Southern District of New York
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Former Commodities Trading Executive Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Scheme to Defraud Employer by Hiding Trading LossesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that DAVID SMOTHERMON was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to three years in prison. In May 2025, SMOTHERMON pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud his employer by hiding trading losses.
“David Smothermon engaged in a fraudulent scheme that always ends badly: he concealed trading losses and inflated performance, induced his firm to award him a $15 million bonus, and when the losses were discovered, his firm was devastated,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “That devastation cost hundreds of jobs, including in New York. Our Office has no tolerance for insiders who like to enrich themselves at the expense of our fellow New Yorkers.”
As reflected in the Indictment and other court filings:
From 2005 through early September 2016, SMOTHERMON worked for a privately owned firm, headquartered in Manhattan, that engaged in the international marketing, distribution, and trading of commodities products (the “Company”). SMOTHERMON was the Chief Executive Officer of a subsidiary of the Company, based in Houston, Texas, specializing in the trading of liquefied petroleum gas or “LPG” (the “Subsidiary”). SMOTHERMON was also on the Board of Directors of the Company. The Subsidiary engaged in two forms of LPG trading: entering into and executing contracts for the purchase and sale of barrels of LPG (the “Physical Trading”) and trading financial derivative products related to LPG in an over-the-counter market (the “Financial Trading”).
From at least in or about December 2015 up to and including in or about September 2016, SMOTHERMON caused false entries to be made into an electronic accounting system used by the Company in an effort to hide substantial trading losses. Specifically, SMOTHERMON falsely inflated the marks, i.e., the values he assigned to individual trading positions in the Financial Trading book, and he directed other individuals to alter the terms of Physical Trading contracts in the company’s accounting system to make it appear as though those contracts were substantially more profitable than they were. In doing so, SMOTHERMON concealed over $240 million in trading losses. SMOTHERMON took these steps in order to obtain a large, discretionary bonus that he knew the Company was considering in early 2016. Ultimately, in May 2016, the Company awarded SMOTHERMON a bonus of approximately $15 million, of which approximately $11.6 million was paid immediately in cash.
In late August 2016, SMOTHERMON was contacted by a senior Company executive to alert him that the Company had unearthed a discrepancy between a Physical Trading contract and what was entered into the accounting system. Thereafter, on or about September 1, 2016, SMOTHERMON resigned from the Company and admitted to a Company executive that he had been mispricing his trading book. The Company ultimately concluded that SMOTHERMON had concealed more than $240 million in trading losses. Upon this discovery, the Company realized considerable losses that resulted in the significant downsizing of the company and the layoffs of hundreds of employees.
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In addition to the prison term, SMOTHERMON, 55, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $11,600,000 and pay restitution in the amount of $19,550,081. As a condition of his plea agreement, SMOTHERMON paid $8 million of this restitution amount in May 2025, after entering his guilty plea. SMOTHERMON also paid an additional $300,000 prior to sentencing.
Mr. Clayton praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this case.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Qais Ghafary and Matthew Weinberg are in charge of the prosecution.
All 70 NYCHA Employees Charged in February 2024 Sweep Convicted of Bribery, Fraud, or Extortion OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), Jocelyn E. Strauber, Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (“HUD-OIG”), Brian D. Harrison, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (“DOL-OIG”), Jonathan Mellone, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Harry T. Chavis, announced that all 70 employees of the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) who were arrested and charged in February 2024 have now been convicted of bribery, fraud, or extortion offenses.
Of the 70 defendants charged in February 2024 with accepting bribes in exchange for awarding NYCHA repair contracts, three defendants were convicted after jury trials, 56 defendants pled guilty to felony offenses, and 11 defendants pled guilty to misdemeanor offenses. Sentencings are ongoing, but sentences imposed to date range up to 48 months in prison. The defendants were collectively responsible for accepting over $2.1 million in bribes in exchange for awarding NYCHA contracts worth over $15 million. As a result of the convictions, the defendants will collectively pay over $2.1 million in restitution to NYCHA and will forfeit over $2 million in criminal proceeds.
“Today’s plea of the 70th and final NYCHA pay-for-play contracting scheme defendant marks an important milestone in one of the largest single-day corruption cases in the history of the Justice Department,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “All 70 charged defendants have now been convicted for attempting to criminally leverage the contracting process of work for affordable housing for New Yorkers to line their own pockets. NYCHA residents deserve better. New Yorkers deserve better. This broad and swift action demonstrates our Office’s commitment to combatting corruption in our nation’s largest public housing authority—home to 1 in every 17 New York City residents.”
“Today, the last of the 70 NYCHA employees charged with bribery and extortion in connection with the awarding of micro-purchase contracts pled guilty, closing the chapter on an investigation in which DOI and our federal partners exposed widespread corruption that touched almost one-third of NYCHA’s 365 developments in each of the five boroughs,” said DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber. “All the defendants, many of them supervisors, now have taken responsibility for separate schemes that, in total, involved more than $15 million in no-bid contracts, awarded in exchange for the payment of more than $2.1 million in bribes to employees who chose to serve themselves instead of the residents of NYCHA, driving up costs of maintenance and improvements in a public housing system dependent on scarce resources. To date, approximately $2 million in restitution to NYCHA and nearly $2 million in forfeiture has been ordered. Equally important, DOI’s 14 recommendations to improve controls with respect to NYCHA’s micro-purchase contracting have been implemented – three of which were similar to DOI’s 2021 recommendations that were rejected by NYCHA. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and our federal law enforcement partners for their commitment to thwart corruption that drains public housing resources, and NYCHA for the implementation of much-needed contracting reforms.”
“Today’s final guilty plea is an important milestone in bringing to an end the egregious pay-to-play bribery scheme that wasted millions of dollars that should have benefited HUD tenants in New York and raised serious questions about the integrity of NYCHA operations,” said HUD-OIG Acting Inspector General Brian D. Harrison. “All 70 of the NYCHA employees who failed to uphold the basic duty of not stealing from public housing have now admitted guilt or been found guilty at trial within two years of indictment, a testament to the investigative excellence of HUD OIG and its law enforcement partners. We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its support and prosecutions in this case and know that this sends a clear signal to corrupt public officials that they will be held accountable.”
“Nearly two years ago, HSI New York and our law enforcement partners announced a sweeping investigation that uncovered a brazen corruption and extortion scheme that marked the largest number of federal bribery charges in a single day in history,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “Today’s guilty plea is the latest step in exposing a scheme that exploited NYCHA’s operations, shortchanged its communities, and siphoned trust and resources from NYCHA residents—New Yorkers who deserve better. Working in lockstep with our federal, state, and local law enforcement counterparts, HSI will keep pressing forward to protect New Yorkers and ensure that anyone who attempts to jeopardize their well-being faces decisive consequences.”
“An important part of the mission of DOL-OIG is to investigate fraud and other federal crimes involving matters within the jurisdiction of the Office of Inspector General,” said DOL-OIG Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone. “The seventy convictions obtained in this investigation send a clear message that public corruption will not be tolerated. We are committed to working closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate those who exploit governmental programs and the American workers.”
“IRS-CI will continually use its unique expertise in tax and finance to find leverage in assisting with complex investigations,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis. “We are proud to build on our law enforcement partnerships to continue to bring criminals to justice.”
According to information contained in court filings and public court proceedings, including as proven at trial:
NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in the country, providing housing to 1 in 17 New Yorkers in 335 developments across the City and receiving over $1.5 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every year. When repairs or construction work require the use of outside contractors, services must typically be purchased via a bidding process. However, at all times relevant to the cases referenced above, when the value of a contract was under a certain threshold (up to $10,000), designated staff at NYCHA developments could hire a contractor of their choosing without soliciting multiple bids. This “no-bid” process was faster than the general NYCHA procurement process, and selection of the contractor required approval of only the designated staff at the development where the work was to be performed.
The defendants, all of whom were NYCHA employees during the time of the relevant conduct, demanded and received cash in exchange for NYCHA contracts by either requiring contractors to pay up front in order to be awarded the contracts or requiring payment after the contractor finished the work and needed a NYCHA employee to sign off on the completed job so the contractor could receive payment from NYCHA. The defendants typically demanded approximately 10% to 20% of the contract value—between $500 and $2,000 depending on the size of the contract—but some defendants demanded even higher amounts.
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Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of DOI, HUD-OIG, HSI, DOL-OIG, and IRS-CI, which work together collaboratively as part of the HSI Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, as well as the special agents and task force officers of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Clayton also expressed appreciation for the cooperation and support of NYCHA’s senior executive leadership.
These cases are handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry J. Fang, Jacob R. Fiddelman, Meredith Foster, Catherine Ghosh, and Justin Horton are in charge of the prosecutions, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Deininger, Jane Kim, Benjamin Burkett, Matthew J. King, and Amanda C. Weingarten also handled individual cases.
Inmate Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Slashing Federal Corrections OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that MARIO POWELL was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan to 97 months in prison for assaulting a corrections officer with a contraband weapon on May 30, 2020, while incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York (“MCC”). In September 2025, POWELL was convicted of assaulting a corrections officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon and possession of prison contraband following a five-day trial before Judge Cronan.
“Mario Powell brazenly ambushed a corrections officer at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York City, trying to slit his throat,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “This sentence shows that violence in our corrections facilities will trigger meaningful consequences.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and the evidence presented during the trial:
On May 30, 2020, at the MCC, POWELL forcibly assaulted a corrections officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon and, in doing so, lacerated the officer’s neck. In order to commit the attack, POWELL obtained and possessed a weapon made of razor blades.
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In addition to the prison term, POWELL, 34, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton thanked former MCC staff for their assistance and praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas John Wright, Henry L. Ross, and Leslie B. Arffa are in charge of the prosecution.
Founders of Samourai Wallet Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Sentenced to Five and Four Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, Nicolas Roos announced today the sentencings of KEONNE RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM LONERGAN HILL, the co-founders of Samourai Wallet (“Samourai”), a cryptocurrency mixer that facilitated over $237 million in illegal transactions. RODRIGUEZ, the Chief Executive Officer of Samourai, and HILL, the Chief Technology Officer, participated in a conspiracy to operate a money transmitting business in which they knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds. The over $237 million dollars of criminal proceeds laundered through Samourai came from, among other things, drug trafficking, darknet marketplaces, cyber-intrusions, frauds, sanctioned jurisdictions, murder-for-hire schemes, and a child pornography website. RODRIGUEZ and HILL were respectively sentenced to five and four years in prison. U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote sentenced RODRIGUEZ on November 6, 2025, and HILL on November 19, 2025.
“The sentences the defendants received send a clear message that laundering known criminal proceeds—regardless of the technology used or whether the proceeds are in the form of fiat or cryptocurrency—will face serious consequences,” said Attorney for the United States Nicolas Roos. “These sentences reflect the harmful impact that money laundering services have on victims by making it virtually impossible for victims to recover their stolen funds. Our office will continue to work tirelessly to hold accountable those who profit by helping criminals hide their criminal proceeds.”
According to the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made in court:
Beginning around 2015, RODRIGUEZ and HILL began developing Samourai, a mobile application that was designed and operated as a service for transmitting criminal proceeds. The defendants engineered Samourai around two services specifically intended to conceal the nature of illicit transactions. The first, a Bitcoin mixing service known as “Whirlpool,” coordinated batches of Bitcoin exchanges between groups of Samourai users. Through this process, the original source of particular Bitcoin holdings became obscured within the blockchain’s transactional record, effectively preventing law enforcement agencies and cryptocurrency exchanges from tracing funds back to their origins. The second service, called “Ricochet,” enabled users to introduce additional and unnecessary intermediate transactions—known as “hops”—between sending and receiving addresses. This feature served a similar obfuscation purpose, making it substantially more difficult for monitoring entities to establish connections between cryptocurrency transfers and potential illicit activities. The scale of these operations was considerable: from Ricochet’s launch in 2017 and Whirlpool’s inception in 2019, more than 80,000 Bitcoin—valued at over $2 billion at the time—passed through these services. Samourai collected fees for both services, estimated to have a total value of more than $6 million.
RODRIGUEZ and HILL actively promoted Samourai to criminal users and encouraged criminal activity. HILL marketed Samourai as a transmittal service for criminal proceeds on Dread, a darknet forum dedicated to discussing illegal marketplace activities. In one exchange on that platform, a user asked about the most “secure methods to clean dirty BTC” to make it “untraceable, clean” and ensure the user would “never get caught.” HILL responded by writing that “Samourai Whirlpool is a much better option” than a competitor service to “clean dirty BTC.” Similarly, in July 2020, RODRIGUEZ engaged in a Twitter exchange in which he personally encouraged the hackers of a social media platform to “feed” and “send” the criminal proceeds into Samourai’s Whirlpool. When the hackers ultimately used a different cryptocurrency mixing service to launder the proceeds of the hack, RODRIGUEZ and HILL expressed their disappointment.
The defendants also had a clear understanding that Samourai was, in fact, used for money laundering. In a WhatsApp exchange, when asked to explain the concept of “mixing,” RODRIGUEZ described the process as “money laundering for bitcoin.” The defendant’s own marketing materials acknowledged that customers would include “Dark/Grey Market participants” moving proceeds from “illicit activity.”
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In addition to their terms of prison, RODRIGUEZ, 37, of Harmony, Pennsylvania, and HILL, 67, a U.S. national who was arrested in Portugal at the request of the United States, were each sentenced to three years of supervised release. Judge Cote also ordered that RODRIGUEZ and HILL each pay a fine of $250,000. RODRIGUEZ and HILL have paid a total of $6,367,139.69 in forfeiture, representing the fees Samourai earned, in satisfaction of an order to forfeit $237,832,360.55, the larger sum representing the total traceable criminal proceeds for which Samourai executed transactions.
Mr. Roos praised the investigative work of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”). He also acknowledged the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, Europol, the Portuguese Judicial Police, the Procuradoria-Geral da República, the Icelandic Police, and the FBI Field Office in Pittsburgh for their assistance in the investigation of this case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance to secure the July 2024 extradition from Portugal of HILL.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit and the Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew K. Chan, David R. Felton, and Cecilia Vogel are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Men Arrested for Conspiring to Facilitate Narcotics Trafficking Out of an Inwood Smoke ShopRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Frank A. Tarentino, announced today the unsealing of Complaints charging MUJAHED ALI and QUIRINO GARCIA DIAZ with conspiracy to distribute narcotics. The defendants were arrested yesterday in Manhattan, and GARCIA DIAZ was arrested at their Inwood smoke shop, from which they sold drug traffickers a variety of drug paraphernalia, including cutting agents—i.e., substances added to narcotics to increase their volume (and thus their saleable quantity) and to modify their effects. The investigation of the smoke shop led agents to multiple large-scale narcotics mills and other drug operations in Manhattan, the Bronx, and New Jersey and the seizures of large volumes of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, as well as multiple firearms. The defendants will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.
“Businesses, small or large, that engage in drug trafficking will be brought to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As alleged, this Inwood smoke shop helped traffickers pump lethal narcotics into our city. New Yorkers want this stopped and we hear them.”
“Once again, we see the reckless lengths individuals are willing to go as they conspire, distribute, and profit from the sale of fentanyl, a drug that is singlehandedly destroying our communities and devastating families,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino. “The alleged use of a smoke shop to conceal their narcotics trafficking, which in turn led to the discovery of six drug mills, underscores their willingness to sacrifice the safety of our neighborhoods for personal gain. Illicit narcotic mills have no place in our communities, and the DEA will continue to do everything we can to eliminate these operations and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaints:
Between in or about August 2024 and in or about October 2025, ALI, GARCIA DIAZ, and others used the Inwood smoke shop to sell cutting agents and drug paraphernalia to drug traffickers, who would then use the smoke shop’s products to increase their quantities of narcotics and package them for sale. ALI, GARCIA DIAZ, and their co-conspirators sold cutting agents to an undercover officer who explicitly indicated that he was purchasing those substances to mix with narcotics, including cocaine and heroin. ALI and his co-conspirators also gave suggestions on which cutting agents to use with certain types of narcotics. For example, on one occasion, ALI suggested that an undercover officer purchase and use a particular cutting agent, fish scale, to mix with the undercover officer’s cocaine because fish scale would make his drug product “shine the most.”
Over the course of the approximately 14-month period during which ALI, GARCIA DIAZ, and their co-conspirators sold cutting agents and drug paraphernalia from the Inwood smoke shop, law enforcement investigated customers who had appeared to purchase cutting agents and/or drug paraphernalia from the shop and identified at least six narcotics mills as well as other locations where narcotics were being stored. This led to the arrests of at least eight drug traffickers, including owners and operators of narcotics mills, and the seizure of bulk quantities of narcotics, including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, in addition to multiple firearms and ammunition that the traffickers possessed in connection with their drug businesses.
Below are photographs of certain of the narcotics mills that ALI, GARCIA DIAZ, and their co-conspirators supplied with cutting agents and/or drug paraphernalia sold out of the Inwood smoke shop:
Fentanyl Seized from a Manhattan Narcotics Mill Searched on August 14, 2024
Fentanyl and Heroin Seized from a Bronx Narcotics Mill on August 27, 2024
Fentanyl Seized from a Bronx Narcotics Mill on September 11, 2024
Cocaine Seized from a Bronx Narcotics Mill on September 16, 2024
Fentanyl Seized from a New Jersey Narcotics Mill on October 16, 2024
Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Three Loaded Firearms, and Ammunition Seized from a Bronx Narcotics Mill on August 11, 2025
Following the defendants’ arrests, law enforcement searched the Inwood smoke shop and a storage unit next to the shop that was used by the defendants. Inside the storage unit, law enforcement found a room full of narcotics cutting agents and another room full of drug paraphernalia and equipment used to mix, press, and package narcotics, including three kilogram presses used to press narcotics powder into kilogram-sized bricks, numerous sifters, grinders, scales, and hundreds of thousands of glassine envelopes, small vials, and small plastic bags, all commonly used to package narcotics. Below are photographs of the room containing narcotics cutting agents:
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ALI, 41, a citizen of the United States and Yemen, and GARCIA DIAZ, 35, a citizen of Mexico, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s New York Field Division.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie L. Dang is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Chief Executive Officer of Steel Manufacturer Charged with $66 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging DEREK WACHOB with wire fraud in connection with his multi-year scheme to defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million. WACHOB was arrested today in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and will be presented this afternoon in the Northern District of Oklahoma. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
“Derek Wachob claimed to be a billionaire and successful CEO, but as alleged, that image was built on lies,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He stole more than $66 million from a range of victims that included some of his closest friends, then used those funds to maintain a lifestyle of expensive cars, vacation homes, private jets, helicopters, and yachts. The steel industry is a pillar of our manufacturing community, where honest and hard-working success is to be celebrated, but there is no place for fraud. This Office will work relentlessly to bring high-flying fraudsters to justice.”
“Derek Wachob allegedly stole at least $66 million from investors, including some of his closest friends, and financial institutions to secretly fund his failing company and extravagant lifestyle through false promises of profitable business ventures,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “Wachob allegedly abused his authority as CEO to entice his targets with a mirage of success while shrouding the truth in deceit. The FBI remains committed to investigating any business leader who siphons from the accounts of trusting victims for personal enrichment.”
As alleged in the Indictment:[1]
From at least in or about October 2022 through in or about August 2024, WACHOB—the Chief Executive Officer of a large manufacturer of steel pipes based in Sapulpa, Oklahoma (“Company-1”)—engaged in a scheme to defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million. To obtain money from each of the victims, WACHOB lied and misled the victims by, among other things, falsely claiming to offer purported business opportunities based on future steel purchases that WACHOB pledged to make. WACHOB used these misrepresentations to take millions of dollars from even some of his closest friends. Instead of using the victims’ money as promised, WACHOB spent the funds to maintain his extravagant lifestyle of expensive cars, vacation homes, private jets, helicopters, and yachts, and prop up Company-1, which was struggling financially and in debt.
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WACHOB, 53, of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma for its assistance.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Kudla and Adam Sowlati are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the descriptions of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Recidivist Fraudster Arrested for Stealing Gustave Courbet PaintingRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging THOMAS DOYLE, a/k/a “AJ” or “Austin Doyle,” with wire fraud in connection with an alleged scheme by DOYLE to defraud the owner of the painting “Mother and Child on a Hammock” by the 19th-century French Realist painter Gustave Courbet. DOYLE was previously convicted in the Southern District of New York in 2011 of a separate art-related fraud. DOYLE was arrested yesterday morning in Norwalk, Connecticut, and presented in the Southern District of New York. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.
“The art market is largely based on trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As alleged, Thomas Doyle breached that trust by telling the owner of a valuable painting a series of brazen lies to trick the owner into giving him the painting so he could keep the profits from the sale of the painting for himself. The women and men of the Southern District of New York and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to root out this type of bad actor.”
As alleged in the Indictment unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court:
Between December 2022 and March 2025, DOYLE defrauded an art dealer (“Victim-1”) in connection with the sale of the painting “Mother and Child on a Hammock” (the “Hammock”) by Gustave Courbet. In December 2022, DOYLE introduced himself to Victim-1 over email, representing himself to be in the business of buying and selling art. Over the next few years, DOYLE and Victim-1 communicated over email and WhatsApp Messenger regarding artworks, and DOYLE made various misrepresentations to Victim-1 about himself, including falsely stating that he managed the “art side” of a family trust with assets worth billions of dollars.
In June 2024, DOYLE and Victim-1 began discussing the Hammock, which Victim-1 owned and was selling. Victim-1 agreed to let DOYLE take custody of the Hammock to facilitate its viewing by a potential buyer.
In or about July 2024, DOYLE told Victim-1 that he had a potential buyer for the Hammock, and Victim-1 authorized DOYLE to sell the painting on his behalf for $550,000. By early August 2024, DOYLE falsely informed Victim-1 that he had sold the Hammock for that price.
Instead, DOYLE’s associate (“Associate-1”), acting on DOYLE’s behalf, offered the Hammock for consignment to a Manhattan gallery (“Gallery-1”). DOYLE provided Associate-1 with a false provenance for the Hammock that was passed on to Gallery-1, stating, among other things, that the Hammock had been purchased from Victim-1 in 2019. Gallery-1 sold the Hammock on October 1, 2024, for $125,000 to an art collector. On October 3, 2024, Gallery-1 wired $115,000, which were the sale proceeds of the Hammock minus commission, to Associate-1. That same day, Associate-1 paid DOYLE $109,250 for the Hammock.
