District of Columbia

WASHINGTON – Dartanyan Ricardo Hawkins, 29, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today in connection with a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed large quantities of marijuana in the District of Columbia.

The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; FBI Special Agent David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division; Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division; and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Hawkins, aka “Shitty,” was a member of the Push Dat Shit (PDS) and Jugg Gang (JG) street crews. He pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to distribution and possession with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of marijuana. Hawkins faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. A sentencing hearing is set for March 7, 2025.

As part of his plea, Hawkins admitted to possessing a firearm as part of the offense and further admitted to using Instagram to sell marijuana. According to court documents, PDS maintained gang territory in the 3300 – 3500 blocks of Wheeler Road, Southeast and operated an open-air drug market outside a market at 3509 Wheeler Road, Southeast. In August 2018, PDS allied with a neighboring street gang known as Jugg Gang, or “JG,” that included Hawkins. The combined gang also conspired to use, carry, and possess firearms – including machine guns – to protect themselves, their drugs, their cash, and their territory from rival crews with whom PDS had “beefs.”

This plea is part of an ongoing joint investigation which has now resulted in 23 convictions and the seizure of two vehicles, 35 firearms, four machine guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, approximately 60 pounds of marijuana, 41 grams of cocaine base, dozens of oxycodone pills, and approximately $500,000 in cash.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the ATF’s Washington Field Division, and the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Justin F. Song and Paralegal Specialist Melissa Macechko.

Hawkins after his arrest on March 11, 2023, on the 2700 block of Shipley Terrace, Southeast. 

WASHINGTON – David Zanders, 22, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of federal kidnapping and one count of carjacking, stemming from an incident on May 1, 2022, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves; FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 4, 2024. The defendant was arrested on November 18, 2022, and has been detained ever since.

            According to the court documents, in the early morning hours of May 1, 2022, Zanders and a conspirator kidnapped two males outside of a nightclub located at 645 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The pair posed as an Uber and the two male victims subsequently got into the defendant’s vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Zanders pulled over on a neighborhood street in Washington, D.C., pointed a firearm at the two victims and robbed them of their phones and money. The victims were then driven around so the kidnappers could attempt to withdraw money using the victims’ credit cards. One of the victims was able to escape at a gas station in Washington D.C., when Zanders and the other suspect were looking for an ATM.  After the first victim escaped, the second victim was driven to a supermarket in Maryland. The defendant and his cohort then retrieved money from an ATM at the supermarket using the second victim’s ATM card. The second victim was then driven to another location in Maryland and released.

            That same evening, Zanders, his cohort and a third individual met at 955 Longfellow Street, NW, Washington, D.C. Zanders had arranged a meeting with two additional victims where he was purporting to sell his vehicle but was, in fact, going to take their vehicle. When the two victims arrived in their vehicle, a 2019 green Dodge Charger, Zanders pulled out a gun, threatened to shoot the third victim, and demanded his phone, money and keys. The additional suspects turned towards the fourth victim and demanded the car keys. The fourth victim complied and one of the suspects then drove away with the 2019 green Dodge Charger. Zanders and the additional suspect then drove away in their own vehicles and fled the scene.  

            Zanders faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison for kidnapping and 15 years for carjacking. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, SAC Geist, and Chief Smith commended the MPD officers and FBI agents who collaborated on the investigation as members of MPD’s Violent Crime Suppression Unit and FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force. Valuable assistance was provided by the Prince George’s County Police Department.

            The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Tepfer and by former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Renaud.  The case was initially investigated and indicted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Strong.

WASHINGTON – Derricka Burton, 20, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to six years in prison for a Christmas Day robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The Honorable Robert Salerno sentenced Burton to six years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Burton was found guilty on June 20, 2024 of two counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, following a jury trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            According to the government’s evidence, at around 2:38 p.m. on December 25, 2023, Burton and three co-conspirators saw the victims, a couple spending time together at the Alethia Tanner Park, located at 227 Harry Thomas Way Northeast. Video footage showed Burton and her co-conspirators huddle together before two of her co-conspirators walked up to the victims and robbed them. Burton’s co-conspirators pointed a gun at the victims and demanded the victims’ Canada Goose brand jacket, cellphone, and other items. The co-conspirators then walked back to Burton and the other co-conspirators. The group conferred with each other and left together. As they did so, one of the co-conspirators dropped some of the stolen property, which Burton picked up before she left with the group.  Police arrested Burton on February 12, 2024.

           In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Toogun and Katrenia Shelly, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Stephen Rattley Johnson, 37, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 7.5 years in prison for uploading and possessing videos in 2020 depicting the rape and sadistic sexual abuse of prepubescent girls.

            The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Johnson was found guilty by a federal jury on April 17, 2024, of five counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. On the possession count, the jury further found that the child pornography involved minors under 12 years of age, an aggravating circumstance that doubles the statutory maximum sentence. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered Johnson to pay $52,600 in restitution and special assessments. Upon release from his prison term, Johnson will be required to serve 10 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

            According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, on September 21, 2020, and October 1, 2020, Johnson uploaded hundreds of child pornography files to his Google Drive cloud storage account. Google identified 220 of the files as known child pornography and closed Johnson’s account. Consistent with its statutory obligations, Google reported the material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn referred the matter to law enforcement. As part of its investigation, investigators obtained the contents of Johnson’s Google account, which included hundreds of child pornography files.

            Law enforcement arrested Johnson on October 7, 2021, and searched his then-residence in the H Street Corridor of Northeast Washington. Among other evidence, law enforcement seized his cellphone and the laptop Johnson had used to upload the child pornography. Although Johnson deleted the child pornography from his computer after Google closed his account, digital forensics experts were able to recover artifacts showing that Johnson had downloaded many of the files as early as April 2020 and that he had opened and watched them. Many of the files are videos depicting the rape and sadistic sexual abuse of prepubescent girls. In addition, Johnson’s web browser history showed that he had navigated to child pornography online—including several of the files he later uploaded to Google—and evidence from his cellphone showed that he continued to seek out child pornography even after Google closed his account.

            The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force; the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Lipes prosecuted the case, with valuable assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janani Iyengar and Jocelyn Bond.

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WASHINGTON – Andra Parker, 65, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from a D.C. Department of Corrections Labor Union.

           The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer of the National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG).

           Parker, a former D.C. Corrections officer, served as Chairman of the Labor Committee, an organization that represents all members of the D.C. Department of Corrections, from June 2018 through approximately April 2019. As Chairman, Parker had full access to the Labor Committee’s bank accounts to carry out his official duties and was issued a debit card.

           As part of his guilty plea, Parker admitted that he misappropriated more than $30,000 of union funds to pay for unofficial travel, lodging, and entertainment for him and his friends. For example, he spent more than $7,000 on a trip to New York city for his friends and him, including $4,000 on rooms and expenses at a Times Square hotel, more than $370 on tickets to a New York Knicks game, and an additional $616 on tickets to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. He also spent more than $2,000 in union funds to purchase four tickets to a Diana Ross concert in North Bethesda, Maryland.

           The Honorable Rudolph Contreras, who accepted Parker’s guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for March 6, 2025. 

           This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the DOL-OIG. Assistance was also provided by the DOL - Office of Labor-Management Standards.

           This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Gold and Kondi Kleinman of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Sonalika Chaturvedi.

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            WASHINGTON –Marvin Lopez, 45, of El Salvador, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2014 Christmas Eve murder of his ex-girlfriend, Evelyn Yamileth Arroyo Guerra, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            On October 25, 2024, Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe sentenced Lopez to the prison sentence for first degree murder while armed and a seven-year prison term for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence to be run concurrently.

            According to the government’s evidence presented during an eight-day trial in November 2023, a pair of MPD Lieutenants were driving south on 14th Street on Dec. 24, 2014 when they heard two gunshots. Citizens on the 3900 block of 14th Street pointed in the direction the gunman had run. One of the Lieutenants gave chase on foot but lost the shooter in a wooded area at the end of Shepherd St, NW. The other Lieutenant found Yamileth on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant at 3910 14th Street NW, suffering from a gunshot wound to her chest and a graze wound to her head. Yamileth had been shot as she was arriving for work, as a waitress, at El Sabor Latino.

            Two witnesses who knew Yamileth told police that they had seen Lopez—the victim’s recent ex—approaching her outside of the restaurant moments before the killing. One of the witnesses showed police Facebook messages between Lopez and Yamileth from days before the murder in which he threatened to kill her. Although an arrest warrant was obtained the next day, Lopez was not located by police before he fled to El Salvador. He was extradited back to the United States and arrested in March of 2023.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Tasha Harris; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim/Witness Advocates Karina Hernandez; Maenylie Watson, Tonya Jones, and Katina Adams-Washington, of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit; Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling and Paralegal Specialists Grazy Rivera, April Urbanowski and Maria Sanchez.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Natiello who investigated and indicted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristian Hinson and Sarah Prins who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Eugene Burns, 32, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a Superior Court jury of first-degree murder while armed and related firearm offenses. The jury also found Burns and co-defendant Tyre Allen, 24, of Washington, D.C., guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in relation to the murder case. The verdicts were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves.

            Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo scheduled sentencing for both defendants on January 31, 2025. Burns faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, and Allen faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

            On October 24, 2024, following a five-week trial in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, the jury convicted Burns of first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license. On October 28, 2024, the jury convicted Burns and Tyre Allen of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice (corrupt persuasion of a witness), and obstruction of justice (due administration of justice).

            In 2017, Burns was convicted by a jury of murdering the victim, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2020. Following the reversal, Burns and co‑defendant Tyre Allen, Burns’s cousin, conspired to and did obstruct justice by corruptly influencing a witness in the murder case to sign a false affidavit in October 2020 recanting the witness’s prior grand jury and trial testimony incriminating Burns in the murder. 

            On November 14, 2015, defendant Burns lured his best friend, Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III, to Burns’s mother’s apartment in the 2900 block of 2nd Street Southeast, Washington, D.C. Once inside the apartment, Burns shot the victim four times, killing him.  Burns then fled the apartment but returned the next day with family members, falsely reporting to police that they had just found the victim’s body.  Evidence introduced at trial established that Burns had been planning to murder the victim for several days.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, with valuable assistance provided by the ATF Washington Division and investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Charles R. Jones and Sharon Donovan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON – Jamal Fleming, 32, of Washington D.C. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 46 months in federal prison for possessing a loaded machine gun as he led police on a chase in a stolen SUV while under the influence of cocaine. Fleming crashed the vehicle into a utility pole and then attempted to elude officers on foot before becoming stuck in a fence. The conviction, which is Fleming’s third for possessing an illegal firearm, involves a weapon that had been modified into a fully automatic machine gun.

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Fleming pleaded guilty on March 8, 2024, to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition to the 46-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb ordered Fleming to serve 36 months of supervised release. 

