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Tuesday 7 April 2026
H Block Gang Associate Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An associate of the violent Boston-based gang, H-Block, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for drug conspiracy charges.
Mark Linnehan, 26, of West Roxbury, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 51 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In January 2026, Linnehan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Linnehan was one of 10 H-Block gang members and associates charged in August 2024 following a multi-year investigation of H-Block beginning in 2021 in response to an uptick in gang-related drug trafficking, shootings and violence. According to court documents, over 500 grams of cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and fentanyl, as well as over 20,000 doses of drug-laced paper were seized during the investigation.
The investigation of H Block began in response to an uptick in gang-related drug trafficking, shootings and violence. Since the start of the investigation in 2021, law enforcement attributed 12 incidents of gunfire to growing tensions involving H Block gang associates. Six H Block members and associates were arrested and charged with drug dealing in Boston and the surrounding communities. Four additional H Block members and associates were already in state custody at the time of the arrests. Additional drugs and four firearms were seized during the subsequent arrests.
From 2022 through 2023, Linnehan, a long-time H Block gang associate, participated in a conspiracy to distribute various controlled substances, in particular, fentanyl and cocaine. According to court filings, Linnehan was a supplier of fentanyl to his co-conspirators and also engaged in various drug deals with an undercover officer.
According to the charging documents, the H Block Street Gang is one of the most feared and influential city-wide gangs in Boston. Originally formed in the 1980s as the Humboldt Raiders in the Roxbury section of Boston, the gang re-emerged in the 2000s as H Block. Current members of H Block have a history of violent confrontation with law enforcement, including an incident in 2015 when a member shot a Boston Police officer at point blank range without warning or provocation.
Linnehan is the 6th defendant to be sentenced in the case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jarod A. Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Randy Maloney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office; Ted E., Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; and Russell W. Cunningham Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region made the announcement. The investigation was supported by the Massachusetts State Police; Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; Massachusetts Department of Corrections; and the Braintree, Quincy, Randolph, and Watertown Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney John T. Dawley of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Jeremy Franker of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime & Racketeering Section are prosecuting the cases.The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Guatemalan human smuggler admits to role in 2021 mass casualty event in Chiapas, MexicoRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 42-year-old foreign national has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring an illegal alien into the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury and resulting in death, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Daniel Zavala Ramos aka Dany ZR admitted he conspired with others in the smuggling scheme tied to a tractor-trailer crash involving at least 160 illegal aliens – many of them from Guatemala – that killed more than 50 people and injured over 100 more.
According to court documents, Ramos and others transported illegal aliens, both adults and unaccompanied minors, from Guatemala though Mexico to the United States. He and his co-conspirators recruited Guatemalan aliens, collected payment and arranged for the aliens to travel by foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor-trailers.
Illegal aliens paid Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators to be smuggled to the United States. In some cases, Zavala Ramos and others provided scripted language for unaccompanied minors to use if U.S. immigration authorities apprehended them.
On Dec. 9, 2021, Zavala Ramos and co-conspirators arranged for the aliens they were smuggling to the United States to be loaded into a tractor trailer that was to transport the aliens through Mexico. The vehicle ultimately crashed north of the Guatemala/Mexico border near Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas, Mexico, resulting in the death of 56 people. Over 100 other illegal aliens were injured, some very seriously.
Ramos was extradited in 2025 to face charges in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo will impose sentencing July 7. At that time, Ramos faces up to life in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s – Homeland Security Investigations’ Counter Proliferation Investigations Group in Washington D.C. conducted the joint investigation with HSI offices in Guatemala and Mexico with substantial assistance of HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit and HSI offices in Houston and Laredo, Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, Operation Sentinel, Border Patrol, Liberty County Constable - Precinct 6; ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and Justice Department’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions. Guatemalan and Mexican prosecutors, with the support of law enforcement officials from both countries, were also instrumental in furthering the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Lou Castillo and Jennifer Day are prosecuting the case along with Senior Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section with substantial assistance from HRSP Latin American Specialist/Historian Joanna Crandall.
The charges are a result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha. JTFA, a partnership with Department of Homeland Security, has been elevated and expanded with a mandate to target cartels and transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Colombia that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of California, Districts of Arizona and New Mexico and Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Dedicated support is provided by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 450 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 395 U.S. convictions; more than 345 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is also part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the DOJ to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood..
Guatemalan Illegal Alien Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the United StatesRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Guatemalan National illegally residing in the Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, area, was sentenced yesterday in federal court for Illegal Re-entry by an Alien after subsequently convicted of a prior aggravated felony crime.
Miguel Guzman-Guerra, also known as Joel Montoya Ortiz, 38, was sentenced yesterday by District Court Chief Judge Brian Wimes for the offense of illegal re-entry into the United States by an alien after having been previously convicted of an aggravated felony offense. Mr. Guzman-Guerra was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment with the Bureau of Prisons. Upon serving his period of imprisonment, Mr. Guzman-Guerra will be deported to his native country of Guatemala.
On Jan. 23, 2025, officers with the Carthage, Missouri, Police Department arrested Mr. Guzman-Guerra during a traffic stop and charged him with driving while revoked, identity theft, and failure to register as a sex offender. Upon determining that Mr. Guzman-Guerra was illegally within the United States, local law enforcement contacted agents with the Department of Homeland Security – Immigration Customs Enforcement (HSI-ICE). Agents responded and confirmed that Mr. Guzman-Guerra was illegally in the United States after having been removed previously in 2014.
Mr. Guzman-Guerra’s was previously convicted for a prior aggravated felony offense of sexual indecency with a child, prior to his illegal re-entry into the United States.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the Carthage, Missouri, Police Department.
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.
Guatemalan Human Smuggler Pleads Guilty for Role in 2021 Mass Casualty Event in Chiapas, MexicoRead the Press Release
A Guatemalan national charged in connection with the Dec. 9, 2021 mass casualty event in Chiapas, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to human smuggling charges related to the crash of a tractor-trailer packed with at least 160 illegal aliens — many of them Guatemalan nationals — which resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people, including unaccompanied children, and injured over 100 more.
According to the factual summary entered into the record and court documents, Daniel Zavala Ramos, also known as “Dany ZR,” 42, of Guatemala, acknowledged that he conspired with other smugglers to transport undocumented aliens, both adults and unaccompanied minors, from Guatemala though Mexico to the United States. Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators recruited Guatemalan aliens, collected payment and arranged for the aliens to travel by foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor-trailers. Daniel Zavala Ramos was extradited from Guatemala in 2025 to face charges.
The factual summary further provided that aliens paid Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators to be smuggled to the United States. In some cases, Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators provided scripted language for unaccompanied minors to use if apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities. During the conspiracy, on Dec. 9, 2021, Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators arranged for the aliens they were smuggling to the United States to be loaded into a tractor trailer that was to transport the aliens through Mexico. The tractor trailer ultimately crashed north of the Guatemala/Mexico border near Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas, Mexico, resulting in the death of 56 people. Over 100 other illegal aliens were injured, some very seriously.
Zavala Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an undocumented alien to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury and resulting in death. Zavala Ramos will be sentenced on July 7 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
HSI’s Counter Proliferation Investigations Group in Washington D.C. investigated the case in partnership with HSI Guatemala and HSI Mexico. Valuable assistance was provided by HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit; HSI Houston; HSI Laredo; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s International Interdiction Task Force; U.S. Border Patrol; Liberty County Constable, Precinct 6; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division; and the Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions of the defendants. Guatemalan prosecutors from the Office of Public Ministry and Mexican prosecutors from the Republic of Mexico’s Federal Prosecutions Office, with the support of law enforcement officials from both countries, were also instrumental in furthering the investigation.
Senior Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Lou Castillo and Jennifer Day for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from HRSP Latin American Specialist/Historian Joanna Crandall.
The investigation and charges are 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 450 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 395 U.S. convictions; 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 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 Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) and Project Safe Neighborhood.
Four Sentenced to Combined 99 Months in Federal Prison for US Postal Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
Four defendants involved in a United States Postal Service bribery scheme were sentenced to a combined 99 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
According to court documents, a former Senior Network Analyst for the United States Postal Service, Zechariah Yi, 52, of Aurora, Colorado, and a second USPS employee, Tai Ryoung Rho, 51, also of Aurora, Colorado, pled guilty to a bribery scheme in which they solicited and received approximately $1.5 million in kickbacks from the owners and associates of multiple trucking companies in exchange for agreeing to help the trucking companies obtain USPS service contracts worth approximately $15 million.Wan Jin Yoon, 51, of Plano, Texas, and Hong Jin Yoon, 48, of Denver, Colorado, owned the trucking companies that obtained the USPS contracts under the bribery scheme. Rho, Wan Yoon, and Hong Yoon each pled guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Yi pled guilty to receiving a bribe by a public official.
On March 26 and March 27, 2026, U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer imposed the following federal prison sentences:
• Yi was sentenced to 42 months
• Rho was sentenced to 30 months
• Wan Yoon was sentenced to 24 months
• Hong Yoon was sentenced to 3 months
The defendants also agreed to forfeit two vehicles and more than $300,000 cash.
“At the expense of the integrity and fairness of the government contracting process, these defendants resorted to bribery and corruption simply to line their own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “The diligent work of our law enforcement partners led to a successful prosecution of these fraudsters by my office. This outcome should serve as a warning to others contemplating such behavior, that we will hold every person accountable for fraud schemes of this nature.”
“The public must have confidence that Postal Service employees will conduct their work in an honest manner,” said Kevin Cloninger, Executive Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “When employees commit serious offenses, such as taking bribes, they will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by Special Agents with the USPS OIG. We thank our law enforcement partners in this case at the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assuring that there is no place for public corruption anywhere within the Postal Service.”
“The defendants fraudulently secured a government contract in a scheme that involved paying kickbacks to government employees, who misused their positions of trust with the U.S. Postal Service for personal gain,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “The FBI remains committed to holding accountable individuals that defraud the United States government.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu prosecuted the case.
Four Sentenced for Cocaine Operation Hidden Inside Near-Eastside BusinessRead the Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS- Four individuals have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing at least 55 kilograms of cocaine throughout Central Indiana.
DefendantCharge(s)SentenceKristopher Chavez, 38, Gary, INConspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine8 years, 11 months in federal prison; 5 years supervised releaseEric Kendrick, 45, Fishers, INConspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine11 years, 8 months in federal prison; 5 years supervised releaseDelray Bragg, 42, Richmond, INPossession with Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine5 years, 11 months in federal prison; 3 years supervised releaseJoaquin A. Ramirez-Molina, 41, of Phoenix, AZConspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Controlled Substances4 years, 9 months in federal prison; 3 years supervised releaseAccording to court documents, law enforcement identified a drug trafficking organization operating out of a near east-side Indianapolis business in 2023. Investigators learned that in 2019, Eric Kendrick leased commercial property at 5641 Massachusetts Avenue. Law enforcement discovered that Kendrick used this location as a stash house for storing and distributing cocaine.
On May 31, 2023, courier Joaquin Ramirez‑Molina arrived at the stash house with two suitcases filled with cocaine. Around the same time, Kristopher Chavez arrived with contraband in his vehicle, and the pair retrieved items used to repackage the drugs, including a vacuum sealer, heat‑seal bags, duct tape, and a black duffel bag containing $200,000 in cash for payment.
Moments later, Delray Bragg arrived to pick up ten kilograms of cocaine for redistribution. As he left the property, IMPD officers conducted a traffic stop. Before officers searched his vehicle, Bragg alerted other members of the organization via text message, prompting them to flee the stash house.
