police Department, investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jenna W. Long and Lana Morton Owens of the National Security Division, and Assistant United States Attorney Sebastian Bellm of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A former member of the Minnesota National Guard was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for sexually abusing a subordinate during a training mission at Fort Irwin United States Army base in San Bernardino County.

Kelly Boylan, 56, of Minneapolis, was sentenced by United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu.

At the conclusion of a four-day trial, a jury on April 9 found Boylan guilty of one count of abusive sexual contact. He has been in federal custody since that day.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in July 2020, Boylan was a member of the Minnesota National Guard and, during a training mission at Fort Irwin, sexually abused a direct subordinate, who then was a 23-year-old woman. Both Boylan and the victim had been deployed to Fort Irwin for one month of training.

Boylan was a staff sergeant, which is a non-commissioned officer, and outranked the victim, who was a specialist, which is a junior soldier.

In the Army, non-commissioned officers are prohibited from engaging in sexual relationships with junior soldiers because of the military authority they exert over them.

The victim reported the attack to the Army’s law enforcement division, which began an investigation that led to Boylan’s arrest and prosecution.

“Military leaders are entrusted with extraordinary responsibility, and with that responsibility comes a heightened obligation to safeguard those under their command,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Rather than fulfilling that obligation, [Boylan] violated it in one of the most fundamental ways possible.”

The FBI investigated this matter. The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorneys Neil P. Thakor of the Major Crimes Section and Erin C. Kiss of the Orange County Office prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A San Gabriel Valley man was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization that attempted to export more than one metric ton (2,204.6 pounds) of methamphetamine concealed inside shipment containers and destined for Australia.

Jing Tang Li, 34, of China, was sentenced by United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu. 

Li pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, from February 2023 to December 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers inspected seven shipments of different purported commodities destined for Australia. The purported commodities were falsely listed as carpets and textiles, furniture, wheel hub testing equipment, and a casting machine. The listed companies that were shipping the “products” were fake businesses. Embedded in the products was methamphetamine.

For example, in February 2023, Li attempted to ship a package labeled “other carpets & other textile floor coverings” from Los Angeles to Australia. Law enforcement intercepted the package and determined it contained two pallets holding 23 cardboard boxes the had black rubber mats inside that contained approximately 855.5 kilograms (1,886.1 pounds) of methamphetamine.

Later that month, Li attempted to ship a package labeled “furniture leg set” from Los Angeles to Australia. The package contained four cardboard boxes with white metal tubes inside that contained approximately 32.5 kilograms (71.6 pounds) of methamphetamine.

In June 2023, Li attempted to ship a package labeled “casting machine” from Los Angeles to Australia. Law enforcement examined the package and determined it contained numerous packages, later confirming the packages contained methamphetamine, with a net weight of approximately 202.5 kilograms (446.3 pounds). 

Twice in August 2023, Li conspired with others to ship two packages labeled “tooling of wheel hub testing equipment” from Los Angeles to Australia. Law enforcement determined each package contained methamphetamine with a net weight of approximately 102.8 kilograms (226.7 pounds). 

Law enforcement arrested Li in August 2024 outside of a warehouse that served as a hub for the drug trafficking conspiracy and contained machinery consistent with those seen in packages shipped by it. Inside of Li’s car, he knowingly possessed multiple bags containing approximately 957.7 grams (2.1 pounds) of methamphetamine.

In total, law enforcement seized more than 1,000 kilograms (2,204.6 pounds) of methamphetamine hidden in these containers. 

Homeland Security Investigations, United States Customs and Border Protection, and the Australian Federal Police investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Brenda N. Galván of the Transnational Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.

Two members of a Southern California street gang operating under a branch of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were found guilty by a jury today of murdering a man outside his home while trying to rob him.         

Ysrael Jacob Cordova, 41, also known as “Trips,” and “Tripper,” of Placentia, California, and Ricardo Valenzuela, 44, also known as “Solo,” of Buena Park, California, each were found guilty of one count of murder in aid of racketeering activity (VICAR murder).             

“Gang members directing crimes from behind bars cannot be tolerated.” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the robbery. Acts of violence like these have no place in our communities, and the Criminal Division will continue to work to keep our citizens safe.”

“We will never tolerate senseless acts of gang violence on the streets, especially those ordered by convicted felons behind bars,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “We will vigorously prosecute gang violence to keep our community safe and to provide justice for the victims.”

“These convictions help ensure that those engaging in harm as part of gang-related activity will be brought to justice,” said Acting Assistant Director John R. Dozier Jr. of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The FBI, showcased today through our efforts on the Homeland Security Task Force, remains committed to pursuing and disrupting individuals bringing violence to our communities.”

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that has immense control over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from prisons and collecting a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes committed on the streets.           

According to evidence presented at a weeklong trial, the robbery was ordered by a Mexican Mafia member in charge of criminal activities in Orange County (O.C.), who was imprisoned at the Orange County jail at the time of the murder. He communicated the order to rob the victim to a Mexican Mafia member incarcerated in a different California prison, who in turn communicated the order to Cordova and Valenzuela.          

That same day, Cordova and Valenzuela were driven to the victim’s neighborhood in Placentia to rob him. Both Cordova and Valenzuela brandished long guns. Cordova shot and killed the victim. The robbery and murder were captured on a surveillance video recording which was introduced by the government as evidence during the trial.

Below are screenshots from that video:

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22 at which time Cordova and Valenzuela will face mandatory penalties of life in prison. They have been in federal custody since the spring of 2022.         

Federal prosecutors have secured 15 convictions in this criminal investigation targeting the O.C. Mexican Mafia. Of the eight remaining defendants, one is scheduled to go to trial in July 2027 on VICAR and firearms charges and seven are scheduled for trial in August 2027 on charges that include racketeering conspiracy, VICAR, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses.            

The FBI, the Santa Ana Police Department, the Anaheim Police Department, the Fullerton Police Department, the Placentia Police Department, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigated this matter.         

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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.             

Trial Attorney Dennis Robinson of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS) with significant assistance from VCRS Trial Attorney Grace Bowen, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg Scally and Caitlin J. Campbell for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.

SANTA ANA, California – Two members of Southern California street gangs operating under the Orange County branch of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were found guilty by a jury today of murdering a man outside the victim’s Placentia home while trying to rob him at gunpoint.

Ysrael Jacob Cordova, 41, a.k.a. “Trips,” and “Tripper,” of Placentia, and Ricardo Valenzuela, 44, a.k.a. “Solo,” of Buena Park, each were found guilty of one count of murder in aid of racketeering activity (VICAR murder). 