           On October 11, 2023, at about 10 p.m., Prince George’s County police observed a black Jeep Grand Cherokee driving in the 4200 block of 58th Avenue in Bladensburg, Maryland. The officers were aware of a recent rash of commercial armed robberies in the county involving a black Grand Cherokee. The officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop. The SUV fled, pursued by police by several police cruisers. MPD’s Falcon helicopter also followed the SUV as it entered Washington, D.C. About five miles from the start of the pursuit, the SUV crashed into a utility pole in the alleyway behind the 4200 block of Eads Street NE. Leaving the SUV running, Fleming jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot, dashing through an alleyway, until he was caught on a fence where officers apprehended him.

               Fleming crashed the SUV into a utility pole following a five-mile high-speed chase.

           Officers searched Fleming and recovered a key fob to the SUV that they used to unlock it. Inside the SUV, officers found a black Glock 29 loaded with 16 rounds of 10mm ammunition. The weapon was outfitted with a “switch,” which converted the gun into a fully automatic firearm, and a laser sight. Later DNA testing linked the firearm to Fleming. Officers determined that the SUV had been stolen the week before from an automotive repair shop in Beltsville. 

Officers discovered a loaded Glock -- outfitted with a laser sight and a “switch” that made the weapon fully automatic – on the floor of the SUV on the driver’s side. 

           Fleming has been barred from possessing a gun since 2016 after he was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm. On May 5, 2022, Fleming was driving when he was stopped by police. He had an open bottle of champagne in the vehicle’s cupholder, a bag containing more than a pound of marijuana, cocaine, pills and a Glock 27 .40 caliber handgun. On December 12, 2022, Fleming was sentenced to five years in prison with all but one year suspended, along with three years of supervised probation. In October 2023, at the time of his most recent arrest, Fleming was still on probation.

           This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Tepfer.

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WASHINGTON – Montello Washington, 18, of Washington D.C., was sentenced to 144 months in prison for an August 2023 carjacking and an armed robbery in Northwest Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            On October 25, 2024, Superior Court Judge Judith Pipe sentenced Washington to the 12 year prison term and also ordered three years of supervised release.

            Washington, who was 17 years old at the time of the offenses and who had been charged as an adult under Title 16, pleaded guilty on August 16, 2024, to one count of carjacking, one count armed robbery, and two counts possession of a firearm during a crime of violence before Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz.

            According to the proffer of facts during the plea hearing, Washington admitted that, at around 1:00 a.m., on August 16, 2023, he and another unidentified male accomplice approached the victim, who was returning home from his work shift, at the 5400 block of 9th Street NW. Washington brandished a firearm with a laser sight and demanded the victim’s phone, wallet, and keys. The victim complied, and Washington and his accomplice returned to their vehicle and fled the location. Soon after, at approximately 2:00 a.m., on August 16, 2023, Washington and an accomplice carjacked another victim. The victim was exiting his vehicle at the 1300 block of Missouri Avenue NW, when Washington and his accomplice surrounded the victim’s vehicle. Washington held the victim at gunpoint and demanded the victim’s car keys and phone. Washington drove off in the victim’s vehicle while his accomplice drove off in the vehicle that he and Washington arrived in.

            Washington was ultimately apprehended in the afternoon of August 16, 2023, after MPD Falcon pursued him while he was fleeing from police officers in a stolen vehicle and after a subsequent foot pursuit. During that vehicle pursuit, a firearm with a laser sight was tossed from the fleeing vehicle and recovered by officers.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They commended the work of Assistant United States Attorneys Sabena Auyeung and Stephanie Dinan, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Robert Theodore Smith, 28, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 24 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm in March 2024, less than a month after he had completed a sentence for a voluntary manslaughter that was committed during the shooting of a rap video. 

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           On June 7, 2024, Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In addition to the 24-month prison term, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates today ordered Smith to serve 3 years of supervised release. 

           According to court documents, on March 14, 2024, MPD officers were patrolling on the 5300 block of East Capitol Street, SE., when they approached Smith. One of the officers approached Smith and asked him about the noticeable bulge protruding from the cross-body bag Smith was wearing. Smith stated there was nothing in the bag. An officer stepped toward Smith,  who  broke into a run. The officer immediately apprehended Smith. Inside the bag, the officer discovered a polymer 80 pistol with a Glock 23 slide that was loaded with one round in the chamber and nine rounds in the magazine.

           In 2018, Smith had been making a rap music video when he accidentally fired the loaded gun he was using as a prop, killing his friend who was performing in the video with him. Smith was sentenced to 72 months and five years of supervised release. He was released on February 8, 2024. Soon after, he procured a handgun. 

           This case was investigated by the MPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar.

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WASHINGTON – William Barrett, 69, of Mount Holly, New Jersey, was sentenced in D.C. Superior Court, for the February 2024 murder of his girlfriend, 36-year-old, Romaine Maddox. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

          Barrett pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder while armed on August 23, 2024, before the Honorable Robert Okun, who sentenced the defendant, on October 25, 2024, to 25 years’ incarceration followed by five years of supervised release. 

          According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 7:00 p.m., on February 22, 2024, Barrett and Ms. Maddox, checked into a hotel in the 1600 block of New York Avenue, N.E., to celebrate Ms. Maddox’s birthday. Hotel surveillance cameras captured the defendant and the victim, who was ecstatic to celebrate her birthday at the hotel, entering their room, where they spent the next several hours.  At around 2:00 a.m., hotel surveillance video captured Ms. Maddox screaming for help from their hotel room.  She was never seen alive again.  Barrett told detectives that he and Ms. Maddox got into an argument that turned physical.  Barrett became enraged grabbing a ceramic toilet tank cover from the bathroom and hitting Ms. Maddox over the head several times, causing the ceramic lid to break into three pieces. While she was lying face down on the floor, Barrett wrapped his belt around Ms. Maddox’s neck and pulled upward. Barrett then fell asleep while the victim’s bloodied body lay at the foot of the bed. Barrett got up in the morning and saw Ms. Maddox unconscious and unresponsive on the floor and he left her in the room. Hotel staff discovered her body a few hours later.

          In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

          They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah C. Santiago, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

            WASHINGTON – Ehren Fluellyn, 36, of Temple Hills, Maryland, was arrested today on a one-count federal indictment charging him with violating the constitutional rights of a detained citizen on April 12, 2023, announced United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division. 

            According to the indictment, on April 12, 2023, while acting under color of law as a special police officer employed by Capital City Protection Solutions, Fluellyn willfully deprived a person of a right or privilege secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States; specifically, the right to be from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer. Fluellyn allegedly assaulted the victim by kicking, punching, and striking the victim, without legal justification, resulting in bodily injury.

            Deprivation of rights under color of law involving bodily injury carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Truscott, of the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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

WASHINGTON – Cornellius Ruffin, 41, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of assault with significant bodily injury while armed and other charges in a mid-day shooting that took place in Northwest in April of 2021, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Ruffin also was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. The verdict was returned on October 24, 2024, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Judith Pipe scheduled sentencing for January 10, 2025. Ruffin faces a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence on the charge of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 12:30 p.m., on April 12, 2021, Ruffin was standing near the intersection of Q Street, NW, and Florida Avenue, NW, when he fired a handgun four times at the victim. One of the bullets fired by Ruffin struck the victim in the left leg. After the shooting, Ruffin handed the firearm to a nearby woman and then fled the area on a red Capital Bikeshare bicycle.

            Eyewitnesses to the shooting provided police with descriptions and photographs of the shooter and the woman he handed the gun to after the shooting. Minutes after the shooting, police located and stopped the woman and recovered a firearm from one of her bags. Ruffin was located and arrested by police the following day, on April 13, 2021.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin Helfand and Valerie Tsesarenko of the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON – Ifediora Oli, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring with two local government officials to defraud the District of Columbia and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) of money, property, and their employees’ honest services. As a result of the conspiracy, a private company owned and operated by Oli improperly received over $1 million.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, Inspector General Michelle A. Zamarin of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Office of Inspector General, and Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas of the D.C. Office of the Inspector General.

            Oli, 41 of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty on July 8, 2024, to a criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit money, property, and honest services wire fraud, and one count of falsifying records.  In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan ordered Oli to serve three years of supervised release, to forfeit a Mercedes sedan he purchased with proceeds of the crime, and to pay restitution in the amount of $100,000 to the District of Columbia and $50,000 to WMATA.

            In a related case, co-defendant Bridgette Crowell, who had pleaded guilty to conspiring with Oli to defraud the District and WMATA, was sentenced October 21, 2024, to seven months in prison and two years of supervised release. Crowell was also ordered to forfeit a car she obtained with proceeds of the conspiracy and to pay $100,000 in restitution. Another co-defendant, Obinna Ogbu, will be sentenced on October 28.

            According to court documents, during the conspiracy—which was carried out between 2018 and 2023—Oli was employed at USDA while separately acting as the Principal of Highbury Global Group, Inc. (Highbury). Ogbu was employed at WMATA as an information technology (IT) customer support manager who sometimes also served as a WMATA contracting officer’s technical representative (COTR) on certain WMATA contracts. Crowell was a public employee who managed contracts at the District’s Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) and, before that, WMATA.

            Beginning in 2018, Oli and Ogbu agreed to use Ogbu’s official position and connection to Crowell to steer funds from WMATA IT-related contracts to Highbury. As part of the conspiracy, Oli and Ogbu agreed to commit bribery. Specifically, Oli and Ogbu agreed that Oli would give Ogbu things of value in exchange for Ogbu misusing his position at WMATA to benefit Oli. By 2023, Oli and Highbury had received nearly $500,000 through this corrupt scheme.

            Crowell also misused her official position at OCP and agreed with Oli to commit bribery as part of the conspiracy. In January 2021, OCP began the process of helping the District’s Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) hire a vendor to provide DFS with COVID-19 testing supplies. In her official capacity at OCP, Crowell managed the contract solicitation, offer, and award. Crowell alerted Oli and Ogbu to the contracting opportunity; provided them with non-public information about the solicitation, including information regarding contract pricing; and steered the contract to Highbury. The District ultimately paid Highbury over $630,000 under the contract. In return, Oli paid Ogbu over $100,000 and instructed Ogbu to give $15,000 of the money in cash to Crowell in exchange for her corrupt acts.

            Crowell and Ogbu further abused Crowell’s position at OCP to benefit a private company, the Nupath Company, that Ogbu operated with Crowell’s support. Between 2021 and 2023, Crowell misused her position at OCP to identify lucrative government contracts for Nupath. She then shared nonpublic pricing information with Ogbu and the two worked to finalize Nupath bids on the contracts. Through this corrupt arrangement, Crowell helped Nupath obtain a nearly $850,000 contract to provide the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) with assistance carrying out pre-employment suitability background investigations for officer candidates. Crowell also misused her position to get Nupath a $27,000 contract to provide MPD with certain equipment. In exchange, Ogbu shared the Nupath profits with Crowell and gave her things of value, such as $10,000 in cash per month, a new car, luxury vacations, and assistance with closing costs for a new home.

