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Friday 8 May 2026
Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation and Transportation of A Child for Illegal Sexual ActivityRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging ANDREW FORD with sexual exploitation of a minor and transportation of a minor for unlawful sexual activity. FORD was arrested today and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause in White Plains federal court.
“As alleged, Andrew Ford sexually abused a 13-year-old child and documented that abuse with photographs—compounding the harm to an already vulnerable victim,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Sexual predators should know this: In 2025 and 2026, our Office has brought federal charges against an unprecedented volume of individuals for the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. If you prey on children in New York, you will be identified, arrested, and prosecuted. New Yorkers want you in prison.”
As alleged in the Complaint:[1]
In December 2024, a 13-year-old child (“Victim-1”) disclosed to law enforcement that FORD had sexually abused her on multiple occasions, both in Westchester County, New York, and in Connecticut.
On May 12, 2025, FORD was arrested and charged in the Justice Court of the Town of Rye, New York, with two counts of rape in the second degree. On or about May 13, 2025, he was arraigned in the Town of Rye Court and released on bail.
Following FORD’s arrest, a search by law enforcement of FORD’s cellphone revealed the existence of sexually explicit images of Victim-1 that were taken in Connecticut after FORD transported Victim-1 from Westchester County to Greenwich, Connecticut.
There may be other victims. If you have information to report, please contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or https://tips.fbi.gov.
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FORD, 42, of Stamford, Connecticut, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of transportation of a child for unlawful sexual activity, 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 the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the FBI, the Port Chester Police Department, the Greenwich Police Department, and the Westchester District Attorney’s Office in connection with this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marcia S. Cohen and Ioannis D. Drivas are in charge of the prosecution.
[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.
Lewiston Man Pleads Guilty to Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Maine: A Lewiston man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to distributing controlled substances.
According to court records, beginning in February 2025, a confidential source working with the FBI made several controlled purchases of drugs from Dashane Seamster, 30. On April 1, 2025, the confidential source purchased approximately four ounces of methamphetamine and 120 grams of heroin from Seamster in Lewiston. Investigators surveilled and recorded the transaction.
Seamster faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and up to life imprisonment, a maximum fine of $10 million, and up to a lifetime of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI investigated this case.
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Justice Department announces results of Operation Iron PursuitRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Department of Justice today announced the results of Operation Iron Pursuit, a one-month, nationwide enforcement effort to find child victims of sex abuse and arrest child sex predators. More than 200 child victims were located and over 350 child sexual abuse offenders were arrested. All 56 FBI field offices and U.S. Attorneys, offices around the country participated in the coordinated takedown effort, including the Buffalo FBI Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
The operation commenced April 1 and ended April 30. The Administration for Children and Families recognizes April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“This operation puts every child predator on notice: we are coming for you,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The sexual exploitation of minors is an abomination with no place in our society. We will hunt down these offenders, hold them fully accountable under the law, and deliver justice for victims.”
“Every single day this FBI is working 24/7 to break networks of child abusers all across this country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Last year we joined our partners delivering a record year, identifying and rescuing over 6,300 missing children, and today’s announcement of Operation Iron Pursuit is just the latest success in that work — with over 200 victims located and over 350 offenders arrested. Let this be a message to criminal actors who seek to target America’s children: you will be pursued, and you will be brought to justice.”
“Working closely with our partners at every level of law enforcement, we will use all of the tools at our disposal to investigate and bring to justice those defendants who prey on the most vulnerable of victims, our children,” stated U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo. “Let these efforts also serve as a reminder to parents to be vigilant in consistently monitoring your children’s online activities.”
“FBI Buffalo and our law enforcement partners work every day to identify and arrest criminals who prey on children,” said Philip Tejera, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office. “Operation Iron Pursuit exemplifies the FBI’s steadfast commitment: we will not stop until those who endanger children are removed from our communities and held accountable.”
Two defendants were charged in the Western District of New York as part of Operation Iron Pursuit:
- CJ A. Wolf, of Lewiston, NY, was arrested and charged with enticement of a minor, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. According to the criminal complaint, in October 2025, Wolf began communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer via text message, after responding to an advertisement, posted online by investigators, of a purported minor female willing to meet in person to have sex. During these communications, Wolf was told to travel to a specific location where he could have sex with the purported 13-year-old girl who was advertised online. Wolf traveled to a retail parking lot and interacted with the undercover officer who was coordinating the sexual interaction between Wolf and the purported 13-year-old girl. Wolf was asked if he had the money, which he confirmed by showing he had $200 and agreeing for “a half hour.” After some further conversation, Wolf was arrested.
- Kenneth Tootle, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged with production of child pornography, enticement of a minor, and receipt of child pornography, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. According to the criminal complaint, on January 18, 2026, the Rochester Police Department received a report from a mother that she found disturbing messages between her seven-year-old daughter (minor victim) and Tootle on her daughter’s cell phone, including sexual photos and videos. A review of the minor victim’s phone confirmed that she was communicating with Tootle and sent him images and videos of herself that constitute child pornography. Subsequently, a search warrant was executed on Tootle’s cell phone. However, the complaint states that the images of child pornography sent by the minor victim to Tootle had been deleted.
This effort follows three other successful operations last year. Operation Relentless Justice, concluded in December 2025, resulted in the rescue of 205 children and arrests of 293 offenders. Operation Enduring Justice, concluded in August 2025, resulted in the rescue of 133 children and the arrests of 234 offenders. And Operation Restore Justice, concluded in May 2025, resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sex abuse offenders.
The FBI’s VSD assisted victims during Operation Iron Pursuit and provided services such as forensic interviews, referrals for medical and mental health resources, and coordination with partners. VSD's mission is to inform, support, and assist victims in navigating the aftermath of crime and the criminal justice process with dignity and resilience.
The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.
The Department urges the public to remain vigilant, and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI's tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Justice Department Sues to Revoke US Citizenship of Convicted Cuban SpyRead the Press Release
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil denaturalization complaint yesterday against Victor Manuel Rocha in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Rocha is a native of Colombia who was convicted of serving as an unregistered agent for the Republic of Cuba.
“Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. “Our mission is clear: to root out these fraudsters and preserve the sanctity of the naturalization process for those who adhere to our laws. Any individual who lied during the naturalization process to gain a foothold in this country will be met with the full weight of the Department of Justice.”
“Victor Manuel Rocha was not a low-level operative. He was a former United States Ambassador and senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The Southern District of Florida helped take down one of the most prolific Cuban spies ever uncovered in the United States. This civil denaturalization case is about finishing the job. The complaint alleges that Rocha obtained American citizenship through lies, concealment, and betrayal. A person who secretly serves communist Cuba should not keep the privilege of United States citizenship, even while in prison.”
The U.S. seeks an order revoking Rocha’s naturalization based on his admission in criminal proceedings that he began spying for Cuba in 1973 before he naturalized in 1978. When he applied for naturalization, Rocha represented under penalty of perjury that he had not committed crimes for which he had not been arrested; he was not affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba; he had not advocated, believed in, or knowingly supported and furthered the interests of Communism; and he believed in the U.S. Constitution and the form of government of the U.S. None of these were true.
In 2023, Rocha was charged with several counts related to spying for the Republic of Cuba and passport fraud. U.S. v. Rocha, No. 1:23-cr-20464-Bloom (S.D. Fla. Dec. 5, 2023). In April 2024, Rocha admitted that, starting in or around 1973, he secretly supported the Republic of Cuba and its clandestine intelligence-gathering mission against the U.S. by serving as a covert agent of Cuba’s intelligence services. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of a Foreign Government and to Defraud the United States and Acting as an Illegal Agent of a Foreign Government. He was sentenced to and is serving a 15-year sentence.
The U.S. will bring seven independent counts seeking the revocation of his U.S. citizenship. Rocha was not qualified for naturalization for several reasons, including that he committed unlawful acts, gave false testimony during his naturalization examination, was not attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and not well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the U.S., was affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba, and advocated for communism. The U.S. will also seek the revocation of his naturalization because he procured his citizenship by concealing material facts or willful misrepresenting several facts in naturalization proceedings related to spying for Cuba.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Denaturalization Unit of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida are litigating the case.
The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Sues to Revoke US Citizenship of Convicted Cuban SpyRead the Press Release
MIAMI – The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil denaturalization complaint yesterday against Victor Manuel Rocha in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Rocha is a native of Colombia who was convicted of serving as an unregistered agent for the Republic of Cuba.
“Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. “Our mission is clear: to root out these fraudsters and preserve the sanctity of the naturalization process for those who adhere to our laws. Any individual who lied during the naturalization process to gain a foothold in this country will be met with the full weight of the Department of Justice.”
“Victor Manuel Rocha was not a low-level operative. He was a former United States Ambassador and senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The Southern District of Florida helped take down one of the most prolific Cuban spies ever uncovered in the United States. This civil denaturalization case is about finishing the job. The complaint alleges that Rocha obtained American citizenship through lies, concealment, and betrayal. A person who secretly serves communist Cuba should not keep the privilege of United States citizenship, even while in prison.”
The U.S. seeks an order revoking Rocha’s naturalization based on his admission in criminal proceedings that he began spying for Cuba in 1973 before he naturalized in 1978. When he applied for naturalization, Rocha represented under penalty of perjury that he had not committed crimes for which he had not been arrested; he was not affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba; he had not advocated, believed in, or knowingly supported and furthered the interests of Communism; and he believed in the U.S. Constitution and the form of government of the U.S. None of these were true.
In 2023, Rocha was charged with several counts related to spying for the Republic of Cuba and passport fraud. U.S. v. Rocha, No. 1:23-cr-20464-Bloom (S.D. Fla. Dec. 5, 2023). In April 2024, Rocha admitted that, starting in or around 1973, he secretly supported the Republic of Cuba and its clandestine intelligence-gathering mission against the U.S. by serving as a covert agent of Cuba’s intelligence services. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of a Foreign Government and to Defraud the United States and Acting as an Illegal Agent of a Foreign Government. He was sentenced to and is serving a 15-year sentence.
The U.S. will bring seven independent counts seeking the revocation of his U.S. citizenship. Rocha was not qualified for naturalization for several reasons, including that he committed unlawful acts, gave false testimony during his naturalization examination, was not attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and not well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the U.S., was affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba, and advocated for communism. The U.S. will also seek the revocation of his naturalization because he procured his citizenship by concealing material facts or willful misrepresenting several facts in naturalization proceedings related to spying for Cuba.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Denaturalization Unit of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida are litigating the case.
The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cv-23236.
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Justice Department Moves to Denaturalize 12 Individuals for Concealing Terrorist Support, War Crimes, Espionage, Sexual Abuse, and MoreRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. district courts against 12 individuals accused of serious offenses—including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes, and sexually abusing a minor.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.
“Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse, or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Trump administration is taking action to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system. Those who intentionally concealed their criminal histories or misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest extent of the law.”
“This Department of Justice continues to file denaturalization actions at record speeds to restore integrity in our naturalization process,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The disturbing criminal histories confirm these individuals should have never received the privilege of U.S. citizenship. We remain committed to leveraging every tool available under the law to pursue those who obtain their U.S. citizenship unlawfully.”
- Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri (Age 48/Iraq): On Friday, May 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the United States District Court in Phoenix, Arizona, against Ali Yousif Ahmed, a native of Iraq. Ahmed entered the United States in 2009 based on a claim that he and his family were attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq. In 2019, the Republic of Iraq requested that the United States extradite Ahmed to Iraq to face criminal charges for the premediated murder of two Iraqi police officers in 2006. Iraq claims that Ahmed murdered the police officers as a leader in the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Upon further investigation, United States learned that, in 2015, Ahmed illegally procured his naturalization, which warrants his denaturalization, because he lied under oath about his criminal and family history when he sought admission to the United States and naturalized as a U.S. citizen.
- Oscar Alberto Pelaez (Age 75/Colombia): The United States has also brought a denaturalization action against Oscar Alberto Pelaez, a Colombian Roman Catholic priest, who, from 1998 to 2000, sexually abused a child on multiple occasions from the time that child was 14 until he was 17 years old. In 2002, Mr. Pelaez pleaded guilty to and was convicted of thirteen counts of sexual assault against a child, including two counts of oral copulation with a person under eighteen years of age, and two counts of sodomy of a person under eighteen years of age. Mr. Pelaez lied about the commission of these crimes in connection with his naturalization application. The United States has brought four claims against Mr. Pelaez seeking his denaturalization, including claims that he lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen and that he knowingly lied to immigration authorities.
- Khalid Ouazzani (Age 48/Morocco): When Khalid Ouazzani, a native of Morocco, applied for U.S. citizenship in 2005 and again when he naturalized in 2006, he swore to his attachment to the principles of the Constitution of the United States. Those oaths were false because as early as 2003, Kahlid was planning—with two men later convicted of trying to bomb the New York Stock exchange—ways to support Al‑Qaida. By 2007, just one year after he naturalized, he sent Al‑Qaida tens of thousands of dollars in financial support with money that he had fraudulently obtained, and in 2008, he took an oath of allegiance to that terrorist organization. In May 2010, Ouazzani pleaded guilty to bank fraud, money laundering, and providing material support to Al-Qaida. The denaturalization complaint filed against Ouazzani alleges that he gave false testimony during his naturalization proceedings about his attachment to the Constitution and because his affiliation and membership with Al-Qaida within five years of his naturalization constitutes prima facie evidence that when he naturalized, he lacked the requisite attachment to the Constitution.
- Salah Osman Ahmed (Age 43/Somalia): Ahmed was not attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution when he naturalized in 2007. Just months after he naturalized, Ahmed began providing material support to terrorists. Ahmed traveled to Somalia to fight and kill Ethiopians and joined the terrorist group al-Shabaab. On July 28, 2009, in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(a). Ahmed joined al-Shabaab, and his membership of, or affiliation with al-Shabaab within five years of naturalization would have precluded him from citizenship. Ahmed procured his naturalization by concealment of material facts or willful misrepresentation, for joining al-Shabaab shortly after his naturalization.
- Baboucarr Mboob (Age 58/Gambia): On November 11, 1994, Baboucarr Mboob, a native of The Gambia, while serving as a military police officer in the Gambian army, participated, along with fifteen other soldiers, in the execution of six officers following the orders from his commanding officer who believed the victims were plotting a counter-coup against then President Yahya Jammeh – all without giving their victims the benefit of a trial. Mboob concealed his involvement in war crimes and acts of persecution throughout his immigration and naturalization proceedings after entering the United States 2002, naturalizing as a U.S. citizen in 2011. But, in testimony before a hearing of The Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) held on April 9, 2019, Mr. Mboob admitted to executing his six fellow officers. The Unites States is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization because he obtained his U.S. citizenship illegally by concealing material fact and willfully misrepresented his military background.