Subsequent searches of the property and the defendants’ residences followed. In total, the investigation recovered the following contraband and proceeds of criminal activity:
- $582,591 in cash
- 55 kilograms of cocaine
- Ruger 57 Pistol
- Glock 23 Gen 5 Pistol
- Glock 22 Gen 4 Pistol
- Glock 19 Pistol
- Glock 27 Pistol
- Sig Saurer Pistol
- Pioneer Arms Co. Handgun
- 2023 Mercedes Benz
- 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu
- 2014 Chevrolet Camaro
- Assorted ammunition
“Shipments containing multiple kilograms of cocaine, delivered in suitcases, underscores the profound danger these drugs pose. The larger the number of drugs, the larger the threat to our community, and accordingly the more aggressive the response of my office and our law enforcement partners,” said Tom Wheeler, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Our federal prosecutors remain steadfast in partnering with the DEA, ATF, and local drug task forces to remove dealers from our streets. These poisons are devastating our neighborhoods and the people we love, and we are committed to confronting that harm with every tool at our disposal.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, IMPD, and the Hamilton/Boone Drug Task Force investigated this case. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James R. Sweeney II.
U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson W. McGrath and Matt Barloh, who prosecuted this case.
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Former financial advisor sentenced to 5 years in prison for running $8.6M Ponzi schemeRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI – A former financial advisor who stole $8.6 million from friends and relatives over the course of a 20-year Ponzi scheme was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 60 months in prison.
John Jay Kersey, 65, of Maineville, Ohio, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to wire fraud.
According to court documents, Kersey was a long-time, trusted financial advisor to friends and relatives. For approximately two decades, from 2003 through 2023, he convinced his clients to move their existing investments from his company to purportedly invest in other funds. Kersey then stole the funds and used the money to pay down credit card bills, pay insurance premiums and to provide a downpayment on real estate. Kersey also used the money to pay other clients, when required, to maintain his investment scheme.
To keep his scheme going, the defendant told his clients that their investments were performing well. He provided false documents that included fictitious financial summaries and bank account numbers. Kersey also fabricated charts and graphs to show his victims.
Kersey took advantage of and deceived his victims during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. For example, after a victim’s spouse passed away, Kersey assured the victim that he would take care of her finances – when in reality, he had stolen the victim’s funds and used them for his own benefit.
Kersey was charged federally in June 2025 by bill of information.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Susan J. Dlott. Deputy Criminal Chief Emily N. Glatfelter is representing the United States in this case.
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Former Post Office Employee Sentenced for Mail TheftRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former United States Postal Service (USPS) employee was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for the theft of mail and theft of government funds.
Michael Murray, 38, of Lynn, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 30 months’ probation. Murray was also ordered to pay $8,553 in restitution and forfeiture of $5,130. In January 2025, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail matter by an employee and one count of theft of government money. In April 2024, Murray was indicted by a federal grand jury.
From approximately September 2022 through July 2023, Murray worked as a USPS postal clerk at the Beach Street Post Office in Revere and the Melrose Post Office. From approximately April 2023 through July 2023, Murray used his official position to steal the contents of hundreds of pieces of mail entrusted to him, including gift cards, cash and checks totaling approximately $3,422. During the same time period, Murray stole and fraudulently negotiated USPS money orders by generating them for postal customers for his own use totaling approximately $5,131.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao, Chief of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, prosecuted the case.
Former Pagan’s Motorcycle Gang Member Pleaded Guilty for Armed Assault Against RivalRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former member of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Gang pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays for his involvement in an armed assault against a member of rival motorcycle club.
Jeffrey S. Hannah, also known as “Got-It,” 43, of Grain Valley, Mo., pleaded guilty today to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and one count of possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
On Sept.17, 2022, Hannah and other members of the Pagan’s and their support club, the Los Valerosos, chased and forced a lone rival gang member from the road in Blue Springs, Mo. Various members of the Pagan’s and Los Valerosos were armed with firearms and at least one axe handle. Hannah and the others confronted the victim on the side of the roadway and ultimately, the victim was shot seven times, with wounds to his knee, thigh, forearm, biceps, buttocks and back of his leg.
Under federal statutes, Hannah is subject to a sentence of not less than five years and up to life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Robert Smith. It was investigated by the FBI, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
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.
Former Gun Store Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison for Trafficking Firearms and Ammunition to Convicted FelonRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – Frank Jude Petrone, Sr. (56, Parrish) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge William F. Jung to three years and one month in federal prison for trafficking in firearms and selling firearms and ammunition to a convicted felon. Petrone pleaded guilty on August 26, 2025. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, on October 2, 2024, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that Petrone was selling firearms to an individual he knew to be a convicted felon. At the time, Petrone was a salesperson for a licensed gun store. On four separate occasions between October 2024 and January 2025, Petrone sold the convicted felon, acting as a confidential source, four firearms and 146 rounds of ammunition. Federal law prohibits selling firearms to a convicted felon, and a convicted felon cannot pass the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
On October 17, 2024, Petrone sold a .357 Taurus International 605 Poly Protector revolver and 10 rounds of .357 ammunition to the confidential source. On November 8, 2024, Petrone sold a 9mm Sig Sauer M18 semi-automatic pistol and 57 rounds of ammunition to the confidential source. On January 2, 2025, Petrone sold a .45 TISAS 1911A1 semi-automatic pistol and 50 rounds of ammunition to the confidential source. During that transaction, Petrone also offered to sell a machinegun with an obliterated serial number. On January 28, 2025, Petrone sold a CZ Scorpion 9-millimeter pistol (not a machinegun), loaded with 29 of a possible 50 rounds of ammunition, to the confidential source.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam W. McCall.
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.
Former Executive from Marlborough Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Defraud the IRS and Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former accounting and real estate executive in Sudbury was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for a multi-year scheme to cheat the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by getting paid more than $1.6 million in compensation and fringe benefits under the table, all while lying to the U.S. Attorney’s Office about his income to avoid paying restitution he owed to victims of an earlier fraud scheme.
Stephen L. Hochberg, 78, of Marlborough, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to two years in prison, to be followed by three years supervised release. Hochberg was also ordered to pay $2,888,288 in restitution to the IRS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as to victims of his prior crimes of securities and wire fraud. In January 2026, Hochberg pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruction of justice. Hochberg was charged in December 2025.
Hochberg and Charles D. Katz, the owner of a Sudbury accounting firm and a real estate company, agreed in as early as 2014 to cheat the IRS. They agreed that Hochberg, who served as the Director of Corporate Services at Katz’s accounting firm and as Chief Operating Officer at Katz’s real estate firm, would be paid significant compensation off the books so that Hochberg would have tax-free income and so that Katz’s firms – CD Katz LLC and Gebsco Realty Corporation – would owe less employment taxes. Over time, Katz paid Hochberg’s family, provided rent-free housing to Hochberg’s ex-wife, paid college tuition for his children and paid personal expenses that Hochberg and his ex-wife charged on corporate credit cards.
All told, Katz paid Hochberg at least $1,668,487 in unreported income and avoided taxes of at least $835,105.
In 2008, Hochberg was convicted of eight counts of wire fraud and nine counts of securities fraud, for which he was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,791,500 to his victims. In addition to his and Katz’s tax scheme, Hochberg lied to the U.S. Attorney’s Office about his income from Katz’s firms and obstructed the collection of restitution Hochberg owed to victims.
Katz was charged and agreed to plead guilty in October 2025. The Court accepted his plea and scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 29, 2026.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head, Chief of the Asset Recovery Unit prosecuted the case.
Former Crewmember on Cruise Ship Sentenced to More Than Seven Years for Transporting Child Sexual Abuse Material into the United StatesRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – Robert Jonathan De Oliveira Ricci (36, Brazil) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julie Sneed to seven years and three months in federal prison for transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material. Ricci pleaded guilty on May 16, 2025. The court also ordered Ricci to register as a sex offender and forfeit a smartphone, which he used to commit the offenses. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, Ricci was a crewmember on board an internationally operated cruise ship that arrived at the U.S. Port of Entry at Port Canaveral on March 10, 2025. A border search of Ricci’s smartphone revealed he had traveled into the United States with at least 83 videos and 184 images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including children as young as infants and toddlers.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Del Mastro.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictments in Significant Tax Fraud CasesRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – A federal grand jury has returned indictments in two significant tax fraud cases. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant, of the Western District of Tennessee, announced the indictments today:
Mother and Son Tax Preparers Indicted for Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S. Government of Over $1.4 Million
In the first indictment, two Memphis income tax preparers have been charged with multiple criminal violations that resulted in a total tax loss to the United States of approximately $1,438,000.00.
According to the indictment, Yoshi Dawn Matthews and Ricky Darnell Matthews were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with filing federal income tax returns that contained materially false statements. A violation of the federal conspiracy statute is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000.00 or both, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.
As alleged in the indictment, Yoshi Dawn Matthews prepared and filed, or caused to be prepared and filed, income tax returns for several taxpayers between February 2019 and January 2023 in which the fuel tax credit was claimed; and DYM Financial Services, an entity operated by her son, Ricky Darnell Matthews, was the platform used to file these returns with the Internal Revenue Service. In many cases, the returns of the taxpayers claiming the fuel tax credit included false assertions that the taxpayer had used hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel.
In additional to the conspiracy charge, Yoshi Dawn Matthews and Ricky Darnell Matthews are also charged with making false statements on their own income tax returns.
Memphis Business Owner Indicted for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes Collected from Employee's Wages
The federal grand jury also returned an indictment charging Julie Robinson Wade with failing to pay over to the Internal Revenue Service employment taxes collected from the wages of employees who worked for a company she owned.
Wade owned a company that fabricated and installed granite fixtures such as countertops, showers, and fireplaces. As alleged in the indictment, Wade failed to file the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns for the period between 2019 and 2021. During those time periods, employment taxes were collected from employees, but no payments were made to the IRS. Additionally, the indictment alleges that Wade failed to truthfully account for and pay over to the IRS all federal income taxes withheld and Medicare and Social Security taxes collected from the employees of her company during the period between 2020 and 2022.
The total of the employment taxes not paid to the IRS was approximately $147,676.00. A report date in this case is set for April 21, 2026 before U.S. District Court Judge Brian C. Lea. Each violation is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of up to $100,000.00 or both, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, “During tax filing season and the entire year, we are acting decisively to protect innocent taxpayers and the U.S. Treasury. We commend the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI in these significant tax fraud cases.”
“Dishonest tax return preparers who think they can outmaneuver the tax system should take note that IRS Criminal Investigation will uncover these schemes and work alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold those responsible accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Charlotte Field Office. “These indictments are a great reminder to those trying to cheat the taxpayers; our team will continue to aggressively pursue anyone who tries to defraud the nation’s tax system.”
These cases were investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Murphy is prosecuting these cases on behalf of the United States Government.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictments are merely accusations of criminal conduct, and not evidence. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted through due process of law.
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For more information, please contact the Media Relations Team at [email protected]. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.
- Matthews - Indictment Copy.pdf
- Wade - Indictment Copy.pdf
Evansdale Man Sentenced to a Decade in Federal Prison for Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
A man who received child pornography was sentenced today to a decade in federal prison.
Robert Thiemann, age 38, from Evansdale, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 7, 2026, guilty plea to one count of receiving child pornography.