DOYLE never remitted to Victim-1 any proceeds from the sale of the Hammock. By February 2025, DOYLE had spent all the proceeds from the sale of the Hammock on personal expenses and his own debts. DOYLE subsequently falsely blamed his failure to pay Victim-1 on the purported buyer, fraudulently claiming the buyer had yet to pay when in fact DOYLE had been paid and was spending the proceeds of the Hammock sale.
On March 4, 2025, DOYLE admitted by email to Victim-1 that DOYLE had “betrayed” and “lied” to Victim-1 about the Hammock.
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DOYLE, 68, of Connecticut, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecilia Vogel is in charge of the prosecution.
Eight Men Charged in Conspiracy to Steal More Than 100 Cars and Sell Them to Unsuspecting BuyersRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, and Superintendent of the New York State Police (“NYSP”), Steven G. James, announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging eight defendants in connection with operating a years-long stolen car ring involving more than approximately 100 stolen cars, primarily Honda, Acura, and Jeep vehicles, worth approximately millions of dollars. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess and sell stolen vehicles, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Six of the defendants were arrested yesterday and presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky.
“New Yorkers have every right to expect safety and security on our streets and in our homes,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “New Yorkers are smart. They know that car theft rings and other fraud schemes inflict great harm on their victims and cost all of us. As alleged, the eight men charged stole cars from the streets of New York, time and again, and trafficked them to unsuspecting buyers along the East Coast, causing millions of dollars in losses. Yesterday’s arrests reinforce that when thieves prey upon hardworking New Yorkers, the women and men of the SDNY and our law enforcement partners will bring them to justice on behalf of all law-abiding New Yorkers.”
“This announcement highlights HSI New York's unwavering commitment to ensuring a safer community and to pursuing all individuals and co-conspirators allegedly tied to this auto theft ring,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “This is not a victimless crime; a stolen car disrupts daily life and inflicts lasting harm on innocent New Yorkers, robbing them of their sense of security and stability. The public deserves to know their neighborhoods are safe, that they can park their vehicles without fear, and that their hard-earned purchases are protected. HSI New York, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, will continue to identify, dismantle, and deter the criminal networks that exploit our neighborhoods and threaten our livelihoods.”
“Hondas continue to represent a significant number of auto thefts in New York City, and the NYPD is doing exactly what we do best to combat crime: finding the criminals responsible and stopping their illegal operations,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “Through precision policing and a multi-year investigation, the world’s greatest detectives dismantled this massive criminal ring – and I want to thank the NYPD investigators for their commitment to this case, as well as HSI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their continued partnership.”
“Through collaboration among law enforcement partners at all levels, we have intercepted a highly organized car theft operation that was responsible for victimizing car buyers across the East Coast,” said NYSP Superintendent Steven G. James. “The defendants had no regard for the financial damage they inflicted or for the safety of the victims. I commend the efforts of all those involved in bringing this criminal activity to an end and for the outstanding work that led to the charges in this case.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:[1]
From approximately March 2022 through November 2025, the defendants and others conspired to steal cars—primarily those parked on the street in the Bronx or Queens, New York—and sell them to unsuspecting buyers across the East Coast. After stealing the cars, the defendants and their co-conspirators stashed them in so-called lay-up spots for a cooling-off period to avoid law enforcement detection. Meanwhile, they took steps to disguise the fact that the cars had been stolen. They altered the cars’ Vehicle Identification Numbers (“VINs”) and then obtained services for the cars—often an oil change—using the new, fake VINs. This allowed the defendants to obtain vehicle history reports that appeared to show genuine maintenance and other activity, thereby helping the defendants to trick purchasers into believing that the car was not stolen. The defendants then offered to sell the stolen cars, generally starting on a social media platform that allows users to buy and sell products and then completing the sale in person.
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PEDRO MANUEL LOPEZ MARTE, 38, of the Bronx, New York; JERRY LOPEZ PAULINO, 33, of the Bronx; SERGIO DIAZ RAMIREZ, 35, of the Bronx; PEDRO ROJAS, 62, of the Bronx; JUSTIN MARTHA, 24, of the Bronx; ERICK ROJAS CRUZ, 27, of the Bronx; JOSE FERREIRA, 48, of the Bronx; and RONALD ARIAS SANTOS, 30, of Hempstead, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to possess and sell stolen vehicles, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the NYPD Auto Crime Division Major Case Team, the special agents and task force officers from the HSI New York Seaport Trade Group, and the NYSP Auto Theft Unit.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Mandilk is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Statement of United States Attorney Jay Clayton on the Convictions of Michael Castillero, Francine Lanaia, and Brian MartinsenRead the Press Release
“Our pre-IPO markets are important to investors, entrepreneurs, and our economy. Their integrity is critical to our continued leadership in technology, healthcare, energy, and other key industries. A unanimous jury has found that Michael Castillero, Francine Lanaia, and Brian Martinsen committed securities fraud, wire fraud, and investment adviser fraud through their firm, StraightPath Venture Partners. The defendants used high-pressure sales tactics, false and misleading disclosures, and hidden exorbitant fees to defraud retail investors seeking to invest in private companies that had not yet had initial public offerings. I commend the career prosecutors and law enforcement agents for their work to protect investors in this important marketplace. We and our law enforcement partners are focused on our pre-IPO markets and our listed small cap markets. Our message is clear: marketing and trading in less well-known securities does not give you a pass to commit fraud.”
Former NYPD Officer Charged with Bribery, Narcotics, Firearms, and Robbery OffensesRead the Press Release
Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ANDREW NGUYEN, a former NYPD officer, with bribery, narcotics, firearms, and robbery offenses in connection with NGUYEN’s alleged participation in a drug trafficking enterprise while NGUYEN was an officer with the NYPD. NGUYEN was arrested this morning and was presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.
“The NYPD is the most professional and most effective police department in the world,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “New Yorkers rely on and trust the women and men of the NYPD. As alleged, Andrew Nguyen not only breached that trust for profit, but he also committed crimes against his fellow New Yorkers. New Yorkers, including our thousands of dedicated NYPD officers, want him brought to justice.”
Assistant Director in Charge Raia said: “Andrew Nguyen allegedly levied his official position as an NYPD officer to accept more than $30,000 in bribes in exchange for transporting narcotics and providing unauthorized armed protection to their illicit operations. Nguyen’s alleged support to a drug trafficking enterprise directly violated the oath he swore to uphold as well as the public’s trust. While the vast majority of our NYPD partners are deeply committed to honoring their duty to protect and serve, the FBI will never tolerate those who besmirch the badge for personal profit.”
“The NYPD holds its officers to the highest standards, and it’s an affront to our department when someone so blatantly abuses the public’s trust,” said NYPD Commissioner Tisch. “Andrew Nguyen allegedly endangered the communities he was sworn to protect and put his fellow officers’ lives in danger. The NYPD has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind, and I thank the members of the department who investigated this case and our partners in the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for their support in rooting out this misconduct.”
As alleged in the Indictment and in statements made in court:
For approximately three years, between at least in or about 2020 and at least in or about November 2023, NGUYEN repeatedly abused his position as a police officer in the NYPD by soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments in exchange for assisting another individual (“CC-1”) with the operation of CC-1’s drug trafficking enterprise.
First, NGUYEN transported drugs, including approximately eight kilograms of cocaine, for CC-1 while NGUYEN was armed with a firearm, including a 9‑millimeter Glock Model 26 pistol, which was NGUYEN’s NYPD-authorized off-duty firearm, and in possession of NYPD credentials and an NYPD parking placard, which NGUYEN planned to use to evade arrest in the event he was pulled over by other members of the NYPD or, in the case of his firearm, to protect CC-1 if violence occurred.
Second, NGUYEN drove CC-1 to drug meetings, again while possessing a firearm, including his NYPD-authorized off-duty firearm, NYPD credentials, and an NYPD parking placard
Third, NGUYEN queried names of other drug dealers in NYPD databases at the request of CC-1, provided that confidential information to CC‑1, and, at least once, offered to arrest one of those drug dealers for CC-1 in exchange for payment.
Fourth, NGUYEN, in exchange for payment from CC-1, used an NYPD vehicle to conduct an unsanctioned car stop of CC-1, during which NGUYEN purported to seize drugs and drug proceeds from CC-1. Following the car stop, NGUYEN submitted false reports to the NYPD regarding the car stop, to help CC-1 avoid repayment of a drug-trafficking-related debt.
Fifth, NGUYEN expressed a willingness to, in exchange for payment from an associate of CC-1 (“CC-2”), kidnap two drug dealers who owed money to CC-2 by conducting an unsanctioned arrest of those individuals, although this plan never came to fruition.
Sixth, NGUYEN conspired with CC-1 and another criminal associate of CC-1 (“CC-3”) to rob a drug-money courier under the guise of NGUYEN conducting another unsanctioned car stop, although NGUYEN and his co-conspirators did not carry out their agreement to commit the robbery.
In addition, in or about November and December 2023, law enforcement conducted an undercover operation during which NGUYEN transported what NGUYEN believed to be five kilograms of cocaine in exchange for $5,000 from CC-1. In truth, the “drugs” were sham and NGUYEN had obtained them from an undercover law enforcement officer whom NGUYEN believed was a drug dealer.
Overall, NGUYEN, who was at all relevant times an officer in the NYPD, accepted more than $30,000 in bribe payments from CC-1 (and solicited tens of thousands of dollars in additional bribes) in connection with NGUYEN’s participation in CC-1’s drug trafficking enterprise.
At the time of NGUYEN’s arrest earlier today, law enforcement searched NGUYEN’s home pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant. During that search, a number of firearms and ammunition were found in plain view, including: (i) a Glock 19 pistol that was fully loaded with hollow-point ammunition; (ii) two AR-15-style rifles; (iii) a short-barreled rifle; (iv) a fully loaded high-capacity drum magazine containing 60 rounds of ammunition; (v) several AR-15-style magazines loaded with ammunition; and (vi) substantial amounts of other ammunition, including additional hollow-point ammunition.
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NGUYEN, 41, of Harriman, New York, is charged with (i) one count of honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison; (ii) one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison; (iii) one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (iv) one count of solicitation and receipt of a bribe, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison; (v) one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute (a) 5 kilograms and more of mixtures and substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine and (b) marijuana, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; (vi) one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other term of in prison, and a maximum sentence of life in prison; (vii) one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and (viii) one count of attempted distribution and possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms and more of mixtures and substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit and Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew J. King and Jonathan Rebold are in charge of the prosecution.
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u.s._v._andrew_nguyen_-_indictment_-_gj_signed_-_docketed_redacted.pdfFormer CEO and Board Chairman Charged with Fraud Scheme Directed at Public CompanyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher G. Raia, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging BRADLEY HEPPNER, the founder of Beneficient, with securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, false statements to auditors, and falsification of records. The charges in the Indictment arise from an alleged scheme by HEPPNER and others to fraudulently extract funds from GWG Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded company for which HEPPNER served as chairman, through the use of a shell company he controlled, the Highland Consolidated Limited Partnership (“HCLP”). HEPPNER was arrested this morning in Dallas, Texas, and will be presented tomorrow in the Northern District of Texas. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
“As alleged, Heppner abused his role as a public company executive to loot the company and to funnel money into his own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “When executives like Heppner lie and cheat to enrich themselves at the expense of everyday investors, they corrupt the integrity of our public markets. The women and men of the SDNY and our law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect investors and the markets.”
“While serving as chairman of GWG, a publicly traded company, Bradley Heppner allegedly misappropriated more than $150 million. In furtherance of this scheme, Heppner allegedly falsified documents, made misleading statements to investors and auditors, and obstructed an investigation by regulatory authorities. GWG’s subsequent bankruptcy resulted in over $1 billion in losses to retail investors. The FBI will continue to hold accountable any individual who defrauds investors for their own gain,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia.
As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
BRADLEY HEPPNER was the founder of Beneficient, a financial services startup. HCLP was a shell company that HEPPNER also controlled. In order to obtain a payout for himself, HEPPNER created a $141 million debt that Beneficient purportedly owed to HCLP. Over time, HEPPNER gained control and influence over GWG Holdings, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed financial services company. GWG historically raised capital through bonds—called L bonds—sold to retail investors, predominately retirees seeking income-generating investments. HEPPNER installed himself as chairman of GWG’s board of directors and appointed his friends and associates as GWG’s board members.
Between 2018 and 2021, HEPPNER made false and misleading statements to a special committee of GWG’s board to induce them to authorize investments by GWG in Beneficient, in part to pay off the debt Beneficient purportedly owed to HCLP. When the special committee inquired about who controlled HCLP, HEPPNER represented that HCLP was independent, disclaimed influence over it, and denied that he would personally receive the payments on the purported debt. Those representations were false and misleading. HCLP was controlled by HEPPNER. And when GWG authorized payments to satisfy what it believed were arm’s length debts owed to a third-party lender, those funds flowed through multiple corporate entities and ultimately to HEPPNER’s personal accounts. Beneficient received at least approximately $300 million from GWG. And HEPPNER received more than $150 million of these GWG funds through his HCLP entity. HEPPNER used the funds he received from GWG for personal expenses, including to fund his lifestyle and to renovate his Dallas mansion and improve his East Texas ranch.
In addition, in or about 2019, HEPPNER made false and misleading statements and prepared false documents to deceive Beneficient’s auditors in connection with the preparation of Beneficient’s and GWG’s audit. As a publicly held company, GWG was required to report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission its quarterly and annual financial statements, and to have its annual financial statements audited by independent certified public accounts. By the end of 2018, because GWG held a large interest in Beneficient, Beneficient’s audit was required to be incorporated into GWG’s annual SEC filings. As part of this audit, Beneficient’s auditors considered whether HCLP was independent of HEPPNER, and whether one of the friends HEPPNER had installed to run HCLP was also independent. Because neither was true, HEPPNER prepared, and directed others to prepare, backdated paperwork, misleading letters, and fraudulent emails, which were sent to the auditors and were material to the auditors’ accounting determinations.
In late 2020, GWG received a subpoena from the SEC in connection with an ongoing enforcement investigation of GWG and Beneficient. HEPPNER falsified minutes from an October 2019 board meeting by adding language to the minutes to make it appear that HEPPNER had disclosed to Beneficient his history of borrowing money from HCLP. In truth, HEPPNER had never disclosed this information to GWG or Beneficient. HEPPNER later caused the falsified Board minutes to be sent to the SEC.
In June 2021, HEPPNER resigned from his position on GWG’s board, and by the end of 2021, HEPPNER had separated Beneficient from GWG. Thereafter, GWG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, unable to satisfy more than one billion in obligations to tens of thousands of retail bondholders.
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HEPPNER, 59, of Dallas, Texas, is charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, false statements to auditors, and falsification of records, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. HEPPNER is also charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
This case is being handled by SDNY’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Burnett, Daniel G. Nessim, and Alexandra Rothman are in charge of the prosecution.
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25_cr._503_signed_heppner_indictment.pdfMount Vernon Man Found Guilty of Sex Trafficking A MinorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Christopher G. Raia announced today that a jury returned a guilty verdict on October 27, 2025, against RAI THOMAS for sex trafficking of a minor and use of interstate facilities to promote sex trafficking and prostitution. U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román presided over the trial.
“Crimes relating to sexual abuse of minors are among the most heinous crimes in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Rai Thomas’s actions were particularly egregious because he targeted a teen in crisis and preyed on her when she was at her most vulnerable. This Office is dedicated to protecting the children of New York. This conviction should serve as a lesson: if you target a child—any child—the prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners will bring you to justice.”
FBI Assistant Director Christopher G. Raia said: “Rai Thomas organized an elaborate sex trafficking scheme across the city to repeatedly exploit a minor victim simply to enrich himself. Thomas targeted an especially vulnerable minor, enticing her into commercial sex work with utter disregard for her wellbeing. The FBI will never tolerate any individual who advertises and uses children as sexual objects to fill their own piggy banks.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment and the evidence at trial:
Between January and February 2022, THOMAS trafficked Minor Victim-1 to engage in commercial sexual activity across multiple hotels within the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. Minor Victim-1 had been living in a children’s group home at the time that THOMAS trafficked her. THOMAS facilitated and benefited from the scheme in numerous ways, including by enticing Minor Victim-1 to engage in commercial sex; coordinating the transportation of Minor Victim-1 to hotels; reserving the hotel rooms in which she engaged in commercial sex; facilitating the advertisement of Minor Victim-1 on the internet to customers for commercial sex; and profiting from the sex trafficking scheme.
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RAI THOMAS, 31 of Mount Vernon, New York, was convicted of (1) sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison, and (2) use of interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
The sentencing of THOMAS is scheduled for February 13, 2026, before Judge Román.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, and the New York City Police Department.
The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Qais Ghafary, Kaiya Arroyo, and Jorja Knauer represented the Government at trial, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialists Gabriela Salerno, Samantha Olsen, and Shannon Becker.
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Sex Offender Sentenced to 210 Months in Prison for Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that CAMERON MCEWEN was sentenced to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern for the receipt of sexually explicit photographs of a 16-year-old minor via a social media application and for committing this offense after having previously committed a state crime related to sexual abuse of a minor.
“Child pornography is a scourge on our society,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “It leaves deep and lasting scars. It turns the stomach of every parent. Cameron McEwen met his victims via social media coercing them online to send him sexually explicit pictures and videos. Wherever predators lurk, including online, our Office will use every tool available to find and prosecute them.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said: “Cameron McEwen extorted a minor female victim with threats against her friends and family to force compliance with his perverted sexual demands. Not only did McEwen sexually exploit a teenage girl across the country, but he continued to seek additional victims for twisted gratification. May this sentencing emphasize the FBI’s commitment to protecting our vulnerable populations from sexual predators, regardless of where they may be located.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:
MCEWEN was convicted in Orange County Court on January 13, 2022, of rape in the second degree where he, being eighteen years old or more, engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sexual conduct with a person less than fifteen years old.
In April 2023, MCEWEN used multiple Snapchat accounts to communicate with and coerce a 16-year-old girl (the “Victim”) to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself. MCEWEN initially threatened the Victim’s eighteen-year-old friend, telling the friend that he would release her sexually explicit photographs and harm her if she did not get another person to send him additional explicit material. The friend sought out the Victim, who connected with MCWEN on Snapchat, where MCEWEN demanded sexually explicit material from the Victim. In addition, MCEWEN engaged in similar schemes with other victims.
Individuals with information concerning the sexual exploitation of children are urged to call 1-800-Call-FBI.
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In addition to the prison term, MCEWEN, 23, of Middletown, New York, was sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in both Alaska and New York, the New York State Police Troop F, and the Middletown Police Department. He also thanked the Ketchikan Police Department for its participation and support.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Wheelock is in charge of the prosecution.
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New York Man Sentenced to 17 Months in Prison for Hate Crimes After Repeatedly Assaulting Jewish VictimsRead the Press Release
Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Jessica S. Tisch, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced that TAREK BAZROUK was sentenced on October 28, 2025 to 17 months in prison for committing hate crimes in connection with his repeated assaults of Jewish victims in New York City between 2024 and 2025. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
“Tarek Bazrouk repeatedly attacked Jewish victims at protests relating to the Israel/Hamas war,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He targeted these New Yorkers based on their religion and national origin. And he was undeterred by multiple arrests following these assaults, instead quickly returning to violently targeting Jews. The prosecution of this case and the sentence imposed make clear that New Yorkers will not tolerate hate-based violence and that this Office will aggressively prosecute those who perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said: “Despite repeated arrests, Tarek Bazrouk continued to attack Jewish victims while shamelessly expressing his hatred for those of the Jewish faith and demonstrating his support for anti-Semitic terrorist organizations. Bazrouk’s relentless torment violated these New Yorkers’ ability to safely express their beliefs through protests and religious outerwear. May this sentencing highlight the FBI’s intolerance of any individual who allows hate and prejudice to justify violent rhetoric and actions against others.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “Tarek Bazrouk not only targeted and assaulted his victims because of their faith — he attacked every Jewish New Yorker who should be able to practice their religion freely and without fear,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This sentencing sends a clear message: antisemitism or any act of violence driven by hate will never be tolerated in our city, and the NYPD will continue to hold accountable anyone who threatens the religious identity of New Yorkers. I thank the NYPD investigators, the FBI, and the prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their unwavering work in bringing Tarek Bazrouk to justice."
According to the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made in court:
Over the course of approximately nine months, BAZROUK physically assaulted three Jewish individuals at protests concerning the Israel/Hamas war. First, on April 15, 2024, BAZROUK—while wearing a green headband typically worn by Hamas terrorists—attended a protest concerning the Israel/Hamas war in Lower Manhattan, outside the New York Stock Exchange. During the protest, BAZROUK was arrested by officers from the NYPD after lunging at a group of pro-Israel protestors. As BAZROUK was being escorted to an NYPD vehicle, BAZROUK kicked a different individual—Victim-1, a Jewish college student—in the stomach. At the time of the assault, Victim-1 was standing near other Jewish protestors, who were wearing kippahs (that is, brimless skullcaps traditionally worn by Jewish men), carrying Israeli flags, and singing Jewish songs.
Approximately eight months later, on December 9, 2024, BAZROUK assaulted another individual at a protest relating to the Israel/Hamas war next to Columbia University. The victim of the second assault—Victim-2—is a Jewish student who attended Columbia. On the date of the assault, Victim-2 and his brother were wearing kippahs, Victim-2 had an Israeli flag draped around his shoulders, and Victim-2 was singing Jewish songs. As the protest continued, BAZROUK—with his mouth covered—stole an Israeli flag from Victim-2’s brother and fled. After Victim-2 and his brother followed BAZROUK through a crowd to retrieve the flag, BAZROUK snuck up beside Victim-2 and struck him in the face with a closed fist.
Roughly one month later, on January 6, 2025, BAZROUK assaulted a third Jewish victim—Victim-3—at a protest concerning the Israel/Hamas war near 1st Avenue and East 18th Street in Manhattan. At this protest, Victim-3 was wearing an Israeli flag around his shoulders, a hat with an Israeli flag, and a chain with a Jewish star. During the protest, BAZROUK, who was wearing a keffiyeh on his face, made contact with Victim-3’s shoulder and wrapped his foot around Victim-3’s ankle. Victim-3 attempted to push BAZROUK away and cursed at him. BAZROUK then punched Victim-3 in the nose with a closed fist.
