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Monday 8 June 2026
Life Sentence Imposed for Murderer in 21 Defendant Arlington, TX Street Gang ProsecutionRead the Press Release
The twenty-one members and associates of the violent Kiccdoe street gang that ravaged the streets of Arlington, Texas, have pled guilty to federal charges of racketeering (RICO conspiracy) or other drug and violent crimes in aid of racketeering charges , announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Yesterday, June 4, one of those defendants, Chauncey Ross, 22, of Arlington, Texas, was sentenced to life in federal prison by United States District Judge Mark T. Pittman for his role in the RICO conspiracy.
“I will not tolerate gang-related violence in our district, so rest assured that our gang-related prosecutions will continue,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I am extremely proud of the work done by my prosecutors on this case, and I hope the citizens of Arlington feel safer knowing that these gang members are behind bars. Through his conduct, defendant Ross earned the life sentence he received, and I hope his sentence serves as a warning to all gang members in our community.”
“This defendant’s role in the commission of a murder and his involvement in a violent gang that terrorized the Arlington community warrants the life sentence imposed in this case,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to dismantle violent criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our communities.”
“This is a major win for our community,” said Arlington Police Chief Al Jones. “In Arlington alone, we documented more than 180 criminal incidents, many of them violent in nature, involving the members of this street gang. I have no doubt that our city is safer with these defendants off our streets. I’m extremely grateful to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas for their partnership on this case and for helping us achieve this outcome.”
During the sentencing hearing, the government drew the court’s attention to various aspects of evidence for its consideration in determining Ross’s sentence. The government argued that Ross had shot and killed one young male and shot and injured another young female, while she was shielding her infant child with her body. And that shortly after committing the murder, Ross had recorded a rap song bragging about the incident—with lyrics that “fiending for murder . . . gave [him] an itch,” among other graphic lyrics directly referencing the victim and the murder.In addition to Ross, seven other defendants have been sentenced for their roles in the racketeering conspiracy (RICO conspiracy) or conduct stemming from their association with the Kiccdoe gang:
• Kyron Oates, 22, of Grand Prairie, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment. During the sentencing hearing, the government highlighted evidence that showed that Oates was one of two shooters in a pre-meditated attempted murder occurring in February 2024.• Cortez Atkinson, 19, of Fort Worth, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 176 months imprisonment. During the sentencing hearing, the government drew the court’s attention to evidence showing that Atkinson initiated a gang-related shootout directly outside of an apartment complex, during which a stray bullet struck a 13-year old girl while she was in her bedroom.
• KeyShawn Burton, 21, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 127 months imprisonment. During the sentencing hearing, the government argued that Burton not only trafficked narcotics but also actively participated in online group chats with other Kiccdoe gang members to conspire to shoot and kill a member of a rival gang.
• Jaylen Jeshawn Franklin, 23, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 122 months imprisonment. During the sentencing hearing, the government highlighted evidence that showed Franklin had conspired with other Kiccdoe gang members to commit at least two drive-by shootings – in January and November 2022, and he also posted in a Kiccdoe group chat an image of one of the houses to target for the shootings.
• Sir James Mack Williams, 22, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 92 months imprisonment. During the sentencing hearing, the government emphasized evidence showing that Williams was a shooter during a November 2022 drive-by shooting spree of two separate houses in Arlington, Texas.
• Raphael Opare, 19, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to a RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 41 months imprisonment. In addition to trafficking narcotics, R. Opare admitted in court documents that he, together with other Kiccdoe gang members, conspired to kill a member of a rival gang in retaliation for a shooting that had occurred in April 2024.
• JaMarion Manogin, 20, of Forney, Texas, pled guilty to two counts of Use of a Communication Facility in Causing or Facilitating the Commission of a Felony under the Controlled Substances Act and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for engaging in drug trafficking while using a cellphone.
The remaining 13 defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks:
• June 12, 2026:
Bradley McArthur, Jr., 21, of Fort Worth, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
Vernell Woods, 19, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
• June 18, 2026:
LaMarion Austin, 21, of Dallas, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
Isaiah Wiley, 21, of Dallas, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
Joseph Hill, 18, of Fort Worth, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
Marcus Shaw, 20, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
• July 2, 2026:
Sadedrick Wilson, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
Dillen Opare, 20, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
DaTraven Warren, 18, of Mansfield, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
DeMarco Westmoreland, 19, of Mansfield, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
• July 9, 2026:
Michael Mensah, 18, of Grand Prairie, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.
• September 10, 2026:
Jakayla Totten, 21, of DeSoto, Texas, pled guilty to one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering.
• September 17, 2026:
Blake Aaron Scott, 22, of Arlington, Texas, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Arlington Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura G. Montes and Eric B. Chen prosecuted the case with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Capoccia.
Knoxville Man Indicted on Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, Crack Cocaine, and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On May 20, 2026, a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tennessee, returned an indictment charging Brandon Allen Foxx, 36, of Knoxville, TN, with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, seven counts of distributing methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and crack cocaine, two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and two counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. On June 8, 2026, Foxx appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Jill E. McCook, in the Eastern District of Tennessee, and entered pleas of not guilty to the charges in the indictment. He was detained pending trial, which has been set for July 28, 2026, before the Honorable Judge Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge.
According to court documents, between November 25, 2025, and May 7, 2026, Foxx sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant on seven occasions. Court documents also allege Foxx possessed firearms while selling methamphetamine to the confidential informant. On May 12, 2026, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF) and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (“TBI”) executed a search warrant of Foxx’s residence. Inside the residence, agents found 1 kilogram of methamphetamine, 93 grams of fentanyl, 28.1 grams of crack cocaine, 1.4 kilograms of marijuana, 181 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, $2,405 in cash, and two firearms.
If convicted, Foxx faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Francis M. Hamilton III, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and ATF Resident Agent in Charge Nellie Waterman, made the announcement.
This case was investigated by the ATF and the TBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael T. Gilmore of the Eastern District of Tennessee 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 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.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Justice Department Moves to Strip U.S. Citizenship from 17 Naturalized Sex Offenders, Fraudsters, Drug Dealers, and MoreRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. district courts against 17 individuals accused of serious offenses—including sexual abuse of a minor, wire and bank fraud, and distributing drugs wholesale without a license.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters. Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure U.S. citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it.”
“American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals including sex offenders, perpetrators of fraud, and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”
“We will not turn a blind eye to those who unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Anyone thinking they can defraud the naturalization process should think again. We will continue to pursue anyone who unlawfully or fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.”
- Leidys Delmas Garcia (Age 54/Cuba): Delmas Garcia is a native of Cuba who was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The U.S. seeks an order revoking Delmas Garcia’s naturalization based on her admission in criminal proceedings that she and her co-conspirators established and operated 30 physical therapy clinics in Florida that fraudulently billed commercial insurance provider Blue Cross, Blue Shield approximately $36,728,595 for physical therapy services that were not medically necessary and/or never provided. During her naturalization interview, Delmas Garcia represented under penalty of perjury that she had not committed crimes for which she had not been arrested and that she had never given false or misleading information to any U.S. government official while applying for any immigration benefit. Neither was true.
- Jean Claude Alfred (Age 68/Haiti): The United States filed a denaturalization action against Jean Claude Alfred, a native of Haiti who naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1994. Beginning in September 1993, approximately one month before filing his naturalization application, Alfred repeatedly sexually abused his minor daughter and continued that conduct during the pendency of his naturalization proceedings. During the naturalization process, Alfred represented in his application and under oath that he had not committed any crime for which he had not been arrested and concealed his ongoing criminal conduct. In 1996, a Florida jury convicted Alfred of attempted sexual battery upon a child in a familial or custodial relationship and lewd, lascivious, and indecent assault upon a child under the age of 16 for Alfred's criminal conduct that began in September 1993, before he naturalized. The denaturalization complaint alleges that Alfred illegally procured his citizenship because he provided false testimony which prevented him from establishing good moral character required for naturalization. The complaint further alleges that Alfred obtained citizenship through the concealment and willful misrepresentation of material facts concerning his sexual abuse of a minor.
- Andrea Marroquin (Age 44/Colombia): Marroquin is the daughter of a major Colombian drug trafficker who inherited his money when he died. She obtained permanent residence in the United States by concealing her bigamous marriage to a United States citizen. Between 2003 and 2011, she conspired to engage in wire and bank fraud and money laundering, using her late father’s drug money to finance fraudulent real estate transactions in Miami, Florida. She became a naturalized citizen in 2009 by concealing her crimes. The United States has brought four claims against Marroquin seeking her denaturalization, including claims she knowingly lied to immigration authorities and lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen.
- Maria Lourdes Montoya (Age 63/Mexico): On June 4, 2026, the United States brought a denaturalization action against Maria Lourdes Montoya, who misrepresented her husband’s identify to secure permanent residence and later citizenship. In support of both her application for permanent residence and naturalization, Montoya represented herself to be the spouse of a U.S. Citizen—Gilberto Montoya. But Montya was never married to Gilberto Montoya, who died decades earlier. Instead, Montoya was marred to Ernesto Orozco-Viramontes, a Mexican national who had assumed the identity of Gilberto. Montoya was aware of her husband’s deception and leveraged it to obtain immigration benefits, including naturalized citizenship. The United States filed a five-count complaint against Montoya seeking to cancel her naturalized citizenship.
- Tahir Lekaj (Age 43/Yugoslavia): Lekaj was admitted to the United States in August 1999 and subsequently obtained permanent residence. When he applied to naturalize in 2004, Mr. Lekaj wrote in his application that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested. He later repeated that claim orally and under oath during his naturalization interview. His application was approved, and he naturalized in May 2005. However, in 2022, the State of Connecticut convicted Mr. Lekaj of two counts of sexually abusing a child under the age of 15 in January 2003. Evidence at trial indicated that the victim was 10 years old when the abuse began. The United States filed a complaint seeking to revoke Mr. Lekaj’s citizenship because he illegally procured his citizenship because he was unable to demonstrate the good moral character required of naturalization because of the sexual abuse. Additionally, Mr. Lekaj is subject to denaturalization because he willfully misrepresented or concealed the sexual abuse while seeking United States citizenship.
- Talman Harris (Age 49/Jamaica): Over an eight-year period, including during his 2012-2014 naturalization proceedings, Talman Harris, a native of Jamaica, conspired to manipulate the price and volume of shares of stock in publicly traded companies, causing more than $54 million to be invested in artificially controlled shares and an ultimate loss to investors of approximately $39 million from the scheme. In 2016, after Harris naturalized, a jury found him guilty of wire fraud and conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, with his fraudulent wire transfers and the conspiracy occurring during the period in which Harris was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character to naturalize. The denaturalization complaint against Harris alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, he committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime. The complaint additionally alleges that Harris willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crimes during his naturalization proceedings.
- Armando Mendoza (Age 39/Mexico): Before Mendoza naturalized, he began knowingly receiving sexually explicit images of minors as early as 2009. In his 2011 naturalization application and interview, however, Mendoza, a Mexico native, claimed that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. In 2013, after he naturalized, Mendoza pled guilty to the receipt of such images. The denaturalization complaint against Mendoza alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, Mendoza was precluded from doing so because he had committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Mendoza willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crime during his naturalization proceedings.
- Neeraj Sharma (Age 50/India): Neeraj Sharma, a native of India, was both the owner and chief executive officer of Magnavision LLC, a staffing company located in New Jersey. As an officer of Magnavision LLC, Sharma signed and filed eleven fraudulent H-1B visa petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). Each petition included false representations that the visa beneficiaries would be employed with a particular global financial institution, and also included letters on official corporate letterhead with forged signatures of the executives. In 2017, Sharma applied for naturalization, and under penalty of perjury, falsely asserted that he had never: (a) committed a crime or offense for which he was not arrested; (b) given any U.S. Government officials any information or documentation that was false or misleading; and (c) lied to any U.S. Government official to gain immigration benefits. Based on these material falsehoods, USCIS approved his application, and Defendant became a U.S. citizen in December 2017. Subsequently, Defendant was convicted of Fraud and Misuse of Visas, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1546, with the date of offense between April 25, 2015, through April 27, 2017. The United States seeks to revoke Defendant’s naturalization, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), as an alien who illegally procured his naturalization by: (1) failing to disclose unlawful acts; (2) providing false testimony; and (3) concealment of a material fact and willful misrepresentation.
- Federico Michel Fermin (Age 54/Dominican Republic): From September 2004 through August 2005, Federico Michel Fermin, a native of the Dominican Republic, conspired with others to distribute more than $1.7 million in prescription drugs wholesale without a license. As part of the criminal conspiracy, Fermin altered drug packaging and caused it to be altered so that the prescription drugs that were distributed to pharmacies would appear to have been purchased from persons who were licensed to distribute them. On May 12, 2011, a jury convicted Fermin of conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs wholesale without a license, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. He was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment. However, during his naturalization process, Fermin represented, under penalty of perjury, that he had never knowingly committed any crime for which he had not been arrested and testified under oath to the same at his naturalization interview. Accordingly, Fermin illegally procured is naturalization as a United States citizen because he misrepresented and concealed facts that were material to determining his eligibility for naturalization.