“We will never tolerate senseless acts of gang violence on the streets, especially those ordered by convicted felons behind bars,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “We will vigorously prosecute gang violence to keep our community safe and to provide justice for the victims.”

“Gang members directing crimes from behind bars cannot be tolerated.” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the robbery. Acts of violence like these have no place in our communities, and the Criminal Division will continue to work to keep our citizens safe.”

“These convictions help ensure that those engaging in harm as part of gang-related activity will be brought to justice,” said Acting Assistant Director John R. Dozier Jr. of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The FBI, showcased today through our efforts on the Homeland Security Task Force, remains committed to pursuing and disrupting individuals bringing violence to our communities.”

The Mexican Mafia, a.k.a. “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that has immense control over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from prisons and collecting a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes committed on the streets. 

According to evidence presented at a nine-day trial, on January 19, 2017, Gregory Muñoz, 38, a.k.a. “Lou,” “Louie,” “Snoopy,” and “Snoops,” of Placentia, an associate of the Orange County Mexican Mafia, ordered Cordova and Valenzuela to rob R.R.

Muñoz ordered the armed robbery on behalf of Johnny Martinez, 50, a.k.a. “Crow,” of Placentia, a Mexican Mafia brother in charge of criminal activities in Orange County and within Orange County jail and prison facilities at the time of the murder.

At the time, Martinez was incarcerated in Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County. Muñoz at the time was an inmate at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County.

Later that day, Cordova and Valenzuela were driven to the victim’s neighborhood in Placentia to rob the victim at gunpoint. During the robbery, Cordova and Valenzuela brandished long guns, and Cordova shot and killed R.R. They then fled the murder scene.

United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter scheduled an October 22 sentencing hearing, at which time Cordova and Valenzuela will face mandatory sentences of life in federal prison. They have been in federal custody since the spring of 2022.

So far, federal prosecutors have secured 15 convictions in this criminal case targeting the O.C. Mexican Mafia. Martinez and six other defendants are scheduled to go to trial in August 2027. They face charges including racketeering conspiracy, VICAR, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. 

Muñoz, who two months after R.R.’s murder fell afoul of Martinez, who ordered an assault that left Muñoz injured, is scheduled to go to trial in July 2027 on the same charges of which Cordova and Valenzuela were convicted.

The FBI; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Anaheim Police Department; the Fullerton Police Department; the Placentia Police Department; the Orange County District Attorney’s Office; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigated this matter.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Scally and Caitlin J. Campbell of the Orange County Office and Trial Attorney Dennis Robinson of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS) are prosecuting this case, with significant assistance from Trial Attorney Grace Bowen of VCRS.

LOS ANGELES – A Paramount man has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for throwing chunks of cinderblock at Border Patrol agents and injuring one of them during a protest that turned violent, the Justice Department announced today.

Jacob Daniel Terrazas, 31, of Paramount, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson. The judge also imposed a $100 fine.

“We were clear that if you attack federal agents you will be facing time in federal prison,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “This sentence delivers on that promise to hold those accountable who dare to interfere or attack federal agents. Don’t do it.”

Terrazas pleaded guilty on January 20, 2026, to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1).

According to his plea agreement, on June 7, 2025, a protest near a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) facility in Paramount turned violent. While Border Patrol agents worked to protect federal personnel and property, Terrazas and others threw chunks of a broken cinderblock at the agents. One of those chunks struck a Border Patrol Agent in the right shin, causing bruising and bleeding.

HSI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Eric Mackie of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy was sentenced today to 12 months in federal prison for submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge, lying that he needed GPS tracking information for a robbery suspect’s cell phone when in fact it was for a private client’s estranged husband during the client’s contentious divorce proceedings.

David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson. 

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights. He left LASD in October 2025.

According to court documents, while serving as an active-duty law enforcement officer, Rodriguez received cash payments for his work as a private security guard for a wealthy Los Angeles-based client who had hired a private security company owned by a then-LASD colleague, Eric Chase Saavedra, 43, of Chino. In August 2021, Rodriguez began working for Saavedra, whose company provided private security services for clients and often employed active LASD deputies and law enforcement officers.

One of those clients was Adam Iza, 25, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman, and who has been in federal custody since September 2024. Iza has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges –conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery – in California and Connecticut and awaits sentencing.

As part of his employment for Saavedra’s company, Rodriguez began working as a security guard for Iza and another wealthy Los Angeles-based individual – identified in court documents as “Person 1” – who had an ongoing dispute with her husband, the victim. Rodriguez worked for Person 1 at least twice a month and developed a personal relationship with her. He received cash payments in exchange for the shifts he worked as a security guard for Person 1.

While employed as Person 1’s private security guard, Rodriguez learned that Person 1 was concerned for her own safety and believed that her husband possessed valuable goods that she said belonged to her. Rodriguez also learned that Person 1 could not locate the victim and had engaged in multiple attempts to find him.

In July 2022, Rodriguez obtained a search warrant for the victim by lying in an affidavit to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. In the affidavit, Rodriguez falsely stated that a detective had contacted him and asked for assistance from LASD’s Gang Surveillance Team in connection with a robbery that occurred three days earlier in Cudahy.

The affidavit further falsely stated that Rodriguez was able to positively identify a suspect involved in the robbery case, and that the suspect used two cell phones. Rodriguez falsely indicated in the affidavit that the victim’s cell phone number was associated with the robbery suspect. The search warrant application sought, among other things, GPS precision location information associated with the cell phone. Rodriguez knew that the victim’s cell phone number had no relationship with the robbery investigation.

Rodriguez also falsely swore in the affidavit that he believed the search warrant would allow the detective to locate the suspect through GPS coordinates and help the detective arrest the suspect for the charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

After serving the search warrant on the telephone provider, Rodriguez obtained GPS location pings associated with the victim’s cell phone, later tracking the victim in Utah and sharing that information with Saavedra. Rodriguez admitted in his plea agreement that he knew Saavedra and other LASD deputies working with Saavedra had unlawfully obtained information and used it to threaten, intimidate, or oppress other people.

Rodriguez later learned that – at co-conspirators’ request – LASD deputies later towed the victim’s vehicle while the victim stayed in Los Angeles, that co-conspirators had placed a tracking device on the victim’s vehicle in Utah, and co-conspirators had sent a threatening text message to the victim.

