Southern District of Florida

Note: A copy of the 2021 indictment can be found here and a copy of the 2019 indictment can be found here.

MIAMI – A Colombian national charged in two separate federal indictments involving the alleged laundering of more than $2 billion in connection with Venezuelan government bribery schemes will make his initial appearance on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the Southern District of Florida to face federal prosecution.

According to court documents, Alvaro Pulido Vargas, also known as German Enrique Rubio Salas, 62, of Colombia, was indicted in 2019 and again in 2021 for his alleged involvement in separate schemes to launder proceeds of bribery and fraud involving Venezuelan government officials of the Nicolás Maduro regime. Prior to these alleged offenses, Pulido Vargas had a prolific history of drug trafficking, including a 1997 conviction in Italy under the alias of German Enrique Rubio Salas. 

“Alvaro Pulido Vargas is no longer a fugitive from justice,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Pulido is charged in two separate, significant money laundering schemes, both using the U.S. financial system to hide the profits from his bribery and greed off the backs of the Venezuelan people. The message to anyone who brings their foreign bribery or money laundering schemes inside our borders: the U.S. Justice Department will pursue these schemes and prosecute those who perpetrate them.”

“Alvaro Pulido Vargas was charged years ago with participating in massive money laundering and bribery schemes tied to the Maduro regime. The allegations describe a profound betrayal of the Venezuelan people; corrupting government programs intended to provide critical food, medicine, and housing for personal enrichment,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Today, because of the persistence and coordination of our federal law enforcement and international partners, Pulido Vargas is in the Southern District of Florida to face those charges. Those accused of exploiting the American financial system should understand that distance, borders, and time will not shield them from the reach of the American legal system. We will continue working with our partners at home and abroad to bring defendants before an American court to answer for the charges against them.”

“Alvaro Pulido Vargas is accused of moving vast amounts of illicit money through a corrupt network that exploited the Venezuelan people and abused the U.S. financial system,” said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance Cole. “For years, DEA and our HSTF partners have pursued Pulido Vargas across borders. Today, that pursuit has brought him to the Southern District of Florida. Those who finance criminal networks and believe money, influence, or international borders will shield them from U.S. justice are mistaken. DEA will relentlessly pursue the people and financial networks that fuel corruption, money laundering, and transnational crime threatening the United States and our partners.”

“Today’s arrest demonstrates that HSI and our Homeland Security Task Force partners will relentlessly pursue the illicit financial networks that enable corruption, transnational criminal activity, and the exploitation of vulnerable populations,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon. “Working with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, HSI will continue to follow the money, disrupt complex money-laundering schemes, and hold accountable those who allegedly use the U.S. financial system to conceal criminal proceeds.”

The 2021 Indictment

In October 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Pulido Vargas and four co-defendants with laundering proceeds from an alleged bribery scheme involving approximately $1.6 billion in Venezuelan government contracts to provide food and medicine. 

According to the Indictment, from approximately July 2015 through at least 2020, Pulido Vargas and his co-conspirators secured lucrative government contracts through the Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP) — a Venezuelan government-controlled program intended to provide food and medicine to the Venezuelan people — by paying bribes to Venezuelan officials. 

The defendants allegedly inflated the costs of the contracts to fund the bribes and enrich themselves. They also allegedly laundered proceeds through bank accounts in Antigua, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and elsewhere. 

As a result of the scheme, Pulido Vargas and his co-conspirators allegedly received approximately $1.6 billion from the Venezuelan government and transferred approximately $180 million through or to the United States, including bank accounts in the Southern District of Florida.

Pulido Vargas is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of money laundering, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The 2019 Indictment

In a separate case, Pulido Vargas and Alex Nain Saab Moran — a Maduro regime ally — were indicted in July 2019 for allegedly laundering approximately $350 million in connection with a bribery scheme involving Venezuela’s government-controlled currency exchange system.

According to the Indictment, from approximately November 2011 and through at least September 2015, Pulido Vargas and Saab Moran conspired with others to launder proceeds of an illegal bribery scheme through bank accounts in the United States.

Pulido Vargas and Saab Moran allegedly obtained a contract with the Venezuelan government to construct low-income housing units. They subsequently exploited Venezuela’s government-controlled exchange rate by submitting false and fraudulent import documents for goods and materials that were never imported into Venezuela and bribing Venezuelan government officials to approve those documents.

To conceal the illicit proceeds, Pulido Vargas and Saab Moran allegedly wired money related to the scheme to bank accounts in the Southern District of Florida and transferred approximately $350 million out of Venezuela through the United States and into overseas accounts they owned or controlled.

Pulido Vargas is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and seven counts of money laundering in connection with this scheme. 

Prosecution

The DEA Miami Field Division, FBI Miami, and HSI Miami are investigating these cases.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the cases, together with Assistant Chief Katherine Raut of the Criminal Division’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit.

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

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 19-cr-20450 and 21-cr-20509.

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MIAMI – A Venezuelan national who trafficked cocaine, possessed firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking, and then arranged a methamphetamine deal while on bond has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga sentenced Glen Sebastian Mendoza, 33, of Miami, to 147 months in federal prison following his guilty plea to drug distribution, attempted drug distribution, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

“Glen Sebastian Mendoza trafficked more than a kilogram of cocaine while armed with multiple firearms, including privately manufactured pistols without serial numbers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “When federal agents searched his apartment, they found cocaine, three firearms, ammunition, magazines, scales, and other drug trafficking equipment. Mendoza will now spend more than 12 years in federal prison. We will continue working with DEA and our local partners to aggressively prosecute armed drug traffickers who endanger our South Florida communities.”

According to court records, between September and December 2025, Mendoza distributed cocaine in Miami on multiple occasions. On Dec. 3, 2025, he was found with approximately 613 grams of cocaine while on his way to another drug deal. 

A search of Mendoza’s apartment uncovered additional cocaine, two privately manufactured Polymer80 pistols without serial numbers, a loaded Sig Sauer handgun, ammunition, magazines, digital scales, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia. In total, Mendoza was held accountable for more than one kilogram of cocaine.

After his arrest, Mendoza was released on bond subject to home incarceration, electronic monitoring, and other court-imposed conditions. While on pretrial release, however, Mendoza continued engaging in drug trafficking activity and coordinated a transaction involving approximately 191 grams of methamphetamine. The court subsequently revoked his bond.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division made the announcement.

The DEA Miami Field Division’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and Miami Beach Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Almas Abdulla prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20003.

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MIAMI – An Ohio man has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and attempting to entice a nine-year-old to engage in sexual activity. 

U.S. District Judge Ed Artau sentenced Shane David Adams, 50, of Columbus, Ohio, to 480 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography after a previous conviction and attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. 

“Shane Adams is a monster who believed he was arranging to sexually abuse a nine-year-old child, repeatedly distributed child sexual abuse material, and possessed a massive collection depicting the exploitation of children,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “He was a registered sex offender who had already been convicted of unlawful sexual contact with a minor. This 40-year sentence means he will likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison, and it sends a clear message that we will relentlessly pursue those who prey on children.”

According to court records, between Aug. 7, 2025, and Sept. 5, 2025, Adams communicated online and by phone with an individual he believed was the mother of a nine-year-old girl and discussed arranging a sexual encounter with the child. During those communications, Adams discussed engaging in sexual activity with the child, referenced having previously sexually abused another minor, and repeatedly sent videos containing CSAM. 

Following Adams’s arrest, a search of his phone revealed over 1,000 images and hundreds of videos containing sexually explicit material involving children.  At the time of the offense, Adams was a registered sex offender based on a prior Ohio conviction for unlawful sexual contact with a minor. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marton Gyires prosecuted the case.

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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-80155.

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MIAMI – The former board chairman and co-owner of Nodus International Bank (Nodus Bank), a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity, was sentenced today to 62 months in prison. Juan Francisco Ramirez, 60, of Miami, led a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $23.6 million from Nodus Bank. Ramirez was ordered to forfeit over $13.6 million, which represents the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy.

“This  defendant abused the trust of his bank’s depositors, and when the bank went under, innocent people lost their savings,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division won’t stand for it. We will use every resource at our disposal to protect this country’s financial system and the decent, hardworking people who rely on it.”

“Ramirez was entrusted to lead a bank. Instead, he looted it. He secretly steered millions of dollars in bank funds to benefit himself and his associates, causing nearly $24 million in losses and contributing to the bank’s collapse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Today, he was sentenced to 62 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $13 million. This sentence sends a clear message: those who abuse positions of trust to enrich themselves will be held accountable.” 

“Financial frauds can be complicated, but the law is simple: do your business honestly and protect your depositors, or you will be brought to justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Florida Field Office. “IRS Special Agents, alongside our partners, will keep bringing transparency to complex financial crimes and protecting confidence in our banking system.”

In September 2025, Ramirez pleaded guilty to an information charging one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

According to court documents, Ramirez conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank. Ramirez and a co-conspirator concealed from other Nodus Bank board members and executives, and the bank’s regulator — the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (OCIF) — that certain investments or loans were for the benefit of Ramirez and a co-conspirator, in violation of Puerto Rican law and Nodus Bank policy regarding insider transactions.

From 2017 to 2023, Ramirez conspired with others to invest more than $11 million of Nodus Bank’s funds in a Miami-based lender so that it could loan those funds to Ramirez and a co-conspirator for their own benefit. Ramirez and his co-conspirators knew that these transactions were illegal and took steps to conceal their prohibited nature by having the bank make sham investments in the lending entity.

Between January 2018 and September 2021, Ramirez and a co-conspirator fraudulently induced Nodus Bank’s board and comptroller to agree to, or facilitate, the purchase of at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from Miami-based finance company that Ramirez and the co-conspirator jointly owned. These promissory notes purported to fund loans to legitimate individuals or businesses, but in fact Ramirez and the co-conspirator used the loan proceeds for their own benefit, including to make personal investments in third-party companies, pay personal mortgages, or cover personal credit card expenses.

In early March 2023, OCIF notified Nodus Bank of its intention to place the Bank into liquidation, and later that month Nodus Bank agreed to enter into a voluntary liquidation. On April 28, 2023, knowing that the liquidation process would commence imminently and without authorization from OCIF, Ramirez and a co-conspirator caused Nodus Bank to purchase from their Miami-based finance company a loan portfolio totaling approximately $26 million. Most of these loans were delinquent, nonperforming, and otherwise uncollateralized. Ramirez and a co-conspirator caused Nodus Bank to accept the loan portfolio as payment of their Miami-based finance company’s debt arising from the 47 promissory notes that Nodus Bank had purchased during 2018 to 2021. This resulted in a direct benefit to the finance company (and Ramirez and his co-conspirator) by relieving the finance company of its debt to the bank.

Ramirez’s actions caused Nodus Bank to lose at least $23,613,371. 

IRS-CI investigated the case with support from OCIF and Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Felipe Plechac-Diaz for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Javier Urbina and Samir Paul of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) prosecuted the case.

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

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-20384.

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The former board chairman and co-owner of Nodus International Bank (Nodus Bank), a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity, was sentenced today to 62 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and to pay forfeiture of approximately $13.6 million, which represents the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy. Juan Francisco Ramirez, 60, of Miami, Florida, led a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $23.6 million from Nodus Bank. 

“This defendant abused the trust of his bank’s depositors, and when the bank went under, innocent people lost their savings,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division won’t stand for it. We will use every resource at our disposal to protect this country’s financial system and the decent, hardworking people who rely on it.”

“Ramirez was entrusted to lead a bank. Instead, he looted it. He secretly steered millions of dollars in bank funds to benefit himself and his associates, causing nearly $24 million in losses and contributing to the bank’s collapse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Today, he was sentenced to 62 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $13 million. This sentence sends a clear message: those who abuse positions of trust to enrich themselves will be held accountable.” 

“Financial frauds can be complicated, but the law is simple: do your business honestly and protect your depositors, or you will be brought to justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller of the IRS Criminal Investigation Florida Field Office. “IRS Special Agents, alongside our partners, will keep bringing transparency to complex financial crimes and protecting confidence in our banking system.”

In September 2025, Ramirez pleaded guilty to an information charging one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

According to court documents, Ramirez conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank. Ramirez and a co-conspirator concealed from other Nodus Bank board members and executives, and the bank’s regulator — the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (OCIF) — that certain investments or loans were for the benefit of Ramirez and a co-conspirator, in violation of Puerto Rican law and Nodus Bank policy regarding insider transactions.

From 2017 to 2023, Ramirez conspired with others to invest more than $11 million of Nodus Bank’s funds in a Miami-based lender so that it could loan those funds to Ramirez and a co-conspirator for their own benefit. Ramirez and his co-conspirators knew that these transactions were illegal and took steps to conceal their prohibited nature by having the bank make sham investments in the lending entity.

Between January 2018 and September 2021, Ramirez and a co-conspirator fraudulently induced Nodus Bank’s board and comptroller to agree to, or facilitate, the purchase of at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from Miami-based finance company that Ramirez and the co-conspirator jointly owned. These promissory notes purported to fund loans to legitimate individuals or businesses, but in fact Ramirez and the co-conspirator used the loan proceeds for their own benefit, including to make personal investments in third-party companies, pay personal mortgages, or cover personal credit card expenses.

In early March 2023, OCIF notified Nodus Bank of its intention to place the Bank into liquidation, and later that month Nodus Bank agreed to enter into a voluntary liquidation. On April 28, 2023, knowing that the liquidation process would commence imminently and without authorization from OCIF, Ramirez and a co-conspirator caused Nodus Bank to purchase from their Miami-based finance company a loan portfolio totaling approximately $26 million. Most of these loans were delinquent, nonperforming, and otherwise uncollateralized. Ramirez and a co-conspirator caused Nodus Bank to accept the loan portfolio as payment of their Miami-based finance company’s debt arising from the 47 promissory notes that Nodus Bank had purchased during 2018 to 2021. This resulted in a direct benefit to the finance company — and Ramirez and his co-conspirator — by relieving the finance company of its debt to the bank.