Pursuant to judicially authorized warrants, law enforcement subsequently searched cellphones used by BAZROUK. Evidence from those devices revealed BAZROUK’s anti-Semitic bias and his support for anti-Jewish terrorist groups including Hamas, demonstrating his motivation for repeatedly assaulting Jewish victims. In text messages, for example, BAZROUK identified himself as a “Jew hater,” labeled Jews as “worthless,” extorted “Allah” to “get us rid of [Jews],” called an acquittance a “Fucking Jew,” and told a friend to “slap that bitch” in reference to a woman with an Israeli sticker on her laptop. BAZROUK also told a friend that he was “mad happy” to have learned that certain of his family members overseas are part of Hamas. BAZROUK’s phones also contained extensive pro-Hamas and pro-Hizballah propaganda, showing his support for organizations that have murdered thousands of Jews and Israelis.
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In addition to his prison term, BAZROUK, 20, of New York, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI and thanked the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg and Jim Ligtenberg are in charge of the prosecution.
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Arizona Man Sentenced to 49 Months in Prison for Sending Antisemitic Death ThreatsRead the Press Release
Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Stefanie Roddy, the Special Agent in Charge of the Newark Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that DONOVAN HALL was sentenced on October 30, 2025, to 49 months in prison for making interstate threats and the interstate stalking of Jewish victims in New York City. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden.
“Donovan Hall targeted Jewish victims with a sustained campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The approximately 1,000 threats he sent to these New Yorkers were alarming and brazen. The prosecution of this case and the sentence imposed make clear that this Office will aggressively bring to justice those who perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.”
Special Agent in Charge Roddy said: “Hall’s sentencing speaks volumes about the severity of his crimes, and the seriousness with which the law takes them. After being remanded for approximately 10 months, Hall’s guilty plea still resulted in the near-maximum sentence allowed for his calculated campaign of anti-Semitic rhetoric. His reign of fear is over and serves as a reminder to those who think they can hide behind computers, phone lines, and texts - the FBI treats all threats of violence with the utmost seriousness. The FBI will not relent in seeking justice for the victims of these egregious crimes.”
According to the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made in court:
Over a period of three months, HALL contacted several individuals located in New York, New York (the “Victims”) approximately 1,000 times and made anti-Semitic and violent threats to torture, mutilate, rape, and murder them and their families. In particular, starting in August 2024, HALL made dozens of threatening phone calls—many of which were anti-Semitic in nature—to the Jewish owner of a hotel located in Manhattan, the owner’s family members, and hotel staff. During these calls, HALL threatened numerous times to kill the Victims.
In October 2024, HALL escalated his threatening conduct by texting photographs of two firearms and a machete to the hotel owner, along with threats to use those weapons to harm the owner and his family. During a search of HALL’s residence in Arizona conducted on November 22, 2024, the firearms depicted in the text messages, among other weapons and ammunition, were recovered. The two firearms—neither of which is registered in HALL’s name—were located alongside his wallet in his backpack. One of the firearms was loaded.
HALL’s threats toward the Victims were part of a larger pattern of death threats sent to various other individuals. The targets of his threats are located throughout the U.S. In these communications, HALL consistently used violent and threatening language, and often targeted Jews.
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In addition to his prison term, HALL, 35, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI’s Newark Field Office. Mr. Clayton also thanked the New York Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, the FBI Phoenix Field Office, the Mesa Police Department, and the Clifton Police Department in Clifton, New Jersey.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg is in charge of the prosecution.
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Two Russian Mob Leaders Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Murder-For-Hire Targeting a Journalist on Behalf of the Iranian GovernmentRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that RAFAT AMIROV, a/k/a “Farkhaddin Mirzoev,” a/k/a “Pᴎᴍ,” a/k/a “Rome,” and POLAD OMAROV, a/k/a “Araz Aliyev,” a/k/a “Polad Qaqa,” a/k/a “Haci Qaqa,” were each sentenced yesterday to 25 years’ in prison for their participation in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and human rights activist, on behalf of the Government of Iran. In March 2025, Amirov and Omarov were found guilty of murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related charges, following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, who imposed today’s sentences.
“The defendants and their criminal associates came chillingly close to gunning down an Iranian-American journalist on the streets of New York.” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Tehran has long sought to silence Ms. Alinejad, and after multiple failed kidnapping attempts, turned to Omarov and Amirov and their organization to stalk and murder her. This case is part of a well-documented and disturbing rise in plots involving criminal networks paid by Iran to target dissidents in the United States and around the world. We are committed to holding accountable those who join forces with this vile regime to violate our national sovereignty or threaten U.S. citizens.”
“The Government of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, assassination, and espionage around the globe, brazenly brought its efforts to murder Masih Alinejad to New York,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. “The plot exposed at trial involved actors on three continents, culminating with a hitman with an AK-47 outside Ms. Alinejad’s apartment in Brooklyn. Yesterday’s sentences send a clear message: the DOJ and our partners will expose and severely punish those who target U.S. citizens and bring terror to our community.”
“This sentencing marks a victory for justice and a clear warning to those who seek to export repression onto U.S. soil,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The plot, orchestrated by the Iranian government to assassinate a dissident living in America, demonstrates the lengths to which authoritarian actors will go to silence voices of freedom. The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to defend the homeland from anyone who participates in transnational repression and threatens our democratic values.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said: “Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, two highly ranked members of the Russian Mob, attempted to assassinate Masih Alinejad to permanently silence her criticism of the Iranian government and public advocacy of human rights. These defendants operated as unlawful enforcers for a foreign government to target an American journalist on our nation’s soil. May yesterday’s sentencing emphasize the FBI’s steadfast commitment to protecting Americans against any foreign actor seeking to inflict terror and physical harm to further a political agenda.”
According to the Superseding Indictment, public court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:
AMIROV and OMAROV were high-ranking members of an Azerbaijani faction of the Russian Mob (the “Organization”) who worked with other members of the Organization to kill Masih Alinejad on instructions from high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”). Ms. Alinejad has previously been the target of multiple plots by the Government of Iran to intimidate, harass, and kidnap her for her work as a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses, especially its discriminatory and oppressive treatment of women, repression of political expression, and killings of Iranians engaged in peaceful protests against the regime. As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap Ms. Alinejad from within the U.S. for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence her criticism of the Iranian regime.
After its efforts to kidnap Ms. Alinejad from the U.S. failed in 2020 and 2021, the IRGC turned to AMIROV—a Vor, or Thief-in-Law, the highest rank in the Russian Mob—and OMAROV—the cousin of a powerful Vor who aspired to become a Vor himself—to locate, surveil, and murder her. The IRGC offered AMIROV $500,000 for Ms. Alinejad’s murder and provided him with targeting information about Ms. Alinejad, including her home address. Beginning in approximately July 2022, AMIROV sent this targeting information to OMAROV. OMAROV, in turn, communicated this information to Khalid Mehdiyev, another member of the Organization who had been residing in Yonkers, New York, so that Mehdiyev could surveil Ms. Alinejad and murder her. AMIROV and OMAROV arranged the delivery of $30,000 to Mehdiyev from the IRGC’s advance payment; Mehdiyev used a portion of these funds to buy an AK-47 style assault rifle, two magazines, and 66 rounds of ammunition.
In late July 2022, Mehdiyev repeatedly traveled to Ms. Alinejad’s neighborhood to surveil her residence and locate her. Mehdiyev sent photographs, videos, and updates on his stakeouts to OMAROV, who passed them on to AMIROV. AMIROV gave OMAROV intelligence about Ms. Alinejad’s home, location, and family members provided by his IRGC contacts to assist Mehdiyev’s attempts to locate and kill Ms. Alinejad. On July 24, 2022, Mehdiyev reported to OMAROV from Ms. Alinejad’s residence that he was “at the crime scene.” On July 27, 2022, OMAROV told AMIROV that Mehdiyev was ready to kill Ms. Alinejad, writing “this matter will be over today. I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them, they will sleep there this night.” On July 28, 2022, Mehdiyev sent OMAROV a video taken from inside the car that Mehdiyev was driving with the assault rifle and a message reading, “we are ready.” As OMAROV continued to update AMIROV about Mehdiyev’s readiness, AMIROV cautioned OMAROV, “let him keep the car clean.” When Mehdiyev drove away from surveilling the residence on July 28, 2022, he was stopped after a traffic violation and, during a search of the vehicle, police officers found the assault rifle; 66 rounds of ammunition, including one in the chamber of the assault rifle; approximately $1,100 in cash; gloves; and a black ski mask.
After Mehdiyev was arrested and placed into custody, OMAROV contacted Mehdiyev’s mother and threatened to kill her and her other son if she did not locate Mehdiyev, in part because the IRGC was demanding the return of its money.
In addition to their prison terms, AMIROV, 46, of Iran; OMAROV, 41, of the country of Georgia, were sentenced to a $500 special assessment.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office Counterintelligence-Cyber Division and the New York FBI Iran Threat Task Force. Mr. Clayton also thanked the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) and the NYPD Intelligence Bureau, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, for their assistance. Mr. Clayton also thanked the authorities in the Czech Republic.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Two Russian Mob Leaders Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Murder-For-Hire Targeting A Journalist on Behalf of the Iranian GovernmentRead the Press Release
Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John A. Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that RAFAT AMIROV, a/k/a “Farkhaddin Mirzoev,” a/k/a “Pᴎᴍ,” a/k/a “Rome,” and POLAD OMAROV, a/k/a “Araz Aliyev,” a/k/a “Polad Qaqa,” a/k/a “Haci Qaqa,” were each sentenced yesterday to 25 years’ imprisonment for their participation in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and human rights activist, on behalf of the Government of Iran. In March 2025, Amirov and Omarov were found guilty of murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related charges, following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, who imposed yesterday’s sentences.
“The Government of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, assassination, and espionage around the globe, brazenly brought its efforts to murder Masih Alinejad to New York," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said. "The plot exposed at trial involved actors on three continents, culminating with a hitman with an AK-47 outside Ms. Alinejad’s apartment in Brooklyn. Yesterday’s sentences send a clear message: the DOJ and our partners will expose and severely punish those who target U.S. citizens and bring terror to our community.”
Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg said: “The defendants and their criminal associates came chillingly close to gunning down an Iranian-American journalist on the streets of New York. Tehran has long sought to silence Ms. Alinejad, and after multiple failed kidnapping attempts, turned to Omarov and Amirov and their organization to stalk and murder her. This case is part of a well-documented and disturbing rise in plots involving criminal networks paid by Iran to target dissidents in the United States and around the world. We are committed to holding accountable those who join forces with this vile regime to violate our national sovereignty or threaten U.S. citizens.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said: “Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, two highly ranked members of the Russian Mob, attempted to assassinate Masih Alinejad to permanently silence her criticism of the Iranian government and public advocacy of human rights. These defendants operated as unlawful enforcers for a foreign government to target an American journalist on our nation’s soil. May yesterday’s sentencing emphasize the FBI’s steadfast commitment to protecting Americans against any foreign actor seeking to inflict terror and physical harm to further a political agenda.”
According to the Superseding Indictment, public court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:
AMIROV and OMAROV were high-ranking members of an Azerbaijani faction of the Russian Mob (the “Organization”) who worked with other members of the Organization to kill Masih Alinejad on instructions from high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”). Ms. Alinejad has previously been the target of multiple plots by the Government of Iran to intimidate, harass, and kidnap her for her work as a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses, especially its discriminatory and oppressive treatment of women, repression of political expression, and killings of Iranians engaged in peaceful protests against the regime. As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap Ms. Alinejad from within the U.S. for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence her criticism of the Iranian regime.
After its efforts to kidnap Ms. Alinejad from the U.S. failed in 2020 and 2021, the IRGC turned to AMIROV—a Vor, or Thief-in-Law, the highest rank in the Russian Mob—and OMAROV—the cousin of a powerful Vor who aspired to become a Vor himself—to locate, surveil, and murder her. The IRGC offered AMIROV $500,000 for Ms. Alinejad’s murder and provided him with targeting information about Ms. Alinejad, including her home address. Beginning in approximately July 2022, AMIROV sent this targeting information to OMAROV. OMAROV, in turn, communicated this information to Khalid Mehdiyev, another member of the Organization who had been residing in Yonkers, New York, so that Mehdiyev could surveil Ms. Alinejad and murder her. AMIROV and OMAROV arranged the delivery of $30,000 to Mehdiyev from the IRGC’s advance payment; Mehdiyev used a portion of these funds to buy an AK-47 style assault rifle, two magazines, and 66 rounds of ammunition.
In late July 2022, Mehdiyev repeatedly traveled to Ms. Alinejad’s neighborhood to surveil her residence and locate her. Mehdiyev sent photographs, videos, and updates on his stakeouts to OMAROV, who passed them on to AMIROV. AMIROV gave OMAROV intelligence about Ms. Alinejad’s home, location, and family members provided by his IRGC contacts to assist Mehdiyev’s attempts to locate and kill Ms. Alinejad. On July 24, 2022, Mehdiyev reported to OMAROV from Ms. Alinejad’s residence that he was “at the crime scene.” On July 27, 2022, OMAROV told AMIROV that Mehdiyev was ready to kill Ms. Alinejad, writing “this matter will be over today. I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them, they will sleep there this night.” On July 28, 2022, Mehdiyev sent OMAROV a video taken from inside the car that Mehdiyev was driving with the assault rifle and a message reading, “we are ready.” As OMAROV continued to update AMIROV about Mehdiyev’s readiness, AMIROV cautioned OMAROV, “let him keep the car clean.” When Mehdiyev drove away from surveilling the residence on July 28, 2022, he was stopped after a traffic violation and, during a search of the vehicle, police officers found the assault rifle; 66 rounds of ammunition, including one in the chamber of the assault rifle; approximately $1,100 in cash; gloves; and a black ski mask.
After Mehdiyev was arrested and placed into custody, OMAROV contacted Mehdiyev’s mother and threatened to kill her and her other son if she did not locate Mehdiyev, in part because the IRGC was demanding the return of its money.
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In addition to their prison terms, AMIROV, 46, of Iran; OMAROV, 41, of the country of Georgia, were sentenced to a $500 special assessment.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office Counterintelligence-Cyber Division and the New York FBI Iran Threat Task Force. Mr. Clayton also thanked the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) and the NYPD Intelligence Bureau, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, for their assistance. Mr. Clayton also thanked the authorities in the Czech Republic.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Trinitarios Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison for Teen Murders and Other Brutal CrimesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that CARLOS RAMIREZ, a/k/a “Guerra,” was sentenced today to life in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy and two murders committed as a member of the Sunset Trinitarios, a violent street gang. RAMIREZ was found guilty following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, who imposed today’s sentence.
“As a member of the Sunset Trinitarios, Carlos Ramirez was an unapologetic killer and responsible for brutal violence that endangered the lives of far more people than the two teenagers whom he murdered in 2013 and 2014,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “After he was arrested and charged for these crimes, he was undeterred and attempted to stab to death the former leader of his own gang in a gruesome and vicious attack while incarcerated. He will never walk the streets of New York again, and this Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bankrupt the cartels, dismantle the gangs, and remove from our streets all those who pursue death and violence as a way of life.”
According to the Indictment, public court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:
From 2010 to 2024, members of the Sunset Trinitarios, a violent drug trafficking organization and street gang founded in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York, committed a terrifying number of violent crimes, including multiple murders and attempted murders and numerous gunpoint robberies all across the metropolitan area. RAMIREZ was one of the members of the Sunset Trinitarios during this period, and he rose to multiple positions of leadership within the gang, both out on the street and when he was incarcerated in the custody of state and federal detention facilities in New York City. As a “devil soldier messenger” of the Sunset Trinitarios, which came to celebrate the murder of innocent victims and their purported delivery to the devil, RAMIREZ obtained two identical tattoos memorializing the two murders he committed on behalf of the gang.
On October 23, 2013, RAMIREZ participated in the murder of Michael Beltre, who was seventeen years old. Beltre was shot multiple times on the street in the Bronx after RAMIREZ struck him and held him for another gang member to shoot.
On November 2, 2014, RAMIREZ murdered Jordanny Correa, who was nineteen years old. RAMIREZ shot Correa multiple times at point-blank range inside an apartment in the Bronx.
On February 28, 2023, RAMIREZ attempted to murder a former leader of the Sunset Trinitarios inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. RAMIREZ committed this attack because he believed that this former leader had previously supplied information to law enforcement. With the help of others, RAMIREZ slashed and stabbed the victim with a knife, causing severe injuries to the victim’s face and the rest of his body in multiple locations.
10 others of RAMIREZ’s co-conspirators and fellow members of the Sunset Trinitarios previously pled guilty and have received sentences that have ranged from multiple years through life in prison.
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Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the New York City Department of Correction.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas John Wright, Brandon D. Harper, and Timothy Ly are in charge of the prosecution.
Newburgh Woman Who Made Headlines for False Claims About Homeless Veterans Sentenced for Wire Fraud and Stolen ValorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that SHARON TONEY‑FINCH, who made false public claims about assisting homeless veterans, was sentenced today to 12 months and one day by U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti for a years-long scheme to defraud military veterans’ charities and falsely claiming that she was a Purple Heart recipient. TONEY-FINCH previously pled guilty in March 2025 to wire fraud and stolen valor offenses. In issuing the Court’s sentence, Judge Briccetti described TONEY-FINCH’s conduct as “appalling” and “disrespectful to [her] fellow veterans.”
“Sharon Toney-Finch falsely claimed to be a Purple Heart recipient and used her foundation to defraud donors and others induced by that lie,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Let today’s sentence reaffirm that fraud built on lies about service and sacrifice will carry a heavy price.”
As alleged in the Indictment and in statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:
TONEY-FINCH is an Army veteran and founder of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation (the “YIT Foundation”), a registered 501(c)(3) charity that was established in Sullivan County. TONEY-FINCH was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army with various commendations, but she never received a Purple Heart award.
TONEY-FINCH’s YIT Foundation reportedly strived to raise awareness of premature births, offer assistance to premature babies and their families, and provide a place to stay or transportation while the babies were in the neonatal intensive care unit. The YIT Foundation also claimed to help homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance.
In fact, the YIT Foundation was largely a fraud. TONEY-FINCH helped virtually no military veterans and, instead, used the money that had been donated to the YIT Foundation by bona fide military veterans’ charities principally for her own benefit, including to pay for her BMW, a gym membership, travel, meals, and other personal expenses. In raising funds for the YIT Foundation, TONEY-FINCH also lied extensively about her military service, claiming falsely that she had been injured in an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq and doctoring her military discharge paperwork to reflect that she had received a Purple Heart, among other things. In total, TONEY-FINCH obtained approximately $85,000 as part of the scheme.
For example, in June 2022, TONEY-FINCH induced a local foundation that donates money to charities that serve veterans, food pantries, and domestic violence survivors to give the YIT Foundation $10,000 ostensibly to fund the construction of housing for homeless veterans. TONEY-FINCH used this grant money not to construct a home for veterans but rather principally to pay for her luxury vehicle and for her personal expenses at bars, restaurants, and gyms.
In May 2023, TONEY-FINCH made national news after claiming to a newspaper that the YIT Foundation had been supporting numerous homeless veterans who were being evicted from a hotel in Newburgh to make room for migrants who were being bussed from New York City. This claim caused at least one donor to wire the YIT Foundation $25,000. TONEY‑FINCH’s claims about housing homeless veterans who were supposedly displaced by migrants were false.
In the process of soliciting other donations for the YIT Foundation, TONEY-FINCH frequently and fraudulently held herself as a military hero who had received a Purple Heart medal. For example, in September 2021, TONEY-FINCH submitted a doctored military discharge certificate to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor and was honored at a Purple Heart ceremony alongside commissioned military officers. And in July 2022, TONEY-FINCH appeared on a video podcast to discuss the YIT Foundation and her claimed military record. At the outset of this appearance, TONEY-FINCH stated that she is the founder of the YIT Foundation and falsely claimed that she was “a Purple Heart and Valor Award recipient.” TONEY-FINCH then told an elaborate and false story about being the victim of an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq, in which TONEY-FINCH supposedly sustained injuries that required dozens of surgeries and simultaneously saved the lives of multiple fellow servicemembers.
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In addition to the prison term, TONEY-FINCH, 43, of Newburgh, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $84,000 in restitution and $85,000 in forfeiture.
Mr. Clayton praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hudson Valley White Collar Crime Task Force, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan W. Allison and Margaret N. Vasu are in charge of the prosecution.
Startup CEO Charlie Javice Sentenced to 85 Months in Prison for $175 Million FraudRead the Press Release
Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, Amanda Houle announced that CHARLIE JAVICE was sentenced today to 85 months in prison for falsely and dramatically inflating the number of customers of her company, Frank, to fraudulently induce J.P. Morgan Chase (“JPMC”) to acquire Frank for $175 million. JAVICE and her co-defendant, OLIVIER AMAR, were convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud, and securities fraud following a six-week jury trial in March 2025. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
“Javice perpetrated a $175 million fraud—repeatedly lying about the success of her startup company and even hiring a data scientist to create fake data to back up her lies. For that, Javice has been sentenced to 85 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay over $300,000,000,” said Attorney for the United States Amanda Houle. “Today’s sentence sends a clear message that brazen frauds will be met with serious penalties. Our Office will continue to work tirelessly to hold accountable those who seek to profit through fraudulent schemes and lies.”
As set forth in public filings and the trial record:
In or about 2017, JAVICE founded Frank, a for-profit company that offered an online platform designed to simplify the process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (“FAFSA”). FAFSA is a federal government form, available free of charge, that students use to apply for financial aid for college or graduate school. JAVICE was Frank’s CEO. AMAR was Frank’s Chief Growth Officer.
In or about 2021, JAVICE began to pursue the sale of Frank to a larger financial institution. Two major banks, one of which was JPMC, expressed interest and began acquisition processes with Frank. JAVICE represented repeatedly to those banks that Frank had 4.25 million customers or “users.” JAVICE explicitly defined “users”—to both banks—as individuals who had signed up for an account with Frank and for whom Frank therefore had at least four identified categories of data (i.e., first name, last name, email address, and phone number). In fact, Frank had approximately 300,000 users.
When JPMC sought to verify the number of Frank’s users and the amount of data collected about them—information that was critical to JPMC’s decision to move forward with the acquisition process—JAVICE and AMAR fabricated a data set. To do this, JAVICE and AMAR first asked Frank’s director of engineering to create an artificially generated (so-called “synthetic”) data set. The director of engineering raised concerns about the legality of the request, to which JAVICE responded, in substance and in part, “We don’t want to end up in orange jumpsuits.” The director of engineering declined the request.