“This was not impulsive conduct or a momentary lapse in judgment,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “It was a calculated abuse of authority carried out with full awareness of its significance.”

Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of making and subscribing to a false tax return. He is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. LASD provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A member of the South Los Angeles-based Crips street gang was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison for his role in a $2.8 million scheme in which he stole checks in the mail, altered them, then used Instagram to recruit bank account holders to give him access to their accounts so he could deposit the checks and quickly withdraw the funds before banks could detect the fraud.

Chase Matthew Griffin, 26, a.k.a. “Trey,” of Atlanta, who also resided in Ontario and South Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who also ordered him to pay $307,386 in restitution.

Griffin pleaded guilty on March 5 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He has been in federal custody since September 2025.

According to court documents, from 2022 to September 2025, Griffin participated in a criminal conspiracy in which he and others obtained checks stolen from the mail, then altered them or created counterfeit versions so they appeared to be payable to their accomplices. 

Griffin recruited these accomplices online, often through Instagram, where he posted photographs of himself holding stacks of currency that were more than one foot high. He advertised for holders of various bank accounts to give him access to their accounts.

After he recruited an accomplice, Griffin and his co-conspirators deposited these fraudulent checks, which were typically for tens of thousands of dollars, into the accomplice’s bank account, then raced to withdraw the funds before the bank could detect the fraud.

For example, in December 2023, a North Hollywood business reported to law enforcement that it had mailed three checks totaling approximately $84,490 from a United States Postal Service collection box in Tarzana. However, the checks were stolen then deposited into JPMorgan Chase accounts not belonging to the intended recipients. The business representative provided images of the checks that had been deposited and confirmed the listed payee on each check had been changed from the intended recipient.

A law enforcement review of a Chase bank account where one of those checks was deposited revealed a previous deposit of approximately $22,487 made at an ATM in Upland. This check, along with another check for approximately $29,081, was stolen and used to create counterfeit checks with the same date, check number, and amount as the original, but with different payees.

The money was quickly withdrawn from the account and used for ATM withdrawals, Zelle and CashApp payments, a plane ticket, and card purchases at a San Bernardino County casino. Law enforcement later traced the scheme to Griffin.

The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this matter with assistance from Upland Police Department

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.

SANTA ANA, California – The Justice Department announced today that S&K Towing Inc., a San Clemente-based towing company, has agreed to pay $160,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by illegally auctioning motor vehicles owned by members of the military.

“For far too long, tow companies have sold or disposed of servicemembers’ vehicles in violation of federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This settlement sends a strong message that all towing companies must recognize servicemembers’ rights and take the necessary steps to comply with the SCRA.”

“Members of the U.S. Armed Forces have a legal right to be protected while they serve our nation overseas,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “This settlement will provide compensation to impacted service members and serves as notice to all businesses to comply with federal laws that protect our military.”

The Department’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on March 25, alleges that S&K Towing illegally sold or disposed of as many as 148 vehicles owned by servicemembers, many of which it towed from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Even though S&K’s contract with Camp Pendleton required it to comply with all applicable federal and state laws, the company made no effort to comply with the SCRA, which requires tow companies to obtain a court order before selling or disposing of a vehicle owned by an SCRA-protected servicemember.

In May 2024, a Military Legal Assistance attorney contacted S&K Towing and explained that the company was violating the SCRA. In response, a manager at S&K Towing told the attorney, “We do this all the time.” After this exchange, S&K Towing continued to sell and dispose of vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers without obtaining court orders. Some of the vehicles S&K sold or disposed of were registered to addresses on Camp Pendleton. In other cases, S&K auctioned vehicles even after they were told that the owner was in the military.

Pursuant to the settlement agreement, S&K Towing will pay $160,000 to servicemembers who were harmed by the company’s conduct. While the company is in the process of shutting down its operations, it has agreed that if it engages in or reenters the business of towing or storing vehicles, it will adopt policies and procedures to comply with the SCRA.

Assistant United States Attorney Katherine M. Hikida of the Civil Division represented the United States in this matter along with attorneys from the Justice Department’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section.

Since 2011, the Department has obtained over $489 million in monetary relief for more than 152,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the Department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA may have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil. 

The Justice Department announced today that S & K Towing Inc., a towing company based in San Clemente, California, has agreed to pay $160,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by illegally auctioning motor vehicles owned by members of the military.

“For far too long, tow companies have sold or disposed of servicemembers’ vehicles in violation of federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This settlement sends a strong message that all towing companies must recognize servicemembers’ rights and take the necessary steps to comply with the SCRA.”

“Members of the U.S. Armed Forces have a legal right to be protected while they serve our nation overseas,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “This settlement will provide compensation to impacted service members and serves as notice to all businesses to comply with federal laws that protect our military.”

The Department’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on March 25, alleges that S & K Towing illegally sold or disposed of as many as 148 vehicles owned by servicemembers, many of which it towed from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Even though S & K’s contract with Camp Pendleton required it to comply with all applicable federal and state laws, the company made no effort to comply with the SCRA, which requires tow companies to obtain a court order before selling or disposing of a vehicle owned by an SCRA-protected servicemember. 

In May 2024, a Military Legal Assistance attorney contacted S & K Towing and explained that the company was violating the SCRA. In response, a manager at S & K Towing told the attorney, “We do this all the time.” After this exchange, S & K Towing continued to sell and dispose of vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers without obtaining court orders. Some of the vehicles S & K sold or disposed of were registered to addresses on Camp Pendleton. In other cases, S & K auctioned vehicles even after they were told that the owner was in the military. 

Pursuant to the settlement agreement, S & K Towing will pay $160,000 to servicemembers who were harmed by the company’s conduct. While the company is in the process of shutting down its operations, it has agreed that if it engages in or reenters the business of towing or storing vehicles, it will adopt policies and procedures to comply with the SCRA.

Since 2011, the Department has obtained over $489 million in monetary relief for over 152,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the Department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA may have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil

LOS ANGELES – A Philippine national pleaded guilty today to knowingly bringing nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine on an oil tanker inbound from Ecuador to El Segundo earlier this year. 

Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, Jr., 43, of The Philippines, pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly bringing cocaine on a vessel arriving in the United States. He has been in federal custody since May 21.

According to his plea agreement, in May 2026, Gelacio was an able-bodied seaman on the Aquatravesia, an oil tanker that was scheduled to arrive in El Segundo. While at port in Ecuador, Gelacio agreed with an unknown person using the moniker “Luis” to possess and conceal more than five kilograms (11 pounds) on the vessel.