            Oli also pleaded guilty to unlawfully falsifying an annual financial disclosure record related to his USDA employment. As a USDA employee, Oli was required to complete an annual “Confidential Financial Disclosure Report” on a U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) form referred to as the “OGE Form 450.” Oli admitted that he repeatedly falsified his annual OGE Form 450 filings to hinder the USDA’s ability to identify, investigate, and assess his activities with Highbury and any conflict of interests they may have caused.

            The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with the WMATA Office of the Inspector General, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Mid-Atlantic Region and the District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Visser of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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WASHINGTON – Vincent Jones, 29, of Washington, D.C., was indicted today on charges of armed carjacking, armed robbery, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, for robbing the victim at gunpoint outside of a McDonald’s Restaurant, at 3901 Minnesota Ave. in Northeast D.C., in June of 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           According to the government’s evidence, on June 16, 2023, the defendant and two accomplices approached the victim near the parking lot, pointed firearms at him, demanded that he “give it up,” and forcibly took his keys, bag, and cash.  The defendant and one accomplice then fled in the victim’s vehicle while the third accomplice fled in a separate car.

           This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Cocuzza and Jacob Green of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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

WASHINGTON – Columbian Thomas, 26, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 160 months in federal prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Thomas, aka “Cruddy Murda,” was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Thomas pleaded guilty on May 30 to conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 160-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Thomas to serve five years of supervised release.

            The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case [1] , law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms.        

           According to court documents, Thomas entered into the conspiracy after he was introduced to a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, who was a distributor of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. Thomas would travel to Southern California to purchase the fake oxycodone from the L.A. supplier and return to the District with the drugs. 

           Thomas and his co-conspirators employed two primary methods to transport the pills to the District: they smuggled them in luggage or carry-on items on airline flights, or they shipped the pills using commercial mail carriers.

           Thomas often bragged on social media about the lucrative business of fentanyl trafficking and proudly showcased the spoils of his drug trafficking. The below-pictured social media post shows Thomas holding a large stack of U.S. currency, exclaiming “I [love] Cali!!!!”

           On June 2, 2023, the date of his arrest, law enforcement found Thomas in the bedroom of his home and recovered a baggie containing about 100 blue M-30 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, along with a loaded Glock 21 Gen4 pistol that had been equipped with a “giggle switch,” which converted the firearm into a fully automatic machine gun.

           In addition to possessing a machine gun and conspiring to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, Thomas, whose rap stage name is “Cruddy Murda,” often boasted about firearms and acts of violence in his songs. Below is a chart outlining the status and charges of other defendants in the case:

DEFENDANT

AGE

LOCATION

CHARGES/SENTENCE  

Hector David Valdez,

aka “Curl”

26

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Craig Eastman

20

Pleaded guilty July 25, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl.

Sentencing: January 7, 2025.

20

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

20

Bell Gardens,

California

28

Bell Gardens,

California

26

Bell Gardens,

California

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering

34

Marvin Anthony Bussie,

aka “Money Marr”

21

28

Columbian Thomas, aka

"Cruddy Murda”

26

29

Andre Malik Edmond,

aka “Draco”

23

Treyveon James Johnson,

aka “Treyski”

20

Karon Olufemi Blalock,

aka “Fat Bags”

30

Ronte Ricardo Greene,

aka “Cardiddy”

28

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

38

Darius Quincy Hodges,

aka “Brick”

34

Lamin Sesay,

aka “Rock Star”

27

25

Glendale,

California

Pleaded guilty July 1, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Sentencing: November 6, 2024

Omar Arana,

aka “Frogs”

27

Cudahy,

California

26

San Diego,

California

30

Long Beach,

California

Pleaded guilty July 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Sentencing: November 26, 2024.

30

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

26

Conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

           The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional support from the DEA Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

           The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section.

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[1] https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/brother-and-sister-sentenced-drug-conspiracy-involving-fentanyl-sales

WASHINGTON – Michael Humphrey, 43, a registered sex offender from Southeast Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to more than 27 years in federal prison for uploading graphic videos of himself to the internet depicting his sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

           Humphrey pleaded guilty January 8 to sexual exploitation of a child. Humphrey previously was convicted on a charge relating to the sexual abuse of another child. On March 10, 2020, he was convicted of third-degree sex offense in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Maryland. Since May 2022, Humphrey has been registered as a sex offender in the District of Columbia as required by law.

           In addition to the 327-month prison term rendered today, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ordered Humphrey to serve 15 years of supervised release and pay restitution to the girl and several other victims.

           According to the government’s evidence, in July 2023, Google LLC reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that two Google accounts, later identified as belonging to Humphrey, had uploaded material depicting child sexual abuse to Google servers. NCMEC turned that information over to the investigators from the FBI Washington Field Office and the MPD. 

           Investigators obtained a warrant authorizing the search of Humphrey’s Google accounts and discovered three videos that documented Humphrey sexually abusing a five-year-old girl in Washington, D.C. during June 2023.

           Humphrey was arrested on August 11, 2023, and has been held since. After he was taken into custody, investigators obtained Humphrey’s electronic devices and discovered thousands of images and hundreds of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

           This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

           The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Forman and Janani Iyengar, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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WASHINGTON – Angel Monge, 51, of El Salvador, was transported from El Salvador to the United States by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, on October 18, 2024, and placed under arrest for a September 2013 murder. Monge was presented in Superior Court in the District of Columbia the next day when the Honorable Leslie Meeke ordered him to be held without bond. The arrest and extradition were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves.

           According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 6:11 p.m. on September 2, 2013, the United States Park Police (USPP) received a call for an unconscious person located in Grove #6 of the park at Beach Road in Northwest D.C. Upon arrival, USPP officers found a deceased male lying on a creek bed. The Metropolitan Police Department and the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) were notified. The OCME conducted an autopsy on the decedent, who was later identified as Matias Molina, 49, of Washington, D.C. Autopsy results showed that the cause of death was multiple sharp force wounds and the manner of death was determined to be a homicide. The case was presented before a grand jury and, in 2015, Angel Dilmar Monge was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder while armed. A bench warrant was issued and Monge was eventually located in El Salvador.   

          This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.

          The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Clark.

          The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to thank the members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Government of El Salvador to secure the arrest and extradition of Monge.

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

            WASHINGTON –Nashawn Marshall, 27, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to six years in prison, for firearms offenses in an incident which took place on February 1, 2024, involving his stepfather, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Marshall was found guilty by a Superior Court jury, on July 18, 2024, of assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

            The Honorable Errol Arthur sentenced Marshall to 48 months in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon; 72 months for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence; 20 months for threat to kidnap or injure a person; 14 months for unlawful possession of a firearm; 14 months for carrying a pistol without a license. Each sentence will run concurrent to each other. In addition, Judge Arthur imposed that Turner serve three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 9:00 a.m., on February 1, 2024, Marshall was at his parents’ apartment when he got into an argument with his mother and stepfather. During that argument, Marshall pointed a loaded handgun at his stepfather while threatening to kill him. His parents fled the apartment and his stepfather flagged down a police officer. Marshall was stopped and arrested in a nearby apartment building. A handgun matching the description given by his parents was recovered from a crawl space above where Marshall was stopped.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section including, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Hyde and Sarah Roessler, Paralegals Tiffany Jones and Garcia Clark, and Victim/Witness Advocate Shadonna Brooks.

WASHINGTON – Keanan Turner, 35, of Clinton, Maryland, was sentenced for the 2021 murders of Wanda Wright and Ebony Wright, the shooting of a third victim, the attempted murder of an infant, and setting fire to their apartment, announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           On July 26, 2024, a D.C. Superior Court jury found Turner guilty of two counts of first-degree murder while armed with aggravating circumstances, assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault while armed, attempted first degree murder of a minor, second degree cruelty to children, arson, and destruction of property. In addition to these charges, Turner was found guilty of four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license. 

           At sentencing on October 18, 2024, the government argued that the defendant should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, as such a sentence was appropriate under the D.C. Code and D.C. Superior Court Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines, given: (1) the defendant’s complete lack of remorse, (2) the substantial planning by the defendant leading up to the offense, (3) the fact that there were two murders committed at the same time, and (4) the heinous nature of the offense, namely the killing of two innocent women, the attempted murder of a third, and most horrific, leaving his own infant child to burn to death, solely to avoid paying child support. Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan sentenced Turner to sixty-eight years’ incarceration.

           According to the evidence presented at trial, Ebony Wright, who had been in a prior relationship with the defendant, became pregnant. When the defendant asked her to terminate the pregnancy, she declined and he stopped speaking to her. After giving birth, Ebony Wright filed a custody and child support lawsuit against the defendant. On April 12, 2021, Turner reached out to Ebony Wright to meet his child at her apartment. Several people were in the apartment including Ebony Wright, her mother Wanda Wright, a female relative, and the child. After meeting with the family, Turner excused himself, went to the bathroom, and returned with a gun. He shot Ebony Wright in the head while she held their son. He then shot her mother, Wanda Wright, in the back of the head, then went into a back bedroom and shot the relative once in the face. Before leaving the apartment, Turner lit the custody papers and set the apartment on fire, in an attempt to kill his own child. He then fled the scene. Ebony and Wanda Wright died from their injuries. The relative survived and managed to rescue the child from the apartment fire and call 911.           

           In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of Paralegal Specialists Kelly Blakeney, Mabry Johnson, and former Homicide Paralegal Stephanie Gilbert; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim Witness Services Coordinators Maenylie Watson and Shanika J. McCullough; Victim/Witness Program Specialist Latrice Washington-Williams and former Victim/Witness Program Specialist Marci Rinker; Supervisory Specialist Lesley Slade; Appellate Supervisor Nicholas Coleman; Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling, IT Specialists Charlie Bruce, and Sigourney Jackson; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Korba who investigated and indicted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Miles Janssen and Emma McArthur who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Dameshia Cooper, 35, of Waldorf, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to one count of disclosing confidential information held by the D.C. Pretrial Services Agency (PSA), which is an independent federal entity within the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA), announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to court documents, Cooper was a Pretrial Services Officer employed at PSA within CSOSA. As a Pretrial Services Officer, Cooper had access to PSA’s Pretrial Real-Time Information System Manager database, and also to CSOSA’s offender case management system, both of which track and maintain sensitive identifiable data on individuals the agencies supervise. On several occasions in October and November 2022, Cooper looked up confidential information about an individual who was under pretrial supervision and shared the information, including the individual’s name, photograph, and home address, with a member of the individual’s rival gang with whom she was in a personal relationship.

            Cooper faces up to a year in prison. Her conviction today also requires mandatory removal from her employment with PSA. However, Cooper separated from employment with PSA in early February 2024. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office Public Corruption & Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Assistant United States Attorney Brian Kelly is prosecuting the case. 

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WASHINGTON – Antone Watkins, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for armed robbery and other firearm-related offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department. 

Watkins was found guilty by a Superior Court jury on July 3, 2024.

            Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno sentenced Watkins to 120 months in prison for armed robbery, 120 months for each of the two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, 78 months for assault with a dangerous weapon, and 36 months for unauthorized use of a vehicle. Each sentence will run concurrent to each other. In addition, Judge Salerno imposed that Watkins serve five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, at around 10:47 p.m., on June 17, 2022, the victim was led into an alley near Howison Place and N Street SW. In that alley, Watkins brandished a firearm and hit the victim across the face with it, chipping his tooth. Watkins and two others then robbed the victim of his cash, chains, watch, and car keys. Video footage showed Watkins running from the alley, getting into the victim’s truck, and driving off. Further video footage showed Watkins only a few minutes later rummaging through the victim’s belongings in the truck. Police arrested Watkins on September 15, 2022, and he has been detained since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. Invaluable assistance was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Probation Office from early in the case and through the trial. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Levy and Gregory Evans, who prosecuted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Rubb, who investigated the case.

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced the results of Operation Nazare Wave, which focused on violent crime in Washington, D.C., and the National Capital Region. This operation was spearheaded by the USMS’ Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force (CARFTF) between April and September and resulted in the arrest of 826 fugitives (63 for homicide); recovery and seizure of 54 firearms; and seizure of 6.4 kg of narcotics and $1,115,365 in U.S. currency.

“This successful operation reflects the collaborative approach the Justice Department has taken to turn the tide against violent crime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “From April to September, the U.S. Marshals Service brought together more than 30 law enforcement agencies spanning the Washington, D.C. area to arrest 826 fugitives and seize significant quantities of firearms and narcotics. I am deeply grateful to every Deputy U.S. Marshal and law enforcement partner who took part in this operation.”

“I wish to thank all of the Deputies, Task Force Officers, and participating agencies for their steadfast commitment and tremendous work,” said USMS Director Ronald L. Davis. “This operation coincided with Operation North Star FY2024 in 10 other metropolitan areas which demonstrates the commitment of the United States Marshals Service and the Department of Justice to work with local law-enforcement and communities to reduce violent crime.”

Operation Nazare Wave focused on reducing violent crime in the NCR but resulted in arrests crossing 19 different districts across the United States and internationally. While some fugitives wanted in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) fled to other districts, in other instances fugitives wanted outside the DMV traveled into the DMV and were apprehended.

Significant arrests include:

• On July 31, based on information developed by CARFTF, the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and Prince Georges County police assisted a special branch of the Guyana police in locating Rakeem Gilgeours, who fled the country following a July 4 shooting that resulted in the death of a 6-year-old boy and injuries to other community members who had gathered to celebrate the holiday at a Temple Hills, Maryland, park. CARFTF arrested Gilgeours in Miami after Guyana deported him.
• On June 1, Emmanuel Sewell was arrested in Putnam County, West Virginia, by the Southern District of West Virginia Violent Offender Task Force, in collaboration with CARFTF. Sewell, a registered sex offender, was wanted in Montgomery County, Maryland, in connection with the May 31 death of Maryland Parole and Probation Officer David Martinez in his Chevy Chase home. Martinez was Sewell’s probation officer.
• On April 29, CARFTF arrested a 16-year-old juvenile in Suitland, Maryland, for aggravated assault with a gun and attempted murder following an April 19 shooting at a Greenbelt park where a large group of youth had gathered for a senior skip day. A search warrant executed at the suspect’s mother’s house, where he’d been staying, yielded $246,780 in currency, 40.5 grams of crack cocaine, and two handguns.

Agencies participating in Operation Nazare Wave include: Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Metro Transit Police Department; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; Immigrations and Customs Enforcement; Diplomatic Security Service; Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; D.C. Department of Corrections; Bowie Police Department; Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office; Bladensburg Police Department; Prince George’s County Police Department; Montgomery County Police Department; Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office; Maryland State Police; Charles County Sheriff’s Office; Hyattsville Police Department; Maryland Department of Public Safety; Howard County Police Department; Forest Heights Police Department; Fairfax County Police Department; City of Fairfax Police Department; Prince William County Police Department; Alexandria Police Department; Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office; Stafford County Sheriff’s Office; Virginia State Police; and City of Dumfries Police Department.

WASHINGTON – United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Elizabeth Aloi will lead the efforts of the Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 5, 2024, general election.  AUSA Aloi has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Columbia, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

          United States Attorney Graves said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election.  Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

          The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

          Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).   

          United States Attorney Graves stated that: “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.  In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Aloi will be on duty in this District while the polls are open.  She can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: 202-252-7212.”

          In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (202) 278-2000.

           Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ or by phone at 800-253-3931.

           United States Attorney Graves said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate.  It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

           Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency. 

WASHINGTON – Rashaud Williams, 30, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced yesterday to 80 months in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon and other related firearm charges, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Superior Court Judge Errol Arthur sentenced Williams on October 17, 2024, to 60 months in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon and 60 months for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, to run concurrently. Judge Arthur also sentenced him to 20 months in prison for threatening to injure or kidnap a person, to run consecutively.

            Williams was found guilty by a Superior Court jury on May 3, 2024.

            According to the government’s evidence, on August 1, 2023, Williams brought his car into a Petworth area auto shop for repairs. Later in the day, the shop owner called the defendant’s mother to tell her that the car would not be ready until the next day, after they obtained a needed part. Shortly after that call, Williams went to the auto shop and made threats to “shoot up” the entire establishment. The repairman’s girlfriend was there and tried to calm Williams down. Williams then turned the gun on her and threatened to shoot her, then pointed the gun at the owner before leaving.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emmanuel Hampton, Erica Rudolf, and Kathryn Bartz, who prosecuted the case.  

WASHINGTON – Eugene Tracey Hill , 31, of Washington D.C. and a member of the Push Dat Shit (PDS) street crew, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 180 months in prison on four felony charges related to drug trafficking and firearms offenses in the District of Columbia.

            The sentence was announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge James VanVliet of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division; and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Hill, aka “Geno” and “Cheese,” pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024, to a four-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana and a detectable amount of oxycodone, conspiracy to use a machine gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and two counts of possessing a handgun in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

            In his plea agreement, Hill admitted that he distributed both marijuana and oxycodone, and that he distributed both substances in bulk to other dealers and in smaller, street-level transactions. He also admitted to purchasing semi-automatic and fully automatic AR-Pistol ghost guns that he stored in “trap houses” maintained by PDS.

            In addition to the 180-month prison term, the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson ordered Hill to serve five years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, Hill held a leadership position in the Push Dat Shit (PDS) Street Crew which held territory in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. Hill conspired with other crew members to distribute both marijuana and oxycodone within their territory and further admitted that the co-conspirators distributed more than 100 kilograms of marijuana during the course of their conspiracy.

Eugene Tracy Hill

           The co-conspirators also conspired to use, carry, and possess firearms to protect themselves, their drugs, their cash, and their territory from rival crews with whom PDS had “beefs.” Hill admitted that, as part of the conspiracy one of his co-conspirators assembled fully automatic AR-Pistol machine guns which were then distributed within the crew for use in furtherance of their drug trafficking conspiracy. Hill admitted that he purchased and possessed machine guns during his part in the conspiracy.

           Hill was arrested on September 15, 2022, shortly before the FBI executed a search warrant at a “trap house” he and his co-conspirators maintained on Fourth Street, Southeast. FBI agents recovered two Glock handguns, approximately 100 rounds of ammunition, 1.8 pounds of marijuana, two digital scales, a money counter, and approximately $15,000 from that residence.  Hill has been detained since his arrest.

            This case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and ATF with assistance from both officers and detectives from the MPD a part of an ongoing joint investigation which has now resulted in 22 convictions and the seizure of two vehicles, 35 firearms, four machineguns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, approximately 60 pounds of marijuana, 41 grams of cocaine base, dozens of oxycodone pills, and approximately $500,000 in cash. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Justin F. Song with valuable assistance from Paralegal Specialists Marissa Mondelli and Melissa Macechko.

WASHINGTON – Matthew Walker, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today, to 50 years in prison for shooting two men, killing one, at a temporary labor agency in Northeast Washington D.C. on February 14, 2019, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Walker was convicted at trial in January 2024 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            In addition to the 50-year prison term, Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo also ordered Walker to serve five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 5:45 a.m. on February 14, 2019, Walker walked into Trojan Labor, a temporary labor agency in Northeast Washington D.C.  Once inside, Walker ran directly to the agency’s dispatch office, where he repeatedly shot David Remen, one of the agency’s workers and Michael Hardy, the manager of the agency. Walker then fled away from the scene and discarded his clothing, mask, and firearm nearby.  Mr. Remen died on scene.  Mr. Hardy died in 2022.  DNA evidence from the clothing, mask and firearm, as well as ballistic, video, and other evidence linked the defendant to the shooting.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Prava Palacharla who investigated and indicted the case, Deputy Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Donavan for providing forensic DNA expertise, Paralegal Specialist Grazy Rivera, Victim/Witness Advocate Karina Hernandez, Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling, and IT Specialist Charlie Bruce.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Seidel and Alec Levy, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, Alabama, was arrested this morning, in Athens, in connection with a January 2024 unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account, formerly known as Twitter, in which hackers posted a fake message from the SEC Chair that caused the value of bitcoin (BTC) to spike by $1,000. Council is expected to make an initial appearance today in the Northern District of Alabama.

          Council is charged by indictment, unsealed today, with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. The arrest and the indictment were announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey.

           According to the indictment, on January 9, 2024, Council conspired with others to take unauthorized control of the @SECGov X account (sometimes called the SEC’s Twitter account) and transmitted a fake post in the name of the SEC Chair, falsely announcing, in part, “Today the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” Immediately after the tweet, the price of BTC increased by more than $1,000 per bitcoin.

          Shortly after the unauthorized post, the SEC regained control over their X account and confirmed that the announcement was unauthorized and the result of a security breach. Following this corrective disclosure, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per bitcoin. (At the time, the SEC had been deliberating whether to approve exchange traded funds (ETFs) that held bitcoin.) An unauthorized actor gained control of the SEC X account through a “SIM swap.”  

           "These SIM swapping schemes, where fraudsters trick service providers into giving them control of unsuspecting victims’ phones, can result in devastating financial losses to victims and leaks of sensitive personal and private information,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “Here, the conspirators allegedly used their illegal access to a phone to manipulate financial markets. Through indictments like this, we will hold accountable those who commit these serious crimes."

          “The indictment alleges that Eric Council, Jr. unlawfully accessed the SEC’s account on X by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Argentieri. “Council, Jr.’s co-conspirators then allegedly used this unauthorized access to the X account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved listing Bitcoin ETFs, which caused the price of Bitcoin to rise by $1,000 and then fall by $2,000. Council’s indictment underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to countering cybercrime, especially when it threatens the integrity of financial markets.”