- Kevin Robin Suarez (Age 31/Bolivia): Beginning in May 2016, and continuing for ten months after his January 2017 naturalization, Kevin Robin Suarez engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms through straw purchasers for the eventual exportation of the firearms to Bolivia and other Latin American countries. Working with his sister, Suarez solicited individuals to purchase firearms on their behalf from licensed federal firearms dealers and provided those firearms to Suarez’s father. These firearms were part of a larger network of gun trafficking from South Florida to Bolivia by Bolivian nationals in the United States. Once in Bolivia, the guns were often sent to drug trafficking organizations in Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru, fueling drug violence there. Suarez pled guilty to conspiracy to cause false statements to be made to federally-licensed firearms dealers, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A), in February 2020. Suarez illegally procured his naturalization as a United States citizen because his crime precluded the required good moral character to naturalize. Also, SUAREZ falsely testified under oath and misrepresented and concealed facts that were material to determining his naturalization eligibility.
- Abduvosit Razikov (Age 46/Uzbekistan): In 2005, Abduvosit Razikov, a native of Uzbekistan, paid a U.S. citizen to enter into a sham marriage with him so that he could procure permanent residency in the United States. Then, in 2007, Razikov paid another U.S. citizen to enter into a sham marriage with Razikov’s actual romantic partner so she could enter the United States from Uzbekistan. In 2010, Razikov divorced his U.S. citizen “wife,” and in 2012, he naturalized. Months later, Razikov engaged in a third sham marriage, this time marrying another Uzbekistani woman (not his own romantic partner) so she could obtain immigration benefits. The denaturalization complaint filed against Razikov alleges that he never lawfully acquired the permanent resident status required to naturalize because of his sham marriage and immigration fraud, that his unlawful acts and false testimony about those acts precluded him from establishing the good moral character required for naturalization, and that he obtained his naturalization by concealment or willful misrepresentation of materials facts.
- Abdallah Osman Sheikh (Age 28/Kenya): Abdallah Osman Sheikh, a resident of Fairdale, Kentucky, unlawfully procured his naturalization and obtained his naturalization by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation. Specifically, in July 2019, before he naturalized, but while he was in the Marines, Sheikh possessed indecent digital images of two minor individuals and posted an indecent digital image of one of them to his social media account. Those crimes and his efforts to hide those crimes from the government throughout his naturalization proceedings warrant Sheikh’s denaturalization pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a). In addition, Sheikh naturalized based on his military service, but received an other than honorable discharge (for misconduct) from the U.S. Marines after failing to serve honorably for five years, warranting his denaturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1440(c).
- Debashis Ghosh (Age 62/India): Before Debashis Ghosh naturalized, he conspired to defraud investors of $2.5 million intended for the construction of an aircraft maintenance facility. After naturalizing, Ghosh, a native of India, continued the fraudulent scheme, misrepresenting the location and safekeeping of the investor funding. But in his 2012 naturalization application and interview, Ghosh claimed that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not arrested. The denaturalization complaint against Ghosh alleges that he is subject to denaturalization because during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, he committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime. Additionally, Ghosh willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crime during his naturalization proceedings.
- Pin He (Age 53/China): After he was ordered removed under the name Chun Di He in 1992, Pin He applied for an immigration benefit the very next year under a different identity. That application was granted, and in 2007, Mr. He obtained permanent residence. In 2013, Defendant naturalized under the identity and immigration history of Pin He, without ever disclosing his prior removal order under the Chun Di He. Because Mr. He obtained his citizenship after concealing his prior identity and misrepresenting his eligibility for citizenship, the United States is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization.
- George Oyakhire (Age 66/Nigeria): Mr. Oyakhire naturalized under a false identity. Mr. Oyakhire, who was born in Nigeria, first entered the United States on October 18, 1986, using a visa issued in his true name, George Ofuan Oyakhire. Approximately two years later, on September 2, 1988, Mr. Oyakhire obtained temporary resident status using a false name, “Oliver Bennett Oyakhire,” and a false date of birth. On December 1, 1990, Mr. Oyakhire adjusted his status to that of a lawful permanent resident using the false Oliver Bennett Oyakhire identity. On September 12, 1995, again using the false Oliver Bennett Oyakhire identity, Mr. Oyakhire filed an application for naturalization, which was approved on March 22, 1996. On April 22, 1996, Mr. Oyakhire became a naturalized citizen, under the false name Oliver Bennett Oyakhire.
- Victor Manuel Rocha (Age 75/Colombia): Mr. Rocha is a native of Colombia who was convicted of serving as an unregistered agent for the Republic of Cuba. The U.S. seeks an order revoking Rocha’s naturalization based on his admission in criminal proceedings that he began spying for Cuba in 1973 before he naturalized in 1978. When he applied for naturalization, Rocha represented under penalty of perjury that he had not committed crimes for which he had not been arrested; he was not affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba; he had not advocated, believed in, or knowingly supported and furthered the interests of Communism; and he believed in the U.S. Constitution and the form of government of the U.S. None of these were true.
These cases were prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from USCIS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Arizona, Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of California, District of Minnesota, Middle District of Florida, Western District of Kentucky, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Southern District of Iowa, and Northern District of Illinois.
The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against State of New Mexico and City of Albuquerque for Obstructing Federal Immigration EnforcementRead the Press Release
The United States has filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction against the State of New Mexico, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, the City of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque Mayor Timothy Keller, alleging that the implementation of House Bill 9 (HB9), entitled the “Immigrant Safety Act,” and Albuquerque City Ordinance O-26-15, entitled the “Safer Community Places Ordinance (SCPO),” infringes on federal immigration enforcement authority.
Through HB9, the State of New Mexico is trying to abolish decades of long-standing, voluntary partnerships between local governments and federal authorities that are essential for enforcing immigration laws and keeping the federal immigration system running as Congress intended. Both HB9 and the SCPO seek to block federal agents from using any local government property to carry out their work. Additionally, by unlawfully requiring private businesses to tip off illegal aliens about immigration enforcement activities, the SCPO attempts to harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection by federal immigration authorities and poses an obstacle to the enforcement of federal immigration law.
“New Mexico is attempting to regulate immigration policy, something the federal government is clearly and uniquely empowered by the Constitution to do,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Our filings seek to halt the state’s unconstitutional actions by preserving cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement and allowing federal immigration officials to enforce the law.”
“The State of New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque seek to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement by preventing cooperation between local governments and the federal government,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico. “HB9 and the SCPO unlawfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement, illegally discriminate against federal operations, and violate constitutional protections regarding contracts and federal supremacy. Additionally, by barring public entities from participating in federal immigration detention in New Mexico, HB9 jeopardizes nearly 300 jobs and the economy of Otero County. Our lawsuit asks the court to declare these laws invalid and issue an immediate injunction to stop them from being enforced.”
Upon taking office, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border to address a security and public safety crisis caused by previous Open Border policies. On February 5, 2025, the Attorney General instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal immigration laws or impede lawful federal immigration operations. On August 5, 2025, the Attorney General published a list of sanctuary jurisdictions, which included Albuquerque, and vowed to bring litigation to end these policies nationwide. Today’s lawsuit in New Mexico is the latest in a series of lawsuits targeting illegal sanctuary jurisdiction policies across the country.
Under President Trump’s mandate, the federal government is exercising its proper constitutional authority to remove criminal aliens from the United States. Central to this mission are long-standing, voluntary agreements between federal and local agencies that allow state and local officials to assist with the investigation, transportation, and detention of illegal aliens. The federal government relies heavily on these partnerships, which have operated successfully in New Mexico for decades, to fulfill its immigration enforcement duties and keep New Mexicans safe.
The case is United States v. State of New Mexico et al., No. 1:26-cv-01471 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The claims asserted by the United States are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Illegal Aliens Arrested for Running Alien Smuggling Operation in PhoenixRead the Press Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Five illegal aliens were arrested last week for running an alien smuggling operation in Phoenix following an investigation led by agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border Patrol Intelligence Unit and Homeland Security Investigations.
Rigoberto Rangel-Mora, 40, of Mexico, Jesus Marin-Esquivel, 52, of Mexico, Ingrid Bolanos-Gomez, 41, of Guatemala, Alejandro Ambrocio-Espinosa, 32, of Mexico, and Enrique Cervantes-Barrera, 48, of Mexico, were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for Conspiracy to Transport and Habor Illegal Aliens based on their participation in the alien smuggling operation.
According to court documents, investigators located a residence in Phoenix being used as a stash house to harbor aliens before members of the conspiracy would transport them throughout the United States. Investigators identified and conducted surveillance on several older model minivans that were observed making trips across the country, often with charity license plates attached.
On April 28, investigators conducted a traffic stop on one of the minivans near Cordes Lakes, Arizona, and identified Ambrocio-Espinosa as the driver and Cervantes-Barrera as the front seat passenger. Agents discovered that they were transporting 11 aliens in the minivan, including one individual who was forced to ride in the trunk.
On April 30, investigators executed federal search warrants at a residence and two apartments in Phoenix. At the residence, investigators discovered 17 aliens that the smuggling organization was harboring. At another apartment, investigators discovered five additional aliens the organization was harboring. Investigators identified Rangel-Mora as the caretaker of the stash house and the remaining charged co-conspirators as drivers who conduct cross-country trips with smuggled aliens.
At the stash house, the harbored aliens told investigators that while at the residence, they were confined to bedrooms, told not to leave the house, and were unable to make calls. They further reported filthy living conditions, not having enough food, and being required to sleep on the floor.
A conviction for Conspiracy to Transport and Habor Illegal Aliens carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and a maximum term of three years of supervised release.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border Patrol Intelligence Unit and Homeland Security Investigations, Douglas, Arizona, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Greve and Ryan McCarthy, District of Arizona, Phoenix, are handling the prosecution.
An Indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
CASE NUMBER: 26-MJ-5182 and 26-MJ-5192; 26-CR-462
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-071_ Rangel-Mora et al
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Illegal Alien from Mexico Pleads Guilty for His Role in an International Conspiracy to Smuggle Aliens from Canada into the U.S.Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON — An alien from Mexico pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in an international human smuggling conspiracy that illegally brought aliens from Mexico, Central, and South America across the northern border with Canada into the United States for profit.
According to court documents, Edgar Sanchez-Solis, 24, was a leader in an alien smuggling organization (ASO) while he was living illegally in Kansas City, Missouri. The ASO smuggled hundreds of aliens into the United States. Once the aliens were inside the U.S., the ASO employed drivers to pick them up and drive them further into the country. The defendant personally participated in and coordinated smuggling events with other leaders of the ASO. During one smuggling event in May 2023, a van carrying aliens became involved in a high-speed chase with U.S. Border Patrol. Border Patrol had to stop their pursuit due to the risk to the public. Ultimately the local sheriff’s department used a tire deflation device to stop the vehicle after it failed to yield.
Sanchez-Solis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and five counts of alien smuggling for commercial advantage and private financial gain. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10, 2026. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York, and Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo Field Office made today’s announcement.
FAUSA Sarcone stated: “The defendant was a leader of an alien smuggling organization that smuggled hundreds of aliens into the United States during the prior administrations unprecedented open border policy. The defendant has ties to Canada and Mexico, but he coordinated many of the smuggling events while he was also illegally living in the United States. This defendant exploited Canada’s lax visitor visa policy and used Canada as a waypoint for unvetted aliens traveling from Mexico looking for a way into the United States. This conviction sends a message that the North Country will not tolerate illegal immigration along its border, and the Northern District of New York and its federal partners in law enforcement will identify, apprehend, and prosecute alien smugglers to the fullest extent of the law.”
HSI SAC Erin Keegan stated: “By pleading guilty, Edgar Sanchez-Solis has admitted his role in an international human smuggling conspiracy that moved dozens of aliens through Canada into northern New York for profit and put the public at risk with dangerous high-speed attempts to flee from law enforcement. His conviction is a significant blow to that criminal network and sends a clear message that HSI Rouses Point and our partners with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Border Patrol will not tolerate smugglers who exploit our borders and endanger our communities.”
HSI Rouses Point and U.S. Border Patrol Burke Station investigated the case, with substantial assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. and CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carling Dunham for the Northern District of New York and Trial Attorney Spencer M. Perry of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section prosecuted the case.
The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant United States Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 455 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 400 U.S. convictions; and more than 345 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and other 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 Project Safe Neighborhood.###
Illegal Alien from Guatemala Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the CountryRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Guatemalan man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for reentering the United States after a prior removal.
U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neuman sentenced Elmer Enrique Ramirez-Ardon, 33, to time served. He pleaded guilty on April 16, 2026.
According to court records, on March 12, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol Agents in Franklin County were driving near Stratton when they observed a white box truck heading north towards the U.S.Canadian border. Ramirez-Ardon was in the truck’s passenger seat. After observing the truck and its occupants, the agents suspected it contained aliens. They stopped the truck after it reversed direction and began travelling south towards the interior of the state.
During a subsequent roadside immigration inspection, agents determined that the truck’s two occupants were, in fact, aliens without lawful authority to be in the country. They were transported to the Rangeley Border Patrol Station for processing, at which time agents determined that Ramirez-Ardon, a citizen of Guatemala, had been ordered deported and removed from the country in 2014.
The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.
Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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Honduran Man Sentenced to Federal Prison as Part of Operation Take Back AmericaRead the Press Release
Carlos Castro-Izaguirre, 37, from Honduras, was sentenced on May 8, 2026, in federal court in Sioux City.
On October 21, 2025, Castro-Izaguirre pled guilty to illegal reentry. Evidence in the case showed that on May 19, 2024, Castro-Izaguirre was arrested in Buena Vista County, Iowa, for operating while intoxicated. Castro-Izaguirre was released before ICE could conduct an interview. An investigation revealed Castro-Izaguirre was a citizen of Honduras and was previously removed from the United States on two previous occasions. A biometric confirmation was received on the Alien Criminal Response Information Management System (ACRIME) when a positive match of fingerprints identified the individual as Carlos Daniel Castro-Izaguirre. As a result of the positive match of fingerprints, further investigation into Castro-Izaguirre revealed he was removed from the United States to Honduras on two previous occasions in 2009 and 2019. Prior to his first removal, Castro-Izaguirre was convicted in the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, Iowa, for delivery of methamphetamine in 2007 and sentenced to prison. Thereafter, Castro-Izaguirre never applied for lawful re-entry or lawful admission into the United States as required by law. He was found in Hidalgo, Texas, in 2017 and was convicted in federal court there of illegal reentry and sentenced to federal prison. Castro-Izaguirre was then returned to Honduras in 2019. He reentered the United States at an unknown time thereafter.
United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Castro-Izaguirre to 30 months’ imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Castro-Izaguirre remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 24-4059. Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.
Grant County Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Distributing Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
COVINGTON, Ky. – A Crittenden, Ky., man, Robert Luke Divine, 30, was sentenced on Friday to 235 months by Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and distribution of child pornography.
According to his plea agreement, on January 15, 2025, the Boone County Sheriff’s Department conducted a sting operation and Divine showed up to a hotel for the purpose of having sex with a woman and her 14-year-old daughter. When deputies arrested him, Divine admitted why he was there and that he had child pornography on his cell phone. Law enforcement searched his electronic devices (including an Apple iPad) and found a trove of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including evidence that Divine traded CSAM with another person via Telegram in December 2024. Divine’s iPad contained 335 videos and thousands of images of child sexual abuse material, including files that depicted bestiality and minors under the age of 12.
Under federal law, Divine must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years.
Jason Parman, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Colin Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Les K. Hill, Boone County Sheriff, announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the HSI and Boone County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Leonhard is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Gaffney Woman Sentenced to More than 10 Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Angela Upchurch, 38, of Gaffney, has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for her role in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy.
Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that Upchurch conspired with Mikayluh and Mikenzi Walker, Jonathan Sarratt, and others to distribute methamphetamine throughout the Upstate. Sarratt coordinated the distribution of drugs while serving a sentence at the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and the Walker twins funneled the drugs to sub-distributors, including Upchurch. Upchurch was held accountable for distributing 15 pounds of methamphetamine from 2023 through 2024. Upchurch has a prior conviction for accessory after the fact to trafficking from 2017.“This drug conspiracy funneled pounds upon pounds of dangerous methamphetamine into the Upstate,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. “Our office is proud to work with our law enforcement partners to remove these drug dealers from our streets and keep our community safe.”
“Methamphetamine trafficking devastates families and communities, fueling addiction and violence across our nation,” said Mark M. Zito, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in North and South Carolina. “This sentence reflects the unwavering commitment of HSI and our law enforcement partners to disrupt criminal networks and protect the homeland. Through collaboration and determination, we are holding traffickers accountable and making our communities safer.”
United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins sentenced Angela Upchurch to 130 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system. Judge Coggins had previously sentenced Jonathan Sarratt to 300 months imprisonment, Mikayluh Walker to 276 months, and Mikenzi Walker to 180 months.
This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Greenville comprises agents and officers from state, local, and federal agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville Police Department, Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, South Carolina Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen is prosecuting the case.###
Four Defendants Convicted in Plot to Kill Haitian President Jovenel MoïseRead the Press Release
A federal jury in Miami today convicted four defendants for their roles in the July 7, 2021, assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages were convicted of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to carry out a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 956, resulting in death; providing material support and resources to carry out a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 956, resulting in death; conspiracy to kill and kidnap a person outside the United States; conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States; and expedition against a friendly nation. Intriago was also convicted of a third count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S.; smuggling goods from the U.S.; and submitting false or misleading export information.
“These defendants conspired to replace and ultimately to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Using U.S. soil as a staging ground for a violent plot overseas is a grave violation of our laws and, more fundamentally, our sovereignty. We commend the investigative and prosecution team for their exceptional work.”
“This verdict delivers justice for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and holds accountable those who helped turn South Florida into a staging ground for a deadly foreign plot,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants pursued power, influence, and profit through violence. They supported a conspiracy that crossed borders, destabilized a friendly nation, and ended with the murder of a sitting president. The jury has spoken, and the rule of law has answered.”
“The FBI is going to leverage everything at its disposal to go after conspirators of assassinations,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Those convicted today played key roles in furthering the capacity for political violence with the aim of reaping the financial benefits of the disorder that followed. We would like to thank our partners who helped ensure that those involved faced justice for their disregard for the rule of law and the life of another human being.”
“Today’s verdict sends an unequivocal message: the United States will not serve as a staging ground for those seeking to destabilize foreign nations through violence. While the assassination of President Moïse was carried out on Haitian soil, the conspiracy was fueled by greed and orchestrated within our own borders,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami. “By holding these four men accountable for their roles in this cold-blooded attack, we are honoring the rule of law and ensuring that those who profit from political chaos find no refuge.”
“This case exposed a far-reaching criminal conspiracy driven by power, profit, and political ambition that extended well beyond Haiti’s borders,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami. “HSI and our partners followed the evidence across jurisdictions and international boundaries to help hold accountable those responsible for this heinous plot to assassinate a sitting president and destabilize a partner nation.”
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Pretel Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla, and Solages embarked on a scheme in early 2021 to violently overthrow President Moïse and install their handpicked successor so that the defendants could obtain lucrative government contracts in Haiti. To carry out the plot, the defendants recruited allies in the U.S., Colombia, and Haiti, including 22 former Colombian Army soldiers and Haitian gang leaders. Eight of the co-conspirators, including two of the Colombian mercenaries and several of the group’s Haitian and American allies, pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy, and six of them testified at trial.
Between April and July 2021, the defendants developed and refined multiple plans to kidnap or kill President Moïse. From late May to early June 2021, the group discussed a plan to kidnap President Moïse at his sister’s house, drug him, and force him to resign. When that failed, the defendants switched tactics and developed a new strategy for kidnapping President Moïse when he returned from an international trip on June 19, 2021. Many of these schemes relied on the defendants’ putative Haitian gang allies. Ultimately, the defendants decided to order their Colombian mercenaries to attack President Moïse’s home and kill him. In preparation, co-conspirators in Haiti obtained black-market weapons and ammunition for the Colombian mercenaries.
On July 7, 2021, Solages and a team of Colombian mercenaries carried out the attack on President Moïse’s residence with the help of several Haitian allies. During the assault, a squad of former Colombian special forces soldiers, called the Delta Team, along with other mercenaries stormed the residence, fatally shot President Moïse in his bedroom, and seriously wounded the First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moïse. Trial evidence established that bullets recovered from President Moïse during the autopsy, and another recovered from First Lady Moïse during surgery, matched a rifle carried and used by the Colombian Delta Team. Extensive digital communications introduced at trial further showed that the defendants spent months discussing and coordinating plans to kidnap or kill President Moïse.
Veintemilla played a central role in financing the conspiracy. Starting in April 2021, Veintemilla agreed to finance the scheme through a $175,000 loan agreement financed with proceeds derived from others’ Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) funds that were funneled through an account controlled by a co-conspirator. Trial evidence also showed that Veintemilla was involved in the operational details. After learning of the assassination in the early morning hours of July 7, 2021, Veintemilla immediately called a co-conspirator and proclaimed: “the rat (President Moïse) is in the box.”
Pretel Ortiz, who referred to himself as “Colonel Gabriel” and routinely wore fake U.S. military-style uniforms, rank, and insignia, directed the plot’s tactical planning and operation, including coordinating with the Colombian mercenaries. Hours before the assassination, Pretel Ortiz told his co-defendants: “I put my men on the ground and we are still fighting to reach the objective.”
Intriago, Pretel Ortiz’s business partner, handled the day-to-day logistical aspects of the plot, including payroll, equipment, and provisions for the co-conspirators. On June 10, 2021, Intriago helped smuggle bulletproof vests and other tactical equipment—including radios, flashlights, and goggles—from Miami to Haiti for use by the Colombian mercenaries during the assassination. In late June 2021, Intriago traveled to Haiti and photographed himself with the group’s Haitian allies. On the eve of the assassination, Intriago messaged his co-conspirators: “We finally got the tools to do the work.”
Solages served as the defendants’ primary liaison in Haiti and repeatedly traveled between South Florida and Haiti to coordinate with Haitian gang leaders, obtain weapons and ammunition in Haiti, and conduct surveillance of President Moïse’s residence. Solages also accompanied the Colombian mercenaries during the attack and instructed them to kill everyone inside the house, including “the dog, the cat, and parrot.”
All four defendants face maximum penalties of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra for the Southern District of Florida will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
FBI Miami and HSI Miami investigated the case, with valuable assistance from the Department of State; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement; and the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean McLaughlin, Jason Wu, and Altanese Phenelus for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Andrew Briggs of the Justice Department’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
Four Defendants Convicted in Plot to Kill Haitian President Jovenel MoïseRead the Press Release
MIAMI – A federal jury in Miami convicted four defendants for their roles in the July 7, 2021, assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages were convicted of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to carry out a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 956, resulting in death; providing material support and resources to carry out a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 956, resulting in death; conspiracy to kill and kidnap a person outside the United States; conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States; and expedition against a friendly nation. Intriago was also convicted of a third count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S.; smuggling goods from the U.S.; and submitting false or misleading export information. All four defendants face life in prison. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
“These defendants conspired to replace and ultimately to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Using U.S. soil as a staging ground for a violent plot overseas is a grave violation of our laws and, more fundamentally, our sovereignty. We commend the investigative and prosecution team for their exceptional work.”
“This verdict delivers justice for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and holds accountable those who helped turn South Florida into a staging ground for a deadly foreign plot,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants pursued power, influence, and profit through violence. They supported a conspiracy that crossed borders, destabilized a friendly nation, and ended with the murder of a sitting president. The jury has spoken, and the rule of law has answered.”
“The FBI is going to leverage everything at its disposal to go after conspirators of assassinations,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Those convicted today played key roles in furthering the capacity for political violence with the aim of reaping the financial benefits of the disorder that followed. We would like to thank our partners who helped ensure that those involved faced justice for their disregard for the rule of law and the life of another human being.”
“Today’s verdict sends an unequivocal message: the United States will not serve as a staging ground for those seeking to destabilize foreign nations through violence. While the assassination of President Moïse was carried out on Haitian soil, the conspiracy was fueled by greed and orchestrated within our own borders,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami. “By holding these four men accountable for their roles in this cold-blooded attack, we are honoring the rule of law and ensuring that those who profit from political chaos find no refuge.”
“This case exposed a far-reaching criminal conspiracy driven by power, profit, and political ambition that extended well beyond Haiti’s borders,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami. “HSI and our partners followed the evidence across jurisdictions and international boundaries to help hold accountable those responsible for this heinous plot to assassinate a sitting president and destabilize a partner nation.”
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Pretel Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla, and Solages embarked on a scheme in early 2021 to violently overthrow President Moïse and install their handpicked successor so that the defendants could obtain lucrative government contracts in Haiti. To carry out the plot, the defendants recruited allies in the U.S., Colombia, and Haiti, including 22 former Colombian Army soldiers and Haitian gang leaders. Eight of the co-conspirators, including two of the Colombian mercenaries and several of the group’s Haitian and American allies, pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy, and six of them testified at trial.
Between April and July 2021, the defendants developed and refined multiple plans to kidnap or kill President Moïse. From late May to early June 2021, the group discussed a plan to kidnap President Moïse at his sister’s house, drug him, and force him to resign. When that failed, the defendants switched tactics and developed a new strategy for kidnapping President Moïse when he returned from an international trip on June 19, 2021. Many of these schemes relied on the defendants’ putative Haitian gang allies. Ultimately, the defendants decided to order their Colombian mercenaries to attack President Moïse’s home and kill him. In preparation, co-conspirators in Haiti obtained black-market weapons and ammunition for the Colombian mercenaries.
On July 7, 2021, Solages and a team of Colombian mercenaries carried out the attack on President Moïse’s residence with the help of several Haitian allies. During the assault, a squad of former Colombian special forces soldiers, called the Delta Team, along with other mercenaries stormed the residence, fatally shot President Moïse in his bedroom, and seriously wounded the First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moïse. Trial evidence established that bullets recovered from President Moïse during the autopsy, and another recovered from First Lady Moïse during surgery, matched a rifle carried and used by the Colombian Delta Team. Extensive digital communications introduced at trial further showed that the defendants spent months discussing and coordinating plans to kidnap or kill President Moïse.
Veintemilla played a central role in financing the conspiracy. Starting in April 2021, Veintemilla agreed to finance the scheme through a $175,000 loan agreement financed with proceeds derived from others’ Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) funds that were funneled through an account controlled by a co-conspirator. Trial evidence also showed that Veintemilla was involved in the operational details. After learning of the assassination in the early morning hours of July 7, 2021, Veintemilla immediately called a co-conspirator and proclaimed: “the rat (President Moïse) is in the box.”
Pretel Ortiz, who referred to himself as “Colonel Gabriel” and routinely wore fake U.S. military-style uniforms, rank, and insignia, directed the plot’s tactical planning and operation, including coordinating with the Colombian mercenaries. Hours before the assassination, Pretel Ortiz told his co-defendants: “I put my men on the ground and we are still fighting to reach the objective.”
Intriago, Pretel Ortiz’s business partner, handled the day-to-day logistical aspects of the plot, including payroll, equipment, and provisions for the co-conspirators. On June 10, 2021, Intriago helped smuggle bulletproof vests and other tactical equipment—including radios, flashlights, and goggles—from Miami to Haiti for use by the Colombian mercenaries during the assassination. In late June 2021, Intriago traveled to Haiti and photographed himself with the group’s Haitian allies. On the eve of the assassination, Intriago messaged his co-conspirators: “We finally got the tools to do the work.”
Solages served as the defendants’ primary liaison in Haiti and repeatedly traveled between South Florida and Haiti to coordinate with Haitian gang leaders, obtain weapons and ammunition in Haiti, and conduct surveillance of President Moïse’s residence. Solages also accompanied the Colombian mercenaries during the attack and instructed them to kill everyone inside the house, including “the dog, the cat, and parrot.”
U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones, Special Agent in Charge Skiles, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Figueroa made the announcement.
FBI Miami and HSI Miami investigated the case, with valuable assistance from the Department of State; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement; and the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean McLaughlin, Jason Wu, and Altanese Phenelus for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Andrew Briggs of the Justice Department’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-20104.
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Former Primary Health Network Facilities Manager Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison for Role in Defrauding Non-Profit Medical OrganizationRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A former facilities manager for Primary Health Network (PHN), a non-profit medical organization headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 30 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering and for filing a false tax return, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence on Mark Marriott, 59, of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.
Two of Marriott’s co-conspirators, PHN’s former CEOs Drew Pierce and Jack Laeng, were both sentenced in April 2026, with Pierce sentenced to 40 months of imprisonment and Laeng to 24 months of imprisonment (read the news release on those sentencings here).
“This prosecution reflects the unfortunate reality of executives abusing their positions of power to commit fraud on a non-profit organization,” said United States Attorney Rivetti. “The sentences here appropriately reflect the serious nature of the defendants’ offenses, and the extensive harm that results from this fraud. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and prosecute these important cases.”
“These crimes are not victimless, and this was not a mistake or a lapse in judgment,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec. “This FBI and our partners will continue to uncover and prosecute those who think they can hide calculated fraud schemes under the guise of contracts, middlemen, and paperwork. After years of deception and millions of dollars stolen, these individuals are now being held accountable for their crimes.”
“IRS-CI and our federal law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue individuals who scheme to defraud healthcare institutions and ultimately victimize the people those institutions serve,” said Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty. “Today’s sentence, along with the sentences previously handed down in this case, show that those who commit such offenses will be held to account.”
According to information presented to the Court, Marriott engaged in three schemes to defraud PHN. First, Marriott conspired with Pierce, Laeng, and others in a scheme in which they inserted a company called TopCoat between PHN and the company’s legitimate vendors. PHN paid TopCoat, which provided no services other than to pay the true vendors a lesser price. PHN’s board of directors was unaware that TopCoat performed no actual work and was made up entirely of PHN insiders. The TopCoat scheme caused a loss to PHN of more than $500,000. Second, Marriott engaged in a scheme in which he directed a PHN vendor to provide inflated invoices to PHN in order to fund kickback payments made to Marriott, Pierce, and a company Marriott owned with Pierce. Third, Marriott and Pierce used PHN funds to pay for their own personal expenses. Additionally, Marriott failed to report some of the proceeds of the schemes on his federal income tax returns.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Ranjan stated that Marriott played a critical part and active role in the schemes to defraud PHN, and noted the needs for just punishment and general deterrence in his sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorneys William B. Guappone and Jeffrey R. Bengel prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Marriott.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Former NFL Player Sentenced to over 16 Years in Prison for $197M Medicare FraudRead the Press Release
A former NFL player who owned a marketing company and was the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies was sentenced yesterday to 196 months in prison for his role in a yearslong scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need.
