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Wednesday 3 June 2026
Wyatt Detention Facility Inmate Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Prison Contraband ChargesRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE – An inmate housed at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls pleaded guilty today in federal court in Rhode Island to possession of prison contraband and possession with intent to distribute multiple controlled substances, including fentanyl.
Brian Slutzkin, “aka” Lello Brian Bongiorno, age 41, admitted that he possessed controlled substances that he concealed on his person while incarcerated at the Wyatt Detention Facility, with the intent to distribute them to others.
Slutzkin is scheduled to be sentenced on September 24, 2026. The sentence imposed will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to court documents, a search of Slutzkin revealed a sock hidden on his person containing seven balloons crafted from latex gloves. Examination determined the balloons contained distributable quantities of a powder containing fentanyl, pills containing oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen, strips containing buprenorphine and naloxone, and marijuana.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.
The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and investigators at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility.
Used Car Salesman Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Defrauding Customers Seeking Wheelchair-Accessible VehiclesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Edward Scott Rock, 50, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 41 months in prison, three years of supervised release, $1,457,617 in victim restitution, and a forfeiture judgment of $1,469,617 by United States District Chief Judge Wendy Beetlestone for a non-delivery sales scheme in which Rock accepted payment for, but failed to deliver, more than 100 vehicles and caused victims significant financial losses.
The defendant was charged by indictment in December 2023 and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud in October of last year.
As detailed in court filings, between 2019 and 2023, Rock, a used car salesman in Northeast Philadelphia, advertised and accepted payment for, but failed to deliver, wheelchair accessible vehicles to dozens of unsuspecting customers.
He repeatedly lied to clients, forged Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) compliance letters, fabricated excuses for non-delivery, sold the same vehicle to multiple buyers, accepted payment for non-existent vehicles, used family accounts to conceal his transactions, passed bad checks, stopped payment on refunds, and converted his victims’ funds into cash.
Rock’s victims included people with disabilities and elderly customers, along with medical transport companies, senior living homes, and other small businesses.
Altogether, Rock fraudulently took in over $2.5 million from more than 100 victims over the course of three years. While some victims were subsequently refunded, often with money received from the scheme’s later victims, over 75 victims remain unpaid and without their purchased vehicle, and more than $1.45 million in fraudulently obtained proceeds remains unreturned by Rock.
To induce buyers to purchase vehicles, Rock sometimes used a forged letter to falsely certify that the vehicles listed for sale were ADA-compliant and had undergone a conversion with a reputable manufacturer of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
On several occasions, Rock sold the same vehicle to multiple customers. After agreeing to sale terms and accepting payment from a customer for a particular vehicle, Rock continued to list, sell, and accept payment for that same vehicle again, this time from a new victim-purchaser.
For example, Rock agreed to sell the same wheelchair-accessible 2017 Ford T150 van to 16 different buyers over an 11-month period between February 2022 and January 2023. He collected more than $330,000 in payments for this accessible van from various buyers, eventually delivering it to one purchaser without proper title, and leaving the other buyers without their vehicle.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department Major Crimes Auto Squad and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Jessica Rice.
United States Attorney’s Office and FBI Crack Down on Aircraft Lasing as Maui Man Awaits SentencingRead the Press Release
HONOLULU – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii, in partnership with the FBI and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is working to identify and prosecute those endangering aircraft with laser pointers. Shining a laser at an aircraft can impair a pilot’s vision—sometimes permanently—during critical moments of flight. These incidents present a serious safety risk to everyone on board the aircraft and to the communities below.
“Hawaii has one of the highest rates of aircraft lasing in the nation,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. “That is simply unacceptable. Pointing a laser at an aircraft is highly dangerous, illegal, and will be met with the full force of federal law enforcement. My office is committed to working with the FBI and other law enforcement partners, as well as with the FAA, to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.”
Federal law treats aircraft lasing as a serious criminal offense. Knowingly aiming a laser pointer beam at an aircraft or its flight path is a federal felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years. Where the aircraft is federally operated, lasing the aircraft can also constitute assault on a federal officer. Individuals who aid and abet such conduct, or even those who act as accessories after the fact, may also face federal prosecution.
Jesse Kong, 33, of Maui, Hawaii, pled guilty in federal court on April 15, 2026, to being an accessory after the fact to a laser-pointer assault on a federal pilot. He faces up to 6 months of imprisonment for that crime. Kong admitted in his plea agreement to purchasing a laser pointer online and loaning it to an associate who, in Kong’s presence, aimed the laser at a federal aircraft and into its cockpit, disorienting the pilot and interfering with the aircraft’s operations. Shortly after the incident, FBI agents intercepted Kong and his associate, questioning both, and Kong falsely represented that the individuals responsible had already left the scene, thereby assisting his associate in eluding apprehension. Kong is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17, 2026.
As Kong’s prosecution shows, the FBI can swiftly track down those responsible for laser strikes on aircraft.
Image 1. Still from video footage of aircraft lasing incident involving Kong.
Image 2. Still of video footage of individuals near laser origin in incident involving Kong.
As video footage of various aircraft lasing incidents demonstrates, shining a laser at an aircraft can significantly impair a pilot’s field of vision and presents a danger to those in the aircraft and on the ground.
“Aiming a laser at an aircraft is not a prank; it is a direct assault on the safety of the pilot, the passengers, and everyone on the ground below,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter. “These high-powered beams can instantly impair a pilot’s vision during the most critical phases of flight, turning a routine journey into a potential catastrophe. We use every resource at our disposal to track the illegal use of these lasers back to the source. If you light up the sky and an aircraft, expect us to come knocking at your door.”
“The FBI’s action demonstrates the positive safety impacts of working closely with our law enforcement partners. During the first five months of 2026, we have seen a 10.6% decrease in laser strikes in Hawaii. This is an example of how support of the FAA’s ‘Lose the Laser’ campaign is getting results,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Security and Intelligence Ben Supko.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also warns that laser pointers sold online are often mislabeled as to classification and power output. Devices marketed as low-powered, handheld pointers may in fact emit laser radiation at much higher power levels than advertised. Some handheld devices can start fires and cause severe ocular damage.
Pilots and aviation personnel should report laser strikes immediately to air traffic control and the FAA. Members of the public who witness someone pointing a laser at an aircraft are encouraged to contact authorities.
The FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Slack is prosecuting the case.
United States Announces $36.5 Million Settlement of Medicare Fraud Lawsuit Against Matrix Medical NetworkRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), Naomi Gruchacz, announced that the United States has settled a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit against COMMUNITY CARE HEALTH NETWORK, LLC, D/B/A MATRIX MEDICAL NETWORK (“MATRIX”), a health services company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, that contracts with Medicare Advantage Organizations (“MAOs”) to perform in-home health assessments of Medicare patients. The settlement resolves claims that MATRIX violated the False Claim Act by causing the MAOs to submit to the Government false and invalid patient diagnoses for certain chronic conditions, thereby artificially inflating the Medicare payments the MAOs received for providing insurance coverage to patients enrolled in their plans. The Government alleges that MATRIX focused on reporting diagnoses that could lead to higher payments for its client MAOs, instead of ensuring that all of its diagnoses were appropriate and well-supported.
Under the settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, MATRIX will pay the United States a total sum of $36.5 million. MATRIX made extensive factual admissions in the settlement regarding its conduct, including that in numerous instances MATRIX reported certain conditions where its health assessment forms did not contain sufficient clinical information to support the diagnosis. In connection with the settlement, MATRIX also entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement (“CIA”) with HHS-OIG. The CIA requires MATRIX to implement numerous accountability and auditing measures. In particular, MATRIX must conduct annual risk assessments and other monitoring, and an independent review organization will conduct compliance reviews focused on MATRIX’s systems, processes, and procedures relating to MATRIX’s risk adjustment activities and MATRIX’s services provided to Medicare Advantage plan enrollees.
“For years, Matrix generated false and invalid diagnoses for patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans that were later reported to the Government,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Matrix advertised its ability to identify new diagnosis codes that would boost Medicare Advantage insurers’ payments, and it delivered on that promise by reporting lucrative diagnoses that frequently fell well short of meeting recognized clinical criteria. Matrix did so to generate business for itself, at the expense of the public fisc. New Yorkers hate fraud that drains public funds. Why? Because New Yorkers are smart and they know fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs costs all New Yorkers. This Office is proud to join with the rest of the Department, including the National Fraud Enforcement Division, to hold perpetrators of fraud accountable in Medicare and other contexts.”
“Matrix manipulated Medicare managed care’s reimbursement structure for financial gain,” said HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz. “By generating unsupported and clinically invalid diagnoses, Matrix undermined the integrity of federal health care programs and put profits above patients. This settlement demonstrates our unwavering commitment to holding entities accountable when they inflate Medicare payments through improper practices and fail to uphold the standards beneficiaries deserve.”