Ramirez’s actions caused Nodus Bank to lose at least $23,613,371. 

IRS-CI investigated the case with support from OCIF and Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture.

Trial Attorneys Javier Urbina and Samir Paul of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Felipe Plechac-Diaz for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

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

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

MIAMI – U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida received the League of Prosecutors’ President’s Award at the organization’s 2026 Justice Award Dinner in Miami.

The President’s Award recognizes distinguished contributions to the justice system, public service, and the community. The League honored Reding Quiñones for a career of service spanning more than two decades in the military, on the bench, in national security, and as a federal prosecutor, as well as for his continued commitment to the work ahead as U.S. Attorney.

“I am deeply grateful to the League of Prosecutors for this honor,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones. “Ideas do not prevail simply because they are right. They endure because people are willing to stand up for them and fight for them. Every day, prosecutors are in the trenches fighting for the idea and the principle of justice, and I am proud to be in that fight with them. I have had the privilege of serving our country in uniform, serving our community from the bench, and serving alongside extraordinary prosecutors and law enforcement officers throughout my career. This award is not a finish line. It is a reminder of the responsibility we carry and the work still ahead.”

Founded in 2002, the League of Prosecutors brings together current and former prosecutors and members of the broader justice community. For more than two decades, the organization has supported and mentored generations of prosecutors, educated the public about issues affecting the justice system, and recognized judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and other public servants for their contributions to the community and the administration of justice.

Reding Quiñones was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 13, 2025. An Air Force Colonel with more than 23 years of military service, he previously served as a Florida trial judge, as a national security official in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and as a federal prosecutor in both the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida.

As U.S. Attorney, Reding Quiñones serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Southern District of Florida. He oversees the prosecution of federal crimes and the representation of the United States in civil matters throughout the district.

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MIAMI – A convicted felon and gang leader has been sentenced to federal prison for illegally possessing firearms and conspiring to smuggle synthetic drugs into jail while awaiting trial. 

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian sentenced Michael Ridley, 34, of Fort Lauderdale, to 90 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing firearms as a convicted felon, attempting to possess contraband in prison, and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

“Michael Ridley was a convicted felon and gang leader who illegally armed himself, flaunted firearms on social media, and then, after his arrest, tried to continue his criminal activity from inside jail by conspiring to smuggle liquid synthetic drugs into the facility,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This seven-and-a-half-year federal prison sentence reflects a simple reality: gang leaders who possess illegal guns and continue directing criminal activity from behind bars will be held accountable.”

According to court records, on June 12, 2025, Ridley posted a social media video showing him with two handguns at a shooting range. The video included the notation “TTB (Train to Bag),” a reference to a homicide victim’s body being placed in a bag and removed from a crime scene.  Following the posting, law enforcement obtained a criminal complaint charging Ridley with unlawfully possessing the firearms while at the range.

Ridley was arrested on July 23, 2025. At the time of his arrest, law enforcement found him in possession of a firearm that had previously been reported stolen and an attached extended magazine.  

Following his arrest, the U.S. sought Ridley’s pretrial detention. Ridley was a leader of the Eastside Gangsta Bloods (EGB), which operates as part of the larger United Blood Nation (UBN).  The court ordered Ridley detained, and he was held as a federal detainee at two separate facilities in Broward County. 

While detained, Ridley conspired with outside accomplices, including other gang members, to smuggle narcotics into the jail disguised as legal mail addressed to him. The method, commonly referred to as “paper dope,” involves saturating ordinary sheets of paper with liquid synthetic drugs. 

At sentencing, the government presented evidence that Ridley possessed more than a dozen firearms and held a leadership position within EGB. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Vaglienti prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is a part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program.  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through the PSN program a broad spectrum of law enforcement and community stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs to reduce violence crime and gun violence, and to make our local neighborhoods safer for everyone.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-60177.

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MIAMI – Former U.S. Congressman David Rivera was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison for secretly acting as an unregistered agent of the Venezuelan government and laundering millions of dollars connected to that work.

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian imposed the sentence after a federal jury convicted Rivera, 61, of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), violating FARA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property.

“Today’s sentence reinforces a simple rule: foreign influence in America cannot operate in the shadows,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “If you act at the request, direction, or control of a foreign government and engage in covered political activity, you must comply with our disclosure laws. That can include conduct like arranging a meeting with policymakers, lobbying a government official, or promoting a foreign government’s message on social media. 

“For a former Congressman from South Florida, this betrayal cuts especially deep. Rivera represented a community shaped by generations of families who fled communist oppression and came to this country seeking freedom. He knew that history. He knew what this community had endured. Yet the jury found that, for millions of dollars, he secretly used the access and relationships entrusted to him to advance the interests of the Maduro regime.

“Today’s sentence of 10 years is the consequence of that choice. In South Florida, we will aggressively enforce the laws that protect our country and our communities from covert foreign influence.”

“Today’s sentencing represents a meaningful step toward restoring public trust in the integrity of our democratic processes,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. “It also demonstrates the impact of federal partners working together and combining their investigative expertise. And no attempt to conceal unlawful conduct will remain beyond the FBI’s reach.”

“This case shows that laundering illicit funds in the United States will not go unchecked,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles E. Miller of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Florida Field Office. “The partnership between IRS-CI and our law enforcement counterparts was vital in exposing this operation and protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer obtained a $50 million contract with a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), to advance the interests of the Venezuelan regime in the U.S. Without registering as foreign agents as required by law, Rivera and Nuhfer lobbied U.S. officials, including then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Representative Pete Sessions, and arranged meetings between U.S. policymakers and high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including then-President Nicolás Maduro and then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez. Rivera and Nuhfer used coded language in text messages to describe their activities.

The evidence at trial further showed that Rivera deposited approximately $1.5 million in proceeds from the contract to his Florida state congressional campaign account between March 2017 and August 2018, among other personnel uses. Nuhfer used approximately $455,000 in proceeds to purchase a residence in Key Colony Beach.

Nuhfer, 52, who was convicted at trial of conspiracy to violate FARA, violating FARA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in a transaction in criminally derived property, was previously sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harold Schimkat and Roger Cruz, along with Trial Attorney David Ryan of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, are prosecuting the case.

FBI Miami and IRS-CI Florida Field Office are investigating the case. This investigation is supported by the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF).

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 22-cr-20552.

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MIAMI – A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment unsealed today charging two people with allegedly operating a decades-long bribery and money laundering scheme that defrauded thousands of sub sandwich franchise owners nationwide of more than $80 million.

According to court records, Janet Risi Field, 66, of Pinecrest, and her brother, Steven Louis Risi, 70, of Coral Gables, participated in a scheme in which vendors seeking contracts to supply Restaurant Chain-1 franchisees allegedly paid millions of dollars in secret bribes and kickbacks to Risi Field and members of her family.

Restaurant Chain-1 was an American multinational fast-food chain with more than 20,000 locations in North America, most of which were independently owned and operated by franchisees. Independent Purchasing Cooperative, Inc. (IPC), a Miami-Dade County-based nonprofit organization, managed the chain’s North American supply chain and negotiated with vendors to establish the prices franchisees paid for food, supplies, and services. 

Risi Field helped form IPC in 1996 and served as its CEO until December 2021.  In that role, she had authority to enter into vendor contracts that affected the prices paid by thousands of franchisees. 

The indictment alleges that Risi Field abused that position by entering into a secret arrangement with co-conspirators who acted as brokers for IPC vendors who supplied franchisees with goods and services, including deli meats, cheeses, and cookies. Under the arrangement, the brokers allegedly shared a portion of the fees generated from vendor contracts with Risi Field and members of her family. Risi Field, her brother, and other family members allegedly used shell companies to conceal more than $60 million in illegal bribe and kickback payments. 

Risi Field allegedly used proceeds from the scheme to remodel and furnish residences in Florida and North Carolina, make private investments, purchase more than $400,000 in jewelry, pay personal expenses, and fund memberships in private clubs. The Indictment further alleges that beginning in the early 2000s, Risi Field caused a co-conspirator to fund a multimillion-dollar slush fund used to enrich herself and members of her family, including more than $420,000 paid to a Risi family personal assistant and more than $150,000 to Risi Field’s housekeeper and handyman. 

In approximately 2011, Risi Field allegedly caused a co-conspirator to pay approximately $8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a former IPC contractor who had alleged that she maintained an inappropriate financial relationship with IPC vendors.  Risi Field allegedly concealed the allegations and details of the settlement from IPC’s Board of Directors. 

Risi Field and Risi also allegedly conspired to launder millions of dollars in proceeds from the scheme through shell companies and bank accounts they controlled. According to the indictment, approximately $3.4 million in alleged proceeds was used to pay Risi Field’s credit card expenses and approximately $1 million was deposited into a bank account for which Risi Field and Risi were the sole signers.  In total, Risi Field allegedly caused approximately $25 million in slush fund payments, primarily for the benefit of herself and other co-conspirators. 

The Indictment alleges that Risi Field concealed the bribes and kickbacks from IPC’s directors and Restaurant Chain-1 franchisees throughout her employment. When IPC terminated her employment in 2021, its Board of Directors allegedly remained unaware of the payments and paid Risi Field more than $6 million in severance.

Risi Field and Risi are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Risi Field is also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, two counts of honest services wire fraud, and three counts of wire fraud. 

If convicted, Risi Field and Risi face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the money laundering conspiracy count and 10 years in prison on each monetary transaction count. Risi Field also faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the remaining charges.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Quenton Sallows of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), Miami Region, made the announcement.

FBI Miami and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eli S. Rubin and Roger Cruz are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 26-cr-20405.

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MIAMI – A federal jury in Miami found a Margate man guilty of participating in a murder-for-hire scheme that culminated in the November 2023 death of Suren Seetal.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Avin Seetaram, also known as “Smalls,” 27, of Margate, conspired with Somjeet Christopher Singh, also known as “Lil Chris,” 32, of Coral Springs, to have Seetal killed over business dealings. The conspirators first targeted Seetal in July 2023. After tracking his whereabouts through an electronic device placed in the vehicle he was using, they sent a gunman and driver to kill him. The gunman opened fire on Seetal, who returned fire. No one was struck, and the gunman and the driver fled. 

After that attempt failed, Seetaram and Singh arranged a second plot. On Nov. 2, 2023, they lured Seetal to a business location, where a newly hired gunman was waiting. The gunman ambushed Seetal and shot him to death. Seetaram and Singh then paid the gunman as promised and coordinated efforts to conceal the crime, including transporting and disposing of Seetal’s body in the Everglades. 

“This was not a spontaneous act of violence. It was a deliberate, persistent, and cold-blooded murder-for-hire scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The defendants tracked Suren Seetal, sent armed men to kill him, tried again after the first attempt failed, and ultimately had him ambushed and murdered. They then paid the gunman and helped dispose of Seetal’s body in the Everglades. One conspirator is already serving life in federal prison, and a jury has now convicted Seetaram for his role in this brutal crime.”

The jury convicted Seetaram of murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder for hire, stalking resulting in death, discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during a crime of violence, and causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces up 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during a crime of violence count and up to life in prison on the remaining counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Singh previously pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder for hire, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping, stalking resulting in death, conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during a crime of violence, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence, and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Singh to concurrent terms of life in federal prison on six counts, 140 months on the firearm conspiracy count, and 120 months on the obstruction of justice count.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement. 

FBI Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abbie D. Waxman and Michael Gilfarb are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-20483.

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MIAMI – A Miami real estate developer has been sentenced more than 11 years in federal prison for defrauding investors of approximately $89 million, diverting investor funds to finance a lavish lifestyle, failing to pay millions of dollars in payroll taxes, and lying to a bank to obtain financing for a 68-foot yacht. 

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Rishi Kapoor, 41, formerly of Miami, to 136 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to fail to pay payroll taxes.

“Rishi Kapoor raised approximately $89 million from investors by promising real estate developments, then diverted millions of dollars to fund his own lavish lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “He used investor money on a yacht, a diamond ring, and a multimillion-dollar home, while also withholding payroll taxes from employees and failing to send that money to the IRS. Kapoor will now spend more than 11 years in federal prison for a years-long scheme built on deception, greed, and the misuse of other people’s money.”

“Financial fraudsters cannot hide behind luxury or lies,” said Scott Johnson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Florida Field Office. “IRS-CI Special Agents will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners—we achieve the strongest outcomes when we unite our efforts.”

According to court records, Kapoor was the chief executive officer of Location Ventures, a Miami-based real estate development company that promoted projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.  Kapoor raised approximately $89 million from investors, but most of the projects for which he solicited the money were never built. 

Rather than use investor funds as promised, Kapoor diverted millions of dollars for his own benefit. Between 2018 and 2023, Kapoor received more than $6 million from Location Ventures and its projects. He misappropriated investor funds to finance personal expenditures, including a 68-foot yacht, a 2.8-carat diamond ring, and a $5.9 million home in Cocoplum.  Kapoor also falsely represented to investors that he had invested approximately $13 million of his own money in Location Ventures with his business partner and family, when they had contributed only about half that amount. 

Kapoor also made misrepresentations to escrow agents to obtain the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misused those funds for himself and for expenses unrelated to the projects for which the money had been designated. As part of this case, Kapoor agreed to forfeit a 2.8-carat diamond ring purchased with investor proceeds. 

Kapoor also withheld approximately $1.3 million in payroll taxes from Location Ventures’ employees but failed to pay those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.  Instead, he paid himself more than $2 million from Location Ventures bank accounts. 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil action against Kapoor.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quinoñes, Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott A. Johnson of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Florida Field Office, made the announcement. 

FBI Miami and IRS-CI investigated the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Young and Daya Nathan prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20073.