          “The FBI works to identify, disrupt, and investigate cyber-enabled frauds, including SIM swapping,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Geist. “SIM swapping is a method bad actors exploit to illicitly access sensitive information of an individual or company, with the intent of perpetrating a crime. In this case, the unauthorized actor allegedly utilized SIM swapping to manipulate the global financial market. The FBI will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners around the country and globe to hold accountable those who break U.S. laws.”

         “Today’s arrest demonstrates our commitment to holding bad actors accountable for undermining the integrity of the financial markets,” said SEC Inspector General Jeffrey.

           A Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card is a chip that stores information identifying and authenticating a cell phone subscriber. When a cell phone carrier reassigns a phone number from one physical phone to another — such as when a customer purchases a new phone but wants to retain the same number — the carrier switches the assignment of the cell phone number from the SIM card in the old phone to the SIM card in the new phone, a process sometimes referred to as “porting” a number.

           A SIM swap attack refers to the process of fraudulently inducing a carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber or user’s SIM card to a SIM card, and telephone, controlled by a criminal actor. A SIM swap attack allows a criminal actor to defeat multifactor authentication (MFA) and/or two-step verification process to access a victim’s account so that the criminal actor may steal money and/or data from the victim or access the victim’s online accounts. 

          As described in the indictment, Council, who used online monikers including “Ronin,” “Easymunny,” and “AGiantSchnauzer,” received personal identifying information (PII) and an identification card template containing a victim’s name and photo from co-conspirators. Council then used his identification card printer to create a fake ID with the information.  Council proceeded to obtain a SIM card linked to the victim’s phone line by presenting the fake ID at a cell phone provider store in Huntsville, Alabama.  He then purchased a new iPhone in cash and used the two items to obtained access codes to the @SECGov X account. Council shared those codes with members of the conspiracy, who then accessed the account – and issued the fraudulent tweet on the @SECGov X account in the name of the SEC Chairman, falsely announcing the SEC’s approval of BTC ETFs. Council received BTC payment for performing the successful SIM swap. Shortly after, Council drove to Birmingham, Alabama to return the iPhone used in the SIM swap for cash. 

           He later conducted internet searches for “SECGOV hack,” “telegram sim swap,” “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI,” and “What are the signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been contacted by them.”

           This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, the SEC-Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and the Department of Justice’s Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit (MIMF) and Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). Significant assistance was provided by the FBI’s Birmingham Field Office.

           The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rosenberg, and DOJ Trial Attorneys Ashley Pungello and Paul Zebb from the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Lauren Archer from the Fraud Section. Valuable assistance was provided by Assistant United States Attorney John Hundscheid from the Northern District of Alabama.

          For more information on SIM Swapping, go to: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240411

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

WASHINGTON – Gary Bellinger, 61, of Maryland, was sentenced today for child sexual abuse for the sexual abuse of a then-15-year-old female relative in 2015. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Pamela A. Smith, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan sentenced Bellinger to 10 1/2 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Upon release, Bellinger will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

             Bellinger was found guilty of one count of first-degree child sexual abuse and one count of second-degree child sexual abuse on May 28, 2024, following a four-day trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. 

             According to the evidence and testimony presented at trial, in 2015, Bellinger sexually abused a female relative who was 15 years old at the time. The victim first disclosed to family members in 2020. 

             In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marco Crocetti and Kathleen Houck, Victim Advocate Maria Sanchez-Garcia, Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section Paralegals Tiffany Jones and Tiffany Fogle.

An Alabama man was arrested by the FBI this morning in Athens, Alabama, on charges related to the January hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to court documents, on or about Jan. 9, Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, allegedly conspired with others to take unauthorized control of the SEC’s X account and, in the name of SEC Chair Gary Gensler, prematurely announced the approval of bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds. Immediately following the false announcement, the price of bitcoin increased by more than $1,000 per bitcoin. Shortly after this unauthorized post, the SEC regained control over its X account and confirmed that the announcement was unauthorized and the result of a security breach. Following this corrective disclosure, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per bitcoin.

The conspirators gained control of the SEC’s X account through an unauthorized Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap, allegedly carried out by Council. A SIM swap refers to the process of fraudulently inducing a cell phone carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber or user’s SIM card to a SIM card controlled by a criminal actor. As part of the scheme, Council and the co-conspirators allegedly created a fraudulent identification document in the victim’s name, which Council used to impersonate the victim; took over the victim’s cellular telephone account; and accessed the online social media account linked to the victim’s cellular phone number for the purpose of accessing the SEC’s X account and generating the fraudulent post in the name of SEC Chairman Gensler.

“The indictment alleges that Eric Council Jr. unlawfully accessed the SEC’s account on X by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Council’s co-conspirators then allegedly used this unauthorized access to the X account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved listing bitcoin ETFs, which caused the price of bitcoin to rise by $1,000 and then fall by $2,000. Council’s indictment underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to countering cybercrime, especially when it threatens the integrity of financial markets.”

“These SIM swapping schemes, where fraudsters trick service providers into giving them control of unsuspecting victims’ phones, can result in devastating financial losses to victims and leaks of sensitive personal and private information,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “Here, the conspirators allegedly used their illegal access to a phone to manipulate financial markets. Through indictments like this, we will hold accountable those who commit these serious crimes.”

“The defendant allegedly deceived the public by impersonating the victim and making fraudulent statements on behalf of the SEC,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who attempt to manipulate financial markets for their own gain.”

“The FBI works to identify, disrupt, and investigate cyber-enabled frauds, including SIM swapping,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge David E. Geist of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division. “SIM swapping is a method bad actors exploit to illicitly access sensitive information of an individual or company, with the intent of perpetrating a crime. In this case, the unauthorized actor allegedly utilized SIM swapping to manipulate the global financial market. The FBI will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners around the country and globe to hold accountable those who break U.S. laws.”

“This criminal indictment demonstrates our commitment to holding bad actors accountable for undermining the integrity of the financial markets,” said Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey of the SEC.

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment on Oct. 10 charging Council with one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Washington Field Office and SEC Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Ashley Pungello of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Trial Attorney Lauren Archer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

For more information on SIM swapping, go to www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240411.

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

WASHINGTON – Nathaniel Lamar Nelson Scott, 36, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Scott pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The Honorable Dabney L. Friedrich scheduled a sentencing hearing for January 28, 2025.

            According to the government’s evidence, in May 2024, Scott began communicating via an encrypted messaging application with a man he met on a fetish website. Scott believed the man to be a pedophile who was sexually abusing his six-year-old daughter. Unbeknownst to Scott, the man was an undercover officer with the MPD–FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Over the next several days, Scott engaged in graphic conversations about sexually abusing the child. On June 5, 2024, Scott arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child. He traveled from Maryland to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C., and was arrested. Scott has remained in custody since his arrest.

           Scott faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The statutory sentences for federal offenses are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes. Any sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. In addition, Scott will be required to register as a sex offender following any prison term.

            This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and MPD’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney.

24cr287

            WASHINGTON – Christ Tchakounte, 19, of Hyattsville, MD, has been charged in a seven-count indictment for shooting a 15-year-old victim three times, including once in the head, on the afternoon of January 19, 2024, in the Kingman Park neighborhood of Southeast D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            The indictment was returned today by a Superior Court grand jury, and charges Tchakounte with one count each of assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license.  According to the Government’s evidence, the teenage victim was out shoveling snow in the neighborhood with friends and relatives during a snow day in January 2024 when Tchakounte and an accomplice pulled up in a car, parked in a nearby alley, flanked the victim at the intersection of 16th Street and A Street Southeast, shot the victim three times, and then fled after the victim collapsed in the street.  After several months of intensive care, the victim survived.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Cocuzza and Daniel Bromwich.

            An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

WASHINGTON – This morning, six people were arrested on charges connected to a wide-ranging conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine base, cocaine, and methamphetamine, in the Potomac Gardens Housing Project in Southeast Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office.  

           Arrested were Robert Hunt, 40, Garrett Isley, 42, Maurice Tutt, 50, Vera Jackson, 74, all of Washington, D.C., Michael Augment, 36, of Lorton, Virginia, and Lawrence Smith, 54, of Fairfax, Virginia. Each made their initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

     “This is the latest federal indictment charging a D.C.-based crew with narcotics and firearms offenses” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “Drug trafficking operations, like the one alleged in the indictment, not only peddle poison, but they are also magnets for gun violence.  We will continue to aggressively prosecute these crews that are undermining community safety.”

          “Fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine have no place in our community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Geist. “Today's arrests stem from a yearslong investigation by the FBI and our law enforcement partners and mark a step forward in our efforts to reduce drug trafficking in the nation’s capital.”

           The multi-agency law enforcement operation included members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), District of Columbia Housing Authority Police, Virginia State Police, and Fairfax County and City police departments.   

           According to the indictment, between January and October of 2024, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics in and around the District of Columbia. It is further alleged that Hunt unlawfully distributed fentanyl and carried a gun in furtherance of drug trafficking. Isley is charged with unlawful possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base, and methamphetamine.

           The indictment arises from a long-term investigation by the FBI, MPD, and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) into drug and firearms trafficking in Potomac Gardens. In December 2023, MCPD learned that defendant Hunt regularly was selling fentanyl from an apartment in the housing complex.  An undercover officer (UC) purchased narcotics, in particular fentanyl, from Hunt. Hunt initially used “runners” to deliver the narcotics to the UC. However, after a few buys, Hunt began to deal directly with the undercover officer. From approximately January 2024 through September 2024, the UC purchased approximately 215.87 grams of fentanyl powder and approximately 2,950 fentanyl pills from Hunt.  The UC also purchased a .357 “ghost gun” from Hunt.  

           Through a court-authorized wiretap on Hunt’s phone, agents learned of several of his co-conspirators and the roles they each played. Agents also placed a camera outside Hunt’s apartment and outside the apartment of one of his supplier’s, defendant Isley. Through a wiretap on Isley’s phone, agents learned of additional members of the conspiracy. MPD stopped Isley in a traffic stop on June 19, 2024, during which they recovered 468 blue, suspected fentanyl pills, about 37.4 grams of cocaine base, approximately 24.5 grams of cocaine, and about 60 grams of methamphetamine and other narcotics.

          On October 16, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at various stash houses and residences of the co-conspirators. Agents recovered five firearms, approximately $31,000 in cash, approximately 500 grams of suspected fentanyl and smaller amounts of other narcotics, two money counters, and additional drug paraphernalia. 

           This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

           This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the DEA Washington Field Office, District of Columbia Housing Authority Police, Virginia State Police, and Fairfax County and City police departments.   

           It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nihar Mohanty and Solomon Eppel of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Maryland and the Eastern District in Virginia in helping to coordinate search warrants and arrests.

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

WASHINGTON – Sasha McCoy, 28, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty on October 15, 2024, on the charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old daughter on October 28, 2022, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), announced.