The Medicare Advantage program, also known as Medicare Part C, allows Medicare beneficiaries to opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in health plans that are administered by private insurance companies known as MAOs. The MAOs contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) to provide traditional Medicare coverage to beneficiaries enrolled in their plans in exchange for capitated payments. CMS adjusts these capitated payments based on the health status of each beneficiary as determined through diagnoses submitted by the MAOs. Specifically, CMS uses these diagnoses, along with demographic factors, to calculate a Risk Adjustment Factor (“RAF”) score for each member and, in turn, the amount of the monthly payment it will pay the MAO for covering that member, pursuant to the Hierarchical Condition Category (“HCC”) model. In general, CMS pays insurers more for sicker beneficiaries likely to incur higher healthcare expenses and less for healthier beneficiaries. Diagnosis codes submitted to CMS must be supported by the beneficiaries’ medical records and be accurate, complete, and truthful, based on the best knowledge, information, and belief of the MAO making the submission.
As alleged in the Government’s Complaint:
MATRIX contracts with MAOs to conduct health assessments of Medicare Advantage plan members in their homes. Based on these in-home assessments, MATRIX provides diagnosis codes to the MAOs for ultimate submission to CMS as part of the MAOs’ risk adjustment data. The MAOs paid MATRIX a fee, generally in the range of $350 to $450, for each assessment. CMS relies on this risk adjustment data, including the medical diagnosis codes, to determine the payments paid to the MAOs for each beneficiary. As a “first-tier entity” that contracts with MAOs, MATRIX is required to certify the accuracy and truthfulness of the data it generates relating to claims for payment submitted by MAOs.
During the period from 2014 to 2019, MATRIX knowingly caused MAOs to submit false and invalid diagnoses of the following chronic medical conditions to CMS for risk adjustment purposes: proliferative diabetic retinopathy, drug-induced polyneuropathy, rheumatoid polyneuropathy, atrial fibrillation, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and simple chronic bronchitis (the “Invalid Diagnoses”). MATRIX reported the Invalid Diagnoses to MAOs based on its in-home assessments even though: (a) there was not sufficient information to support the diagnoses; (b) the diagnoses did not conform with the guidelines for coding and reporting diagnoses as required by CMS; and (c) the conditions were frequently not diagnosed by any other healthcare provider who saw the beneficiary during the year in which the home visit occurred or in the preceding two years or subsequent two years. As a result of the reporting of these Invalid Diagnoses, the MAOs obtained inflated risk adjustment payments from CMS to which they were not entitled.
MATRIX’s home visit program was designed in large part to identify additional diagnosis codes that could be reported to CMS to increase patient risk scores, and therefore the capitated payments that the MAOs received for their plan members. MATRIX regularly recorded Invalid Diagnoses for complex conditions without performing the testing, imaging, or other diagnostic clinical steps necessary to establish those diagnoses. The purpose of the home visits was not to treat patients’ medical conditions; indeed, MATRIX did not provide medical treatment or prescribe medications as part of the home visits. Nor did it refer the patients to specialists for follow-up care, other than generalized suggestions that the patient follow up with their doctors.
MATRIX marketed its services to MAOs in part by representing that the in-home assessments would allow MAOs to capture diagnoses for use in the risk adjustment process that had not been reported by the plan members’ other providers. In marketing and other materials provided to MAOs, MATRIX advertised its ability to find and document diagnoses that were not otherwise reported by a patient’s primary care physicians and would therefore increase a patient’s risk adjustment score and the MAOs’ payments. For example, Matrix advertised its ability to secure HCC “Lift,” meaning to make diagnoses that resulted in higher HCC disease scores and, thus, higher risk adjustment payments. MATRIX also advertised and calculated the “increase in RAF score” from MATRIX’s assessments and estimated the amount by which the diagnoses MATRIX identified increased the risk adjustment payments received by the MAOs.
MATRIX’s in-home assessments were typically conducted by nurse practitioners. Based on the visit, the nurse practitioner completed an electronic, check-the-box form concerning the individual’s reported medical history and the results of a basic physical assessment. MATRIX’s coding teams later reviewed the assessment forms and diagnoses listed and identified the applicable diagnosis codes to be sent to the MAOs for ultimate submission to CMS as part of their risk adjustment data. Additionally, after the visits, MATRIX’s “Quality Improvement” staff reviewed the diagnoses entered to assess whether the nurse practitioner had any “missed” diagnoses, which they then urged the nurse practitioner to add. At times, MATRIX even added diagnoses without the nurse practitioner’s signoff.
The Invalid Diagnoses generated by the MATRIX home visits did not conform to the International Classification of Diseases (“ICD”) Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting (the “ICD Guidelines”), as required by applicable federal regulations. The diagnoses did not affect patient care, treatment, or management during the home visit, as required under the ICD Guidelines, and thus were ineligible for risk adjustment. In addition, the Invalid Diagnoses were not supported by the minimal information recorded on the MATRIX assessment forms, in violation of the ICD Guidelines’ medical record documentation requirement.
Through the operation of its home assessment program, MATRIX reported codes for thousands of Invalid Diagnoses to MAOs, which in turn submitted those codes to CMS. Based on these unlawful false claims, the MAOs improperly received millions of dollars in risk adjustment payments from CMS, in violation of the False Claims Act.
As part of the settlement, MATRIX admitted and accepted responsibility for certain conduct alleged by the Government including the following:
- MATRIX contracted with over 30 MAOs to conduct health assessments of Medicare Part C plan members in their homes.
- The in-home assessments were typically performed by nurse practitioners, who collected health histories and medication information, conducted physical exams, and documented diagnostic information on electronic health assessment forms. The nurse practitioners did not provide clinical medical treatment to the plan members or prescribe medications.
- Certain contracts with MAOs required MATRIX to, among other things, assist the MAO in “capturing Member diagnoses for use in [MAO’s] risk adjustment process” and report on the MAO’s “ROI,” or return on investment. MATRIX calculated an MAO’s ROI based, in part, on the estimated increase in Medicare Part C reimbursements received by the MAO that was attributable to risk score increases resulting from Matrix assessments.
- MATRIX’s in-home assessments resulted in diagnoses of plan members, and the submission to CMS of resulting risk-adjusting diagnosis codes, that frequently had not been reported by any other healthcare provider who treated the plan member during the year in which the home visit occurred or during the two years before and after the calendar year in which the home visit occurred.
- In numerous instances, MATRIX reported the following conditions to MAOs where the health assessment forms did not contain sufficient clinical information to support the diagnosis: proliferative diabetic retinopathy; drug-induced polyneuropathy; rheumatoid polyneuropathy; atrial fibrillation; rheumatoid arthritis; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and simple chronic bronchitis. The MAOs in turn frequently submitted the diagnosis codes corresponding to those conditions to CMS for risk adjustment purposes, which often resulted in the MAOs receiving higher Medicare Part C reimbursements.
In connection with the filing of the lawsuit and settlement, the Government joined a private whistleblower lawsuit that had been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.
In a separate settlement announced today by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, DPN USA d/b/a HealthFair (“HealthFair”), a company acquired by MATRIX in 2018 that performed health assessments on mobile health care buses, and HealthFair’s prior owner Shahriah “James” Ekbatani, are agreeing to resolve separate allegations that HealthFair knowingly reported certain diagnoses to MAOs that were unsupported, unsubstantiated, and/or invalid on the basis of these mobile assessments.
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Mr. Clayton thanked HHS-OIG for its assistance with this case.
This case is being handled by the Civil Frauds Unit within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachael Doud and Ilan Stein are in charge of the case.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Seeks Potential Victims in Case Against Columbia, Missouri DoctorRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – In April of 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Missouri announced that a federal grand jury charged physician Jonathan Wayne Morris with health care fraud and illegal prescribing crimes related to his clinic, located at 619-621 N. Providence Road, Columbia, Missouri 65203.
The indictment alleges that from at least August 6, 2021, to at least April 8, 2025, Morris engaged in a pattern of issuing and causing to be issued controlled substance prescriptions outside of the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose, including by giving controlled substance prescriptions to individuals that, as Morris knew, had substance use disorders and individuals with whom he had sexual relations. The indictment also alleges that from at least May 1, 2019, to at least April 8, 2025, Morris defrauded Medicare and Missouri Medicaid by billing them for services that falsely represented Morris as the rendering provider when, in fact, those services were rendered not by Morris, but by assistant physicians, medical school graduates who have not entered a residency program and therefore require training and supervision by a fully licensed physician.
The indictment alleges that, during the same timeframe, Morris caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement to the Medicare and Missouri Medicaid for controlled substance prescriptions that were not eligible for reimbursement, in that such prescriptions were issued other than in the course and scope of professional practice and in violation of federal law.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
On May 27, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen R. Welby issued an order directing the government to employ alternative victim notification procedures so that any member of the community who believes they may be a crime victim is made aware of their potential rights.
The government is asking members of the community who believe they may be a victim of illegal prescribing of controlled substances or fraudulent billing practices by Dr. Morris to contact the Victim-Witness Unit at [email protected].