Gelacio concealed approximately 195 kilograms (430 pounds) of cocaine in the vessel’s garbage space and in his room aboard the vessel.

On May 21, 2026, the Aquatravesia traveled near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. When it arrived in U.S. territory, Gelacio knew the cocaine remained on the vessel.

On that day, law enforcement recovered approximately 195 kilograms of cocaine concealed in trash bags in the vessel’s garbage space area. According to court documents, the vessel’s crew had discovered the cocaine and alerted the ship’s captain, who later discovered Gelacio possessed the drugs. The captain then secured the cocaine and notified law enforcement.

United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson scheduled an October 19 sentencing hearing, at which time Gelacio will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Monika L. Hara and Kyle W. Kahan of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into a now-jailed, self-styled cryptocurrency businessman by lying that he never witnessed the wannabe crypto mogul threaten and extort $25,000 from a party planner at his Bel Air mansion.

Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who fined him $10,000.

Simpkins pleaded guilty on March 17 to one count of obstruction of justice. He resigned from LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau after pleading guilty to the felony.

According to his plea agreement, Simpkins was a deputy assigned to LASD’s Lakewood Station and worked for LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau and SWAT team. He also worked approximately six to eight shifts as a private security guard for Saavedra & Associates and received cash payments for his services.

Saavedra & Associates was a private company owned and operated by then-LASD Deputy and one-time federal task force officer Eric Chase Saavedra, 43, of Chino, that employed active LASD deputies and law enforcement officers and provided private security services for clients.

One of those clients was Adam Iza, 25, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who called himself “The Godfather,” and who has been in federal custody since September 2024. Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion, and awaits sentencing. 

On June 1, 2026, Iza pleaded guilty in the District of Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) related to his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Danbury, Connecticut, in August 2024.

In August 2021, Iza hired Simpkins, fellow then-LASD Deputy Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, and other law enforcement officers to provide private security at a party at his Bel Air mansion. At the time, Simpkins knew Iza possessed at least one firearm.

After the party ended, at around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. on August 15, 2021, Simpkins learned the party planner – identified in court documents as “R.C.” – had been kicked out of the party for erratic behavior.

The next day, Simpkins worked another shift at Iza’s Bel Air mansion and – along with Cadman – escorted R.C. to Iza’s office and closed the door behind them. Iza – seated behind his office desk – then took steps to intimidate R.C. to obtain $25,000 by placing four or five rounds of live 9mm ammunition on his desk across from R.C. While speaking to the victim, Iza picked up the live ammunition and twirled a bullet in his hand as he spoke threateningly to R.C.

During this meeting, Iza accessed R.C.’s phone after demanding that $25,000 be transferred from R.C.’s bank account to an Iza-controlled bank account. After the transfer occurred, Simpkins and Cadman escorted R.C. out of Iza’s mansion.

After this incident, Iza hired Saavedra & Associates as his private security provider and made substantial payments to Saavedra and his employees. Simpkins and Cadman each earned $1,400 for their shifts during the August 2021 party and the August 16 incident with R.C.

In response to Simpkins and Cadman helping to secure a long-term contract with Iza, Saavedra & Associate paid them approximately 10% of the company’s total profits for the contract’s first month.

After Iza’s arrest in September 2024 and the R.C.-related conduct being charged – along with other crimes – in a federal criminal complaint and an indictment against Iza, the FBI executed a search warrant on Simpkins’ person and seized his phone.

In a November 2024 meeting with federal law enforcement concerning Iza and corrupt LASD deputies and in which Simpkins was warned that lying would result in criminal prosecution, Simpkins lied repeatedly to FBI agents and federal prosecutors that he saw no ammunition or shell casings inside Iza’s office during the incident with victim R.C. Simpkins further lied when he said he saw no financial transactions occur.

Simpkins admitted in his plea agreement that he knew his lies had the natural and probable effect of interfering with the criminal investigation and legal proceedings against Iza and were material to the investigation.

In addition to Iza, Saavedra and Cadman, among others, have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges and await sentencing.

Former LASD Deputy Michael David Coberg, 44, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution for helping Iza extort a rival and arrange the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Canadian national was sentenced today to 240 months in federal prison for leading a criminal organization that – during a roughly one-month span – trafficked from the United States into Canada hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine worth up to $17 million.

Guramrit Sidhu, 63, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt.

Sidhu pleaded guilty on March 26 to one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He has been in federal custody since October 2024.

According to his plea agreement, from September 2020 to February 2023, Sidhu led an organization responsible for trafficking drugs from the U.S. into Canada for distribution.

From September 13, 2022, to October 24, 2022, Sidhu orchestrated the distribution of eight separate drug loads, totaling approximately 523 kilograms (1,153 pounds) of methamphetamine and 347 kilograms (765 pounds) of cocaine, which law enforcement seized. These drug loads had an estimated wholesale value of approximately $15 million to $17 million.

After buying the bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in the U.S., Sidhu arranged for the narcotics’ transportation into Canada via long-haul semi-trucks for further distribution. Sidhu provided telephone numbers and serial numbers on bills of currency for couriers to use as a “token” for identification purposes during the delivery and transportation of the cocaine and methamphetamine.

Sidhu and co-conspirators then retrieved the cocaine and methamphetamine from locations within Canada for further distribution.

Sidhu is the eighth defendant to plead guilty in this matter. Several other defendants have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in this case and have been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from 27 months to 108 months.

The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, United States Customs and Border Protection, and law enforcement authorities in Mexico investigated this matter. Significant assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Canadian authorities to secure the arrest and October 2024 extradition of Sidhu.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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.

Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Larocque of the Transnational Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Long Beach man was sentenced today to 318 months in federal prison for committing armed robberies of three Los Angeles County businesses in September 2023, a crime spree that ended in a high-speed police chase that resulted in the defendant hitting and killing an innocent bystander with a stolen car.

Kaelenn Sinaukoko Maea, 29, was sentenced by United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Maea pleaded guilty in April 2025 to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of possessing, using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a short-barreled rifle in furtherance, and during and in relation to, a crime of violence.

According to his plea agreement, Maea and his accomplices committed three armed robberies during a one-week span in late September 2023: specifically, a Downey liquor store, a Compton gasoline station, and a South El Monte convenience store, netting a total of approximately $5,050 in stolen cash.