            McCoy has been in custody since her arrest on February 15, 2024.  Her guilty plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon 4 to10-year prison sentence, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

            According to a proffer of facts submitted at the plea hearing, at approximately 1:00 p.m. on October 28, 2022, McCoy took her two children to the back bedroom of the location she was staying for a nap and placed them in the bed.  When McCoy went to check on her children, she found her 3-year-old daughter unconscious and unresponsive.  She later died at the hospital.  A small plastic bag that contained two blue round pills with a monogram “M” and half of an oval pill were discovered on top of the bed that the children were sleeping in.  The drug analysis determined that the partial tablet was Alprazolam – that is Xanax. The oval pills were determined to contain 4-ANPP, Acetaminophen, Fentanyl, Flurofentanyl, as well as other substances.  Medical examiners determined the decedent died from fentanyl and flurofentanyl intoxication. 

           In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Assistant United States Attorney Emma McArthur for her efforts in prosecuting this case.   

WASHINGTON – Today, federal law enforcement arrested the fourth and fifth defendants charged in connection with a series of burglaries and robberies of commercial businesses, ATMs, and vehicles in the D.C. and Maryland area. Jonathan Winston, 35, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Jeffery Felder, 37, of Bowie, Maryland, were arrested this morning in Georgia by the U.S. Marshals Service. They are charged along with Stefon Janey, 32, of Accokeek, Maryland; Thomas Hughes, 37, of Cheverly, Maryland; Jenarro Hewett, 33 of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with interference with interstate commerce by robbery (also known as Hobbs Act Robbery) and conspiracy. They are believed to be responsible for more than 75 robberies between August 2023 and June 2024. 

           The arrest and indictment were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Baltimore Field Office and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           “As alleged in the indictment, this crew conspired to commit roughly 40 brazen robberies where they used ‘Jaws of Life’ and similar tools to peel open ATM machines inside stores and outside banks,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “Even though the defendants destroyed surveillance footage and took other steps to cover their tracks, our prosecutors and law enforcement officers worked tirelessly to identify the members of this crew who terrorized our region. With all the defendants now arrested, we can work equally hard to hold them accountable for their crimes.”

           “Undoubtedly, Prince George’s County is safer with these defendants locked up where they can no longer terrorize local businesses and their employees. Their crimes were aggressive, reckless and dangerous. Now they will face the consequences for each of those crimes,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge DelBagno. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will always work together to make our communities safer and bring violent criminals to justice.”

          According to the indictment and other court documents, the defendants would: target commercial businesses with ATM machines, enter the business wearing masks and gloves, and would utilize tools common to fire/rescue, such as “Jaws of Life” to pry open or cut open the doors of the store and the ATMs. The suspects sometimes carried firearms, utilized stolen vehicles, communicated via handheld radios, and destroyed surveillance.

          Prior to each robbery, the co-conspirators would meet in vehicles at a predetermined location. At these “meet-up” locations, the co-conspirators would transfer to a different car to carry out the robberies. They carried out multiple robberies over the course of a single evening and would often communicate with each other using handheld radios.

          After arriving at a store, the defendants would divide up, with one conspirator remaining in the car as the getaway driver, pry open the outer door, and then at least one of the defendants would subdue the store employees, sometimes directing them to enclosed areas of the store. At least one defendant would attempt to destroy the store’s surveillance and network equipment. At least one defendant would utilize a “Jaws of Life” style tool to open the ATM and remove the cash cassettes. They would flee the store and escape in the robbery vehicle.

          Between August 2023 and June 2024, the indictment charges these defendants with robbing or attempting to rob at least 75 ATM machines, laundering at least some of the proceeds at casinos, and related offenses.

          Law enforcement arrested Hughes, Hewett, and Janey on July 24, 2024 and, as a result of the arrests and searches, agents and officers recovered 12 firearms, more than $80,000 in cash, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and thousands of dollars’ worth of high-end clothing and merchandise.  During the arrests of Felder and Winston on October 15, 2024, law enforcement recovered three additional firearms among other evidence.

          This is an ongoing investigation being handled by the MPD Carjacking Task Force and FBI-Baltimore with assistance from local law enforcement, including Howard County Police Department. 

          The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron Tepfer and Kyle McWaters.

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

WASHINGTON – Jahmius Brown, 19, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to more than nine years – or 115 months – in prison for his role in a series of armed robberies that took place on July 23, 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

         Superior Court Judge Heidi M. Pasichow sentenced Brown to serve 40 months in prison for a robbery charge and 75 months for an armed robbery charge to be served consecutively for a total of 115 months. Judge Pasichow also ordered Brown to serve three years of supervised release.

         Co-defendant Ricky Bronson, 18, of Washington, D.C., will be sentenced at a later date. 

           Brown and Bronson both previously pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and one count of robbery in January of 2024. In exchange for their guilty plea, the government agreed not to pursue charges for two additional armed robberies that were alleged to have been part of defendants’ crime spree.

         According to the government's evidence, the first robbery occurred at the intersection of 2nd and Bryant Streets, NW, as the first victim was walking down the 100 block of Bryant Street, NW, and observed one of the defendants standing on the corner and a blue sedan parked nearby. As the victim walked down the street, they were suddenly cut off by Brown, who told the victim to stop and then demanded that the victim hand over any valuables. Bronson exited the blue sedan, armed with a firearm, and the victim proceeded to hand over an iPhone and provided the defendants the password to it, per the defendants' demand. Both defendants then re-entered the blue sedan and fled the scene.

         MPD later responded to 1331 D Street, NE for another report of an armed robbery. At this scene, detectives interviewed the victim, who stated that they were standing at the rear of a vehicle when another vehicle, a blue sedan, approached the victim from behind. The victim was first approached by Brown, who grabbed the victim's shoulder and said, "Don't scream." Co-defendant Bronson then approached the victim and pressed a gun into their stomach, to which the victim told both men to "Take whatever you want."

         Bronson took the victim's cell phone and ordered the victim to unlock it. Brown then grabbed the victim's keys out of their pocket. Both defendants then fled the scene in the blue sedan. Six minutes later, officers responded to a call for an armed robbery in the 1000 block of F Street, NE. There, the victim told officers that they were walking down F Street when they heard a speeding vehicle and observed a blue sedan stop nearby. The victim observed two men get out of the vehicle, and one of them demanded that the victim, "Give me what you got," while the other man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim. The victim gave the defendants a cell phone and wallet, and both men fled the scene in the blue sedan.

         In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tamara Rubb and Jacqueline Yarbro.

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WASHINGTON – Chanos Monroe, aka Chanos Gillis, 41, of District Heights, MD, pleaded guilty today to charges of voluntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm – prior felony conviction, for the 2022 murder of Keith Sistare, 52, at a BP gas station along Benning Rd. Northeast, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

           Monroe has been in custody since his arrest on June 25, 2024. His guilty plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon 14-year prison sentence, to be followed by five years of supervised release. 

           According to a proffer of facts submitted at the plea hearing, Monroe and an unidentified male chased down the Mr. Sistare after he attempted to get into the driver’s seat of Mr. Monroe’s vehicle which was left idling outside the BP gas station store. Monroe’s fiancé was still in the front seat at the time. Surveillance video shows Mr. Monroe repeatedly stomping on Mr. Sistare’s head while he was lying prone on the ground. Mr. Monroe then went back to his vehicle and got a handgun, but his fiancé convinced him to come back to their car with the gun. Mr. Sistare died, on September 11, 2022, as a result of his injuries.

           This case is being investigated by officers, detectives, and other personnel of the Metropolitan Police Department.

           This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON – Keyshawn Lavender, 23, Deandre Sams, 28, Raymond Mathis, 37, of Washington, D.C., and Deandre Christian, 30, of Fort Washington, MD, were arraigned in Superior Court today on a superseding indictment charging Lavender, Sams, and Mathis with conspiracy to commit robbery, first degree felony murder while armed, and related charges for the September 5, 2023 murder of 32-year-old Matthew Miller. Christian was arraigned on an assault with intent to kill charge for shooting from the balcony of an apartment building.

           The superseding indictment was announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department. All four defendants were arraigned before Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein.

          According to the superseding indictment, Lavender, Mathis, and Sams conspired to rob and shoot Matthew Miller inside an apartment at 222 M Street, Southwest, Washington, D.C. Christian is charged for an alleged retaliatory shooting immediately after the murder.

           The defendants entered pleas of not guilty and remain held pending trial. Lavender, Sams, and Mathis are scheduled for trial on September 8, 2025; a trial date for Christian has not yet been set.

           In announcing the charge, U.S. Attorney Graves commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Prins.   

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

WASHINGTON – Zachary Kam, 24, of Chicago, IL, was arrested this morning in connection with a federal criminal complaint charging him with assault on two law enforcement officers during a demonstration at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2024.

            The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division, and Chief Jessica M. E. Taylor of the National Park Service’s United States Park Police (USPP).

            Kam will make his initial appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is charged with two counts of assaulting, resisting, opposing, intimidating, interfering, or impeding certain officers or employees.

            “Assaulting a federal officer during the course of a protest is not constitutionally protected speech, it is a federal crime,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “Tens of thousands of people peacefully protest in our Capital every year. It is a federal crime to punch, push, grab, or shove a federal officer. The relatively few who engage in such conduct during a protest should expect to be federally charged.”

            According to court documents, on July 24, 2024, an organization was granted a permit to demonstrate in the area of Columbus Circle, located at Massachusetts Ave. NE, and E St. NE, directly in front of Union Station. From about 3 p.m. until 5 p.m., demonstrators who had gathered in Columbus Circle pulled down flags affixed to the flagpoles; burned flags and objects; sprayed graffiti on multiple statutes and structures; and interfered with law enforcement’s ability to place individuals under arrest.

            On July 24, 2024, at approximately 3 p.m., USPP officers were attempting to arrest an individual for pulling down a flag from a flagpole in Columbus Circle. The individual fled and USPP officers caught up with him in the crowd.

            As USPP officers were effecting that arrest, Kam approached USPP Officer L.I. from behind, grabbed the top of the officer’s vest, pulled the officer to the ground, and dragged the officer several feet. The assault was captured in multiple videos and photos, later shared on Twitter and other platforms, as well as USPP body-worn camera. Kam then dashed into the crowd, but other police were unable to catch him.   

            Less than a minute later, Kam returned, grabbed another officer by his vest and pulled that officer to the ground. The second assault was also captured on multiple open-source videos that were later posted to various internet platforms. After the second assault, the attacker again disappeared into the crowd.

            At the time of the assaults, Kam was wearing a red and blue hat, gray t-shirt, a tan camouflage vest, blue jeans, and black shoes. USPP Officers who were stationed in an observation post near Columbus Circle broadcasted Kam’s description over police radio. At 7:13 p.m., USPP Officers near John Marshall Park, which is located on the 400 Block of C Street Northwest, spotted an individual that matched the individual’s description, who was later identified as Zachary Kam.

            After being stopped by USPP, Kam was placed under arrest and charged in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia with assaulting a police officer.

            This case is being investigated by the USPP’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Unit and the FBI Washington Field Office, with assistance from the FBI Chicago Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Martin.