Former patients of Morris or their families may still be facing the aftermath of illegal prescribing of controlled substances or fraudulent billing practices. The victim-witness program provides information, services and support to individuals during federal prosecutions.
Case updates will be provided on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr.
Please also be aware of these free, confidential resources that may be of assistance:
- Always call 911 if it’s a life-threatening emergency.
- To find supportive services, dial 2-1-1 to call United Way. Operational hours are 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday. If you call after hours, please leave a message. Phone calls will be returned the next business day. 2-1-1 provides information and referral service that connect people to vital community, health and social services provided by a range of nonprofit, government and tribal agencies.
- SAMHSA has a national helpline to assist with finding behavioral health support or substance use management at 800-662-HELP (4357), TTY: 800-487-4889, or online at findtreatment.gov. Calls are manned 24/7 and are routed to the DHSS Division of Behavioral Health during DHSS operational hours.
- Help is available 24/7 through Missouri's Crisis Hotline (https://dmh.mo.gov/behavioral-health/treatment-services/specialized-programs/crisis-services), 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If you or someone you know is in a mental health, suicide or substance use crisis; reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or the 988 Lifeline Chat.
Three Illegal Aliens with Prior Felony Convictions Charged for Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS – Three Mexican nationals unlawfully residing in Las Vegas made their initial court appearances yesterday to face charges of illegally reentering the United States after previously being removed from the country.
Rodolfo Arnoldo Campillo-Castro, Carlos Joaquin Lopez-Orozco, and Hugo Cesar Astorga-Nunez, all citizens of Mexico, are each charged with one count of deported alien found in the United States. Preliminary hearings for all three defendants are scheduled for June 16, 2026, before United States Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts.
According to allegations contained in the criminal complaints and statements made during court proceedings, Campillo-Castro, Lopez-Orozco, and Astorga-Nunez were all previously deported and removed from the United States and reentered the United States illegally.
On August 14, 2025, officers with the North Las Vegas Police Department arrested Campillo-Castro for trafficking in controlled substance. On May 29, 2026, after serving a term of 16 to 40 months in prison for Conspiracy to Violate Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Campillo-Castro was remanded by the Nevada Department of Corrections to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Las Vegas, Nevada. Campillo-Castro had been previously deported to Mexico on or about January 13, 2009.
On May 17, 2024, officers with the North Las Vegas Police Department arrested Lopez-Orozco for trafficking in controlled substance. On May 21, 2026, after serving a term of 24 to 60 months in prison for trafficking in controlled substance, Lopez-Orozco was remanded by the Nevada Department of Corrections to ICE custody in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez-Orozco had been previously deported to Mexico on or about March 26, 2019.
On May 19, 2026, ICE, Las Vegas, Field Operations Team, while conducting targeted enforcement activities, arrested Astorga-Nunez. Astorga-Nunez, who had been previously deported to Mexico on or about May 24, 2011, and again on or about December 2, 2017. Astorga-Nunez has prior felony convictions for Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell, Conspiracy to Violate Uniform Controlled Substances Act, and Transport of a Controlled Substance.
If convicted, Astorga-Nunez faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
If convicted, Campillo-Castro and Lopez-Orozco each face a maximum statutory penalty of two years in prison, a one-year term of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada and Salt Lake City Acting Field Office Director Alejandro Almeida made the announcement.
The ICE Salt Lake City, Las Vegas Sub-Office investigated the case; and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada is prosecuting the case.
Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
A complaint is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Ten-Time Convicted Felon Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Illegally Possessing Stolen FirearmsRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL – A Mobile man was sentenced to 33 months in prison for illegally possessing stolen firearms as a ten-time convicted felon.
According to court documents, David Vincent Primm, 28, admitted to illegally possessing two firearms that had been reported stolen during vehicle burglaries. On March 1, 2025, police responded to a call of a vehicle break-in and theft in a residential neighborhood of Mobile. The victim had a Sig Sauer and a Glock pistol stolen from a vehicle parked in his backyard. Later that same day, a second victim who lived down the street from the first victim called police and reported that an intruder had burglarized her vehicle and stolen her debit card and driver’s license. Days later, the second victim notified police that someone had incurred more than $700 in fraudulent charges on her stolen debit card at a Walmart, a hair salon, and a smoke shop. Surveillance videos from those locations depicted Primm using the victim’s stolen debit card.
On March 10, 2025, police executed a search warrant to locate and arrest Primm at an apartment complex in Mobile. Officers found Primm hiding inside a bedroom closet piling clothing on top of himself. Primm briefly tried to run away from officers, who detained him and seized his cell phone to obtain a warrant to search its contents. Primm admitted to police that he had used the second victim’s stolen debit card. He further admitted that an individual had given him the first victim’s stolen Sig Sauer and Glock pistols to sell to another person. Primm said he received $250 for the stolen guns and kept $50 of the illicit proceeds as his “cut.”
Officers searched Primm’s phone, which contained pictures of the first victim’s stolen Sig Sauer and Glock pistols with the serial numbers visible. Primm admitted that he took the photos of the guns as part of his effort to sell them. At the time Primm illegally possessed the stolen guns, he admitted he knew he had ten prior felony convictions, including six convictions for breaking and entering vehicles and four convictions for credit card fraud. Under federal law, Primm’s felony convictions rendered his possession of any firearms unlawful.
In addition to the 33-month prison sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock ordered Primm to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison, during which time he will be subject to drug testing and will receive mental health evaluation and treatment. The court did not impose a fine, but Chief Judge Beaverstock ordered Primm to pay $100 in special assessments.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Mobile Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
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.
Statement from the Civil Division on U.S. District Court Ruling in Rhode IslandRead the Press Release
The Civil Division issued the following statement on a recent ruling in the District of Rhode Island:
“Department of Justice attorneys are properly held to the highest standards of ethical conduct. In a May 13, 2026 order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island accused Civil Division attorneys of misrepresenting or withholding information in litigation concerning certain administrative subpoenas.
“Such accusations against Department attorneys are rare and serious. The Department treats them accordingly and is committed to taking all appropriate remedial action where warranted.
“The Civil Division has thoroughly reviewed the District Court’s allegations and concluded that they are without merit. Our attorneys did not misrepresent facts, withhold relevant information, or otherwise mislead the Court. The Department stands behind its attorneys without reservation and has appealed the District Court’s erroneous order.”
South Bend Man Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Controlled Substance OffenseRead the Press Release
SOUTH BEND – Steven Briones, 37 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred.
Briones was sentenced to 32 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.
“Investigators intercepted two postal packages containing thousands of pressed methamphetamine pills and obtained a search warrant for Briones’ house after they watched another person go into his house carrying the two packages. While executing the search warrant, investigators found a Ziploc bag that contained about 64 grams of orange pressed methamphetamine pills packed away in Briones’ living room chest. Thanks to the combined efforts of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the South Bend Police Department, the Mishawaka Police Department, and the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office led by Ken Cotter and AUSA Lydia Lucius, the poison was intercepted, and the Defendant is going to prison,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the South Bend Police Department, the Mishawaka Police Department, and the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lydia T. Lucius.
Shreveport Resident Pleads Guilty to Failure to Register as Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Robert Thomas Richardson, age 43, of Shreveport, Louisiana, entered a guilty plea to one count of Failure to Register as Sex Offender, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The Indictment alleged that Richardson was convicted of Rape by Instrumentation, in Rogers County on September 30, 2004, and Rape in the Second Degree, in Rogers County on December 21, 2010, and was required to register as a sex offender, and that from September 18, 2024, until January 17, 2026, Richardson failed to register and update his registration despite traveling in interstate commerce and entering, leaving, or residing in Indian country, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The charge arose from an investigation by the United States Marshals Service.
The Honorable D. Edward Snow, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
A U.S. District Court Judge will determine the sentence to be imposed after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Richardson will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Muzljakovich represented the United States.
Scam Center Strike Force Announces Results of U.S. & Private Industry “Disruption Week”Read the Press Release
The Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, today announced the results of a first-of-its-kind event combining the focus of government entities and private industries to tackle cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency fraud targeting Americans.
During “Disruption Week,” the private sector took voluntary action to interrupt millions of social media, email, and internet access accounts used by transnational organized crime actors in Southeast Asia that were being used to defraud Americans, and the government shared information which enabled private sector actors to voluntarily freeze over $3.8 million in cryptocurrency involved in laundering of funds stolen from Americans.
“Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “We will not allow transnational scammers or the Chinese organized crime groups behind them to use America’s internet infrastructure against us or let U.S. companies stand idly by. I formed the Scam Center Strike Force with a goal of bringing private industry into the fight against this threat. When the public demands accountability, corporations respond. Disruption Week shows what is possible when governments and private industry focus their efforts in tandem: millions of scam accounts interrupted, and criminal networks pushed of the U.S. internet platforms on which they rely. This week’s results show our commitment to disrupting these schemes and protecting the American public.”