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MIAMI – A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has returned an indictment charging a Pakistani national with operating an unauthorized website that allegedly sold more than 5 million counterfeit U.S. postage labels, causing more than $126 million in losses to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). 

According to court records, Faheem Akram, 33, of Khanewal, Pakistan, operated LabelsBank.com, an online website that allegedly sold counterfeit U.S. postage at a fixed rate — typically $2 per label — regardless of a package’s weight, size, or destination. LabelsBank.com was not authorized to sell USPS products and services. The counterfeit labels allegedly allowed customers to ship packages at rates far below legitimate USPS prices, resulting in substantial lost revenue and shipping costs to the Postal Service. 

“The alleged scheme was simple but massive: sell counterfeit postage online at fixed, cut-rate prices, as little as $2 per label, regardless of a package’s weight, size, or destination, enabling customers to avoid legitimate Postal Service charges,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The indictment alleges more than 5.1 million counterfeit labels and more than $126 million in losses. Through the work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and our prosecutors, the website has been shut down, the domain seized, and federal charges brought against its alleged operator, a Pakistani national.”

“Our reach goes beyond our borders,” said Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division. “Transnational criminal organizations defrauding the Postal Service and targeting U.S consumers by pushing phony postage, will be found and brought to justice.”

The investigation revealed that over 5,200 individuals used LabelsBank.com to purchase more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels, resulting in more than $126 million in alleged losses to USPS. In conjunction with the indictment, USPS obtained a court order authorizing the seizure and shutdown of the website.

Akram is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage stamp labels, and four counts of wire fraud. If convicted, Akram faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit postage counts and 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count. 

The USPIS Miami Division is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jon Juenger and Jacqueline DerOvanesian are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-60249.

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MIAMI – A Colombian national has been charged with impersonating a high-ranking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official and allegedly using that false authority to threaten and attempt to extort an employee of a Miami Gardens food truck.

According to court records, Jonathan Christian Gonzalez Reyes, 45, residing in Miami, arrived at the food truck in a personal vehicle equipped with blue flashing lights and sounded an air horn resembling one used by law enforcement. Gonzalez Reyes allegedly identified himself to the victim as a high-ranking ICE official and claimed that, in exchange for money, he could assist the victim with immigration-related matters.

Gonzalez Reyes then allegedly threatened to plant drugs in the food truck so that the business would be shut down. He also allegedly unholstered and brandished a firearm and threatened to pistol-whip the victim’s son. Fearing for his life, the victim did not comply with Gonzalez Reyes’s demands. Gonzalez Reyes then allegedly left the scene while activating his vehicle’s police-style siren. 

Gonzalez Reyes is charged with one count of false impersonation of an officer of the United States. If convicted, he faces up to three years in federal prison. Any sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge-East of ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and Field Office Director Matthew Elliston for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Miami made the announcement.

The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility, with the assistance of the ICE Enforcement and Removals Operations Criminal Prosecution Unit, is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackson Dering is prosecuting the case. 

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-mj-03725.

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Tomás Niembro Concha, 64, a Spanish and Venezuelan national, the former chief executive officer of Nodus International Bank (Nodus Bank), a Puerto Rican international bank, was sentenced to 112 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Niembro led a scheme to fraudulently obtain at least $24.9 million from Nodus Bank and conspired to evade U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. Niembro was ordered to forfeit over $16.9 million, which represents the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy.

“The defendant abused his position with Nodus Bank to commit fraud for his own enrichment and to willfully evade sanctions on a designated individual,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “When individuals who are supposed to serve as gatekeepers to our financial system choose to abuse that trust and instead use their access to facilitate crimes, the Criminal Division will hold them accountable. Our national security and the integrity of our financial system demand nothing less.”

“The defendant’s scheme didn’t stop at fraud; it extended into conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions designed to protect our national security,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Florida Field Office. “This case demonstrates how collaboration between the IRS-CI, the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF), and the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (OCIF) ensures that complex financial crimes and sanctions-evasion schemes are uncovered and prosecuted.”

On March 19, Niembro pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 

According to court filings, Niembro conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank, ultimately leading to the bank’s failure in 2023. Niembro and his co-conspirators concealed from other Nodus Bank board members, executives and the bank’s regulator, OCIF, that certain investments and loans were for the benefit of Niembro and Board Chairman Juan Ramirez, in violation of Puerto Rican law. From 2017 to 2023, Niembro, Ramirez, and others caused Nodus Bank to invest $11 million in a Miami-based lender so those funds could be loaned to Niembro and Ramirez for their own benefit. Niembro and his co-conspirators knew that these transactions were illegal and concealed their conduct through the sham investments.

Between January 2018 and September 2021, Niembro and Ramirez also fraudulently induced Nodus Bank’s board and comptroller to agree to buy at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from Nodus Finance, a Miami-based company that Niembro and Ramirez jointly owned, so they could use the proceeds of the transactions for themselves.

In early March 2023, OCIF notified the bank it would be placed into liquidation. Niembro and Ramirez fraudulently caused Nodus Bank to accept a loan portfolio from Nodus Finance to pay down the debt from the 47 promissory notes.   

Between 2021 and 2023, Niembro conspired with others to conduct prohibited financial transactions with an individual designated as a Specially Designated National (SDN) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for providing material support to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). To satisfy an outstanding loan of approximately $2.5 million that the SDN’s company had with Nodus Bank prior to the imposition of sanctions, Niembro and the SDN devised a scheme to cause Nodus Bank to foreclose on the SDN’s home in Southampton, New York  — for which they obtained OFAC authorization — but separately reached a “private” agreement to induce Nodus Bank to sell the property back to the SDN for $4 million through a front company — a transaction that was strictly prohibited by U.S. sanctions and not otherwise licensed by OFAC.

IRS-CI investigated the case with support from OCIF and TEOAF.

Trial Attorneys Javier Urbina and Samir Paul of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Felipe Plechac-Diaz for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

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

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

MIAMI – The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida today announced the successful transport of 18 defendants from Haiti to Miami to face newly unsealed federal charges related to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.

The special operation involved members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), FBI Miami case agents and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents aboard a military aircraft equipped to handle possible armed gang attacks from around the Port-au-Prince airport in the Haitian capital. 

These 18 individuals are among a group of 30 defendants that a Southern District of Florida grand jury indicted for their various roles in the plot to kill the President of Haiti. The charges include an intertwined fraud and money laundering scheme that relied on funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-19 relief program to finance the assassination plot.

“Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Our work did not end with the men who planned and carried out this assassination. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it, or committed crimes to make it possible. Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished.”

“In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. “Today's multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice. FBI Miami, along with our domestic and international partners, remains steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought to profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable.”

“Homeland Security Investigations is uniquely positioned to investigate complex crimes that cross borders, exploit financial systems, and threaten the security of the United States and the international community,” said Jose R. Figueroa, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami. “The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse was a horrific attack, and we remain fully committed to working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to further expose the criminal network behind it, identify every individual who played a role, and ensure that the last person responsible is brought to justice.”

According to recently unsealed court documents, at least 22 newly named defendants directly participated in a coordinated multinational conspiracy involving financing, recruitment, and logistical support to carry out the attack on July 7, 2021. 

The following defendants are charged with offenses arising from the alleged conspiracy to kill or kidnap President Moïse:

1. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a/k/a “Kumbe,” a/k/a “Pumba,” a/k/a “Bubba,” a/k/a “Mr. President,” a/k/a “P”

2. Byron Sherrod Rainer, a/k/a “B. Ellis Rains,” a/k/a “Byron Rain,” a/k/a “Byron Ellis”

3. Joseph Felix Badio, a/k/a “Cousin”

4. Vitel’Homme Innocent

5. Carlos Giovanni Guerrero Torres, a/k/a “Don Francisco”

6. Victor Albeiro Pineda Cardona, a/k/a “Pipe”

7. Juan Carlos Yepes Clavijo, a/k/a “Woker”

8. Naiser Franco Castaneda, a/k/a “Esneider”

9. Angel Mario Yarce Sierra

10. Jheyner Alberto Carmona Flores, a/k/a “Joseph”

11. Edwin Enrique Blanquicet Rodriguez, a/k/a “Daniel”

12. Manuel Antonio Grosso Guarin, a/k/a “Mauricio”

13. Jhon Jairo Ramirez Gomez, a/k/a “Danny”

14. Francisco Eladio Uribe Ochoa, a/k/a “Cristian”

15. Alejandro Giraldo Zapata, a/k/a “Alexander”

16. Neil Caceres Duran, a/k/a “Anderson”

17. Jhon Jader Andela 

18. Enalber Vargas Gomez, a/k/a “Victor”

19. John Jairo Suarez Alegria, a/k/a “Angel”

20. Gersain Mendivelso Jaimes

21. Alex Miyer Peña, a/k/a “Holman”

22. Samir Handal

23. Ashkard Pierre

The following defendants are charged with offenses arising from the alleged PPP-EIDL fraud and money laundering scheme:

1. Byron Sherrod Rainer, a/k/a “B. Ellis Rains,” a/k/a “Byron Rain,” a/k/a “Byron Ellis,”

2. Jameela Ammara Simmons

3. Marcel Williamson

4. Travis Barrett Nave

If convicted, certain defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Any sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to the indictment, members of the conspiracy coordinated funding for weapons, traveled to and from Haiti during planning phases, and used encrypted communications to organize the operation. Several defendants allegedly provided material support knowing the conspiracy would result in a violent attack that led to the president’s death.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of HSI Miami made the announcement.

FBI Miami and HSI Miami are investigating the case, with assistance from Haitian law enforcement and international partners. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean T. McLaughlin, Jason Wu, and Altanese Phenelus are prosecuting the case.

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

A copy of the indictment can be found here. 

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-20104. 

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“Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Our work did not end with the men who planned and carried out this assassination. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it, or committed crimes to make it possible. Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished.”

"In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts," said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles. "Today's multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBl's continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice. FBI Miami, along with our domestic and international partners, remain steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought to profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable."

“Homeland Security Investigations is uniquely positioned to investigate complex crimes that cross borders, exploit financial systems, and threaten the security of the United States and the international community,” said Jose R. Figueroa, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami. “The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse was a horrific attack, and we remain fully committed to working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to further expose the criminal network behind it, identify every individual who played a role, and ensure that the last person responsible is brought to justice.”

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

CLICK ON INDICTMENT PDF:

Alex Nain Saab Moran, 54, of Caracas, Venezuela, and formerly of Baranquilla, Colombia, a former Minister of Industry in the regime of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder proceeds of a massive bribery and fraud scheme in Venezuela and the United States.The plea was heard by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami. 

According to court documents, Saab carried out a nearly decade-long conspiracy to corruptly profit from a Venezuelan public welfare program for food and medicine known as Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP). As part of the plea, Saab admitted to organizing a system of bribes and other illegal payments to public officials so entities secretly controlled by the conspirators could be awarded lucrative contracts from the Venezuelan government to import food and medicine under the auspices of the CLAP. The conspirators neglected to deliver in full on the contracts, and instead used fake companies, false invoices, false shipping records, and other fraudulent documents to skim hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their associates, as well to conceal their association with the illegal activity and avoid detection. Saab further admitted that he used shell companies outside of Venezuela to launder proceeds of the conspiracy around the world, including to the United States.

“Criminals like Alex Saab who stole from the people of Venezuela and worked to exploit and misuse American financial institutions to fund illicit activities will be held accountable by this FBI,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The message is clear – under the leadership of the Trump administration, this FBI will work with our partners to deploy all necessary resources to protect the integrity of U.S. financial institutions and track down those who profit from these criminal operations.”

“Alex Saab exploited the U.S. financial system to profit off the backs of the Venezuelan people,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators. The Criminal Division has held Saab accountable and will do the same for others seeking to abuse the U.S. economy for their own gain.” 

“Today’s plea agreement signifies a substantial disruption to the illicit financial networks supporting narcoterrorism and political corruption,” said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terry Cole. “DEA has long investigated the financial crimes and networks tied to Alex Saab and his relationship to the former Maduro regime. Thanks to this Administration’s support of law enforcement and DEA’s relentless pressure, Alex Saab will again be brought to justice in the United States.”

“In December 2023, President Biden granted Alex Saab clemency while he was awaiting trial in this district, and Saab was released from federal custody and returned to Venezuela. But that was not the end of the story,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Our office built a new criminal case, secured a new indictment in January 2026, and, working with our federal and international partners, brought Saab back before a federal court in Miami on May 18. Today, he is accepting responsibility for his crimes. Saab exploited programs intended to provide critical food and medicine to the Venezuelan people, bribed government officials, and used shell companies and the U.S. financial system to move and conceal criminal proceeds. This case sends a clear message: political connections, wealth, and proximity to a corrupt regime will not put anyone beyond the reach of American justice.”

Saab pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. A sentencing date has not been set. Saab faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The DEA Miami Field Division is investigating the case, with assistance from the FBI Miami Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter.

Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.

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

MIAMI – Alex Nain Saab Moran, 54, of Caracas, Venezuela, and formerly of Baranquilla, Colombia, a former Minister of Industry in the regime of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder proceeds of a massive bribery and fraud scheme in Venezuela and the U.S. The plea was heard by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams. 

According to court documents, Saab carried out a nearly decade-long conspiracy to corruptly profit from a Venezuelan public welfare program for food and medicine known as Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP). As part of the plea, Saab admitted to organizing a system of bribes and other illegal payments to public officials so entities secretly controlled by the conspirators could be awarded lucrative contracts from the Venezuelan government to import food and medicine under the auspices of the CLAP. The conspirators neglected to deliver in full on the contracts, and instead used fake companies, false invoices, false shipping records, and other fraudulent documents to skim hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their associates, as well to conceal their association with the illegal activity and avoid detection. Saab further admitted that he used shell companies outside of Venezuela to launder proceeds of the conspiracy around the world, including to the U.S.