Information at sentencing showed that between October 2020 and October 2022, Thiemann downloaded visual depictions of child pornography. In October 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip that Thiemann had uploaded an image of child pornography to an “adult chat” website. Following the tip, FBI agents searched Thiemann’s home in Evansdale. Officers seized an iPhone with images and videos of child pornography, including of prepubescent minors. Thiemann also had depictions of child pornography involving sadistic and masochistic conduct.
Thiemann was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Thiemann was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $18,000 in restitution to six victims. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Thiemann 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 Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted by the Evansdale Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 25-cr-2028.
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Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi Indicted for March 7, 2026, Isis-Inspired Attack Outside Gracie MansionRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Kash Patel, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today an eight-count indictment charging EMIR BALAT and IBRAHIM KAYUMI in connection with their alleged terrorist attack in Manhattan on March 7, 2026. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick.
“As alleged, just weeks ago, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi carried out a terrorist attack on the streets of New York,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “They sought to murder multiple innocent victims in the name of ISIS. The brave women and men of the NYPD responded immediately, and Balat and Kayumi were arrested on site. Since their attack, our partners at the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force have uncovered evidence revealing the alleged meticulous planning by the defendants in their attack, including a notebook with detailed attack plans and a storage unit containing explosive residue and bomb-making materials. Today’s indictment is another step in holding the defendants accountable for their alleged conduct. We, the NYPD, the FBI, and our other law enforcement partners will continue to work every day to keep New Yorkers safe.”
“These individuals allegedly prepared explosive devices and attempted to detonate them on the streets of New York in the name of ISIS, but their plan failed thanks to the brave police officers who acted quickly,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to protect the homeland from terrorism or other acts of violence, and our partnerships are key to carrying out that mission. We also will make sure anyone who tries to harm our citizens in the name of ISIS, or any other terrorist organization, will face justice.”
“As alleged, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi traveled to New York City with IEDs to kill as many people as possible in an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “The alleged notes and instructions recovered from their vehicle demonstrate just how much cruelty they had planned. The FBI New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force continues to work with the NYPD to defend our community against those who wish to cause mass casualties and tragedy.”
“Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi planned this attack, transported explosive devices, and came to New York City intending to kill innocent people, as alleged in the indictment,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “What they allegedly set in motion was an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism with the potential for mass casualties. It was stopped because of the quick-thinking, decisive actions of the men and women of the NYPD, who moved toward the threat and took these individuals into custody before more lives were put at risk. I thank our partners at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District for their work in securing this indictment. Anyone who seeks to bring terror to this city will be found, stopped, and held accountable.”
As alleged in the Complaint and in the Indictment:[1]
The Attack
On or about March 7, 2026, a protest called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer” and a counter-protest called “Run Nazis Out of New York City” were held outside of Gracie Mansion in New York, New York. Gracie Mansion is the official residence of the Mayor of New York City.
That morning, BALAT and KAYUMI drove from Pennsylvania to Manhattan and parked near Gracie Mansion. They then walked to the site of the protest and counter-protest, and at approximately 12:15 p.m., BALAT ignited and threw an improvised explosive device (“Device-1”) toward the area where the protesters were gathered. Immediately after throwing Device-1, BALAT ran to another location down the block, where KAYUMI passed BALAT a second improvised explosive device (“Device-2,” and together with Device-1, the “Devices”). BALAT ignited and dropped Device-2 on the ground near several NYPD officers and then ran from the scene, jumping over a barricade in the process. NYPD officers tackled and arrested BALAT shortly thereafter, and KAYUMI was arrested nearby moments later.
BALAT’s and KAYUMI’s Post-Arrest Statements About ISIS
Following his arrest, while en route to the NYPD precinct, BALAT stated to NYPD officers transporting him: “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk bad about . . . our prophet. We take action! We take action!”; and “If I don’t do it, someone else will come and do it.” Later, at the NYPD precinct, BALAT requested a piece of paper and, after being given a paper and pen, wrote the following: “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.” “Kuffar” is an Arabic term that refers to “non-believers” or “infidels,” and “Die in your rage” is a slogan used by ISIS. When law enforcement officers asked BALAT if he was familiar with the Boston Marathon bombing, and if that was what BALAT had hoped to accomplish, BALAT responded: “No, even bigger. It was only three deaths.”
After KAYUMI was arrested and waiting to be placed inside an NYPD vehicle, an individual from the surrounding crowd yelled to KAYUMI and asked, in substance and in part, why KAYUMI had done this. KAYUMI responded, “ISIS.” At the NYPD precinct, KAYUMI stated, in substance and part, that he had watched “radical content” online.
Evidence Recovered from the Defendants’ Vehicle
Following the Attack, law enforcement officers found the vehicle, registered to BALAT’s relative, that BALAT and KAYUMI had parked a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion. Inside the vehicle, officers recovered, among other things, a long coil of fuse, a notebook (the “Notebook”), and a dashboard camera containing a memory card on which approximately three days of video and audio recordings had been recorded (the “Dashcam Recordings”).
The Notebook contained pages of handwritten notes. One page listed “acetone peroxide synthesis” and “TATP explosive.” Other pages listed (i) ingredients and equipment for mixing explosives (for example, “hydrogen peroxide,” “sulfuric acid,” “glass container,” “syringe,” and “glass jar”), (ii) bomb components (for example, “aluminum can 6x” and “a box of bolts ect 2x”), (iii) steps and warnings for constructing a bomb (for example, “now add 25 ml of hydrogen perioxide into GC” and “DO NOT leave in open—the drier it becomes, the more sensitive to pressure, friction, and heat”) and (iv) steps for “detonat[ing] a bomb with burning fuse.” Another page described an apparent alternate plan for an attack by vehicle, including: (i) the “Ideal vehicle” for conducting an attack, which was to be “load bearing,” “large in size,” “reasonably fast,” and “heavy in weight”; (ii) a list of possible “target[s],” including “festivals,” “parades,” “protest,” and “celebrations”; and (iii) “steps to making napalm.”
The Dashcam Recordings captured video footage of the defendants’ travel from Pennsylvania to Manhattan on the morning of March 7, 2026, as well as audio recordings of their detailed discussion that morning of how they would conduct the attack, the likely outcome of the attack, whom they were targeting, and their use of social media websites to try to locate one of their intended targets (“Individual-1”). For example:
- KAYUMI stated, “All I know is I want to start terror bro,” and “I want to petrify these people.” BALAT responded, “Just for safety, as soon as you light it, just do it as soon as possible. Because I was testing the fuses, and some just go really fast sometimes, and some just are a bit slower.”
- KAYUMI stated, “First call, they’re going to be like this is us targeting [Individual-1].” BALAT responded that he was targeting “the government” and “civilians also.” KAYUMI replied, “Yeah, I know.”
- BALAT stated, “what I have here is called TATP,” that he had “calculated it,” and that “it’s gonna kill about 8 to 16 people,” or as many as 30 to 60 people if the area was crowded.
- BALAT instructed KAYUMI on how to throw the bomb and to “hide it” until BALAT gave “a sign.” BALAT further explained, “I’m going to say 3, 2, 1, and I’m going to take it out as fast and controlled as possible. We light it, as soon as you see it going underhand, go in his direction, trying to aim at him and at his feet. And then run to the car. Together.”
- BALAT discussed that they would be engaging in “martyrdom” and described having left behind a note.
The Storage Unit
In addition, FBI agents searched a storage unit in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, that BALAT had rented just days before the attack, and recovered residue that a subsequent forensic analysis confirmed contained triacetone triperoxide (“TATP”). The unit also contained bomb-making supplies, including a bottle labeled “12% hydrogen peroxide,” an ingredient of TATP; syringes; a digital scale; gloves; an open package of nuts and bolts; and glass jars similar in appearance to the ones used to build the Devices. In the center of the floor inside the storage unit was a piece of paper containing the handwritten words, “All praise is due to Allah!!! Die in your rage ya kuffar!”
Forensic Analysis
Finally, a forensic analysis has revealed that Device-1, which BALAT had thrown into the crowd of protesters, consisted of a glass jar wrapped in duct tape and containing nuts, bolts, an energy drink can filled with TATP, and a fuse. TATP is a highly sensitive primary explosive that is colloquially known as the “Mother of Satan”; is extremely sensitive to impact, friction, and heat; and has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade. Forensic analysis also revealed that Device-2, which KAYUMI had handed to BALAT before BALAT dropped it on the ground near police officers, contained TATP.
* * *
BALAT, 18, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and KAYUMI, 19, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, are each charged with: (i) conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; (ii) provision and attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; (iii) conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; (iv) attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; (v) carrying of explosive materials during the commission of a federal felony, which carries a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the underlying federal felony; (vi) transportation of explosive materials, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; (vii) interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and (viii) unlawful possession of destructive devices, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Mr. Clayton also thanked the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the New York State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI Newark Field Office, the FBI Philadelphia Field Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan L. Bodansky and Jane Y. Chong are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney James Donnelly of the Counterterrorism Section and paralegal specialist Juan Muñoz.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the charging instruments to date constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.
Drug Dealer Caught with More Than 1 Kilogram of Fentanyl Who Continued Selling Drugs After Absconding Sentenced to Eight Year Prison TermRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Cristian Diaz-Villatoro was sentenced yesterday to eight years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, as well as possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer handed down the sentence.
Diaz-Villatoro, 33, a national of Honduras, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 18, 2022. Diaz-Villatoro pleaded guilty on December 10, 2025, to all counts charged in the indictment, including possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Diaz-Villatoro sold a Marin County undercover detective several ounces of methamphetamine on multiple occasions in July and August 2022. During that time period, cell phone location information showed Diaz-Villatoro would regularly travel from his residence in Oakland to the open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin in San Francisco, where he would remain for six-hour periods at night. In September 2022, Diaz-Villatoro was arrested and a search of the defendant’s car led to the seizure of more than 1,000 grams of fentanyl and more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, along with large amounts of heroin, cocaine, and a digital scale, as depicted below:
After he was indicted by a federal grand jury, Diaz-Villatoro was ordered released on bond. He then fled from the Northern District of California and was a fugitive for approximately 10 months. In May 2024, Diaz-Villatoro was arrested by Oregon State Police with one third of a pound of fentanyl in his car, which he said he was transporting to Portland. Cell phones belonging to Diaz-Villatoro that were seized at the time of his arrest in Oregon contained communications showing him repeatedly coordinating sales of fentanyl and other unknown narcotics while he was a fugitive.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris made the announcement.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Breyer also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release once his prison term is completed. The defendant was immediately remanded into custody.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared S. Buszin is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Tina Rosenbaum and Kevin Costello. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA, with assistance from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
District Resident Charged with Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A complaint was unsealed today in U.S. District Court charging Zabdiel Aaron Rothschild, 26, of the District of Columbia. with Production of Child Pornography, Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, Receipt of Child Pornography, and Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
According to court documents, starting in January 2025, Rothschild used the gaming and messaging application Discord to communicate with three minor victims. During the communications, Rothschild asked for and received sexually explicit videos of the minor victims. In one instance, Rothschild told a minor victim, who was only 13 at the time, that he wanted to see her engaging in specific sexual acts. The minor victim followed Rothschild’s directions and recorded herself engaging in the conduct described by Rothschild.
At various points in his conversations where he is alleged to have coerced or enticed these minor victims into engaging in illicit sexual conduct, Rothschild openly discussed the age difference and discussed numerous sexual and violent acts he would do to his minor victims. For example, Rothschild told one minor victim, “little teens belong to old men like me” and “it’s normal for kids to have a crush on older people.” In another conversation, Rothschild told a minor victim, “I have the lifelong fantasy of carving my initials into a girl,” and he told another minor victim, “I can’t wait to choke you and use your unconscious body.”