JAVICE then approached an outside data scientist and hired him to create the synthetic data set. After the data set was created, JAVICE provided that synthetic data set to an agreed-upon third-party vendor in an effort to confirm to JPMC that the data set had over 4.25 million rows. JAVICE then caused the third-party vendor to convey to JPMC that the data set had over 4.25 million rows, consistent with JAVICE’s misrepresentations that Frank had 4.25 million users.
In reliance on JAVICE’s fraudulent representations about Frank’s users, JPMC agreed to purchase Frank for $175 million. As part of the deal, JPMC hired JAVICE and other Frank employees. JAVICE received over $21 million for selling her equity stake in Frank and, per the terms of the deal, was to be paid another $20 million as a retention bonus.
Unbeknownst to JPMC, at or about the same time that JAVICE was creating the fabricated data set, JAVICE and AMAR sought to purchase, on the open market, real data for over 4.25 million college students to cover up their misrepresentations. JAVICE and AMAR succeeded in purchasing a data set of 4.5 million students for $105,000, but it did not contain all the data fields that JAVICE had represented to JPMC were maintained by Frank. JAVICE then purchased an additional set of data on the open market to augment the data set of 4.5 million users. After JPMC acquired Frank, JPMC employees asked JAVICE and AMAR to provide data relating to Frank’s users so that JPMC could begin a marketing campaign to those users. In response, JAVICE provided what was supposedly Frank’s user data. In fact, JAVICE fraudulently provided the data she and AMAR had purchased on the open market, at a small fraction of the price that JPMC paid to acquire Frank and its purported users.
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In addition to the prison term, JAVICE, 31, of Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. The district court also imposed a forfeiture judgment of $22,360,977.48 and ordered restitution in the amount of $287,501,078.00 that is joint and several with AMAR.
Ms. Houle praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo, Micah F. Fergenson, and Georgia V. Kostopoulos are in charge of the prosecution.
Servicemembers Receive Relief for Unlawful Repossession of Their CarsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights for the United States Department of Justice, Harmeet K. Dhillon, announced today that NEW CITY FUNDING CORP. (“NEW CITY”) has agreed to pay at least $120,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) by repossessing vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers without first obtaining the required court orders. Under the agreement, NEW CITY has agreed to pay $60,000 to compensate four servicemembers whose cars it unlawfully repossessed and will also pay a civil penalty of $60,000 to the United States. NEW CITY has further agreed to provide information regarding additional repossessions and will compensate any additional servicemembers whose cars were repossessed in violation of the SCRA.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice launched an investigation into NEW CITY’s repossession practices following the filing of a private lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that NEW CITY violated the SCRA by repossessing the plaintiff’s vehicle after the plaintiff had entered military service. The subsequent investigation identified four additional violations to date and revealed that NEW CITY regularly failed to adhere to its written policies and procedures regarding SCRA’s protections against non-judicial auto repossessions.
NEW CITY, headquartered in Stony Point, New York, provides auto financing to New Yorkers, many of whom are unable to obtain financing from traditional lending institutions.
“New Yorkers support the women and men of our armed forces, and New Yorkers want our Office to stand up for the rights of our service members, particularly when they are deployed,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects our troops from having their cars and other assets seized while serving, and our Office stands ready to enforce those protections.”
“By repossessing these vehicles, New City Funding disregarded the law and the duties it owed to members of our Armed Forces,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will hold accountable any business that does not respect the legal rights of U.S. servicemembers.”
The agreement requires NEW CITY to provide $15,000 in compensation, plus any lost equity in the vehicle with interest, to each of the four affected servicemembers who have been identified to date and will provide similar compensation to any additional servicemembers subsequently identified whose rights under the SCRA were violated by NEW CITY. NEW CITY will also take steps to repair the credit of the affected servicemembers. NEW CITY will contact servicemembers to be compensated through this settlement in the upcoming months and will distribute payments at no cost to servicemembers. As noted above, NEW CITY will also pay a $60,000 civil penalty to the United States.
Enforcement of the SCRA is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section and U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country. For more information about SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.
Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.
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This case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division and the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Walsh Kumar of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Trial Attorney Audrey M. Yap of the Civil Rights Division are in charge of the case.
New York Auto Finance Company to Compensate Servicemembers for Illegal RepossessionsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced that New City Funding, a New York-based auto finance company, will pay over $120,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by illegally repossessing vehicles owned by military servicemembers.
The Department alleges that New City Funding, a regional auto finance company based in Stony Point, New York, repossessed at least five vehicles owned by servicemembers without obtaining the court orders required by federal law. The Department further alleges that New City took no steps to determine whether the owners of these vehicles were in military service prior to repossessing their cars, and, in some cases, went forward with repossessions even after they were told that the owner was on active duty.
“By repossessing these vehicles, New City Funding disregarded the law and the duties it owed to members of our Armed Forces,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will hold accountable any business that does not respect the legal rights of U.S. servicemembers.”
“New Yorkers support the women and men of our armed forces, and New Yorkers want our Office to stand up for the rights of our service members, particularly when they are deployed,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects our troops from having their cars and other assets seized while serving, and our Office stands ready to enforce those protections.”
Under the terms of the settlement, New City will pay at least $60,000 in compensation to affected servicemembers, forgive any unpaid balance on their accounts and take steps to repair damage to their credit. New City will also be required to pay a $60,000 civil penalty and make changes to its policies and training to avoid future violations.
The SCRA is a federal law that provides legal and financial protections for servicemembers and their families. The law prevents an auto finance or leasing company from repossessing a servicemember’s vehicle without first obtaining a court order, as long as the servicemember made at least one payment on the vehicle before entering military service.
This case was handled by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Since 2011, the Department has obtained over $483 million in monetary relief for over 148,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the Department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.
Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA may have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.
Note: The Settlement Agreement can be read here
Adult Film Actor Justin Heath Smith, A/K/A “Austin Wolf,” Sentenced to 19 Years in Prison for Child Sexual ExploitationRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that JUSTIN HEATH SMITH, a/k/a “Austin Wolf,” was sentenced to 19 years in prison for enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and for engaging in a pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct. SMITH’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who also presided over the guilty plea.
“Justin Heath Smith’s crimes against children are horrible,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He targeted kids as young as seven, and every New Yorker wants him and those like him off our streets for as long as possible and never again near our children. The women and men of our Office, and our law enforcement partners, are laser focused on ridding our streets of those who sexually exploit our children. The message to predators from our Office is clear: there is no place for you in New York other than prison.”
According to the Information, the plea agreement, and statements made in court:
Since at least 2023, SMITH has repeatedly preyed on and tried to sexually exploit minor victims. In late 2023 or early 2024, SMITH and an adult male (“Male-1”) met with a 15-year-old minor, during which Male-1 performed oral sex on the minor while SMITH masturbated. SMITH also had sex at least three times with an individual whom SMITH believed was 15 years old, but who was in fact an adult. SMITH recorded one such encounter, a threesome with Male-1.
SMITH tried to make other arrangements to meet with other minors to engage in sexual activity. In January 2024, SMITH made plans with another male (“Male-2”) to sexually abuse a purported nine-year-old child that Male-2 claimed to be babysitting. SMITH traveled to Male-2’s building for the encounter, which Male-2 called off while SMITH was waiting downstairs. In February 2024, SMITH also made plans to meet a purported 14-year-old for sex, including discussing the specific sex act that the purported minor would perform on SMITH. SMITH provided his cross-streets so that the purported minor could travel to SMITH’s apartment. The planned encounter did not ultimately occur.
SMITH also solicited child sexual abuse material from at least one minor and multiple individuals who purported to be minors. For example, SMITH communicated with a 15-year-old minor and, after the minor told SMITH his age, SMITH asked the minor for sexually explicit materials. The minor then sent SMITH a video showing the minor’s penis and anus. SMITH also communicated with an individual online whose username contained the phrase “12M,” suggesting that the user was a 12-year-old male. SMITH and the purported minor appear to have exchanged sexual photographs and discussed a possible meeting location.
Prior to his arrest, SMITH made plans to meet with an individual who claimed to be the father of a seven-year-old child and who offered to make the child available to SMITH for sexual abuse. Federal law enforcement executed a search warrant on SMITH’s residence before the planned encounter could occur. Following that search, SMITH was found in possession of approximately 1,291 files containing child pornography, including around 75 files showing infants or toddlers and some videos depicting the violent rape of young children. SMITH also shared child pornography with at least 15 other individuals.
Anyone who believes they have information concerning the exploitation of children is urged to contact the FBI at 1-212-384-1000 or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
* * *
In addition to the prison term, SMITH, 44, of New York, New York, was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and a $40,000 fine.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Getzel Berger is in charge of the prosecution.
Inmate Convicted of Slashing Federal Corrections Officer in New York City PrisonRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today the conviction in Manhattan federal court of MARIO POWELL for assaulting a corrections officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon and for possession of prison contraband. The jury convicted POWELL following a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan.
“Mario Powell brutally assaulted a federal corrections officer with a makeshift weapon made of razor blades,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today, a jury of his peers held Powell accountable for this vicious attack. Our Office is proud to stand behind and pursue justice for our law enforcement partners who bravely put their lives on the line every day to protect the people of New York.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and the evidence presented during the trial:
On May 30, 2020, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, POWELL forcibly assaulted a corrections officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon and, in doing so, lacerated the officer’s neck. In order to commit the attack, POWELL obtained and possessed a weapon made of razor blades.
* * *
POWELL, 34, of the Bronx, New York, was convicted of one count of assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of possession of prison contraband, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. POWELL is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Cronan on November 14, 2025.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas John Wright, Henry L. Ross, and Leslie B. Arffa are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialists Myrnette Millington and Phineas Santello.
Former NYPD Detective Pleads Guilty in Violent Racketeering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced that SAUL ARISMENDY DE LA CRUZ, a/k/a “Nene,” a/k/a “Venom,” pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy to racketeering conspiracy in connection with his participation in a violent theft crew. As alleged, DE LA CRUZ, then a member of the NYPD, accepted bribes for providing crew members with confidential police information about potential victims and ongoing investigations. When he learned that the FBI was planning to arrest members of the crew, he tipped them off, allowing them to flee. DE LA CRUZ is scheduled to be sentenced on January 8, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román.
“The NYPD is the best police department in the world and, sadly, Saul Arismendy De La Cruz turned his back on his colleagues and the people of New York,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The NYPD and the people of New York deserve better, and we will pursue a sentence that matches the seriousness of De La Cruz’s conduct.”
“Saul De La Cruz, a former NYPD detective, provided confidential law enforcement information—including updates in active investigations—to a ring of thieves in exchange for monetary kickbacks,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “His actions violated his oath to protect this city by enabling criminals to continue wreaking havoc on our local residents and ultimately evade arrest. While the vast majority of NYPD officers uphold their sworn dedication to serve, the FBI will continue to hold accountable those who prioritize personal financial enrichment over their duty to others, especially to further the operations of illicit enterprises.”
“The NYPD holds its officers to the highest standards, and it’s an affront to our entire department when someone so blatantly violates them and abuses the public’s trust,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “Saul De La Cruz’s actions were not only highly illegal, but they put our officers at great risk and jeopardized our public safety work. We will continue to work with our partners in the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to root out any misconduct and ensure justice is always served.”
As alleged in the Indictment and Superseding Indictments unsealed in White Plains federal court:[1]
DE LA CRUZ was one of a number of defendants charged for participation in a violent theft crew led by the fugitive DAGOBERTO SOTO-RAMIREZ, a/k/a “Pito,” pictured below.
DAGOBERTO SOTO-RAMIREZ: WANTED BY THE FBI
Between 2017 and 2022, SOTO-RAMIREZ organized a crew that committed residential burglaries and home invasion robberies, repeatedly targeting small business owners. The majority of the targeted victims were Asian American. Armed with guns and other weapons, members of the crew stole money, jewelry, and other property from scores of homes in states across the country. Others took part in the crew’s criminal scheme, which also included the use of false identification, bank fraud, and laundering theft proceeds. In addition, SOTO-RAMIREZ and other members of the conspiracy bribed DE LA CRUZ, first an officer and later a detective of the NYPD, who helped members of the crew escape arrest.
SOTO-RAMIREZ remains a fugitive. Anyone with information about his whereabouts should contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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DE LA CRUZ, 33, of Queens, New York, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the investigative work of the FBI, the Westchester County Joint Organized Crime Task Force, the New York Public Corruption Task Force, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the NYPD, the Nassau County Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Fort Lee Police Department. He added that the investigation is ongoing.
The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josiah Pertz and Jeffrey C. Coffman are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the description of the Indictment and the other charging documents set forth in this release constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Manhattan Teacher Charged with Possession and Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, and Special Commissioner of the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the NYC School District (“SCI”), Anastasia Coleman, announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging CHRISTOPHER WARD with possessing and distributing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography that depict pre-pubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. WARD was arrested yesterday and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in Manhattan federal court.
“Every day, Christopher Ward stood at the front of a classroom of first graders while allegedly storing hundreds of images exploiting children just like them,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The women and men of our Office are committed to ridding New York of child pornography. Together with our partners at Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department Special Investigations Unit, we will aggressively pursue and prosecute those who create, possess, and distribute child pornography.”
“Christopher Ward, a first-grade teacher, is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography, and even acknowledging his sexual attraction to his students—allegations that are chillingly disturbing and strike at the heart of every parent's fears,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “With over four years spent in close proximity to young children, the gravity of these accusations cannot be overstated. The safety of our children demands our unflinching attention, and HSI will not stop until the full facts are exposed and every offender faces the consequences.”
“When we send our children to school every day, we trust that they will be cared for and protected by their teachers. Instead, Christopher Ward made every parent’s worst nightmare a reality,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “These allegations are as sickening as they are illegal, and there is absolutely zero tolerance for anyone who exploits our most innocent in this way. I want to thank the NYPD investigators and our partners at HSI, SCI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for putting an end to this horrific behavior and ensuring our children our safe.”
“Christopher Ward's actions as alleged are repugnant—and violate the trust of his school, his students, and the community overall,” said SCI Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman. “Possession of child pornography and other types of exploitation of minors are among the most serious issues society combats, and SCI works tirelessly to root out such misconduct from the New York City school district. SCI is grateful for its partners in law enforcement for their efforts in bringing Christopher Ward to justice.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:[1]
From approximately September 2024 to approximately September 2025, WARD worked as a first-grade teacher at an elementary school in Queens, New York. Prior to that, from approximately January 2021 to approximately June 2024, WARD worked as a first-grade teacher at a school in Manhattan, New York.
From at least in or about July 14, 2024, through in or about July 22, 2025, WARD possessed and distributed hundreds of images and videos constituting child pornography on his account with an electronic mobile messaging application.
* * *
WARD, 37, of Farmingdale, New York, is charged with one count of receiving and distributing material containing child pornography, including files containing sexually explicit images of minors, and one count of possessing child pornography, including images and videos of prepubescent minors and minors who had not attained 12 years of age. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of HSI, their agents and Task Force Officers; the NYPD Special Investigations Unit, Computer Crimes Squad; the SCI Investigators; the Complex Analytics and Social Media Enhancement Team at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; the Special Agents and Task Force Officers of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; and the Southern District of New York Digital Forensic Unit.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adabelle U. Ekechukwu is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
u.s._v._ward_complaint.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Former CEO of Public Telecommunications Company Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Accounting FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that MICHAEL PALLESCHI, the former chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FTE Networks, Inc. (“FTE”), was sentenced today to 12 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon for leading a years-long scheme to inflate FTE’s revenue, conceal liabilities and expenses, and embezzle company funds. PALLESCHI previously pled guilty in August 2023 to conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud, making false statements in SEC filings and improperly influencing the conduct of audits, securities fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
“FTE’s financial statements were fraudulent, harming FTE’s investors and undermining confidence in our markets,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Our Office is committed to personal accountability in white-collar crime and Michael Palleschi’s sentence reflects that commitment.”
As alleged in the Superseding Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:
FTE was a telecommunications company based in Naples, Florida, and Manhattan. As of December 2017, its stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange. From 2014 to 2019, PALLESCHI was the chairman of FTE’s Board of Directors and its Chief Executive Officer.
From 2016 to early 2019, PALLESCHI and others at FTE caused FTE to issue approximately 70 convertible notes with a total principal balance of more than $22 million to private lenders. The lenders could convert the notes to FTE’s common stock, either upon demand or upon default. Issuers of such convertible notes must recognize on their financial statements liabilities and expenses that arise from the notes’ conversion features. PALLESCHI and others caused FTE to recognize only the principal amounts and resulting interest expense on the company’s books, but not the substantial liabilities and expenses arising from the notes’ conversion features. He and others also took steps to conceal the notes’ conversion features, including by providing FTE’s accountants with fake notes, creating fake board resolutions with forged directors’ signatures that purportedly authorized the issuance of the convertible notes, forging the signature of FTE’s transfer agent on letters provided to lenders and repeatedly lying to FTE’s auditors by falsely denying that the company had issued convertible debt. As a result of this fraud with respect to convertible notes, PALLESCHI and others caused FTE to understate its debt derivative liabilities and warrant derivative liabilities and to fail to recognize losses on conversion derivative liabilities and losses on issuance of notes in 2017 and 2018.
As part of a second fraudulent scheme, PALLESCHI and others caused FTE to recognize more than $13 million in fraudulent revenue. This fraudulent revenue included more than $10 million in “unbilled” revenue that the conspirators represented FTE had earned from services it had supposedly provided to a large customer that had not yet accepted bills for those services. FTE never provided any such services. In addition, PALLESCHI and others caused FTE to recognize approximately $2.6 million as an account receivable for which there was no support. When FTE’s auditors said that the account receivable should be written off, PALLESCHI and others created a fake email from a representative of the customer saying that the customer would “expedite payments” for more than $1.5 million for projects completed by FTE in 2016 and 2017. The conspirators caused this fake email to be sent to FTE’s auditors so that FTE could continue to recognize the receivable. As a result of this fraudulent recognition of revenue, FTE’s financial statements overstated the company’s accounts receivable by between 18% and 120% for each of the quarters in 2017 and 2018 and by approximately 477% for 2016.
PALLESCHI also embezzled corporate funds by taking personal trips on the company’s private jet and unauthorized stock issuances.
At the sentencing, Judge McMahon said “this was a fraudulently run operation from the beginning.”
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In addition to the prison term, PALLESCHI, 50, of Naples, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $13,541,707 in restitution and $546,846.75 in forfeiture.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Clayton also thanked the Securities & Exchange Commission for their assistance with the case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Davis and James McMahon are in charge of the prosecution.
Christopher Reese Sentenced to 16.5 Years for Unlicensed Legal Services SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that CHRISTOPHER REESE, a/k/a “Christopher Eugene Thomas,” was sentenced today to 16.5 years in prison for crimes related to running a bogus legal services business, which defrauded numerous inmates and their family members. REESE, a nine-time convicted felon who is not a lawyer, deceived his victims into paying him to perform unlicensed legal services for them, including drafting and filing motions in federal courts. Despite REESE’s repeated promises to get inmates out of prison in exchange for money, courts overwhelmingly denied his motions, while REESE kept the money. REESE was sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with his criminal convictions at trial in March of this year, and an additional 18 months for violating the terms of his supervised release in connection with a prior case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni.
“Christopher Reese conned vulnerable people by promising them outcomes in legal cases that he could not deliver and tried to manipulate the federal courts to further his scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s substantial sentence is a clear reminder: the fraudulent and unauthorized practice of law is a crime. The public should be on guard against so-called ‘independent paralegals’ or ‘legal assistants’ selling services that only licensed lawyers can provide, without supervision by a licensed lawyer. Unlicensed practitioners may seem like a bargain, but often leave their clients in far worse circumstances.”
According to the Indictment and the evidence at trial:
For years, REESE ran a scam targeting federal inmates, their family members, and friends. To carry out his fraud scheme, REESE promised favorable results in criminal cases that he could not actually obtain, rendering legal services he was not authorized to provide in exchange for hefty fees. REESE styled himself as a “legal assistant” or “paralegal,” but worked without the supervision of a licensed lawyer and offered services that only a lawyer is authorized to provide, including drafting and submitting legal filings in federal courts. REESE induced prisoners and their family members to pay him by promising beneficial outcomes that he could not guarantee, while knowing—but failing to disclose—that his unlicensed legal practice was illegal.
REESE promised, for example, that defendants would be “immediately released” based on motions he would file in exchange for fees in the thousands of dollars. Sometimes REESE also offered to provide a refund if his motions were unsuccessful; but when they failed, REESE kept the money. When his fraud succeeded, and inmates or their family members paid REESE his fees, REESE engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, by making a business of drafting and filing legal motions and briefs in federal cases, including cases heard by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at 40 Foley Square in Manhattan, a federal enclave where New York State’s prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law applies via the Assimilative Crimes Act. To hide his involvement from the courts, REESE wrote the inmate’s name in the signature block of each filing and falsely labeled it as “pro se,” i.e., written by the inmate.
REESE earned over a million dollars from this scheme, and REESE committed additional crimes in connection with these fraud proceeds. First, REESE was on supervised release in connection with a separate federal criminal case in this District during most of the scheme. In connection with his supervision, and in order to avoid paying criminal restitution that he owed, REESE made false statements to the U.S. Probation Office. Second, REESE laundered the proceeds of his scheme by using a co-conspirator to engage in financial transactions designed to conceal the source and movement of the fees REESE collected from his victims.
* * *
In addition to the prison term, REESE, 57, of East Meadow, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. The district court also imposed a forfeiture judgment of $1 million.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The case was prosecuted through the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josiah Pertz, Kingdar Prussien, and James McMahon are in charge of the prosecution.
California Man Arrested in Brazen $10 Million Loan Fraud Scheme Designed to Dupe the SECRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging MAX MCDERMOTT with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his scheme to fraudulently obtain a $10 million loan and then launder and misappropriate the funds, including to repay investors in an attempt to avoid liability during an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). MCDERMOTT was arrested today in Newport Beach, California, and will be presented later today in the Central District of California. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.
“As alleged, Max McDermott orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by obtaining a loan purportedly to grow two of his companies," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "McDermott was already under investigation by the SEC in connection with his operation of a different company, a fact that he concealed from his lender. He then misappropriated the loan money to help convince the SEC not to sue him. McDermott’s arrest is a reminder that those who swindle investors get caught and face federal criminal exposure for their conduct.”