In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant, Joel Rufus French, 47, of Armory, Mississippi, was ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution and to forfeit approximately $17 million that the government seized from bank accounts and other assets.
“Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”
“The defendant orchestrated a brazen, yearslong scheme that preyed on elderly patients and the families of disabled and deceased veterans to steal millions from Medicare and CHAMPVA,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “By hiding behind overseas call centers, sham telemedicine companies, and straw‑owned DME suppliers, he exploited some of the most vulnerable people these programs were created to protect. This lengthy sentence underscores the seriousness of his crimes and sends a clear message: HHS‑OIG and our law enforcement partners remain steadfast in safeguarding taxpayer‑funded programs and ensuring those who seek to defraud them will be found, stopped, and held accountable.”
“Schemes such as these compromise the integrity of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) programs and services and divert funds from our nation’s deserving veterans and their families,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Greg Wentz of the VA Office of Inspector General (VA OIG) Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out fraudsters and hold them accountable.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, French worked with overseas telemarketing call centers that pressured elderly Americans to provide their personal and health insurance information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces. In certain instances, the call centers altered call recordings to make it seem like Medicare patients agreed to the braces when they did not.
French paid sham telemedicine companies kickbacks to obtain signed doctors’ orders from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined, and often never even spoke to, the patients. He sold the orders to marketers and medical supply companies, which then submitted claims to Medicare. French also defrauded Medicare and CHAMPVA, the health care program for spouses and children of veterans who have or had a permanent and total service-connected disability or who died from a service-connected condition, by billing the programs for orthotic braces through eight DME supply companies that he owned and managed, using straw owners and false documents to hide his connection to the companies from Medicare. French also laundered approximately $225,000 in cash from a bank in Mississippi, over $10,000 of which was placed in a bag and driven to Orlando to pay accomplices who sold him beneficiaries’ personal and insurance information.
After a six-day jury trial ending in February, French was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks.
HHS-OIG, FBI, and VA OIG investigated the case.
Acting Assistant Chief Catherine Wagner and Trial Attorney William Hochul III of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Former Catahoula Prison Warden, Assistant Warden, and Other Supervisors Indicted for Abusing 13 Handcuffed Prisoners with an Electric Riot Shield and for Trying to Cover It up; One Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Reports and Related AbuseRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT– On May 7, a federal grand jury in Shreveport returned a thirty-four count indictment charging several former managers of the Catahoula Parish Correctional Center (“CPCC”) with crimes relating to the use of an electrified riot shield to shock and crush 13 handcuffed, non-resisting prisoners:
Jeremy Wiley, 44 of Harrisonburg, the former Warden of CPCC, was charged with 13 counts of abuse of rights under color of law for using the electrified riot shield to shock and crush the 13 handcuffed, non-resisting prisoners.
Gary Allen, 57 of Winnsboro, CPCC’s former Assistant Warden, William Savage, 57 of Monroe, CPCC’s former Colonel, and James Wathen, 37 of Jonesville, CPCC’s former chief of security, were charged with 13 counts of abuse of rights for their failures to intervene to stop the assaults.
Chad Littleton, 45 of Harrisonburg, a former Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Deputy, was charged with one count of abuse of rights for striking a prisoner in the head and genitals.
All five men were also charged with conspiring to violate the rights of the prisoners as well as falsifying reports about the incident. Allen also faces one count of witness tampering. In addition, on April 14, Carl Michael Williamson, 40 of Jonesville, a former CPCC transportation officer, pleaded guilty in a related case to one count of abuse of rights under color of law for striking one of the inmates in the head and one count of falsifying a report which covered up the abuse of the 13 prisoners.
The defendants face up to ten years imprisonment on the abuse of rights and conspiracy counts, and up to twenty years imprisonment on the false report and witness tampering offenses.
“The facts as alleged dishonor the men and women who put their safety on the line every day to maintain order in our prison system, and they are a disgraceful abuse of the trust that we place in them to treat people in prison with dignity and respect,” said United States Attorney Zachary A. Keller. “The Department of Justice will zealously investigate and prosecute any officer—no matter their title or rank—who tarnishes the badge worn by the brave men and women of Louisiana’s law enforcement community.”
“The FBI will not tolerate law enforcement officers’ criminal abuse and mistreatment of prisoners in their custody,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. “We will diligently investigate allegations such as these and hold the perpetrators accountable. The FBI is grateful for its law enforcement partners and especially the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana for its work on this case.”
According to court documents, on February 1, 2024, then-Warden Wiley used an electrified riot shield to shock and crush 13 men in the custody of CPCC while they were handcuffed, compliant, and subdued by pepper spray in a CPCC recreation yard. Allen, Savage, and Wathen, who were high-ranking supervisors at the facility, had the means and opportunity to stop the abuse but instead chose not to intervene. Littleton and Williamson continued the assault by also striking prisoners. All six of the men wrote false reports to cover up what happened, and Allen continued the obstructive activity by tampering with a witness. Before the assault, the 13 prisoners had been housed in “Cell 12,” a cell containing six beds, for several days. The prisoners were transported to the rec yard where the assault occurred shortly after they started a non-violent protest regarding their overcrowded living conditions.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Johnson and LaDonte Murphy with assistance from Legal Assistant Tanya Broussard.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana at www.justice.gov/usao-wdla.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana at www.lawd.uscourts.gov or at https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/cmecf-pacer. The case number for United States v. Jeremy Wiley et al. is 26-CR-00190, and the case number for United States v. Carl Williamson is 26-CR-00127.
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CONTACT: Public Affairs [email protected]
United States Attorney’s Office www.justice.gov/usao-wdla
Western District of Louisiana Twitter @USAO_WDLA
Former CEO of Healthcare Company Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for His Role in $212 Million Investment Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – The former chief executive officer of a publicly traded healthcare services company was sentenced on May 5, 2026, for his role in a large-scale conspiracy to defraud investors in connection with the purchase or sale of the company’s securities, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.
Parmjit Parmar, a/k/a “Paul Parmar,” 55, of Colts Neck, New Jersey, had pleaded guilty on May 7, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Parmar was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $125 million in victim restitution.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From May 2015 through September 2017, Parmar and his conspirators, including Sotirios Zaharis, a/k/a “Sam Zaharis,” and Ravi Chivukula orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud a private investment firm and others out of hundreds of millions of dollars in connection with the funding of a transaction to take private a healthcare services company traded publicly on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market. To fund the transaction, the private investment firm put up approximately $82.5 million and a consortium of financial institutions put up another $130 million, for a total of approximately $212.5 million. The coconspirators utilized fraudulent methods to grossly inflate the value of the company and tricked others into believing that it was worth substantially more than its actual value.
Parmar and the conspirators sought to raise tens of millions of dollars in the public markets, purportedly to fund the company’s acquisitions of various operating subsidiaries. In reality, a number of those entities either did not exist or had only a fraction of the operating income attributed to them. The conspirators funneled the proceeds of these secondary offerings through bank accounts they controlled and used the money for a variety of purposes that had nothing to do with acquiring the purported targets. The conspirators went to great lengths to make it appear that these funds were revenue, concocting phony customers and altering bank statements to make it appear as if the funds were coming from customers.
To perpetuate the scheme, Parmar and his conspirators also falsified and fabricated bank records of subsidiary entities in order to generate a phony picture of Comrevenue streams and made material misrepresentations and omissions to the private investment firm and others.
Parmar and his conspirators’ actions caused victims to value the company at more than $300 million for purposes of financing the transaction to take the company private. The scheme was uncovered in September 2017, when Parmar and his conspirators resigned from their positions with the company or were terminated. On March 16, 2018, the company and numerous of its affiliated entities filed for bankruptcy, attributing the company’s financial demise, in large part, to the fraud scheme.
U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, with assistance from FBI Headquarters Forensic Accountant Support Team.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys George M. Barchini of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit and Kelly M. Lyons of the Economic Crimes Unit, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Olta Bejleri of the Economic Crimes Unit, Carolyn Silane, Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, and Peter A. Laserna, Chief of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit in Newark.
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Defense counsel for Parmar: John H. Hemann, Esq., San Francisco, CA; Andrew D. Goldstein, Victoria R. Pasculli, Esqs., New York, NY; Anuva V. Ganapathi, Esq., Palo Alto, CA
First Week of May Brings 215 New Federal Immigration Cases to Western District of Texas, Including El Paso Stash House BustRead the Press Release
SAN ANTONIO – Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 215 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from May 1 to May 7, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. Charges were brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for numerous DWIs, violent crime, drug trafficking, theft, and multiple prior removals.
Among the new cases, U.S. citizen Bryan Fernando Guillen was charged with alien smuggling after U.S. Border Patrol agents allegedly observed him dropping off an illegal alien at a stash house in El Paso. A criminal complaint alleges that, on May 4, Guillen was the driver of a Mercedez-Benz that had been under investigation and seen in a TikTok video that was also under investigation for posting content associated with alien smuggling. USBP agents pursued the Mercedes, which allegedly failed to yield to their emergency lights, and continued driving recklessly at a high rate of speed. The complaint alleges that the vehicle was found abandoned at the Ysleta Port of Entry, and that Guillen and a passenger were ultimately arrested as they attempted to run into Mexico through the POE’s southbound vehicle lanes. Agents determined the passenger was not involved in alien smuggling and was released from custody. Guillen, however, allegedly was aware of 12 illegal aliens located at the stash house and had been working with co-conspirators for approximately seven months in several capacities related to human smuggling and harboring illegal aliens.
The May 4 stash house operation in El Paso also resulted in the arrests of Bryan Adrian Flores-Martinez and Hector Emigdio Navarro-Olivas. A criminal complaint alleges that USBP agents observed a red pickup truck traveling from the residence on West Paisano drive to an area near Asarco, where fresh, wet, muddy footprints from six individuals were also found. The complaint alleges that the truck returned to the residence and dropped off six illegal aliens before departing again. Shortly after, Flores-Martinez and Navarro-Olivas allegedly arrived back at the stash house and were seen carrying grocery bags into the residence before departing again. The following day, according to the complaint, Flores-Martinez and Navarro-Olivas were arrested when they sought admission into the U.S. at the Paso Del Norte POE.
On May 2, Salvadoran national David Antonio Lazo-Alvarenga was allegedly found in a field approximately six miles east of the Tornillo POE. A felon, Lazo-Alvarenga has been convicted of three DWIs and was deported for the fourth time on June 23, 2025.
Alexi Evaristo Turcios-Nunez, an illegal alien from Honduras, faces an illegal re-entry charge in Del Rio. Turcios-Nunez was convicted of aggravated sexual assault in June 2019. He’s been previously removed from the U.S. twice, the last being May 21, 2025.
Mexican national Jose Alexis Alarcon-De La O was arrested by USBP agents on May 3 near Maverick, having been removed from the U.S. in March for the second time. In 2017, he was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prior to that felony conviction, he was twice convicted for theft of property and once for sale of stolen property.
Hugo Gonzalez-Santa Cruz, also an illegal alien from Mexico, was charged with illegal re-entry after being found in the Travis County Jail following an arrest for assault causing bodily injury. He’s been removed from the U.S. twice, the last being in 2017, and has two DWI convictions.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Felon Sentenced for Possessing a Loaded Firearm and MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. – A prior felon was sentenced today for methamphetamine and firearms possession, announced U.S. Attorney
Clint Johnson.U.S. District Judge John D. Russell sentenced Wyatt Eugene Rogers, 39, for Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute and Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition. Rogers was ordered to serve 90 months imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release.
Sapulpa Police officers pulled over Rogers for a traffic violation in September 2024. During the traffic stop, Rogers told the officer that he did not have a valid driver’s license or car insurance. After a records check, officers learned that Rogers was previously convicted of drug possession. Court documents show that officers observed Rogers moving around in the vehicle and reaching under the passenger seat. Officers asked Rogers to exit the vehicle while a K9 officer conducted a free-air sniff. The K9 officer alerted its handler that drugs were present in the vehicle.
Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded handgun under the passenger seat and 73.51 grams of a crystal-like substance containing methamphetamine. Rogers initially denied knowledge of the firearm and the methamphetamine, but later admitted that it was his.
Court dockets show that Rogers has a lengthy criminal history, including domestic assault, prior convictions related to methamphetamine distribution, and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Rogers will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sapulpa Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Wright prosecuted the case.
Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses on the most pressing violent crime issues facing our communities. This nationwide initiative brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and prosecutors to strategically address and reduce violent crime, in collaboration with other agencies and organizations that serve communities.
Federal Jury Convicts Cuban National for Ramming ICE Vehicles in San AntonioRead the Press Release
SAN ANTONIO – A federal jury convicted a Cuban national today on two counts of destruction of government property, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on Jan. 13, Robyn Argote-Brooks, 25, of Havana, Cuba, used his vehicle to damage an SUV and a sedan, both of which were property of the United States and maintained by ICE. The amount of damage to each vehicle exceeded $1,000.
Argote-Brooks was arrested and charged via complaint with one count of destruction of government property. An indictment filed Feb. 4 added a second destruction of government property count as well as a charge of forcibly assaulting a federal officer. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery presided over the three-day jury trial.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case with assistance from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Walker and Todd Keagle are prosecuting the case. Megan Ramirez, with the office’s Advanced Litigation Support unit, provided technical assistance to the trial team leading up to and during the trial.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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Federal Indictment Charges Suburban Chicago Businessman with Orchestrating $4 Million Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago businessman has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a pair of fraud schemes that netted him more than $4 million.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges RAED NASER with eleven counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.
Naser owned a freight transport company based in Orland Park, Ill. According to the indictment, Naser engaged in two wire fraud schemes—one involving the submission of false invoices from Naser’s company for nonexistent freight shipping and the other involving bakery franchises that Naser sold to an unsuspecting buyer after fraudulently inflating their value. The money laundering charges accuse Naser of laundering the proceeds from the fraud schemes by, among other things, purchasing a Lamborghini Huracan, a BMW M8 Gran Coupe, and a Cadillac Escalade.
Naser, 41, of Crown Point, Ind., pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing is now set for June 10, 2026, at 9:45 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.