- Abdikadir Ali Kadiye (Age 54/Somalia): On June 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota filed a civil denaturalization complaint in District of Minnesota against Abdikadir Ali Kadiye. Beginning in April of 1997, Kadiye sought admission to the United States by filing applications under two separate identities. Kadiye initially sought admission to the United States under the identity Liban M. Degel and he claimed that he was married with no children. After an immigration judge denied his application for immigration benefits, Kadiye submitted a second application under the identity of Abdikadir Ali Kadiye. After his naturalization, Kadiye admitted to a customs and border patrol agent that he had previously used two identities for admission for admission.
- Victor San Shing Kwok (Age 50/People’s Republic of China): On June 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of the Northern District of Georgia filed a civil denaturalization complaint against Victor San Shing Kwon in the Northern District of Georgia. In September 1994, Kwok sought admission to the United States under the identity of Xin Cheng Guo. After an immigration judge denied his application for an immigration benefit, Kwok sought admission to the United States by marrying a U.S. citizen. In his application to adjust his resident status, Kwok failed to disclose the prior denial of his prior application for an immigration benefit and his pending order of removal. There is no record that Kwok departed the United States as ordered by the immigration judge.
- Louise Hunkporti (Age 64/Congo): In 1995, Hunkporti applied for and was denied an immigration benefit. When he was denied the immigration benefit, Hunkporti adopted a new identity and submitted a falsified application using the new identity. Hunkporti naturalized as a U.S. citizen on March 2, 2010 under the adopted identity. After USCIS digitized its paper fingerprint cards, the U.S. Department of Justice discovered that the fingerprints Hunkporti submitted when she naturalized matched those she submitted when she applied for the immigration benefit in 1995. The complaint alleges eight counts for her numerous misrepresentations and unlawful acts that adversely reflect her moral character.
- Fernando Cristancho (Age 69/Colombia): Cristancho, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, entered the United States as a religious worker and then used his leadership position in the church to gain access to minor victims. In that capacity, Mr. Cristancho sexually groomed and abused a minor parishioner from when the victim was 11 to 13 years old. Mr. Cristancho later admitted to the crime—and egregious conduct involving other minor victims—and pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), resulting in a 22-year prison sentence. The denaturalization complaint filed against Mr. Cristancho charges that he hid his ongoing crime from immigration officials, thereby illegally procuring his naturalization by concealing material facts and willfully misrepresenting his unlawful sexual activity and by his inability to demonstrate the requisite good moral character in support of his application. (Park/Burley)
- Ronnie Price (Age 40/Trinidad and Tobago): Before his naturalization in 2016, 30-year-old Ronnie Price had sexual intercourse with a female who was under 16 – a statutory rape crime to which he eventually pled guilty. During his naturalization proceedings, however, Price claimed he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested, he falsely testified to the same, and he concealed facts that would have uncovered his criminal activity. The denaturalization complaint alleges that Price engaged in unlawful conduct during a critical statutory period during which he was required by law to maintain good moral character, that he provided false testimony during his naturalization interview, and that he did so in order to conceal his crimes and willfully misrepresent material facts that would have revealed his ineligibility for the privilege of United States citizenship.
- Rodger George Gurdon (Age 55/Jamaica): Prior to naturalizing in 2011, Rodger George Gurdon, a native of Jamaica, engaged in a conspiracy to steal and resell medical products from military hospitals operated by the Department of Defense. Gurdon likewise engaged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 100 kilograms of a substance containing marijuana. In 2013, after he naturalized, Gurdon pled guilty to Conspiring to Steal Pre-Retail Medical Products, Interstate Receipt of Stolen Property, and Conspiring to Distribute Marijuana, with the conspiracies occurring during the period in which Gurdon was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character to naturalize. The denaturalization complaint against Gurdon alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, Gurdon was precluded from doing so because he had committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crimes. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Gurdon willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crimes during his naturalization proceedings. (McManus/Bic)
- Jheromell Obejera Arcilla (Age 39/Philippines): On Friday, June 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the United States District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, against Jheromell Obejera Arcilla, a native of the Philippines who, prior to his naturalization, began sexually abusing the 15-year-old daughter of his biological cousin, with whom he lived. The sexual abuse lasted for over a year, during which time Mr. Arcilla successfully naturalized. In 2020, a grand jury indicted Mr. Arcilla on three counts of sexual offenses in violation of the Maryland criminal code, and in 2021, Mr. Arcilla pleaded guilty to one of those counts, sex abuse of a minor. Mr. Arcilla lied about the commission of this crime in connection with his naturalization application. The United States has brought three claims against Mr. Arcilla seeking his denaturalization, including claims that he lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen and that he knowingly lied to immigration authorities.
- Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres (Age 40/Cuba): Before Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres naturalized, she was part of a larger conspiracy to defraud a tribal casino in Florida. Her husband and several others stole millions of dollars from the casino by creating false credit vouchers. Acosta Torres subsequently engaged in various financial transactions involving the criminal proceeds to disguise the fact that they were obtained though fraud and to circumvent transaction reporting requirements imposed by federal and state law. But in her naturalization application and interview, Acosta Torres falsely claimed that she had never committed a crime or offense for which she had not been arrested. The denaturalization complaint against Acosta Torres alleges that she is subject to denaturalization because during the period in which she was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, she committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on her moral character and falsely testified about her crime. Additionally, she willfully misrepresented the material fact of her crime during her naturalization proceedings.
These cases were prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, with assistance from USCIS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and New Jersey.
The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Justice Department Launches Compliance Review Concerning Gender Ideology in San Francisco Unified School District and Three Additional California School DistrictsRead the Press Release
Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched a compliance review into four California public school districts: Graves Elementary School District, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Santa Rita Union School District, and Soledad Unified School District (collectively, the California School Districts) regarding instruction on sexual orientation and gender ideology (SOGI) in grades pre-K-12.
“This Department of Justice will not tolerate local school authorities trampling on the rights of parents concerning the education of their children,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Mahmoud and Mirabelli have put all school districts on notice: policies that keep parents in the dark about sexuality and gender ideology in the classroom must end now.”
The review will examine whether, and to what extent, the California School Districts have notified parents of their right to opt their children out of such instruction. Under California law, sex education must include SOGI topics. While parental notice and opt-out provisions apply to “all or part of” sex education, SFUSD, for example, has previously advised its teachers that neither parental permission nor notification are required to teach or discuss SOGI topics. Further, SOGI topics appear to be embedded in California’s social studies and history classes. The compliance review will also assess policies that permit access to single-sex intimate spaces (such as bathrooms and locker rooms) and girls’ sports teams based on purported gender identity rather than biological sex.
The review will examine whether the California School Districts, which all receive taxpayer funding, are adhering to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. DOJ will also evaluate whether what actions, if any, the California School Districts have taken in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Mirabelli v. Bonta and Mahmoud v. Taylor, which reiterated the nation’s extensive precedents on parental rights.
The Civil Rights Division has not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation.
Jury Finds Norcross Man Guilty of Laundering More than $400,000 in Proceeds from Fraudulent Tax RefundsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – After a one-week trial, a federal jury convicted Festus Anyiam of stealing government funds and laundering the proceeds of fraudulent tax refunds obtained through identity theft.
“This defendant attempted to conceal his brazen theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent tax refund payments by converting the stolen refunds into money orders and then transferring the cashed money orders into accounts he controlled,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “My office will always pursue wrongdoers who steal from the tax system and attempt to conceal their wrongdoing.”
“This verdict is a victory for the U.S. tax system. It should send a message to would-be thieves that IRS-Criminal Investigation and its law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue those who seek to enrich themselves on the backs of U.S. taxpayers,” said Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office, Special Agent in Charge William Steenson. “No matter how many steps a thief takes to hide their ill-gotten gains, our special agents will track them down and bring them to justice.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: In 2015, the IRS received fraudulent tax returns claiming refunds that used the personally identifiable information (PII) of taxpayers in Illinois and Missouri. The returns directed the IRS to send the refund payments to a third-party tax preparation software company, which deposited the tax refunds into prepaid debit cards that had been activated using taxpayers’ stolen PII. After the debit cards were loaded with refund payments, the debit cards were used to purchase money orders from various retail stores in the Atlanta area.
During a three-week period in June and July 2015, Anyiam used ATMs throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area to deposit hundreds of those money orders into his personal bank account. To conceal the true source of the funds, Anyiam later sought to clear the tax refund proceeds from his bank account by buying a cashier’s check for $406,000 and depositing it at another bank.
On June 5, 2026, a federal jury found Festus Anyiam, 41, of Norcross, Georgia, guilty of four counts of theft of government funds and one count of money laundering.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen. The Court may sentence the defendant to not more than 10 years of imprisonment on each of the theft counts and not more than 20 years of imprisonment on the money laundering count. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Sekret T. Sneed and Daniel Grill are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6185. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Jefferson County felon charged with federal firearms violation in the Eastern District of TexasRead the Press Release
BEAUMONT, Texas – A Beaumont felon has been indicted in the Eastern District of Texas and charged with a federal firearms violation, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Jared Cole Stephenson, 41, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Stephenson appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christine L. Stetson on June 8, 2026.
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, to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and to protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
This case is being investigated by the Jasper Police Department, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell James.
A federal indictment or complaint is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Jefferson County Man Convicted for Drug Trafficking from Inside the Alabama Department of CorrectionsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Birmingham man has been convicted of using a contraband cell phone to run a methamphetamine conspiracy while in custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections, announced U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr.
The jury returned a guilty verdict against Samdrekus Eugene Bester, 43, after four days of testimony before U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala. Bester was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to evidence presented at trial, Bester was serving a life sentence inside the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) for a 2016 murder he committed in Jefferson County. While inside ADOC, Bester used a contraband cell phone to coordinate the sale of methamphetamine in December 2022 and January 2023. Specifically, Bester arranged for the sale of over 10 pounds of methamphetamine, which the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recovered. Bester used females on the outside to facilitate his drug trafficking operation. The DEA recovered over 20 pounds of methamphetamine from a co-defendant’s home. Throughout December 2022 and January 2023, Bester facilitated the possession and distribution of 165 pounds of methamphetamine throughout the greater Birmingham metro area.
“Despite being imprisoned for murder, the defendant continued to endanger our communities through drug trafficking. This guilty verdict sends a clear message that criminal activity will not be tolerated behind prison walls or anywhere else,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “I commend the dedicated collaboration of our law enforcement partners in bringing this defendant to justice.”
“Drug trafficking is a scourge on our communities, and we will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who engage in drug trafficking are held accountable for their actions, even if they are already incarcerated,” said Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Byrd.
“This conviction demonstrates the reach of our federal and state law enforcement partnership,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John P. Scott. “Even from behind bars, this individual continued to pose a grave danger to our community by orchestrating a large-scale drug trafficking operation. We are committed to dismantling these criminal networks, regardless of where the coordinators are located, and holding them fully accountable for the devastation they bring to the Birmingham area.”
The DEA investigated the case, along with the Birmingham Police Department, Hoover Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brittany T. Byrd and Benjamin A. Keown, Sr., are prosecuting the case.
Jason Khan, Owner of Foot Fetish Company, Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Sex Trafficking OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today the unsealing of a three-count Indictment charging JASON KHAN with sex trafficking offenses. KHAN was arrested this morning in the Northern District of New York and will be presented this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis.
“As alleged, Jason Khan lured his victims in under the lucrative promise of being a foot model, before he repeatedly and violently sexually assaulted and raped them,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “We commend the victims for their courage in coming forward, and we urge anyone else who has been a victim of Khan, or knows anything about his alleged crimes, to do the same. Our investigation is ongoing.”
“Jason Khan allegedly operated a website to exploit multiple women’s employment aspirations and lure them to hotel rooms before brutally raping them,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “The FBI-NYPD Human Trafficking Task Force continues to target sexual predators who abuse women.”
“This defendant lured women to hotel rooms under the false pretense of offering employment opportunities, and then raped and sexually assaulted them,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This horrific behavior has no place in our city, and we will not allow predators to prey on vulnerable women. The NYPD will always protect survivors of sexual assault and work to stop the deception, exploitation, and abuse of traffickers. I am thankful to the men and women of the NYPD, our partners at the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their tireless work to bring this perpetrator to justice.”
As alleged in the Indictment and other filings and statements made in public court proceedings:
From at least 2019 to 2021, KHAN, who resides primarily in New York City and Albany, operated the foot fetish website FootPadNYC.com. KHAN used his foot fetish website to lure and recruit victims to hotel rooms under the pretense of providing them with job opportunities as foot models. As depicted in the below image, the “Employment” section for KHAN’s website sought to attract foot models with the promise of “get[ting] paid to have your feet worshipped.”
KHAN and others working with him then scheduled meetings with aspiring “foot models” in Manhattan hotel rooms. When the aspiring models showed up to be interviewed by KHAN, he sexually assaulted or raped them.