“America is facing an unprecedented threat from industrial-scale, foreign organizations looking to prey on our citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “And unprecedented problems call for novel, bold solutions. As Disruption Week demonstrates, the Department’s Criminal Division will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Attorney Pirro and her office, U.S. and foreign law enforcement, and any private sector firms that commit to joining the battle to save American resources from flowing to criminal groups abroad.”
“The FBI is going to leverage everything at its disposal to impose cost on criminals stealing from the American people through fraudulent investment schemes that have caused immense harm across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “One of the best tools we have in combatting these illicit actors is our partnerships and they are only getting stronger. We’re preventing further victimization by working with other agencies, our foreign law enforcement counterparts, and the private sector who have all taken part in this Disruption Week.”
The Department’s Scam Center Strike Force convened in-person meetings in Washington from May 18 to May 21 with foreign government officials and private industry representatives. Federal investigators from the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) provided information to private sector representatives on specific targets in Southeast Asia, in order to help industry identify infrastructure used to defraud Americans through cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Based on the data shared, as well as their own information, and in collaboration with each other, private sector participants voluntarily identified and disrupted scam actors operating on their networks who were violating the provider’s terms of service. Private sector participants included officials from Apple, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Silent Push, SpaceX, TRM Labs, and Zenlayer. Foreign law enforcement counterparts from the Australian Federal Police, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, New Zealand Police, the Royal Thai Police, and U.K. National Crime Agency also joined Disruption Week. Meta played a key role in coordinating the event and encouraging broad private sector participation to maximize scam compound disruption.
The Scam Center Strike Force’s convening of these participants shows the magnitude of disruptions that can occur when there is a common focus on a specific threat and through information shared, including:
- Disruptions of criminal activity across more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts;
- Interruptions of malicious IP address traffic and of network connections hosted by scammers;
- Decommissioning of servers, colocation environments, and hosting infrastructure linked to scam networks operating across Southeast Asia;
- Identification of multiple scammers and scam platforms, and referrals of the same to U.S. authorities for investigation and possible prosecution; and
- Arrests of seven scammers in Thailand and the opening of new cases by the Royal Thai Police Anti Cyber Scam Center.
The governments and private industry also voluntarily exchanged information about how transnational organized crime operates within U.S. infrastrucure, and developed relationships to enable future disruptions of scams occurring on U.S. networks.
“Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “We will not allow transnational scammers or the Chinese organized crime groups behind them to use America’s internet infrastructure against us or let U.S. companies stand idly by. I formed the Scam Center Strike Force with a goal of bringing private industry into the fight against this threat. When the public demands accountability, corporations respond. Disruption Week shows what is possible when governments and private industry focus their efforts in tandem: millions of scam accounts interrupted, and criminal networks pushed of the U.S. internet platforms on which they rely. This week’s results show our commitment to disrupting these schemes and protecting the American public.”
“America is facing an unprecedented threat from industrial-scale, foreign organizations looking to prey on our citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “And unprecedented problems call for novel, bold solutions. As Disruption Week demonstrates, the Department’s Criminal Division will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Attorney Pirro and her office, U.S. and foreign law enforcement, and any private sector firms that commit to joining the battle to save American resources from flowing to criminal groups abroad.”
“The FBI is going to leverage everything at its disposal to impose cost on criminals stealing from the American people through fraudulent investment schemes that have caused immense harm across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “One of the best tools we have in combatting these illicit actors is our partnerships and they are only getting stronger. We’re preventing further victimization by working with other agencies, our foreign law enforcement counterparts, and the private sector who have all taken part in this Disruption Week.”
Cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud (referred to by the scammers as “pig butchering”) is among the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of fraud targeting Americans. In these schemes, victims are cultivated over time and deceived into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms that appear to show substantial returns. In reality, all victim funds flow directly to the scammers. The scam continues until the victim runs out of money or discovers the fraud, at which point the scammers cease contact.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investment scams became the most commonly reported crime type in 2023, with cryptocurrency investment fraud comprising 83 percent of that category. Reported losses from these scams rose from $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024. Reported losses rose 24 percent in 2025 to over $7.2 billion, according to IC3’s newly released 2025 annual report. Those figures, based largely on victim reports, are believed to significantly underrepresent actual losses, as many victims do not report to law enforcement. According to one government report, a conservative estimate of the annual value of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide approached $64 billion as of the end of 2023.
Many of these schemes are run out of industrial-scale compounds in Cambodia, Laos, and in Burma along the border with Thailand. Criminal syndicates often lure workers to Thailand with promises of high-paying technical jobs, then seize their identification documents and traffic them to work in scam compounds. Within the compounds, trafficked workers are frequently forced to conduct fraud operations against victims in the United States and elsewhere under threat of violence. Public reporting on these compounds has documented beatings, electrocutions, and murder.
The Strike Force has taken a number of actions against Southeast Asian Scam Centers, including, among other things, filing criminal complaints against individuals who participated in cryptocurrency investment fraud operations in Burma, seizing cryptocurrency and other infrastructure used to fund and facilitate scam operations, and working with other federal agencies taking action against Scam Center organizations.
Although the Strike Force and other government personnel have exchanged information with private industry in the past in an effort to disrupt cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, never before have so many private firms convened for an event dedicated to protecting Americans through voluntarily sharing of information and voluntary action by the private sector.
**********************************************
About the Scam Center Strike Force
The Scam Center Strike Force was officially launched by U.S. Attorney Pirro in November 2025 to address the growing threat posed by Chinese organized crime syndicates operating scam centers primarily in Southeast Asia. The Strike Force targets cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering operations that have cost American victims billions of dollars.
On March 6, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the executive order, President Trump is unleashing every available tool to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud. The Scam Center Strike Force is a critical node in executing the mission outlined in the President’s order.
The Strike Force’s founding partners are the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service, which have now been joined by U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, and HSI-DC, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Alaska, Rhode Island, and Western Washington. The Strike Force works in collaboration with other agencies, including the Treasury and State Departments. The Strike Force works in strategic partnership with private industry and calls on all U.S. businesses to take more proactive steps to protect users from scam operations.
The Scam Center Strike Force will use every tool available to help secure Main Street Americans from these scams. With its interagency and public partners, it will educate Americans on how to identify these scams, prevent generational wealth from flowing from America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime, and work with unwavering focus to return stolen funds to victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert for the District of Columbia directs the Strike Force, in consultation with Associate Counsel Richard Goldberg of the Department’s Criminal Division.
Scam Center Strike Force Announces Results of U.S. & Private Industry ‘Disruption Week’Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, today announced the results of a first-of-its-kind event combining the focus of government entities and private industries to tackle cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency fraud targeting Americans.
During “Disruption Week,” the private sector took voluntary action to interrupt millions of social media, email, and internet access accounts used by transnational organized crime actors in Southeast Asia that were being used to defraud Americans, and the government shared information which enabled private sector actors to voluntarily freeze over $3.8 million in cryptocurrency involved in laundering of funds stolen from Americans.
The Department’s Scam Center Strike Force convened in-person meetings in Washington from May 18 to May 21 with foreign government officials and private industry representatives. Federal investigators from the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) provided information to private sector representatives on specific targets in Southeast Asia, in order to help industry identify infrastructure used to defraud Americans through cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes.
Based on the data shared, as well as their own information, and as in collaboration with each other, private sector participants voluntarily identified and disrupted scam actors operating on their networks who were violating the provider’s terms of service. Private sector participants included officials from Apple, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Silent Push, SpaceX, TRM Labs, and Zenlayer. Foreign law enforcement counterparts from the Australian Federal Police, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, New Zealand Police, the Royal Thai Police, and U.K. National Crime Agency also joined Disruption Week. Meta played a key role in coordinating the event and encouraging broad private sector participation to maximize scam compound disruption.
The Scam Center Strike Force’s convening of these participants shows the magnitude of disruptions that can occur when there is a common focus on a specific threat and through information shared, including:
- Disruptions of criminal activity across more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts;
- Interruptions of malicious IP address traffic and of network connections hosted by scammers;
- Decommissioning of servers, colocation environments, and hosting infrastructure linked to scam networks operating across Southeast Asia;
- Identification of multiple scammers and scam platforms, and referrals of the same to U.S. authorities for investigation and possible prosecution; and
- Arrests of seven scammers in Thailand and the opening of new cases by the Royal Thai Police Anti Cyber Scam Center.
The governments and private industry also voluntarily exchanged information about how transnational organized crime operates within U.S. infrastrucure, and developed relationships to enable future disruptions of scams occurring on U.S. networks.
“Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “We will not allow transnational scammers or the Chinese organized crime groups behind them to use America’s internet infrastructure against us or let U.S. companies stand idly by. I formed the Scam Center Strike Force with a goal of bringing private industry into the fight against this threat. When the public demands accountability, corporations respond. Disruption Week shows what is possible when governments and private industry focus their efforts in tandem: millions of scam accounts interrupted, and criminal networks pushed off the U.S. internet platforms on which they rely. This week’s results show our commitment to disrupting these schemes and protecting the American public.”