Joining U.S. Attorney Pirro in the announcement were FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran of the San Antonio Field Office.
This case is being investigated by the FBI's San Antonio, Washington, and San Francisco field offices. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kelley.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Charges in a complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Or at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dcDetroit Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Role in Interstate Drug Trafficking Operation Involving Large Quantities of Fentanyl, Heroin, and CocaineRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced in federal court to 60 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal narcotics and firearm laws as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
United States District Judge Robert J. Colville imposed the sentence on Christopher Barton, 26, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine between August 2023 and August 2024, and possessing a firearm after a felony conviction.
According to information presented to the Court, Barton was part of a drug trafficking conspiracy that was based in Detroit and in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Barton participated in the conspiracy by retailing controlled substances to customers in the New Castle area. On February 7, 2024, a search warrant was served at a New Castle location from which members of the conspiracy were dealing drugs. Barton was present when the search warrant was executed, with law enforcement also seizing two pistols. Barton had prior felony convictions that prohibited him from lawfully possessing a firearm or ammunition.
Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Lawrence County Drug Task Force, New Castle Police Department, Michigan State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Mercer County Drug Task Force, United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and Douglas County (Nebraska) Sheriff’s Office for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Barton.
This prosecution was 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 toward identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations that 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.
Deported Jamaican National Guilty of Obtaining U.S. Passport with Stolen IDRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – A Jamaican man who illegally reentered the U.S. after a federal conviction and stole another’s identity to remain in the country now faces up to ten years in prison following a U.S. Department of State investigation.
Roan Lynch, 54, a citizen of Jamaica and a resident of Forsyth, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement in an application for a passport, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of illegal reentry before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on April 6. Lynch faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison for the false statement in an application for a passport charge; a maximum sentence of two years in prison for the illegal reentry charge; a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence for the aggravated identity theft charge; and a $250,000 fine per count. Sentencing is scheduled for July 9. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Foreign nationals who commit crimes here, are deported, then reenter illegally to break our laws again will be held fully accountable for ignoring the standards that apply to all,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “We remain committed to upholding the rule of law by prioritizing these cases and ensuring offenders are brought to justice.”
“U.S. passports and visas are the most sought-after travel documents in the world and must be protected at all costs,” said Ryan McSeveney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Miami Field Office. “DSS takes passport fraud seriously, and this case shows that those who steal identities to obtain passports and victimize innocent people will face consequences for their criminal actions.”
According to court documents and statements in court, Lynch is a Jamaican citizen who first came to the United States in 1987. Lynch was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the Western District of New York in 1997 and was deported to Jamaica in April 2000. Lynch was prohibited from entering the United States for ten years. However, he ignored the court order and illegally reentered the country sometime prior to April 24, 2002.
Lynch stole the identity of a man whom he met in New York in the 1980s. Lynch used the victim’s identity to apply for, receive and renew a U.S. passport. In May 2023, Lynch submitted a DS-82 renewal for a passport application in the name of the victim, listing an address in Forsyth as the mailing address for the renewed passport. This renewal was approved, and the passport was sent in July 2023.
However, in April 2024, the victim, whose identity had been stolen by Lynch, applied for a U.S. passport. The victim was interviewed and confirmed that he had known Lynch in the 1980s as a young man and that Lynch had borrowed the victim’s Social Security card at the time to try to get a job. A fingerprint comparison confirmed that Lynch was, in fact, Roan Lynch, and not the victim. Lynch did not have the victim’s permission to use his identification to apply for and obtain a passport.
The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Howard is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Convicted illegal alien felon sent back to federal prisonRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 43-year-old Mexican national who illegally resided in Houston has been sentenced for illegally reentering the country without authorization, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Miguel Carreon pleaded guilty Sept. 29, 2025.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt has now ordered Carreon to serve 57 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 the dangerousness of his other crimes, lack of respect for the law and need for deterrence. Judge Hoyt noted Carreon chose to re-enter the United States illegally and commit other crimes and that reducing his sentence would send the wrong message to him and others.
Carreon has a prior felony conviction for conspiracy to distribute meth. He was first removed from the United States in January 2016. Authorities discovered him again in Houston after he was convicted for aggravated assault with a firearm.
He 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.
Convicted Felon Charged with Hobbs Act Robbery and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Tallahassee, Florida – Laquinton Montral Harris, 36, of Tallahassee, Florida, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with 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. The charges were announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
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 for his arraignment in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick 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.
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.
Columbus man pleads guilty to cyberstalking exes, creating AI-generated obscene material of adults & childrenRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – James Strahler II, 37, of Columbus, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to cybercrimes that included both real and AI-generated sexually explicit images and threats of violence to numerous victims.
Strahler had installed more than 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models on his phone. The defendant used telephone calls, voicemails, text messages and web postings to engage in a campaign of harassment against his victims.
Specifically, Strahler pleaded guilty today to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and publication of digital forgeries. His conviction of publication of digital forgeries is part of the Take It Down Act, a law enacted in 2025 that prohibits non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries.
“We believe Strahler is the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent. And we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and circulating this disturbing content.”
From December 2024 until June 2025, Strahler sent harassing messages to at least six adult female victims. These messages included nude images of the victims, both real and AI-generated.
For example, Strahler used AI to create pornographic videos depicting at least one adult victim engaged in sex acts with her father. He then distributed those videos to the victim’s co-workers. He also messaged the mothers of the adult females and demanded nude photos of them, threatening to circulate explicit or obscene images he created of their daughters if they did not comply. He often called the victims and left voicemails of him masturbating or threatening rape. He referred to the victims’ specific home addresses in his threats.
Strahler also posted online AI-generated obscenities he created of children. He generated these files using the faces of minor boys from his community. He then morphed the face of the minor boys onto the bodies of other adults or children and created videos that depicted the boys engaged in sex acts. Strahler specifically created AI-generated obscenity of the minor boys having sex with their mothers and/or grandmothers.
Strahler created more than 700 images of both real victims and animated persons and posted them to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. An additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone were flagged as depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material or violence.
Strahler’s criminal conduct was first reported to the Hilliard Police Department and the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office before being referred to the FBI. He was arrested on federal charges in June 2025.
Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; and officials with the Maryland AI and Synthetic Media Threats Task Force (MASTTF); announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.
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Co-Founder of CJNG Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A California man and co-founder of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, one of the world’s most prolific cartels and a designated foreign terrorist organization, pleaded guilty today to federal narcotics charges.
According to court documents, Erick Valencia-Salazar, also known as “El 85,” 49, of Santa Clara, California, is a co-founder of the Mexico-based drug trafficking organization, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which the State Department in February 2025 designated as a foreign terrorist organization. As a leader of CJNG, Valencia-Salazar recruited new CJNG members. He also used information about rival cartels to locate and kill CJNG’s enemies and gain control of all drug trafficking operations in particular territories in Mexico. Valencia-Salazar also conspired to send thousands of kilograms of cocaine to the United States for the CJNG.
Before forming the CJNG, Valencia-Salazar was a member of the Milenio Cartel, another Mexico-based drug trafficking organization. In the Milenio Cartel, Valencia-Salazar regularly distributed pistols and rifles, including AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, to the cartel’s gunmen, also known as “sicarios,” to use in battles with rival cartels. In doing so, Valencia-Salazar supported the Milenio Cartel’s efforts to send multi-ton shipments of cocaine from South America into Mexico each year and then import most of that cocaine into the United States for further distribution.
“Erick Valencia-Salazar co-founded the CJNG, one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, which shipped tons of cocaine into the United States and inflicted immeasurable damage on our country,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Valencia-Salazar was also responsible for furthering the rampant violence in Mexico, at the expense of people’s lives and the safety of communities, that helped destabilize the region and allow crime to flourish. Today’s conviction is yet another example of the Criminal Division’s efforts in disrupting and dismantling transnational drug trafficking organizations that harm the American people.”
“Erick Valencia-Salazar helped build CJNG into a ruthless organization that uses violence as a business model — murdering for control in Mexico while flooding the United States with poison,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “CJNG is a designated terrorist organization. They do not just traffic deadly drugs — including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine — they spread violence, fear, and instability on both sides of the border. This guilty plea marks another step in holding its leadership accountable. DEA will continue to target the leaders, financiers, and enablers of these organizations until they are brought to justice and their networks are dismantled.”
Valencia-Salazar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine for unlawful importation into the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit Los Angeles is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance to Salazar’s February 2025 transfer from Mexico to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s National Security law.
Trial Attorneys Kaitlin Sahni, Lernik Begian, Douglas Meisel, and Nicole Lockhart of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.
The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and related transnational criminal organizations.
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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Homeland Security Task Force and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Civil Rights Division Obtains Settlement with Company that Discouraged U.S. Workers from Applying for JobsRead the Press Release
The United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that it has secured a $313,420 settlement agreement with Compunnel Software Group, Inc., a New Jersey based professional services provider. The settlement addresses allegations that the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when some of its recruiters posted job advertisements for positions in the United States that included citizenship status restrictions not authorized by law. The explicitly discriminatory language in some of the ads excluded U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents from consideration for desirable employment opportunities while favoring those with H-1B or other temporary visas. Under the settlement agreement, Compunnel has agreed to pay $58,000 in back pay to the Charging Party, a U.S. Citizen who was excluded from consideration for a position as a Python Developer based on his citizenship status. It has also agreed to pay civil penalties to the United States Treasury in the amount of $255,420. Compunnel has agreed to other injunctive relief and has already taken steps to train and monitor its recruiters, as well as enhance compliance systems to prevent future discrimination.
“It’s illegal to discourage U.S. workers from applying for American jobs,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Employers cannot exclude U.S. workers from the labor force by discriminating against them based on their citizenship status. Employers must design recruitment, training, and compliance practices to ensure adherence to federal civil rights laws.”
This settlement is the ninth settlement since the Department re-launched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative in 2025 to enforce the INA’s prohibition on citizenship status discrimination against companies that illegally discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of those with employment visas. Under these settlements, the Department obtains civil penalties for each violation and will continue to seek the maximum penalty permitted by law. The settlements also involve awards of back pay, when warranted, and require employers to conduct comprehensive training for relevant staff and recruiters and cease restricting consideration for job opportunities based on workers’ citizenship status without a lawful reason.
For information about additional settlements under the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, visit IER’s website.
For informal assistance, the public can call IER’s free hotline at 1-800-255-7688 for workers or at 1-800-255-8155 for employers (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired between 9am and 5pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday; sign up for a live webinar or watch an on-demand presentation; email [email protected]; or visit www.justice.gov/ier.
Charlotte Man Sentenced to Prison for Bank Fraud Conspiracy and Aggravated Identity Theft in Stolen Check SchemeRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte man was sentenced to prison today for his role in a scheme involving stolen checks, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Desmond Aldo McKelvey, 44, was sentenced to 54 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. On June 13, 2025, McKelvey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Charlotte Field Office, and Rodney Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), which oversees North Carolina, join U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making the announcement.
“Mr. McKelvey had plenty of opportunities to realize what he was doing was wrong – he stole checks, created false identification documents, and opened bank accounts in someone else’s name,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “This crime is heavy burden on both its victims and our financial system, and we will work hard to prosecute and prevent it.”
“The defendant schemed to steal checks, used phony identification, and then redirected the money for personal use,” said Special Agent in Charge Eakins. “IRS-CI will continue its investigative efforts working alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect the integrity of our nation’s tax administration system and the American taxpayers.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service values our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina who helped bring this investigation to a successful conclusion,” Inspector in Charge Hopkins. “The events of today serve as yet another example of the unending dedication of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners to halt the devastating effects of identity theft.”