Inside the Downey liquor store, Maea discharged a short-barreled rifle. While inside the Compton gasoline station, he brandished a short-barreled rifle at an employee and stood in the doorway to prevent the customers or employees inside from escaping. He also brandished the rifle at the South El Monte convenience store.

On October 9, 2023, Maea drove a stolen Range Rover used in the latter two robberies and fled from law enforcement, driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed. Shortly after fleeing, Maea crashed the stolen getaway car into a civilian motorist, killing the victim. Nevertheless, he continued that dangerous flight, hitting even more cars and injuring another civilian motorist. Maea then fled on foot and hid underneath a house until law enforcement arrested him.

The three co-defendants charged in this case have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges.

• Isaiah Villasana, 27, of Carson, is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in April 2025 to a firearms charge for holding a victim at gunpoint during the Downey liquor store robbery.
• Mathew Salanoa, 32, of Placentia, is serving a 49-month federal prison sentence for participating in the Compton robbery after pleading guilty in August 2025 to one count of Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy.
• Salagi Iakopo, 26, of Compton, pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy and is scheduled for sentencing on August 19.

The FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter. The Los Angeles Police Department, the El Monte Police Department, and the Downey Police Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Butler and Jena A. MacCabe of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

LOS ANGELES – Law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and Europe have arrested 24 defendants – 11 of them in California – connected to three India-based transnational organized crime groups charged with a litany of criminal acts, including the assassination in Canada in 2023 of a prominent Indian political and religious figure, the Justice Department announced today.

Today’s law enforcement action – “Operation Hard Ball” – is the result of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates that engage in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, the trafficking of bulk quantities of narcotics across international borders, and other crimes around the world whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora. 

In total, 37 defendants – including two defendants who ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India – are charged across three indictments unsealed today. Those arrested in the United States – 11 in California, one in Indiana, and one in Georgia – are expected to make their initial appearances today in federal court.

Three defendants have been arrested in Canada, one defendant was arrested in Spain, and seven defendants already were in custody prior to today’s law enforcement operation.

Law enforcement is looking for 10 fugitives – seven in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe.

As part of this investigation, law enforcement has seized approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin along with $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms. A total of 23 search warrants have been executed in the Sacramento area and 11 warrants have been executed in the Los Angeles area.

“Transnational criminal gangs who spread fear, drugs, and violence will face the full force of justice and the weight of the federal government,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Working together, law enforcement in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate. There is no safe harbor for these thugs.”

“Today’s coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorized families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the U.S. and abroad,” said Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “We, alongside our partners, remain steadfast in our commitment to identifying these violent organizations, disrupting their activities, and ensuring they face the justice they deserve.”

“The true measure of this operation isn’t found in the arrests or the seizures alone,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “It’s found in what they represent: a united commitment between the LAPD and our federal and international partners to relentlessly pursue those who threaten our communities. Together, we are dismantling organized crime, removing dangerous offenders from our streets, and making Los Angeles a safer city.”

“The most effective way to combat transnational crime is for multiple law enforcement partners to team up and target criminals where they operate,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme. “Together, we disrupted the operations of organized criminals who used murder, cruelty and fear to extort and control people in both Canada and the United States. We won’t pause for long to reflect on the work it took to get this job done – we’ll keep doing what we do best to preserve public safety in Canada, in the United States, and around the world.”

          United States v. Bishnoi, et al.

Lawrence Bishnoi, 33, of Punjab, India, a gangster long imprisoned in India, was a self-styled university student leader before tiring of politics and turning himself and his followers to crime, according to a nine-count indictment that a federal grand jury returned on July 1.  

In public, Bishnoi projected an image of himself as a “patriot,” “nationalist,” and deeply religious individual through social media posts and interviews with news organizations and used this public image to recruit members and associates to his crime syndicate in India, the United States, and elsewhere.

In private, Bishnoi presided over a sweeping criminal enterprise that spanned multiple continents. Using contraband cellphones and other voice-over internet protocol devices smuggled into his jail cell, Bishnoi personally directed political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortions, kidnappings, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other crimes committed by members and associates of the Bishnoi enterprise worldwide.

The Canadian government in September 2025 designated the Bishnoi enterprise as a terrorist entity.

To help manage the enterprise’s day-to-day operations, Bishnoi delegated control to trusted lieutenants and regional leaders of the enterprise. These lieutenants and regional leaders included Satinderjeet Singh, 32, a.k.a. “Goldy Brar”, of Punjab, India, the North American leader of the Bishnoi enterprise, Rohit Godara, 37, of Rajasthan, India, the European leader of the Bishnoi enterprise, and Sukhraj Singh Kang, 58, of Punjab, India. According to the indictment, both Brar and Godara effectively spoke for Bishnoi and helped direct the actions of members and associates of the Bishnoi enterprise worldwide, including acts of violence committed by the gang’s members and associates in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.

This criminal gang engaged in violent activity in each country in which it operated, including the United States, and used violence to cultivate a climate of fear, in particular in India and among Indian diaspora communities worldwide. The gang exploited this fear to extort its victims, hyping their violence and criminality through online videos and internet posts.

Among the crimes alleged in the indictment is the assassination of a prominent political and religious leader – identified in court documents as “H.S.N.” – from India’s Punjab state and who was living in Canada at the time of his death. Bishnoi and Brar are charged with ordering this assassination, which occurred when two gunmen shot and killed H.S.N. as he left a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023.

According to the indictment, the enterprise routinely targeted prominent religious, social, and political leaders with violence, and used these high-profile acts to terrorize and extort members of the community. For instance, in November 2023, Bishnoi claimed responsibility for a separate shooting that occurred at the Vancouver, Canada residence of a prominent Indian actor and singer, and warned in the Punjabi language in a Facebook post, “no one can save you from us.”

Bishnoi, Brar, Godara, and others extorted victims via WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging applications by threatening violence against the victims or the victims’ families. For example, Bishnoi, Brar, Godara, and other defendants attempted to extort victims in Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks, demanding in December 2025 and January 2026 that the latter victim make a $5 million payment.

In addition to these extortion schemes, the Bishnoi enterprise helped fund its activities through international drug trafficking and stealing drug shipments from rival gangs. For example, in November 2024, Bishnoi and Brar oversaw the transportation of 49 kilograms (108 pounds) of cocaine that was intercepted in Redlands and was intended for shipment via long-haul semi-trucks from the U.S. to Canada. 

From March 2024 to July 2025, the Bishnoi enterprise stole a total of approximately 520 kilograms (1,146.4 pounds) of cocaine in the greater Los Angeles area from rival drug trafficking gangs.