On at least three occasions, KHAN deployed this playbook: scheduling interviews with women who were seeking professional opportunities as foot models and using the promise of this additional income to lure them to Manhattan hotel rooms. Once in the hotel room, KHAN raped or sexually assaulted the women—penetrating two of the victims vaginally and, among other things, forcibly putting the third victim’s feet on his penis. Each victim expressed her lack of consent to the sexual activity, but her non-consent was ignored by KHAN. Each of the victims reported her assault to law enforcement and others, and two of the victims performed rape kits in a hospital in the aftermath of their rapes.
If you have been victimized by KHAN in any way, or have any additional information about his alleged illegal behavior, please call the FBI at 212-384-2700, reach out to us at [email protected], or fill out this questionnaire. KHAN is depicted below.
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KHAN, 47, of Albany and New York, New York, is charged with three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, each of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The statutory maximum and mandatory penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI-NYPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in New York, as well as the assistance of FBI Albany and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Lisa Daniels, and Remy Grosbard are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitutes only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Inmate Sentenced to Additional 57 Months of Incarceration for Racketeering Activity at Cambria County PrisonRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A former inmate at the Cambria County Prison was sentenced in federal court to an additional 57 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, on his conviction of conducting and participating in the affairs of an enterprise through racketeering activity, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today. The defendant is among 10 individuals charged through an Indictment unsealed in July 2025 with racketeering charges related to the Cambria County Prison (read the Indictment news release here).
United States District Judge Stephanie L. Haines imposed the sentence on Blake Young, 37, on June 5, 2026. Judge Haines ordered the sentence to be served consecutively to the 92-month prison sentence imposed on Young in May 2024 on his conviction for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute quantities of heroin, cocaine base, fentanyl, and methamphetamine.
According to information presented to the Court, from in and around July 2023 to in and around December 2023, while incarcerated at the Cambria County Prison, Young conducted and participated in the affairs of an enterprise through racketeering activity. Specifically, Young bribed correctional officers and medical staff to smuggle contraband into the prison, namely cell phones, K2, and Suboxone, which were then sold to other inmates for a substantial profit.
To date, four of the 10 defendants in the case have pleaded guilty, with two now having been sentenced.
Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Rivetti commended Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force, the Cambria County District Attorney’s Office, and the Cambria County Prison for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Young.
Illinois Investment Advisor Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges for Allegedly Swindling Clients in Ponzi SchemeRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — An Illinois investment advisor has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly swindling at least three clients in a Ponzi scheme.
JOHN MYERS operated Illinois-based Sterling Capital Investments, LLC. From 2022 to 2025, Myers fraudulently solicited and obtained money from three victims, including a husband and wife from Michigan, based on false representations about the performance and value of the investments, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Myers provided false documentation reflecting the investments were worth more than they were, when Myers knew the value had actually decreased due to his trading losses, the indictment states. Myers engaged in a Ponzi scheme by using some investor funds to repay prior investors, the indictment states.
Myers, 41, of Chicago, is charged with four counts of wire fraud. Arraignment in federal court in Chicago is set for June 12, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang.
The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hasten.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
u.s._v._myers_no._26_cr_278_n.d._ill._-_indictment.pdfIllegal Alien from England Pleads Guilty to Entering the US Without Inspection and Lying to Federal InvestigatorsRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A citizen of the United Kingdom pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bangor to entering the United States without inspection and lying to federal investigators.
According to court records, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, 21, and three other men walked through the heavily wooded border between Quebec and Somerset County during the pre-dawn hours of April 3, 2026. Their point of entry was within a few hundred yards of the Saint Zacharie, Maine port of entry that was manned by agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (“OFO”). Upon exiting the woods, Nagi and his companions began walking down the Golden Road heading east.
Passersby in the area reported to an OFO agent seeing the four men walking east on the Golden Road. The OFO agent reported the sighting to the U.S. Border Patrol (“USBP”) station in Jackman. A USBP agent and an OFO agent responded to the area of the sighting, located the four men and took them into custody without incident. When questioned about their citizenship, Nagi and his three companions stated they were citizens of the United Kingdom. The four were subsequently transported back to the Jackman Border Patrol station.
During subsequent questioning by FBI and USBP agents, Nagi maintained that he had not intentionally entered the United States. He falsely claimed that he and his friends were on a hike in Canada and had accidentally crossed into the U.S.
On the false statement charge, Nagi faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On the illegal entry charge, he faces up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Nagi will be sentenced following the preparation of a presentence investigation report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
USBP, OFO, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI investigated the case.
Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
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Illegal Alien with Extensive Criminal Record Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Unlawfully Re-Entering United States After Multiple DeportationsRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — An illegal alien with an extensive criminal record has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for unlawfully re-entering the United States after previously being deported on multiple occasions.
MANUEL ALBERTO CORTES CUAN, a native of Mexico, was unlawfully present in the United States on June 17, 2025, when he was arrested in Lyons, Ill. Police received a report that a vehicle identified in an ongoing theft investigation was located in a residential area of Lyons. When police approached the vehicle and attempted to detain Cortes Cuan, he vigorously resisted arrest, causing injuries to himself and two police officers.
Cortes Cuan was previously deported from the United States on five occasions. Each deportation occurred after Cortes Cuan sustained criminal convictions while unlawfully present here. The prior offenses of convictions included theft, escape, trespassing, aggravated assault, and aggravated DUI.
Cortes Cuan, 38, pleaded guilty in April 2026 to one count of unlawful re-entry after removal. On June 3, 2026, U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced Cortes Cuan to 14 months in federal prison. The conviction subjects Cortes Cuan to removal from the United States.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations and the Lyons, Ill. Police Department. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly.
Honduran national pleads guilty to reentering U.S. illegallyRead the Press Release
BILLINGS – A man who previously had been removed from the country four times admitted to charges of illegal reentry today, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.
The defendant, Tony Noe Oviedo Zelaya, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of reentry to the United States after having been previously removed. Oviedo Zelaya faces 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided at the change of plea proceedings. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen will determine a sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for Oct. 8, 2026. Oviedo Zelaya remained in custody pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that Oviedo Zelaya is a native citizen of Honduras and that he illegally entered the United States on multiple occasions.
West Yellowstone police officers pulled over Oviedo Zelaya on April 14, 2026, and discovered he was driving on a suspended license. They learned he was a Honduran national who had been removed from the country on four different occasions. The last time was March 21, 2025, when he was barred from returning to the U.S. for 20 years.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The Bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Honduran Nationals Sentenced to More than Two Decades in Prison for Kidnapping OffensesRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –HECTOR MONDRAGON-FLORES (“MONDRAGON”), age 33, and EDWIN SALGADO-NUNEZ (“SALGADO”), age 31, were sentenced on May 21, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Barry W. Ashe for multiple felony offenses including kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
MONDRAGON was sentenced to 27.5 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, along with an $800 mandatory special assessment fee, after previously being convicted by a jury of all eight counts of a superseding indictment against him. The jury found MONDRAGON guilty of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1201(a)(1) and 1201(c); two counts of interstate transmission of a ransom demand, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(a); conspiracy to receive a ransom payment, and two counts of receipt of a ransom payment, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1202(a) and 371; and assault on a federal officer using a deadly weapon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 111(a)(1) and (b).
SALGADO was sentenced to 22 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, along with a $500 mandatory special assessment fee, after previously pleading guilty to five counts of a superseding indictment against him. SALGADO pleaded guilty to kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1201(a)(1) and 1201(c); interstate transmission of a ransom demand, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(a); and conspiracy to receive a ransom payment, and receipt of a ransom payment, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1202(a) and 371.
According to court documents and evidence at trial, on October 2, 2024, MONDRAGON and SALGADO kidnapped the victim and bound his feet together and bound the victim’s hands together behind his back. The two men then held the victim at gunpoint in MONDRAGON’s apartment, and demanded payment of a $7,000 ransom from the victim’s father for his son’s release. MONDRAGON called the victim’s father over 50 times and threatened to kill the victim if the ransom was not paid. The victim’s father agreed to pay the ransom but reported the kidnapping to the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) on his way to the ransom exchange. NOPD detectives monitored the ransom exchange and arrested SALGADO after the victim’s father paid $3,000 cash to an associate of MONDRAGON and SALGADO. Before he was arrested, SALGADO attempted to flee by ramming a law enforcement vehicle.
Following SALGADO’s arrest, MONDRAGON took the victim at gunpoint to co-defendant Janette Ramirez’s apartment. MONDRAGON then demanded a ransom payment from the victim’s girlfriend for his release. After the victim’s girlfriend was unable to successfully transfer the payment to MONDRAGON or Ramirez, MONDRAGON took the victim at gunpoint to an ATM. The victim then withdrew $400 and gave it to MONDRAGON to secure his release.
The next day, law enforcement officers spotted MONDRAGON at an apartment complex in New Orleans East. When officers attempted to arrest him, MONDRAGON pulled out a gun, forced his way into an occupied apartment, and took a hostage inside the apartment. The hostage escaped when MONDRAGON attempted to climb out of a window. As MONDRAGON was kicking out the window screen, he pointed his gun at two law enforcement officers, who forced him to turn back inside. MONDRAGON barricaded himself in the apartment for nearly eight hours until the NOPD SWAT team deployed tear gas and forced him to surrender.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys David Berman and Sarah Dawkins of the Violent Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution.
Homeland Security Task Force Investigation Results in Convictions for Eleven Drug TraffickersRead the Press Release
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK – The final defendant in a multi-defendant Northern District of New York drug trafficking organization was sentenced last month in Utica, New York, by Senior United States District Judge David N. Hurd. Demario Shell, 52, previously of Michigan, was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison to be followed by a term of 5 years of supervised release. The sentence stems from his convictions for federal drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.
The announcement was made by First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Homeland Security Investigations Buffalo Acting Special Agent Charge Anthony Patrone and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis Jr. New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James
A total of eleven defendants were charged and convicted for their roles in the organization that distributed large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs primarily from 2019 to 2021 throughout the Southern Tier of New York including Broome, Tioga and Chemung Counties. Shell, along with other convicted Michigan based defendants Hawkins and Merritt, supplied drugs to re-distributors in Broome, Tioga and Chemung Counties including to convicted co-defendants David Wemmer, David Cobb, Brandon Vanorman and Shawn McCabe. Several of these re-distributors also provided drugs to other re-distributors convicted as part of this case including Phillip Acciarito, Alan Wheeler, Jennifer Patton and Eini Raupers.
“The successful conclusion of this case is a testament to the tireless work of the Homeland Security Task Force and our partners,” said First Assistant United States Attorney John Sarcone. “With the sentencing of this final defendant, a dangerous drug trafficking group has been dismantled, those responsible held accountable, and our communities are safer as a result.”Members of the organization also unlawfully possessed firearms as felons or in furtherance of their drug trafficking. Throughout the investigation, law enforcement obtained over 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, various other drugs, over 65 firearms and proceeds of drug trafficking including currency and ATVs.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Patrone: "These traffickers pumped methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and guns into the Southern Tier, profiting from addiction and violence. This investigation demonstrates the Homeland Security Task Force’s mission: dismantling complex, multi-state criminal networks from suppliers to street-level dealers and bringing them to justice. Working side-by-side with our federal, state, and local partners, HSI Syracuse remains firmly committed to driving criminal organizations out of our communities and protecting the homes, businesses, and futures of the people we serve.”
“Today’s outcome reflects the unwavering commitment of our federal, state, and local partners to continue our work together towards safer communities. By bringing this group to justice, we’ve helped protect families across the Southern Tier of New York and closed the door on a drug network that caused real harm,” said Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI New York.New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James said, “The final sentencing in this case is a true testament to the perseverance and aggressive strategy of law enforcement in stopping illegal drug trafficking at its source. This sends a strong message to all those trafficking drugs in New York that we will not tolerate these threats in our state. With our partners in law enforcement, we will remain in full force to combat the infiltration of illegal drugs into our communities and the dangers they impose.”
Below is a list of all the other defendants convicted in the case and the sentences they received:
NameAgePrevious Residence Charges of ConvictionSentenceTushaun Merritt49Jackson, MichiganConspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Drugs (PWID) and Conspiracy to Commit Promotional Money Laundering
170 months with 5 years post release supervisionMichael Hawkins43Benton Harbor, MichiganConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs, PWID Drugs and Conspiracy to Commit Promotional Money Laundering
121 months with 10 years post release supervisionDavid Wemmer55Spencer, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs, Conspiracy to Commit Promotional Money Laundering, Possession of Short Barreled Shotgun in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking and Illegal Possession of Machine Gun
161months with 5 years post release supervisionDavid Cobb37Spencer, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs and Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition
121 months with 4 years post release supervisionBrandon Vanorman50Spencer, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs and PWID Drugs
60 months with 4 years post release supervisionShawn McCabe38Windsor, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs and PWID Drugs
121 months with 5 years post release supervisionPhilip Acciarito39Owego, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs, Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking and Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition
90 months with 5 years post release supervisionAlan Wheeler40Basset, VirginiaConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs and PWID Drugs
120 months with 5 years post release supervisionJennifer Patton 44Spencer, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs and PWID Drugs
87 months with 4 years post release supervisionEini Raupers49Candor, New YorkConspiracy to Distribute and PWID Drugs
37 months with 5 years post release supervisionThis case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the New York State Police Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team (NYSP VGNET, Troop C and E), the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Tioga County District Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force (BCSIUTF), the Elmira Police Department, the Michigan Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET),Tioga County Sheriff’s Office, the Owego Police Department and the Sayre Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Grabowski, with the assistance of the United States Attorney’s Offices in the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Western District of New York and the District of Nevada.
This operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Buffalo comprises agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Internal Revenue Service (IRS/ CID), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), Customs and Border Protection/ Office of Border Patrol (CBP/ OBP), Customs and Border Protection/ Office of Field Operations (CBP/ OFO), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Department of State/Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
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Holyoke Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Fentanyl DistributionRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Holyoke, Mass. man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield for conspiring to distribute fentanyl with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
Jose Heredia Jr., 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to seven years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. In January 2026, Heredia Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and carrying a firearm in in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
Over an eight month period, Heredia Jr. conspired with others to distribute massive amounts of fentanyl in Western Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast. On one occasion, Heredia conspired to distribute one and a half kilograms of fentanyl, which was intercepted by law enforcement. The investigation revealed a number of other occasions during which Heredia supplied mid-level drug dealers with large amounts of fentanyl.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Massachusetts State Police; the Berkshire, Hampden and Franklin County Sherriff’s Offices; and the Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, West Springfield and Easthampton Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Merck and Neil L. Desroches, Chief of the Springfield Office prosecuted the case.
High-Speed Chase Leads to Six-Year Federal Prison Sentence for Warr Acres Man who Possessed MachinegunsRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – RO’VELT DADDY PRICE, 19, of Warr Acres, has been sentenced to serve 72 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of machineguns, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
According to public records, on October 8, 2025, officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop near the intersection of Lyrewood Lane and Wilshire Boulevard on a vehicle that had been reported stolen. The driver, Price, refused to stop, and a vehicle pursuit ensued. During the pursuit, Price traveled at high rates of speed, crossed a grassy median, and collided with an occupied vehicle in the pick-up line outside an elementary school. Price then attempted to drive through school property to escape but collided with a concrete post. He then fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later. No one was injured.
During a search of the stolen vehicle, officers recovered two handguns which had been modified with machinegun conversion devices (MCDs). When installed, MCDs convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machineguns. Possession of MCDs violates federal law.
On November 4, 2025, a federal grand jury charged Price with unlawful possession of machineguns. Price pleaded guilty on February 4, 2026, and admitted that he knowingly possessed two machineguns, specifically firearms equipped with MCDs.
At a sentencing hearing on June 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk sentenced Price to serve 72 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge Palk noted the need to protect the public from further crime by Price.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Violent Crimes Apprehension Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Veca prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (OTBA), a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. This case is also part of “Project Switch Off,” which targets illegal machinegun conversion devices to address the significant danger these illegal devices present and to remove them from our streets.
Reference is made to public filings for additional information.
Gary Man Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Distributing Fentanyl Precursor and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
HAMMOND – Nathaniel Johnson, 21 years old, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to distribution of a schedule II-controlled substance and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred.
Nathaniel Johnson was sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.
“An armed drug dealer will spend the next 8 years in prison because he sold over 20,000 pills containing a fentanyl precursor to undercover law enforcement agents while in possession of a semi-automatic pistol loaded with 27 rounds of ammunition in an extended magazine, after which he was arrested at the scene. Thanks to the efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, the DEA North Central Laboratory, and Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter, the poison was intercepted and the drug dealer went to prison,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred.
“The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with its law enforcement partners, will use every available resource to investigate and stop those who distribute illegal drugs and possess illegal automatic weapons. DEA’s commitment to protecting the people of Northern Indiana remains unwavering. The sentencing of Mr. Johnson sends a clear message to those who engage in this dangerous, criminal conduct. You will be identified, held accountable, and brought to justice,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chip Cooke.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force and supported by the DEA North Central Laboratory. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
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.
Gainesville Felon Indicted for Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
Gainesville, Florida – Terry Lajace Lee, 43, of Gainesville, Florida, has been indicted in federal court on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charge.
Lee appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Midori A. Lowry for his initial appearance at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville, Florida. Trial is scheduled for July 22, 2026, in Gainesville before Chief District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor.
If convicted, Lee faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
This case was investigated by the Gainesville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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.
Four Abusive Tax Shelter Promoters Found Guilty in $40M Nationwide Tax Evasion SchemeRead the Press Release
A federal jury in the District of Colorado convicted four individuals today of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their operation of an abusive trust tax evasion scheme that caused approximately $40 million in losses to the United States.
“The defendants orchestrated an abusive trust tax scheme designed to help clients evade their tax obligations through a web of sham trusts, false representations, and fraudulent transactions,” said Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Tax fraud schemes undermine the integrity of our tax system and deprive the government of resources, shifting the burden to honest Americans who follow the law. Today’s trial convictions underscore the Fraud Division’s commitment to holding accountable those who promote and profit from abusive tax shelters and other fraud schemes.”
“These defendants were repeatedly warned by attorneys, CPAs, financial professionals, and IRS guidance that this trust-based scheme was illegal, yet they chose to ignore those warnings. Their conspiracy was a deliberate attempt to conceal income and undermine the integrity of our nation’s tax system while lining their own pockets through their lies,” said Amanda Prestegard, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI Denver Field Office. “We appreciate the jury’s verdict and the message it sends to those who promote or engage in abusive tax schemes. IRS-CI will continue to partner with DOJ-Tax to pursue these criminal tax evaders.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Marcia Predmore, Roderick Prescott, Suzanne Thompson and Weldon Wulstein promoted an illegal “layered” trust tax shelter to hundreds of high-net-worth business owners nationwide. The tax shelter was made up of four trusts called a business trust, family trust, charitable trust, and private family foundation. The four promoters taught clients how to use the layered trust tax shelter to evade paying federal income taxes on upwards of 98% of their business profits, in part by claiming a tax deduction for non-deductible personal living expenses and fraudulent charitable contributions. Some of the promoters marketed this tax shelter at seminars hosted across the country and advertised that using the tax shelter would allow clients to “own nothing, control everything.” The tax shelter cost between $25,000 to $50,000 to set up.
Wulstein, a CPA, prepared hundreds of false tax returns for clients who purchased the tax shelter. He did so in partnership with Thompson, who operated a bookkeeping firm and prepared financial statements for the clients’ trusts. Prescott, who had previously been convicted of tax evasion and permanently enjoined from promoting abusive tax shelters, promoted the so-called private family foundation, which was the final layer of the tax shelter. Prescott taught clients how to claim a tax deduction for funds donated to the foundation while maintaining control over those funds for their own personal benefit.
Predmore, a registered life insurance agent, promoted the tax shelter to clients through the business she operated with her spouse. In December 2025, Predmore’s spouse, Timothy McPhee, was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy, tax evasion, and wire fraud. Those charges stemmed from his role in this scheme and for his operation of a multi-million-dollar investment fraud scheme called the ROI Cash Flow Fund.
Suzanne Thompson and Weldon Wulstein were also convicted of six counts each of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns for clients who purchased and used the fraudulent tax shelter. Marcia Predmore was convicted of six counts of tax evasion for her personal use of the same tax shelter she promoted to others.
All four promoters each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States. Thompson and Wulstein also face a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Predmore faces an additional maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Lauren K. Pope and Patrick Burns of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Former Tallahassee Postal Employee & Accomplice Plead Guilty to Federal CrimesRead the Press Release
Tallahassee, Florida –Taija Avion Smith, 25, and Jaheed Anthony Williams, 24, both of Tallahassee, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail theft, theft of a mail key, bank fraud conspiracy, and multiple counts of aggravated identity theft. Williams also pleaded guilty to 14 counts of bank fraud. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Postal service employees occupy positions of public trust through which they are expected to responsibly process and deliver our nation’s mail. This defendant repeatedly violated that public trust while seeking to enrich herself and her co-defendant at the expense of others, but thanks to this multi-agency investigation and successful prosecution their scheme has been dismantled and federal prison awaits both defendants.”
Court documents reflect that between March 11, 2021, and May 21, 2024, Smith was employed by the United States Postal Service, in Tallahassee, Florida. Due to her employment, Smith had access to a postal key, which she stole and gave to her co-defendant, Williams. Together, Smith and Williams conspired to steal U.S. Mail, which included stealing mailed checks that they fraudulently deposited in financial institutions and thereafter split the proceeds of their scheme. Court records also show that Smith fraudulently received and used online bank login credentials of other individuals as part of the conspiracy.
Smith and Williams face the following penalties: up to 5 years’ imprisonment on the conspiracy to commit mail theft count; up to 10 years’ imprisonment on the unlawful possession or theft of a mail key; up to 30 years’ imprisonment on the bank fraud conspiracy count; and a mandatory consecutive term of 2 years’ imprisonment for each of the aggravated identity theft counts. Williams also faces up to 5 years’ imprisonment on the theft of mail count and up to 30 years’ imprisonment for each bank fraud count.
This case was jointly investigated by the Tallahassee Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.
Smith’s sentencing is scheduled for July 14, 2026, at 2:00 pm at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.
Williams’s sentencing is scheduled for August 10, 2026, at 3:30 pm at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.
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.
Former Taliban Commander Sentenced to 42 Years in Prison for Hostage Taking and Providing Material Support for Acts of Terrorism Resulting in DeathRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Acting Attorney General for the United States, Todd Blanche, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John A. Eisenberg, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Kash Patel, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr., announced today that HAJI NAJIBULLAH, a/k/a “Najibullah Naim,” a/k/a “Abu Tayeb,” a/k/a “Atiqullah,” a/k/a “Nesar Ahmad Mohammad,” was sentenced to 42 years in prison for terrorism charges based on NAJIBULLAH’s role in the hostage taking of an American journalist and two Afghan nationals in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009, and his leadership of Taliban fighters who carried out attacks on U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers and other victims. On April 25, 2025, NAJIBULLAH pled guilty to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
“Haji Najibullah’s conduct resulted in the brutal hostage taking of innocent civilians and the killing of U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Najibullah caused unimaginable harm to the victims of his crimes and their loved ones. Today’s sentence demonstrates again that those who seek to terrorize Americans will face justice.”
“Those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American servicemembers and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians. Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families.”
“Najibullah commanded Taliban fighters responsible for enforcing the Taliban’s ruthless reign of terror, including fighters who carried out the 2008 attack that killed three U.S. servicemembers and their interpreter,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “However incomplete, today’s sentence delivers long‑awaited accountability and a measure of justice to the families of the victims.”
“This former Taliban commander led fighters who committed acts of terrorism that resulted in the killing of U.S. servicemembers and engaged in hostage-taking, and now he will pay the price for his brutal crimes,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The men and women of the FBI will not forget when Americans are killed or taken hostage by terrorists. We will find you no matter where you are and work with our partners to bring you to justice.”
“Former Taliban commander Haji Najibullah's acts of terror are horrific,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “Najibullah is responsible for the deaths of U.S. servicemembers and the hostage taking of an American journalist. This sentencing demonstrates the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force's relentless pursuit of an overseas terrorist and our commitment to delivering justice for our brave DOW partners whose families have been irreparably harmed by the defendant's actions.”
As reflected in the charging instruments, court filings, and statements in the public record:
Starting in or around October 2001, as a result of the U.S.- and NATO-led invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Taliban—a militant Islamist organization that provided safe harbor to some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, including Usama bin Laden—engaged in a deadly insurgency campaign aimed at killing U.S. servicemembers and their allies and terrorizing civilians. As part of that campaign of jihadist violence, the Taliban conducted numerous suicide bombings, targeted killings, assassinations, improvised explosive device (“IED”) attacks, paramilitary ambushes, and hostage takings against military personnel and civilians.
Between in or around 2007 and 2009, NAJIBULLAH served as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, which borders Kabul. During that time, Taliban fighters under NAJIBULLAH’s command were prepared to and did carry out deadly attacks against American and NATO troops and their Afghan allies, using, among other things, (i) suicide bombers, (ii) automatic weapons, (iii) IEDs, and (iv) rocket-propelled grenades (“RPGs”) and other anti-tank weapons and explosives, including against U.S. military helicopters. NAJIBULLAH proudly spoke about the brutality of the attacks that he and his men were prepared to conduct, including by stating that his men were “ready to die” and “put on a belt and blow themselves up if we ask them.”
For example, on or about June 26, 2008, Taliban fighters under NAJIBULLAH’s command ambushed and attacked a U.S. military convoy in the vicinity of Wardak Province, Afghanistan, with IEDs, RPGs, and automatic weapons, killing three U.S. Army servicemembers: Sergeants First Class Matthew L. Hilton and Joseph A. McKay, and Sergeant Mark Palmateer, and their Afghan interpreter. Several other servicemembers were also injured in the attack. NAJIBULLAH later claimed responsibility for the attack, telling multiple individuals that his men carried out the attack and that it resulted in the deaths of U.S. servicemembers. A few months later, NAJIBULLAH and fighters under his command attacked and destroyed an Afghan National Police outpost using automatic weapons and rockets, reportedly killing three Afghan police officers.