According to court filings, from June to September 2023, McKelvey and his co-conspirators defrauded financial institutions through a scheme involving stolen checks, including U.S. Treasury checks. McKelvey and others obtained the stolen checks online or through other means, and then used fictitious identification in the names of the victims to whom the checks were payable to open bank accounts. McKelvey then deposited the stolen checks and withdrew the funds before the financial institutions could detect the fraud. The total face value of checks associated with the conspiracy exceeded $900,000.
McKelvey will be ordered to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended IRS-CI and USPIS for their investigation and thanked the Huntersville Police Department for its substantial assistance.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
Canton Resident Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DETROIT – A Canton man pleaded guilty today to charges relating to the sexual exploitation of a minor and transporting child pornography, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jared Murphey, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations-Detroit (HSI).
Shariq Alam, 48, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Linda V. Parker in Detroit.
According to court records, in February 2025, the HSI received information from local law enforcement that an individual, known to law enforcement, had been communicating with Alam about sexually abusing a minor child. Based on this information, law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant at Alam’s residence. During the search of a bedroom in the basement of the residence, officers found a cell phone holder and an external camera light attached to a nightstand facing a bed, along with sexual toys and paraphernalia and several flash drives. An examination of two of the flash drives revealed multiple videos of child pornography, including videos of an identified minor victim that had been created by Alam. Further investigation revealed that Alam uploaded child pornography to his Google Drive account.
Alam will be sentenced on August 12, 2026 where he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ann Nee and Sean King.
California Man Pleads Guilty to Orchestrating $270M Medication Reimbursement Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims over an 11-month span to California’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) for expensive prescription drugs that were medically unnecessary and, in many instances, not provided to the purported recipients.
The Department of Justice announced this case and two others in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud at a press conference in Washington today.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
“The defendant was a repeat fraudster who caused Medi-Cal, a program designed to help those in need, to be billed nearly $270 million for expensive and medically unnecessary medications,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He and his co-schemers stole over $178 million through false and fraudulent claims for these medications, lining their own pockets with public funds. The Criminal Division will aggressively prosecute those who defraud Medicaid and exploit taxpayer-funded benefit programs.”
“This defendant used a public health program as his personal piggy bank,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. “This guilty plea should send a message that this administration — consistent with the President’s war on fraud — will not turn a blind eye while criminals fleece taxpayers.”
“Schemes that bill Medicaid for costly drugs that patients never needed or received threaten the integrity of the program,” 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). “This plea shows our firm resolve, alongside our law enforcement partners, to exposing such fraud operations, ensuring those responsible are held accountable, and safeguarding taxpayer-funded health care programs.”
According to court documents, Paul Randall, 66, of Orange, along with pharmacist and pharmacy owner Kyrollos Mekail, 37, of Moreno Valley, and nurse practitioner Patricia Anderson, 58, of West Hills, exploited Medi-Cal’s suspension of its requirement that health care providers obtain prior authorization before providing certain medications at the beginning of 2022. Medi-Cal temporarily suspended the requirement as part of a transition to a new payment system. Using a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy, which Mekail owned, Randall and his co-schemers billed Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for purportedly dispensing high-reimbursement drugs containing cheap, generic ingredients that were manufactured in unique dosages, combinations or package quantities and were not included in the applicable maximum price lists that cap Medi-Cal reimbursements.
In furtherance of the scheme, Randall paid illegal kickbacks to patient marketers in exchange for Medi-Cal beneficiary information and thereafter paid illegal kickbacks to Anderson to sign pre-filled prescriptions for 19 high-reimbursement, non-contracted, generic drugs. Anderson never met the patients, reviewed their medical records or otherwise determined that the medications were medically necessary before signing the prescriptions. The medications, which included pain creams and Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter, were billed for thousands of dollars each, including approximately $13,424 for one prescription of meloxicam 5 mg, a generic drug that typically costs between $5 and $25 for a 30-day supply in larger dosages.
Randall received a portion of Monte Vista’s reimbursements from Medi-Cal, at times equaling approximately 40% of Monte Vista’s profit from the false and fraudulent claims. Randall admitted in his plea agreement that he caused at least $269,120,829 in false and fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal from May 2022 to April 2023, of which Medi-Cal paid at least approximately $178,746,556. Randall also admitted that he committed the offense while on release in another criminal case.
Randall and others laundered their illicit proceeds by transferring the money to a third party to pay kickbacks to Anderson in an attempt to conceal the crime from law enforcement.
In his plea agreement, Randall agreed to forfeit property obtained from the fraud, including bank account balances exceeding $17 million, three vehicles, seven real properties, and sports memorabilia. To date, the government has seized approximately $126.5 million in assets that Randall and his co-schemers accumulated from the scheme, including $111 million in bank funds and securities, nine luxury vehicles totaling approximately $1 million, nine luxury real properties totaling approximately $13.5 million, and more than $1 million worth of sports memorabilia.
Randall pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Relatedly, in August 2024, Mekail pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and awaits sentencing. In April 2025, Anderson pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and also awaits sentencing.
The FBI, HHS-OIG, and the California Department of Justice are investigating the case.Assistant Chief Niall M. O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger A. Hsieh for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Dochterman for the Central District of California’s Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this case.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of eight strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion. 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.
Business Owner Sentenced to over Four Years in Prison for $100M COVID-19 Tax Credit SchemeRead the Press Release
A Nevada woman was sentenced yesterday to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud the United States by fraudulently claiming nearly $100 million in COVID-19 related employment tax credits.
The Department of Justice announced this case and two others in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud at a press conference in Washington today.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, Candies Goode-McCoy, formerly of Las Vegas, conspired with others to file tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit, credits which Congress created to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. From approximately June 2022 through September 2023, McCoy filed more than 1,200 tax returns for her own businesses and those of others, which falsely claimed these credits and sought refunds totaling more than $98 million.
In total, the IRS paid out approximately $33 million as a result of the scheme. Personally, Goode-McCoy received over $1.3 million in fraudulent refunds. She also received approximately $800,000 from clients for filing fraudulent returns. McCoy used the proceeds to pay for vacations, luxury cars and other luxury goods, and to gamble at casinos.
Goode-McCoy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims. In addition to the term of imprisonment, McCoy was ordered to pay the IRS $26,022,188 in restitution.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada joined in the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.
Trial Attorney John C. Gerardi of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez of the District of Nevada prosecuted the case.
Business Owner Sentenced to over Four Years in Prison for $100M COVID-19 Tax Credit SchemeRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada woman was sentenced yesterday to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud the United States by fraudulently claiming nearly $100 million in COVID-19 related employment tax credits.
The Department of Justice announced this case and two others in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud at a press conference in Washington today.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
“Rooting out fraud is a priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “We will not tolerate wrongdoers who commit fraud schemes that siphon taxpayer dollars to fund lavish lifestyles at the expense of American taxpayers. We are coordinating with IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to stop bad actors and hold them fully accountable.”
“This sentencing brings to an end one of the biggest COVID fraud cases our agency has seen,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jarom Gregory of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office. “The Employee Retention Credit was created to support eligible businesses, tax-exempt organizations, and their employees during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. To attempt to steal almost $100M from American taxpayers by exploiting this program is staggering. But IRS Criminal Investigators are the experts at following the money, and through our work we will continue to ensure the integrity of our tax system and these much-needed federal programs by bringing justice to these brazen criminals.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, Candies Goode-McCoy, formerly of Las Vegas, conspired with others to file tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit, credits which Congress created to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. From approximately June 2022 through September 2023, McCoy filed more than 1,200 tax returns for her own businesses and those of others, which falsely claimed these credits and sought refunds totaling more than $98 million.
In total, the IRS paid approximately $33 million as a result of the scheme. Personally, Goode-McCoy received over $1.3 million in fraudulent refunds. She also received approximately $800,000 from clients for filing fraudulent returns. McCoy used the proceeds to pay for vacations, luxury cars and other luxury goods, and to gamble at casinos.
Goode-McCoy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims. In addition to the term of imprisonment, McCoy was ordered to pay the IRS $26,022,188 in restitution.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Chattah and Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory of IRS Criminal Investigation joined in the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.
Trial Attorney John C. Gerardi of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez of the District of Nevada prosecuted the case.
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Business Owner Convicted of $1.9M Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Insurer Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
DETROIT – A business owner from Dearborn Heights pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit health care fraud, which resulted in $1.9 million in loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Mario M. Pinto, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Office.
Pleading guilty was Rabih Hamdan, 41, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
At the plea hearing, Hamdan admitted to creating and operating a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims for prescription drugs that were medically unnecessary or not actually dispensed. In many instances, his pharmacy lacked the inventory to dispense these drugs but billed the health care insurers as though they had been dispensed. In these instances, the medications were never ordered by a physician. Hamdan used the fraud proceeds for his personal use and to benefit others. In total, Hamdan and his coconspirators submitted false and fraudulent claims totaling at least $1.9 million over a five-year period.
Sentencing before United States District Judge Matthew F. Leitman will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Hamdan faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Dorval Norwood.
Bourbon County Man Sentenced for Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Paris, Ky., man, Timothy Ray Dale, 64, was sentenced on Tuesday to 360 months by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier for the production of child pornography.
According to his plea agreement, on October 30, 2023, a witness reported to law enforcement that there were explicit images of minors located on Dale’s phone. Law enforcement searched the device and found more than 50 sexually explicit visual depictions of two minor victims that were captured between September 30, 2023, and October 29, 2023. Dale admitted, that on two or more occasions, he used minor victims to produce explicit depictions of child pornography.
Under federal law, Dale 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 fifteen years.
Jason Parman, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Olivia Olson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office; Chief Mark Burden, Paris Police Department; and Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Paris Police Department, and Kentucky State Police. The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for the 14th Judicial Circuit also provided significant assistance to the investigation and prosecution of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Melton is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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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Bettendorf Man Sentenced to over 17 Years in Federal Prison for Receipt, Possession, and Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Bettendorf man was sentenced on April 6, 2026, to 210 months in federal prison for Receipt, Possession, and Distribution of Child Pornography.
According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received CyberTips that accounts, later determined to be associated with Lucas Zachary Woods, 26, received files containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement seized electronic devices during a search of Woods’ Bettendorf residence. A forensic examination of the seized electronic devices showed that Woods used the devices to receive, view, possess, and distribute images and videos containing child sexual abuse material.
After completing his term of imprisonment, Woods will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Woods was also ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution.
United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Beachwood Nanny Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing ChildrenRead the Press Release
CLEVELAND – A 26-year-old woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually abusing two children in her care while she was employed as their nanny.
Molly Elisabeth Duncan, of Beachwood, Ohio, pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment:
- Sexual Exploitation of Children (two counts)
- Distribution of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct
- Possession of Child Pornography, or Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM)
Federal District Court Judge Pamela A. Barker accepted Duncan’s plea April 6.
According to court documents and evidence, the defendant was working as a nanny in Northeast Ohio from about November 2023 to July 2024. Duncan sexually abused one victim in Portage County and another in Geauga County—both under the age of two—and recorded the visual depictions on her cellphone. She then distributed the files through a popular social media platform which she shared with multiple users. During a forensic analysis of Duncan’s electronic devices, investigators found several CSAM files of each victim.
Duncan is scheduled to be sentenced July 22. She faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years per count of Sexual Exploitation of Children and a 20-year maximum for each of the distribution and possession charges.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being investigated by the Cleveland Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with assistance from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret A. Kane and Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country and marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/PSC.