“America is facing an unprecedented threat from industrial-scale, foreign organizations looking to prey on our citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “And unprecedented problems call for novel, bold solutions. As Disruption Week demonstrates, the Department’s Criminal Division will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Attorney Pirro and her office, U.S. and foreign law enforcement, and any private sector firms that commit to joining the battle to save American resources from flowing to criminal groups abroad.”
“The FBI is going to leverage everything at its disposal to impose cost on criminals stealing from the American people through fraudulent investment schemes that have caused immense harm across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “One of the best tools we have in combating these illicit actors is our partnerships and they are only getting stronger. We’re preventing further victimization by working with other agencies, our foreign law enforcement counterparts, and the private sector who have all taken part in this Disruption Week.”
Cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud (referred to by the scammers as “pig butchering”) is among the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of fraud targeting Americans. In these schemes, victims are cultivated over time and deceived into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms that appear to show substantial returns. In reality, all victim funds flow directly to the scammers. The scam continues until the victim runs out of money or discovers the fraud, at which point the scammers cease contact.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investment scams became the most commonly reported crime type in 2023, with cryptocurrency investment fraud comprising 83 percent of that category. Reported losses from these scams rose from $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024. Reported losses rose 24 percent in 2025 to over $7.2 billion, according to IC3’s newly released 2025 annual report. Those figures, based largely on victim reports, are believed to significantly underrepresent actual losses, as many victims do not report to law enforcement. According to one government report, a conservative estimate of the annual value of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide approached $64 billion as of the end of 2023.
Many of these schemes are run out of industrial-scale compounds in Cambodia, Laos and in Burma along the border with Thailand. Criminal syndicates often lure workers to Thailand with promises of high-paying technical jobs, then seize their identification documents and traffic them to work in scam compounds. Within the compounds, trafficked workers are frequently forced to conduct fraud operations against victims in the United States and elsewhere under threat of violence. Public reporting on these compounds has documented beatings, electrocutions, and murder.
The Strike Force has taken a number of actions against Southeast Asian Scam Centers, including, among other things, filing criminal complaints against individuals who participated in cryptocurrency investment fraud operations in Burma, seizing cryptocurrency and other infrastructure used to fund and facilitate scam operations, and working with other federal agencies taking action against Scam Center organizations.
Although the Strike Force and other government personnel have exchanged information with private industry in the past in an effort to disrupt cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, never before have so many private firms convened for an event dedicated to protecting Americans through voluntarily sharing of information and voluntary action by the private sector.
**********************************************
About the Scam Center Strike Force
The Scam Center Strike Force was officially launched by U.S. Attorney Pirro in November 2025 to address the growing threat posed by Chinese organized crime syndicates operating scam centers primarily in Southeast Asia. The Strike Force targets cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering operations that have cost American victims billions of dollars.
On March 6, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the Executive Order, President Trump is unleashing every available tool to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud. The Scam Center Strike Force is a critical node in executing the mission outlined in the President’s Order.
The Strike Force’s founding partners are the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service, who have now been joined by U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the IRS Criminal Investigation, and HSI-DC, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Alaska, Rhode Island, and Western Washington. The Strike Force works in collaboration with other agencies, including the Treasury and State Departments. The Strike Force works in strategic partnership with private industry and calls on all U.S. businesses to take more proactive steps to protect users from scam operations.
The Scam Center Strike Force will use every tool available to help secure Main Street Americans from these scams. With its interagency and public partners, it will educate Americans on how to identify these scams, prevent generational wealth from flowing from America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime, and work with unwavering focus to return stolen funds to victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert for the District of Columbia directs the Strike Force, in consultation with Associate Counsel Richard Goldberg of the Department’s Criminal Division.
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###
Ringleader Sentenced to 122 Months in Prison in Connection with $63 Million Mail Theft Conspiracy That Included Two Postal EmployeesRead the Press Release
DETROIT – The ringleader of a $63 million scheme that involved stealing checks from the mail and selling them online was sentenced to just over 10 years in prison yesterday, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced today.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by U.S. Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Hull; Detroit Division Inspector in Charge Felicia B. George, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd, Detroit Field Office, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Mid-Atlantic Field Division; and Anthony P. D'Esposito, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor.
Jaiswan Williams (32, of Rochester Hills) was the last of four defendants to be sentenced. Co-defendant Daquan Foreman (32, of Eastpointe), Vanessa Hargrove (40, of Detroit), and Crystal Jenkins (32, of Detroit), were all previously sentenced, as follows:
- Foreman: 48 months in custody;
- Hargrove: 12 months and 1 day in custody;
- Jenkins: 1 day in custody, followed by 3 years’ supervised release.
All four defendants, including Williams were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy.
Hargrove and Jenkins were United States Postal Service employees who diverted and ultimately stole checks and other negotiable instruments from the mail, including a high volume of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury. Williams and Foreman were the administrators of the online marketplaces used to sell the checks.
According to court records, postal employees Hargrove and Jenkins would provide the stolen checks to Williams and Foreman in exchange for payments. Williams and Foreman would take those checks and market them for sale via Telegram Messenger, a cloud-based, cross-platform instant messaging application. Prices varied based on the face-value of the checks. One of the Telegram channels, named “Whole Foods Slipsss,” was used to advertise high-dollar checks, while another channel, named “Uber Eats Slips,” was used to advertise lower-dollar checks. “Slips” is a term commonly used in these schemes to refer to stolen checks. Transactions were completed off-platform using a variety of electronic payment systems. Purchasers of these checks would then attempt to fraudulently cash them using a variety of methods. The investigation revealed that the two Telegram channels marketed more than 10,000 individual checks for sale, with a combined face value of more than $63M.
Williams’s sentence also reflected a conviction for money laundering activities dating back to October 2022. In addition, he accepted responsibility for $1.5M in fraudulent pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims he submitted between August and December 2020, using the personally identifiable information (PII) of dozens of individuals.
“The sentencings in this investigation represent the hard work and dedication by USPS OIG Special Agents working alongside our federal law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring charges in this mail theft investigation.” said Tammy Hull, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service, “The OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, remain committed to safeguarding the U.S. Mail and ensuring the accountability and integrity of Postal Service employees and those external subjects who collude with them.”
"The sentencings in this case underscore the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's dedication to safeguarding the nation's mail system and holding to account those who seek to exploit it and, by extension, the American public," said Detroit Division Inspector in Charge Felicia B. George. "Let this be a warning: if you abuse the U.S. Postal Service and victimize the citizens who rely upon it, we will utilize every avenue and tool at our disposal to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
“The stealing of checks is not a victimless crime. The stolen checks belonged to citizens, to help them make payments for vital services or help through a tough time,” said Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd, Detroit Field Office, IRS‑CI. “With today’s sentencing, all of those responsible are now held to account for exploiting the public and undermining trust in critical government systems. We are committed, along with our law enforcement partners, to using our unique expertise to track intricate financial systems, find criminals, and hold them accountable for the crimes committed.”
“The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) aggressively investigates individuals who attempt to exploit U.S Treasury refund checks meant for hard working taxpayers for their own private gain,” said TIGTA Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay . “TIGTA's mission is to protect the integrity of our nation's tax administration system. We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who violate federal laws are prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.”
“Jaiswan Williams exploited his platform as a rapper, using his celebrity status to rip off American taxpayers. These criminal acts will not be tolerated. We remain relentless in this war on fraud and will ensure every fraudster that attempts to undermine the American people receives their prison sentence. I want to thank the United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners that support this critical mission,” said Anthony P. D'Esposito, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor.
This multi-agency investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (USPS-OIG), with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI); the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA); and the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General (DOL-OIG). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Particka.
Repeat Child Sex Offender from Colorado Sentenced to 150 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
ST. GEORGE, Utah – A child sex predator from Colorado was sentenced today in Southern Utah to 150 months’ imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release after he travelled from Colorado to Utah to have sex with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, when in fact he was communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer.
The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen, comes after Cody Williams, 31, of Grand Junction, Colorado, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2026, to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
According to court documents and statements made at Williams’s sentencing and change of plea hearings, for over a month, Williams exchanged dozens of sexual messages with whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl. In reality, Williams was communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer. Williams told the undercover officer, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl, that he would teach her about various sexual acts and sent her links to sexually explicit videos to teach her. Williams also repeatedly asked for sexually explicit photos of the “13-year-old” girl in return. Working in an undercover capacity, the officer and Williams made plans to meet to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Ahead of meeting, law enforcement followed Williams from his home in Colorado to the planned meeting place in Utah and arrested him. Officers executed a search warrant for Williams’s cell phone and found the text message thread between Williams and the undercover officer posing as the teenage girl. Williams has a history of sex offenses against minors. In 2021, he was convicted in Colorado State Court of unlawful sexual contact after committing a sexual assault against a 14-year-old child.
“Communities are safer with predators like Williams behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. “Williams is a repeat and dangerous sex offender, and my office has zero tolerance for people who threaten the safety of our most vulnerable population and repeatedly break the law.”