“Spurred by a separate investigation, Max McDermott allegedly paid outstanding obligations through a misappropriated $10 million loan intended for future business expansion,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “The defendant allegedly made repeated attempts to avoid regulatory consequences by creating an illicit repayment system built on deceit and betrayal. The FBI will never cease to investigate any individual who exploits financial institutions to conceal failed investments and perpetuate dishonest swindles.”
As alleged in the Indictment:[1]
MCDERMOTT is the founder and owner of several companies in the real estate industry. In late 2020, MCDERMOTT learned that he was under investigation by the SEC for his actions in connection with his real estate lending and investment company. In an effort to dissuade the SEC from taking enforcement action, MCDERMOTT sought to quickly repay tens of millions of dollars to investors of the company under investigation and, toward that end, borrowed money under false pretenses. Specifically, MCDERMOTT made false and misleading representations to obtain a $10 million loan purportedly to grow his other businesses. MCDERMOTT also hid the existence of the SEC’s investigation from his lender and lied about his use of the loan proceeds. Once MCDERMOTT received the $10 million loan, he laundered the funds to conceal the fact that he was using the money to benefit himself and to help repay investors, rather than use the funds to grow his other businesses as he had falsely claimed.
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MCDERMOTT, 57, of Newport Beach, California, is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Qais Ghafary is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
u.s._v._mcdermott_indictment.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Repeat Fraudster Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Massive Belize Real Estate FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that ANDRIS PUKKE, a/k/a “Marc Romeo,” a/k/a “Andy Storm,” was sentenced yesterday to eight years in prison by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken for leading a years-long real estate scam in Belize called “Sanctuary Belize,” in which hundreds of victims—many of whom were retirees—were defrauded of approximately $77 million.
“Hundreds of hard-working Americans—many of them retirees—lost their savings to this brazen fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Andris Pukke thought he could hide behind foreign land deals and false names, but he was wrong. This sentence removes a bad actor and serves as a warning to other would-be fraudsters.”
As alleged in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:
PUKKE directed and controlled Sanctuary Belize, which was a vacation and retirement community under development in Belize. PUKKE fraudulently induced hundreds of victims to invest more than $100 million in lots in Sanctuary Belize. Victims purchased lots with the understanding that they would obtain lots in a built-out community that they could use to build retirement homes, vacation homes, or investment properties. The victims were induced to invest by PUKKE and his salespeople, and a large majority of the victims were never in fact able to build the homes in Sanctuary Belize that they’d hoped for.
PUKKE has prior convictions for mail fraud and obstruction of justice and has a prior $172 million judgment against him from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in connection with a prior deceptive company he controlled, AmeriDebt. Knowing that victims would not want to invest in Sanctuary Belize if they were aware of the criminal background of the man who controlled Sanctuary Belize, PUKKE directed his salespeople to lie and say that he was not involved in Sanctuary Belize. PUKKE used the aliases “Marc Romeo” and “Andy Storm” to conceal his involvement and control of Sanctuary Belize.
PUKKE also directed his salespeople to tell victims that Sanctuary Belize had no debt and that every dollar from victims would go to develop the property. In fact, Sanctuary Belize had more than $12 million in debt, and PUKKE stole nearly $10 million from Sanctuary Belize for, among other things, the purchase and renovation of a waterfront home, the repayment of a personal loan, personal investments in startup companies, child support payments, purchase of land in the Bahamas, and payments to family and friends.
While under investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, PUKKE unsuccessfully attempted to induce another individual to create a sham document that he hoped to show prosecutors and the investigating grand jury in an effort to corruptly avoid prosecution.
PUKKE was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice on July 10, 2024. In connection with his sentencing, victims sent nearly two hundred letters to the Court describing the harm caused to them, including in some cases, the loss of their retirement savings.
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In addition to the prison term, PUKKE, 56, of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. PUKKE was ordered to forfeit $9,912,396 and was previously ordered in litigation with the FTC to pay restitution to victims of Sanctuary Belize in the amount of $120.2 million.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Clayton also thanked the Federal Trade Commission for their assistance with the case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey C. Coffman, James McMahon, and Kevin Mead are in charge of the prosecution.
New York Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Connection with 2023 Shooting Using “Ghost Gun”Read the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that TERRY BROOKS was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally possessing ammunition in connection with a November 12, 2023, shooting in which BROOKS shot an innocent bystander in the Bronx, New York. BROOKS’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, who also presided over the guilty plea.
“Terry Brooks armed himself with an arsenal of weapons and shot an innocent bystander on the busy streets of New York City, seriously injuring that person,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Brooks cannot be in a position to harm or kill other New Yorkers. Today’s sentence protects New Yorkers from a violent, gun-toting offender and sends a message to anyone considering the same path: New York will not tolerate it.”
As alleged in the Complaint and the Indictment, court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:
Between July 2023 and August 2024, BROOKS purchased more than 50 firearm components online and possessed nine firearms, including two privately manufactured and un-serialized “ghost guns.” On November 12, 2023, while on a public sidewalk in the Bronx, BROOKS used one of those ghost guns, firing a shot at a man with whom BROOKS was having a verbal dispute. The bullet struck a nearby bystander, hitting her in the abdomen and eventually lodging itself near her spine. The victim was rushed to a hospital, where she received emergency medical treatment, including surgery.
After obtaining surveillance video footage and other records, officers were able to track and identify BROOKS as the shooter. On August 14, 2024, officers executed search warrants at BROOKS’s residences and recovered eight firearms, including the ghost guns, together with ammunition and firearm parts. Ballistics testing established that the shell casing found immediately after the November 2023 shooting had been fired by one of BROOKS’s ghost guns recovered pursuant to these warrants. The following week, on August 21, 2024, officers arrested BROOKS and recovered a ninth firearm.
* * *
In addition to the prison term, BROOKS, 59, of the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the November 12, 2023, shooting.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Grossinger and James Mandilk are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Chinese Chemical Company Executives Sentenced to 25 and 15 Years in Prison, Respectively, for Fentanyl Precursor Importation and Money Laundering OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Terrance C. Cole, announced that QINGZHOU WANG, a/k/a “Bruce,” and YIYI CHEN, a/k/a “Chiron,” were sentenced to 25 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for fentanyl precursor importation and money laundering offenses. WANG and CHEN, both nationals of China, were found guilty on February 3, 2025, following a two-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe, who imposed the sentences. WANG, who was also convicted of importing a methamphetamine precursor, was sentenced today, September 18, 2025, and CHEN was sentenced on August 22, 2025.
“American families are burying loved ones because of fentanyl and individuals like Qingzhou Wang and Yiyi Chen who unlawfully market and supply the ingredients to make it,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “There is no place to hide for those who callously fuel the fentanyl epidemic, and these sentences—which were only possible because of the extraordinary efforts of the career prosecutors in this Office and our partners at the DEA and abroad—prove it.”
“These executives turned a Chinese chemical company into a pipeline of poison, shipping hundreds of kilos of fentanyl-related precursors into the United States, disguising them as everyday goods, and cashing in through cryptocurrency,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Americans were dying, but they kept selling. Thanks to DEA and our global partners, they now face justice, and this case sends a clear message: anyone, anywhere in the world who profits from American deaths will be found and held accountable."
As reflected in the Indictment, public filings, and the evidence presented at trial:
AMARVEL BIOTECH was a chemical manufacturer based in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, China, that exported vast quantities of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues.
During this investigation, AMARVEL BIOTECH and its principal executive, WANG, its marketing manager, CHEN, and a sales representative, FNU LNU, a/k/a “Er Yang,” a/k/a “Anita” (“YANG”), shipped more than 200 kilograms of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and its analogues from China to the U.S. They shipped the precursors to the U.S. after being told that the chemicals would be used to produce fentanyl in New York, and then they agreed to supply multi-ton shipments of fentanyl precursors despite being told that Americans had died after consuming fentanyl made from the chemicals that the defendants had sold. In exchange, AMARVEL BIOTECH received tens of thousands of dollars in payment in cryptocurrency.
In or about November 2022, YANG began negotiating the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors to a DEA confidential source (“CS-1”) posing as a fentanyl trafficker in Mexico with operations in the U.S. AMARVEL BIOTECH thereafter shipped from China to New York approximately 999.7 grams of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-AP, approximately 1,002.6 grams of the fentanyl precursor 1-boc-4-piperidone, and approximately 893.6 grams of the methamphetamine precursor methylamine.
In or about March 2023, WANG and CHEN traveled from China to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with an individual whom CS-1 represented was CS-1’s boss but who was in fact another DEA confidential source (“CS-2”). During the meeting, WANG and CHEN discussed AMARVEL BIOTECH’s ability to supply ton-quantities of fentanyl precursors to New York for CS-1 and CS-2’s fentanyl manufacturing operation. After CS-2 stated that CS-2 wanted a different formula for manufacturing fentanyl and that several of CS-2’s American customers had purportedly died, WANG and CHEN advised they had “a lot of customers in America and Mexico” who could provide technical assistance with fentanyl production.
After the March 2023 meeting in Bangkok, AMARVEL BIOTECH, WANG, CHEN, and YANG agreed to sell CS-1 and CS-2 approximately 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors, again in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. During an April 10, 2023, video call with WANG and CHEN, CS-2 stated that the approximately 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors would be used to manufacture approximately 50 to 55 kilograms of fentanyl—an amount that, as noted above, could contain approximately 25 million deadly doses.
In or about May 2023, AMARVEL BIOTECH, WANG, CHEN, and YANG sent to the U.S. the shipment ordered by CS-1 and CS-2. On or about May 5, 2023, the DEA retrieved the precursor shipment from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Lab testing confirmed the presence of a precursor chemical for a fentanyl analogue. In an encrypted messaging group chat with CS-1, CS-2, WANG, and CHEN, YANG explained that “New York, the United States, has been strict in checking the precursors of the ‘final product’ some time ago, so for the sake of safety, this time it is sent to California.”
In or about June 2023, WANG and CHEN traveled from China to Fiji to meet again with CS-2. During the meeting, WANG and CHEN discussed with CS-2 a multi-ton order of fentanyl precursor chemicals. WANG and CHEN also discussed the need to take additional measures to protect themselves from detection and interdiction of their shipments “because recently American government . . . seized some Mexican group and they followed the routes to China,” where the U.S. Government found “our competitor in China”—an apparent reference to fentanyl-related charges filed in the Southern District of New York and announced in April 2023 against, among others, leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel and certain China-based precursor chemical company executives.
AMARVEL BIOTECH openly advertised online its sale of precursor chemicals for use in manufacturing fentanyl. Through its website and a host of other storefront sites, AMARVEL BIOTECH targeted precursor chemical customers in Mexico, where drug cartels operate clandestine laboratories and distribute finished fentanyl into and throughout the U.S., including by advertising fentanyl precursors as a “Mexico hot sale,” guaranteeing “100% stealth shipping” abroad, and posting to its websites documentation of AMARVEL BIOTECH shipping chemicals to Culiacan, the home city of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the dominant drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere and which is largely responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the U.S. in recent years.
AMARVEL BIOTECH also endeavored to thwart law enforcement interdiction of its precursor chemical shipments. AMARVEL BIOTECH advertised online the business’s ability to use deceptive packaging—such as packaging indicating the contents are dog food, nuts, or motor oil—to ensure “safe” delivery of the illicit contents of such shipments. During this investigation, law enforcement seized approximately $900,000 in cryptocurrency from accounts tied to AMARVEL BIOTECH and domain names for 12 websites tied to AMARVEL BIOTECH.
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In addition to their respective prison terms, WANG, 37, and CHEN, 33, both of China, were each sentenced to three years of supervised release. WANG was ordered to forfeit $67,168.25, and CHEN was ordered to forfeit internet domain names for 12 websites previously seized by law enforcement.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit. Mr. Clayton also thanked the DEA Bangkok Country Office, DEA Wellington Country Office, DEA Beijing Country Office, DEA Honolulu District Office, DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Strike Force, DEA Riverside District Office, DEA Special Testing Laboratory, the DEA Southwest Laboratory, the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau, the Fiji Police Force Narcotic Bureau, the Fiji Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Li and Kevin Sullivan are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Sabrina Jim Munoz.
Former Yonkers Teacher Sentenced to 25 Years in Connection with Sexual Exploitation of Minor StudentRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that SANDY CARAZAS-PINEZ was sentenced to 25 years in prison for enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. CARAZAS-PINEZ’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan, who also presided over her guilty plea.
“Sexual exploitation by teachers offends every New Yorker,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Sandy Carazas-Pinez betrayed her role and, through explicit texts and other means, coerced a 16-year-old into a sexual relationship. Actions of this type by anyone, particularly a teacher or other person of trust, will not be tolerated.”
According to the court documents and statement made during court proceedings:
CARAZAS-PINEZ was a high school teacher at a school for kindergarten through 12th grade students located in Yonkers, New York (“School-1”). From in or around November 2022 through February 2023, CARAZAS-PINEZ abused her position as a teacher at School-1 by inducing and attempting to induce a student (“Minor Victim-1”) at School-1 into a sexual relationship with CARAZAS-PINEZ. Minor Victm-1 was 16 years old at the time of the abuse.
CARAZAS-PINEZ singled out Minor Victim-1 for personal attention at School-1. In addition, CARAZAS-PINEZ induced Minor Victim-1 to engage in sexual activity with her by leading Minor Victim-1 to believe that they were in a romantic relationship.
CARAZAS-PINEZ used her personal cellphone to call, text, and video call Minor Victim-1 to arrange sexual encounters and to repeatedly induce Minor Victim-1 to engage in live-streamed sexually explicit conduct while on video calls with CARAZAS-PINEZ. In text messages with Minor Victim-1, CARAZAS-PINEZ referred to her sexual encounters with Minor Victim-1 and the live depictions of sexually explicit conduct she induced Minor Victim-1 to create as “gifts.”
CARAZAS-PINEZ also used her personal cellphone to send Minor Victim-1 sexually suggestive photographs of herself along with sexually explicit text messages. After sending the photographs and messages, CARAZAS-PINEZ instructed Minor Victim-1 to delete them and inquired repeatedly as to whether Minor Victim-1 had done so.
To facilitate their sexual encounters outside the premises of School-1, CARAZAS-PINEZ directed Minor Victim-1 in text messages to obtain day passes from School-1 to be permitted to leave campus. CARAZAS-PINEZ then met Minor Victim-1 at a location near School-1’s campus and drove Minor Victim-1 to another location. On multiple occasions, while parked in CARAZAS-PINEZ’s car at various locations, including in or around the Bronx, Yonkers, and Staten Island, New York, CARAZAS-PINEZ engaged in sexual intercourse and other sexual acts, and attempted to do so, with Minor Victim-1.
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In addition to the prison term, CARAZAS-PINEZ, 36, of Bethel, Connecticut, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department for their outstanding work in this matter.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi S. Steiner is in charge of the prosecution.
Honduran National Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Laundering $12 Million in International Telemarketing SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that CESAR RAFAEL COELLO DOMINGUEZ was sentenced yesterday to seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. COELLO DOMINGUEZ previously pled guilty on May 21, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who imposed yesterday’s sentence.
“Cesar Rafael Coello Dominguez helped steal millions from victims across the U.S.,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Yesterday, he learned that the women and men of our Office are committed to prosecuting those who defraud hard-working Americans.”
According to the charging documents and other public filings and statements made in public court proceedings:
COELLO DOMINGUEZ’s participated in a years-long scheme, primarily based in Costa Rica, which operated call centers that targeted and defrauded victims across the U.S. (the “Call Center Scheme”). From September 2019 to January 2023, COELLO DOMINGUEZ defrauded and laundered at least $12 million from more than 400 victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable. Members of the Call Center Scheme intentionally targeted victims across the U.S. with promises that the victims had won a nationwide sweepstakes that required the victims to pre-pay certain taxes and fees. Once the members of the Call Center Scheme realized that the victims had become aware that the promised sweepstakes prize was a scam, they would often contact the same victims again—this time masquerading as lawyers or members of U.S. law enforcement—and attempt to trick the same victims into paying even more money into the scheme. DOMINGUEZ regularly traveled to the U.S. in order to set up dozens of shell bank accounts, which he used to collect millions of dollars of stolen victim funds on behalf of the scheme and transfer those funds back to Costa Rica.
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In addition to the prison term, COELLO DOMINGUEZ, 39, of Heredia, Costa Rica, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. COELLO DOMINGUEZ was also ordered to forfeit $12 million and to make restitution to victims.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Clayton also thanked the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who assisted in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgia V. Kostopoulos is in charge of the prosecution.
Defendant Charged in Ponzi Scheme Targeting Harvard Business School ClassmatesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging VLADIMIR ARTAMONOV with securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and wire fraud. ARTAMONOV was arrested today in Elkridge, Maryland, and will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas R. Miller in the District of Maryland. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon.
“As alleged, Vladimir Artamonov betrayed investors, including friends and former Ivy League classmates, by promising a low-risk, high-return investment strategy, when in fact he gambled away investor money and paid off previous investors to continue his scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “We will continue to protect the investment markets from schemes that may wear the disguise of sophistication, but in the end are just theft.”
“Vladimir Artamonov allegedly misappropriated more than four million dollars in investments from fellow alumni through false assurances of little risk and high reward,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “The defendant allegedly exploited the prestige of a well-respected university and investment company to unlawfully procure investments, which he used to pay for personal expenses. The FBI will never tolerate those who seek to financially enrich themselves by betraying the trust and wallets of their investors.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment:[1]
From at least September 2021 through February 2024, ARTAMONOV defrauded numerous investors who participated in an investment opportunity he called “Project Information Arbitrage.” ARTAMONOV, who graduated from Harvard Business School in 2003 and subsequently worked in the financial services industry, used his professional network to solicit investments from classmates and other alumni of Harvard Business School. ARTAMONOV represented to investors that he would use their funds to execute an information arbitrage strategy focused on investments by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire”). According to ARTAMONOV, due to its reputation, when Berkshire made new investments in publicly traded companies, and those investments became widely known, those companies’ share prices increased significantly. ARTAMONOV represented to investors that he could identify Berkshire’s new investments ahead of their public disclosure in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by reviewing public insurance company filings made by Berkshire’s affiliates with state regulators. By identifying Berkshire’s new investments and purchasing securities of those companies before the rest of the market, ARTAMONOV claimed he could achieve significant returns with little associated risk. ARTAMONOV raised in excess of $4 million from investors.
In reality, ARTAMONOV defrauded investors. Instead of executing the strategy that he had pitched to investors, ARTAMONOV primarily traded in risky short-term options that, for the most part, did not overlap with Berkshire’s investments or otherwise implement the arbitrage opportunity that ARTAMONOV had presented. ARTAMONOV lost millions of dollars in investor funds, often within days of his receipt of such funds. ARTAMONOV then concealed those losses from investors while soliciting additional investments and repeatedly claiming that profitable investments were on the horizon. ARTAMONOV sent messages to one investor assuring him that it was “[a]lmost certain we will make a ton of money” soon, and that they would “brag” about their “crazy gains” at the Harvard Business School reunion.
When investors eventually demanded the return of their funds, ARTAMONOV repaid old investors with new investors’ funds, or declined to repay investors altogether. Ultimately, ARTAMONOV returned less than $400,000 to investors. Of the approximately $4 million he raised for Project Information Arbitrage, ARTAMONOV lost most of the funds or used them to pay for personal expenses, including lodging, food and alcohol, and transportation.
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ARTAMONOV, 46, of Elkridge, Maryland, is charged with one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of investment adviser fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton also thanked the New York Attorney General’s Office, which separately filed civil proceedings against ARTAMONOV, and expressed appreciation for the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Varun A. Gumaste is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
u.s._v._artamonov_indictment.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
President of Queens-Based Construction Company Sentenced for Fraud in Connection with Homeless Shelter Contracts Worth $12 MillionRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that LIAQUAT CHEEMA, the leader of a fraudulent scheme to defraud New York City (the “City”) in connection with public contracts to perform general contracting work at City homeless shelters, was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison by U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield. CHEEMA previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 5, 2024, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang.
“Liaquat Cheema stole millions of dollars in public funds intended to pay for maintenance at homeless shelters in New York City,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “This Office has no tolerance for those who use public contracts intended to aid members of our society-in-need to fraudulently enrich themselves. We will aggressively pursue anyone who abuses public trust for personal profit.”
According to the Indictment to which CHEEMA pled guilty, the Complaint, the plea agreement, and statements made in court:
CHEEMA was the President of AFL Construction Co. Inc. (“AFL”), located in Queens, New York. AFL entered into public contracts with the City worth approximately $12 million to perform general contracting work at homeless shelters located in the City, including in the Southern District of New York. Pursuant to the contracts, AFL was to perform, among other things, general maintenance, landscaping, roofing, and snow removal at shelter sites.
From at least in or about 2014 through at least in or about 2017, CHEEMA and others used the contracts to fraudulently enrich themselves and steal from the City. In furtherance of the scheme, CHEEMA and others, among other things, submitted fraudulent invoices and other documentation in support of requests for payment on the contracts, which falsely claimed that workers had performed work on certain projects and inflated amounts paid by the defendants for materials purportedly used on such projects. These fraudulent invoices and supporting documentation contained, without authorization, the identities of other persons, including the names and, in at least one case, the Social Security number, of purported workers who in fact had not worked on the projects specified in the requests for payment submitted by CHEEMA and others.
CHEEMA and others also obtained tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of Medicaid benefits by repeatedly submitting fraudulent certifications, which underreported their actual incomes and accordingly enabled them to obtain Medicaid benefits for which they were not eligible. In support of requests for Medicaid benefits, CHEEMA and others repeatedly submitted nearly identical employment letters, which, among other misrepresentations, contained the name and purported signature of a purported “Project Manager” who, in fact, was deceased. In connection with his guilty plea, CHEEMA agreed to pay back the money misappropriated from Medicaid.
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In addition to the prison term, CHEEMA, 65, of East Elmhurst, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture in the amount of $3,267,811.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the New York City Department of Investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy V. Capozzi is in charge of the prosecution.
Florida Man Convicted at Trial of Mail Fraud in Connection with Mass-Mailing ScamRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that, on September 15, 2025, ROBERT W. LEDERHILGER III was convicted of mail fraud in connection with a years-long, mass-mailing scam. The defendant was found guilty following a one-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter.
“Robert W. Lederhilger III defrauded tens of thousands of small businesses over the course of more than seven years,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Lederhilger mailed fake bills for webhosting services to businesses across the country and collected payments from victims without providing them with webhosting—or any other service. This federal criminal conviction demonstrates that New Yorkers will not tolerate fraud and want those who victimize the public through lies held accountable.”