The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi Manschreck.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
naser_indictment.pdfDistrict of Arizona Charges 340 Individuals for Immigration-Related Criminal Conduct this WeekRead the Press Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. – During the week of enforcement operations from May 2, 2026, through May 8, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 340 individuals. Specifically, the United States filed 143 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 177 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States filed 18 cases against 19 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona. Protecting law enforcement officers is a key part of border vigilance, and federal prosecutors also charged one defendant for assaulting a Border Patrol agent.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Recent matters of interest include:
United States v. Christian Diangelo Martinez-Espinoza. Christian Diangelo Martinez-Espinoza was charged by criminal complaint on May 4, 2026, with one count of Transportation of Illegal Aliens for Profit Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Any Person and two counts of Assault on a Federal Officer. On May 3, a U.S. Border Patrol agent initiated a traffic stop on a Honda Civic in Patagonia, Arizona. Martinez-Espinoza, the driver, initially stopped, but immediately afterward reversed the Honda into an agent’s vehicle, striking the front end of the vehicle. He then fled the scene. Agents pursued the Honda as it fled reaching speeds of approximately 100 mph. Agents then deployed a vehicle immobilization device (VID) and successfully deflated three of the tires. Martinez-Espinoza continued to travel at approximately 80 mph on the flat tires when agents successfully deployed the VID again, deflating the remaining tire. Martinez-Espinoza continued with all tires deflated for approximately eight more miles until he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll over and crash off the side of the road into the desert. He fled the vehicle, and agents pursued him on foot. Martinez-Espinoza then assaulted an agent, punching him in the mouth, in an effort to avoid apprehension. He was eventually taken into custody. Two passengers were located inside the crashed vehicle. One was critically injured and transported to a hospital. Both passengers were determined to be citizens of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States. [Case Number: 26-1826MJ – Tucson]
United States v. Gregory Elisha Evans. On May 5, 2026, Gregory Elisha Evans was charged by criminal complaint with Transportation of Illegal Aliens. On May 5, 2026, U.S Border Patrol agents observed a white Hyundai Genesis enter and exit a known smuggling area near the border. Agents responded to the area where the vehicle was last seen and discovered footprints belonging to two individuals originating from a wash near the international border fence. The description and direction of travel of the Genesis was sent out to nearby Border Patrol stations and local law enforcement partners. Shortly after, a deputy with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office observed the Genesis on I-10 and noticed there was an object mounted to the center of the windshield. He then conducted a traffic stop on the Genesis. While speaking with the driver, Gregory Elisha Evans, the deputy observed two passengers attempting to conceal themselves on the floorboard between the front and back seats. The passengers were wearing camouflage pants, and there was a strong body odor coming from the back seat, both indicative of individuals traveling through the desert for long periods. Border Patrol agents determined that both passengers were citizens of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States. [Case Number: 26-MJ-06150 - Tucson]
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-072_May 8, 2026, Immigration Enforcement
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Danville Man Arrested, Charged on Numerous Child Exploitation OffensesRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, Va. – An indictment charging a Danville, Va. man in connection with twelve felony charges related to child exploitation, including the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), sexual enticement of minors, cyberstalking, and making threats to injure reputation with intent to extort, was unsealed today following his recent arrest in New Mexico.
In a sealed indictment returned April 9, 2026, a federal grand jury in Roanoke charged Jesus Diaz, 25, of Danville, with two counts of making extortive threats to injure the reputation of a minor, one count of distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), one count of cyberstalking of a minor, four counts of production of child sexual abuse material, and four counts of enticement of a minor.
Diaz was arrested April 16, 2026 in New Mexico. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in the Western District of Virginia on May 15, 2026.
According to the indictment and other court documents, in March 2024, Minor Victim 1 (MV1), then a 17-year-old female living in Idaho, reported to local law enforcement that an individual was extorting her for sexually explicit images and videos. MV1 indicated that several years earlier, when she was 14 years old, she sent nude images via social media to an individual she knew as “Xavier” and that Xavier was now threatening to send those previous pictures and videos to MV1’s family, friends and church members if MV1 didn’t continue communicating with him and send more images.
The Idaho Office of the Attorney General Criminal Division reached out to agents with the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to assist in their investigation after they determined accounts used by “Xavier” to send threatening communications were associated with an IP address in Danville, Virginia.
Agents with HSI determined that the Danville IP address was associated with Diaz. In addition, they determined Diaz would be returning to the United States from an overseas trip via Hartfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Upon his arrival, law enforcement seized several digital devices from Diaz and obtained search warrants for the devices. During the resulting search, investigators found that that Diaz’s phone allegedly contained references to social media accounts used to harass and threaten MV1.
HSI subsequently investigated further. In searches of the devices and digital accounts associated with Diaz, HSI found nude and sexually explicit pictures of MV1 and at least 24 other minor females. Diaz allegedly used social media platforms to meet his victims and to solicit nude pictures and images from them. In some instances, Diaz allegedly threatened to broadcast victims’ previous images if they stopped communicating with him or refused to send more images.
First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci and HSI Special Agent in Charge Eric Weindorf made the announcement.
The Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case. Valuable investigative assistance was provided by the Idaho Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Division, the City of Danville Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Albuquerque office of Homeland Security Investigations provided valuable assistance in the apprehension of Diaz.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Brett is prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/ .
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Defendant Sentenced to Thirty Months in Federal Prison for Decades-Long Identity Theft and Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Spokane, Washington — First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on May 7, 2026, United States District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell sentenced Raymond Kenneth Musgrove, age 78, to 30 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $1,025,544.69 in restitution to the United States. The Court also imposed a $1,100 special assessment.
Musgrove pled guilty to two counts of false representation of a Social Security number, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of theft of government funds. He was also found guilty at bench trial of three counts of aggravated identity theft stemming from a decades-long scheme in which he impersonated a real Vietnam veteran to unlawfully obtain government benefits and services.
According to court records and evidence presented, Musgrove engaged in a fraudulent scheme spanning more than 25 years. Beginning as early as 1997, he assumed the identity of a real individual, identified in court documents as J.M.C., a United States Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. While posing as J.M.C., Musgrove obtained Veterans Affairs compensation benefits, received healthcare services through the Department of Veterans Affairs, opened financial accounts using the victim’s identity, and submitted false statements and documentation to maintain and reinstate benefits.
Even after the real J.M.C. died in 2018, Musgrove continued the scheme by falsely claiming the death had been reported in error and successfully persuaded agencies to resume benefit payments. The fraud continued until 2023, when his attempts to obtain additional benefits led to the discovery of the scheme.In total, Musgrove fraudulently obtained more than $860,000 in federal benefits, contributing to the total restitution amount ordered in this matter.
Federal prosecutors emphasized that the sentence reflects the gravity of Musgrove’s conduct, which involved a highly calculated and sustained fraud scheme, the exploitation of a deceased veteran’s identity, significant financial losses to the government, and repeated efforts to deceive federal agencies over decades.
District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell, before imposing sentence, told Musgrove, “Your offense conduct was lengthy and very troubling. I don’t think it can be fairly characterized as just a mistake . . . You had been living a lie for decades.” Judge Pennell went on to note Musgrove seemingly had no concern for how his actions would impact the victim or his family, and that his pattern of putting himself before others “stops today.”
First Assistant Pete Serrano noted, “Mr. Musgrove carried out a calculated and deeply troubling fraud for decades, exploiting the identity of a military veteran to steal over a million dollars in benefits intended for those who have honorably served our country. This sentence reflects the seriousness of his conduct and underscores our commitment to protecting public resources and holding accountable those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.”
“Today's sentencing underscores the VA OIG’s commitment to investigating and holding accountable those involved in fraudulent activities targeting veterans,” said Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northwest Field Office. “The VA OIG thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this investigation.”
“Raymond Musgrove falsely represented the identity of a veteran as his own to deceptively receive benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, diverting critical benefits meant for veterans who earned them through service and sacrifice,” said Michelle L. Anderson, Assistant Inspector General for Audit as First Assistant, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General. “His actions represent a theft from our veterans and the systems designed to support them.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frieda K. Zimmerman of the Eastern District of Washington. For additional information, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of WashingtonDefendant Sentenced to 300 Months for Child Sex TraffickingRead the Press Release
Spokane, Washington – First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on May 6, 2026, United States District Court Judge Thomas Rice sentenced William Scott Morse, to a total of 25 years of imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release after pleading guilty to various sex trafficking offenses stemming from his knowing solicitation of minor victims for sex.
According to court documents and information revealed during the sentencing hearing, in late September 2024, Minor Victim 1 posted a babysitting ad on Craigslist. Minor Victim 1 identified herself as 15 years old and indicated that she and her friend were CPR certified and were looking to babysit in the evenings or weekends. Morse responded asking if the victim would like to make quick money—but not for babysitting. Morse corresponded with the child extensively describing sex acts he was looking to pay for. He ultimately offered her $320 for sex and went to her home where he engaged in sexual contact with the minor.
Search warrants for Morse’s email accounts showed he was also conversing with Minor Victim 2, who was 16 years old and had also posted a babysitting ad on Craigslist. He promised her quick cash for sex. Minor Victim 2 did not take Morse up on the offer.
In this case, Morse entered a global plea agreement, which required him to enter a plea of guilty to both the federal offenses detailed herein as well as to plead guilty in the Spokane County Superior Court to Rape of a Child in the Third Degree, in violation of RCW 9A.44.079(1). Morse will enter his guilty plea in Spokane County now that the federal sentence has been imposed.
First Assistant Serrano said, “The impact of an offense like this extends beyond the child victims themselves to the entire community. It is tragic that our local teenagers cannot even seek babysitting positions without being propositioned by offenders.”Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam said, “Strong partnerships between local and federal agencies are of critical importance in protecting the young and vulnerable members of our community.”
“Mr. Morse is a threat to the community who persistently targeted innocent and vulnerable teens looking for babysitting jobs online,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “He knew how young these victims were but continued to prey on them anyway. It is our hope that this long prison sentence will keep other young people safe from his crimes.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Perez of the Eastern District of Washington and Scott Donahue for the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
For additional information, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.Defendant Sentenced to 240 Months for Large-Scale Fentanyl Trafficking OperationRead the Press Release
Spokane, Washington — First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on May 6, 2026, United States District Court Judge Thomas Rice sentenced Clinton Paul Patterson, age 42 to 240 months (20 years) in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release for his role in a significant fentanyl trafficking operation that distributed tens of thousands of pills across Eastern Washington.
The sentence follows an extensive investigation involving law enforcement agencies, including the Regional Anti-violence Enforcement and Narcotics Task Force (RAVEN) and federal partners, which uncovered a sophisticated drug distribution network operating between Seattle and Spokane, with meetings frequently arranged in Ritzville, Washington. According to court documents and information revealed during the sentencing hearing, beginning in December 2023, approximately 5,475 fentanyl pills (weighing over 480 grams), along with cocaine, firearms, and multiple cell phones were seized from the execution of a residential search warrant. Law enforcement, through surveillance footage, determined that location was utilized for the distribution of fentanyl in Spokane. Text message evidence revealed that Patterson —identified through phone records and financial transactions—was the source of supply for that fentanyl being trafficked out of this residence. The messages showed Patterson directed drug distribution activities, coordinated meeting locations, and arranged payments through Cash App and cash exchanges. Records confirmed multiple payments totaling thousands of dollars corresponding to drug transactions.
Patterson was arrested on October 21, 2024, in Pasco, Washington. Subsequent searches of his residence and vehicle resulted in the seizure of additional narcotics, including:
•Approximately 1,449 grams of fentanyl recovered from a toilet, where Patterson hadattempted to destroy evidence when law enforcement knocked and announced their presence athis door.
•189 grams of fentanyl pills found in his vehicle.
•Cocaine and MDMA located within his residence.In issuing this sentence, Judge Rice considered Patterson’s extensive criminal history, which included prior convictions for attempted second-degree murder and a previous federal drug trafficking offense. Notably, Patterson had previously received a reduced federal sentence for fentanyl distribution but continued engaging in similar criminal conduct upon release, resulting in the this conviction. Additionally, while in custody, Patterson made threats against his own legal counsel and a federal prosecutor, further raising concerns about public safety and deterrence.
First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano said, “This sentence was well deserved in this case given the huge quantity of deadly fentanyl involved and Patterson’s pattern of violent and drug-related criminal conduct. This case underscores the ongoing efforts of federal and local law enforcement to combat the distribution of fentanyl, a highly dangerous and often deadly substance contributing to the opioid crisis nationwide.”
“This 20-year sentence sends a clear message: those who profit from poisoning our communities with fentanyl will be held accountable,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Through Fentanyl Free America, DEA is relentlessly targeting the individuals and networks responsible for distributing this deadly drug. With strong enforcement, intelligence-driven investigations, and strategic partnerships, we are working every day to disrupt the fentanyl supply chain and save American lives.”
Sergeant Julian Covella of the RAVEN Task Force said, “This sentence is reflective of the many hours of hard work and dedication shown by the lead investigator in this case and the RAVEN Task Force members as a whole. The RAVEN Task Force is proud of the collaborative work between our local and federal partners as we continue to battle the fentanyl epidemic affecting our community.”
For additional information, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.Convicted Felon Out on Parole Sentenced Back to Prison for 29 Years for Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
CLEVELAND – A Cuyahoga County man who committed a string of armed robberies while he was out on parole for a separate offense has been sentenced back to prison. Fourteen individuals were terrorized with life-threatening violence by his robberies.
Lawrence Sturdivant, 36, of Garfield Heights, Ohio, was sentenced to 352 months (29.3 years) in prison after pleading guilty to:
- Use, Carry, and Brandish a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence
- Interference with Commerce by Robbery
- Attempted Interference with Commerce by Robbery
- Felon in Possession of Ammunition; prior convictions include Burglary and Attempted Burglary in 2010; and Aggravated Robbery in 2014.
He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment. U.S. District Court Judge J. Philip Calabrese imposed the sentence May 5.
According to court documents and information presented in court, throughout a three-week period in December 2021, Sturdivant terrorized employees and patrons at 10 Cleveland-area stores as he committed robberies at gunpoint. Each time he entered a store, he would wander around the aisles before bringing a small item to the cashier counter. When the cashier opened the cashbox for the sale, Sturdivant pointed his gun at the employees, threatened their lives, and demanded money.
“Mr. Sturdivant’s violent actions inflicted a level of trauma on the employees and customers of these stores that was devastating and life altering,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio. “We are thankful to the ATF and our local police departments for piecing together the evidence in these robberies and bringing this individual to justice. Our community is safer now that this serial criminal will spend decades behind bars.”
The victim businesses that were affected were:
- Walgreens Pharmacy, Chagrin Boulevard, Shaker Heights, Dec. 5, 2021
- Walgreens Pharmacy, Union Avenue, Cleveland, Dec. 5, 2021
- Family Dollar, Madison Avenue, Cleveland, Dec. 11, 2021
- Family Dollar, South Miles Road, Cleveland, Dec. 11, 2021
- Walgreens Pharmacy, Clark Avenue, Cleveland, Dec. 16, 2021
- CVS Pharmacy, Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Dec. 16, 2021
- Family Dollar, East 93rd Street, Cleveland, Dec. 17, 2021
- Family Dollar, Kinsman Avenue, Cleveland, Dec. 26, 2021
- Family Dollar, 4172 Pearl Road, Cleveland, Dec. 2021
- Family Dollar, Detroit Road, Cleveland, Dec. 26, 2021
“There is no place in our society for criminals like Lawrence Sturdivant,” said ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Smerglia. “The crimes he committed were despicable and cut to the very core of our moral fabric. Prison is exactly what he deserves. The tremendous work conducted by ATF Agents in conjunction with our local partners is a tribute to the excellent partnerships here in Cleveland. Violence will not be tolerated in our community, and I could not be prouder of our investigators and prosecutors for their efforts here every day.”
Investigators also discovered that Sturdivant attempted to hide evidence of his crimes. After the tenth robbery, he cleaned his car, parked it away from where he was staying, and reported it stolen to Cleveland police. When agents later searched his home, they found 9mm rounds of ammunition. In total, Sturdivant stole nearly $3,000 during the robberies.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Cleveland Division of Police-Real Time Crime Center, the Shaker Heights Police Department, and the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.