To report child exploitation, please visit cybertipline.org, or call 1-800-843-5678, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison After Conviction for Being a Felon in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
LITTLE ROCK—Corbin Vincent, a multi-convicted felon, will spend the next 180 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence which was handed down today by United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky.
On November 4, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Vincent, 37, of Hot Springs, in a one-count Superseding Indictment for being a felon in possession of a firearm. After a two-day jury trial, Vincent was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Rudofsky also sentenced Vincent to serve three years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
During the jury trial, it was revealed that agents in the Intensive Supervision Program received a photograph that was a screenshot from a social media platform showing Vincent, who was on active parole, displaying a firearm. When Vincent arrived at his appointment at his parole office, agents detained him and conducted a search of his person and his vehicle. During a search of Vincent’s vehicle, agents located in the backseat a backpack containing Vincent’s identification card and a Taurus G2C .40 caliber firearm with one round in the chamber and equipped with a magazine loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. Vincent admitted to agents that the firearm belonged to him and that he had purchased it from a friend for approximately $200 because he needed to protect himself.
Vincent has at least three prior convictions for violent felonies and is therefore classified as an armed career criminal and qualifies for an enhanced sentence. His criminal history includes state felony convictions for possession of firearms by certain persons and four robberies that occurred within a span of one week in 2007.
This case was investigated by the ATF with assistance from the North Little Rock Police Department and the Division of Community Correction. This case was prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney Michael Gordon and Assistant United States Attorney Stacy Williams.
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Additional information about the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at
https://www.justice.gov/edar
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Another Illegal Alien from Guatemala Sentenced in Counterfeit Identity Document RingRead the Press Release
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey today announced that Rigoberto Vasquez-Vasquez, 43, a citizen of Guatemala, was sentenced to 8 months in custody in prison for conspiracy to transfer false identification documents.
U.S. Attorney VerHey said, “Rigoberto Vasquez-Vasquez unlawfully entered the United States more than 20 years ago and has been unlawfully present ever since. He doubled down on his criminal behavior by working in a fraudulent identity document business once he got here. This kind of lawless behavior will not be tolerated.”
Mr. Vasquez-Vasquez is the third of three defendants charged with and convicted of participating in a scheme by Guatemalans illegally present in the United States to advertise, manufacture, and sell fraudulent Social Security and Permanent Resident cards, as well as other false identification documents, to other persons illegally residing in the Grand Rapids area during 2024 and 2025. The conspirators profited by receiving payments for the counterfeit documents, and the recipients benefitted by using the documents to obtain employment and access to services intended for citizens and immigrants lawfully in the United States.
At the time of his arrest on September 30, 2025, case agents executed a search warrant at Vasquez-Vasquez’s Grand Rapids residence. They located and seized multiple computers, laptops, cellular telephones, DVDs, CDs, thumb drives, micro-SD cards, fraudulent identification cards, and Guatemalan passports, as well as an iPad, an external hard drive, and a computer tower.
Upon the completion of his sentence, he will be taken into ICE custody for removal proceedings.
"This sentencing sends a clear message: Homeland Security Investigations will aggressively pursue and dismantle criminal organizations that traffic in fraudulent identification documents and exploit our immigration system," said HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey. "We remain steadfast in our mission to protect our communities, uphold the integrity of our nation’s laws, and ensure that those who undermine public safety face the full consequences of their actions."
The Grand Rapids office of Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Daniels prosecuted it.
This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Michigan Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal 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.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Issues Memorandum on the Creation of the National Fraud Enforcement DivisionRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche today released a Memorandum on the Creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
Read the full memo.
The core mission of the National Fraud Enforcement Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. The National Fraud Enforcement Division will fulfill that mission by coordinating with agencies responsible for administering benefit programs; partnering with federal, tribal, state, territorial, and local law enforcement on fraud-fighting efforts; developing systems and processes that ensure efficient identification of fraud against taxpayer dollars; and equipping prosecutors and law enforcement with state-of-the-art tools and resources needed to bring criminal actors to justice. The attorneys in the National Fraud Enforcement Division will work every day to protect the financial integrity of our government and the tax system that supports it.
Department of Justice efforts 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.
Monday 6 April 2026
Worcester Man Charged with Snap FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – As part of the United States Attorney’s ongoing enforcement priority to investigate and prosecute benefit fraud involving federal and state assistance programs, a Worcester man has been charged with using the identity of a deceased U.S. citizen to obtain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
John Doe, an individual whose true identity is alleged to be that of a 57-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic believed to be unlawfully present in the United States, was charged with unlawfully obtaining SNAP benefits and false representation of a Social Security number. The defendant was arrested on April 2, 2026 and remains detained following an initial appearance in federal court in Worcester.
According to the charging documents, since at least 2001, John Doe has been living in Massachusetts under the identity of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico who died in 2006. It is alleged that under the deceased citizen’s identity, the defendant fraudulently obtained Massachusetts identification cards and a Social Security card.
According to court documents John Doe has criminal convictions in Massachusetts under the deceased citizen’s identity, including assault and drug convictions. Specifically, in September 2012, John Doe was convicted in Worcester Superior Court of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (gun) as well as trafficking cocaine, for which he was sentenced to state prison for 8-10 years and 11-15 years in state prison, respectively.
Upon his release from prison in January 2022, the defendant allegedly used the stolen identity to apply for SNAP benefits. It is alleged that, in connection with his SNAP application, John Doe spoke with an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) in April 2022, claiming that he was the individual listed on the application, that he was a U.S. citizen, and verified his purported Social Security number. According to the charging documents, the DTA employee noted in the file: “Death match ??? – reviewing with suoervisor [sic]” – apparently indicating that the Social Security number that John Doe allegedly provided corresponded to a deceased person. However, the application was ultimately approved by Massachusetts DTA, and John Doe allegedly proceeded to collect SNAP benefits.
In total, from April 2022 through February 2026, John Doe allegedly applied for and obtained approximately $12,623 in SNAP benefits under the stolen deceased citizen’s identity.
The charge of unlawfully obtaining SNAP benefits provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of misrepresenting a Social Security number provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. 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; Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Amy Connelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; Charmeka Parker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region; and Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.
Utqiagvik man sentenced to 18 years for producing child pornographyRead the Press Release
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – An Utqiagvik man was sentenced last Friday to 18 years in prison for sexually exploiting minor victims to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to court documents, in August 2024, the FBI received an anonymous tip suggesting that Donovan Nungasak, 32, had CSAM on his phone. The tip prompted an investigation that revealed Nungasak was corresponding with at least one underage victim for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Nungasak sent photos of his genitalia to the minor victim and possessed multiple sexually explicit photos of her.
After Nungasak was indicted in May 2025, two additional victims came forward. One minor victim reported that Nungasak began communicating with her when she was roughly 15 years old. He sent her messages on Instagram and Snapchat and requested nude images of her. The minor victim would send nude images and Nungasak would send money via an online money transferring service.
The third minor victim began receiving messages from Nungasak on Facebook Messenger and Snapchat when she was in high school. Nungasak requested sexually explicit images of her and sent her photographs of his genitalia. The third minor victim blocked Nungasak and did not send any sexually explicit images.
Throughout the investigation, law enforcement found 41 images of CSAM on Nungasak’s phone, some depicting prepubescent females. Law enforcement also spoke to a witness that came forward after Nungasak had told the witness that he liked younger girls because he could “groom” them to his liking.
Nungasak was arrested at his residence in Utqiagvik on April 28, 2025, and a grand jury returned an indictment charging him with child exploitation offenses on May 21, 2025. Nungasak pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography on Oct. 30, 2025. In handing down the sentence, the Court ordered Nungasak to serve 20 years on supervised release upon completing his custodial sentence.
“Mr. Nungasak targeted young females because he liked to control and exploit their perceived vulnerabilities and then lied about his conduct when confronted on multiple levels” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. “His sick torment is over thanks to the actions of law enforcement, our attorneys and the victims and witnesses that came forward during the investigation. He will now spend nearly two decades behind bars.”
“There is no greater priority than safeguarding our children from predators like Nungasak, whose disturbing pattern of conduct involved grooming minors for CSAM in his own local community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Brandon Waddle of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI and our partners are steadfast in our commitment to identify, investigate, and hold accountable any individual that seeks to harm our most vulnerable.”
The FBI Anchorage Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the North Slope Borough Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
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United States Attorney Announces Leadership Team for Northern District of IowaRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Leif Olson announced today his appointments to the leadership team for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.
“These men and women are dedicated to our Office’s mission of protecting the public and upholding the rule of law,” said Olson. “Like all of our attorneys and support staff, each member of our leadership team has made a career of working with our federal, state, and local law-enforcement partners to secure justice, whether that’s in civil cases or criminal prosecutions. I’m proud to have each of these public servants on our team serving the people of Northern Iowa.”
- Matthew Cole, First Assistant U.S. Attorney. Cole has been appointed to continue his service as First Assistant U.S. Attorney, the second in command of the Office. He has held this position since 2022. Cole joined the Office in 1999 and previously served as Civil Chief and Deputy Criminal Chief. Before joining the Office, Cole was a judicial law clerk and assistant county attorney. Cole has received awards and recognition for his work on behalf of the United States, including the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for outstanding work in an affirmative civil fraud prosecution; the Director’s Award for Superior Performance on a Litigation Team; the USDA Secretary Award for Excellence in Asset Recovery and Litigation; and the National Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Award for outstanding contributions to law enforcement and the OCDETF program. Cole is a graduate of Wheaton College and Drake University Law School.
- Ashley Corkery, Criminal Chief. Corkery has been appointed to serve as Criminal Chief. She joined the Department of Justice in 2014 and has served as Deputy Criminal Chief since 2019, where she oversaw prosecutions involving narcotics and violent crime. She has been recognized for outstanding service and investigations by the United States Postal Inspection Service, Midwest High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and Illinois Metropolitan Enforcement Group Directors and Task Force Commanders Association. Before joining DOJ, Corkery was a prosecutor for the Southeast Iowa Interagency Drug Task Force, where she focused on drug-trafficking offenses and asset forfeiture. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Drake University Law School.
- Timothy Duax, Branch Chief. Duax has been appointed to continue his service as Branch Chief of the Sioux City Branch Office. He previously served as First Assistant and was the court-appointed U.S. Attorney from 2022–2025. Before joining the Office Duax served for four years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, or AUSA, in the District of Arizona and for ten years as a prosecutor in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix. Duax is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Arizona State University College of Law.
- Brandon Gray, Civil Chief. Gray has been appointed to continue his service as the Civil Chief, a role he has held since 2023. Gray joined the Office in 2022 as a civil AUSA, investigating and litigating cases related to fraud on the government; defending federal agencies and officials in court; and collecting debts owed to the United States. Before joining the Office, Gray worked in private practice in Cedar Falls and was an Assistant Attorney General in the Revenue Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. He is a graduate of Iowa State University and the University of Iowa College of Law.
- Mark Tremmel, Appellate Chief. Tremmel has been appointed to continue his service as the Appellate Chief. In that role he supervises post-trial proceedings and matters pending before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tremmel joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2007 after serving as an Assistant Wapello County Attorney and the Wapello County Attorney. He also served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2001 to 2003. Tremmel is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Chicago Law School.
- Jack Lammers and Shawn Wehde, Senior Litigation Counsel. Lammers and Wehde have been appointed to serve as Senior Litigation Counsel. In that role, they are responsible for handling the most complex of the Office’s cases and for training and mentoring AUSAs.