According to the Indictment, statements made in public court proceedings and filings, and the evidence at trial:
Beginning in 2015, LEDERHILGER operated companies through which he purported to offer webhosting services. LEDERHILGER designed and executed a scheme in which he mailed, and caused others to mail, over three million mailers that looked like invoices for webhosting services. LEDERHILGER sent those mailers to, among others, small businesses that already had websites in order to make those businesses believe that LEDERHILGER was their current webhosting provider and that they needed to pay him. When victim businesses made payments to LEDERHILGER, they received no service in return. The only thing the victims received was a “renewal” bill a year later, asking for another payment. Between approximately 2015 and 2021, LEDERHILGER made at least approximately $2.99 million from this scheme.
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LEDERHILGER, 44, of Bradenton, Florida, was convicted of one count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille L. Fletcher, Getzel Berger, Kevin Grossinger, and Daniel G. Nessim are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Christopher Harris and Alexandra LeBaron.
Tren de Aragua Members Charged with May 2024 Double Murder in the Bronx and Other Racketeering OffensesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment (the “superseding indictment”) charging 10 members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and committing multiple violent crimes in aid of racketeering.
Keiber Jaen Martinez, also known as “Keybe;” Samuel Gonzalez Castro, also known as “Klei” and “Kley;” Eferson Morillo-Gomez, also known as “Jefferson” and “Efe Trebol;” Keiver Silva-Jimenez, also known as “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky”; Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica, also known as “Keiner;” and Marlon Farias, also known as “Bili,” were charged with participating in the murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless on May 24, 2024, in the vicinity of 2290 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx, New York, which also resulted in a third victim being shot and injured. Gonzalez Castro was also charged with participating in the shooting of a rival gang member on Aug. 3, 2024, in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and 90th Street in Queens, New York, which also resulted in an innocent bystander being shot and injured. Six of the 10 defendants charged in the superseding indictment were previously charged with racketeering, firearms, drug, and sex trafficking offenses on April 16. Eight of the defendants are already either in federal custody or state custody. Silva-Jimenez is currently at large. Farias was previously removed from the United States by immigration authorities. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote for the Southern District of New York.
“The Department of Justice is completely committed to destroying Tren De Aragua and bringing its members to justice for their horrific crimes against the American people,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s indictment reflects our ongoing efforts to dismantle this terrorist organization by any legal means necessary.”
“Tren de Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth,” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem. “They murder those who stand against them. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are utilizing a whole-of-government approach to arrest and deport these foreign terrorists. Today’s murder and racketeering indictment is a victory for the rule of law and the American people. Thanks to our collaboration with federal and local partners, Americans can rest easy at night knowing these dangerous terrorists are off our streets. Let me be clear: If you are in this country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you will never return. That’s a promise.”
“As alleged, these members of Tren de Aragua were illegally present in the United States and committed a series of devastating and horrific crimes, including robberies, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and the murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless outside of an apartment building in the Bronx,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “We are committed to putting cartels, gangs, and others who poison our children and pursue violence as a way of life out of business. We and our law enforcement partners know that is what New Yorkers want, and it is what they deserve.”
“As demonstrated with today’s allegations, the Tren de Aragua street gang has unleashed a reign of terror in New York, marked by brutal and unforgiving violence that defies humanity,” said Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Field Office. “With ruthless tactics and a disregard for human life, this foreign terrorist organization has become a symbol of unchecked brutality. HSI New York, together with our law enforcement partners, is waging an unyielding offensive against TdA and Anti-Tren, dismantling gang operations piece by piece and pursuing their members with relentless determination. HSI will not rest until this ruthless criminal enterprise is obliterated and the streets are reclaimed from their grip of savagery.”
“Tren de Aragua has been terrorizing New York City streets, causing widespread violence and claiming lives,” said New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “Over the past few months, the NYPD has taken significant action to root out this criminal enterprise and shut down their operations across the city, and today’s indictment reflects our relentless efforts. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners for their continued commitment to making New York City safer.”
According to the allegations contained in the superseding indictment:
TdA is a criminal organization that operated throughout New York City, including the boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, as well as internationally in Venezuela, Peru, and elsewhere. The purposes of TdA included:
- Preserving and protecting the power and territory of TdA and its members and associates through acts involving murder, assault, robbery, other acts of violence, and threats of violence, including acts of violence and threats of violence directed at former members and associates of TdA who associated with a splinter organization known as Anti-Tren.
- Enriching the members and associates of TdA through, among other things:
- The unlawful smuggling of individuals, including young women from Venezuela, into Colombia, Peru and the United States;
- The sex trafficking of young women (whom members and associates of TdA often refer to as “multadas”) who had been unlawfully smuggled into Peru and the United States;
- The trafficking of controlled substances, including a mixed substance called “tusi” that contains ketamine;
- And armed robberies.
- Keeping victims and potential victims in fear of TdA and its members and associates through threats and acts of violence.
- Promoting and enhancing TdA and the reputation and activities of its members and associates.
- Providing assistance to members and associates of TdA who committed crimes for and on behalf of TdA, such as lodging and interstate transportation for members and associates of TdA to flee prosecution.
- Protecting TdA and its members and associates from detection and prosecution by law enforcement authorities through acts of intimidation, threats, and violence against potential witnesses to crimes committed by members of TdA.
Members and associates of TdA transported young women, again often referred to by members and associates of TdA as “multadas,” from Venezuela into Peru and the United States in exchange for debts that the young women would pay back to TdA by engaging in commercial sex work. Members of TdA enforced compliance among these young women by, among other things:
- Threatening to kill the young women and their families,
- Assaulting the young women,
- Shooting or killing the young women,
- And tracking down and kidnapping the young women who tried to flee.
Members of TdA also committed and conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit, acts of violence, including acts involving murder and assault, to protect and expand TdA’s criminal operations; resolve disputes within TdA; to retaliate against rival organizations, including Anti-Tren; and to maintain control over sex trafficking victims. TdA members and associates also trafficked controlled substances, committed robberies, and obtained, possessed, trafficked, and used firearms and ammunition.
On May 24, 2024, Jaen Martinez, Gonzalez Castro, Morillo-Gomez, Silva-Jimenez, Ibarra-Mujica, and Farias agreed with others to kill Daniels and Lawless in the vicinity of 2290 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx. Jaen Martinez, Gonzalez Castro, Morillo-Gomez, Silva-Jimenez, Ibarra-Mujica, and Farias then shot and aided and abetted the shooting of Daniels, Lawless, and another victim (Victim-3), which resulted in the deaths of Daniels and Lawless, and multiple non-fatal gunshot wounds to Victim-3. Daniels was 44 years old, and Lawless was 36 years old.
On Aug. 4, 2024, Gonzalez Castro shot and injured a rival gang member from Anti-Tren (Rival-1), a splinter organization of former TdA members, in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and 89th Street in Queens. During the shooting, a bystander (Victim-4) was also shot and injured.
On Sept. 30, 2024, Valero-Calderon, Gonzalez Castro, and Morillo-Gomez committed a gunpoint carjacking and robbery of an employee of a car dealership (Victim-1) in the Bronx.
A chart containing the names, charges, and maximum penalties for the defendants is set forth below.
The maximum potential penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
The Justice Department praised the outstanding investigative work of HSI and NYPD and also thanked the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office; the Aurora Police Department in Aurora, Colorado; Joint Task Force Vulcan; the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS); U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Gang Unit and New York Human Intelligence Division; ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations New York; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the New York City Crime Analysis Center at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
This case is a part of Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target Tren de Aragua, and is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including the Southern District of New York; the Eastern District of New York; the District of New Jersey; the Northern District of Ohio; the District of Utah; the District of Massachusetts; the Eastern District of Texas; the Southern District of Florida; the Eastern District of Virginia; the Southern District of California; the District of Nevada; the District of Alaska; the Southern District of Texas; and the District of Columbia, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; HSI; the ATF; USMS; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have been essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
This case is being handled by attorneys from JTFV and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jun Xiang, Kathryn Wheelock, Timothy Ly, and Andrew K. Chan for the Southern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
COUNT
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAX. PENALTIES
1
Racketeering
conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,”
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Brayan Oliveros-Chero,
Sandro Oliveros-Chero, and
Armando Jose Perez Gonzalez aka “Biblia”
Life in prison2
Drug trafficking conspiracy
21 U.S.C. § 846
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Brayan Oliveros-Chero,
Sandro Oliveros-Chero, and
Armando Jose Perez Gonzalez aka “Biblia”
20 years in prison3
Carjacking conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 371
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Five years in prison4
Carjacking
18 U.S.C. § 2119
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,” and
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
15 years in prison5
Hobbs Act robbery
18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,” and
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
20 years in prison6
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – September 30, 2024
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (ii), and 2
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,” and
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of seven years in prison
7
Attempted Hobbs Act extortion
18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,” and
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
20 years in prison8
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 924(o)
Jarwin Valero-Calderon aka “La Fama,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,” and
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
20 years in prison9
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 924(o)
Brayan Oliveros-Chero, and
Sandro Oliveros-Chero
20 years in prison10
Firearm use, carrying, and possession
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and 2
Brayan Oliveros-Chero20 years in prison11
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
Brayan Oliveros-Chero15 years in prison12
Possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
Sandro Oliveros-Chero15 years in prison13
Firearm use, carrying, and possession
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and 2
Armando Jose Perez Gonzalez aka “Biblia”Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison
14
Possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
Armando Jose Perez Gonzalez aka “Biblia”15 years in prison15
Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering – Claretha LaQuesha Daniels
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison or death
Mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison
16
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Claretha LaQuesha Daniels
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison
17
Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering – Justin Lawless
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison or death
Mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison
18
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Justin Lawless
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison
19
Attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury in aid of racketeering – Victim-3
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
20 years in prison20
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Victim-3
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison
21
Conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeeringKeiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison
22
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
Keiber Jaen Martinez aka “Keybe,”
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”
Eferson Morillo-Gomez aka “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,”
Keiver Silva-Jimenez aka “Josue Reuben Silva,” and “Chuky,”
Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica aka “Keiner,” and
Marlon Farias aka “Bili”
15 years in prison23
Attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury in aid of racketeering – August 3, 2024, ShootingSamuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”20 years in prison24
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – August 3, 2024, Shooting
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”Life in prison
Mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison
25
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
Samuel Gonzalez Castro aka “Klei,” and “Kley,”15 years in prisonNote: A copy of the superseding indictment can be found here.
Tren De Aragua Members Charged with May 2024 Double Murder in the Bronx and Other Racketeering OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton; Attorney General of the United States, Pamela Bondi; Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), Kristi Noem; Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel; and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today a Superseding Indictment (the “Superseding Indictment”) charging 10 members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (“TdA”) with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and committing multiple violent crimes in aid of racketeering. KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Keybe”; SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO, a/k/a “Klei,” a/k/a “Kley”; EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ, a/k/a “Jefferson,” a/k/a “Efe Trebol”; KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ, a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,” a/k/a “Chuky”; KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA, a/k/a “Keiner”; and MARLON FARIAS, a/k/a “Bili,” were charged with participating in the murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless on May 24, 2024, in the vicinity of 2290 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx, New York, which also resulted in a third victim being shot and injured. GONZALEZ CASTRO was also charged with participating in the shooting of a rival gang member on August 3, 2024, in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and 90th Street in Queens, New York, which also resulted in an innocent bystander being shot and injured. Six of the 10 defendants charged in the Superseding Indictment were previously charged with racketeering, firearms, drug, and sex trafficking offenses on April 16, 2025. Eight of the defendants are already either in federal custody or state custody. SILVA-JIMENEZ is currently at large. FARIAS was previously removed from the U.S. by immigration authorities. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote.
“As alleged, these members of Tren de Aragua were illegally present in the United States and committed a series of devastating and horrific crimes, including robberies, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and the murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless outside of an apartment building in the Bronx,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “We are committed to putting cartels, gangs, and others who poison our children and pursue violence as a way of life out of business. We and our law enforcement partners know that is what New Yorkers want, and it is what they deserve.”
“The Department of Justice is completely committed to destroying Tren De Aragua and bringing its members to justice for their horrific crimes against the American people,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s indictment reflects our ongoing efforts to dismantle this terrorist organization by any legal means necessary.”
“Tren de Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “They murder those who stand against them. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are utilizing a whole-of-government approach to arrest and deport these foreign terrorists. Today’s murder and racketeering indictment is a victory for the rule of law and the American people. Thanks to our collaboration with federal and local partners, Americans can rest easy at night knowing these dangerous terrorists are off our streets. Let me be clear: If you are in this country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you will never return. That’s a promise.”
“As demonstrated with today’s allegations, the Tren de Aragua street gang has unleashed a reign of terror in New York, marked by brutal and unforgiving violence that defies humanity,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “With ruthless tactics and a disregard for human life, this foreign terrorist organization has become a symbol of unchecked brutality. HSI New York, together with our law enforcement partners, is waging an unyielding offensive against TdA and Anti-Tren, dismantling gang operations piece by piece and pursuing their members with relentless determination. HSI will not rest until this ruthless criminal enterprise is obliterated and the streets are reclaimed from their grip of savagery.”
“Tren de Aragua has been terrorizing New York City streets, causing widespread violence and claiming lives,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “Over the past few months, the NYPD has taken significant action to root out this criminal enterprise and shut down their operations across the city, and today’s indictment reflects our relentless efforts. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners for their continued commitment to making New York City safer.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment:[1]
TdA is a criminal organization that operated throughout New York City, including the boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, as well as internationally in Venezuela, Peru, and elsewhere. The purposes of TdA included:
- Preserving and protecting the power and territory of TdA and its members and associates through acts involving murder, assault, robbery, other acts of violence, and threats of violence, including acts of violence and threats of violence directed at former members and associates of TdA who associated with a splinter organization known as Anti-Tren.
- Enriching the members and associates of TdA through, among other things:
- The unlawful smuggling of individuals, including young women from Venezuela, into Colombia, Peru and the U.S.;
- The sex trafficking of young women (whom members and associates of TdA often refer to as “multadas”) who had been unlawfully smuggled into Peru and the U.S.;
- The trafficking of controlled substances, including a mixed substance called “tusi” that contains ketamine;
- And armed robberies.
- Keeping victims and potential victims in fear of TdA and its members and associates through threats and acts of violence.
- Promoting and enhancing TdA and the reputation and activities of its members and associates.
- Providing assistance to members and associates of TdA who committed crimes for and on behalf of TdA, such as lodging and interstate transportation for members and associates of TdA to flee prosecution.
- Protecting TdA and its members and associates from detection and prosecution by law enforcement authorities through acts of intimidation, threats, and violence against potential witnesses to crimes committed by members of TdA.
Members and associates of TdA transported young women, again often referred to by members and associates of TdA as “multadas,” from Venezuela into Peru and the U.S. in exchange for debts that the young women would pay back to TdA by engaging in commercial sex work. Members of TdA enforced compliance among these young women by, among other things:
- Threatening to kill the young women and their families,
- Assaulting the young women,
- Shooting or killing the young women,
- And tracking down and kidnapping the young women who tried to flee.
Members of TdA also committed and conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit, acts of violence, including acts involving murder and assault, to protect and expand TdA’s criminal operations; resolve disputes within TdA; to retaliate against rival organizations, including Anti-Tren; and to maintain control over sex trafficking victims. TdA members and associates also trafficked controlled substances, committed robberies, and obtained, possessed, trafficked, and used firearms and ammunition.
On May 24, 2024, JAEN MARTINEZ, GONZALEZ CASTRO, MORILLO-GOMEZ, SILVA-JIMENEZ, IBARRA-MUJICA, and FARIAS agreed with others to kill Daniels and Lawless in the vicinity of 2290 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx. JAEN MARTINEZ, GONZALEZ CASTRO, MORILLO-GOMEZ, SILVA-JIMENEZ, IBARRA-MUJICA, and FARIAS then shot and aided and abetted the shooting of Daniels, Lawless, and another victim (“Victim-3”), which resulted in the deaths of Daniels and Lawless, and multiple non-fatal gunshot wounds to Victim-3. Daniels was 44 years old, and Lawless was 36 years old.
On August 4, 2024, GONZALEZ CASTRO shot and injured a rival gang member from Anti-Tren (“Rival-1”), a splinter organization of former TdA members, in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and 89th Street in Queens. During the shooting, a bystander (“Victim-4”) was also shot and injured.
On September 30, 2024, VALERO-CALDERON, GONZALEZ CASTRO, and MORILLO-GOMEZ committed a gunpoint carjacking and robbery of an employee of a car dealership (“Victim-1”) in the Bronx.
* * *
A chart containing the names, charges, and maximum penalties for the defendants is set forth below.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of HSI and NYPD. He also thanked the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office; the Aurora Police Department in Aurora, Colorado; Joint Task Force Vulcan; the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”); the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Gang Unit and New York Human Intelligence Division; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York Enforcement and Removal Operations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”); the New York City Crime Analysis Center at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
This case is a part of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), which was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target Tren de Aragua, and is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including the Southern District of New York; the Eastern District of New York; the District of New Jersey; the Northern District of Ohio; the District of Utah; the District of Massachusetts; the Eastern District of Texas; the Southern District of Florida; the Eastern District of Virginia; the Southern District of California; the District of Nevada; the District of Alaska; the Southern District of Texas; and the District of Columbia, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI; DEA; HSI; the ATF; USMS; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have been essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit and JTFV. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jun Xiang, Kathryn Wheelock, Timothy Ly, and Andrew K. Chan are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
COUNT
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAX. PENALTIES
1
Racketeering
conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,” 29
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” 29
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,” 20
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ, a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,” a/k/a “Chuky,” 23
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA, a/k/a “Keiner,” 28, MARLON FARIAS, a/k/a “Bili,” 31
BRAYAN OLIVEROS-CHERO, 29
SANDRO OLIVEROS-CHERO, 26, and
ARMANDO JOSE PEREZ GONZALEZ,
a/k/a “Biblia,” 30
Life in prison2
Drug trafficking conspiracy
21 U.S.C. § 846
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
BRAYAN OLIVEROS-CHERO,
SANDRO OLIVEROS-CHERO, and
ARMANDO JOSE PEREZ GONZALEZ,
a/k/a “Biblia”
20 years in prison3
Carjacking conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 371
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
Five years in prison4
Carjacking
18 U.S.C. § 2119
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
15 years in prison5
Hobbs Act robbery
18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
20 years in prison6
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – September 30, 2024
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (ii), and 2
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison
7
Attempted Hobbs Act extortion
18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
20 years in prison8
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 924(o)
JARWIN VALERO-CALDERON,
a/k/a “La Fama,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,” and
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol”
20 years in prison9
Firearm use, carrying, and possession – conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 924(o)
BRAYAN OLIVEROS-CHERO, and
SANDRO OLIVEROS-CHERO
20 years in prison10
Firearm use, carrying, and possession
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and 2
BRAYAN OLIVEROS-CHERO, and
SANDRO OLIVEROS-CHERO
20 years in prison11
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
BRAYAN OLIVEROS-CHERO15 years in prison12
Possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
SANDRO OLIVEROS-CHERO15 years in prison13
Firearm use, carrying, and possession
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and 2
ARMANDO JOSE PEREZ GONZALEZ,
a/k/a “Biblia,”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison
14
Possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
ARMANDO JOSE PEREZ GONZALEZ,
a/k/a “Biblia,”
15 years in prison15
Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering – Claretha LaQuesha Daniels
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,” 33
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili,”
Life in prison or death
Mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison
16
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Claretha LaQuesha Daniels
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
17
Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering – Justin Lawless
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
Life in prison or death
Mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison
18
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Justin Lawless
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
19
Attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury in aid of racketeering – Victim-3
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (a)(3), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
20 years in prison20
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – Victim-3
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
21
Conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeeringKEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
22
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
KEIBER JAEN MARTINEZ,
a/k/a “Keybe,”
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley,”
EFERSON MORILLO-GOMEZ,
a/k/a “Jefferson,”
a/k/a “Efe Trebol,”
KEIVER SILVA-JIMENEZ,
a/k/a “Josue Reuben Silva,”
a/k/a “Chuky,”
KEINEYER IBARRA-MUJICA,
a/k/a “Keiner,” and
MARLON FARIAS,
a/k/a “Bili”
15 years in prison23
Attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury in aid of racketeering – August 3, 2024, ShootingSAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley”
20 years in prison24
Firearms use, carrying, and possession – August 3, 2024, Shooting
18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), and 2
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley”
Life in prison
Mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
25
Possession of ammunition by an illegal alien
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5) and 2
SAMUEL GONZALEZ CASTRO,
a/k/a “Klei,”
a/k/a “Kley”
15 years in prison
u.s._v._jaen_martinez_et_al._superseding_indictment.pdf
[1] The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Queens Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in A Conspiracy to Act as an Illegal Agent of the Chinese Government in the United StatesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today that YUANJUN TANG, a naturalized citizen of the United States and resident of Flushing, Queens, pled guilty to conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. TANG will be sentenced on January 29, 2026.
“For years, Yuanjun Tang abused the trust he had gained among pro-democracy activists in New York City and around the United States by secretly accepting tasks from Chinese intelligence officers and reporting on persons of interest to the PRC and events conducted in support of democracy,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Tang’s covert operations violated our nation’s sovereignty and threatened the security of New Yorkers exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and free association. Tang’s plea today illustrates our profound commitment to protecting American ideals from malign foreign influence.”
“Today, Yuanjun Tang admitted that, for years, he willingly acted on orders of the Chinese government to report on the constitutionally protected activities of US-based Chinese dissidents,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “Tang's betrayal of the ideals of the US to help the Chinese government repress pro-democracy activists goes against the very values he claimed to promote. The FBI will continue to defend the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution and bring to justice anyone willing to break the law by illegally acting on behalf of a hostile foreign nation.”
As alleged in public court filings, statements at public court proceedings, and the charging documents in the case:
TANG is a former PRC citizen who was imprisoned in the PRC for his activities as a dissident opposing the one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”), the PRC’s sole ruling party, including during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. In 2002, TANG defected to Taiwan, and he was subsequently granted political asylum in the U.S. He has since resided continuously in New York City, where he has regularly participated in events with fellow PRC dissidents and leads a nonprofit dedicated to promoting democracy in China.