The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorneys Adam J. Joines and Margaret Kane for the Northern District of Ohio.
Convicted Felon Indicted for Hobbs Act Robbery and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Tallahassee, Florida – Laquinton Montral Harris, 36, of Tallahassee, Florida, has been indicted in federal court for one count of Hobbs Act robbery; carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the charges.
Court documents reflect that on January 31, 2026, Leon County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a reported robbery at Z-Mart located on Fred George Road in Tallahassee. Surveillance footage captured an armed individual dressed entirely in black clothing and face covering enter the store. The individual approached a store employee and demanded money. When the employee responded he had nothing immediately on hand, the suspect fired one round from his firearm into the floor. The employee removed the cash register drawer and handed it to the suspect who then left the store. Law enforcement conducted a detailed investigation which led them to Laquinton Harris, who has prior felony conviction, as the main suspect. A federal search warrant was executed at Harris’ residence. A firearm and clothing consistent with items seen on the store surveillance footage were located.
Harris appeared in federal court for his arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick in Tallahassee, Florida. Jury trial is scheduled for June 23, 2026, at 8:30 am before United States Chief District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor in Tallahassee, Florida.
If convicted, Harris faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the robbery count; at least 10 years, which must be consecutive to any other sentence, on the carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence count; and up to 15 years’ imprisonment on the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon count.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
The case involves an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
Connecticut Man Charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base and FentanylRead the Press Release
BURLINGTON – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on May 7, 2026, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Dayquan Smith, 34, of Hartford, Connecticut with possessing with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing cocaine base and fentanyl.
Smith entered a plea of not guilty to the charges during an arraignment on May 7, 2026, before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle. Judge Doyle had previously ordered that Smith be detained during the pendency of this matter.
According to court records, on January 21, 2026, members of the Vermont State Police executed a search warrant at a residence on Sand Hill Road in Bethel, Vermont. Smith was present in a camper on the property in which law enforcement found over 350 grams of suspected cocaine base, over 40 grams of suspected purple fentanyl, and an unknown wet white powder/sludge on the floor of the shower. Also within the camper was approximately $8,675 in U.S. currency, a Ruger LCP Max .380 pistol, and a box of .380 caliber ammunition.
The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Smith is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Smith faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment and a potential sentence of up to life imprisonment if convicted. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.
First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the investigatory efforts of the Vermont State Police and the FBI.
The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Cate. Smith is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Emily Kenyon.
Columbus Repeat Offenders Sentenced in Operation Take Back America CasesRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Three defendants, all with criminal histories, were sentenced to prison in separate Operation Take Back America investigations in the Columbus region.
Travis Dwayne Broadnax, 40, was sentenced to serve 137 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on Feb. 4, 2026.
Johnny Foster, III, 47, was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on Feb. 10, 2026.
Clifford E. Thompson, 59, was sentenced to serve 188 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on Jan. 23, 2026.
The defendants are all from Columbus. U.S. District Judge Clay Land handed down the sentences on May 6. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Convicted felons with guns will find their criminal cases in federal court, where there is no parole,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “We are working alongside law enforcement at every level to protect our communities and ensure armed repeat offenders are brought to justice.”
“Criminals must understand that there are serious repercussions for the illegal possession of firearms and that ATF and our law enforcement partners will contribute all necessary time and effort to ensure criminals are brought to justice,” said ATF Resident Agent in Charge Joseph Waller.
“These cases reflect the strength of our partnerships at every level of law enforcement,” said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “By working together, we are holding repeat offenders accountable and taking illegal firearms off the streets. Our shared goal is simple: protect our communities and prevent future violence before it happens.”
“The hard work and dedication of law enforcement, along with the commitment of prosecutors to hold criminals accountable, helps make all Georgians safer,” said Colonel William W. Hitchens, III, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
"We're not going to stop until the criminal behavior stops. Repeat violent offenders with guns increase the opportunities to commit additional violent crimes,” said Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman. “We will continue to work through collaborative efforts to serve as a force multiplier to get guns out of the hands of violent offenders."
“Armed repeat offenders will not dictate the safety of this city. CPD, alongside our partners, will continue to identify, arrest and help prosecute those who choose violence and illegal firearms. These outcomes reflect accountability, not chance,” said Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis.
According to court documents and statements referenced in the Broadnax case, a deputy with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Broadnax on Macon Road on Aug. 22, 2024, which resulted in a high-speed chase and Broadnax crashing into a mailbox and tree, then fleeing on foot. Broadnax was quickly apprehended, and a pistol was found in the vehicle. In jail, Broadnax was recorded asking others to find someone who would claim ownership of the firearm, because he had too many gun charges. Later, Broadnax admitted the firearm belonged to him and that he purchased it from a Zohannon gang member the same night he was arrested. Broadnax has several prior felonies, including two convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony obstruction of a police officer, along with prior convictions for theft, all out of Muscogee County, Georgia, Superior Court.
According to court documents and statements referenced in the Foster case, officers with the Columbus Police stopped a car for a traffic violation on Benning Drive on Feb. 27, 2025. Foster was a passenger in the backseat. Officers directed the occupants to step out of the car and sit on the curb. Foster then stood up and ran toward a nearby apartment complex but tripped and fell. He was detained, and Foster admitted he had a firearm in his pocket and that there were drugs in the rear passenger side of the vehicle, where he had been sitting. Officers found a loaded pistol in Foster’s pocket, and quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana packaged for sale in small baggies in the backseat. Foster has a lengthy criminal history, including prior felony drug convictions in Georgia, including Muscogee County Superior Court.
According to court documents and statements referenced in the Thompson case, a Georgia Department of Public Safety Trooper stopped Thompson, who was driving his truck on Interstate 185-North in Harris County, Georgia, for not wearing a seat belt on Sept. 20, 2023. The trooper saw Thompson attempt to hide something under the driver’s seat, and he was asked to step out of the vehicle. Thompson told the trooper it was marijuana, and there was nothing else in the truck. The trooper found a semi-automatic pistol under the driver’s seat floor mat; a book bag filled with 107 grams of cocaine, as well as substances suspected to be marijuana and mushrooms; plus, clear bags and a scale behind the driver’s side seat. Thompson also had $1,905. Thompson has three previous felony drug convictions in Muscogee County Superior Court.
It is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm. There is no parole in the federal system.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) 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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the cases, with the FBI, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department and the Georgia Department of Public Safety handling the specific traffic stops. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tamara Jarrett prosecuted the cases for the Government.
Colin Jackson Convicted of Participating in Scheme to Defraud Automobile Insurance CompanyRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal jury convicted Colin Jackson of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. The jury’s verdict followed a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson.
The jury found that Jackson conspired with others, including a previously convicted defendant, Kirill Afanasyev, to defraud an automobile insurance company concerning the submission of a fraudulent insurance claim on an already-wrecked car in 2018.
According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, Jackson, 39, of San Francisco, obtained an insurance policy on an undrivable car in June 2018. He made a number of misstatements in his application for that policy, including regarding his estimated annual mileage on the car. Five months later, in November 2018, Jackson and Afanasyev worked together to submit a fraudulent claim concerning a fake accident to the insurer. Unaware it had insured a wrecked car, the defrauded automobile-insurance company approved the claim and paid Jackson about $27,000—the insurer’s estimate of the replacement value of the car, which had been titled in Jackson’s name.
The 2018 fraud followed a similar scheme in 2017, when Jackson and Afanasyev obtained a payout from the insurer of approximately $30,000 on another already-wrecked car titled in Jackson’s name.
United States Attorney Craig Missakian, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Cobo, and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen made the announcement.
Jackson is next scheduled to appear before Judge Thompson for sentencing on September 25, 2026.
With the jury’s verdict against Jackson, more than a dozen defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial as part of an ongoing federal investigation into automobile insurance frauds and an unrelated arson conspiracy involving an overlapping defendant, Jose Badillo, who previously pleaded guilty to participating in both parts of the scheme.
* * *
Operation Hammer Down
Operation Hammer Down was a federal investigation into automobile-insurance frauds orchestrated by Afanasyev and Badillo, the former owner of Jose’s Towing, Auto Towing, and Specialty Towing. In total, Afanasyev, Badillo, and others submitted and conspired to submit more than 50 fraudulent insurance claims that caused in excess of $1.5 million dollars in losses to automobile insurance companies.
Operation Hammer Down also concerned arsons orchestrated by Badillo, who sought to impede his competitors’ business prospects to exact revenge against them for perceived wrongs. For his role in the arson campaign, Badillo was sentenced in February 2026 to 60 months in custody by U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin.
The cases that resulted from the investigation include the following, among others:
DefendantCase Number(s)Statute(s)StatusKirill Afanasyev3:23-cr-00042-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud),18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Mail Fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) (Money Laundering), 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud), and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Sentenced on November 7, 2025.3:24-cr-00471-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud),18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Mail Fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud), and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Jose Badillo3:24-cr-00471-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud), and 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud)Sentenced on February 13, 2026.3:25-cr-00062-RFL18 U.S.C. § 844(i) and (n) (Conspiracy to Commit Arson)Sentenced on February 12, 2026.Colin Jackson3:23-cr-00236-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud),18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud), and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Convicted following a trial on May 6, 2026.Jason Naraja3:24-cr-00471-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud)Sentenced on September 12, 2025.Deshaun Loggins3:23-cr-00042-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud) and 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Mail Fraud)Sentenced on April 19, 2024.Vladimir Sarser3:23-cr-00042-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud) and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Sentenced on March 29, 2024.Jay Yoon Song3:23-cr-00270-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering).Sentenced on April 25, 2024.Sergey Kravchenko3:24-cr-00049-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud) (2), 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Mail Fraud) (2), and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering) (2).Pleaded guilty on November 5, 2024.Jessica Najarro3:24-cr-00382-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Pleaded guilty on February 21, 2025.Jamie Respicio3:24-cr-00471-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Money Laundering)Sentenced on June 27, 2025.Boris Meleshinsky3:24-cr-00483-TLT18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud)Pleaded guilty on September 27, 2024.These prosecutions are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Francisco comprises agents and officers from FBI and IRS, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Galen A. Phillips and Nicholas M. Parker are prosecuting these cases with the assistance of Lance Libatique, Andy Ding, Carolyn Jusay, and Yaqiong Fan. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and IRS-CI. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI thank the San Francisco Police Department for its assistance with the investigation.
Chinese National and Ringleader Sentenced to 12.5 Years in $27 Million Multinational Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Targeting over 2,000 SeniorsRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – Zhao Wang, aka “Oscar,” was sentenced in federal court today to 151 months in prison for leading a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States.
Wang, a Chinese national, was the lead defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024. According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation and government impersonation, and refund scams targeting elderly victims. Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number. Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers. Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with victims. In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims’ computers and to carry on the scams.
One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. In the refund scams, victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge. While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally “over-refunded” money. The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfers or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy. In reality, the victims had not been refunded any money and victims were scammed into sending their own money.
Victims were instructed to send the alleged over-refunded money via wire transfers and in bulk cash via express mail packages to members of the conspiracy, including defendant Zhao Wang, in the United States. When a victim was duped into sending bulk cash in the mail, Wang would provide his India-based co-conspirators a fictitious name plus an address of a retail location that could accept express mail packages. Those names and addresses would then be relayed to the victims, who were instructed to express mail the bulk cash. Then, once a victim had sent the cash in the mail, Wang and his co-conspirators would use fake IDs to get the packages of cash sent by the elderly victims.
In sentencing papers, the government argued that Wang oversaw the U.S.-based operation, including co-conspirators who would retrieve victim packages and document themselves retrieving and opening packages and counting the money inside. Agents seized countless such photos and videos from Wang’s phone.
Investigators identified over 2,000 elderly victims from throughout the country, including victims in San Diego, who were defrauded and suffered over $27 million in losses over an approximately two-year period between 2021-2023.
At sentencing, the government emphasized that Wang was explicit that his operation was, in his own words, scamming elderly Americans. The following conversation from February 2022 was seized from Wang’s cellphone during the investigation:
In publicly filed documents, Wang also admitted that after receiving the fraud proceeds, he and his co-conspirators laundered the money using cryptocurrency back to their foreign-based counterparts.
Wang admitted that typically each day after collecting victim packages, Wang’s co-conspirators would deliver the money from the packages to him. Wang would then coordinate with his foreign-based co-conspirators, who would provide a cryptocurrency wallet that Wang would use to transfer cryptocurrency. Wang took upwards of 18 percent of the fraud proceeds and transferred the rest via cryptocurrency to his co-conspirators. Wang also admitted that he laundered the proceeds to promote the fraud scheme by using fraud proceeds to pay co-conspirators and to purchase the fake IDs used in the scheme.
“This sentence recognizes the profound human cost of exploiting trust and treating vulnerable people as opportunities for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.
“Zhao Wang, “Oscar,” and his co-conspirators callously scammed more than 2,000 elderly victims throughout the country with a variety of fraud schemes for years,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Today’s sentence ensures that Wang, the coordinator perpetrating the multitude of scams, is held accountable for his role. FBI San Diego and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively investigate those who think they can prey on our elder population without consequences.”
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie called the scope of the fraud “staggering” and called Wang’s domestic operation of the scheme “100 percent reprehensible.” In finding Wang specifically targeted elderly victims, Judge Huie emphasized, “Their vulnerability was not incidental. It was not coincidence. It was how they were selected. It was how they came to be scammed.”
The wife and daughter of an 83-year-old victim spoke at the sentencing hearing today. They said that within months of being scammed, the victim lived with suspicion, distrust and resentment and he soon passed away. Judge Huie commented, “It’s really hard to fathom the depth of that harm in somebody’s last months on this planet.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
DEFENDANTS
Case Number 24-cr-1317-RSH-01
Zhao Wang, aka “Oscar” Age: 41 Las Vegas, NV
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349, 2326
Maximum Penalties: Forty years in prison; $1 million fine
Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and 1956(h)
Maximum Penalties: Twenty years in prison; maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the amount laundered
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General
Homeland Security Investigations
San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
San Diego County Sheriff’s DepartmentSan Diego Police Department
San Diego Elder Justice Task Force
Chino Police Department
Coronado Police Department
Escondido Police Department
Glendora Police Department
Long Beach Police Department
Orange County Sheriff’s Department
Brentwood Attorney Pleads Guilty to Tax FraudRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE - David Gebhardt, 54, of Brentwood, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns that failed to report millions of dollars in income from cryptocurrency sales and from his consulting business.
According to court documents, Gebhardt, a Tennessee-licensed attorney, purchased cryptocurrency but used decentralized exchanges and nominees to conceal his income from those investments. In total, from March 2018 through December 2022, Gebhardt withdrew approximately $6.6 million in funds from his cryptocurrency sales. Despite being warned by his accountants to report all of his cryptocurrency income on his tax returns, he failed to do so. Further, on his 2020 through 2022 returns, he indicated that he did not engage in virtual currency transactions when, in fact, he did. Gebhardt also failed to report all the gross receipts earned by a consulting business he owned. In total, Gebhardt caused a tax loss of more than $550,000 by filing false tax returns for 2018 through 2022.
Gebhardt pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false individual tax returns. His sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2026. He faces a maximum penalty of 6 years in federal prison, as well as restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Trial Attorney Parker Tobin of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Criminal Chief Ahmed Safeeullah for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.