Lammers joined the Office in 2001 as a Special Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting narcotics cases and became an AUSA in 2004. He served as Deputy Branch Chief from 2017–2022 and as Chief of the Criminal Division from 2022 until being appointed SLC. From 2015 to 2016, Lammers served as a legal advisor at the American Embassy in Bangladesh helping improve prosecution of transnational crime. Before joining the Office, Lammers was a state court prosecutor in Black Hawk County and in private practice in Bremerton, Washington. Lammers is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University Law School.
Wehde joined the Office in November 1999 after serving as an Assistant Black Hawk County Attorney from 1989 to 1999, the last three years as the First Assistant. Wehde served as a judicial law clerk for two years before becoming a prosecutor. Wehde is a litigation and trial specialist, primarily prosecuting various types of drug trafficking and firearms offenses, as well as white collar and immigration cases. He has served as a training lecturer and panel facilitator at DOJ’s National Advocacy Center on numerous occasions. Wehde is a graduate of The University of Iowa’s College of Business and College of Law.
- Daniel Chatham, Deputy Criminal Chief. Dan Chatham has been appointed to continue his service as Deputy Criminal Chief, a role he has held since 2022. He joined the Office in 2008 after completing a clerkship with the Iowa Supreme Court and primarily prosecuted drug and firearms crimes. In 2020, he received a Director’s Award for Superior Performance as a Criminal AUSA based on his work in prosecuting drug overdose cases. Chatham is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the University of Iowa College of Law.
- Timothy Vavricek, Deputy Criminal Chief. Vavricek has been appointed as Deputy Criminal Chief. Vavricek has served as an AUSA in his native Cedar Rapids since 2014 and has primarily focused on complex fraud and money-laundering cases, including crimes involving the theft of taxpayer money and financial scams perpetrated against the elderly. Before joining the Office, Vavricek served as an Iowa Assistant Attorney General and clerked for several federal and state judges. He is a member of the Eighth Circuit Subcommittee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions. Vavricek earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Iowa and a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina.
- Todd Voter, Law Enforcement Coordinator. Voter has been appointed to continue as Law Enforcement Coordinator, a position he has held since 2016. Voter joined the Office in 2003 after retiring from the U.S. Army as a Master Sergeant, with a final assignment at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He holds a Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington, D.C. Voter has been involved in numerous federal prosecutions focused on national-security issues and has been integral in public outreach efforts, as well as training local, state, and federal law enforcement agents on DOJ priorities.
- Carmen McElwee, Administrative Officer. McElwee has been appointed to continue as Administrative Officer, supervising the office’s budget, contracting, financial, human-resources, IT, and other administrative staff and functions. She joined the Office in 2007 and served in a variety of administrative roles before her initial appointment as Administrative Officer in 2020.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa prosecutes federal criminal offenses and defends the federal government’s interests in civil cases in 52 of the state’s 99 counties. The headquarters office is in Cedar Rapids with a branch office in Sioux City. It routinely ranks among the busiest of the 25 U.S. Attorney’s Offices of comparable size.
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- Matthew Cole, First Assistant U.S. Attorney. Cole has been appointed to continue his service as First Assistant U.S. Attorney, the second in command of the Office. He has held this position since 2022. Cole joined the Office in 1999 and previously served as Civil Chief and Deputy Criminal Chief. Before joining the Office, Cole was a judicial law clerk and assistant county attorney. Cole has received awards and recognition for his work on behalf of the United States, including the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for outstanding work in an affirmative civil fraud prosecution; the Director’s Award for Superior Performance on a Litigation Team; the USDA Secretary Award for Excellence in Asset Recovery and Litigation; and the National Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Award for outstanding contributions to law enforcement and the OCDETF program. Cole is a graduate of Wheaton College and Drake University Law School.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., Announces New Leadership for the Office’s Long Island Division and Criminal SectionRead the Press Release
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today the appointment of Catherine Mirabile as Chief of the Long Island Division and Chief of the Criminal Section of the Long Island Division. Additionally, Megan Farrell has been appointed as a Deputy Chief of the Long Island Criminal Section, joining current Deputy Chiefs Justina Geraci and Michael Maffei.
Catherine Mirabile
Ms. Mirabile joined the Office in 2002 and originally served in the Civil Division, including as Chief of the Employment Practice and as an Acting Deputy Chief of the Civil Division. Since 2012, she has served in the Criminal Division’s General Crimes (GC), Public Integrity, and Long Island Criminal Sections (LI). Among other supervisory roles, she was Deputy Chief of LI and Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division. Ms. Mirabile is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. After law school, she served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department.
During her time in the Office, Ms. Mirabile has led the investigation and prosecution of several significant public corruption cases, including: a Nassau County Executive; a leader of the Suffolk County Conservative Party who was also a Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office Correction Officer; a former New York City Police Department officer charged with plotting the murder for hire of her estranged husband and her boyfriend’s daughter; and a criminal defense attorney who defrauded a minor estate beneficiary of an inheritance.
Ms. Mirabile has also prosecuted several significant fraud cases, including: a case involving a defendant who was convicted at trial of healthcare fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme that defrauded insurance companies of more than $700 million and resulted in one of the largest restitution and forfeiture orders in a healthcare fraud case nationwide; and a prosecution in which the defendants engaged in a scheme to induce victims to invest in a series of web-based companies that purportedly traded in Bitcoin.
Ms. Mirabile is also a member of the team that has prosecuted several other significant cases on Long Island, including: a case involving violent sex trafficking out of the Sayville Motor Lodge; and a case against a drug dealer who distributed heroin laced with fentanyl that caused the death of a young Long Island man.Megan Farrell
Ms. Farrell joined the Office in February 2018 and has served in GC, LI, and the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights (HTCR) Section. Ms. Farrell most recently served as Deputy Chief of HTCR and previously served as an Acting Deputy Chief in GC and the Organized Crimes and Gangs Section. From 2021 to 2025, she was a Project Safe Child Coordinator and developed outreach programs for middle-school students, speaking to thousands of children and parents about internet safety. Ms. Farrell graduated from Boston College and received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. Following law school, Ms. Farrell was a Public Fellow, serving as a misdemeanor Assistant District Attorney at the King’s County District Attorney’s Office for one year. From 2010 until 2018, Ms. Farrell was an associate at Clifford Chance US LLP.
During her time in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Farrell has prosecuted significant organized crime, gang, sex trafficking, and child exploitation cases. Ms. Farrell was part of a team that secured the convictions of two MS-13 defendants to racketeering and other charges in connection with eight murders. Ms. Farrell was also a member of the team that secured the convictions of three high-ranking MS-13 gang members on racketeering charges in connection with nine murders. In another case, Ms. Farrell was part of the team that secured a sentence of 50 years after the defendant, an MS-13 gang associate, was convicted in April 2022, following a four-week trial, of racketeering, including predicate acts of murder, conspiracy to murder rival gang members, and obstruction of justice and murder in aid-of racketeering, in connection with luring four young men to their violent deaths by more than a dozen gang members and associates in a park in 2017. Additionally, Ms. Farrell is leading the team currently prosecuting seven MS-13 members, including two national leaders, charged with two murders committed on Long Island. Ms. Farrell secured the conviction of a Bloods gang member who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors, and she led the trial team that secured a defendant’s conviction for sex trafficking of two victims. Ms. Farrell is a member of the team currently prosecuting the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and two other individuals charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.
Two Defendants Charged with Distributing Fentanyl that Resulted in Overdose Death of San Diego ResidentRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego Monday charging Maegan Hobbs and David Michael Richards Hansen-Taylor with distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 33-year-old San Diego resident.
According to court records, the pair sold the fatal dose of fentanyl in September 2024. On September 14, 2024, Hobbs allegedly warned the victim about the dangerous nature of the drugs she was selling, messaging him “to be careful with the next stuff.” On September 15, 2024, the day the victim was found deceased, Hobbs allegedly messaged the victim, “Did you feel the Fetty [fentanyl] at least?” The following day, she agreed to sell additional fentanyl to an undercover law enforcement officer.
Hansen, who allegedly conspired with Hobbs to sell fentanyl, is also charged with counterfeiting United States currency.
Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Overdose Response Team led the investigation. This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the San Diego Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the California Department of Health Care Services to investigate and prosecute the distribution of dangerous illegal drugs—fentanyl in particular—that result in overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration created the Overdose Response Team as a response to the increase in overdose deaths in San Diego County.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith D. Ellison.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 25CR2955-JO
Maegan Hobbs Age: 31 San Diego, CA
David Michael Richards Hansen-Taylor Age: 35 Chula Vista, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1 – Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)
Count 2 –Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)
Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine
Mandatory minimum: Twenty years in prison
Count 3 (Hansen-Taylor) – Counterfeiting United States Currency – Title 18, United States Code, Section 471
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Drug Enforcement Administration
San Diego Police Department
Homeland Security Investigations
California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force
California Department of Health Care Services
La Mesa Police Department
San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Tallahassee Man Sentenced for Drug Distribution & Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Tallahassee, Florida – Ramon Velazquez Rodas, 46, of Tallahassee, Florida, has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for charges relating to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, and possession of a stolen firearm by a convicted felon. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This successful prosecution and substantial prison sentence is yet another win for the citizens of the Northern District of Florida, as my office continues to aggressively prosecute these cases to deliver the safe, drug-free streets they deserve. We have more work to do, and thanks to the support of President Donald J. Trump through Operation Take Back America, we will continue to deploy the full power of the Department of Justice to dismantle the drug trafficking rings that have funneled deadly drugs into our communities for far too long.”
Court documents reflect that on August 11, 2022, as part of an ongoing drug investigation targeting multiple individuals, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a suspected drug house where the defendant was found in Tallahassee, Florida. Pursuant to the search warrant, officers located methamphetamine and fentanyl, a stolen handgun, $2,900 in currency, and other items indicative of drug distribution. The defendant is legally barred from possessing firearms as a multi-time convicted felon, including prior convictions for burglary of a dwelling, burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, possession of burglary tools, dealing in stolen property, and possession of controlled substances.
“It’s been a busy few weeks as DEA and its law enforcement partners have brought numerous North Florida drug traffickers to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Daniel Escobar, Drug Enforcement Administration Tampa Field Division. “DEA will pursue, investigate, and arrest all who poison its communities.”
The case involved a joint investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric K. Mountin.
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.
St. Louis County Man Admits $637,000 in Pandemic, Disability FraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Monday admitted committing disability fraud and pandemic loan fraud totaling $637,000.
Preston Randall, 62, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to five counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft of government property and one count of concealment from the U.S. Social Security Administration.
Randall admitted applying to the U.S. Small Business Administration for a series of Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for various businesses using various names. The EIDL program was intended to support small businesses that had been negatively affected by the pandemic. On the applications, Randall falsely inflated revenue and workforce figures to get more money. Randall sought a total of $8,506,000 in loans and received $620,000.
Randall also fraudulently obtained $17,906 in Social Security disability benefits. On his application for benefits, Randall hid the fraudulent EIDL income, his ownership of five vehicles and the ownership of a $500,000 home near Florissant. Randall quitclaimed the home to a shell company to hide the home’s ownership.
Randall was indicted in May of 2024 and jailed later that year after he was accused of threatening a potential witness and placing utility bills in that man’s name without his consent.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jolene Taaffe is prosecuting the case.