“This sentence illustrates HSI’s strong commitment to protect our children from predators like Williams who attempt to exploit children,” said HSI Rocky Mountain Region SAC Steven Cagen. “The teamwork of HSI working with Grand County Sheriff’s Office and the U. S. Attorney’s Office ensures this predator is behind bars and we hope this brings some closure to the victim.”
The case was investigated jointly by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Burton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
Rapid City Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Child Solicitation and Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet and Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on June 1, 2026.
On each charge, Brockton Dominquez, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $100 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Each sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the other for a total of 20 years. Dominquez was also ordered to pay restitution of $10,000 to a victim of his child pornography offense.
Dominquez was indicted for the charges by a federal grand jury in August 2024 and February 2026. He pleaded guilty on February 17, 2026.
On July 12, 2024, Dominquez used his Facebook account to begin an online conversation with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was, unbeknownst to Dominquez, an undercover police officer. On August 2, 2024, Dominquez reinitiated conversation with the girl and made arrangements to meet with who he believed would be the 14-year-old girl at West Middle School in Rapid City. Dominquez arrived only to find police officers on scene to arrest him.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by 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 the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.
Dominquez was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Pensacola Felon Indicted for Gun & Drug PossessionRead the Press Release
Pensacola, Florida – Joseph Jerome Reynolds, Jr., 31, has been indicted in federal court for one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the charges.
Reynolds, Jr. appeared in federal court for his arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Zachary C. Bolitho in Pensacola, Florida. Jury trial is scheduled for July 6, 2026, in Pensacola, Florida before United States District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers.
Reynolds, Jr. faces a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment if convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and up to three years’ imprisonment for each count of possession of a controlled substance.
The case is being jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica S. Etherton.
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.
Passenger Charged After Allegedly Attempting to Open Aircraft Doors Mid-Flight and Assaulting TravelerRead the Press Release
MIAMI – A Chicago man made his initial appearance in federal court after allegedly attempting to open an emergency exit door and the flight deck door during a commercial flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Chicago, Illinois, forcing the aircraft to divert to Miami.
According to court records, Juan Gabriel Reyes, 51, of Chicago, Illinois, became disruptive during the flight and repeatedly failed to comply with instructions from flight attendants. Reyes allegedly attempted to open both an emergency exit door and the flight deck door while the aircraft was in flight. He then allegedly assaulted another passenger before passengers and crew members restrained him. The aircraft was diverted to Miami, where Reyes was arrested.
Reyes is charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the interference charge and up to one year in prison on the assault charge.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
FBI Miami is investigating the case, with assistance from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Olinghouse is prosecuting the case.
A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.sdfl.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-mj-02992.
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Owners of Nationwide Nail Salon Business Plead Guilty to Tax CrimesRead the Press Release
A Texas man and woman pleaded guilty on Monday to operating a significant under-the-table cash payroll at their nationwide nail salon business.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Vinh Q. Ho, 53, and Thanh Lan Do, 34, owned and managed a business comprised of over 60 high-end nail salons across the United States, doing business as the Anthony Vince Nail Salons, Prive Nail Spas, and Zen Nail & Spas. Ho was the de-facto CEO and Do oversaw management of the salons.
The salons employed nail technicians, a significant portion of whose compensation was paid in cash. At the end of each year, the business prepared tax forms reporting each nail technician’s compensation. To help the technicians conceal that income and evade taxes, these forms did not include the cash compensation. Ho and Do trained salon managers to operate the under-the-table cash payroll. They also prepared false Forms 1099 and instructed employees to keep the true payroll hidden.
Ho also underreported income on his 2020 and 2021 individual income tax returns.
As part of his plea agreement, Do agreed that between 2016 and 2024, the nail salons paid over $116 million in cash compensation that was not reported to the IRS, which caused an estimated actual tax loss of at least $32 million.
Ho and Do both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and Ho also pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. They are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. Ho faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Do faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for the Southern District of Ohio made the announcement.
New Orleans Woman Charged for $1.3 Million COVID Fraud and Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
The alleged total loss to the Small Business Administration for the fraudulent loans is $447,305.98.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced a two-count bill of information, charging AMANDA CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS (“CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS”), age 44, with wire fraud and tax evasion.
Count One charged CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS with wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. Count Two charged CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS with tax evasion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 7201.
According to the bill of information, between April 2020 and January 2021, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS submitted twelve false and misleading applications for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program, seeking approximately $1.3 million. It is alleged that, as a result of these applications, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS received approximately $447,305.98 through fraud. CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS then used the PPP and EIDL funds for personal and unauthorized expenses, including for a mortgage payment on her personal residence. In addition, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS attempted to evade paying income tax by filing a false form with the IRS in November of 2022, which substantially understated her monthly income and assets.
If convicted of Count One, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS faces up to twenty (20) years of imprisonment. If convicted of Count Two, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS faces up to five (5) years of imprisonment. Each count also carries a term of supervised release for up to three (3) years and a fine of up to $250,000. A mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count is also applicable.
For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle reiterated that a bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service on this investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Maria M. Carboni of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Neopit Man Indicted for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury on Menominee Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 27, 2026, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Damien J. Peters (age 39) from Neopit, Wisconsin, for aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 113(a)(6) and 1153(a).
According to the indictment, on or about April 21, 2026, while at a location on the Menominee Indian Reservation, Peters struck another person in the head, causing pain, swelling, and a concussion. If convicted, Peters faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
The Menominee Tribal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Maier.
An indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Mother and daughter guilty of human smugglingRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A federal jury has convicted two family members from the Rio Grande Valley of transporting an illegal alien, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
The jury deliberated for two hours before returning guilty verdicts against Enedelia Garcia, 55, Weslaco, and Ashley Garcia, 37, Brownsville, following a two-day trial.
On the evening of July 22, 2025, Enedelia Garcia drove to the Border Patrol checkpoint near Kingsville with her daughter in the backseat and another passenger in the front seat. During an immigration inspection, law enforcement noticed nervous behavior from that passenger who was also unable to produce identification.
Authorities determined he was an illegal alien with no authorization to be in the country.
At trial, he testified he was smuggled into the United States and was expecting the pair to take him to Houston. The jury also heard that Ashley Garcia was texting a friend at the time of the smuggling event and said “not to ask” about her trip to Houston.
The defense attempted to convince the jury that they were deceived into believing the illegal alien was a U.S citizen. They did not believe those claims and found them both guilty as charged.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos presided over the trial and set sentencing for Sept. 1, at which time the mother and daughter both face up to 10 years in federal prison.
Border Patrol conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lamont 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.
Mishawaka Man Sentenced to 6 Months in Prison for Unlicensed Dealing in FirearmsRead the Press Release
SOUTH BEND – James Hanback, 61 years old, of Mishawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to unlicensed dealing in firearms, announced United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred.
Hanback was sentenced to 6 months in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release with the first 6 months to be served on home detention.
“As part of Operation Take Back America, agents of the BATFE traced numerous firearms that were involved in crimes to unlicensed gun dealer James Hanback. The Defendant purchased about 204 firearms from licensed dealers between January 2021 and the summer of 2025, and he listed about 165 firearms for sale on the internet, though he himself was not a federally licensed firearms dealer. He also made numerous cash deposits totaling more than $98,000 into his bank account. Investigators executed a search warrant at Hanback’s home after he sold two firearms to an undercover officer, and they recovered 10 more firearms and other documents relating to firearms transactions,” U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred said.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joel Gabrielse.
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.
Member of an International Money Laundering Organization Pleads Guilty to Laundering Millions of Dollars in Drug ProceedsRead the Press Release
A Georgia man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking.
According to court documents and proceedings, since at least 2021, Puquan Huang, 50, a Chinese national residing in Buford, Georgia, was a member of an international money laundering organization that engaged in a sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme.
Huang and his co-conspirators routinely traveled throughout the United States, including South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, to collect bulk cash generated from the sale of drugs in the United States, including fentanyl and cocaine, from drug traffickers and distributors. Due to the illicit nature of the transactions, Huang and his co-conspirators confirmed their authorization to collect drug cash not by using their names or personal details, but by presenting verification codes, which were oftentimes unique serial numbers taken from U.S. currency notes. To avoid detection by law enforcement, Huang and his co-conspirators met with drug trafficking representatives at odd hours in atypical locations, such as gas stations and parking lots, for very short periods, and refrained from using traditional banking systems, such as wire transfers. Pickups of drug cash were typically coordinated by and occurred at the direction of co-conspirators.
Using aliases, Huang and his co-conspirators primarily communicated on encrypted platforms, such as WeChat, with co-conspirators located in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, and other foreign countries to arrange for the laundering of the drug proceeds by purchasing bulk electronics in the United States and exporting them to co-conspirators in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
Huang conspired to launder several millions of dollars of drug proceeds, with money pickups and exchanges typically ranging between approximately $80,000 and $200,000. As part of the conspiracy, law enforcement stopped Huang transporting approximately $272,000 in drug proceeds in North Carolina.