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Beckley Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Roger Lee Cousins, 51, of Beckley, was sentenced today to two years and eight months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of cocaine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 8, 2024, Cousins sold approximately 14.66 grams of cocaine to a confidential informant in Beckley. As part of his guilty plea, Cousins admitted to selling approximately 27.2 grams of fentanyl during the transaction, and to receiving a total of $3,140 for both controlled substances.
Cousins also admitted to additional criminal conduct. Cousins admitted to selling cocaine and fentanyl on October 21, 2024, cocaine on October 29, 2024, and fentanyl on December 6, 2024, each time to a confidential informant.
United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit, which consists of officers from the West Virginia State Police, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, and the Beckley Police Department.
Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian D. Parsons and Timothy D. Boggess and former Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:25-cr-42.
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Autism researcher extradited from Germany to face federal charges of stealing CDC grant moneyRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Poul Thorsen, a Danish researcher who was one of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s top ten most wanted fugitives, was arraigned today on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges after his extradition from Germany.
“Poul Thorsen allegedly stole more than $1 million in federal grant money by submitting fabricated invoices and diverting funds to his personal bank accounts,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “International fugitives who think they can avoid responsibility for serious federal crimes by living overseas are wrong. Due to the unwavering persistence of my office and our law enforcement partners, Thorsen has been extradited to the United States and will face justice in federal court.”
“Thorsen is alleged to have diverted more than a million dollars designated for critical public health and autism research. These funds were entrusted to advance scientific understanding and support children and families; instead, these tax dollars were exploited for personal gain, a serious breach of law and profound betrayal of public trust,” said Kelly Blackmon, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “Thorsen’s extradition reinforces a core principle: individuals who are accused in an indictment of defrauding the American people and misusing federally funded research will be pursued wherever they flee. HHS-OIG, alongside our law enforcement partners, remain committed to safeguarding the integrity of federal programs and ensuring that those who steal from the public are held accountable.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: From 2000 to 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, awarded over $11 million to two governmental agencies in Denmark to study the relationship between autism and exposure to vaccines, between cerebral palsy and infection during pregnancy, and between childhood development and fetal alcohol exposure. In 2002, Thorsen, who had worked as a visiting scientist at the CDC when it was soliciting the grant applications, became responsible for administering the research money awarded by the CDC.
Thorsen allegedly stole more than $1 million of the CDC grant money by submitting fraudulent documents to the Danish government, Aarhus University, and a Danish hospital where scientists performed research under the grant. From February 2004 through June 2008, Thorsen allegedly submitted over a dozen fraudulent invoices, containing the forged signature of a CDC laboratory section chief, that falsely claimed a CDC laboratory had performed work and was owed grant money. Based on these invoices, Aarhus University transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to CDC Federal Credit Union accounts the university believed belonged to the CDC. In truth, the credit union accounts were personal accounts held by Thorsen. After the money was transferred, Thorsen allegedly withdrew the fraudulent proceeds for his own use, obtaining cashier’s checks and buying a home in Atlanta, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and Audi and Honda vehicles.
A federal magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant after a grand jury in Atlanta indicted Thorsen on April 13, 2011, but Thorsen evaded apprehension for nearly 14 years by remaining in Denmark. On June 4, 2025, Thorsen, 65, was arrested in Passau, Germany, pursuant to an INTERPOL Red Notice based on the April 2011 arrest warrant.
Earlier this year, Germany agreed to extradite Thorsen to face trial on two counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering. On May 7, 2026, Thorsen was flown to the United States in federal custody. He was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Elizabeth McBath and will be held without bail pending further proceedings.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs secured the arrest and extradition of Thorsen from Germany.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen H. McClain is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Arizona Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Fentanyl Pills Through U.S. MailRead the Press Release
CLEVELAND – A 38-year-old man has pleaded guilty to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy to transport fentanyl pills from Arizona to North Carolina.
Sadai Lopez, of Goodyear, Arizona, pleaded guilty to the following charges in the indictment:
- Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl
- Distribution of a Controlled Substance
According to court documents, from about August 2023 to November 2024, Lopez was engaged in trafficking illegal narcotics from Arizona to Ohio, to be further transported to North Carolina for redistribution. Investigators found that during the conspiracy, Lopez used U.S. Postal Service offices throughout the Phoenix area to mail six parcels to an accomplice in Newton Falls, Ohio. A search warrant on one of the parcels uncovered 1.150 kilograms of fentanyl pills that were contained inside of two vacuum-sealed bags.
Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 4, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated by the U.S Postal Service Inspection Service.
The prosecution is being led by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin E. Bringman for the Northern District of Ohio.
About the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)
USPIS is the law enforcement branch of the United States Postal Service. To report mail theft or other crimes committed through, or towards, the United States Postal Service, call the USPIS at 1-877-876-2455 or visit uspis.gov/report. For more information about combatting mail theft visit uspis.gov/project-safe-delivery.
Another illegal alien multi-DUI offender heads to federal prisonRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 33-year-old illegal alien living in Houston has been ordered to federal prison for illegally reentering the country without authorization again, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Luis Miguel Sanchez-Martinez pleaded guilty Feb. 19.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake has now ordered Sanchez-Martinez to serve 42 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. In handing down the sentence, the court considered his dangerous behavior, lack of respect for the law and need for further deterrence.
Sanchez-Martinez has multiple convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Authorities first removed him from the United States in November 2020 following his third DUI conviction. He was subsequently removed after a fourth DUI, but law enforcement found him in Houston Aug. 9, 2024, with no authorization to be in the country.
Sanchez-Martinez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration Customs Enforcement – Enforcement Removal Operations conducted the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Law prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Anderson Man Sentenced to Almost 15 Years in Federal Prison for Cocaine TraffickingRead the Press Release
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mayo Pickens, 47, of Anderson, has been sentenced to almost 15 years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking.
On June 26, 2025, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office executed a federal search warrant at Pickens’s residence in Anderson. Law enforcement found approximately 76 kilograms of cocaine and multiple firearms inside the house, including multiple pistols and a rifle. Agents seized more than $75,000 in cash.Pickens was arrested in his vehicle with a loaded revolver. The investigation revealed that Pickens was also responsible for another 24 kilograms of cocaine that he intended to traffic.
Pickens previously received a 292-month sentence following federal convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering. Pickens was released from federal custody in 2021.United States District Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin sentenced Pickens to 176 months imprisonment, to be followed by a five-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen is prosecuting the case.###
Additional Charges Files Against Massachusetts State RepresentativeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Massachusetts State Representative for the First Barnstable District has been charged in a superseding indictment with additional counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns.
Christopher Flanagan, 38, of Dennis, Mass. was indicted with eight counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of falsification of records and three counts of filing false tax returns. Flanagan was previously charged in a six-count indictment in April 2025. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Flanagan is currently the Massachusetts State Representative for the First Barnstable District, which includes the towns of Dennis, Yarmouth and Brewster. Prior to being elected to his first two-year term to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2022, Flanagan served two consecutive three-year terms as a member of the Town of Dennis Select Board. Flanagan received an annual compensation of approximately $97,546 and $100,945 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
From approximately early 2019 to mid-2024, Flanagan also served as the Executive Officer of a Home Builders Association in Cape Cod (HBA) – a professional trade association that represented the Cape Cod building industry comprised of over 300 members. As HBA Executive Officer, Flanagan reported to a Board of Directors and had signatory authority over HBA bank accounts. Flanagan received annual salary and benefits ranging approximately from $65,800 to $81,600 from 2019 to 2024 from the HBA.
It is alleged that, beginning in at least as early as October 2021, Flanagan was facing personal financial difficulty, with thousands of dollars in outstanding credit card debt, missing mortgage payments and hundreds of dollars in bank overdraft fees. According to the superseding indictment, from in or about November 2021 to January 2023, Flanagan stole more than $36,000 in HBA funds from one of the association’s bank account via wire transfers:
Additionally, it is alleged that from February 2021 to December 2023, Flanagan stole more than $7,000 from another HBA bank account via wire transfers:
Flanagan allegedly used the majority of the stolen funds to pay personal mortgage bills, to pay down thousands of dollars in credit card debt and to make other personal expenditures. In one instance, in January 2023, Flanagan allegedly stole $10,000 from HBA in order to fund his campaign account for State Representative. It is further alleged that, in addition to stealing HBA funds via official checks and PayPal transfers, Flanagan also stole hundreds of dollars via direct debit transactions from the association’s bank account funds to pay for personal psychic services in July 2022.
The superseding indictment alleges that Flanagan did not report the stolen funds on his personal tax returns for tax years 2021, 2022 and 2023. Additionally, it is alleged that Flanagan collected rental income that he failed to report on his 2023 tax returns.
According to the superseding indictment, on or about May 5, 2024, Flanagan concealed the stolen funds from the HBA Board by logging onto HBA’s accounting/bookkeeping software using another employee’s account, entering backdated transactions to account for the stolen funds and entering false transaction codes (e.g., “office supplies,” “travel” and “bank charges”) for the withdrawals.
As part of his concealment, it is alleged that Flanagan told the HBA Board that he withdrew funds to reimburse himself for HBA-related expenses that he had paid for out-of-pocket with his personal funds. When the HBA Board requested proof, Flanagan allegedly provided two phony expense reports:
On the first expense report, Flanagan allegedly claimed he had spent $159.36 on “Technology Expenses” at Best Buy on March 4, 2022 and $537.26 on “Office Supplies” at 4Imprint on April 18, 2022. Records of the actual purchases, however, allegedly showed that the Best Buy purchase was for a portable Bluetooth speaker and that the 4Imprint purchase was for t-shirts supporting Flanagan’s State Representative campaign:
Additionally, in the second expense report, Flanagan allegedly claimed to have spent a total of $3,784.84 on “Office Supplies.” Records of the actual purchases, however, allegedly showed that $2,118.10 of this amount was actually used for Flanagan’s personal expenses. Specifically: $613.70 and $361.24 Best Buy purchases were allegedly for an electric dryer and an air conditioner, both delivered to Flanagan’s home; a $1,050.30 Macy’s purchase allegedly for men’s ties, dress shirts, slacks and sports coats; and a $92.86 purchase at Target allegedly for children’s clothes and toys.
According to the superseding indictment, in or about December 2022, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) opened an investigation regarding a campaign mailer that was distributed during Flanagan’s 2022 campaign for State Representative, purportedly a group called “Conservatives for Dennis.”
It is further alleged that Flanagan obstructed the OCPF investigation by attributing the source of the mailer to a false persona he created named, “Jeanne Louise,” whom Flanagan claimed was a member of an independent conservative group that had endorsed his candidacy. It is further alleged that Flanagan created and sent phony emails to OCPF purporting to be on behalf of vendors responsible for creating and distributing the mailer.
In or about October 2023, after Flanagan admitted to OCPF that Jeanne Louise was fake and that he himself was the source of the mailer, OCPF expanded its investigation into Flanagan’s campaign finance activity. Specifically, OCPF requested Flanagan produce evidence that the $10,000 deposited into his campaign account in January 2023 had indeed come from his personal funds.
However, it is alleged that Flanagan’s bank statements from the time of the deposit in January 2023 would reflect that he could not have issued the $10,000 campaign check without his theft of HBA money – showing a beginning balance of approximately $42.28 just one week before depositing the stolen funds. In response, Flanagan allegedly provided OCPF with falsified expense reports that claimed that: the $10,000 check from HBA constituted legitimate HBA-reimbursed expenses; that HBA had a practice of allowing Flanagan to withdraw large sums of money for the purpose of expense reimbursement; and therefore, the $10,000 campaign check was a legitimate donation of Flanagan’s own personal funds.
It is further alleged that Flanagan transferred the $10,000 in stolen funds from his personal bank account into his campaign bank account before using the funds to pay vendors in order to conceal the true source of the funds.
The charges of wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. The charge of falsification of records provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges of filing false income tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Jason Buckley, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Maynard and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
21-Year-Old Felon Who Possessed Gun SentencedRead the Press Release
A man who possessed a loaded gun illegally was sentenced on May 7, 2026, to 51 months in federal prison.
Devieon Jermaine-Oliver Irvin, age 21, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 3, 2025, guilty plea to possession of a firearm as a felon.
While investigating a theft, police officers learned that Irvin was sending text messages to a 13-year-old juvenile. In these messages, Irvin and the juvenile discussed Irvin providing the juvenile with drugs. On March 13, 2025, police searched Irvin’s residence in Marion, Iowa, and found a loaded gun in the couch in the living room. Irvin was a convicted felon and was on state probation at the time he possessed the gun.
Irvin was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Irvin was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Irvin is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole L. Nagin and investigated by the Marion Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 25-CR-00078.
Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.
Thursday 7 May 2026
Zuni Woman Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter of InfantRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A Zuni woman pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after her 2-month-old daughter died from asphyxiation.
According to court documents, on the night of January 25, 2025, Miranda Cachini, 27, an enrolled member of the Zuni Pueblo, consumed alcoholic beverages and fell asleep while breastfeeding her 2-month-old daughter in bed. During the night, Cachini rolled over on top of the baby, causing her to pass away by asphyxiation.
Cachini pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and faces up to eight years in prison at sentencing.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Zuni Pueblo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Mondragon is prosecuting the case.
Venezuelan national sentenced for stealing nearly $300,000 from ATMS in NY, Massachusetts and IllinoisRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y. –U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that David Jose Gomez Cegarra, 25, a citizen of Venezuela, who was convicted of bank larceny, was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay restitution totaling $294,820 by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. Cegarra was then turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Between October 5 and November 11, 2024, Gomez Cegarra, and several co-conspirators, stole more than $290,000 using an illicit technique known as “ATM Jackpotting,” in which they either removed an ATM’s cover and infected its hard drive with malware or removed the entire hard drive and replaced it with an infected hard drive. The technique allows an individual to assume control of an ATM and cause it to dispense currency.
- On October 5, 2024, Gomez Cegarra and his co-conspirators stole $109,620.00 from an ATM located at Radius Federal Credit Union in Kenmore, NY.
- On October 6, 2024, Gomez Cegarra and his co-conspirators stole $58,000.00 from an ATM located at St. Mary’s Federal Credit Union in Framingham, MA.
- On October 17, 2024, Gomez Cegarra and his co-conspirators stole $21,600.00 from an ATM located at First National Bank of Dryden in Dryden, NY.
- On November 11, 2024, Gomez Cegarra and his co-conspirators stole $105,600.00 from two separate Community First Bank ATMs in Mount Vernon, Il.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey E. Intravatola and Douglas A.C. Penrose. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Philip Tejera, the Kenmore Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas Phillips, the Homer, NY, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Robert Pitman, the Framingham, MA, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Lester Baker, and the Mahomet, Illinois, Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Smysor.
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U.S. Court of Appeals Affirms Federal Prison Sentence of More than Thirty Years for El Salvador Man Convicted of Possession and Conspiracy to Distribute Sixteen Pounds of FentanylRead the Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a federal prison sentence of more than thirty years issued by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann to an El Salvador man following his conviction by a federal jury in Aberdeen, South Dakota, for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place at the federal courthouse in Aberdeen on September 15, 2025. The appeal was argued at the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 19, 2026. The Eighth Circuit issued its opinion and judgment affirming the sentence on May 7, 2026.