“Criminals like Alex Saab who stole from the people of Venezuela and worked to exploit and misuse American financial institutions to fund illicit activities will be held accountable by this FBI,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The message is clear – under the leadership of the Trump administration, this FBI will work with our partners to deploy all necessary resources to protect the integrity of U.S. financial institutions and track down those who profit from these criminal operations.” 

“Alex Saab exploited the U.S. financial system to profit off the backs of the Venezuelan people,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators. The Criminal Division has held Saab accountable and will do the same for others seeking to abuse the U.S. economy for their own gain.”

“Today’s plea agreement signifies a substantial disruption to the illicit financial networks supporting narcoterrorism and political corruption,” said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terry Cole. “DEA has long investigated the financial crimes and networks tied to Alex Saab and his relationship to the former Maduro regime. Thanks to this Administration’s support of law enforcement and DEA’s relentless pressure, Alex Saab will again be brought to justice in the United States.”

“In December 2023, President Biden granted Alex Saab clemency while he was awaiting trial in this District, and Saab was released from federal custody and returned to Venezuela. But that was not the end of the story,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Our Office built a new criminal case, secured a new indictment in January 2026, and, working with our federal and international partners, brought Saab back before a federal court in Miami on May 18. Today, he is accepting responsibility for his crimes. Saab exploited programs intended to provide critical food and medicine to the Venezuelan people, bribed government officials, and used shell companies and the U.S. financial system to move and conceal criminal proceeds. This case sends a clear message: political connections, wealth, and proximity to a corrupt regime will not put anyone beyond the reach of American justice.”

Saab pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. A sentencing date has not been set. Saab faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The DEA Miami Field Division is investigating the case, with assistance from the FBI Miami Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) are prosecuting the case.

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 26-cr-20020.

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MIAMI – Today, Florida United States Attorneys Jason A. Reding Quiñones, Gregory W. Kehoe, and John “Jack” P. Heekin, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier convened the inaugural meeting of the Florida Anti-fraud Task Force (“FATF”), a federal-state task force formed with a mandate to eliminate fraud within federal government benefit programs in Florida.

“President Trump has made clear that protecting American taxpayers from fraud is an enforcement priority, and under the leadership of Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, the Justice Department is building an aggressive, data-driven strategy to do just that,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The Florida Anti-fraud Task Force puts that strategy into action by bringing federal and state prosecutors, investigators, inspectors general, and data together to identify fraud faster, prosecute those responsible, and recover stolen taxpayer dollars. Florida is once again leading the way, and we intend for this partnership to serve as a model for fighting fraud across the country.”

“The Middle District of Florida is committed to protecting taxpayer-funded programs from fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida. “Our dedicated staff and law enforcement partners will work zealously with the members of the Florida Anti-Fraud Task Force to investigate crimes, enforce the law, and prosecute those who commit fraud against our federal programs.”

“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department of Justice is committed to fulfilling the fiduciary duty we owe U.S. taxpayers to safeguard their money against fraud, waste, and abuse,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, John “Jack” P. Heekin. “My district is aggressively pursuing frauds both large and small, and we are restoring the zero-tolerance threshold for crime that our citizens deserve.”

“The USDA Office of Inspector General is committed to partnering with federal, state, and local agencies to combat fraud in USDA programs that impact our communities,” said USDA Inspector General John Walk. “Leveraging resources across agencies at every level of government is key.  I am proud to participate in the Inaugural Florida Anti-Fraud Task Force meeting which ensures strong collaboration going forward to fight fraud and hold those responsible who steal from Floridians and American taxpayers.”

The FATF is a first-of-its-kind task force that answers the call by Justice Department leaders and Florida citizens to build a model of federal-state cooperation to prevent and detect, investigate, and prosecute government program fraud and recover stolen taxpayer dollars.  The meeting builds on the Justice Department’s recent announcement of the launch of the Fraud Division’s National Fraud Detection Center (NFDC), a prosecutor-led, multi-agency team designed to investigate the most harmful actors defrauding federal government programs, including illicit actors overseas and those operating fraud schemes across federal programs. The NFDC will bring together law enforcement agencies and analytical capabilities to generate criminal leads to drive more impactful prosecutions and enhance fraud-fighting results for the American people.  The NFDC solves for a lack of cross-program visibility that has long hindered efforts to deter fraud on taxpayer-funded programs and has enabled some fraud actors to further perpetrate schemes across multiple taxpayer-funded programs without detection. The NFDC closes this gap by bringing partners across federal and state government together to break down silos and work collaboratively in a whole-of-government approach to eliminate fraud. 

The NFDC’s success relies directly on the collaborative strength of partners across state and federal government.  To that end, in July, the State of Florida’s Secretary of State and CFO joined several other southern states and entered into data sharing agreements with the Fraud Division and NFDC that provide access to publicly available corporate registration and public benefits payment data held by these state agencies, data which will help enforcers proactively identify connections and patterns across both business entities and public benefits payment activity. And, in August, the Fraud Division and NFDC announced data sharing agreements with fifteen federal agencies. 

FATF will use leads generated by the NFDC to drive more impactful prosecutions and enhance fraud-fighting results for Floridians. FATF will also leverage the relationships, tools, and resources of other well-established and highly-effective anti-fraud task forces operating in Florida, including the Florida IG Council and the Florida Strike Force, a joint effort among the Fraud Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, FBI, and the Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Federal and State Partners Represented at the FATF Meeting:

Federal Prosecutors:  U.S. Department of Justice, National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.

Federal Agencies:  FBI, U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Education Office of Inspector General, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General, Export-Import Bank of the United States Office of Inspector General, FDIC OIG, FHFA Office of Inspector General, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, General Services Administration Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigations, Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Amtrak

Florida Prosecutors: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay, Associate Deputy Attorney General and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Director Kathleen Von Hoene.

Florida State and Local Agencies and Law Enforcement: Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), Miami-Dade Office of Inspector General, City of Miami, Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General, and Broward Sheriff’s Office.

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MIAMI – Two South Florida men were sentenced to multiple years in prison for their roles in a $34.8 million health care fraud conspiracy billing Medicare for thousands of orthotic braces sent to Medicare beneficiaries who did not need them.

“These fraudsters billed Medicare $34.8 million for braces that patients didn’t need and didn’t request — and now they’re paying the price,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “They paid kickbacks for fake doctors’ orders, shuffled billing among several companies to dodge payment suspensions, and pocketed millions that belonged to American taxpayers. Their prison sentences make clear: if you steal from Medicare, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”

“Medicare is not a blank check for fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants built a $34.8 million scheme around medically unnecessary braces, fraudulent doctors’ orders, and illegal kickbacks, all to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers. Today’s sentences reinforce a simple message: if you steal from our health care programs, we will find you, prosecute you, and hold you accountable.”

According to court documents, Kenneth Charles Kessler, III, 43, of Miami, and Michael Andrew Gomez, 43, of Miramar, owned and operated seven durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies based in Florida. Through these DME companies, they submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces.

Kessler and Gomez also paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain fraudulent signed doctors’ orders. They used these orders to ship orthotic braces to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide, including to beneficiaries who neither requested nor needed the braces, and then claimed payment for those braces from Medicare. Kessler and Gomez used their multiple DME companies to evade Medicare payment suspensions by shifting their fraudulent billing between their DME companies.

Kessler profited more than $1.4 million, and Gomez profited more than $2.3 million from the fraudulent scheme. 

Kessler was sentenced to 33 months of imprisonment, and Gomez was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment.

In May 2026, Kessler and Gomez each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), made the announcement.

FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Aisha Schafer Hylton and Owen Dunn of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Health Care Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove for the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.

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

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-60188.

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Two Florida men were sentenced to multiple years in prison for their roles in a $34.8 million health care fraud conspiracy billing Medicare for thousands of orthotic braces sent to Medicare beneficiaries who did not need them.

“These fraudsters billed Medicare $34.8 million for braces that patients didn’t need and didn’t request — and now they’re paying the price,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “They paid kickbacks for fake doctors’ orders, shuffled billing among several companies to dodge payment suspensions, and pocketed millions that belonged to American taxpayers. Their prison sentences make clear: if you steal from Medicare, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”

“Medicare is not a blank check for fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants built a $34.8 million scheme around medically unnecessary braces, fraudulent doctors’ orders, and illegal kickbacks, all to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers. Today’s sentences reinforce a simple message: if you steal from our health care programs, we will find you, prosecute you, and hold you accountable.”

According to court documents, Kenneth Charles Kessler III, 43, of Miami, Florida, and Michael Andrew Gomez, 43, of Miramar, Florida, owned and operated seven durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies based in Florida. Through these DME companies, they submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces.

Kessler and Gomez also paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain fraudulent signed doctors’ orders. They used these orders to ship orthotic braces to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide, including to beneficiaries who neither requested nor needed the braces, and then claimed payment for those braces from Medicare. Kessler and Gomez used their multiple DME companies to evade Medicare payment suspensions by shifting their fraudulent billing between their DME companies.

Kessler profited more than $1.4 million, and Gomez profited more than $2.3 million from the fraudulent scheme.

Kessler was sentenced to 33 months of in prison, and Gomez was sentenced to 24 months of in prison.

In May 2026, Kessler and Gomez each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Aisha Schafer Hylton and Owen Dunn of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Health Care Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

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

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

A Florida resident and Russian national, Alexander Mamonov, 62, was convicted on all charges yesterday following a jury trial related to a scheme to illegally export aircraft parts from the United States to Russia and the state-owned Russian airline, PJSC Aeroflot. 

“This guilty verdict – on all counts – shows the United States government’s resolute commitment to upholding our export-control laws and to prosecuting those who violate them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division and our U.S. Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement partners will continue to safeguard U.S.-controlled items from being exported unlawfully.”

“Mamonov illegally exported nearly one million dollars of aviation parts to Russia by lying to U.S. suppliers about their destination, and this conviction on all counts holds him accountable,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The FBI and its partners will continue to prioritize the enforcement of export laws and sanctions to defend the homeland. Let this verdict serve as a warning to anyone considering smuggling U.S. technology to our adversaries.”

“Russia cannot evade American sanctions and export controls by routing its purchases through South Florida,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “You cannot put a fake destination on a shipping label and make American export laws disappear. This defendant conspired to secretly funnel nearly $1 million in American aircraft parts to Russia and Aeroflot, then used false destinations and financial transactions to conceal what he was doing. Yesterday, a federal jury held him accountable on every count. We will continue to aggressively pursue those who use our district, our financial system, or American businesses to undermine U.S. national security.” 

Mamonov was convicted in the Southern District of Florida of 12 counts related to that scheme, including conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), illegal export of items subject to ECRA, conspiracy to commit smuggling, smuggling of goods, submitting false or misleading export information, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams scheduled sentencing for Nov. 20.

The defendant was charged by indictment in April 2025, alongside Ignat Vakorin of Russia. Vakorin remains a fugitive in wanted status.

Following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce increased restrictions on exports to Russia and issued a temporary denial order barring Aeroflot from receiving U.S.-origin goods. According to court documents and testimony, Mamonov is a former Aeroflot employee who relocated from Russia to South Florida. After the U.S. Department of Commerce increased restrictions on Russian exports, Mamonov conspired with Vakorin to acquire and illegally ship over $900,000 in aircraft parts to Russia and to Aeroflot. Mamonov and Vakorin misled U.S. suppliers into believing the parts were being sent to other destinations, such as the United Arab Emirates and China.

This case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office with assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Paul Cronin for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Brett Ruff of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

MIAMI – A Florida resident and Russian national, Alexander Mamonov, 62, was convicted on all charges yesterday following a jury trial related to a scheme to illegally export aircraft parts from the U.S. to Russia and the state-owned Russian airline, PJSC Aeroflot. 

“This guilty verdict – on all counts – shows the United States government’s resolute commitment to upholding our export-control laws and to prosecuting those who violate them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division and our U.S. Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement partners will continue to safeguard U.S.-controlled items from being exported unlawfully.”

“Russia cannot evade American sanctions and export controls by routing its purchases through South Florida,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “You cannot put a fake destination on a shipping label and make American export laws disappear. This defendant conspired to secretly funnel nearly $1 million in American aircraft parts to Russia and Aeroflot, then used false destinations and financial transactions to conceal what he was doing. Yesterday, a federal jury held him accountable on every count. We will continue to aggressively pursue those who use our district, our financial system, or American businesses to undermine U.S. national security.”

“Mamonov illegally exported nearly one million dollars of aviation parts to Russia by lying to U.S. suppliers about their destination, and this conviction on all counts holds him accountable,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The FBI and its partners will continue to prioritize the enforcement of export laws and sanctions to defend the homeland. Let this verdict serve as a warning to anyone considering smuggling U.S. technology to our adversaries.”

Mamonov was convicted of 12 counts related to that scheme, including conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), illegal export of items subject to ECRA, conspiracy to commit smuggling, smuggling of goods, submitting false or misleading export information, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams for the Southern District of Florida scheduled sentencing for Nov. 20.

The defendant was charged by indictment in April 2025, alongside Ignat Vakorin of Russia. Vakorin remains a fugitive in wanted status.

Following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce increased restrictions on exports to Russia and issued a temporary denial order barring Aeroflot from receiving U.S.-origin goods. According to court documents and testimony, Mamonov is a former Aeroflot employee who relocated from Russia to South Florida. After the U.S. Department of Commerce increased restrictions on Russian exports, Mamonov conspired with Vakorin to acquire and illegally ship over $900,000 in aircraft parts to Russia and to Aeroflot. Mamonov and Vakorin misled U.S. suppliers into believing the parts were being sent to other destinations, such as the United Arab Emirates and China.

This case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office with assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Cronin for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Brett Ruff of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-20174.