Huang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Bryan P. Stirling for the District of South Carolina, and Administrator Terrance C. “Terry” Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made the announcement.
The DEA’s Charleston, South Carolina Resident Office and Atlanta, Georgia Division Office, Homeland Security Task Force/959 Group is investigating the case with assistance from the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit; DEA’s Office of Special Intelligence, Document and Media Exploitation Unit; DEA’s office in Columbia, South Carolina; the FBI’s offices in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; the U.S. Air Force, Office of Special Investigations; and state and local law enforcement in South Carolina and North Carolina.
Trial Attorneys Jasmin Salehi Fashami and Stephanie Williamson of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett E. McMillian for the District of South Carolina are prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.
Member of Multi-State Fentanyl Trafficking Ring Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – A Wheeling, West Virginia man, who was selling blue fentanyl pills in the Ohio Valley, was sentenced today, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.
Matthew Clemont, 33, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Clemont worked with others in a drug trafficking operation in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Clemont was one of 13 distributors in the drug trafficking operation that spanned from Las Vegas, Nevada, to the Ohio Valley.
“Clemont was one of several individuals who worked together to distribute deadly pills disguised as legitimate prescription medication in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Harvey. “Our message is simple: anyone who traffics fentanyl will face swift and serious consequences in the Northern District of West Virginia.”
Of the 13 defendants in the case, 9 have been convicted. Two have been sentenced, with the others pending.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Nogay prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, Marshall County Drug Task Force, and the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, all HIDTA-funded initiatives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; West Virginia State Police; Wheeling Police Department; Ohio County Sheriff’s Office; and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
Fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction due to its extreme lethality which poses a grave threat to public safety, even in trace amounts. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
Find the related press release here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-twenty-six-drug-trafficking
McLean man sentenced to over a year in prison for threating to kill a public officialRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A McLean man was sentenced today to a year and three months in prison for transmitting threats in interstate commerce.
According to court documents, on Dec. 23, 2025, Scott Allen Bolger, 33, used Google Voice, which allows users to send text messages to others while obfuscating their phone numbers, to send a threatening message to a public official. In his message, Bolger threatened to put a bullet in the official’s head. Prior to sending the threat, Bogler researched the official’s personal phone number and made contact with him prior to sending the text message.
When federal investigators arrived at Bolger’s residence to investigate the threat, they identified themselves as federal law enforcement officers, and Bolger falsely identified himself as Brian Black. Bolger told them he did not know anyone by the name of Scott Bolger.
During his plea, Bolger also admitted to sending threatening and harassing messages to a second victim (Victim-2) who is not a public official. From at least October 2022, Bolger created multiple fictious accounts on X and Proton Mail to harass Victim-2, and researched Victim-2 on the internet through at least November 2025. Bolger sent Victim-2 private indecent images of Victim-2, and on at least one occasion, made a public facing profile with indecent images of Victim-2.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Washington Field Office investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Mercer and Russell L. Carlberg prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:26-cr-8.
Matrix, HealthFair, and HealthFair founder agree to pay $56.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegationsRead the Press Release
SHERMAN, Texas – Community Care Health Network LLC, doing business as Matrix Medical Network (Matrix), DPN USA, doing business as HealthFair (HealthFair), and Shahriah “James” Ekbatani have agreed to pay a total of $56.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by causing the submission of false or invalid diagnosis codes to the Medicare Advantage program. Matrix will pay $36.5 million to resolve claims in a qui tam action filed in the Southern District of New York. HealthFair, which was acquired by Matrix, will pay $5 million and Ekbatani will pay $15 million to resolve claims in a qui tam action filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
“When healthcare companies report risk-adjusting diagnoses that are invalid, they siphon money from the Medicare Advantage program,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department remains vigilant in pursuing MAOs, downstream entities, and responsible individuals who do not play by the rules.”
“Patients should be able to trust that their medical providers are making, documenting, and sending diagnosis information to insurers based on accurate assessment, testing, and what is best for the patient,” said U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs of the Eastern District of Texas. “It is a breach of trust when providers look to make more money by making their patients appear sicker than they are. Submitting unsubstantiated diagnoses increases costs to the Medicare Advantage program. This case emphasizes our District’s commitment to justice by pursuing anyone who attempts to steal through misrepresentations.”
“The allegations in these matters describe conduct that puts profit ahead of patients and undermines the integrity of the Medicare Advantage program,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will not tolerate efforts to divert taxpayer funded health care dollars for personal or corporate gain. We will continue to pursue every available enforcement avenue with our law enforcement partners to ensure that anyone who endangers federal program integrity is met with swift and robust accountability.”
The Medicare Advantage (MA) program, also known as Medicare Part C, allows Medicare beneficiaries to opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in health plans that are administered by private insurance companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). The MAOs contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide traditional Medicare coverage to beneficiaries enrolled in their plans in exchange for capitated payments. CMS adjusts these capitated payments based on the health status of each beneficiary as determined through diagnoses submitted by the MAOs. In general, CMS pays more for sicker beneficiaries likely to incur higher healthcare expenses and less for healthier beneficiaries. Diagnosis codes submitted to CMS must be supported by the beneficiaries’ medical records and be accurate, complete, and truthful, based on the best knowledge, information, and belief of the MAO making the submission.
Matrix, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is a health services company that contracts with MAOs to provide in-home assessments to MA plan beneficiaries. HealthFair, a company founded and managed by Ekbatani, operated mobile health care buses staffed by nurse practitioners and medical technicians and fitted with certain medical equipment. It contracted with MAOs in several states to provide health assessments to MA plan beneficiaries on HealthFair buses. Matrix acquired HealthFair in 2018 and shut down its operations by 2020.
The United States alleges that during the period from 2014 to 2019, Matrix knowingly caused MAOs to submit false and invalid diagnoses of the following chronic medical conditions to CMS for risk adjustment purposes: proliferative diabetic retinopathy, drug-induced polyneuropathy, rheumatoid polyneuropathy, atrial fibrillation, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and simple chronic bronchitis (the “Invalid Diagnoses”). Matrix reported the Invalid Diagnoses to MAOs based on its in-home assessments even though: (a) there was not sufficient information to support the diagnoses; (b) the diagnoses did not conform with the guidelines for coding and reporting diagnoses as required by CMS; and (c) the conditions were frequently not diagnosed by any other healthcare provider who saw the beneficiary during the year in which the home visit occurred or in the preceding two years or subsequent two years. As a result of the reporting of these Invalid Diagnoses, the MAOs obtained inflated risk adjustment payments from CMS to which they were not entitled.
As to HealthFair and Ekbatani, the United States contends that HealthFair knowingly reported certain diagnoses to MAOs that were unsupported, unsubstantiated, and/or invalid. Specifically, from 2015 to 2017, HealthFair providers (1) made certain diagnoses (including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, metastatic cancer, and Myasthenia Gravis) without documentation establishing or confirming the existence of the condition; (2) made certain diagnoses (including but not limited to morbid obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, coagulation defect, drug dependence, major depressive disorder, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) solely based on patient attestation, claims history, past medical history, or medication; (3) diagnosed congestive heart failure and heart arrhythmia despite contradiction by electrocardiogram and echocardiogram results; and (4) diagnosed thrombophilia solely based on separate diagnoses of atrial fibrillation. HealthFair, which acted at the direction of Ekbatani, submitted the diagnoses to its MAO customers, and the MAOs often submitted the diagnoses to CMS for risk-adjusted payments.
The settlement with Matrix resolves claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the FCA by Nancy Cahill, a former employee of Matrix, in United States ex rel. Cahill v. Matrix, No. 19-CV-11153 (S.D.N.Y.). The settlements with HealthFair and Ekbatani resolve claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the FCA by Robert Oristaglio, Jr., D.O., who was the chief medical officer of HealthFair, in United States ex rel. Oristaglio v. Community Care Health Network, Inc., d/b/a Matrix Medical Network et al., No. 4:22-CV-00133-SDJ (E.D. Tex.). Under the FCA, private parties are permitted to sue on behalf of the government for false claims for government funds and to receive a share of the recovery. The settlements in these cases provide for Cahill to receive $7.3 million and Oristaglio to receive $3.6 million.
This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of coordinated efforts between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Texas and Southern District of New York, with assistance from HHS-OIG.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the FCA. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/ or 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The matters were handled by Trial Attorney Samson Asiyanbi of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachael Doud and Ilan Stein of the Southern District of New York, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McClendon of the Eastern District of Texas.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Note: The settlement agreement with Matrix Medical Network can be read here, the settlement with HealthFair can be read here, and the settlement with Shahriah Ekbatani can be read here.
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Matrix, HealthFair, and HealthFair Founder Agree to Pay $56.5M to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
Community Care Health Network LLC, doing business as Matrix Medical Network (Matrix), DPN USA, doing business as HealthFair (HealthFair), and Shahriah “James” Ekbatani have agreed to pay a total of $56.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by causing the submission of false or invalid diagnosis codes to the Medicare Advantage program. Matrix will pay $36.5 million to resolve claims in a qui tam action filed in the Southern District of New York. HealthFair, which was acquired by Matrix, will pay $5 million and Ekbatani will pay $15 million to resolve claims in a qui tam action filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
“When healthcare companies report risk-adjusting diagnoses that are invalid, they siphon money from the Medicare Advantage program,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department remains vigilant in pursuing MAOs, downstream entities, and responsible individuals who do not play by the rules.”