Edwin Giovanni Salinas, 47, an illegal alien from El Salvador who was living in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to serve 365 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.Salinas left California with a backpack he used to transport approximately three pounds of pure China and Mexican cartel-sourced fentanyl powder and nearly 50,000 fentanyl pills laced with horse tranquilizer. One of the bags of fentanyl seized from Salinas was marked with the word “CHINA.” The pills were manufactured to look like prescription oxycodone pills. In all, Salinas was seeking to distribute approximately sixteen pounds of fentanyl, presumably to communities across the Midwest. The immediate destination for the drugs was believed to be a designated meeting spot at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The approximate street value of the drugs was estimated at $2,000,000.
Salinas was traveling with the illegal drugs in a speeding car with California plates at four in the morning near the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, with an individual he recruited to drive. The vehicle was stopped and the contraband found and seized by a deputy with the Roberts County Sheriff’s Department and a police officer with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe. Salinas was convicted on both felony counts following a five-day jury trial.
At sentencing, the district court made factual findings, credited on appeal, that Salinas “had enough fentanyl to kill 500,000 people” and that this was one of “the biggest drug bust[s] in the history of South Dakota.” The appellate court also affirmed a sentencing enhancement imposed by the district court for threatening his co-defendant and placing her in fear when they were in U.S. Marshals custody and traveling to federal court.
“Case closed,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “The incredible vigilance and professionalism demonstrated by these on-duty law enforcement officers with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal Police and Roberts County Sheriff’s Office unquestionably saved lives.”
This case was investigated by the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribal Police, the Roberts County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Division of Drug Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy R. Jehangiri and Paige Petersen prosecuted the case. Following sentencing, Salinas was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service before being transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. The Mexican drug cartels responsible for the fentanyl smuggled into the United States—primarily the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel—operate global criminal enterprises and rely on a global supply chain, with most fentanyl and its chemical precursors originating from China. In 2025, DEA seized more than 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, equivalent to more than 369 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Honors Several for Excellence in ServiceRead the Press Release
Kevin NashBaltimore, Maryland – Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland (USAO-MD), honored 19 staff members, eight law enforcement officers, and one civilian, today, for their contributions to upholding the Office’s mission.
USAO-MD hosted its annual awards ceremony at the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse where Hayes also introduced 19 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys, 10 Special Assistant United States Attorneys, and 17 other staff who joined the office since the beginning of 2025.
“Today we recognize the very best of what public service looks like. Our Assistant United States Attorneys, professional staff, and law enforcement partners bring extraordinary skill, integrity, and dedication to their work every single day,” Hayes said. “These awards are a way to honor the countless hours and unwavering commitment behind every case completed, every victim served, and every criminal held accountable. I am extremely grateful for and proud of my office’s and our partners’ teamwork and professionalism in everything that we do to further our shared mission of protecting our communities.”
During the ceremony, Hayes announced the following award recipients:
The Eugene P. “Pete” Twardowicz Award
- Donzell Tate, Special Agent, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General
- Kari Spaniol, Special Agent, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General
- George Wahl, Special Agent, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General
- Guy Petrillo, Special Agent, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General
- David Rutledge, Supervisory Forensic Accountant, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Nicole Brianna Dell, Forensic Accountant, Federal Bureau of Investigation
This award recognizes law enforcement agents or officers for outstanding cooperation and achievement while working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The award is named for Eugene P. (Pete) Twardowicz who rendered many years of outstanding service to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as an IRS criminal investigator and a special investigator for this office.
Rod J. Rosenstein Award
Charles T. Gregory, Detective, Charles County Sheriff’s Office
Established in 2017, the Rod J. Rosenstein Award is presented to a state and/or local investigator whose cooperative efforts and excellent work reflect the highest traditions of the law enforcement profession.
Hometown Hero Award
James “Jaime” Bradley, Detective Sergeant, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
Established by the Department of Justice, this award honors a law enforcement officer who demonstrates exceptional commitment to public service, and in particular, demonstrates partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Carl S. Lackl, Jr., Award
Aquana Murray
The Carl S. Lackl Award, established in 2008, is given in honor of Carl Stanley Lackl, Jr., for exemplary perseverance and fortitude in pursuit of justice. In 2006, Mr. Lackl witnessed a murder in Baltimore, identified the suspect, and then agreed to testify against the perpetrator. After law enforcement arrested the suspect, and the State charged him with the murder, the perpetrator (while incarcerated) used a contraband cellphone to contact co-conspirators to arrange to murder Mr. Lackl. Sadly, Mr. Lackl was shot to death outside his home in front of his daughter. All conspirators were convicted on federal charges.
Barnet Skolnik Award
AUSA Joseph Baldwin
This annual award honors one or more Assistant U.S. Attorneys who demonstrate outstanding professionalism, determination, and creativity in a case of unusual public significance. Barnet D. (Barney) Skolnik was a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who led teams that prosecuted numerous white-collar criminals and corrupt public officials in the 1970s, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Awards for Excellence
Established in 2007, the U.S. Attorney’s Awards for Excellence recognize Assistant U.S. Attorneys for excellence in civil advocacy, fraud prosecution, support of a law enforcement initiative, legal support, organized crime prosecution, and violent crime prosecution.
Civil Advocacy
AUSAs Jessica Dillon and Rebecca Koch
Fraud Prosecution
AUSAs Joshua Rosenthal and Darren Gardner
Law Enforcement Initiative
AUSAs Brooke Oki, Spencer Todd, and Carolyn Mills
Legal Support
Alisha Swiger, Andrew Murray, Kimberly Bolarinwa, and Kristy Penny
Organized Crime Prosecution
AUSA James Wallner
Violent Crime Prosecution
AUSAs Paul Budlow and Spencer Todd
Deborah A. Johnston Profile in Courage Award
AUSAs Coreen Mao and Thomas Sullivan
Established in 2019, the Deborah A. Johnston Profile in Courage Award is presented to one or more Assistant U.S. Attorneys who demonstrate extraordinary courage and commitment to duty while representing the United States. During her 23-year tenure, Ms. Johnston served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief of the Southern Division, and Senior Litigation Counsel for the office. Ms. Johnston fearlessly took on the most challenging prosecutions in pursuit of justice.
Employee of the Year
Jenaye Moye
The Employee of the Year Award, which is given for outstanding contributions exemplifying the highest traditions of the office, recognizes sustained superior performance and outstanding achievements by a non-attorney. This award also recognizes the recipient's professionalism, dedication, and comprehensive knowledge in their area of expertise.
Gary P. Jordan AwardAUSA Thomas Corcoran, Chief of the Civil Division
This is an award presented to an employee for exemplary performance and for upholding the highest traditions of the office: integrity, ingenuity, dedication to public service, and fairness. Gary P. Jordan served with distinction for many years, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, first assistant from March 29, 1987, until his death on October 25, 1996, and as interim U.S. Attorney in 1993.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended all the awardees and staff for their hard work and contributions to the success of the office.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md.
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Two men sentenced to federal prison for theft of U.S. mailRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, Georgia: Two men have been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to charges including mail theft.
Michael Jermaine Thompson, 24, of North Augusta, South Carolina, was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Stolen Mail Key and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, said Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall previously sentenced Thompson’s co-defendant, Robert Dean Plyler, 23, of Augusta, to a total of 38 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after he pled guilty to Possession of Stolen Mail, Bank Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft.
There is no parole in the federal system.
“The security of the U.S. Mail is vital to commerce and communications, and mail theft is a serious matter,” said U.S. Attorney Heap. “These sentences hold both men accountable, and deliver a timely warning that we will diligently pursue those who would violate the mail system.”
As described in court records and testimony, North Augusta police officers were alerted in December 2024 that two men were seen opening a mail “blue box” outside the Georgia Avenue post office and placing the mail in the trunk of their car. As officers were enroute they saw a vehicle matching the description and attempted a traffic stop. The vehicle sped into Georgia and eventually crashed during the pursuit, and Thompson and Plyler were taken into custody.
Investigators from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office recovered a pistol and a large amount of mail from the vehicle. Personnel at the Richmond County jail also found a U.S. Postal Service key in Thompson’s possession.
A total of 131 pieces of mail were recovered, representing 29 victims. The investigation also discovered that Plyler had opened a bank account in his name and had been depositing checks taken from mail thefts into the account. Judge Hall ordered Plyler to pay restitution of $1,157.
“This sentencing is a statement that mail theft will not be tolerated, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” said Rodney M. Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Atlanta Division. “The Postal Inspection Service will continue to partner with other law enforcement agencies to collectively pursue criminals who victimize postal customers.”
“Stealing from the U.S. Mail is not a victimless crime – it disrupts lives, compromises financial security, and erodes trust in a system Americans rely on every day,” said Matt Ploskunak, Senior Supervisory Resident Agent of FBI Atlanta’s Augusta office. “These defendants not only targeted that system, but one of them did so while unlawfully possessing a firearm, compounding the threat to the community. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to aggressively pursue those who exploit the mail for personal gain and hold them accountable under federal law.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the North Augusta Office of Public Safety. The case was prosecuted for the United States of America Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey L. Scanlon.
Two Maryland Men Charged in Connection with Justice Department’s Operation Iron PursuitRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Two Maryland men face indictment for child sexual abuse crimes stemming from the Department of Justice’s Operation Iron Pursuit.
Tarif Jahmil Alston, 43, of Baltimore, and Gleybar Josue Ramirez-Clemente, 21, of Frederick, are charged with sexually exploiting children. Operation Iron Pursuit commenced April 1 and ended April 30.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictments with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche; FBI Director Kash Patel; Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI Baltimore Field Office; and Clinton J. Fuchs, U.S. Marshal for the District of Maryland (USMS).
The Department announced the results from the one-month, nationwide enforcement effort to find child victims of sex abuse and arrest child sex predators. Law enforcement located more than 200 child victims and arrested more than 350 child sexual abuse offenders. All 56 FBI field offices and U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country participated in the coordinated takedown effort. The Administration for Children and Families recognized April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“This operation puts every child predator on notice: we are coming for you,” Blanche said. “The sexual exploitation of minors is an abomination with no place in our society. We will hunt down these offenders, hold them fully accountable under the law, and deliver justice for victims.”
“Every single day this FBI is working 24/7 to break networks of child abusers all across this country,” Patel said. “Last year we joined our partners delivering a record year, identifying and rescuing over 6,300 missing children, and today’s announcement of Operation Iron Pursuit is just the latest success in that work — with over 200 victims located and over 350 offenders arrested. Let this be a message to criminal actors who seek to target America’s children: you will be pursued, and you will be brought to justice.”
“One of our highest priorities is protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. Operation Iron Pursuit underscores the Department of Justice and our office’s commitment to relentlessly pursuing and prosecuting individuals who exploit and abuse our children, and ensuring victims are safely returned to their loved ones,” Hayes said. “We will continue working closely with our community and law enforcement partners to secure justice for every victim.”
“Operation Iron Pursuit is another example of how our Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force is working to protect children across Maryland,” Paul said. “Together with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we are taking dangerous child predators off the streets to face justice in federal court.”
“The success of this operation was the result of effective cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement, and I am grateful for the hard work and dedication by the deputies who took part,” Fuchs said. “The recovery of critically missing children and the pursuit of child predators is a top priority of the Marshals Service and operations like this one serve as a reminder that we will not rest until fugitive sex offenders are brought to justice and missing children are reunited with their families.”
Alston, a previously convicted sex offender, is charged with five counts of receipt of child sexual abuse material, two counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material, and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Ramirez-Clemente is charged with sexual exploitation of a child, coercion and enticement, and possession of child sexual abuse material.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Individuals charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty at a later criminal proceeding. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Other individuals arrested allegedly committed various crimes, including sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, abuse, kidnapping, and possessing, distributing, or receiving child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Some of the alleged offenders include:
- A Columbus, Ohio, man who pleaded guilty to creating AI-generated obscene material of adults and children and to cyberstalking exes;
- A District of Columbia man charged with producing child pornography;
- A New York man charged with sexually exploiting a child; and
- A Pennsylvania man and former felon charged with sexually exploiting a child and illegally possessing a gun.
Additionally, a victim recovered includes a 10-year-old from Utah who was flown from Cuba back home to reunite with the child’s biological mother. The child was supposed to be on a camping trip with a transgender parent, partner, and another child. The group instead flew from Canada to Mexico and then to Cuba; concerns existed that the 10-year-old child was taken to Cuba for gender reassignment surgery. FBI Victim Services Division (VSD) assisted with the recovery of the children, providing crisis support and stabilization.
This effort follows three other successful operations last year. Operation Relentless Justice, which concluded in December 2025, resulted in the rescue of 205 children and arrests of 293 offenders. Operation Enduring Justice, which concluded in August 2025, resulted in the rescue of 133 children and the arrests of 234 offenders. Additionally, Operation Restore Justice, which concluded in May 2025, resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sex abuse offenders.
The FBI’s VSD assisted victims during Operation Iron Pursuit and provided services such as forensic interviews, referrals for medical and mental health resources, and coordination with partners. VSD's mission is to inform, support, and assist victims in navigating the aftermath of crime and the criminal justice process with dignity and resilience.
The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.
The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI's tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Maryland; State’s Attorney’s Office for Baltimore City; State’s Attorney’s Office for Frederick County; Baltimore Police Department; and Frederick Police Department for their work on the Maryland investigations.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md.
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Twin Brothers Plead Guilty to Robbery, Brandishing Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Javae McClain, 19, of Aurora, and Javaris McClain, 19, of Aurora, each pled guilty to robbery affecting commerce and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
According to the plea agreements, in September of 2024, the McClain brothers committed an armed robbery of a convenience store in Denver. Both were charged with aggravated robbery in Denver and then released on state bond. Between December 23, 2024, and January 12, 2025, while on state bond, Javae McClain committed an additional ten armed convenience store robberies across the Denver Metro area, and was taken into custody on January 12, 2025. After Javae McClain was taken into custody, Javaris McClain, who was also still on state bond, continued the robbery spree by robbing an additional nine Denver area convenience stores with a gun. Javaris McClain was arrested on February 4, 2025.
Senior United States District Judge William J. Martinez presided over the hearing.
Both McClains are scheduled to be sentenced in September.
The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force handled the investigation in cooperation with Denver, Commerce City, Westminster, Lakewood, Sheridan, Littleton, Aurora, and Parker Police Departments, and the Arapahoe County Sherriff’s Office.
The Violent Crime and Immigration Enforcement Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado handled the prosecution.
Case Number: 25-cr-134-WJM
Tucson Man Sentenced to 17.5 Years in Prison for Violent Sexual AssaultRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. – On May 5, 2026, Steven Daniel Buitimea, 37, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker to 210 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Buitimea previously pleaded guilty to Aggravated Sexual Abuse.
On May 28, 2022, Buitimea, an enrolled member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, sexually assaulted the victim by force, causing serious physical injury to the victim. The sexual assault occurred on the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation in Tucson, Arizona.
The FBI Phoenix Division’s Tucson office and the Pascua Yaqui Police Department conducted the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
CASE NUMBER: 22-CR-1916
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-070_Buitimea
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.