Between at least 2018 and June 2023, TANG acted in the U.S. as an agent of the PRC by gathering information and completing tasks at the direction of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (“MSS”), which is the PRC’s principal civilian intelligence agency. The MSS is responsible for, among other things, the PRC’s foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, espionage, and political security functions.
Specifically, TANG regularly received instructions from and reported to an MSS intelligence officer regarding individuals and groups viewed by the PRC as potentially adverse to the PRC’s interests, including prominent U.S.-based Chinese democracy activists and dissidents. This included providing the MSS information about specific individuals identified by the MSS as persons of interest, as well as naming, photographing, and recording individuals participating in pro-democracy activities in the U.S. TANG provided the MSS a range of additional information, such as contact information belonging to immigration lawyers based in New York City and details about the process for gaining political asylum in the U.S.
TANG accepted monetary payments for his work and traveled at least three times to Macau and mainland China for face-to-face meetings with MSS intelligence officers, during which he submitted to polygraphs and questioning. During one of these meetings, he allowed the MSS to install an application on one of his cellphones to facilitate the instantaneous transmission of photographs and other information from his phone to the MSS and accepted a laptop for use in communicating with the MSS.
TANG used a large number of electronic devices and online services to collect or transmit information on behalf of the MSS. Law enforcement agents recovered specific instructions TANG received from the MSS, including via encrypted methods, as well as photographs, videos, and documents that TANG collected or created for transmission to the MSS. TANG not only provided the MSS information about specific individuals and events but also helped the MSS infiltrate a group chat on an encrypted messaging application used by numerous U.S.-based PRC dissidents and pro-democracy activists to communicate about pro-democracy issues and express criticism of the PRC government.
* * *
TANG, 68, of Flushing, Queens, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office, Counterintelligence Division, and thanked the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, for its assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Act as Illegal Agent of the Chinese Government in the United StatesRead the Press Release
Yuanjun Tang, 68, a naturalized citizen of the United States and resident of Flushing, Queens, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
According to court documents, Tang is a former PRC citizen who was imprisoned in the PRC for his activities as a dissident opposing the one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the PRC’s sole ruling party, including during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. In 2002, Tang defected to Taiwan, and he was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States. He has since resided continuously in New York City, where he has regularly participated in events with fellow PRC dissidents and leads a nonprofit dedicated to promoting democracy in China.
Between at least 2018 and June 2023, Tang acted in the United States as an agent of the PRC by gathering information and completing tasks at the direction of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is the PRC’s principal civilian intelligence agency. The MSS is responsible for, among other things, the PRC’s foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, espionage, and political security functions.
Specifically, Tang regularly received instructions from and reported to an MSS intelligence officer regarding individuals and groups viewed by the PRC as potentially adverse to the PRC’s interests, including prominent U.S.-based Chinese democracy activists and dissidents. This included providing the MSS information about specific individuals identified by the MSS as persons of interest, as well as naming, photographing, and recording individuals participating in pro-democracy activities in the U.S. Tang provided the MSS a range of additional information, such as contact information belonging to immigration lawyers based in New York City and details about the process for gaining political asylum in the United States.
Tang accepted monetary payments for his work and traveled at least three times to Macau and mainland China for face-to-face meetings with MSS intelligence officers, during which he submitted to polygraphs and questioning. During one of these meetings, he allowed the MSS to install an application on one of his cellphones to facilitate the instantaneous transmission of photographs and other information from his phone to the MSS and accepted a laptop for use in communicating with the MSS.
Tang used a large number of electronic devices and online services to collect or transmit information on behalf of the MSS. Law enforcement agents recovered specific instructions Tang received from the MSS, including via encrypted methods, as well as photographs, videos, and documents that Tang collected or created for transmission to the MSS. Tang not only provided the MSS information about specific individuals and events but also helped the MSS infiltrate a group chat on an encrypted messaging application used by numerous U.S.-based PRC dissidents and pro-democracy activists to communicate about pro-democracy issues and express criticism of the PRC government.
Tang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI New York Field Office is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
Six Defendants Charged with Operating A Fentanyl Mill That Manufactured and Sold Millions-Worth of FentanylRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton; Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Frank A. Tarentino; and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging JESUS JAVIER BRITO RIVERA, JOSE ALEXIS DE LA CRUZ MORA, JOSE ANTONIO DE LA CRUZ MORA, DANY RIVERA SANCHEZ, JOAN ALBERTO TORIBIO TAVAREZ, and FREDDYS RIVERA QUEZADA with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute narcotics. The defendants were arrested Tuesday, September 9, 2025, inside a Bronx apartment while in the middle of processing more than eight kilograms of apparent fentanyl powder, producing thousands of individual packages of the drug for distribution. Records recovered from within the mill indicate that the defendants conspired over at least a year to sell millions of dollars’ worth of fentanyl. All six defendants were present in the U.S. without legal status, and one was previously removed from the U.S. after entering the country illegally and later being convicted of another drug distribution offense. All six defendants were presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo and ordered detained pending trial.
“As alleged, these defendants were caught in the act of packaging and preparing to distribute enough fentanyl to potentially amount to four million deadly doses,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “At the time our law enforcement partners raided this fentanyl mill, fentanyl glassines were drying in the kitchen oven, and the defendants were gathered around individual workstations. New Yorkers want these mills destroyed and their operators off the streets. We and our law enforcement partners are committed to that mission.”
“Once again, the DEA and our law enforcement partners successfully shut down a fentanyl mill, resulting in the arrests of six illegal, alleged criminal drug traffickers, and the removal of approximately eight kilograms of fentanyl powder from an apartment building in the Bronx,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino. “As we have seen time and again, the Bronx is often exploited by drug trafficking organizations as a hub to transport and distribute their illicit and dangerous narcotics throughout the Northeast corridor of the United States. This operation eliminated their distribution network and their ability to flood our streets with poison. The DEA remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting our communities and safeguarding our nation.”
“These defendants allegedly turned a Bronx apartment into a full-scale drug den, pumping out thousands of packages of illicit fentanyl for profit,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “We know how dangerous even a trace amount of fentanyl is, but this staggering amount would have put countless New Yorkers in great danger. The NYPD will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle dangerous operations like this. I am grateful to the NYPD investigators, the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their relentless work to shut this network down and ensure these criminals are brought to justice.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:[[1]]
Inside the Bronx apartment searched by law enforcement, officers observed a table that appeared to be set up with four working stations to mix and package apparent fentanyl powder, each lit with a reading lamp and covered in apparent fentanyl dust; a large pile of individually stamped glassines filled with powder, but which had not yet been sealed; another table piled with thousands of wrapped and stamped glassines; two plastic bags filled with white powder; two boxes filled with 17 grinders, themselves filled with powder; numerous scales, boxes of packaging materials, colanders, markers, rubber bands, and MetroCards, all of which appear to have been used to separate, measure, process, and package the powder; and a shopping bag containing hundreds of fully bundled and stamped glassines. Officers also found glassines and stamps drying inside the kitchen oven and identified a drawer full of stamps used to mark variations of fentanyl being prepared for distribution. Below are images taken during the search of the mill:
* * *
RIVERA, 23; ALEXIS DE LA CRUZ MORA, 23; ANTONIO DE LA CRUZ MORA, 22; SANCHEZ, 34; TAVAREZ, 45; and QUEZADA, 44, all citizens of the Dominican Republic, are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and one count of distribution of narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA, the NYPD, the New York State Police, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Narcotics. Mr. Clayton also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan T. Nees is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
u.s._v._rivera_et_al._complaint.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Quant at Investment Management Firm Charged with Securities and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today an Indictment charging JIAN WU with engaging in a scheme to defraud his employer, a New York-based investment management firm (the “Firm”), by secretly manipulating computer-based algorithmic investment models that were used to execute securities trading strategies at the Firm. WU is currently a fugitive, and the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
“As alleged, Jian Wu deceived his employer, a quantitative trading firm, into paying him millions of dollars of unearned compensation,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Wu’s employer trusted him to act with integrity when creating models for the firm’s use. Instead, Wu used his technical abilities to cheat his employer out of millions. This Office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate, detect, and prosecute fraud in the securities markets wherever we find it.”
“Jian Wu allegedly abused his position to manipulate data models, which resulted in an undeserved multimillion-dollar award for his unlawful actions,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “In doing so, Wu betrayed the trust of his employer who relied on his expertise. The FBI continues its steadfast promise to hold accountable those who seek to exploit their positions to generate illicit compensation.”
As alleged in the Indictment:[1]
WU was employed as a modeler at the Firm, a quantitative investment management firm in Manhattan. In his role, WU designed models for the Firm’s investment vehicles and related funds, using data to build price forecasting models that generated forecasts on stocks and other financial instruments.
Between 2021 and 2023, WU deceived the Firm by manipulating trading models he created in order to increase his own compensation. Specifically, WU designed models, which were approved and released for use, and then covertly made post-release changes to the models’ parameters, which significantly altered the models’ behavior. WU also secretly tested his models on data sets that misrepresented how the models would perform once approved and released. As a result of these changes and misrepresentations, the Firm rewarded WU with an inflated year-end compensation of approximately $23 million. WU then used a portion of his compensation to purchase a multimillion-dollar apartment in Manhattan. When the Firm uncovered WU’s scheme, WU made additional unauthorized changes to the models’ parameters in an attempt to conceal his prior tampering. The Firm fired WU in 2024.
* * *
WU, 34, of China, is charged with one count each of wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which separately initiated civil proceedings against the defendant today.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Li and Alexandra Rothman are in charge of the prosecution.
U.S. v. Wu Indictment.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the descriptions of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Nadine Menendez Sentenced to 54 Months in Prison for Bribery, Foreign Agent, and Obstruction OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that NADINE MENENDEZ was sentenced to 54 months in prison for bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses. NADINE MENENDEZ was sentenced for her critical role in a corruption and foreign influence scheme involving her husband, convicted former Senator Robert Menendez, and others. NADINE MENENDEZ was convicted on April 21, 2025, following a five-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein, who imposed today’s sentence.
“The defendant and her partner in crime, former Senator Robert Menendez, engaged in the most brazen form of public corruption—gold bars, cash, and a luxury car in exchange for a Senator’s power,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s sentence sends an important message: our elected officials are not for sale.”
According to the Superseding Indictment, the evidence at trial, and public filings:
Robert Menendez, at all relevant times, was the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey and held a leadership position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the “SFRC”), first as the Ranking Member and then the Chairman. Shortly after Robert Menendez began dating his now-wife NADINE MENENDEZ, then known as Nadine Arslanian, in early 2018, NADINE MENENDEZ introduced Robert Menendez to her long-time friend Wael Hana, a New Jersey businessman who was originally from Egypt and maintained close connections with Egyptian officials. Hana was also a business associate of Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer and long-time donor to Robert Menendez, and Jose Uribe, who worked in the New Jersey insurance and trucking business.
Between 2018 and 2022, when they learned of the federal investigation, Robert Menendez and NADINE MENENDEZ agreed to and did accept hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes from Hana, Daibes, and Uribe. These bribes included gold, cash, a luxury convertible, payments toward NADINE MENENDEZ’s home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job for NADINE MENENDEZ, home furnishings, and other things of value. In June 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) executed a court-authorized search warrant at the New Jersey home of Robert Menendez and NADINE MENENDEZ. During that search, the FBI found many of the fruits of this bribery scheme. Over $480,000 in cash—much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe—was discovered in the home. Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints of Robert Menendez or Daibes. Law enforcement agents also found home furnishings provided by Hana and Daibes, the luxury vehicle paid for by Uribe parked in the garage, and over $100,000 worth of gold bars in the home, which were provided by either Hana or Daibes.
In exchange for these and other things of value, NADINE MENENDEZ and Robert Menendez agreed and promised that Robert Menendez would use his power and influence as a Senator to seek to protect Hana’s, Uribe’s, and Daibes’s interests and to benefit a foreign country. Through this corrupt relationship, NADINE MENENDEZ and Robert Menendez promised and agreed that Robert Menendez would take a series of official acts. First, Robert Menendez took actions to benefit the Government of Egypt and Hana, including by seeking to pressure an official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an attempt to protect a business monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt, and by secretly representing the interests of Egypt by, among other things, ghostwriting a letter for Egypt to be provided to his own Senate colleagues and providing non-public information and assistance to Egypt. Second, Robert Menendez took actions seeking to disrupt a criminal investigation undertaken by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General related to Uribe and his associates. Third, Robert Menendez recommended that then-President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., nominate a U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey whom Robert Menendez believed he could influence to disrupt a federal criminal prosecution undertaken by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey of Daibes. Finally, NADINE MENENDEZ conspired and endeavored to obstruct justice in connection with the federal investigation into this scheme.
* * *
In addition to her prison term, NADINE MENENDEZ, 58, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture of $922,188.10.[1]
Robert Menendez, Hana, and Daibes were convicted on July 16, 2024, following a nine-week jury trial. Robert Menendez, Hana, and Daibes were sentenced principally to 11 years, more than eight years, and seven years in prison, respectively, for bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses.
Uribe previously pleaded guilty pursuant to a cooperation agreement to conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, and wire fraud. Sentencing for Uribe is scheduled for October 9, 2025.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also thanked the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation for its invaluable assistance on the investigation and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section for its support of the case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eli J. Mark, Paul M. Monteleoni, Lara Pomerantz, Daniel C. Richenthal, and Catherine Ghosh, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Clark, are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Shirel Garzon and former Paralegal Specialist Arjun Ahuja.
[1] The Court ruled that NADINE MENENDEZ’s conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent charge was subsumed by the bribery conspiracy count and did not impose a separate sentence for it.
U.S. Attorney and HSI Announce Repatriation of 16th-Century Hebrew Religious Text to Jewish Theological SeminaryRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, announced today the repatriation of a valuable cultural artifact, the Chamisa Humshe Torrah (Five Books of Moses), Venice, Giovanni di Gara, 1588, and Haftarot, 1589, Miniature, 162+60 Leaves (the “Di Gara Text”) to the Jewish Theological Seminary of the University of Jewish Studies in Budapest, Hungary (the “Jewish Theological Seminary”) at a ceremony at the Hungarian Consulate in New York City. The ceremony was attended by, among others, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton; Hungarian Ambassador to the United States Szabolcs Takács; Hungarian Consul General Istvan Pasztor; Rector of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Professor Gábor Balázs; and HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.
“The repatriation of the nearly 450-year-old Di Gara Text to the Jewish Theological Seminary marks the end of the text’s 80-year displacement from its rightful home,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “The Di Gara Text was looted from the seminary’s holdings during the occupation of Budapest by Nazi forces in 1944 and was found in the Southern District of New York in 2023. Our offices are honored to have had a role in returning this precious text to where it belongs.”
According to the stipulated facts in the voluntary forfeiture order, statements made in court filings, and relevant online publications:
Giovanni di Gara was a Venetian printer of Hebrew books in the 16th century. The Di Gara Text is comprised of two works from the Jewish faith: the Chamisa Humshe Torrah (Five Books of Moses), or the Jewish Torah in book form, and the Haftarot, a series of selections from the Hebrew Bible. An image of the leather-bound Di Gara text is included below.
Lelio Della Torre was an Italian Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived from approximately 1805 to 1871. At some point during his life, the Di Gara Text came into Della Torre’s personal collection (the “Della Torre Collection” or the “Collection”). Works in the Della Torre Collection were stamped to indicate that they belonged to the Collection.
In or about 1877, after Della Torre’s death, the Collection was sold to the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 1944, in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust, Nazi forces invaded Budapest and seized and occupied the Jewish Theological Seminary, looting its holdings. The Di Gara Text is believed to have disappeared during this period.
In March 2023, Hungarian officials notified the Department of Homeland Security that a volume that appeared to be the Di Gara Text was for sale for $19,000 on www.abebooks.com. AbeBooks is an online marketplace used by independent vendors to sell, among other things, rare books. An image of a stamp in the volume was consistent with the stamp used by Della Torre to mark items in his Collection.
In April 2023, Special Agents with HSI seized the Di Gara Text, and, on October 4, 2024, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued an order confirming the forfeiture of the Di Gara Text for the purposes of having this piece of cultural property returned to its rightful historical owner in Hungary.
* * *
Mr. Clayton and Mr. Patel praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from HSI’s Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Squad. Mr. Clayton and Mr. Patel also thanked the Government of Hungary and the Hungarian Inspectorate of Cultural Goods for notifying the U.S. Government of the Di Gara Text’s presence in the Southern District of New York, providing helpful information to effectuate its seizure and forfeiture, and hosting today’s repatriation ceremony.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Gianforti is in charge of this matter.
Sports Park Executives Sentenced to Prison for Municipal Bond FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that RANDY MILLER and CHAD MILLER, former executives of the Legacy Park sports complex in Mesa, Arizona, were sentenced yesterday to six and five years in prison, respectively, for securities fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with their scheme to defraud municipal bond investors. Both defendants previously pled guilty and were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
“The significant sentences imposed for this municipal bond fraud, along with the parallel civil fraud action by the SEC, reflect the commitment of our Office, the FBI, and the SEC to hold accountable those who exploit the trust of investors,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Randy and Chad Miller orchestrated a sophisticated scheme that cost bondholders nearly $300 million. Their scheme undermined confidence in the $4 trillion+ municipal bond market that communities across America depend on to finance essential projects. We will continue to fight for the integrity and efficiency of the municipal bond market.”
* * *
In addition to their prison terms, RANDY MILLER, 70, and CHAD MILLER, 41, were sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay money judgments in the amounts of $7,289,134.89 and $4,798,980.19.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI and thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which resolved a parallel civil action.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Courtney L. Heavey and Matthew R. Shahabian are in charge of the prosecution.
Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Enticement of A MinorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that CURTIS ELLINGTON was sentenced to 25 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern for his enticement of a 15-year-old minor to engage in sexual activity and for committing this offense while being required to register as a sex offender.
“Children deserve protection from those who would exploit them,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “There is zero tolerance for this heinous conduct. Our Office will pursue every lead, use every tool, and bring every resource to bear to ensure that predators like Curtis Ellington are removed from our communities. If you suspect sexual exploitation, please reach out to our law enforcement partners.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:
ELLINGTON was convicted on or about January 12, 2007, in Orange County Court of Rape in the 1st Degree: Intercourse with A Person Less Than 11 Years Old and sentenced to seven years in prison. As a result of this conviction, ELLINGTON was required to register as a sex offender.
On or about April 7, 2023, ELLINGTON, who had traveled to Orange County, New York, from Kansas, slept at the home of a 15-year-old minor (“Victim-1”). While there, ELLINGTON engaged in sexual activity with Victim-1. Prior to engaging in sexual activity with Victim-1, ELLINGTON engaged in numerous communications with Victim-1 via Instagram in which ELLINGTON discussed his desire to engage in sexual activity with Victim-1.
Individuals with information concerning the sexual exploitation of children are urged to call 1-800-Call-FBI.
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In addition to the prison term, ELLINGTON, 36, of Junction City, Kansas, was sentenced to 15 years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Middletown Police Department, the Geary County Sheriff’s Office in Junction City, Kansas, the New York State Police, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas in connection with this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia S. Cohen is in charge of the prosecution.
Naasón Joaquín García Charged with Racketeering Conspiracy, Sex Trafficking, and Child Exploitation of Members of La Luz Del Mundo ChurchRead the Press Release
Communicado de prensa en espanol.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton; Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel; and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Harry T. Chavis, Jr., announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging NAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA (“NAASÓN”), ROSA SOSA, AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA, EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, JORAM NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN, and SILEM GARCÍA PEÑA with sexual, financial, and related criminal conduct victimizing members of the La Luz del Mundo (“LLDM”) Church over many years. As alleged in the Indictment, the defendants engaged in a racketeering enterprise (the “Joaquín LLDM Enterprise”) that exploited the LLDM Church and persisted for decades to facilitate the systemic sexual abuse of children and women—including the creation of photos and videos of sadistic child sexual abuse. For decades, the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise operated for the sexual gratification of NAASÓN and his father, the former leader of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise, Samuel Joaquín Flores (“Samuel”), who died in 2014.
NAASÓN was taken into federal custody earlier today in Chino, California where he is serving a state sentence for the sexual abuse of minors. GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN was arrested in Los Angeles this morning and is expected to be presented later today in the Central District of California. NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN was arrested outside of Chicago this morning and is expected to be presented later today in the Northern District of Illinois. SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA, and GARCÍA PEÑA are at large and believed to be in Mexico. The U.S. government will seek their arrest and extradition to face these charges in the U.S. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska.
“As alleged in the Indictment, for decades, Naasón Joaquín García and the other members of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise used their position in and the resources of the La Luz Del Mundo Church to sexually abuse girls, boys, and women,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “They exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them. When they were confronted, they leveraged their religious influence and financial power to intimidate and coerce victims into remaining silent about the abuse they had suffered. The Indictment includes charges against those who systemically aided Naasón’s alleged sexual exploitation of teenagers and young women, including creating photos and videos of abuse and other unspeakable criminal conduct. We commend the victims who have come forward for their extraordinary courage and desire to bring an end to decades of abuse. This Office will hold Naasón and others who aided this alleged abuse fully accountable.”
“A yearslong investigation that spanned the country and involved the support of dozens of courageous victims culminated with today’s charges stemming from decades of alleged exploitation and outright abuse of young woman and children,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “The defendants are accused of targeting individuals who gave LLDM Church their unquestioning trust and devotion and who in turn endured unimaginable crimes. Make no mistake, the defendants’ alleged cycle of victimization ends today. I thank the brave survivors who provided law enforcement with vital information related to these allegations, and I encourage others with helpful information to do the same.”
“Behind the legitimacy of a church and their many believing congregants, Naasón and his co-conspirators built an alleged criminal empire on the sexual abuse of women and children,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr. “This illicit enterprise hid in the shadows of La Luz del Mundo church while engaging in sex trafficking, child pornography, forced labor, and unlawful financial dealings. Each person involved is complicit in promoting then hiding these insidious acts, but it is this investigation that will bring all the years of mistreatment and sexual abuses to light. IRS-CI and HSI special agents partnered on this case and worked closely with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to bring Naasón and his co-conspirators’ alleged crimes out of the dark for all the world to see.”