The indictment charges Bishnoi, Brar, Godara, and six other defendants with one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion (Hobbs Act), six counts of attempted Hobbs Act extortion, and one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, namely cocaine and methamphetamine.

           United States v. Bhagwanpuria, et al.

A seven-count federal grand jury indictment returned June 25 charges 17 defendants with operating a criminal enterprise that engaged in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortions, weapons trafficking, and other crimes around the world, including in the United States and Canada.

Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, of Punjab, India, a gangster imprisoned in India, is an associate-turned-rival of Bishnoi, and founded his own criminal enterprise in India’s Punjab state. 

The Bhagwanpuria gang operates as a transnational criminal syndicate headquartered in India with members across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. This group includes more than 1,000 members and associates worldwide, and more than 100 members and associates in the United States.

To expand its power, this group corrupted law enforcement officers in India and partnered with corrupt government officials, including to assist in extortion schemes. It also provided false information to law enforcement officers in India regarding alleged crimes. The Bhagwanpuria group used this false information to target perceived rivals and individuals that members or associates believed were cooperating with law enforcement, often triggering baseless criminal proceedings and extortion plots by corrupt Indian law enforcement officers against perceived rivals.

According to the indictment, in April 2026, Gurlal Singh, 22, of Stockton, California, a member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate who is an illegal alien from India, threatened a victim and then provided the victim’s name to a corrupt law enforcement officer in India’s Punjab state. This ultimately led to the victim, the victim’s father, and the victim’s sister being falsely accused of the January 2026 murder of a victim in India identified in court documents as “B.S.” It also led to the corrupt law enforcement officer in India extorting the victim and the victim’s father in connection with that pending murder case. A separate member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, Gurdev Singh, 26, is alleged to have attempted to extort a family living in the Midwest while he was being held in ICE custody, including by threatening to “put [] bullets in your kids.”

The group funded its activities through drug trafficking, including through drug transportation sub-networks in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, as well as through illegal firearms dealing.

Garinder Deo, 40, a.k.a. “Doctor, “Rocket,” and “Ritz Carlton,” of Vancouver, Canada, though not charged as a member or associate of this criminal group, allegedly helped enrich the group by purchasing bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin that were to be shipped from Southern California to the eastern United States with the assistance of members and associates of the Bhagwanpuria enterprise. This included the attempted shipment in June 2025 of 99.2 kilograms (218.7 pounds) of cocaine and one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin that law enforcement ultimately intercepted. 

The indictment charges one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of attempted Hobbs Act extortion, two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of distribution of cocaine, one count of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and one count of possession of a machine gun.

          United States v. Dhanda, et al.

Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, a.k.a. “Randy,” “Rolex,” and “John Wick,” of Vancouver, Canada, Jaskarn Baghri, 50, a.k.a. “Baba,” of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, Gurtej Singh Smagh, 43, a.k.a. “Simba,” of Creston, British Columbia, Canada, and eight other defendants are charged in an eight-count indictment returned June 23 alleging they transported, smuggled, and distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine each week from the U.S. into Canda. 

According to the indictment, Dhanda operated a drug distribution network that provided international smuggling services for bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. He negotiated transportation rates and logistics with these DTOs and subcontracted the storage and transportation of these drugs.

The cocaine and methamphetamine were concealed and transported on long-haul semi-trucks from the greater Los Angeles area – including Los Angeles, West Covina, Ontario, Fontana, and Perris – to the U.S.-Canada border. Sometimes, farm trucks from working farms were used to hide the narcotics en route to Canada.

The indictment specifically alleges the shipment of 430.1 kilograms (948.2 pounds) of cocaine from July 2023 to November 2024. 

The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances, one count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and five counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

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

If convicted, many of the defendants would face a mandatory minimum prison sentence between 10 years in federal prison and life imprisonment, and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

The FBI; the Los Angeles Police Department; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); and United States Customs and Border Protection’s Buffalo Field Office are investigating these matters. RCMP is conducting a parallel investigation into South Asian organized crime.

Assistance was provided by Unidad Central Operativa de la Guardia Civil (Spain); Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles; the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Division; the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, a specialized multi-agency task force that targets high-level drug trafficking and money laundering organizations operating in Southern California and managed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; the Brownsburg (Indiana) Police Department; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Philadelphia Field Division; the FBI’s field offices in Buffalo, Sacramento, and San Francisco; and the FBI’s Legal Attaché offices in New Delhi, Mexico City, Madrid, and Ottawa.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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. 

Assistant United States Attorney Declan T. Conroy of the Transnational Organized Crime Section is prosecuting these cases.

LOS ANGELES – Six members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Hoover Criminal Gang – and the manager of a South L.A. motel – were among nine defendants arrested today, and 10 defendants arrested total, on federal indictments charging them with a series of crimes, including sex trafficking children and adults along the Figueroa Corridor.

Today’s takedown is the second major operation that federal and local law enforcement have taken on the Figueroa Corridor, an area of Los Angeles that has long been notorious for street prostitution, the first such action occurring last year.

“Sex trafficking of young women and children ranks among the worst criminal offenses our office prosecutes – truly the lowest of the low,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We hope today’s arrests break the cycle of crime and abuse in one of L.A.’s most notorious human trafficking corridors.”

“The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions,” said Eddy Wang, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. “HSI remains steadfast in our mission to protect victims and pursue justice against human traffickers. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable and that victims receive the support they deserve.” 

“By working hand in hand with our federal partners, we are doing far more than making arrests,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “We are dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from human trafficking, rescuing victims, and reclaiming the Figueroa Corridor for the community that has always deserved better.”

“As alleged, the individuals associated with the Stadium Inn concealed significant amounts of illicit cash, manipulated business records, and structured deposits across multiple accounts to hide the true source of their income,” said Darren Lian, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Working closely with our federal and local partners, IRS-CI remains committed to exposing and disrupting financial schemes that enable human trafficking and other violent crimes.”

According to a 65-count superseding indictment returned on June 25 and unsealed today, from February 2021 to June 2026, the Hoovers largely controlled sex trafficking and prostitution in the Figueroa Corridor of South Los Angeles. Members and associates of the gang acted as pimps to promote and manage sex trafficking. The indictment lists 51 victims impacted by these alleged crimes. 