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MIAMI – A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.

According to court documents, Brandon Sartor, 33, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, between December 2024 and April 2025, used physical violence, threats, sexual assault, and the withholding of drugs to compel two women to engage in repeated commercial sex acts in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Sartor initially recruited each victim by falsely promising to help them make money. Sartor then compelled each victim to have sex with as many as 10 men each day in exchange for money he seized for his benefit. He also subjected each victim to violent physical beatings, including punching and hitting them, and threatened to harm or kill them or their families. Additionally, Sartor compelled one of the victims by giving and withholding drugs in such a way that caused her to fear experiencing opioid withdrawal sickness if she did not comply with his demands. 

“Brandon Sartor used violence and fear to compel the two victims to have sex with dozens of men for his monetary gain,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “His use of violence and threats to terrorize and control vulnerable victims speaks to the depravity of his conduct and the need to hold him accountable for trafficking them. The Criminal Division will continue to stand up for these and other victims of human trafficking.”

“This defendant treated human beings as commodities — brutalizing and exploiting vulnerable women for his own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “That conduct is reprehensible. Those who traffic and profit from the suffering of others will be pursued relentlessly and held accountable.”

“The defendant forced these two women into sex trafficking through repeated violence and sexual abuse that no one deserves to be victimized with,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The dedicated work of the FBI, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and DOJ prosecutors ensured Sartor pled guilty and was brought to justice.”

Sartor is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of life in prison. He also faces a maximum penalty of lifetime supervised release and mandatory restitution to be paid to the victims. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

FBI Miami and the Anne Arundel County Police Department in Maryland are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwayne Williams for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section are prosecuting the case.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 26-cr-20188.

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A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.

According to court documents, Brandon Sartor, 33, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, between December 2024 and April 2025, used physical violence, threats, sexual assault, and the withholding of drugs to compel two women to engage in repeated commercial sex acts in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Sartor initially recruited each victim by falsely promising to help them make money. Sartor then compelled each victim to have sex with as many as 10 men each day in exchange for money he seized for his benefit. He also subjected each victim to violent physical beatings, including punching and hitting them, and threatened to harm or kill them or their families. Additionally, Sartor compelled one of the victims by giving and withholding drugs in such a way that caused her to fear experiencing opioid withdrawal sickness if she did not comply with his demands. 

“Brandon Sartor used violence and fear to compel the two victims to have sex with dozens of men for his monetary gain,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “His use of violence and threats to terrorize and control vulnerable victims speaks to the depravity of his conduct and the need to hold him accountable for trafficking them. The Criminal Division will continue to stand up for these and other victims of human trafficking.”

“This defendant treated human beings as commodities — brutalizing and exploiting vulnerable women for his own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “That conduct is reprehensible. Those who traffic and profit from the suffering of others will be pursued relentlessly and held accountable.”

“The defendant forced these two women into sex trafficking through repeated violence and sexual abuse that no one deserves to be victimized with,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The dedicated work of the FBI, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and DOJ prosecutors ensured Sartor pled guilty and was brought to justice.”

Sartor is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of life in prison. He also faces a maximum penalty of lifetime supervised release and mandatory restitution to be paid to the victims. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

FBI Miami and the Anne Arundel County Police Department in Maryland are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwayne Williams for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

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

MIAMI – A grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has returned an indictment charging a Colorado man with attempting to murder five Deputy U.S. Marshals who were trying to arrest him in Vero Beach.

According to court records, Thomas Earl Steffens, 72, of Grand Junction, Colorado, was wanted on an arrest warrant in Colorado when he traveled by bus to Vero Beach.  Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force tracked Steffens to Vero Beach on March 2.  As the Deputy U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force moved to arrest him, Steffens allegedly opened fire, striking one deputy in the chest and leg. The deputies returned fire, and Steffens was taken into custody.

Steffens is charged with five counts of attempted murder of a federal officer, five counts of aggravated assault of a federal officer, and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. 

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Hoover and William C. Long are prosecuting the case.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.sdfl.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-14054.

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MIAMI – Five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into South Florida aboard sport fishing vessels from the Dominican Republic. 

According to court records, Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, 32; Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, 32; Keisy Estibet Peguero, 38; Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera, 32; and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez, 46, participated in a drug trafficking organization that used U.S.-registered sport fishing vessels to transport multi-hundred-kilogram shipments of cocaine into South Florida.

“These were not fishing trips. They were industrial-scale cocaine runs into South Florida,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This organization used sport fishing vessels and hidden compartments to move thousands of kilograms of cocaine from offshore waters to stash houses and distributors in our communities. Through the Homeland Security Task Force, we will continue attacking these trafficking networks at every point in the pipeline, from sea to shore to street.”

The organization, led by Mercedes-Hernandez, was responsible for importing over 3,500 kilograms of cocaine aboard vessels equipped with concealed compartments used to store the drugs. The cocaine was picked up off the coast of the Bahamas and transported to South Florida. 

Mercedes-Hernandez financed the purchase of vessels and other expenses associated with transporting the cocaine.   He also supervised the unloading of the drugs, their transportation to a stash house, and their subsequent delivery to distributors. 

The other defendants performed various roles in the organization. Salcedo-Perez served in multiple capacities, including as the registered owner of the vessels used by the organization. Peguero assisted in transporting the cocaine and guarded drug shipments while they were in transit. Rivera-Cabrera and Rijo-Jimenez served as captains of vessels used to transport cocaine into South Florida.

Drug shipments attributed to the conspiracy include:

• Approximately 1,600 kilograms of cocaine transported into South Florida aboard the M/V Mysterry in mid-2023;

• Approximately 900 kilograms of cocaine transported aboard the M/V Maple Leaf in December 2024; and

• Approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine transported aboard the M/V Daviniki in July and August 2025.

In total, the organization imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value exceeding $31 million. 

Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to import more than five kilograms of cocaine. Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

DEA Miami Field Division is investigating the case, with assistance from the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Kirkpatrick is prosecuting the case.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20092. 

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MIAMI – A Lake Worth man has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity, sending sexually explicit images of himself to minors, and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court records, Nicholas John Dinapoli, 30, who used the alias “demondon_666,” exchanged messages in September 2025 with someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. During the exchanges, Dinapoli sent sexually explicit images of himself and requested images in return. Dinapoli also discussed sexual activity he wanted to engage in with the purported 15-year-old and discussed meeting her in person for that purpose. 

“Adults who use the internet to sexualize, manipulate, and pursue children will find federal law enforcement on the other side of the screen,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Nicholas Dinapoli repeatedly targeted minors, sent them obscene material, and sought sexual contact with a child. Protecting children from online exploitation is a top priority, and we will relentlessly pursue those who prey on them.”

During the same period, Dinapoli exchanged messages with a 13-year-old girl and sent her a sexually explicit image of himself, knowing that she was under 16. In or around October 2024, Dinapoli also communicated through a social media application with another girl who was 16 to 17 years old and whom he believed to be 16. During those communications, the girl sent Dinapoli sexually explicit images of herself. 

During the execution of a search warrant at Dinapoli’s residence, law enforcement searched his electronic devices and found CSAM involving the 16-to-17-year-old girl saved on his phone. A review of Dinapoli’s social media account also revealed that he had engaged in sexual communications with at least two other minors, as well as additional inappropriate online encounters with girls who appeared to be under 18. 

Dinapoli pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, one count of transfer of obscene material to a minor, and one count of possession of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of minors. He faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison on the attempted enticement count, up to 10 years in prison on each obscene material count, and up to 10 years in prison on the possession count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement. 

FBI Miami, West Palm Beach Resident Agency, is investigating the case with assistance from FBI New York. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie Wilson is prosecuting the case.

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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-80087.

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MIAMI – Ten defendants have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a South Florida cocaine trafficking conspiracy that involved cocaine supplied by a Mexican drug cartel and others.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles sentenced Reinaldo Fernandez, 63, to 188 months in federal prison; Javier Garcia-Mora, 40, to 60 months; Michel Garcia, 50, to 57 months; Renier Mendez, 46, to 57 months; Elvis Alfonso, 40, to 64 months; Alfredo Miranda, 63, to 70 months; Yaniel Cardenal Frias, 32, to 75 months; and Jorge Victor Herrero Gamez, 33, to 82 months. Each pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Alberto Gonzalez, 39, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Daniel Gerardo Torres, 55, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. 

“Mexican drug cartels do not get to establish a foothold in South Florida,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This organization brought cartel-supplied cocaine into our communities, moved drugs and bulk cash across the country, and even had a cartel representative sent to Miami to oversee its interests. Ten defendants are now headed to federal prison. Through the Homeland Security Task Force, we will continue dismantling these networks from the cartel to the street and holding everyone involved accountable.”

According to court records, from at least September 2024 through September 2025, the defendants participated in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy operating throughout South Florida. Fernandez and other co-conspirators obtained cocaine from a Mexican drug cartel and other sources. Garcia-Mora, a Mexican national who was illegally present in the U.S., was sent to Miami by members of the cartel to oversee its interests in South Florida.

Garcia, Mendez, and Alfonso served as drivers for the organization, transporting cocaine and bulk U.S. currency throughout the U.S. Miranda, Cardenal Frias, Herrero Gamez, Gonzalez, and Torres bought and sold cocaine to and from Fernandez and others in South Florida. 

As part of the investigation, law enforcement seized over $450,000 in narcotics proceeds.

Juan Miguel Torna Rojas, William Padron Perez, and Ricardo Oramas Valdes remain fugitives.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

DEA Miami Field Division investigated the case, with assistance from the City of Miami Police Department, Miami Springs Police Department, and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demirci is handling asset forfeiture.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20438.

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MIAMI – A former Miami Gardens Police Department (MGPD) officer has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to obtain a $63,900 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) through a COVID-19 relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Alvin Bernard, 38, of Miami Gardens, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the SBA.

“Alvin Bernard was a police officer sworn to uphold the law, yet he lied to obtain federal relief funds intended for businesses harmed by the pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “His guilty plea holds him accountable for abusing the public trust and stealing from a program funded by American taxpayers.”

The EIDL program, established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provided financial assistance to qualifying businesses suffering economic injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants were required to certify, under penalty of perjury, that the information submitted — including the business’s gross revenues — was true and accurate. 

According to court records, Bernard was employed as a police officer with the MGPD while serving as the sole manager and authorized representative of Vanity Properties LLC. Acting on behalf of the company, Bernard submitted an online EIDL application that falsely represented Vanity Properties’ gross revenues in order to qualify for federal disaster assistance.     

Specifically, Bernard falsely certified that Vanity Properties generated $127,881 in gross revenues for the 12-month period preceding Jan. 31, 2020. In reality, the company had not earned those revenues. Based on the false information, the SBA approved and disbursed a $63,900 EIDL by electronic funds transfer into Vanity Properties’ bank account.

Bernard faces a maximum sentence of two years in federal prison. As part of his plea agreement, he also agreed to resign from the MGPD, surrender his Florida law enforcement certification, and permanently refrain from seeking recertification.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Xerri of the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG), Eastern Region; and Special Agent in Charge Michael Townsend of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami, SBA OIG Eastern Region, and USSS Miami Field Office are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Zack is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20055.

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MIAMI – A federal judge accepted the guilty plea of a Texas man who secretly recorded two minor children with hidden cameras installed in the bedroom and bathroom of his Florida condominium. 

According to court documents, Michael Joseph Branham, 38, of Katy, Texas, lived in a one-bedroom condominium in Okeechobee from approximately February 2023 through August 2025. During that time, Branham installed concealed cameras in the condominium’s bathroom and bedroom to secretly record two minor children who visited the residence.

“Michael Joseph Branham secretly placed cameras in a bathroom and bedroom to record children as young as 11 during their most private moments,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This was the deliberate creation of child sexual abuse material through a calculated betrayal of children who trusted they were safe. His guilty plea is an important measure of accountability for these deeply disturbing crimes.”

Investigators discovered more than 30 videos depicting the children dressing, showering, and engaging in other private activities. One victim was 13 years old when secretly recorded. The second victim was 11 and 12 years old during the period of the recordings. The videos were created between June and December 2024. Additional images and videos of other minors that involved child sexual abuse material (CSAM) were discovered on Branham’s phone. 

The investigation began on January 10, when Branham arrived at Port Everglades aboard a cruise ship from Turks and Caicos. During a secondary inspection, law enforcement searched Branham’s cellular telephone and discovered CSAM depicting minor children.

Branham pleaded guilty to seven counts of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of transportation of child pornography. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison for each production count and 20 years in prison for each possession and transportation count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

HSI Miami is investigating the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deric Zacca and Catherine Koontz are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing 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.projectsafechildhood.gov

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-60012.

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MIAMI – A former City of Sweetwater commissioner was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining nearly $950,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by submitting falsified payroll records, fabricated tax documents, and other fraudulent submissions to lenders administering pandemic-relief funds.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles sentenced Sophia Lacayo, 48, of Doral, after she pleaded guilty to wire fraud. 

“Sophia Lacayo exploited an emergency program intended to keep workers employed and small businesses alive, using fabricated tax forms and false payroll records to obtain nearly $950,000,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “As a former elected official, she knew the importance of public trust but chose fraud instead. This sentence holds her accountable for stealing pandemic-relief funds from American taxpayers.”

According to court records, Lacayo owned Lacayo Trade Group Inc. (Lacayo Trade) and exercised significant control over QC Tax Pro Systems LLC (QC Tax) and QC Trade Group LLC (QC Trade). Lacayo submitted, and caused to be submitted, fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of the three companies in order to obtain pandemic-relief funds to which the companies were not entitled. 

The fraudulent applications falsely inflated the companies’ payroll expenses, employee counts, revenues, and wages paid. To support the applications, Lacayo submitted numerous falsified documents, including fraudulent IRS Forms, fabricated payroll records, and a falsified bank statement.