NAJIBULLAH’s campaign of terror also was directed at civilians. On or about November 10, 2008, NAJIBULLAH and other Taliban fighters kidnapped an American New York Times journalist (“Hostage-1”) and two Afghan nationals traveling with Hostage-1 at gunpoint in Afghanistan. For the next approximately seven months, NAJIBULLAH held the hostages captive in the Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan, under the constant watch of guards armed with machineguns. NAJIBULLAH and his co-conspirators forced the hostages to make ransom calls and proof-of-life videos, intended to extort ransom payments and the release of Taliban prisoners by the United States Government, and during which the hostages emotionally pleaded for their lives. In one such video, NAJIBULLAH forced Hostage-1 to say, with a machinegun pointed at his head, “If you don’t help me, I will die. Now, the key is in your hand. . . . If you do not meet their demands, you will be responsible for my killing, not the Taliban. Please help me, please have mercy on me. Do not shed my blood. Please, save me. I want to go home.” Eventually, the hostages were able to escape and return to their families.
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In addition to the prison term, NAJIBULLAH, 50, of Afghanistan, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD. He also thanked the New York and New Jersey Port Authority Police, the Department of Defense, and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division for their assistance with this investigation, as well as the Ukrainian authorities and the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division for their assistance in the arrest and transfer of the defendant.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and David J. Robles are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Jennifer Burke of the Counterterrorism Section.
Former MPD Officer Found Guilty in Scheme that Defrauded More than $18,000 from TaxpayersRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Roberto Adams, 39, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, was found guilty today in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $18,000 in taxpayer-funded Covid-era disaster relief funds, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
A federal jury deliberated a day and a half before finding Adams guilty on one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta scheduled sentencing for October 23.
According to the evidence at trial, Adams obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans on behalf of his business SuperKlean LLC, a janitorial services company that was not operational at the start of the pandemic. He obtained a first PPP loan in July 2020 and spent those funds in approximately one month at casinos in Maryland and Las Vegas, on airfare and hotels in Miami, at restaurant and bars, and on hangover treatments.
On Jan. 21, 2021, Adams applied for a second PPP loan. Eight days later, on Jan. 29, 2021, $18,345, representing the second draw of the PPP loan funds, was deposited into Adams’ checking account. He quickly spent those funds paying off personal debts, including over $12,000 in back rent as well as other personal extravagances such as clothing and high-end sneakers.
In April 2021, Adams applied for a job with the Seattle Police Department. In the course of his background check, a Seattle Police Department detective noticed that Adams had obtained a PPP loan but had failed to disclose it in his written application or during an interview with the detective, as required. When confronted, Adams falsely claimed that the “purpose of the loan was to provide relief and assistance for my small business during the pandemic.”
This case was investigated the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with substantial assistance by the Internal Affairs Division of the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Santiago and Caelainn Carney.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
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Former Brookline Doctor Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud and Tax FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Brookline, Mass. physician was sentenced on June 5, 2026 in federal court in Boston for health care fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Dr. Pankaj Merchia, 52, of Brookline, Mass. and Boca Raton, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 58 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Merchia was also ordered to pay $1,847,931 in restitution. In January 2026, Merchia was convicted of one count of health care fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Merchia was indicted for money laundering and health care fraud in December 2022 and later charged with tax offenses in a superseding indictment along with alleged co-conspirator Dr. Shona Pendse in February 2023.
Merchia perpetrated two distinct health care fraud schemes. First, Merchia billed former patients’ insurance companies for monthly rentals of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPap) machines from 2017 to 2019, despite not having treated the patients since at least 2011. In some cases, the patients had returned the devices to him. Merchia used the proceeds of this fraud to purchase an expensive home in Brookline.Additionally, Merchia defrauded another insurance company out of over $390,000 by submitting claims for a CPAP machine provided to his brother. After he was told that the insurance carrier would not pay for treatment rendered by a family member, Merchia created a new medical business and submitted new claims so that the company would pay. Merchia used the proceeds of this fraud to fund a wire transfer of $250,000 and to purchase at least $140,000 in securities.
Finally, from 2009 to 2019 Merchia did not report, or pay taxes on, over $6.5 million in income he earned from his medical businesses by falsely claiming that those businesses were owned by his co-conspirator. To defraud the IRS, Merchia fabricated a sham transaction by which he claimed to have sold his medical businesses to his co-conspirator in 2008. To ensure that his co-conspirator did not owe taxes, they claimed large amortization deductions, spread across many years, for the fabricated sale.United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Anthony M. DiPaolo, Executive Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil J. Gallagher, Jr. of the Health Care Fraud Unit and Trial Attorney Ezra Spiro of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
On March 26, 2026, United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the creation of the Benefit & Voter Fraud Team, a district-wide initiative established in response to the rampant fraud being uncovered across Massachusetts. The Team is led by two senior federal prosecutors serving as Fraud Coordinators, whose mission it is to aggressively investigate and prosecute misuse of taxpayer-funded benefits in Massachusetts.
Members of the public are encouraged to report suspected benefit fraud in Massachusetts by calling 1-855-SCAM-MA-1 (855-722-6621).
On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Flint man charged with setting fire to St. Mark Missionary Baptist ChurchRead the Press Release
FLINT - A Flint man was charged today in a criminal complaint with arson and other related offenses for setting fire to St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Charged was Billy Chambers, 63. Chambers appeared in federal court this afternoon and was temporarily detained pending a detention hearing which has been set for Wednesday in Bay City, Michigan.
According to the criminal complaint, in the early morning hours of August 30, 2025, St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Flint, Michigan was intentionally set on fire. The incident was captured on St. Mark’s video surveillance cameras and shows a suspect, alleged to be Billy J. Chambers, setting the church on fire. In the video, Chambers brought a gas can wrapped in a black trash bag to the church and used an ignition device to set the church on fire. As a result of the fire damage, St. Mark was unable to hold services at the church for approximately two months.
Chambers has been charged with arson, obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs and arson to commit a federal offense. Chambers faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and maximum sentence up to any term of imprisonment.
“This alleged attempt to burn down a church is yet another attack against Christians. But the Department of Justice will protect all Americans and their right to worship without fear,” said U.S. Attorney Gorgon.
“Setting fire to a house of worship is a deliberate attack on our community and an assault on one of our most fundamental freedoms in this country,” said ATF Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge James Deir. “Billy Chambers’ alleged actions in this case are deeply disturbing, vile, and completely unacceptable. ATF is committed to protecting our communities from violent crime and will relentlessly pursue those who commit these heinous acts of violence. No one has the right to intimidate, terrorize, or disrupt the free exercise of religion. Those who commit these crimes should most certainly expect justice to be swift and severe.”
The investigation is being conducted by agents of the ATF and the Flint Police Department and being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Vance.
Five Savannah men sentenced to federal prison for illegal firearms possession in separate casesRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, Georgia: Five men have been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to being felons in possession of a firearm in separate cases.
The sentences imposed by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia were announced by Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. They include:
- Stephen Lodato, 39, of Savannah, was sentenced to 165 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession of Ammunition by a Convicted Felon. Lodato was found in possession of multiple firearms, firearms parts, and ammunition after Savannah Police executed a search of his residence after a domestic dispute in March 2025.
- Jaime Alexander German, 31, of Savannah, was sentenced to 145 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Possession with the Intent to Distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl. After a lengthy investigation including physical surveillance and undercover operations, a search warrant executed by the Savannah Police Department uncovered multiple firearms and 491 grams of fentanyl at German’s residence in May 2024.
- Todd Shane Pendergraph Jr., 37, of Savannah was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Pendergraph was found to be in possession of a firearm after attempting to flee from a May 2024 traffic stop in Savannah by Georgia State Patrol.
- Devontay Jones, 29, of Savannah, was sentenced to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Jones was found in possession of a firearm in August 2025 during an encounter with Savannah Police who had responded to a road rage incident.
- Jacorey D. Lockette, 32, of Savannah, was sentenced to 22 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Lockette was found to be in possession of a firearm during a March 2024 compliance check when Savannah Police found a pistol in the defendant’s bedroom.
There is no parole in the federal system.
“We praise the vigilance of our law enforcement partners’ continued commitment to removing these weapons of violence from the streets of our community,” said U.S. Attorney Heap. “Through effective interagency cooperation with our law enforcement partners, we are ensuring those that violate the law are brought to justice.”
The cases listed above have been investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, Georgia State Patrol, and the Savannah Police Department. These cases were prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Makeia R. Jonese, Jennifer J. Kirkland, Tara M. Lyons, L. Alexander Hamner, Timothy P. Dean and Darron J. Hubbard.
Felon Sentenced to 60 Months for Possession of Stolen GunRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Linnell Shelton, 48, a previously convicted felon residing in the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for his illegal possession of a stolen firearm that was discovered when a U.S. Capitol Police officer responded to a narcotics overdose, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Shelton, also known as “Keith Toney,” pleaded guilty on Feb. 20, 2026, before Judge Randolph D. Moss to possession of a firearm by a felon. In addition to the 60-month prison term, Moss ordered Shelton to serve three years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors had requested a 105-month prison term.
According to court papers, on June 21, 2025, about 5:32 p.m., a U.S. Capitol Police officer on patrol near 1st and D Streets NE observed a group of people on the sidewalk and was waved over. The officer found Shelton lying unconscious and breathing faintly. While attempting to render aid, the officer spotted the rear sights of a handgun protruding from Shelton’s waistband and removed the firearm.
A second officer administered two doses of Narcan, which did not revive Shelton. EMS arrived and administered a third dose before he regained consciousness. Shelton was transported to Howard University Hospital and later released to Capitol Police custody.
The firearm, a Taurus 9-millimeter handgun loaded with 13 rounds, had been reported stolen in 2022 out of Prince William County.
Shelton’s criminal history spans more than two decades. He has four prior felony convictions for drug distribution. In addition, Shelton has a 2023 conviction for voluntary manslaughter in D.C. Superior Court stemming from a 2019 shooting in the 600 block of Morton Street NW that killed one man and wounded a bystander. Shelton was released from prison on Sept. 27, 2024, fewer than nine months before his arrest in this case. At the time of his arrest, he was on supervised release and had tested positive for illicit substances.
This case was prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful initiative. Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful is a law enforcement initiative in support of President Trump's Executive Order to crack down on gun violence, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Capitol Police with the valuable assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives- Washington Field Office. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Travis Wolf and Lauren Ibanez.
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U.S. Capitol Police render aid to Shelton.
Federal Jury Finds Sioux Falls Man Guilty of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the InternetRead the Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a jury has convicted Ryan Nigro, age 34, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet following a three-day jury trial in federal district court in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on June 4, 2026.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of up to life, and/or a $250,000 fine, up to life of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Nigro was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024.
Nigro started a conversation on Reddit, a popular communication/posting website, with a person he believed was a 12-year-old girl. The conversation turned sexual, and he asked the 12-year-old girl to meet up hoping to have a sexual encounter with her. Nigro arrived at the meet location where he was arrested by law enforcement. All along, unbeknownst to him, Nigro had actually been chatting with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 12-year-old girl.
This case was brought as part of an undercover chat operation designed to identify individuals in the community who are interested in having sex with minors. The case was also 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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Police Department, Watertown Police Department, Tea Police Department, Rapid City Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth E. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered; a sentencing date will be set at a later time. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Federal Jury Convicts Grand Rapids Man Involved in Interstate Drug Trafficking Through U.S. MailRead the Press Release
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey, announced that a federal jury convicted Cordairo Aqtavian Lambert, age 39 of Grand Rapids, Michigan, of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute.
The investigation into Lambert began in July 2024 after postal inspectors in Arizona seized and searched a parcel addressed to a residence in Grand Rapids; that parcel contained over a half kilogram of cocaine. Inspectors identified Lambert on surveillance video mailing the 2024 parcel from Arizona. Lambert had previous drug trafficking and firearm felonies in both federal and state courts. Evidence presented at trial showed that Lambert frequently traveled to Arizona, often crossing the border into Mexico, in conjunction with the time suspected drug parcels were sent. One year later, in July 2025, Lambert attempted to retrieve a parcel containing nearly two-thirds of a kilogram of cocaine from a residence in southeast Grand Rapids. When a Grand Rapids police officer attempted to arrest him, Lambert fled on foot and hid in a residential neighborhood, before surrendering to police. The images below are from evidence admitted at trial showing Lambert retrieving the parcel in July 2025 and fleeing police:
“My office will continue to focus its resources on prosecuting recidivist felons like Lambert who flood our neighborhoods with drugs,” stated U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey. “This investigation underscores the power of collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies and the need for further vigilance and resources in combatting drug trafficking using the U.S. Mail.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service remains fully committed to investigating and holding accountable those who traffic dangerous drugs in our communities,” said Felicia B. George, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Detroit Division. “This successful outcome is a direct reflection of the commitment of federal and local law enforcement partnerships, all working together to keep the citizens of the Western District of Michigan safe.”
“I value our partnerships with our federal agencies and appreciate the tireless work from all those that contributed to this lengthy investigation. Drug trafficking not only brings dangerous drugs into our communities, but it also brings violence. Successful convictions for those responsible sends a strong message of accountability which has a significant impact on reducing crime.” said Grand Rapids Interim Police Chief Joseph Trigg.