The superseding indictment adds seven new defendants – six of them being Hoover Criminal Gang members charged with federal crimes such as racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy, and concealment money laundering:

• Cameron Lockett, 23, a.k.a. “Jankie” and “Hesopayed,” of Anaheim;
• Caleed Mouton, 26, a.k.a. “Poo” and “Pooski,” of South Los Angeles;
• Nakhali Miller, 30, a.k.a. “FY3,” of South Los Angeles;
• Jorge Melendez, 23, a.k.a. “Crim Style,” of South Los Angeles;
• Mauricio Ulloa-Franco, Jr., 23, a.k.a. “Ese Face” and “Face,” of Palmdale; and
• Lagrane Lenox, 30, a.k.a. “King Blue” and “Blue,” of Compton.   

The seventh new defendant charged in this case is Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, of South Los Angeles, the manager of the South L.A.-based Stadium Inn & Spas motel, who is charged with financially benefiting from the Hoover gang’s sex trafficking operation. Specifically, from September 2024 to January 2026, Ahir deposited $64,581 in proceeds that he knew derived from the gang’s sex trafficking of children and adults.

Ahir also is charged with “structuring,” or depositing smaller amounts at a time into bank accounts opened for this purpose to avoid banks from reporting large cash deposits to the U.S. government.

According to the superseding indictment, the Hoovers worked together to recruit new victims via social media or in person, focusing on vulnerable minor girls and young women, particularly those with financial or emotional struggles or who had run away from home or in the foster care system. Victims were recruited via false promises of a luxurious lifestyle, intimidation, and actual or threatened violence. Pimps also plied their victims with drugs such as oxycodone and amphetamines to create addictions that the pimps could exploit.

The defendants also facilitated each other’s pimping by managing, monitoring, and disciplining their victims, pooling resources to rent motel rooms for commercial sex dates, driving each other’s victims to and from the streets where victims solicited commercial sex work, sourcing third parties to create online profiles for sex advertisements, and sending each other money via Cash App and Apple Pay.

Victims were required to remit all proceeds from commercial sex dates to the pimp. A victim who refused or who otherwise disobeyed a pimp faced discipline, including assaults, branding of a defendant’s moniker, berating, public humiliation, and withholding of affection, drugs or food. 

For example, in November 2024 Lockett allegedly beat one victim in her back and ribs, bit off a chunk of her cheek then, after the beating, gave her a Percocet pill, sent her to the hospital to get stitches, and pressured her to lie to police about what happened to her.

Mouton allegedly trafficked three minors (ages 14, 16, and 17), obtained a fake identification card for at least one of them for her to rent hotel rooms in her name, and in July 2025 ordered a minor victim to have an abortion and continue engaging in commercial sex work later that day.

Melendez is charged with sex trafficking a 14-year-old victim through force, including in January 2024, punching her at least five times in the face while holding a heavy watch and dragging her by her hair as punishment for not making enough money from commercial sex work.

Lenox is accused of trafficking a minor victim on the Figueroa Corridor and in Phoenix, where in June 2024 he produced child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of himself having sexual intercourse with the victim.

As part of this human trafficking sweep, three other alleged sex traffickers were indicted in stand-alone cases. Two defendants were arrested this morning, and the third was arrested on June 24, 2026.

• Kenny Ray Mann, 38, a.k.a. “KR,” of Lynwood, is charged with sex trafficking two minors – ages 16 and 17 – and trafficking at least one of the victims when she became an adult through force, fraud, or coercion. He was arrested on Monday, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and is scheduled to go to trial on August 18.
• Kylan Young, 23, a.k.a. “K2,” of Buena Park, is charged with sex trafficking a minor, age 15, and through force, fraud, or coercion.
• Dejon MacDonald Williams, 23, a.k.a. “Motion” and “D1,” of South Los Angeles, is charged with sex trafficking three victims – two minors (ages 16 and 17) through force, fraud, or coercion, and one adult through force, fraud, or coercion.

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

If convicted, some defendants would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and would face a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The 11 original defendants charged last year have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go on trial on March 18, 2027.

Homeland Security Investigations; IRS Criminal Investigation; the Los Angeles Police Department; and the United States Attorney’s Office are investigating this matter.  The investigation was supported by the Nebraska State Patrol; Keith County Attorney’s Office; Nebraska Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General; California Highway Patrol; the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and Saving Innocence.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. 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. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Chelsea Norell, Mirelle Raza, and Rahul Hari of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – A Malibu woman pleaded guilty today to helping her convicted fraudster boyfriend hide from federal law enforcement, hide out in Mexico, and then later flee to his native Germany to avoid incarceration and sentencing in his U.S. criminal case.

Lucinda Jane Weist Manera, 63, a.k.a. “Lucy Weist,” pleaded guilty to one felony count of being an accessory after the fact.

According to her plea agreement, in April 2025, a federal jury found Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, 64, then of Malibu, guilty of one count of wire fraud. 

From 2014 to 2017, Fritsch defrauded investors out of more than $20 million by lying to them about his technology company’s financial performance related to a software application designed to help celebrities and social media influencers monetize their brand endorsements, according to evidence presented at a nine-day trial.

Manera was present in the courtroom when the guilty verdict against Fritsch was read. Fritsch was free on bond at the time. A hearing related to Fritsch’s potential remand into federal custody was scheduled for June 2, 2025, and he was to be sentenced at a later date.

On June 2, 2025, Fritsch fled the United States by car and crossed the international border into Mexico to avoid being taken into custody at the June 2 hearing and avoid serving any prison sentence related to his fraud conviction.

From June 2025 to September 2025, Manera assisted Fritsch with the purpose of hindering and preventing Fritsch’s apprehension and punishment, including by lying to FBI special agents that she hadn’t spoken to Fritsch within a day of his scheduled June 2 hearing. 

Manera also made at least 10 payments from June 2025 to September 2025 totaling approximately $7,475 to a third party, knowing that Fritsch was hiding out at that third party’s home. She also authorized a $534 charge to her bank account for Fritsch to stay at a hotel in Mexico. 

In September 2025, she searched the internet on Fritsch’s behalf for information on how he could leave Mexico and travel to his native Germany. Germany generally prohibits the extradition of its citizens. 

In October 2025, Fritsch was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in federal prison, fined $35,000, and ordered to pay $26,806,901 in restitution.  In April 2026, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Fritsch’s appeal due to his fugitive status, because a fugitive criminal defendant is generally not entitled to a decision on the merits of his claims.  If Fritsch surrenders to authorities by August 21, 2026, he may move to reinstate the appeal.

United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer scheduled an October 5 sentencing hearing, at which time Manera will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Monica E. Tait of the Major Frauds Section is prosecuting this case.