As alleged in the Indictment and documents made public in court:[1]
For decades, in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere around the world, NAASÓN, SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA, GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN, and GARCÍA PEÑA abused the power, doctrine, and structure of the LLDM Church to threaten, coerce, and sexually abuse girls, boys, and women in the LLDM Church; to engage in financial crimes; and to obstruct criminal investigations into their misdeeds. These defendants and their co-conspirators were part of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise that carried out this scheme over the course of decades, abusing generations of Church members and then destroying evidence to evade detection by law enforcement. The defendants and their co-conspirators used the LLDM Church as a vehicle to commit sex trafficking of women and children; to induce victims, including minors, to travel to engage in forced and unlawful sex acts; to produce, receive, distribute, and possess child pornography; to employ forced labor of Church members; to illegally structure cash transactions and bulk cash smuggling; and to obstruct justice to hide their crimes.
NAASÓN, the leader of the Enterprise, managed a close circle of co-conspirators who facilitated his abuse of teenagers and young women. NAASÓN also directed his co-conspirators to produce images and videos of child sexual abuse and send them to him for his own sexual gratification. Law enforcement has seized many of these images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors that were created at NAASÓN’s direction. NAASÓN also instructed co-conspirators to select young teenagers in his church for abuse and to systematically introduce the minors to NAASÓN’s illegal sexual desires through personal interactions with NAASÓN under the guise of Church activities.
NAASÓN and his co-conspirators manipulated the doctrine of the LLDM Church to facilitate this abuse. Through LLDM doctrine, NAASÓN and his co-conspirators developed a culture of unquestioning faith and obedience to NAASÓN, including by teaching congregants from birth that they would be eternally damned and ostracized from their family and friends in the community if they did not obey NAASÓN or if they questioned him. NAASÓN leveraged that fear to prevent the many teenagers and young women on whom he preyed from rejecting his sexual advances and from reporting the sexual abuse to law enforcement.
NAASÓN’s exploitation of the church and its members follows a deeply disturbing tradition established by his father (Samuel Joaquín Flores) and his grandfather (Eusebio Joaquín González, known as “Aarón”), who founded the church in Guadalajara, Mexico, in approximately 1926. Beginning with Aarón and continuing with Samuel and then NAASÓN, each member of the Joaquín family who has served as the leader or “Apostle” has taken advantage of his position of power and control over the LLDM Church to sexually abuse, exploit, and rape its congregants. Each leader manipulated girls and young women by conveying that they could earn a special “blessing” by serving him, which often ultimately included sexual activity, including oral sex, manual stimulation, and ultimately, penetrative sex with the victims. This abuse occurred over the course of generations.
SOSA was one of the principal co-conspirators of Samuel and groomed for his sexual abuse and directly herself sexually abused many minors and young women for years, which grooming continued after NAASÓN became the leader of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise.
GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, Samuel’s wife and NAASÓN’s mother, groomed for her husband’s sexual abuse and directly herself sexually abused minors and young women, similarly for years.
RANGEL GARCÍA was one of the principal co-conspirators of NAASÓN and groomed for his sexual abuse and directly herself sexually abused multiple minors and young women for years.
NAASÓN and other members of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise have also corruptly used LLDM Church congregants’ money to fund NAASÓN’s sexual abuse. Many congregants made financial contributions to the LLDM Church on the belief that their money would fund legitimate Church activities in the U.S.; in Mexico, where the Church is based; and in multiple other countries around the world where the Church is active.
NAASÓN used these donations to fund international travel, including expensive flights and hotels, for himself, his family, and young women he and his co-conspirators arranged to travel with NAASÓN to ensure he always had someone available to sexually abuse. NAASÓN and his co-conspirators also used the funds to purchase sex toys used in the abuse and cleaning supplies to destroy evidence of the sexual abuse. NAASÓN also used donations to fund his lavish lifestyle, including expensive cars, jewelry, clothing, luxury vacations, and private jet charters.
NAASÓN and his co-conspirators have threatened and punished victims and destroyed evidence to prevent law enforcement from discovering their crimes. After NAASÓN was arrested in California in 2019 on state charges related to his sexual abuse of LLDM children and young women, members of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise executed a scheme to pressure survivors of his sexual abuse into falsely stating that NAASÓN did not abuse them. NAASÓN’s co-conspirators, acting at his direction, punished those who tried to speak out. Members of the Joaquín LLDM Enterprise also destroyed evidence, which included shredding paper files, setting evidence on fire, and submerging electronic devices in water.
NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN falsely held himself out as a lawyer working on behalf of the LLDM Church, and he used that position to prevent and attempt to prevent victims of sexual abuse from reporting the abuse to law enforcement. GARCÍA PEÑA acted as the head of public relations for NAASÓN and the LLDM Church and abused that position to prevent victims of sexual abuse from reporting the abuse to law enforcement.
This investigation is ongoing. If you have been victimized by the defendants in any way or have any information about their alleged illegal behavior, please call 212-637-1033 or email [email protected].
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A chart containing the defendants’ names, ages, charges, and the maximum and minimum penalties is set forth below.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of special agents of HSI and IRS-CI. Mr. Clayton also thanked HSI Riverside, HSI Los Angeles, HSI Chicago, IRS Los Angeles, the New York City Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside Sheriff’s Office, the Redlands Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), the Complex Analytics and Social Media Enhancement Team at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California and the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the Government of Mexico for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan W. Allison, Lisa Daniels, Elizabeth A. Espinosa, and Michael R. Herman are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Count
Charge
Defendants
Maximum Penalty
1Racketeering ConspiracyNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA, 56
ROSA SOSA, 59
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA, 46
EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, 79
JORAM NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN, 37
SILEM GARCÍA PEÑA, 43
Life in prison for NAASÓN, SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA, and GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN;
20 years in prison for NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN, and GARCÍA PEÑA.
2Sex Trafficking ConspiracyNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
ROSA SOSA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUN
Life in prison
10 years mandatory minimum
3Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and CoercionNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
Life in prison
10 years mandatory minimum
4Inducement to Travel to Engage in Unlawful Sexual ActivityNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
20 years in prison5Conspiracy to sexually exploit childrenNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
30 years in prison
15 years mandatory minimum
6Child Exploitation EnterpriseNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
Life in prison
20 years mandatory minimum
u.s._v._naason_joaquin_garcia_et_al._indictment_-_english.pdf u.s._v._naason_joaquin_garcia_et_al._superseding_indictment_-_spanish.pdf
[1] As the introductory phase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Naasón Joaquín García Acusado De Una Conspiración De Crimen Organizado, Tráfico Sexual Y Explotación Infantil De Miembros De La Iglesia La Luz Del MundoRead the Press Release
English version of release.
El Fiscal federal del Distrito Sur de Nueva York, Jay Clayton; El agente especial a cargo de la Oficina Local de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional (HSI) en Nueva York, Ricky J. Patel; y el agente especial a cargo de la Oficina Local de Investigaciones Criminales del Servicio de Impuestos Internos (IRS-CI) en Nueva York, Harry T. Chavis, Jr., anunciaron hoy la revelación de una acusación formal contra NAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA («NAASÓN»), ROSA SOSA, AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA, EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, JORAM NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN y SILEM GARCÍA PEÑA por conducta sexual, financiera y delictiva relacionada con la victimización de miembros de la Iglesia La Luz del Mundo (LLDM) durante muchos años. Según se alega en la acusación formal, los acusados participaron en una organización criminal (la «Empresa Joaquín LLDM») que abusó de la Iglesia LLDM y persistió durante décadas para facilitar el abuso sexual sistemático de niños y mujeres, incluyendo la creación de fotos y vídeos de abusos sexuales sádicos a menores. Durante décadas, la Empresa Joaquín LLDM operó para la gratificación sexual de NAASÓN y su padre, el antiguo líder de la Empresa Joaquín LLDM, Samuel Joaquín Flores («Samuel»), fallecido en 2014.
NAASÓN fue detenido hoy por las autoridades federales en Chino, California, donde cumple una condena estatal por abuso sexual de menores. GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN fue detenido esta mañana en Los Ángeles y se espera que comparezca hoy mismo ante el Distrito Central de California. NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN fue detenido esta mañana en las afueras de Chicago y se espera que comparezca hoy mismo ante el Distrito Norte de Illinois. SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA y GARCÍA PEÑA siguen en libertad y se cree que se encuentran en México. El Gobierno de los Estados Unidos solicitará su detención y extradición para que se enfrenten a estos cargos en los Estados Unidos. El caso ha sido asignado al juez federal de distrito Loretta A. Preska.
«Según se alega en la acusación, durante décadas, Naasón Joaquín García y los demás miembros de la Empresa Joaquín LLDM utilizaron su posición y los recursos de la iglesia La Luz Del Mundo para abusar sexualmente de niñas, niños y mujeres», afirmó el fiscal federal Jay Clayton. «Se aprovecharon de la fe de sus seguidores para abusar de ellos. Cuando se les confrontó, utilizaron su influencia religiosa y su poder financiero para intimidar y coaccionar a las víctimas para que guardaran silencio sobre los abusos que habían sufrido. La acusación incluye cargos contra quienes ayudaron sistemáticamente a Naasón en la presunta explotación sexual de adolescentes y mujeres jóvenes, incluyendo la creación de fotos y vídeos de los abusos y otras conductas delictivas indescriptibles. Elogiamos a las víctimas que han dado un paso al frente por su extraordinario valor y su deseo de poner fin a décadas de abusos. Esta Oficina exigirá responsabilidades a Naasón y a otras personas que ayudaron en estos presuntos abusos».
«Una investigación de varios años que abarcó todo el país y contó con el apoyo de docenas de valientes víctimas culminó con los cargos presentados hoy, derivados de décadas de presunta explotación y abuso descarado de mujeres jóvenes y niños», dijo el agente especial a cargo de HSI, Ricky J. Patel. «Los acusados están acusados de atacar a personas que dieron a la Iglesia LLDM su confianza y devoción incondicional y que, a cambio, sufrieron crímenes inimaginables. Que no quepa duda: el presunto ciclo de victimización de los acusados termina hoy. Agradezco a las valientes sobrevivientes que proporcionaron a las fuerzas del orden, información vital relacionada con estas acusaciones, y animo a otras personas que tengan información útil a que hagan lo mismo».
«Tras la legitimidad de una iglesia y sus numerosos feligreses creyentes, Naasón y sus cómplices construyeron un presunto imperio criminal basado en el abuso sexual de mujeres y niños», afirmó Harry T. Chavis, Jr., agente especial a cargo de IRS-CI. «Esta empresa ilícita se ocultaba en las sombras de la iglesia La Luz del Mundo mientras se dedicaba al tráfico sexual, la pornografía infantil, el trabajo forzoso y las transacciones financieras ilegales. Todas las personas involucradas son cómplices de promover y luego ocultar estos actos insidiosos, pero es esta investigación la que sacará a la luz todos los años de maltrato y abusos sexuales. Los agentes especiales del IRS-CI y del HSI colaboraron en este caso y trabajaron en estrecha colaboración con el fiscal federal del Distrito Sur de Nueva York para sacar a la luz los presuntos delitos de Naasón y sus cómplices para que todo el mundo los vea».
Según se alega en la acusación y en los documentos hechos públicos en el tribunal: [1]
Durante décadas, en Estados Unidos, México y otros lugares del mundo, NAASÓN, SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA, GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN y GARCÍA PEÑA abusaron del poder, la doctrina y la estructura de la Iglesia LLDM para amenazar, coaccionar y abusar sexualmente de niñas, niños y mujeres de la Iglesia LLDM; para cometer delitos financieros; y para obstruir las investigaciones penales sobre sus fechorías. Estos acusados y sus cómplices formaban parte de la Empresa Joaquín LLDM, que llevó a cabo este plan durante décadas, abusando de generaciones de miembros de la Iglesia y destruyendo luego las pruebas para evadir la detección por parte de las fuerzas del orden. Los acusados y sus cómplices utilizaron la Iglesia LLDM como vehículo para cometer tráfico sexual de mujeres y niños; para inducir a las víctimas, incluyendo menores, a viajar y a participar en actos sexuales forzados e ilegales; para producir, recibir, distribuir y poseer pornografía infantil; para emplear la mano de obra forzada de miembros de la Iglesia; para estructurar ilegalmente transacciones en efectivo y contrabando de grandes cantidades de dinero en efectivo; y para obstruir la justicia con el fin de ocultar sus delitos.
NAASÓN, el líder de la empresa, dirigía un círculo cercano de cómplices que facilitaban su abuso de adolescentes y mujeres jóvenes. NAASÓN también ordenaba a sus cómplices que produjeran imágenes y vídeos de abuso sexual infantil y se los enviaran para su propia gratificación sexual. Las fuerzas del orden han incautado muchas de estas imágenes y vídeos que muestran el abuso sexual de menores y que fueron creados bajo las órdenes de NAASÓN. NAASÓN también ordenó a sus cómplices que seleccionaran a adolescentes de su iglesia para abusar de ellas y que introdujeran sistemáticamente a las menores en los deseos sexuales ilegales de NAASÓN a través de interacciones personales con él bajo el pretexto de actividades de la Iglesia.
NAASÓN y sus cómplices manipularon la doctrina de la Iglesia LLDM para facilitar este abuso. A través de la doctrina LLDM, NAASÓN y sus cómplices desarrollaron una cultura de fe y obediencia incondicionales a NAASÓN, incluso enseñando a los feligreses desde su nacimiento que serían condenados eternamente y excluidos de sus familias y amigos en la comunidad si no obedecían a NAASÓN o si lo cuestionaban. NAASÓN aprovechó de ese miedo para evitar que las numerosas adolescentes y mujeres jóvenes de las que abusaba rechazaran sus insinuaciones sexuales y denunciaran los abusos sexuales a las fuerzas del orden.
La explotación de NAASÓN de la iglesia y sus miembros sigue una tradición profundamente inquietante establecida por su padre (Samuel Joaquín Flores) y su abuelo (Eusebio Joaquín González, conocido como «Aarón»), quienes fundaron la iglesia en Guadalajara, México, aproximadamente en 1926. Comenzando con Aarón y continuando con Samuel y luego NAASÓN, cada miembro de la familia Joaquín que ha servido como líder o «apóstol» se ha aprovechado de su posición de poder y control sobre la Iglesia LLDM para abusar sexualmente, explotar y violar a sus feligreses. Cada líder manipulaba a las niñas y mujeres jóvenes haciéndoles creer que podían obtener una «bendición» especial si le servían, lo que a menudo incluía actividades sexuales, como sexo oral, estimulación manual y, en última instancia, sexo con penetración con las víctimas. Estos abusos se produjeron a lo largo de varias generaciones.
SOSA fue una de las principales cómplices de Samuel y preparó a muchas menores y mujeres jóvenes para su abuso sexual, además de abusar sexualmente de ellas directamente durante años, lo que continuó después de que NAASÓN se convirtiera en el líder de la empresa Joaquín LLDM.
GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, esposa de Samuel y madre de NAASÓN, acicalaba a menores de edad y a mujeres para que su marido cometiera abusos sexuales y ella misma igualmente, abusó sexualmente de menores y mujeres jóvenes también durante años.
RANGEL GARCÍA fue una de las principales cómplices de NAASÓN y preparó el terreno para sus abusos sexuales, además de abusar sexualmente de múltiples menores y mujeres jóvenes durante años.
NAASÓN y otros miembros de la empresa Joaquín LLDM también han utilizado de forma corrupta el dinero de los feligreses de la Iglesia LLDM para financiar los abusos sexuales de NAASÓN. Muchos feligreses dieron sus diezmos a la Iglesia LLDM creyendo que su dinero financiaría actividades legítimas de la Iglesia en Estados Unidos, en México, donde tiene su sede la Iglesia, y en muchos otros países del mundo donde la Iglesia está activa.
NAASÓN utilizó estas donaciones para financiar viajes internacionales, incluyendo vuelos y hoteles caros, para él, su familia y las jóvenes que él y sus cómplices organizaban para viajar con NAASÓN con el fin de asegurarse de que siempre tuviera a alguien disponible para abusar sexualmente. NAASÓN y sus cómplices también utilizaron los fondos y diezmos para comprar juguetes sexuales utilizados en los abusos y productos de limpieza para destruir las pruebas de los abusos sexuales. NAASÓN también utilizó las donaciones para financiar su lujoso estilo de vida, incluyendo coches caros, joyas, ropa, vacaciones de lujo y vuelos en jets privados.
NAASÓN y sus cómplices amenazaron y castigaron a las víctimas y destruyeron pruebas para evitar que las fuerzas del orden descubrieran sus delitos. Después de que NAASÓN fuera detenido en California en 2019 por cargos estatales relacionados con el abuso sexual de niñas y jóvenes de LLDM, los miembros de la organización Joaquín LLDM ejecutaron un plan para presionar a las sobrevivientes de su abuso sexual para que declararan falsamente que NAASÓN no las había abusado. Los cómplices de NAASÓN, actuando bajo sus órdenes, castigaron a quienes intentaron denunciar los hechos. Los miembros de la organización Joaquín LLDM también destruyeron pruebas, lo que incluyó triturar archivos en papel, quemar pruebas y sumergir dispositivos electrónicos en agua.
NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN se hizo pasar falsamente por un abogado que trabajaba en nombre de la Iglesia LLDM y utilizó esa posición para impedir e intentar impedir que las víctimas de abuso sexual denunciaran el abuso a las fuerzas del orden. GARCÍA PEÑA actuó como jefe de relaciones públicas de NAASÓN y de la Iglesia LLDM y abusó de esa posición para impedir que las víctimas de abuso sexual denunciaran el abuso a las fuerzas del orden.
Esta investigación sigue en curso. Si ha sido usted víctima de los acusados de alguna manera o tiene información sobre su presunto comportamiento ilegal, llame al 212-637-1033 o envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected].
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A continuación, se incluye un cuadro con los nombres, edades, cargos y penas máximas y mínimas de los acusados.
Las penas mínimas y máximas previstas por la ley son establecidas por el Congreso y se proporcionan aquí solo con fines informativos, ya que cualquier sentencia de los acusados será determinada por un juez.
El Sr. Clayton elogió la excelente labor de investigación realizada por los agentes especiales de HSI e IRS-CI. El Sr. Clayton también agradeció a HSI Riverside, HSI Los Ángeles, HSI Chicago, IRS Los Ángeles, el Departamento de Policía de la Ciudad de Nueva York, el Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Los Ángeles, la Oficina del Sheriff de Riverside, el Departamento de Policía de Redlands, la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de San Bernardino, la Administración para el Control de Drogas (DEA), las fiscalías federales del Distrito Central de California y del Distrito Norte de Illinois, la Oficina de Asuntos Internacionales del Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos y al Gobierno de México por su ayuda.
Este caso está siendo tramitado por la Unidad de Delitos Violentos y Delincuencia Organizada de la Fiscalía. Los fiscales adjuntos Ryan W. Allison, Lisa Daniels, Elizabeth A. Espinosa y Michael R. Herman están a cargo de la acusación.
Los cargos que figuran en la acusación son meras acusaciones, y los acusados se presumen inocentes hasta que se demuestre su culpabilidad.
Cargo
Cargo
Acusados
Pena máxima
1Conspiración de Crimen OrganizadoNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA, 56
ROSA SOSA, 59
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA, 46
EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN, 79
JORAM NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN, 37
SILEM GARCÍA PEÑA, 43
Cadena perpetua para NAASÓN, SOSA, RANGEL GARCÍA y GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN;
20 años de prisión para NÚÑEZ JOAQUÍN y GARCÍA PEÑA.
2Conspiración de tráfico sexualNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
ROSA SOSA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
EVA GARCÍA DE JOAQUÍN
Cadena perpetua
10 años de prisión como mínimo obligatorio
3Trata sexual mediante el uso de la fuerza, el fraude y la coacciónNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
Cadena perpetua
10 años de prisión como mínimo obligatorio
4Inducción a viajar para participar en actividades sexuales ilegalesNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
20 años de prisión5Conspiración para explotar sexualmente a menoresNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
30 años de prisión
15 años de prisión como pena mínima obligatoria
6Conspiración de explotación infantilNAASÓN JOAQUÍN GARCÍA
AZALIA RANGEL GARCÍA
Cadena perpetua
20 años de prisión mínima obligatoria
u.s._v._naason_joaquin_garcia_et_al._superseding_indictment_-_spanish.pdf u.s._v._naason_joaquin_garcia_et_al._superseding_indictment_-_english.pdf
[1] Como indica la fase introductoria, la totalidad del texto de la acusación y la descripción de la acusación que aquí se expone constituyen únicamente alegaciones, y todos los hechos descritos deben considerarse como alegaciones.
Drug Trafficker Charged with Possessing 15 Kilograms of Cocaine in Hidden Compartment of CarRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced that EDDIE RUIZ has been charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. RUIZ was arrested on August 29, 2025, and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker in Manhattan federal court on August 30, 2025.
“As alleged, Eddie Ruiz was transporting over 15 kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment in his specially modified vehicle,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Sadly, drug trafficking involves a vast, sophisticated, international network full of players who are motivated by profit and have no regard for the lives they ruin. New Yorkers want that network broken and the players taken off the streets. Together with our law enforcement partners, the women and men of the Southern District of New York will do everything in our power to fight drug trafficking on behalf of New Yorkers.”
“An authorized vehicle search revealed Eddie Ruiz allegedly possessed significant quantities of cocaine seemingly packaged for distribution that were hidden in storage compartments in the vehicle,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “Ruiz’s alleged intentions to introduce addictive narcotics to our neighborhoods greatly jeopardizes the health and wellbeing of those residents. During Operation Summer Heat, the FBI will continue to apprehend and interrupt any criminal who seeks to supply lethal substances to our communities.”
As alleged in the Complaint:[1]
On or about the afternoon of August 29, 2025, a member of New York state law enforcement pulled over a vehicle that RUIZ was driving in Sullivan County near Mamakating, New York, for several violations of New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law. Following RUIZ’s suspicious behavior during that traffic stop, law enforcement officers approached the vehicle with a drug-detecting canine, which signaled that it had detected the scent of narcotics within. Law enforcement officers then began a roadside search of the vehicle and found a hidden compartment, also known as a “trap,” in its trunk. After partially opening the trap, the officers observed what appeared to be bricks of narcotics, as pictured below.
Once the automobile was transported to a secure law enforcement location, the officers fully opened the trap and found it to contain 15 tightly wrapped rectangular packages, packaged consistently with distribution-level quantities of narcotics and weighing approximately one kilogram each. Field-testing of these packages, pictured below, was positive for cocaine.
* * *
RUIZ, 47, of New York, New York, is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI, and the New York State Police and their Troop F Community Stabilization Unit and Troop K Community Stabilization Unit.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmi Schickler is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
u.s._v._ruiz_complaint.pdf
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.