As a result of the scheme, Lacayo and her companies fraudulently obtained approximately $948,325 in PPP loan proceeds, including two $251,465 loans obtained on behalf of QC Tax, a $117,500 loan obtained for QC Trade, and a $327,895 loan obtained for Lacayo Trade.

At sentencing, the Court noted that Lacayo had repaid more than $444,000 in advance restitution, which had previously reimbursed the lenders for the fraudulent loans.  A hearing to determine the amount of additional restitution is set for Oct. 7. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Michael Townsend of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Xerri of the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG), Eastern Region, made the announcement.

FBI Miami, USSS Miami, and SBA OIG, Investigations Division’s Eastern Region, investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20427.

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MIAMI – One year after taking the oath of office as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reding Quiñones today marked a year of institutional transformation, historic prosecutions, and measurable results across one of the nation’s largest and most complex federal districts.

Reding Quiñones was sworn in on August 13, 2025, following his nomination by President Donald J. Trump and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. He was the first U.S. Attorney confirmed during President Trump’s second administration.

From his first day in office, Reding Quiñones established three guiding principles for the Southern District of Florida: Protect Americans. Restore Impartial Justice. Defend the Rule of Law.

Within his first month, Reding Quiñones reorganized the Criminal Division to sharpen its focus on the threats facing South Florida and the nation. Over the following year, the Office hired 77 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 38 professional staff — 115 new employees — and reduced vacancies by 34 percent. The Office further expanded its enforcement capacity by bringing aboard 47 Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 20 detailees from partner agencies and other components of the Department of Justice.

At the same time, the Office increased immigration defendants charged by more than 28 percent, rose to #1 in the nation in white-collar caseload and #1 in Homeland Security Task Force-related caseload, ranked #3 nationally in national-security caseload, and collected more than $160 million in restitution, fines, assessments, and civil recoveries, before accounting for forfeitures. The office also ranked third among the 18 extra-large U.S. Attorney’s Offices in case complexity.

“Leadership is measured by results and by the institution you build to sustain them,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones. “In one year, we reorganized this Office, hired 115 prosecutors and professional staff, reduced vacancies by more than a third, built new enforcement capabilities, strengthened our partnerships at every level of law enforcement, and delivered historic results across the full range of our mission. We did not choose between priorities. We built the capacity to pursue all of them.”

CASES OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

During Reding Quiñones’s first year, the Southern District of Florida prosecuted cases of extraordinary national and historical significance: from an attempted presidential assassination, to the assassination of a foreign head of state, to alleged murders committed by a hostile regime three decades ago, to a new prosecution of one of the Nicolás Maduro regime’s most prominent financial operatives.

Ryan Routh: Life for Attempted Assassination of President Trump

In February, Ryan Wesley Routh was sentenced to life imprisonment plus seven years for attempting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

A federal jury convicted Routh on all five counts charged in the indictment, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and firearms offenses. Attorney General Pamela Bondi at the time described Routh’s conduct as not only an attack on President Trump, but a direct assault on the nation’s democratic system.

The prosecution underscored a fundamental principle of the Office’s mission: political violence has no place in the U.S., and those who attempt to use violence to alter the nation’s democratic process will face the full force of federal law.

Jovenel Moïse Assassination

In May, a federal jury in Miami convicted four defendants for their roles in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages were convicted of offenses including conspiracy to provide material support resulting in death, providing material support resulting in death, conspiracy to kill and kidnap outside the U.S., and expedition against a friendly nation. Intriago was convicted of additional export-related offenses.

Raúl Castro and Brothers to the Rescue

In May, the U.S. unsealed a historic superseding indictment charging Raúl Castro and five other Cuban regime defendants for their alleged roles in the February 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters.

The attack killed Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.

The charges followed renewed work by the Office’s Cuba Prosecution Working Group and represent a significant step in the three-decade pursuit of accountability for the killings.

As Reding Quiñones said when announcing the indictment: “The passage of time does not erase murder.”

Alex Saab: A New Case and Return to U.S. Court

The Office also developed a new federal criminal case against Alex Nain Saab Moran, a longtime financial operative of Maduro’s regime.

Saab had previously been prosecuted in the Southern District of Florida before receiving executive clemency by President Biden and being returned to Venezuela in December 2023.

Under Reding Quiñones’s leadership, federal prosecutors and the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) developed a new case, secured a new indictment, and brought Saab back before a federal court in Miami. On May 18, Saab made his initial appearance after the indictment was unsealed.

The new indictment charges Saab with participating in an alleged international money-laundering conspiracy involving Venezuela’s government-controlled food program and oil. Prosecutors allege that Saab and others bribed Venezuelan officials to secure lucrative food contracts, misrepresented the nature and source of food imported into Venezuela, and used an international financial network to launder proceeds from the scheme.

The charges are allegations, and Saab is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Together, the Routh, Moïse, Castro, and Saab matters illustrate the breadth and significance of cases entrusted to the Southern District, from protecting the American democratic process to pursuing international terrorism, foreign-regime actors, transnational corruption, and political assassination.

TRANSFORMING THE OFFICE, BUILDING CAPACITY, AND STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS

Those results came during a year of significant institutional change. Within weeks of taking office, Reding Quiñones reorganized the Criminal Division to better align prosecutors and supervisors with the district’s principal enforcement threats. The Office subsequently created new enforcement capabilities, strengthened coordination with federal law enforcement, and undertook one of the most aggressive recruiting efforts in its history.

During the year, the Office hired 77 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 38 professional staff — 115 new employees in less than 12 months — and reduced vacancies by 34 percent. The Office also added 47 Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 20 detailees, significantly expanding the prosecutorial and enforcement resources available to the district.

At the same time, Reding Quiñones made strengthening law-enforcement partnerships a central focus of the Office. The Southern District of Florida deepened its relationships with Department of Justice components and federal law-enforcement agencies, partners across other federal departments, and state and local law-enforcement agencies throughout South Florida. Those partnerships expanded information sharing, embedded prosecutors and partner personnel alongside one another, and enabled coordinated operations targeting violent crime, transnational criminal organizations, immigration offenses, fraud, foreign threats, and other shared enforcement priorities.

LEADING THE NATION ACROSS THE FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT MISSION

The institutional transformation was accompanied by national leadership across multiple enforcement areas.

As of June 30, the Southern District of Florida ranked:

• #1 nationally in white-collar cases;

• #1 nationally in HSTF-related cases;

• #3 nationally in national-security cases; and

• #3 in case complexity among the nation’s 18 extra-large U.S. Attorney’s Offices.

The breadth of those rankings is significant. While expanding immigration enforcement, the Office simultaneously carried the nation’s leading white-collar and HSTF-related workloads and one of its leading national-security workloads.

SECURING THE BORDER AND DISMANTLING TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS

In September 2025, Reding Quiñones created the Border and Immigration Crimes Enforcement Section (BICE), a specialized prosecution section designed to strengthen South Florida’s federal immigration and border-security enforcement.

BICE brought immigration, human-smuggling, narcotics, fraud, and violent-crime expertise together in a coordinated structure working closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys from DHS also serve alongside career federal prosecutors in BICE.

During Reding Quiñones’s first year, the number of immigration defendants charged increased by more than 28 percent compared with the preceding 12 months.

BICE and partner agencies pursued high-speed maritime smuggling ventures, overloaded vessels, kidnapping and extortion schemes, illegal reentry, immigration fraud, and combined narcotics-and-human-smuggling operations. In one prosecution, federal authorities interdicted vessels carrying 168 kilograms of cocaine and 31 unauthorized migrants.

The Office also expanded efforts to protect the integrity of American citizenship through denaturalization proceedings involving individuals alleged to have concealed fraud, human-rights violations, child exploitation, espionage, and other serious misconduct.

Among those actions, the Department filed suit to revoke the citizenship of Victor Manuel Rocha, the former U.S. ambassador convicted of serving as an unregistered agent of Cuba, and Philippe Bien-Aime, the former mayor of North Miami. Most recently, a jury convicted Tania Rosa Rodriguez of unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship after concealing her involvement in a healthcare fraud scheme.

PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM VIOLENT CRIME, FENTANYL, AND PREDATORS

The Office continued aggressive enforcement against violent offenders, firearms traffickers, fentanyl dealers, child predators, human traffickers, and those who threaten public officials and law-enforcement officers.

In July, the Office announced the results of Operation Hurricane, charging 46 federal and state defendants as part of a multi-agency enforcement surge targeting repeat violent offenders in Palm Beach County. The operation seized 94 firearms along with ammunition and significant quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and crack cocaine.

Alfonso Guerrero was sentenced to life in federal prison for distributing the fentanyl that killed a Vero Beach man and continuing to traffic fentanyl only days later.

Jeffrey Allen Holden, already imprisoned for rape, received a federal life sentence for using a contraband cellphone and false identity to manipulate a 12-year-old South Florida child into producing child sexual abuse material.

The Office also prosecuted human traffickers who preyed on foster youth, violent narcotics organizations, firearms traffickers, kidnappers, armed offenders, and individuals accused or convicted of threatening senior government officials.

PROTECTING TAXPAYERS, VICTIMS, AND THE AMERICAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

The Office’s #1 national white-collar ranking was reflected in major prosecutions spanning health-care fraud, investment fraud, public-benefits fraud, cryptocurrency, procurement fraud, money laundering, and corruption.

In the Department’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, the Southern District of Florida charged 12 defendants in alleged schemes involving more than $4 billion in fraudulent claims. Nationwide, the takedown charged 455 defendants in alleged schemes involving more than $6.5 billion.

Other significant results included a 20-year sentence in a $94 million international investment fraud scheme; a guilty plea in a scheme involving more than $52 million in fraudulent Medicare claims; prosecutions involving $35 million in Medicare Advantage fraud and more than $19 million in alleged SNAP fraud; and cases involving cryptocurrency, pandemic-relief fraud, fraudulent nursing credentials, identity theft, and fraud targeting U.S. military operations.

During the anniversary period, the Office collected more than $160 million in restitution, fines, assessments, and civil recoveries, before including forfeiture results.

DEFENDING AMERICA FROM FOREIGN INFLUENCE AND CORRUPTION

South Florida’s position as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean gives the district a unique responsibility in cases involving hostile foreign regimes, foreign influence, international corruption, sanctions evasion, money laundering, and transnational criminal organizations.

In May, a federal jury convicted former U.S. Congressman David Rivera and lobbyist Esther Nuhfer of secretly acting as unregistered agents of Venezuela in connection with a $50 million contract. Rivera was convicted of conspiracy and substantive Foreign Agents Registration Act violations, money-laundering conspiracy, and transactions involving criminally derived property.

The Office also charged the corporate entity commonly known as Smartmatic, three company executives, and the former chairman of the Philippine Commission on Elections in an alleged scheme involving more than $1 million in bribes connected to Philippine election contracts.

Other international enforcement included HSTF’s Operation Mousetrap, which charged defendants connected to an international cocaine-trafficking network and a 540-kilogram cocaine seizure in Miami.

The Office also pursued Venezuela-related financial crime, ransomware and cybercrime, sanctions violations, foreign-agent offenses, international money laundering, and other threats to the U.S.

PUBLIC CORRUPTION, FOREIGN INFLUENCE, AND THE RULE OF LAW

The Office pursued cases involving public officials, corporate actors, foreign agents, and others without regard to status or influence.

During the year, federal prosecutors pursued cases involving current and former public officials, corporate executives, foreign-government actors, violent offenders, sophisticated financial criminals, and ordinary defendants alike.

Those matters included the indictment of then-U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and others for allegedly stealing $5 million in FEMA disaster funds and related campaign-finance offenses; the Rivera convictions; the Smartmatic prosecution; and cases against powerful foreign-regime actors.

Charged defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION

The Office also focused on strengthening the pipeline of future public servants at every stage; from high school and college students to law students preparing to enter the profession. In March, the Office launched its inaugural Federal Prosecutor Leadership Academy, a two-day program designed to introduce high school students to public service, the federal justice system, and careers in federal prosecution and law enforcement. The inaugural class welcomed 33 students from 10 Miami-Dade County high schools, giving students direct access to federal prosecutors, law-enforcement agents, and members of the judiciary.

The Office also renewed its participation in the Department of Justice’s Pathways Program, creating paid opportunities for college students to work inside the U.S. Attorney’s Office and gain firsthand experience with the Department’s mission and the day-to-day work of federal public service. 

At the law-school level, the Office strengthened its longstanding law clerk program, expanding programming, mentorship, and substantive opportunities for law students to work alongside federal prosecutors and experience the practice of federal law.

Together, these efforts reflect a long-term investment in the institution: recruiting and developing talented public servants today while building a stronger pipeline of prosecutors and professionals for tomorrow.

ONE YEAR OF TRANSFORMATION. THE MISSION CONTINUES.

The first year transformed the Office’s structure, expanded its prosecutorial capacity, reduced vacancies by more than a third, increased immigration enforcement by more than 28 percent, produced national leadership in white-collar, HSTF-related, and national-security work, and delivered historic prosecutions with consequences reaching from South Florida neighborhoods to Washington, Havana, Caracas, and Port-au-Prince.

“I am proud of what this team accomplished, but this anniversary is not a victory lap,” said Reding Quiñones. “The credit belongs to the career prosecutors and professional staff of this Office and to our extraordinary federal, state, and local law-enforcement partners. Our mission in year two is the same as it was on day one: Protect Americans. Restore Impartial Justice. Defend the Rule of Law.”

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MIAMI – A federal jury has convicted two Orlando men for their roles in a Sinaloa Cartel-directed plot to steal 45 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 kilograms of fentanyl, and drug proceeds from what they believed was a South Florida drug trafficker. 

Kevin Albornos-Martinez, 29, and Johan Landazury-Albornos, 24, both of Orlando, were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, following a 12-day trial. 