Lambert is scheduled to be sentenced this fall and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in federal prison for the conviction.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, Grand Rapids Police Department, and Michigan State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vito S. Solitro and Stephanie M. Carowan prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Fargo Man Sentenced to over 3 Years in Federal Prison for Failing to Register as Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann, has sentenced a man from Fargo, North Dakota, convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. The sentencing took place on June 1, 2026.
William Dean Locke, 38, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Locke was indicted for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender by a federal grand jury in October 2025. He pleaded guilty on November 17, 2025.
Locke was previously convicted of a federal sex offense. Because of his conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender. Locke was aware of his obligation to register and to keep his registration current with officials within the county in which he resided. Nonetheless, from July through late August 2025, Locke knowingly failed to register and update his registration.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce prosecuted the case.
Locke was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to serve his federal sentence.
This case was brought as a 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 the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Unit, 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.
East Helena man sentenced to five years of probation for pulling gun on high schoolerRead the Press Release
HELENA – An East Helena man who pulled a gun on a high school student driving through his neighborhood was sentenced today to five years of probation with 80 hours of community service, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.
Ryan Christopher Williams, 47, pleaded guilty in February 2026 to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone.
U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.
The government alleged in court documents that, while within 1,000 feet of a high school, Williams pulled a gun on a student who had been driving through his neighborhood.
On May 1, 2025, an East Helena High School student was driving through a neighborhood on his way to class and passed a vehicle headed in the opposite direction. The student said the driver then turned his vehicle around and began following him, tailing him to the school. At an intersection in front of the high school, the driver cut off the student with his vehicle, forcing him to stop.
The man then got out of his vehicle, approached the high-schooler and pulled his gun, pointing it at the student. He chastised the teenager for driving too fast and the student apologized. The man got back in his vehicle and left; the student finished driving to school and reported what happened to school staff.
The school called law enforcement and deputies with the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s Office canvassed the neighborhood. They eventually found a vehicle that matched the one described by the high-schooler parked on the 2700 block of Bandera Drive. It was registered to Williams. A sheriff’s deputy contacted Williams, who matched the description given by the student, and interviewed him on his front lawn. Williams confirmed that he’d pulled the student over earlier and acknowledged that he was armed at the time. But he denied pulling the gun and pointing it at the teenager. Deputies found the gun on William’s property and it matched the one described by the student. Deputies arrested Williams, who was then interviewed by ATF agents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.
District of Kansas releases quarterly update on child exploitation cases prosecuted under Project Safe ChildhoodRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas (USAO-KS) gives an update on cases prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood (PSC) during the months of March, April and May. PSC is 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 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), PSC 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.
As part of USAO-KS’s commitment to prosecuting cases related to child sexual abuse and exploitation, offices in Wichita, Topeka, and Kansas City, Kansas, are staffed with federal prosecutors who specialize in seeking justice in these types of offenses.
In March, April, and May, USAO-KS indicted multiple defendants on child exploitation related offenses while achieving substantial sentences for defendants who had been convicted.
Indictment
Ryan Brungardt, 37, of Salina was indicted on three counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography. The former high school wrestling coach was initially charged through complaint on three criminal counts then prosecutors pursued an additional count at indictment after the discovery of a fourth alleged victim.
Dennis D. Dees, 39, of WaKeeney was indicted on one count of possession of child pornography and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act.
Joshua David Kolb, 43, of Independence, Missouri, was indicted on one count of production of child pornography, one count of coercion and enticement of a minor, two counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and one count of interstate communications with a threat to injure.
Jesse William Laws, 46, of Leavenworth was indicted on one count of possession of child pornography. At the time of the alleged offense, Laws was a registered sex offender with two prior federal child pornography convictions.
Nicolas Perez-Paxtor, 40, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was indicted on one count of unlawful reentry after deportation and one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Devin Rich, 40, of Kansas City, Kansas, was indicted on six counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
Sentencing
Matthew William Brewer, 44, of Salina was sentenced to 240 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor - receipt of child pornography.
Frank Castro, 50, of Kansas City, Kansas was sentenced to 110 months in prison after being convicted of one count of receipt of child pornography following a bench trial.
Douglas Harpster, 53, of Salina was sentenced to 78 months in prison and a ten-year term of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor – possession of child sexual abuse material.
Eric Holloway, 53, of Clay Center was sentenced to 135 months in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor – possession of child sexual abuse material, with statutory sentencing enhancement as the defendant has a prior conviction for a crime of sexual violence.
Jacob Navarrette, 34, of Wichita was sentenced to 120 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
Addilynn Jean Onuffer, 22, of Haysville was sentenced to 160 months in prison after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography.
Michael Pinkerton, 48, of Topeka was sentenced to 137 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor – possession of child pornography. Pinkerton, a previously convicted sex offender, possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while he was on supervised release for similar offenses.
https://www.justice.gov/psc
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Defendant Sentenced to 210 Months’ Imprisonment for Sex Trafficking Minor VictimRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Hadrian Crichlow was sentenced by United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez to 210 months in prison for sex trafficking a minor. In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Gonzalez ordered Crichlow to pay $12,000 restitution to the victim. Crichlow pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2025.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.
“Sex trafficking is a crime that strips victims of their freedom, dignity, and safety, and today’s sentence reflects the profound harm he inflicted on a child,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “Crichlow treated a child as a commodity, taking advantage of a vulnerable 15-year-old and selling her body for his own profit. Today’s outcome should send a clear message that such exploitation will be met with serious consequences, and it is my hope that it brings a measure of justice to the victim who endured these abuses.”
"Hadrian Crichlow subjected a vulnerable child to unthinkable sexual abuse and psychological torment, including repeatedly trafficking this minor victim for profit. May today’s lengthy sentence reflect the FBI’s dedication to holding accountable those who commit such vile actions that exploit children," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.
Between September and October 2023, Crichlow, then 42-years-old, trafficked the victim – a 15-year-old unhoused runaway – and forced her to engage in commercial sex acts throughout New York City, including in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as in other states. Crichlow took photographs of the victim and those images were posted in online advertisements for commercial sex. Crichlow then forced the minor victim to meet with commercial sex customers multiple times per day in hotel rooms while transporting her between several states and required the victim to surrender all proceeds to him. Crichlow controlled the victim through a combination of isolation, dependency, drugging, and sexual violence. He prohibited her from possessing or using a cellphone outside of his presence, ensuring she could not contact family, friends, or law enforcement; he gave her drugs; and he forced her to engage in sex acts with him directly – separate from the commercial sex encounters he arranged – over her express objections, telling her on at least one occasion that he did not care whether she consented. Crichlow sex trafficked the victim until she escaped in October 2023.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel A. Bennek, Katherine Onyshko, and Sean Fern are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
HADRIAN CRICHLOW
Age: 45
Bronx, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-CR-120 (HG)
Dayton man who trafficked fentanyl near local high school sentenced to 12 years in prisonRead the Press Release
DAYTON, Ohio – Clifford Bernard, 48, of Dayton, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 144 months in prison for dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a public high school.
According to court documents, between July and September 2024, Bernard possessed and distributed approximately one kilogram of fentanyl. Bernard sold the fentanyl at his residence on Angier Drive which is within 1,000 feet of Paul Dunbar High School.
Bernard was arrested in October 2024. At the time of his arrest, he had $5,000 in cash on his person. When agents searched Bernard’s home, they seized nearly one kilogram of fentanyl, a loaded firearm and luxury items like jewelry and a vintage Pontiac Firebird.
Bernard pleaded guilty in February 2026 to possessing with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl within a school zone.
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 on June 5 by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Newman. Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Rossi is representing the United States in this case.
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Convicted Felon Indicted for Stealing Firearms from a Licensed DealerRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A convicted felon has been indicted on multiple federal charges, including stealing firearms from a licensed dealer, announced U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr.
A four-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court charges Colton McCoy Tubbs, 35, of Oakman, Alabama, with the theft of multiple firearms from a licensee, possession of stolen firearms, felon in possession of a firearm, and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.
According to the indictment, on February 17, 2026, Tubbs allegedly stole 14 pistols and 2 rifles from Mid-City Pawn located in Decatur, Alabama. The vehicle Tubbs was driving had been reported stolen in Tennessee earlier the same day.
Tubbs is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of three prior felony convictions between 2022 and 2025—two in the Circuit Court of Walker County and one in the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County.
The ATF investigated the case along with the Decatur Police Department and the Cullman Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara M. Judah is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Chicago Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Selling Heroin and Cocaine on the Dark WebRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization that sold heroin, cocaine, and other drugs through online stores on the dark web.
TOMMY SPAULDING sold the drugs on dark web vendor stores known as AVALANCHE and ETHER_MART. AVALANCHE sold heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and MDMA, while ETHER_MART specialized in heroin. Each store used a unique packaging style to distinguish itself. Spaulding managed the vendor stores’ finances, including distributing money to others to purchase the drugs and helping to operate the stores. In 2018 and 2019, Spaulding was responsible for distributing more than seven kilograms of heroin and more than a kilogram of cocaine, among other narcotics.
Spaulding, 42, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy and drug trafficking offenses. U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang imposed the nine-year prison term on May 29, 2026, during a sentencing hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Substantial assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Chicago Police Department.
“The organization and structure of the vendor stores maximized the quantity of narcotics the defendants could distribute, and the stores were very successful,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “All it took was a few clicks, and defendants counted on the simplicity, ease, and temptation of the online market to maximize their illicit sales and drug profits.”
Four other defendants were charged as part of this investigation. LAUREN LUCANSKY, 40, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge and was sentenced in August 2025 to seven years in federal prison. Among other duties, Lucansky procured the drugs for the vendor stores, processed customer orders, and mailed narcotics to customers. NATHANEL BUTTERFIELD, 47, of Chicago, who procured the use of a condo in Chicago’s River North neighborhood to package drugs and then mailed them to customers, and RICHARD MARTINEZ, 41, of Chicago, who fulfilled customer orders for drugs, each pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge and are awaiting sentencing. MICHAEL BENTLEY, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to operating a dark web store known as ALLGOLDEVERYTHING. On Feb. 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings sentenced Bentley to five and a half years in federal prison.
Bradley Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud Conspiracy and Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Bradley man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Darren Deorsey, 51, to 13 months of imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $16,900 in restitution. Deorsey pleaded guilty on November 6, 2025.
According to court records, between July and October 2024, Deorsey conspired with others to fraudulently obtain money by entering banks, impersonating legitimate bank account holders, and using fictitious identification cards to gain access to their bank accounts and withdraw funds. Through fraud, Deorsey obtained a total of $16,900 from customer accounts, including a $5,000 cash advance on a home equity line of credit in the name of an account holder.
The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Bangor Police Department, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles – Enforcement Services Division.
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Blair County Man Sentenced to over Eight Years in Prison for Fentanyl and Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A resident of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court to 97 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, on his convictions of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
United States District Judge Stephanie L. Haines imposed the sentence on Derek Hunter, 34, on June 5, 2026.
According to information presented to the Court, from in and around June 2024 to in and around August 2024, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Hunter conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture of fentanyl and 50 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine. Further, in and around August 2024, Hunter distributed and possessed with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine.
Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Hunter.
Belgian National Receives Prison Sentence for Assaulting Flight Crew Members on March 2024 FlightRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Belgian national was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte for assaulting flight attendants aboard a flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Zurich, Switzerland in March 2024, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced today.
Jan Daeninck, 43, of Belgium, previously pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte to an Information charging him with one count of assaulting a flight attendant by beating, wounding or striking. Daeninck was sentenced on June 1, 2026 to 10 months in prison and one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $73,000 in restitution.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On March 31, 2024, Daeninck was a passenger aboard a Swiss International Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Zurich, Switzerland. Shortly after takeoff, Daeninck walked up to a female flight attendant, grabbed both of her breasts with his hands, shook her, and began yelling at her, threatening to kill her. After the flight attendant was able to get away from Daeninck, he tried to get into the cockpit by kicking and beating the door. Then, when a male flight attendant approached Daeninck, he assaulted him by punching and kicking the flight attendant, striking him in head and upper body with a closed fist. Flight crew members were able to intervene and restrain Daeninck on the floor near the cockpit door for the rest of the flight. As a result, the flight turned around and landed back at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“The defendant’s actions threatened the safety and security of innocent passengers, crew members, and the flight itself. Violence against flight crew members and attempts to compromise aircraft security will not be tolerated. This sentence demonstrates that those who jeopardize flight safety will face serious consequences, including prison time.”
– U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer
“The traveling public should feel confident the FBI takes aviation safety seriously. When a passenger attempts to breach a cockpit or assaults crew members, they are not just attacking individuals, they are threatening the safety of every single person on board,” said FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy.
U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy of Newark, with the investigation. U.S. Attorney Frazer also thanked the Port Authority Police Department under the direction of Edward T. Cetnar, for their assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Goldman of the Office’s Narcotics and International Trafficking Unit in Newark.
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Defense Counsel: Anthony Pope, Esq.