LOS ANGELES – An Antelope Valley man has been found guilty by a jury of federal drug trafficking and firearm crimes, including supplying fake fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills that caused the fatal overdose of an active-duty United States Marine Corps lance corporal stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, the Justice Department announced today. 

Jordan Nicholas McCormick, 31, was found guilty on Thursday of six felonies: one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute LSD, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to evidence presented at a 17-day trial, McCormick engaged in a drug trafficking conspiracy from at least October 2019 to September 2020 during which he and his co-conspirators obtained and sold several drugs, including LSD, thousands of fake Adderall pills laced with methamphetamine, and thousands of fake oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl. McCormick and his co-conspirators communicated via text messages and Snapchat to coordinate their drug trafficking business.

On May 21, 2020, McCormick informed one of his co-conspirators via text message, “I’m seeing my oxy guy today he has a boat,” referring to 1,000 purported oxycodone pills, also known as “M30s.” The next day, McCormick sold 1,000 of those pills to a co-conspirator, who then posted a picture on his Snapchat account of several pills with the caption, “Who f*** with M30s? Tapp in.” Later that same night, the co-conspirator sold approximately 10 of those pills to a 20-year-old U.S. Marine identified in court papers as “L.M.,” who died after consuming some of the fentanyl-laced pills in the early morning hours of May 23, 2020.

On July 26, 2020, McCormick again sold another 1,000 purported oxycodone pills to the same co-conspirator. Three days later, investigators arrested that co-conspirator and seized narcotics, including approximately 900 of those purported oxycodone pills, and several firearms – including a 9mm “ghost gun,” or a firearm lacking a serial number – from his residence. Those pills were confirmed to contain fentanyl.

In September 2020, law enforcement executed search warrants on McCormick’s person, vehicle, and residence, seizing numerous drug trafficking materials and narcotics, including lab-confirmed methamphetamine and LSD, and a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol.

At sentencing, McCormick will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 

This case is the result of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the Southern California Drug Task Force (SCDTF), a Drug Enforcement Administration-led multi-agency task force within the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program, the FBI, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Castañeda of the Transnational Organized Crime Section, Laura A. Alexander of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, Kathrynne Seiden, of the National Security Division, and James E. Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case.

A federal jury in the Central District of California convicted a Los Angeles man today of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. 

“Elias Shabazz preyed on a vulnerable victim using physical and sexual violence and cruel psychological coercion to compel commercial sex acts for his own profit,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “There is no place for this type of conduct in civilized society. We deeply respect the victim’s courage to face her trafficker in court. The Criminal Division will continue to bring these cases and try them.”

“Sex trafficking matters rank among the most tragic cases our office prosecutes,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “This defendant will now face many years in a federal prison cell for his sick, disgusting, and disturbing behavior.”

“This case highlights Homeland Security Investigations’ determination to rescue victims from exploitation and ensure that those who commit such cruel and violent acts are held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Field Office. “The defendant manipulated and terrorized the victim for his own gain, using violence, intimidation, and control. We commend the victim’s bravery for sharing her story. HSI, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue justice for victims and relentlessly work to prevent these crimes from occurring in our communities.”

According to court documents, witness testimony, and evidence presented at trial, Elias Shabazz, 33, of Los Angeles, led his victim to believe that they were engaged in a romantic relationship, but he soon turned physically and sexually violent demanding that the victim engage in commercial sex acts. Shabazz carried a handgun with him and used it on occasion to pistol whip the victim. He also fired the gun at her feet when threatening to kill her. At trial, the victim explained how he introduced her to commercial sex, demanded she meet a daily quota of commercial sex proceeds, and how he terrified her of the consequences of not meeting that quota. She also testified to how Shabazz compelled her to work on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles and how dangerous it was to do so. Shabazz confiscated the victim’s identification, social security card, and birth certificate. He looked through her phone constantly to keep her from communicating with family and friends. He also introduced her to addictive narcotics and controlled every aspect of her life including when she ate, slept, and showered.

The jury convicted Shabazz of one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. The jury found Shabazz not guilty of coercing or enticing interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution. A sentencing date has not been set. Shabazz faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

HSI is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Kate A. Alexander of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen I. Meyer for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

LOS ANGELES – A former Riverside County resident was found guilty by a jury today of forcing and coercing a victim into engaging in commercial sex acts on the notorious Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

Elias Abdul Shabazz, 34, formerly of Perris and whose last known residence was in Washington, D.C., was found guilty of one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. He has been in federal custody since May 2025.

“Sex trafficking matters rank among the most tragic cases our office prosecutes,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “This defendant will now face many years in a federal prison cell for his sick, disgusting, and disturbing behavior.”

“Elias Shabazz preyed on a vulnerable victim using physical and sexual violence and cruel psychological coercion to compel commercial sex acts for his own profit,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “There is no place for this type of conduct in civilized society. We deeply respect the victim’s courage to face her trafficker in court. The Criminal Division will continue to bring these cases and try them.”

“This case highlights Homeland Security Investigations’ determination to rescue victims from exploitation and ensure that those who commit such cruel and violent acts are held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. “The defendant manipulated and terrorized the victim for his own gain, using violence, intimidation, and control. We commend the victim’s bravery for sharing her story. HSI, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue justice for victims and relentlessly work to prevent these crimes from occurring in our communities.”

According to evidence presented at a five-day trial, Shabazz led his victim to believe that they were engaged in a romantic relationship, but he soon turned physically and sexually violent demanding that the victim engage in commercial sex acts. The criminal conduct occurred from May 2021 to October 2021.

Shabazz carried a handgun with him and used it on occasion to pistol whip the victim. He also fired the gun at her feet when threatening to kill her.

At trial, the victim explained how he introduced her to commercial sex, demanded she meet a daily quota of commercial sex proceeds, and how he terrified her of the consequences of not meeting that quota. She also testified to how Shabazz compelled her to work on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles and how dangerous it was to do so.

Shabazz confiscated the victim’s identification, social security card, and birth certificate. He looked through her phone constantly to keep her from communicating with family and friends. He also introduced her to addictive narcotics and controlled every aspect of her life including when she ate, slept, and showered.

The jury found Shabazz not guilty on one count of coercing or enticing interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., scheduled an October 6 sentencing hearing, at which time Shabazz will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Kim Meyer of the Major Crimes Section and Trial Attorney Kate A. Alexander of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section are prosecuting this case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at (888) 373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.