“This case shows exactly how transnational criminal organizations operate, and exactly how we intend to dismantle them through proactive law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “At the direction of an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member in Mexico, these defendants assembled an armed crew, including members of Tren de Aragua, and came to South Florida prepared to steal 45 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 kilograms of fentanyl, and drug proceeds. Instead, they walked into a law enforcement operation and now stand convicted by a federal jury. We will continue working with our federal, state, and local partners to identify, disrupt, and prosecute the violent criminal networks that threaten our communities.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Santiago Carillo-Piz, an alleged member of the Sinaloa Cartel who remains a fugitive in Mexico, directed Albornos-Martinez and Landazury-Albornos to assemble a crew to carry out the armed robbery. The defendants recruited individuals from across the country, including multiple members of Tren de Aragua, to steal 45 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 kilograms of fentanyl, and drug proceeds from the purported drug trafficker. 

The intended target, however, was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Authorities arrested the defendants as they tested their firearms and made final preparations to carry out the robbery.

Albornos-Martinez and Landazury-Albornos are the eighth and ninth defendants convicted in connection with the investigation. Carillo-Piz is the only remaining defendant and remains a fugitive in Mexico. 

Albornos-Martinez and Landazury-Albornos each face up to 40 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Special Agent in Charge Jason Stankiewicz of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division; Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami; and Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), made the announcement.

ATF, HSI, and BSO are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John McMillan and Juan Albino are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-80161.

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MIAMI – A federal jury has convicted a Cuban national of obtaining U.S. citizenship after she concealed her involvement in a multi-million-dollar healthcare fraud conspiracy during the naturalization process.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Tania Rosa Rodriguez, 57, applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2017 and was granted citizenship in 2018.  On her naturalization application, Rodriguez stated that she had never committed a crime for which she had not been arrested. At the time, however, Rodriguez was participating in a healthcare fraud conspiracy that began before she applied for naturalization and continued after she became a U.S. citizen.

“American citizenship cannot be lawfully obtained through fraud and concealment,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “While participating in a multi-million-dollar healthcare fraud conspiracy, this defendant sought U.S. citizenship and concealed her criminal conduct from the government. A federal jury has now held her accountable. Our Office will vigorously enforce the laws that protect the integrity of our immigration and naturalization system.”

Rodriguez was later convicted in federal court for her role in the seven-year conspiracy, which resulted in approximately $4.6 million in fraudulent healthcare claims. Evidence at trial established that Rodriguez knowingly concealed her criminal conduct during the naturalization process.

The jury found Rodriguez guilty of one count of unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Pierce and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackson Dering are prosecuting the case.

This case is being prosecuted by the Border and Immigration Crimes Enforcement (BICE) Section. BICE was created by U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones in November of 2025 to strengthen South Florida’s border security posture, protect maritime and land points of entry, enforce federal immigration law, and dismantle transnational smuggling networks operating through the region. The Section brings together narcotics, immigration, fraud, and violent-crime expertise into a single coordinated unit focused on border-driven threats.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20133.

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MIAMI – Three members of a large-scale cocaine trafficking organization operating in the Florida Keys have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a years-long conspiracy to distribute cocaine throughout Monroe County.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II sentenced John Robert Strama Jr., 44, Pedro Luis Lugo Jr., 38, and Elvis Lazaro Ruiz, 34, all of Marathon, to 120 months, 85 months, and 65 months in prison, respectively. 

Strama and Ruiz previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Lugo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

“Fishing for ‘square groupers’ in the waters off the Florida Keys is not a harmless pastime; it is drug trafficking, and it carries serious consequences,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants recovered kilogram quantities of cocaine from the sea and distributed them throughout the Florida Keys for years. Their sentences send a clear message: whether drugs arrive by land, air, or sea, we will work with our law enforcement partners to find the traffickers, dismantle their networks, and bring them to justice.”

The three were among 27 defendants charged in a federal indictment stemming from a long-running cocaine distribution network that operated from at least 2020 through 2023.

According to court records, Strama, identified as a leader of the organization, obtained much of the cocaine he distributed by locating and recovering “floaters” — waterproof-wrapped kilogram packages of cocaine found at sea. A professional boat operator, Strama used his knowledge of local waterways, tides, and currents to recover dozens of kilograms of cocaine over the course of the conspiracy. He then distributed the cocaine to co-conspirators and other buyers throughout the Florida Keys. 

Strama, Ruiz, and Lugo were held responsible for distributing between 15 and 50 kilograms of cocaine during the conspiracy.

To date, 25 defendants have been sentenced. Kizmet Yatz Qualls and Daniel Fernando Ramirez are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean McLaughlin and Frank Tamen are prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-20386.

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MIAMI – A Miami-Dade man pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for using fraudulent, unauthorized checks to steal money from victims’ bank accounts.

According to court documents, Eri Guzman Ortiz, 69, formerly of Miami-Dade County, created and deposited about $14 million in fraudulent checks into the bank accounts of sham companies in the U.S. The fraudulent checks were used to steal victims’ money by transferring it from the victims’ bank accounts to the bank accounts of the sham companies without the victims’ authorization. 

“Eri Guzman Ortiz used fraudulent checks totaling approximately $14 million to reach into the bank accounts of thousands of people and businesses who never authorized the transactions,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “He created sham companies and fabricated transactions to make systematic theft look legitimate. This guilty plea reflects our commitment, alongside the Fraud Section, USPIS, and FDIC-OIG, to protect the integrity of our financial system and hold sophisticated fraudsters accountable.”

Guzman Ortiz’s client in Canada sent him lists of thousands of people and businesses who had purportedly made purchases from sham companies and had purportedly agreed for their bank accounts to be debited by the sham companies. Guzman Ortiz used these lists to create fraudulent checks and deposit them into bank accounts for sham companies, knowing that these people and businesses had not made purchases from the sham companies and had not authorized debits from their bank accounts. 

Guzman Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group; and Special Agent in Charge Vincent R. Zehme of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) Chicago Region made the announcement. 

USPIS and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case. 

Trial Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Anna Forgie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida is handling forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-20351.

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A Florida man pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for using fraudulent, unauthorized checks to steal money from victims’ bank accounts.

According to court documents, Eri Guzman Ortiz, 69, formerly of Miami-Dade County, created and deposited about $14 million in fraudulent checks into the bank accounts of sham companies in the United States. The fraudulent checks were used to steal victims’ money by transferring it from the victims’ bank accounts to the bank accounts of the sham companies without the victims’ authorization. 

Guzman Ortiz’s client in Canada sent him lists of thousands of people and businesses who had purportedly made purchases from sham companies and had purportedly agreed for their bank accounts to be debited by the sham companies. Guzman Ortiz used these lists to create fraudulent checks and deposit them into bank accounts for sham companies, knowing that these people and businesses had not made purchases from the sham companies and had not authorized debits from their bank accounts. 

Guzman Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group; and Special Agent in Charge Vincent R. Zehme of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) Chicago Region made the announcement. 

USPIS and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case. 

Trial Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Anna Forgie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida is handling forfeiture. 

MIAMI – A Miami man pleaded guilty Friday to posting online threats targeting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of State Special Envoy Kristi Noem.

According to court records, Jon Christopher Enriquez, 47, of Miami, used the social media platform X to post multiple public threats targeting Secretary Rubio and Special Envoy Noem on May 27. The threats were made in three separate public posts over the course of the afternoon. Among other things, the posts threatened that both officials would be executed at specific times.

“Threatening to execute public officials is not political speech, it is a federal crime,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Enriquez used a public platform to issue repeated, specific threats against Secretary Rubio and Special Envoy Noem. Today’s guilty plea makes clear that those who attempt to terrorize public servants or intimidate them through threats of violence will be swiftly identified, prosecuted, and held accountable.”

“Threatening a Secretary of State or any senior State Department official is a serious federal offense,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Diplomatic Security Service Nicholas Collura. “Protecting the people who serve this country is our highest priority, and we will not hesitate to act against anyone who threatens their safety.”

Enriquez pleaded guilty to three counts of transmitting threats through interstate communications. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Diplomatic Security Service is investigating the case, with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the City of Miami Police Department, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Y. Carré is prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20239.

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MIAMI – An Oklahoma inmate who used a contraband cellphone to sexually exploit and coerce a 12-year-old South Florida child into producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was sentenced to life in federal prison. 

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith imposed the sentence on Jeffrey Allen Holden, 45, after he pleaded guilty to five counts of production of visual depictions involving sexual exploitation of minors and three counts of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

“Even a lengthy prison sentence for rape did not stop Jeffrey Allen Holden from seeking out and sexually exploiting another vulnerable victim,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “From his prison cell, he used a contraband phone and a false name to manipulate a 12-year-old child into producing CSAM. His life sentence is a just consequence for conduct that was calculated, predatory, and profoundly cruel.”

According to court documents, in October 2024, the mother of a 12-year-old child discovered sexually explicit communications between the child and an individual using the name “Jeremy” on a messaging platform. The communications included text messages, voice recordings, photographs, and videos. Although the child initially told Holden she was 13, she later disclosed that she was 12. 

After the mother reported the communications to law enforcement, investigators reviewed the child’s cellphone and discovered CSAM exchanged through direct messages between Holden and the victim. Investigators also found that Holden had sent the child sexually explicit photographs and videos of himself and had persuaded the victim to create sexually explicit content.

Investigators identified Holden through a photograph he sent the victim. At the time, Holden was incarcerated at the Howard McLeod Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, where he was serving a 25-year sentence for rape. A subsequent search of Holden’s prison cell uncovered a contraband cellphone. 

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille Smith and Vanessa Bonhomme prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-60108.

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MIAMI – A West Park man was sentenced to 319 months in federal prison for kidnapping a hired driver at gunpoint and forcing the victim to drive him and his associates away from the scene of a shooting. 

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore imposed the sentence on Bakari Jahiem Dixson, 24, of West Park, following a jury trial conviction on one count of kidnapping, one count of carjacking, and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. 

“After shooting a woman multiple times, Bakari Jahiem Dixson turned a hired driver into his getaway driver at gunpoint and threatened to kill him if he did not comply,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “This was a terrifying act of violence that showed complete disregard for human life. The more than 26-year sentence imposed holds Dixson accountable and protects the public from a dangerous armed offender.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on Aug. 2, 2025, Dixson hired a chauffeur service in Fort Lauderdale. While waiting for transportation, the driver witnessed an altercation involving Dixson which culminated in Dixson shooting a woman multiple times. 

Immediately after the shooting, Dixson and several associates entered the victim’s vehicle. Brandishing a firearm, Dixson ordered the driver to “drive or be killed.” Fearing for his life, the driver complied and drove Dixson and the others from Fort Lauderdale to West Park before dropping them off at Dixson’s residence. 

Eleven days later, Dixson was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Jason Stankiewicz of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

The ATF Miami Field Office investigated the case with substantial assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille Smith and Justin McCormack prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-60281.

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MIAMI – A Miami man who solicited sexually explicit videos and images from a 14-year-old child in Cuba and amassed hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. 

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Ariel Espinosa, 63, of Miami, to 324 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted production and transportation of CSAM.

“Ariel Espinosa knew his victim was only 14 years old, yet he repeatedly paid and directed the child to create sexually explicit material for his gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “His conduct was calculated, exploitative, and profoundly cruel. This 27-year sentence holds him accountable and sends a clear message that those who prey on children, whether here or abroad, will face severe consequences.”

According to court records, Espinosa arrived at Miami International Airport on Aug. 24, 2025, on a flight from Holguin, Cuba. During a secondary inspection, law enforcement officers conducted a cursory search of Espinosa’s cellphone and discovered hundreds of images and videos depicting CSAM.

Law enforcement also uncovered communications between Espinosa and a 14-year-old minor in Cuba. Despite knowing the victim was underage, Espinosa repeatedly solicited sexually explicit videos from the victim and directed the victim to create CSAM, often in exchange for electronic payments.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami investigated the case with assistance from the HSI Caribbean Regional Attaché Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Montes prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20403.

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MIAMI – A convicted felon has been sentenced to federal prison for his leading role in a real estate fraud scheme that raised over $50 million from investors.

U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Jean Joseph, also known as “Jon,” 55, of Boca Raton, to 240 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. A restitution hearing is set for September 4. Janalie Camille Bingham, his 44-year-old wife and accomplice who also goes by Janalie Camille Joseph, was sentenced to 48 months for her part in the crime.

“Jean Joseph was already serving a federal prison sentence for wire fraud when he continued directing another massive investment scheme from behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “He lied about the company’s assets, diverted millions of dollars into speculative trading and personal expenses, and used new investor money to pay earlier investors. This 20-year sentence delivers serious accountability for an unrepentant fraudster who repeatedly abused the trust of his victims.”

According to court documents, Joseph and Bingham formed Wells Real Estate Investment, LLC in or around 2017 and operated the company together, with Bingham serving as the Chief Executive Officer. Beginning in approximately 2019, Joseph and Bingham concealed Joseph’s involvement in the business after he became a convicted felon.

Despite beginning to serve a prison sentence in June 2020 in an unrelated wire fraud case (19-cr-20177), Joseph continued to direct aspects of the scheme from prison. Earlier, in October 2019, Joseph and Bingham opened a bank account in the name of Wells Real Estate, with Bingham as the sole authorized signer due to Joseph’s pending criminal prosecution. Joseph nevertheless directed transactions in the account, including while incarcerated.

From approximately 2019 through 2024, Joseph and Bingham solicited investors to purchase promissory notes issued by Wells Real Estate. They falsely represented that investor funds would be used to acquire and improve residential and commercial real estate and that the notes were backed by valuable real estate holdings. In reality, only a small portion of investor funds was used for real estate. Instead, Joseph diverted approximately $28 million into speculative equities trading.