South Carolina Man Faces up to 20 Years in Prison for Setting Fire to Central Georgia ChurchRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – A South Carolina Man who admitted in federal court today that he maliciously set fire to the Byron United Methodist Church in 2024 is facing up to 20 years in prison for his crime.
Luke Andrew Westefeld, 34, of North Augusta, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to one count of malicious use of fire before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on April 6. Westefeld faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date will be determined by the Court. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Intentionally setting fire to a house of worship is a malicious act that devastates not only a sacred space, but also reverberates throughout the entire community,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies worked together to ensure the defendant is brought to justice for his actions.”
“The act of arson against a place of worship is not just an attack on a building, it’s an assault on the community's spirit,” said ATF Atlanta’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert W. Davis. “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure justice is served.”
“This case was solved thanks to the crucial assistance provided to us by our law enforcement partners at ATF, GBI, the State Fire Marshals and the Centerville Police Department,” said Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon. “We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia for their diligence in securing the guilty plea. This case is another great example of law enforcement working together for a successful outcome, and we know the citizens of Byron appreciate everyone's efforts.”
According to court documents and statements in court, Westefeld approached a few Byron United Methodist Church members who were standing in the church’s parking lot on West Heritage Boulevard in Byron, Georgia, after their choir practice on Aug. 20, 2024. Westefeld asked for water, which the women declined, telling officers they were concerned about their safety.
Later that night, Westefeld broke into the church and became upset when he saw unlit candlesticks on the altar. Westefeld believed the candlesticks should remain lit through the night. He said he noticed that the Bible on the pulpit was opened to Ezekiel 24:21, which spoke of the desecration of the sanctuary due to sin. Westefeld took it as a sign for him to burn the Church. Westefeld lit the candlesticks and burned the American and Methodist flags in the sanctuary.
Westefeld then went to the Church office next to the sanctuary and found cash and checks. Westefeld said his “anger level reached a 10” because he believed the money should be deposited in a bank. Westefeld took the cash for himself. He then saw food in the office pantry and became even more enraged, believing it should be given to the poor. For these reasons, Westefeld set the Church’s office on fire.
Westefeld then stole a plastic gas can from a nearby home, planning to siphon gasoline out of the Church’s van to use as an accelerant. The van was parked and locked behind the Church. Westefeld was unable to retrieve the gasoline, so he stuffed his white shirt in the gas cap of the van and set it on fire.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Georgia Fire Marshals and the Byron Police Department investigated the case, along with assistance from the Centerville Police Department and the GBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Couch is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Scarborough Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Maine: A Scarborough man pleaded guilty on March 31, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Portland to possessing child sexual abuse material.
According to court records, Robert E. Milholland, Jr., 49, became the target of a law enforcement investigation after being linked to child sexual abuse material over the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing network. In July 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at his residence, resulting in the seizure of multiple digital media devices that contained child sexual abuse material.
Milholland faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a maximum supervised release term of life. 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.
HSI and the Lewiston Police Department investigated the case.
To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child sexual abuse material: Child sexual abuse material – referred to in legal terms as "child pornography" – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 36 million reports of the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials. To file a report with NCMEC, go to https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.
Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.
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Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to Six Years for Abusive Sexual Contact on an AircraftRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL – John Daniel Fowler (65, Indianapolis, IN) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron to 6 years in federal prison for abusive sexual contact on an aircraft. Fowler was also ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release following his release from prison. A federal jury convicted Fowler on January 13, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to testimony presented at trial, Fowler was seated next to a minor on an aircraft flying from Indianapolis to Orlando. During the flight, Fowler observed the minor taking a cellphone photo through the window of the plane and asked the minor to send him the photo and provided his cellphone number. Several times during the flight, Fowler encroached on the minor’s space by placing his hand over the armrest and touching the minor, who pushed Fowler’s hand away each time. After the minor fell asleep, Fowler placed his hand under the minor’s blanket and touched her genitalia. The minor woke up as the plane was landing in Orlando, while Fowler was still groping her. The minor immediately reported the conduct to the flight crew, who separated the child victim from Fowler and notified law enforcement.
Fowler, a registered sex offender, was previously convicted in Indiana for sexual battery and criminal confinement. That victim, who was an adult at the time of the offense in 2017, testified at this trial to establish a pattern of similar conduct by Fowler. The victim’s testimony for that previous conviction established that the victim fell asleep and awoke to Fowler licking her genitalia without her consent.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and the Orlando Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brandon Cruz and Kaley Austin-Aronson.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Raleigh Professor Agrees to Pay $152,500 to Resolve Allegedly False National Science Grant ClaimsRead the Press Release
RALEIGH, N.C. – Dr. Michael Harrington and his company Genoverde Bioscience, Inc., have agreed to pay $152,500 to the United States to resolve claims of allegedly false payments under National Science Foundation grants and Payment Protection Program (“PPP”) loans.
“This civil fraud settlement demonstrates our commitment to protect taxpayer money and guard the integrity of our grant programs,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. “Our office will zealously pursue damages and civil penalties against grant recipients whether the amounts taken are large or small.”
This settlement arose from allegations that Dr. Harrington’s company, Genoverde, made false and duplicative expense claims under government grants, and also improperly sought PPP loans and PPP loan forgiveness. The Genoverde grants included expenses for research on harvesting industrial hemp and trees.
“Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards are highly competitive grants intended to fund American-owned small businesses to conduct research that will lead to the commercialization of innovative new products and services,” said Megan E. Wallace, NSF’s Acting Inspector General. “The NSF Office of Inspector General is committed to ensuring the integrity of NSF’s SBIR grant program by holding accountable those who choose to engage in false claims and misrepresentation schemes. We appreciate the efforts of the Department of Justice in pursuing this matter and will continue to vigorously pursue oversight of taxpayer funds devoted to scientific research.”
The False Claims Act mandates that the Government recover three times the amount of money falsely obtained, plus substantial penalties for each false claim submitted. The civil claims here were resolved by settlement and are allegations only. No judicial determination or admission of liability occurred.
The United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina partnered with the NSF Office of Inspector General; and Assistant United States Attorney Neal Fowler represented the United States.
Putnam County Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Steven Mark Hosey, 59, of Poca, pleaded guilty today to unlawfully engaging in the business of dealing in firearms.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least April 2024 through April 10, 2025, Hosey sold firearms without a Federal Firearms License (FFL) in Huntington. As part of his guilty plea, Hosey admitted that he knew he needed an FFL based on the quantity and regularity with which he was buying and selling firearms. Hosey further admitted that he purchased firearms from FFL licensees with the intent to sell the firearms to other individuals, received requests from individuals for specific firearms that he would purchase to sell to those individuals, purchased firearms without a specific buyer in mind, and advertised the sale of firearms on various social media platforms.
Hosey also admitted that he sold between 40 and 50 firearms for profit during the time period. These firearms included a Glock model 43X 9mm pistol and a Shadow Systems model MR920 9mm pistol on January 25, 2025, a Glock model 40 10mm pistol and a Colt model Anaconda .44 Magnum revolver on February 6, 2025, a Sig Sauer model P320 9mm pistol and a Smith & Wesson model 629 .44 Magnum revolver on February 28, 2025, a Glock model 45 9mm pistol and a FN model FNX-45 Tactical .45-caliber pistol on March 17, 2025, and a Kimber model Tactical Pro II 9mm pistol and a Springfield Armory model Hellcat 9mm pistol on April 8, 2025. Hosey admitted that he conducted the five transactions in the parking lot of an FFL business and sold the firearms to a confidential informant.
On April 10, 2025, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Hosey’s residence and seized 34 firearms. Hosey admitted that he intended to sell some of the seized firearms for profit.
Hosey is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Taylor is prosecuting 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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. 3:26-cr-36.
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Printing Manufacturer Agrees to Pay $900,000 in Settlement over Misrepresentations in PPP ApplicationsRead the Press Release
mutoh_america_inc._settlement_agreement.pdfPHOENIX, Ariz. – Mutoh America, Inc. (Mutoh), a manufacturer in the large format printing industry and a technology distributor of drafting machines operating in Arizona, has admitted to making material misrepresentations in its applications to receive and have forgiven a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Mutoh also agreed to pay $900,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by making those material misrepresentations.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief under the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. The PPP was expanded and modified by the Economic Aid Act (EAA) in December 2020 and the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021.
ARPA provided new restrictions on PPP loans, including limiting loans to applicants who, together with their domestic and foreign affiliates, collectively employed 300 or fewer persons. ARPA clarified that second draw PPP loans required applicants to include employees working overseas at foreign affiliates in calculating the total number of employees.
Mutoh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mutoh Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded company in Japan. In the settlement agreement, Mutoh admitted the following facts:
- Together with its foreign affiliates, Mutoh had more than 300 employees at the time of its second PPP loan.
- Mutoh Holdings, Inc., collectively had approximately 684 employees in March 2019, approximately 693 employees in March 2020, and approximately 674 employees in March 2021.
- Mutoh applied for a second draw PPP loan, which Mutoh received on or about March 18, 2021.
- Mutoh did not disclose its affiliated entities’ employees in its computation of the total number of employees on the application as otherwise required.
- Before Mutoh’s application was submitted, a high-ranking Mutoh official seriously doubted Mutoh’s eligibility for the loan but decided to proceed with the application anyway and run the risk of a repayment obligation.
- On or about September 29, 2021, Mutoh applied for forgiveness of the loan, which the SBA later approved.
- The United States was unaware of the misrepresentations regarding the number of employees in Mutoh’s applications to receive the loan and have it forgiven, and these misrepresentations were material to the United States’ decision to pay and forgive Mutoh’s PPP loan in the amount of $584,012.
“The overarching purpose of the PPP was to help people keep their jobs, but some people abused the program and misused taxpayer money,” said Timothy Courchaine, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. “This settlement underscores my office’s continued efforts to pursue recoveries from individuals and businesses that unlawfully took advantage of the federal government’s COVID-19 assistance at the expense of other Americans’ welfare.”
“The favorable settlement in this case is the product of enhanced efforts by federal agencies such as the Small Business Administration working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, other federal law enforcement agencies, as well as financial institutions or private individuals who uncover misconduct to recover the lending program’s damages,” said SBA’s General Counsel Wendell Davis.
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Verity Investigations, LLC v. Mutoh America, Inc., CV-25-01647-PHX-SPL (D. Ariz.). Verity Investigations, LLC will receive $90,000 as its share of the settlement.
Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud affecting COVID-19 government relief programs or any other potential fraud against the federal government can be reported here. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can also report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form, which can be found here.
CASE NUMBER: CV-25-01647-PHX-SPL
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-058_Mutoh America, Inc.
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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.
Previously convicted felon returning to prison for drug and firearm crimesRead the Press Release
RICHMOND, Va. – A Prince George man was sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to court documents, on March 15, 2024, responding to a report of a man looking into vehicles with a flashlight, Colonial Heights police officers located and spoke with Earnest Thomas, 34. As officers attempted to gather Thomas’ identifying information, Thomas fled. The officers apprehended Thomas after a brief pursuit, confirmed his identity, and determined that he had outstanding arrest warrants from Chesterfield, Petersburg, and Hopewell.
From Thomas’ vehicle, investigators recovered 28.62 grams of 93.7% pure methamphetamine, two digital scales, two ski masks, a handgun, a folded $5 bill containing 1.0685 grams of fentanyl, and a vile containing an additional 0.3957 grams of methamphetamine.
Thomas previously was convicted of, among other crimes, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a concealed weapon, and domestic assault and battery. As a convicted felon, Thomas cannot legally possess firearms or ammunition.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division investigated this case.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Gilliland 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.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:25-cr-63.