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

WASHINGTON – A jury sitting in Superior Court today found Dennis Chase, 32, of Washington, D.C., guilty of first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm in the December 2020 shooting death of Anthony Orr. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  Sentencing is scheduled for January 10, 2024.

          According to the government’s evidence, the defendant drove around the Washington Highlands neighborhood with the victim, Anthony Orr, sitting in the passenger seat. As the defendant slowly drove down Xenia St SE, he raised a gun to Mr. Orr’s head and fired one lethal shot. The defendant pushed Mr. Orr out of the car and sped off. The defendant drove 30 miles North of the District to the woods of Severn, Maryland, where he doused the car in diesel exhaust fluid and attempted to light it on fire. The defendant then hiked through the woods until he found a random home, where he stripped down and hid his clothes and other evidence in the back shed, knocked on the back door, and asked for help. The homeowner called 911, and Anne Arundel County Police arrested the defendant on an unrelated warrant. MPD Homicide Detectives later charged defendant for the murder of Mr. Orr. The defendant claimed he acted in self-defense.

          This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and Assistant United States Attorney Peter Roman. It was prosecuted and tried by Assistant United States Attorneys Wes Faulkner and Andrea Antonelli. 

WASHINGTON — Danielle Marquita Baltimore, 40, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 180 days of incarceration for financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or elderly person, and 50 days for shoplifting. Each sentence will run concurrent to each other. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.

            Baltimore pleaded guilty to the two charges on October 2, 2024, before the Honorable Robert Rigsby, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            According to the government’s evidence, Baltimore worked as a direct support professional at Innovative Day, LLC, a day program for adults with developmental disabilities. Baltimore’s duties included taking individuals who require assistance or supervision in a safe environment outside the home during the day. Along with her guilty plea, Baltimore admitted that on or about December 20, 2023, Baltimore took two vulnerable adults who suffer from cognitive and developmental disabilities to Walmart, located at 310 Riggs Rd NE, Washington, DC. While at Walmart, Baltimore coerced the two vulnerable adults under her care into shoplifting items on her behalf. Baltimore placed items consisting of sneakers, clothing, and various merchandise in bags and gave the bags to the victims. Baltimore instructed the victims to exit Walmart without paying for the items. After leaving Walmart, Baltimore retrieved all of the concealed items from the victims. One victim stated they felt bad for shoplifting but complied for fear Baltimore would harm them for refusing.

            This prosecution is part of the Office’s wider efforts to combat crimes against seniors and vulnerable adults. In 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia launched an initiative to address the abuse and exploitation of older adults. The Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Initiative at the U.S. Attorney’s Office expanded its response to criminal and civil violations targeting older adults. The initiative has enabled the U.S. Attorney’s Office to develop and coordinate further its prosecution of these cases and enhance its overall support of older or vulnerable victims. The team consists of experienced prosecutors and victim advocates from across the Office, to include the Superior Court, Criminal, and Civil Divisions, as well as the Victim Witness Assistance Unit.

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Initiative partners with the D.C. Office of the Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), which is statutorily responsible for investigating and prosecuting District Medicaid provider fraud as well as abuse or neglect of residents in health care facilities and board and care facilities and of District Medicaid beneficiaries in noninstitutional or other settings.

            This prosecution is indicative of the continued collaboration between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the D.C. Office of the Inspector General to investigate and prosecute cases of this kind. The government urges the public to provide tips and assistance to stop health care fraud. If you have information about individuals committing health care fraud, please call the D.C. Office of the Inspector General at 202-724-TIPS [202-724-8477].

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Inspector General Lucas acknowledged the work of those who investigated and prosecuted the case from the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Office of Inspector General’s MFCU. They also commended the efforts of Special Assistant United States Attorney Emmanuela Charles, on detail from the MFCU, who prosecuted the case, and MFCU Special Agents Eduardo Torre and Victor Richardson, who investigated the matter.

WASHINGTON – Tyrone Johnson, 43, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in D.C. Superior Court to 20 years in prison for shooting a stranger on August 30, 2022, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department. 

           Johnson was found guilty at trial in June 2024 of aggravated assault while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, three counts of possession of a firearm during each of those crimes of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo also ordered Johnson to serve five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, at around 5:40 a.m. on August 30, 2022, Johnson entered Starburst Plaza, located at the intersection of Benning Road NE and Bladensburg Road NE, and asked the victim if he could buy a cigarette from him. The victim did not have any cigarettes and told Johnson “no.” Johnson then told the victim to, “Give it up,” before taking out a handgun. Johnson then fired multiple times at the victim at close range, hitting him in his midsection. Johnson then ran into a nearby apartment complex. Police later identified Johnson through review of video surveillance, GPS records, and ballistics evidence that linked Johnson to this shooting and one committed one week before this offense.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also commended the work of those who helped on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Program Specialist Jennifer Allen, Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Renee Prather and Paralegal Specialists Crystal Waddy and Antoinette Sakamsa, IT Specialist Charlie Bruce, Supervisory Victim/Witness Service Coordinator Katina Adams and Victim/Witness Coordinators Maenylie Watson and Shanika McCollough, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Lenerz from the Appellate Division, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Folse and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward “Teddy” Dunn, who both investigated the case.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Travis Wolf and Matthew Goldstein, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi, 26, of Richmond, Virginia, was arrested this morning in connection with a federal criminal complaint charging him with destruction of federal property. The complaint alleges that Mahdawi spray-painted the monument at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2024.

            The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division, and Chief Jessica M. E. Taylor of the U.S. Park Police (USPP).

            Mahdawi will make his initial appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is charged with destruction of government property.

            “Politically motivated destruction or defacing of federal property is not protected speech, it is a crime,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “Anyone engaged in such conduct in the District of Columbia should expect to get federally prosecuted. Our community has zero tolerance for those who want to destroy or deface our monuments and other federal property.”  

            “The FBI does not conduct investigations based solely on First Amendment activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division. “The FBI investigates people only when we receive information or allegations that they are, or may be, violating federal law or posing a risk to national security. We are committed to working closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to bring to justice any individuals who commit federal crimes, including destruction of federal property.”

            According to court documents, on July 24, 2024, an organization was granted a permit to demonstrate in the area of Columbus Circle, located at Massachusetts Ave. NE, and E St. NE, directly in front of Union Station. From about 3 p.m. until 5 p.m., demonstrators who had gathered in Columbus Circle pulled down flags affixed to the flagpoles; burned flags and objects; sprayed graffiti on multiple statutes and structures; and interfered with law enforcement’s ability to place individuals under arrest.

            Between 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., an individual later identified as Mahdawi climbed the monument located in the center of Columbus Circle, which was captured on video footage filmed by USPP from an observation post looking down at Columbus Circle. The same event was captured in open-source video and photos later posted to various internet platforms. After climbing to a ledge, Mahdawi began to spray paint the monument.

            Footage obtained from a review of open-source videos posted to X (formerly Twitter) showed Mahdawi using red spray paint to write “HAMAS IS COMIN” on the Columbus statue. After completing the phrase, Mahdawi spray-painted an inverted red triangle above the slogan.

            On July 30, 2024, the U.S. Park Police issued a bulletin seeking information on five individuals who engaged in criminal activity on July 24, 2024. The same day the bulletin was posted, the U.S. Park Police received a tip that they forwarded to the FBI. Through that tip and other leads, FBI was able to identify Mahdawi. Additionally, law enforcement databases revealed that Mahdawi had previously been arrested in Richmond, Virginia, on two occasions (December 2023 and April 2024).

            The flags that were pulled down from the flag poles, and the statues and structures in Columbus Circle, are all property of the federal government. The National Park Service estimated that the cost to clean and repair the site at about $11,282.23.

            This case is being investigated by the USPP’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Unit and the FBI Washington Field Office, with assistance from the FBI Richmond Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Martin.

            A criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

WASHINGTON – Deangelo Wooten, 27, was sentenced today to eight years in prison, for shooting a minor in January 2024, with whom he was in a romantic relationship, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Wooten pleaded guilty on July 19, 2024, to one count of aggravated assault while armed and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.  Today, Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo sentenced Wooten to eight years in prison for the aggravated assault while armed charge, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Judge Demeo also sentenced Wooten to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, to run concurrently.

            According to the governments evidence, in January 2024, the victim, who was 16-years-old at the time, was in a dating relationship with Wooten, who was 26-years-old at the time. On January 20, 2024, the defendant sent several text messages to the victim, stating “Imma shoot you dead in your face” and “On dior when I see you imma kill you.” Initially, the victim thought the defendant was making these statements to get a reaction from her. The defendant then texted her and asked if they could meet for her to give him his shoes. The victim agreed and went with two others to meet Wooten at 13th Street and Congress Street SE, to give the defendant his shoes.

            At around 1:00 p.m., the victim and her friend arrived and waited in a car at the location. Shortly thereafter the defendant drove up in a blue car. Wooten jumped out of the blue car and approached the victim, who was sitting in the back seat of her friend’s car. Wooten took the shoes from the victim with one hand, produced a gun in the other hand pointing it at the victim’s head, and fired while standing within arm’s length of the victim. The victim, anticipating the shot, raised her arm to protect her head, and the bullet entered and exited her arm and grazed her back. The defendant walked away, got back in his vehicle and drove off. The victim began to bleed and the other two people in the vehicle drove her to the hospital, where she received treatment.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Roessler, who prosecuted the case. 

WASHINGTON – Keimontay Holston, 21, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty in Superior Court of possession of a machine gun, possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The verdict was returned on October 2, 2024, following a jury trial. Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno scheduled sentencing for December 11, 2024.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 6:00 a.m. on June 6, 2024, members of MPD’s Robbery Suppression Unit executed a search warrant at the defendant’s apartment, located in the 2300 block of Hartford Street, SE. Upon entering the apartment, law enforcement officers encountered Holston in the hallway, as he was leaving the dining room of the residence. Once stopped, officers searched the apartment and recovered a black 9mm Glock 17.  The Glock had a “giggle” switch attached to it, and it had a magazine containing 17 rounds of ammunition. Officers also found an additional magazine with 31 rounds of ammunition in the defendant’s apartment. The recovered firearm was fully functional, and the “giggle” switch attachment allowed a shooter to fire multiple rounds of ammunition with a single pull of the trigger, converting the Glock 17 into a machine gun.

            Holston was arrested during the execution of the search warrant and has been detained since.

            Holston is the first individual convicted at trial of the felony offense of possession of a machine gun, which was increased from a misdemeanor to a felony under the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024.

            “As a result of the recently enacted Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act, it is now a felony to possess one of these conversion devices that transform handguns into the types of machine guns that mobsters used in the 1920s and 30s,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. “This is the first guilty verdict, at trial, under this new statute, and we expect many more such verdicts. Our Office will continue to make aggressive use of this new statute to try to remove these devices from the streets in the same way that laws passed in the 1930s helped to remove machine guns from our streets.”