Joseph and Bingham also falsely claimed that the investment notes were secured by a real estate portfolio purportedly worth as much as $450 million. In truth, neither Wells Real Estate nor the defendants owned sufficient real estate assets to secure the investments.

Joseph and Bingham further misled investors by claiming that Wells Real Estate did not pay commissions on note sales. In fact, the company paid up to 15% in commissions, distributing approximately $8 million in investor funds to sales personnel.

To sustain the scheme, the defendants used funds from newer investors to make more than $8 million in Ponzi-style payments to earlier investors, without disclosing the source of those payments.

They also used more than $2 million in investor funds for personal expenses, including a down payment on a $1.95 million home that they used as their primary residence. Shortly after purchasing the home through a limited liability company, the property was transferred into Bingham’s name.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami is investigating the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which previously brought a civil action against Joseph and Bingham.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eli S. Rubin and Roger Cruz are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20483.

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MIAMI – Three men have been sentenced in federal court for trafficking and sexually exploiting three vulnerable teenage girls who had run away from foster care, forcing them to engage in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ financial benefit. 

U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced Antonio Michel, 36, of Delray Beach, to 180 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor; Jaime Figueroa, 36, of Boynton Beach, to 235 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to production of child sexual abuse material; and Raymond Jean, 46, of Greenacres, to 144 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.

“These defendants found missing foster children who needed protection and chose instead to exploit them, supply them with drugs, and sell them for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Antonio Michel was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, Jaime Figueroa to 19 years and seven months, and Raymond Jean to 12 years. Their conduct was cruel and predatory, and these sentences reflect our commitment to finding missing children, protecting trafficking victims, and bringing those who prey on them to justice.”

“These defendants targeted some of the most vulnerable children in our community and treated them as a source of profit,” said Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami. “No child should ever be subjected to such cruelty. These sentences represent an important step toward justice for the victims and demonstrate that HSI and our partners will use every tool available to identify, investigate, and bring child predators to justice.”

According to court documents, the defendants preyed upon three teenage girls who had run away from foster care. Taking advantage of the victims’ youth, instability, and lack of family support, the defendants transported, harbored, and commercially exploited the minors for financial gain. 

Michel, often accompanied by Jean, transported the victims to and from hotels, motels, and other locations where commercial sex acts occurred. Michel also rented and paid for multiple hotel and motel rooms used to facilitate the exploitation of the minor victims.

Figueroa directed the victims on how much money to charge for commercial sex acts and how to conduct the “dates.” He also regularly supplied crack cocaine to the victims during the course of the trafficking scheme. The victims turned over proceeds from the commercial sex acts to Figueroa. Following Figueroa’s arrest, law enforcement searched his cellphone and discovered that he had produced child sexual abuse material involving one of the victims. 

HSI West Palm Beach and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon O’Shea Darsch and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Chase prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-80216.

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MIAMI – A federal jury in Fort Pierce convicted a Honduran national illegally present in the U.S. for his role in a firearms-trafficking operation that purchased firearms in South Florida through straw buyers and smuggled them to Honduras.

The jury convicted Luis Matute Figueroa, 33, residing in Lake Worth, of conspiracy and possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

“This defendant exploited his unlawful presence in the United States to help traffic American firearms to Honduras,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “This verdict reflects our commitment to dismantling international gun-trafficking networks and prosecuting illegal aliens who unlawfully possess and export firearms.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Matute Figueroa conspired with Gerson Eliu Padilla-Figueroa, Juan Matute Figueroa, Ariel Henriquez-Padilla, and William Mendoza to acquire firearms in the U.S. through straw purchases and illegally export them to Honduras.

Matute Figueroa, who overstayed a tourist visa in 2017 and remained in the U.S. without lawful status, organized the firearms-trafficking component of the conspiracy. WhatsApp messages recovered during the investigation revealed that Matute Figueroa provided co-conspirators with firearm inventories, pricing information, and shipping instructions for weapons destined for Honduras. The messages also contained a photograph and a video of Matute Figueroa in possession of a distinctive gold Colt 1911 pistol.

As an illegal alien, Matute Figueroa was prohibited from possessing any firearms. 

Matute Figueroa faces up to five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count and up to 15 years in prison on the firearm possession count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Special Agent in Charge Jason Stankiewicz of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division; and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

The ATF Miami Field Office and HSI Miami are investigating the case, with assistance from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Huyler is prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-80206.

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MIAMI – A Coral Gables woman pleaded guilty to falsely impersonating a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official as part of a scheme to file fraudulent motions seeking the dismissal of immigration court proceedings.

According to court records, Ana Caridad Linares, 45, of Coral Gables, repeatedly held herself out as an employee of DHS and used that false identity to submit fraudulent filings to the Immigration Court.

“Ana Caridad Linares pretended to be a DHS official in formal court filings to obtain the unlawful dismissal of removal proceedings,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. “Her conduct was a fraud on the Immigration Court and an affront to the rule of law. This was a brazen effort to corrupt lawful removal proceedings, and our Office will prosecute those who use fraud to undermine the integrity of our immigration system.”

Specifically, Linares represented herself in court documents as “Ana Linares, Legal Administrative Specialist, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” In February 2024, an Immigration Judge flagged as fraudulent a motion Linares had prepared and caused to be filed on behalf of an illegal alien in removal proceedings. The motion falsely purported to have been submitted by a DHS employee and sought dismissal of the removal case.

Linares caused at least three additional motions containing the same false title, language, and representations to be submitted to the Immigration Court. In each instance, Linares made the filings appear to be authentic DHS motions and accepted payment from clients for preparing and submitting them.

By falsely claiming to act on behalf of DHS, Linares sought to invoke prosecutorial discretion authority reserved by Department attorneys and employees. Through these fraudulent filings, she attempted to secure the dismissal of immigration proceedings involving illegal aliens who otherwise remained subject to removal proceedings. 

Linares pleaded guilty to false impersonation of a federal officer. She faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami is investigating the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Roca Shaw is prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20085.

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MIAMI – A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for selling fentanyl that caused the death of a Vero Beach man, then continuing to traffic the deadly drug just two days later. 

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon imposed the sentence on Alfonso Guerrero, 39, of Los Angeles, after a federal jury convicted him in May 2026 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.

“A tenth of a gram of fentanyl, about the size of a small pinch of salt, was enough to kill David Eller,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This was not a small drug deal. It was a deadly one. Guerrero sold the fentanyl that killed his friend and, just two days later, was caught carrying more fentanyl for distribution. Today’s life sentence is the consequence of that deadly conduct and his long record of violence and crime. Together with the DEA and our local law enforcement partners, we will trace fatal doses back to the dealers who sold them and hold those dealers fully accountable.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Guerrero sold fentanyl in Indian River County. On May 16, 2023, he exchanged 0.1 gram of fentanyl — commonly known as “a point” — for another controlled substance known as “molly.” The drug transaction was captured on a doorbell camera.  Hours later, David Eller was found dead inside his Vero Beach home. Investigators recovered drug paraphernalia, including a small piece of burnt aluminum foil that the victim used to receive the fentanyl from Guerrero on the victim’s front porch, near his body. 

Two days later, on May 18, 2023, Guerrero was arrested and found in possession of additional quantities of fentanyl intended for distribution. 

Guerrero’s extensive criminal history included documented gang membership and prior convictions for attempted robbery with a firearm in California, aggravated assault in Georgia, and cocaine and fentanyl possession offenses in Florida. 

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones, Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Sheriff Eric Flowers of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) made the announcement. 

DEA Miami Field Division and IRCSO investigated the case. The investigation illustrates the close coordination between federal and state law enforcement to identify drug dealers responsible for fatal overdoes and bring them to justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Reiter and Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 24-cr-14013.

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MIAMI – A Broward teacher has been arraigned and ordered detained pending trial on charges related to the sexual exploitation of children as young as five years old.

According to court records, Evan Michael Sands, 26, of Tamarac, used online communications to engage in conversations with minors to solicit child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in exchange for in-game currency associated with a popular children’s video game. Sands also allegedly produced and transmitted videos of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct. A search warrant revealed that Sands distributed CSAM to others using an online communication platform. 

Sands is charged with enticement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, as well as possession and distribution of child pornography. If convicted, Sands faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and 20 years for possession and distribution of child pornography. 

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami, and Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) made the announcement.

HSI Fort Lauderdale and BSO are investigating the case.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim, or who has information related to this investigation, is urged to contact BSO Det. Robert Rausch at (954) 888-1570.

Anyone with information regarding child sexual exploitation and abuse is encouraged to call the HSI tipline at 1-866-347-2423.

Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Catherine Koontz is prosecuting the case.

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

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-60174.

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MIAMI – A Brazilian man has pleaded guilty before a magistrate judge to conspiring to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking, and the district court accepted the guilty plea. On June 1, the district court also accepted the guilty pleas of five co-defendants. 

According to court documents, Ygor Fokin Saviolli, 35, a Brazilian national; Gabriel Cezar Menezes, 29, a Brazilian national; Omar Aliperti De Mello Correa, 34, a U.S. citizen; Joao Andrade De Mello, 29, a Brazilian national; Tadeu Sebastiane Rabelo Alves Barbosa, 30, a Brazilian national; and Leandro De Avila Goncalves, 42, a Brazilian national, all residing in Orlando, were part of a sophisticated money laundering organization that operated across the United States and spanned several countries. 

Members of the conspiracy arranged for bulk cash proceeds from the sale of controlled substances to be received by U.S.-based couriers and deposited at banks across the country in order to conceal and return those profits to, among others, the sources of drug supply operating outside the United States. Dozens of pickups across the country were coordinated through WhatsApp message chains that included facilitators and couriers. Saviolli provided upfront funds to facilitate the operations of the money laundering organization and oversaw the receipt and laundering of the bulk cash drug proceeds. Menezes also served as a facilitator, providing direction to and oversight of couriers, and personally picked up bulk cash on multiple occasions. Correa, De Mello, Barbosa, and Goncalves all served as couriers for the money laundering organization, conducting bulk cash pickups in cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Rochester, and Tampa, among others. During the course of the conspiracy, the organization concealed more than $30 million in cash. 

“Drug traffickers cannot operate at scale without money launderers who collect, conceal, and return their profits,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “With Ygor Fokin Saviolli’s guilty plea, all six defendants have now admitted their roles in a sophisticated organization that moved more than $30 million in drug proceeds across the United States and abroad. We will continue following the money, dismantling the financial networks behind international drug trafficking, and taking the profit out of poisoning American communities.”  

Each of the six defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys James Hepburn and Jessee Alexander-Hoeppner of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case. 

The FBI is investigating the case, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rochester Resident Office and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations Brasilia attaché office and Miami Field Office. 

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s International Unit investigates and prosecutes cross-border money laundering schemes involving transnational criminal organizations, cartels, foreign official corruption and related money laundering affecting the U.S. financial system and prosecutes criminal cases and civil forfeiture matters to recover the proceeds of those crimes.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20545.

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MIAMI – Two South Florida men, a healthcare executive and a telemarketing company owner, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $35 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare Advantage plans for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, including back, knee, shoulder, and ankle braces.

Senior U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham sentenced Michael Kochen, 42, of Aventura, Florida, to 204 months in federal prison and Sandro Herek, 56, of Coral Springs, Florida, to 92 months in federal prison after they were convicted at trial. Kochen was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, six counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and three counts of payment of health care kickbacks. Herek was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, one count of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and three counts of receiving health care kickbacks.

“These defendants targeted elderly Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with relentless telemarketing and unnecessary medical equipment, generating approximately $35 million in fraudulent claims and more than $19 million in payments,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Michael Kochen and Sandro Herek treated vulnerable seniors as profit centers and federal health care programs as personal bank accounts. These substantial prison sentences hold them accountable, and we will pursue the forfeiture and recovery of their ill-gotten gains.”

“These sentencings underscore the commitment of HHS-OIG to protecting the integrity of federal health care programs as well as the health and well-being of the many Americans who rely on those programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Isaac M. Bledsoe of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Exploiting Medicare Advantage beneficiaries through deceptive telemarketing and fraudulent claims is not only illegal, it is reprehensible. These outcomes send a clear message: those who engage in health care fraud will be held accountable.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Kochen and Herek targeted Medicare Advantage beneficiaries through deceptive telemarketing practices, pressuring elderly individuals to accept medical equipment they did not need — and in some cases, did not want. Over the course of the scheme, Medicare Advantage plans paid more than $19 million on fraudulent claims. 

Kochen owned dozens of companies that sold durable medical equipment supplies, such as braces, and paid illegal kickbacks to Herek and others to recruit Medicare beneficiaries to receive these braces. Herek oversaw and directed overseas call centers, including in Egypt and other foreign jurisdictions, which aggressively cold-called Medicare beneficiaries without prior requests for services. Call-center representatives repeatedly contacted beneficiaries — often after initial refusals — and used high-pressure tactics to induce them to accept braces regardless of medical necessity.

Evidence further showed that physicians frequently issued standardized or boilerplate medical authorizations for braces based solely on call recordings rather than individualized medical evaluations. In many instances, doctors did not speak with beneficiaries at all. When calls did occur, they were often brief, lasted only minutes, and did not include a meaningful assessment of medical necessity. Kochen paid kickbacks to telemedicine companies to obtain prescription orders for braces for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, which were then used to submit claims for unnecessary equipment.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones; Acting Special Agent in Charge Isaac Bledsoe of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Cruz, David Turken, and Robert F. Moore prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demici is handling asset forfeiture.

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

The Department of Justice, HHS-OIG, and the FBI encourage members of the public to remain vigilant against any signs of identity theft or suspicious claims submitted to their health insurance plans, including Medicare. Individuals should carefully review their explanation of benefits (“EOB”) documents, and if they see any sign of suspicious or unauthorized claims in their Medicare records, they should call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or Report Medicare Fraud online at https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-20078.

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