Alva Man to Serve Six Years in Federal Prison for Firearm Possession after Threatening and Strangling WomanRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – MICHAEL DEWAYNE HEBERT, 40, of Alva, has been sentenced to serve 72 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm after a previous felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
According to court records, on June 26, 2025, officers with the Alva Police Department responded to a residence following a reported domestic violence incident. Shortly before the assault, the victim learned that Hebert had taken possession of the victim’s firearm and stored it in a drawer inside the residence. The victim asked Herbert about the firearm's location, and he went into a room and slammed the door. He then called for help, claiming the door was jammed. When the victim assisted him in opening the door, Hebert grabbed the victim by the throat and strangled and threatened to kill her. Officers observed injuries to the victim’s neck and reviewed surveillance footage from the residence that showed Hebert placing his hand around the victim’s throat.
On September 2, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Hebert for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hebert pleaded guilty on November 14, 2025, and admitted he knowingly possessed a firearm despite his prior felony convictions.
At a sentencing hearing on June 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti sentenced Hebert to serve 72 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge DeGiusti noted Hebert’s extensive criminal history, including domestic violence convictions, as well as the danger he poses to the public. Public records reflect that Hebert has multiple prior felony convictions in Louisiana, including several convictions for domestic abuse and assault-related offenses.
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office and the Alva Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary E. Walters prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (OTBA), a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. This case is also part of “Operation 922,” the Western District of Oklahoma’s implementation of OTBA, which prioritizes prosecution of federal crimes connected to domestic violence.
Reference is made to public filings for additional information.
Alleged “Red Legs” member charged with having Molotov CocktailsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man suspected as being part of a violent extremist group is scheduled to appear before a federal judge after being charged through criminal complaint in Kansas City, Kansas, for illegally possessing explosive devices.
According to court documents, Jarred G. Gilliam, 31, of Kansas City, Kansas, is charged with possessing destructive devices.
The exact starting date is unknown, but from about June 3, 2025, and continuing until about June 3, 2026, Gilliam is accused of having three destructive devices commonly known as Molotov Cocktails.
According to court documents, Gilliam is a suspected member of Red Legs, a group which promotes committing violent attacks on government agencies and the military. Gilliam is accused of using an encrypted messaging application to communicate with other suspected Red Legs members to plan assaults using incendiary devices. The proposed targets include local and federal government entities and property, particularly U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Missouri National Guard, and political groups.
According to the complaint against Gilliam, the following are communications sent through the messaging app:
• “If ice moves to kc, thoughts on an armed response”
• “It wouldn’t make sense to panic now, the time for panicking has long passed. Now we must make our peace, arm ourselves, and prepare to do what is necessary”
• “After we build our ranks and adequately arm ourselves, we can look into escalation”
• “I recommend we start slow at first. Maybe some basic sabotage… We should locate abandoned warehouses where we could potentially secure seized armor… First, we need to find a way to track military shipments, we don’t want to derail the wrong train”
• “What are the chances we could get away with using drones to drop incendiary’s [sic] to demolish key infrastructure”
• “I like the idea of using drones carrying cocktails to demolish key structures…Frozen water areas.”The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance Monday, June 8, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Jennifer B. Wieland of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
During this investigation, several other alleged Red Legs members were identified including Lake Ethan Roberts, 26, of Kansas City, Missouri, who is being federally prosecuted for possession of unregistered destructive devices by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
###13 Charged in Conspiracy to Sell over 100 Stolen CarsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Pete Gizas, and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 defendants in connection with operating a stolen car ring involving approximately 100 stolen cars worth millions of dollars. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess and sell stolen vehicles, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Nine of the defendants were arrested today and seven were presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis. One defendant was arrested in the Western District of New York and detained. The remaining defendant will be presented tomorrow.
“When they head to work, school, or elsewhere, New Yorkers expect to find their cars where they left them,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As alleged, the thirteen defendants charged here shattered that everyday expectation. By acquiring stolen cars, concealing their origin, and selling them to new victims, the defendants fostered a market for rampant theft, disrupted New Yorkers’ lives and security, and bilked innocent buyers out of their hard-earned dollars. New Yorkers have no tolerance for thieves, and neither do the women and men of the SDNY and our law enforcement partners.”
“As alleged, these defendants stole dozens of vehicles from the hardworking public, altered the identification numbers and paperwork, and sold them as legitimate cars to unsuspecting families,” said HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas. “A stolen vehicle is far more than lost property; this pervasive fraud upends daily routines, drains finances, and erodes the sense of safety that New Yorkers should be able to have in their own neighborhoods. As a lead member of the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI New York will continue to relentlessly target, disrupt, and dismantle the criminal organizations that prey on our communities and threaten our livelihoods.”
“These 13 defendants acquired approximately 100 stolen cars worth millions of dollars and then sold them to unsuspecting buyers,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This elaborate scheme laundered stolen cars through multiple deceptive and illegal tactics designed to conceal their origins and take advantage of consumers. Thanks to the efforts of our NYPD investigators, along with our partners at HSI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, this pipeline has been dismantled and those responsible are being held accountable.”
As alleged in the Indictment and other public filings:
From approximately June 2024 through May 2026, the defendants and others acquired cars that had been stolen from victims in New York City, obscured the fact that those cars had been stolen, and, ultimately, sold the cars to unsuspecting buyers in New York and elsewhere. The defendants and their co-conspirators effectively laundered these stolen cars in a variety of ways, including by covering their true Vehicle Identification Numbers (“VINs”) with new, fraudulent VINs and by replacing their federal certification labels with labels containing the new, fraudulent VINs. The defendants and their co-conspirators also created fraudulent titles for the stolen cars; took the stolen cars for oil changes and inspections to generate new, fraudulent histories for those cars; and advertised the stolen cars on a social media marketplace. Through these methods, the defendants and their co-conspirators acquired approximately 100 cars, worth millions of dollars, and resold them to new victims for a huge, criminal profit.
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NORBERTO PENA BRITO, a/k/a “Real,” 40, of the Bronx, New York; WILKINS MARTINEZ VARGAS, 38, of the Bronx; NOEMI SOLANO COMPRES, 41, of the Bronx; PAULA ABAD DIAZ, a/k/a “Mayi,” 35, of Yonkers, New York; MARLIN SEGURA MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Marlin Perez,” 35, of Yonkers; ANGEL HEREDIA PEREZ, 24, of the Bronx; LUIS VARGAS SANCHEZ, 24, of the Dominican Republic; JOEL ABAD BELEN, 28, of the Bronx; LUIS BRITO CAMPUSANO, 37, of the Bronx; TOMAS LORENZO JOSE, 38, of the Bronx; YEREMY LORENZO JOSE, 37, of the Bronx; JHOLKIS MELENCIANO COLON, 23, of the Bronx; and EDUARDO PEREZ ESTRELLA, 58, of the Bronx, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to possess and sell stolen vehicles, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the NYPD Auto Crime Division Major Case Team and the special agents and task force officers from the HSI New York Seaport Trade Group.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Ruff and Bridget G. Johnston are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
^
As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Saturday 6 June 2026
Shooter Found Guilty of Killing One Man and Injuring Two Others in January 2019Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Alonzo Brown, 29, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty yesterday in D.C. Superior Court, on charges related to the shooting death of 22-year-old Michael Taylor and injuring two others, on January 12, 2019, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Brown was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder while armed, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of assault with intent to kill and one count of conspiracy on June 5, 2026. This case went to trial in May of 2025 but resulted in a hung jury.
Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson scheduled sentencing for October 16, 2026.
“By firing 72 rounds into an apartment complex, Alonzo Brown and his co‑conspirators carried out an act of extraordinary violence that claimed a young man’s life and injured two others,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. “This verdict brings long‑awaited justice to the victims and sends a clear message that such reckless disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”
According to the government’s evidence, on January 12, 2019, Brown, and four other co-conspirators, who associated themselves with the Pentacles Apartment Complex or “Walkdown” wanted to exact revenge for the murder of their friend, Shamar Marbury, which had occurred 11 days earlier. It was believed that Shamar was murdered by a rival, the Benning Court Complex or “BC Da Army” with whom the Pentacles group had been “beefing” for close to two years. A “beef” that culminated in a series of shootings, including the murder of Shamar Marbury. Marbury was laid to rest on January 11, 2019. The day after Marbury’s funeral, the defendants executed their plan to retaliate in a brazen daylight shooting that targeted five other young men from Benning Court. Together, the defendant and his co-defendants, drove to the 1700 block of Benning Road, NE, drove past the complex looking for targets against whom to retaliate. As they passed the Benning Court Apartments, they looked through the glass front of 1707 and saw a group of young men inside. They continued driving past and parked their car out of sight. They left a get-away driver in the car, and the defendant and three others walked into the Benning Court complex. They entered 1707 and fired 72 rounds, killing the victim, Michael Taylor, and injuring two of his friends.
Unbeknownst to the shooters, however, they were captured on video before, during, and as they fled to their awaiting gateway car. The shooting lasted only 8 seconds. One of the shooters, Carlos Turner, pleaded guilty to second degree murder while armed and conspiracy to commit a violent crime. Another shooter, Stephon Evans, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed.
Brown was arrested on January 23, 2019.
Joining the announcement was Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nebiyu Feleke and Marybeth Manfreda.
2019 CF1 001059
D.C. Man Sentenced to 26 Years for the October 2023 Murder of His Ex-Romantic Partner in Her HomeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Desmond Thurston, 48, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced yesterday in connection with the murder of 52-year-old Patricia Johnson, his ex-romantic partner, in October 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Thurston pleaded guilty on February 4, 2026, to one count of second-degree murder while armed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. On June 5, 2026, the Honorable Judge Rainey Brandt ordered Thurston to serve 26 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release.
“By breaking into Patricia Johnson’s home in defiance of a court order and committing a horrific act of violence, Desmond Thurston showed a complete disregard for the law and for human life,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. “This sentence holds him accountable and affirms our dedication to protecting those who seek safety from abuse.”
According to the government’s evidence, on September 28, 2023, Patricia Johnson called 911 to report that Thurston had threatened her. The two had been in a relationship for several years. The next day after Johnson called 911, she obtained a Temporary Protection Order (“TPO”) against Thurston. On September 30, 2023, Metropolitan Police Department officers responded twice to Ms. Johnson’s residence, which she had shared with Thurston for years, to advise Thurston that they could escort him in to get needed items, but that he was not allowed in the residence.
Thurston returned to Johnson’s home around 3:00 a.m. on October 1, 2023, despite the TPO and warning from MPD, and broke in, snapping a chain lock off the wall. The defendant went upstairs where Johnson and a minor family member had been sleeping in different bedrooms. There was a brief exchange of words, and then Thurston shot Johnson once through her left wrist and neck, causing her to fall to the ground. The defendant then shot Johnson a second time, in the chest, while she was on the ground. Thurston went through Johnson’s devices and left the home.
Thurston was arrested on October 1, 2023, and has remained in custody since.
Joining in the announcement was Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Interim Chief Carroll commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch. They acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zach Horton and Wes Faulkner Jr., who prosecuted the case.
2023 CF1 007099
Friday 5 June 2026
Union Leaders Convicted of Racketeering, Fraud, and Embezzlement of Union DuesRead the Press Release
Today a federal jury convicted a North Carolina couple, a Missouri man, and an Ohio man in relation to a scheme involving theft of union-member dues through the award of no-show jobs, lavish travels and dinners charged to the union, unearned vacation payouts, and an unauthorized $7 million loan made to a union-related bank.
The jury convicted Newton Jones, 72, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the former President of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Forgers, and Helpers (Boilermakers Union), his wife Kateryna Jones, 33, of Chapel Hill, and the former Secretary Treasurer, William Creeden, 78 of Kearney, Missouri, of violation of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Those defendants, as well as one of the Boilermaker Union’s former Vice Presidents, Lawrence McManamon, 78, of Rocky River, Ohio were convicted of embezzlement from the Union through various means, including:
- Taking elaborate foreign trips that were not related to Union business – all defendants;
- Charging personal expenses to the Union, including shopping trips and dinners out – Newton Jones and Kateryna Jones;
- Paying or overpaying unearned salary and relocation expenses for Newton Jones’s family members – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Paying out of unearned vacation – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Paying for unauthorized surveillance of Union employees – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Making an unlawful $7M loan to a bank at which Newton Jones and Creeden were employed – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Theft from the Union retirement plan – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Health care fraud relating to unearned benefits provided to Kateryna Jones – Newton Jones, Kateryna Jones, and Creeden; and
- Wire fraud relating to failure to disclose required payments, outside employment, and conflicts of interest – Newton Jones and Creeden.
“The Boilermakers Union members were supposed to get representation out of their hard-earned money used to pay union dues,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “What they got instead is their money wasted on lavish trips and dinners, and unearned vacation payouts for the union leadership. Union dues must be handled with care and used for the benefit of the dues paying members. Union leadership that steals from the American worker will face prosecution, conviction, and prison time.”
“The absolute hubris and entitlement with which these defendants stole from American workers is disgraceful,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas. “While union members were faithfully clocking-in and out of their jobs, these defendants thought they were unaccountable and were callously gallivanting on extravagant trips that spared no expense. With these convictions comes a reckoning, and we will be asking the Court to hold these defendants accountable for their criminal conduct and impose appropriate sentences of incarceration.”