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Comber of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON – Matthew Stitt Johnson, 34, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 52.5 years in prison for two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count second-degree child sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances for abusing three minor children.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Johnson pleaded guilty on August 29, 2022, before U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb. In addition to the 52.5-year prison term, Judge Cobb ordered Johnson to register as a sex offender.

            According to the government’s evidence, Johnson sexually abused three children, an eight-year-old, a five-year-old, and an eight-month-old infant, between 2015 and 2020. Johnson took videos of his sexual abuse of the five-year-old child and the eight-month-old infant. While the five-year-old and her sister reported the abuse to their mother, the abuse was not reported to law enforcement.

            In May 2021, law enforcement received a tip that Johnson downloaded child pornography from a cloud-based service and subsequently executed a search warrant on his home. Videos depicting the sexual abuse of the five-year-old and eight-month-old victims were discovered in Johnson’s cell phones along with 13,000 images of child pornography. Johnson distributed the images of his sexual abuse of children in internet forums dedicated to trading child pornography, particularly trading images of the rape and torture of infants and toddlers, and actively sought out and distributed other child pornography images over a two-year period.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. The investigation received valuable assistance from the MPD’s Narcotics and Special Investigation Division, Human Trafficking Unit. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Platt and Janani Iyengar with the valuable assistance of Victim/Witness Advocate Yvonne Bryant.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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WASHINGTON – Matthew Norman Ballek, 32, of Saskatchewan, Canada, pleaded guilty today to a federal child pornography charge stemming from his distribution of child pornography to an undercover law enforcement agent in January 2024, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Ballek pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of possession of child pornography. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 21, 2025.

           According to plea documents, in January 2024, a member of the FBI–MPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force was monitoring an online dating application in an undercover capacity. Law enforcement has learned that the application is sometimes used by individuals who have a sexual interest in children. Ballek contacted the undercover agent and, believing he was communicating with a pedophile, expressed an interest in child pornography. Ballek later sent the undercover agent three video files via an encrypted messaging application. Those video files depicted adult men raping toddler and prepubescent boys. Ballek was arrested in the District of Columbia on February 7, 2024. The FBI seized and forensically examined Ballek’s phone, which contained 10 unique videos and at least 21 unique still images that constitute child pornography.

           Ballek has remained in custody since his February 7, 2024, arrest.

           Ballek faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, Ballek must pay mandatory restitution of at least $3,000 to any identified victim. The statutory sentences for federal offenses are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only. Any sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

           In addition, Ballek will be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to deportation proceedings and other adverse immigration consequences following any prison term.

           This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

           This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and MPD’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.  

           The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul V. Courtney and Karen L. Shinskie.

24cr61

Two men were sentenced yesterday for participating in a scheme to defraud Apple Inc. (Apple) out of millions of dollars worth of iPhones. Haotian Sun, 34, a Chinese citizen residing in Baltimore, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,072,200 in restitution to Apple and a forfeiture money judgment of $53,610. Pengfei Xue, 34, a Chinese citizen residing in Germantown, Maryland, was sentenced to 54 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $397,800 in restitution to Apple and a forfeiture money judgment of $19,890.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from May 2017 to September 2019, Sun and Xue, along with their co-conspirators, submitted counterfeit iPhones to Apple for repair to induce Apple to replace the counterfeit phones with genuine iPhones. As part of the scheme, Sun and Xue would receive shipments of inauthentic iPhones from Hong Kong at UPS mailboxes throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. They then submitted the fake iPhones, with spoofed serial numbers or IMEI numbers, to Apple retail stores, including an Apple Store in Washington, and other authorized Apple service providers. Members of the conspiracy submitted more than 6,000 inauthentic phones to Apple during the conspiracy, causing a loss of more than $2.5 million.

On Feb. 20, Sun and Xue were both convicted after a five-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Sun was also convicted of one count of mail fraud and Xue was convicted of six counts of mail fraud.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia; Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Washington Division; and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington Field Office made the announcement.

USPIS and HSI investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Ryan Dickey of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case.

            WASHINGTON –Terrylle Blackstone, 37, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy that fraudulently promised thousands of homeowners across the U.S. legal help in avoiding foreclosure. The scheme generated at least $15 million for the conspirators but never provided any legal services to the client-victims.

            The sentence was announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C. Field Office.

            Blackstone pleaded guilty on June 6, 2024, to a count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud before U.S District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss. In addition to the prison term, Judge Moss ordered Blackstone to serve three years of supervised release and pay $159,145.35 in restitution.

            According to court documents, from January 2018 until February 2021, Blackstone worked with attorneys David Maresca of Virginia, Scott Marinelli of New Jersey, and Sam Babbs of Florida. The co-conspirators told homeowners that they operated a “national law firm” based in Washington, D.C.; that attorneys would review the homeowner’s file and provide legal representation to the homeowners; that an attorney in the homeowner’s local area would be assigned to assist them; that the homeowner could meet and consult with those attorneys about the case; and that attorneys in their law firm could help the homeowner, if necessary, file for bankruptcy.

            From 2016 until 2019, the conspirators marketed Synergy Law with telephone, television, and internet advertising which told homeowners that attorneys at Maresca and Marinelli’s Synergy Law (Synergy) in Manassas could help them avoid foreclosure. During 2018 and 2019, bankruptcy judges, Synergy clients, and the U.S. Trustee’s Program raised concerns about Synergy’s practices in bankruptcy matters. Blackstone attended court hearings on behalf of Synergy where he made false statements to the court about the firm’s operations. In early 2019, Marinelli was incarcerated in Pennsylvania. Yet Blackstone, Maresca, Marinelli, and others continued to operate Synergy and collect monthly payments purportedly for legal services. During this time, there was no attorney who was a member of Synergy who could practice law. Synergy never had attorneys review all homeowner files and Synergy never had attorneys contact a client’s lender to discuss a mortgage resolution. They also continued to use the interstate wires to operate their “law firm” in ways that were essential to the scheme, such as soliciting clients by telephone.

            From 2019 until at least 2022, the conspirators marketed another firm, Themis Law, with television and website advertising which told homeowners that attorneys with Themis could help them avoid foreclosure. Themis operated a call center at an office in Manassas, Virginia. Call center workers used scripts during their phone calls with homeowners in which Themis falsely promised that an attorney would review the homeowner’s case file; that this attorney knew their lender’s “internal guidelines” for a “mortgage resolution”; and that an assigned “legal team” would contact the homeowner’s lender to negotiate a resolution. Themis required homeowner-clients to pay an initial retainer amount followed by a monthly recurring amount for as long as the firm represented the homeowner. When Themis clients faced imminent foreclosure, Themis advised those clients to consider filing for bankruptcy to save their home and referred the clients to Babbs at the Babbs Law Firm. Those clients then signed a new retainer agreement and paid additional fees to Babbs.

            During his dates of employment at Synergy Law and Themis Law, Blackstone received no less than $159,145.35 in direct payments from the companies. Judge Moss ordered that Blackstone pay a forfeiture money judgment in that amount.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Washington, D.C. Field Office of IRS-CI.

            It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Borchert.

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WASHINGTON – A U.S. District Court grand jury returned a 27-count superseding indictment today charging Nahvarj Mills, 31, of Brandywine, MD, with stalking, disseminating non-consensual pornography, and numerous firearms charges related to three shootings. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Mills is charged with cyberstalking in violation of a protective order; cyberstalking; interstate stalking in violation of a protection order; interstate stalking in violation of a protection order – emotional distress, use of a dangerous weapon; two counts of interstate stalking in violation of a protection order – bodily injury, emotional distress, use of a dangerous weapon; interstate violation of a protection order; three counts of interstate violation of a protection, use of a dangerous weapon; three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; interstate communications with intent to extort; assault with intent to kill while armed; three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon; three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence; and four counts of first degree unlawful publication.

            Mills has been detained since February 2024.

            According to court documents, Mills and the alleged victim, his former significant other, began dating in approximately December 2022. Mills physically abused the victim on multiple occasions. In approximately the summer of 2023, the victim ended the relationship with Mills. Angry about the breakup, Mills began contacting the victim by phone. He appeared uninvited at her workplace in Maryland and at her home in the District. Mills threatened to distribute sexually explicit images of the victim and then he made good on his threat.

            On November 23, 2023, the victim received text messages stating in part, “Got no job, got no kids, got no family. I have nothing to do. But what I do have, is the money to keep bothering you.”

            Around December 31, 2023, the victim received 30 phone calls from “No Caller ID.” The calls followed an attempt by the victim to meet up with Mills in an effort to make amends. Those efforts ended when Mills pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim’s head.

            On January 2, 2024, the victim reported Mills’ conduct to the MPD and filed a petition for a Civil Protection Order (CPO). The victim’s mother subsequently electronically served Mills with a Temporary Protection Order at his known phone number. In the same conversation, Mills sent the mother numerous sexually explicit photos and videos of the victim. Mills also wrote, “I can easily pull this .40 trigger,” followed by photos of a firearm and ammunition that appear consistent with the .40 caliber firearm and ammunition later recovered from Mills’ home pursuant to a residential search warrant.

            Also in early January, Mills allegedly created a fake Instagram account in the victim’s name. The victim then received several messages from the account threatening to disseminate sexually explicit images and videos of her. Mills later made good on his threat and sent out the images and videos to several individuals who knew the victim. On January 6, 2024, Ring camera footage captured footage of a man believed to be Mills outside the victim’s home. The man spread typed-out paragraphs containing threatening messages along with explicit images. A few days later, on January 11, 2024, the victim found more sexually explicit photos on her lawn.

            On January 19, 2024, a D.C. Superior Court Judge granted a CPO, which ordered Mills to stay away from the victim, her home, her workplace, her vehicle, and her family.

            On January 20, 2024, Mills again spread sexually explicit images outside the victim’s home. On this occasion, the victim personally observed Mills in her front yard and saw him return to a vehicle along with another individual.

            Also on January 20, 2024, Mills allegedly spread sexually explicit images outside another victim’s home. He also reportedly sent numerous unwanted and threatening text messages and made unwanted calls to this victim. Mills is now charged with one count of cyberstalking in connection with this victim.

            The campaign of stalking and violence against the first victim escalated further in late January 2024. Three separate shootings targeted the victim’s bedroom on January 21, 22, and 23. The third shooting occurred after Mills called the victim and threatened to kill her.

            On January 26, 2024, Mills returned to the victim’s home where police arrested him and charged him with violating the protection order. Once again, the court ordered Mills to stay away from the victim and not contact her. Nonetheless, Mills made continued efforts to contact the victim.

            On February 7, 2024, Mills was arrested pursuant to a warrant issued by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Mills has been detained since his arrest on February 7, 2024.On July 18, 2024, a federal Grand Jury returned an initial seven-count indictment, and Mills was transferred to federal custody.

            This case is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington D.C., the FBI’s Washington Field Office Violent Crimes Task Force, and the Metropolitan Police Department. 

           This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen Houck, Marco Crocetti and Caroline Burrell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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