“By using union funds for their private benefit, the fraud committed by these defendants strikes at the very confidence union members place in their leaders to represent their interests,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Omerod of the FBI Kansas City Field Office. “The evidence presented in trial demonstrated an elaborate and willful deceit of the Boilermakers Union to fund the lavish lifestyle of their former leaders. The FBI will not tolerate this level of financial exploitation against hard working Americans.”
“These union officials clearly violated LMRDA fiduciary requirements with their excessive and extravagant spending and caused great harm to their organization and its members,” said Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Labor-Management Standards Director Elisabeth Messenger. “The conviction of these individuals serves as a strong warning to those who abuse their responsibilities that such violations of union members’ trust will lead to serious repercussions. The department’s new reporting requirements for large unions will go a long way in protecting the financial integrity of labor unions.”
“Investigating corruption and ensuring the financial integrity of private health and pension plans, including union plans, is a priority for EBSA,” said DOL Employee Benefits Security Administration Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz. “In this case, Boilermakers officials put their own interests first and misused funds entrusted to them to provide retirement and health benefits for union members and their families. EBSA will pursue those who engage in criminal schemes to defraud private sector benefit plans. We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners.”
According to evidence presented at trial, over a 15-year period, the defendants, led by Newton Jones and Creeden, embezzled the funds of the Boilermakers Union including:
- Over $5 million in unnecessary luxury international travel;
- Nearly $2 million in salary and benefits to Kateryna Jones and others for no-show jobs, at which they were not required to work, including payment of two years of salary to Kateryna Jones for a period when she resided in Ukraine and was dating Newton Jones;
- Over $100,000 in tuition, rent, and relocation expenses for members of the family of Newton Jones;
- Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payments relating to fraudulently claimed vacation time;
- Over $100,000 in restaurant charges by Newton Jones and Kateryna Jones in their hometown;
- Money spent in unauthorized email surveillance of union employees to defend Newton Jones and McManamon from internal union charges; and
- $7 million in unauthorized loans from the Boilermakers Union to the bank at which Newton Jones and Creeden had supposed full-time jobs that required little work and were each paid nearly $500,000 per year while they were also being paid a full-time salary from the union.
Trial evidence showed that Newton Jones hired his wife Kateryna Jones for a job in which she performed little to no work and received nearly $1.8 million in salary over the course of nine years. Newton and Kateryna Jones also embezzled over $160,000 for date night meals in their hometown of Chapel Hill. Newton Jones and William Creeden embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and benefits for three of Newton Jones’ family members. These defendants also embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of improper vacation payouts.
In addition, the couple embezzled millions of dollars in unnecessary and lavish international travel from the dues of union members, including conducting executive meetings for no apparent purpose in extravagant hotels in cities like Paris, France and Rome, Italy.
The hotel in Paris, France, where the defendants held an executive council meeting for the Kansas-based Boilermaker Union.Creeden and Newton Jones also used their executive positions in the Boilermakers Union to obtain high-level positions at the Bank of Labor, where the union is the majority shareholder. Earning a full-time salary at the bank while supposedly working full-time at the union, Jones and Creeden were paid nearly $4 million in salary and $1.4 million in retirement benefits from the bank.
A sentencing date has been set for Sept. 1. Lawrence McManamon faces a maximum of penalty of five years in prison on each count. William Creeden, Newton Jones, and Kateryna Jones each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Department of Labor and the FBI investigated the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel Vincent Falvo and Trial Attorney Alexandra Swain of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Faiza Alhambra and Jabari Wamble for the District of Kansas prosecuted the case.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 148 Border-Related Cases This WeekRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 148 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).
In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.
A sample of border-related arrests this week:
- On May 30, Luis Andres Pereyda Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 203 pounds of cocaine concealed in the bed of his Ford F-150 truck as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
- On June 2, Lorenzo Mendoza-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents apprehended Mendoza-Hernandez, an unauthorized alien who was previously deported in 2016 through Calexico, after a brief foot chase about three miles north of the border and eight miles west of the Tecate and Port of Entry.
- On June 3, Qi Hua He, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, He attempted to smuggle in a Chinese national via the San Ysidro Port of Entry using a passport that had been lawfully issued to someone else.
The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces Settlement with Wrightstown, New Jersey Landlord in Fair Housing Act LawsuitRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. — A Wrightstown, New Jersey landlord has agreed to pay $62,500 in monetary damages to resolve a lawsuit alleging race and national origin discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).
The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing, including discrimination because of race and national origin. The United States’ complaint, filed on November 13, 2024, alleged that the landlord, Burlington Preservation Associates, LLC (Burlington), had applied an incarceration provision in its lease agreement to discriminate against a Black and Hispanic tenant living in subsidized housing. The incarceration provision in the lease gave landlord or property manager the discretionary authority to change the locks of incarcerated tenants and then evict them. As alleged in the complaint, Burlington took almost immediate action to evict the Black and Hispanic tenant living in subsidized housing during a brief period of incarceration while treating a white, incarcerated tenant very differently. The complaint further alleged that, when the tenant filed a fair housing complaint with a federal agency, the defendant retaliated against him by attempting to evict him a second time and by disrupting the recertification process required to maintain the tenant’s subsidized housing.
In addition to paying monetary damages to the tenant, Burlington has also agreed to remove the lease provision at issue in this case as part of the resolution announced today.
The case was referred to the Department of Justice after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development received a complaint, completed an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Millenky.
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burlingtonpreservation.agreement.pdfThree New Mexico Men Charged with Conspiracy to Transport Aliens and Conspiracy to Kill a Witness as a Result of Joint Task Force Alpha and Homeland Security Task Force InvestigationRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in the District of New Mexico returned a superseding indictment charging Wilfrido Saenz, 29; Ignacio Jaramillo, 22; and his brother, Ismael Jaramillo, 35, all of New Mexico, for their roles in a scheme to transport aliens and later murder a witness to that crime.
According to court documents, between June 2021 and April 2024, Saenz, Ignacio Jaramillo, and Ismael Jaramillo conspired to transport illegal aliens. Saenz and Ignacio Jaramillo are also charged with conspiracy to kill a witness in April 2024 in retaliation for providing law enforcement information about the scheme to transport illegal aliens.
“The superseding indictment in this case highlights the dangers associated with human smuggling,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The criminal networks engaging in this do not care about the people they are smuggling. They only care about money and themselves. They endanger lives and will commit heinous crimes if they believe their network has been exposed and their livelihood is on the line. Through Joint Task Force Alpha working with the District of New Mexico, DOJ will prosecute this case to the end with the victims at the forefront of seeking justice.”
“Human smuggling operations fuel violence, exploit vulnerable people, and threaten the safety of communities on both sides of the border,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico. “The allegations in this case reflect the ruthless nature of these criminal organizations and the lengths they are willing to go to protect their operations. Alongside our dedicated law enforcement partners, our office remains unwavering in our commitment to disrupt these networks and hold those who orchestrate them fully accountable.”
“Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) efforts to dismantle human smuggling organizations directly enhance public safety by disrupting criminal networks that endanger lives and exploit vulnerable individuals,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan McRae of the HSI El Paso Field Office. “By targeting those who profit from illegal smuggling, HSI protects communities from associated violence and criminal activity, ensuring safer neighborhoods. HSI will not tolerate individuals who attempt to obstruct justice or intimidate those who cooperate with law enforcement.”
“The charges announced today send a clear message: individuals who engage in organized criminal activity, exploit vulnerable people, or resort to violence to obstruct justice will face the full weight of the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office. “The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to community safety, combating violent crime, and bringing justice to victim's families.”
Saenz, Ignacio Jaramillo, and Ismael Jaramillo are charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens while Saenz and Ignacio Jaramillo are charged with conspiracy to retaliate against a witness resulting in her death. If convicted of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, Saenz and Ignacio and Ismael Jaramillo each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. If convicted of conspiracy to retaliate against a witness, Saenz and Ignacio Jaramillo face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Saenz and Ignacio Jaramillo are also charged with two counts each of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Saenz had previously been convicted of alien smuggling, fraudulently obtaining a motor vehicle, and possession of drug paraphernalia, among other offenses. Ignacio Jaramillo was previously convicted in New Mexico of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony and aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, a fourth-degree felony. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy Castellano and Maria Armijo for the District of New Mexico are prosecuting the case.
These charges and prosecution are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF Region II CORE 7 is comprised of agents and officers from HSI, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), IRS Criminal Investigation, Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations (OFO), U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and Air and Marine (AMO), Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Joint Task Force North (JTF-N), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force.
The investigation and indictment were supported 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 U.S. 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 458 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 408 U.S. convictions; and more than 357 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Three Arrested in Kansas and California, Charged with Plot to Support ISISRead the Press Release
Early this morning, the FBI arrested three men in Kansas City, Kansas, San Diego, and Sacramento, California, on charges that they conspired to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kansas; Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, California; and Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, California, were arrested on a complaint filed in the District of Kansas for conspiring to provide material support to terrorism after collectively providing over $2,000 to an individual they understood to be a member of ISIS. As detailed in the complaint, in various messaging exchanges, Ghafoor exclaimed it would be “sick” if his name could be written on the drone used in an attack on Americans. Dzayee suggested that targets of drones should include U.S. Special Forces. In other exchanges, Shamsaldeen expressed a desire to stab and injure a U.S. servicemember. Ghafoor said he has always wanted to kill a female soldier by beheading, and added, “I wish I could kill 300,000,000 Americans.”
“This administration has put terrorists, cartels, and gangs on notice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Today’s arrest of three individuals who allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIS makes clear our commitment to taking down terrorist networks — anywhere. Thanks to the vigilance of the FBI, their alleged scheme was dismantled and further acts of violence against U.S. service members were prevented.”
“These subjects allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS, plotted multiple attacks, and even targeted U.S. service members — but this FBI stopped them cold,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The success of this op shows once again this FBI’s continued record of stopping terrorist attacks before they happen, simply the best way to defend the homeland — and shows we’ll stop at nothing to defend Americans from those who seek to do us harm. I want to thank our teams in Kansas City, San Diego, Sacramento, Newark, and Richmond, and the Counterterrorism Division for their outstanding efforts on this investigation and commitment to mission.”
“According to the complaint, these defendants conspired to support ISIS, a ruthless terrorist organization, with the intent, among other things, to fund plans to kill American servicemembers abroad,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Thanks to the work of the FBI, their plans to betray their country in the gravest way lies in ruin. Instead, these defendants will face justice in our courts.”
“For years, the Department of Justice has been encouraging Americans that if they see suspicious activity, they should report it to law enforcement. That’s because long gone are the days where terrorist threats and attacks are incidents that only take place far away on foreign soil,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas. “Unfortunately, we must face the reality of bad actors living within our borders clandestinely conspiring on ways to create fear and havoc. The only way to root out and prevent terrorism plots is through collaboration among all levels of law enforcement and across jurisdictions. Collaboration is what facilitated the arrests of these three suspects.”
According to the complaint, filed in the District of Kansas, beginning by at least February 2025 to about June 2026, the individuals communicated about several plans to support ISIS, including through the provision of personnel, services, and money. Through Discord chats, voice calls, and other messaging platforms, the coconspirators pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader. The defendants exchanged messages in social media groups promoting violence in furtherance of ISIS.
The defendants collectively provided over $2,000 to an individual they believed to be an ISIS member. Ghafoor’s name was written on the projectile of one of the rocket-propelled grenades purportedly to be used in an attack overseas to kill U.S. servicemembers. Shamsaldeen provided financial resources for the purpose of purchasing drones, which, in turn, were to be used to attack and kill U.S. servicemembers deployed overseas.
The defendants and others communicated their desires to travel outside the United States to fight on behalf of ISIS. In some of these communications, they expressed a willingness to die on behalf of ISIS.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Kansas City Field Office, the San Diego Field Office, and the Sacramento Field Office investigated the cases, with assistance from FBI Field Offices in Richmond and Newark.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Michelle MacFarlane for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and Jay Rezai of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of California and the Southern District of California.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Texas City man sentenced for illegally possessing machine gunRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - A 32-year-old man has been ordered to federal prison for possessing and transferring an illegal machine gun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Jaleel Filer pleaded guilty March 5, 2026.
U.S. District Judge Charles R. Eskridge has now ordered Filer to serve 37 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
The investigation began in January 2023 when law enforcement identified Filer’s involvement in the sale of firearms and machine gun conversion devices, commonly known as “switches.” A machine gun conversion device converts a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic machine gun and is illegal to possess.
Over the next five months, authorities conducted multiple undercover purchases from Filer, including firearms and MCDs.
During one purchase Jan. 6, Filer sold two firearms, including one equipped with a machine gun conversion device installed for approximately $2,200. The firearm functioned as a machine gun. He claimed he could also sell MCDs in the future for $100 each.
During the final deal, Filer arranged for the sale of more than 50 MCDs that were subsequently interdicted by law enforcement.
Previously released on bond, Filer was taken into custody following the sentencing where he will remain pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Smith prosecuted the case.