“Patients should be able to trust that their medical providers are making, documenting, and sending diagnosis information to insurers based on accurate assessment, testing, and what is best for the patient,” said U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs of the Eastern District of Texas. “It is a breach of trust when providers look to make more money by making their patients appear sicker than they are. Submitting unsubstantiated diagnoses increases costs to the Medicare Advantage program. This case emphasizes our District’s commitment to justice by pursuing anyone who attempts to steal through misrepresentations.”
“For years, Matrix generated false and invalid diagnoses for patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans that were later reported to the Government,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “Matrix advertised its ability to identify new diagnosis codes that would boost Medicare Advantage insurers’ payments, and it delivered on that promise by reporting lucrative diagnoses that frequently fell well short of meeting recognized clinical criteria. Matrix did so to generate business for itself, at the expense of the public fisc. New Yorkers hate fraud that drains public funds. Why? Because New Yorkers are smart and they know fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs costs all New Yorkers. This Office is proud to join with the rest of the Department, including the National Fraud Enforcement Division, to hold perpetrators of fraud accountable in Medicare and other contexts.”
“The allegations in these matters describe conduct that puts profit ahead of patients and undermines the integrity of the Medicare Advantage program,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will not tolerate efforts to divert taxpayer funded health care dollars for personal or corporate gain. We will continue to pursue every available enforcement avenue with our law enforcement partners to ensure that anyone who endangers federal program integrity is met with swift and robust accountability.”
The Medicare Advantage (MA) program, also known as Medicare Part C, allows Medicare beneficiaries to opt out of traditional Medicare and enroll in health plans that are administered by private insurance companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). The MAOs contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide traditional Medicare coverage to beneficiaries enrolled in their plans in exchange for capitated payments. CMS adjusts these capitated payments based on the health status of each beneficiary as determined through diagnoses submitted by the MAOs. In general, CMS pays more for sicker beneficiaries likely to incur higher healthcare expenses and less for healthier beneficiaries. Diagnosis codes submitted to CMS must be supported by the beneficiaries’ medical records and be accurate, complete, and truthful, based on the best knowledge, information, and belief of the MAO making the submission.
Matrix, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is a health services company that contracts with MAOs to provide in-home assessments to MA plan beneficiaries. HealthFair, a company founded and managed by Ekbatani, operated mobile health care buses staffed by nurse practitioners and medical technicians and fitted with certain medical equipment. It contracted with MAOs in several states to provide health assessments to MA plan beneficiaries on HealthFair buses. Matrix acquired HealthFair in 2018 and shut down its operations by 2020.
The United States alleges that during the period from 2014 to 2019, Matrix knowingly caused MAOs to submit false and invalid diagnoses of the following chronic medical conditions to CMS for risk adjustment purposes: proliferative diabetic retinopathy, drug-induced polyneuropathy, rheumatoid polyneuropathy, atrial fibrillation, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and simple chronic bronchitis (the “Invalid Diagnoses”). Matrix reported the Invalid Diagnoses to MAOs based on its in-home assessments even though: (a) there was not sufficient information to support the diagnoses; (b) the diagnoses did not conform with the guidelines for coding and reporting diagnoses as required by CMS; and (c) the conditions were frequently not diagnosed by any other healthcare provider who saw the beneficiary during the year in which the home visit occurred or in the preceding two years or subsequent two years. As a result of the reporting of these Invalid Diagnoses, the MAOs obtained inflated risk adjustment payments from CMS to which they were not entitled.
As to HealthFair and Ekbatani, the United States contends that HealthFair knowingly reported certain diagnoses to MAOs that were unsupported, unsubstantiated, and/or invalid. Specifically, from 2015 to 2017, HealthFair providers (1) made certain diagnoses (including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, metastatic cancer, and Myasthenia Gravis) without documentation establishing or confirming the existence of the condition; (2) made certain diagnoses (including but not limited to morbid obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, coagulation defect, drug dependence, major depressive disorder, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) solely based on patient attestation, claims history, past medical history, or medication; (3) diagnosed congestive heart failure and heart arrhythmia despite contradiction by electrocardiogram and echocardiogram results; and (4) diagnosed thrombophilia solely based on separate diagnoses of atrial fibrillation. HealthFair, which acted at the direction of Ekbatani, submitted the diagnoses to its MAO customers, and the MAOs often submitted the diagnoses to CMS for risk-adjusted payments.
The settlement with Matrix resolves claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the FCA by Nancy Cahill, a former employee of Matrix, in United States ex rel. Cahill v. Matrix, No. 19-CV-11153 (S.D.N.Y.). The settlements with HealthFair and Ekbatani resolve claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the FCA by Robert Oristaglio, Jr., D.O., who was the chief medical officer of HealthFair, in United States ex rel. Oristaglio v. Community Care Health Network, Inc., d/b/a Matrix Medical Network et al., No. 4:22-CV-00133-SDJ (E.D. Tex.). Under the FCA, private parties are permitted to sue on behalf of the government for false claims for government funds and to receive a share of the recovery. The settlements in these cases provide for Cahill to receive $7.3 million and Oristaglio to receive $3.6 million.
This year the Administration launched the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division to enhance the Administration’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. When unscrupulous actors exploit these programs for their own financial gain, they defraud the government, harm the people these programs are designed to aid and protect, and undermine American businesses that play by the rules. The Civil Division’s FCA enforcement plays a critical role in combatting such fraudulent schemes, recovering billions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and holding wrongdoers accountable. FCA matters will continue to be on the forefront of the battle against fraud, and the Civil Division’s FCA work will support and advance the mission of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of coordinated efforts between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and Eastern District of Texas, with assistance from HHS-OIG.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the FCA. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/ or 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The matters were handled by Trial Attorney Samson Asiyanbi of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachael Doud and Ilan Stein of the Southern District of New York, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McClendon of the Eastern District of Texas.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Note: The settlement agreement with Matrix Medical Network can be read here, the settlement with HealthFair can be read here, and the settlement with Shahriah Ekbatani can be read here.
Marylander Pleads Guilty in D.C. to Coercion and Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Daniel Cruz Ramirez, 28, a Maryland resident, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in connection with the sustained sexual abuse of a D.C. resident starting when she was thirteen, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Cruz Ramirez pleaded guilty before Judge Trevor N. McFadden to one count of Coercion and Enticement of a Child. Judge McFadden scheduled sentencing for Nov. 12, 2026.
According to court documents, Cruz Ramirez met the victim at church services when she was twelve years old. Cruz Ramirez began texting the victim and told her that he liked her on her first day of school in the eighth grade. There were various messages exchanged between the defendant and the victim spanning April 2024 through December 2025 – including chats on WhatsApp, Instagram, and text message. The chats discussed Cruz Ramirez engaging in sexual acts with the victim and steps to avoid detection, including sneaking into the victim’s house and deleting certain messages and images.
Cruz Ramirez sexually abused the victim multiple times between 2024 and 2025, including vaginally penetrating her. On Nov. 17, 2025, Cruz Ramirez recorded a series of videos, including a 26-minute video depicting vaginal and oral penetration of the victim.
This case was investigated by FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kelley.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Maryland Woman Pleads Guilty to $1.1M Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A Maryland woman pleaded guilty yesterday to attempting to steal more than $1.1 million in government funds by filing false tax returns with the IRS.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between December 2019 and March 2020, Kendra Scarborough, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, filed three false tax returns in the names of purported trusts that she controlled. In total, these tax returns sought more than $1.1 million in refunds that the trusts were not entitled to receive. Scarborough’s scheme resulted in the IRS issuing a refund of $412,000 to one of the purported trusts. Scarborough used these funds to pay for, among other things, the mortgage on her personal residence.
Scarborough pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Melissa Siskind of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section is 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.
Maryland Member of Major D.C. Fentanyl and Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy Sentenced to 87 MonthsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Michael Owens, 38, of St. Charles, Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 87 months in prison in connection with his role in a multi-year conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine in the District of Columbia, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
“Owens was an active participant in a drug trafficking network that moved massive quantities of fentanyl and cocaine into the District. He personally admitted the narcotics amounted to more than a kilogram of fentanyl and two kilograms of cocaine,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “When he learned his customers ‘loved’ what he was selling, he sought an even more potent supply. That kind of indifference fuels fatal overdoses. Owens’ sentence reflects the gravity of his choices and serves as a warning: anyone who helps drive the opioid crisis in our community will be held accountable, no matter their role.”
Owens pleaded guilty on Dec. 8, 2025, before Judge Trevor N. McFadden to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. In addition to the 87-month prison term, Judge McFadden ordered Owens to serve five years of supervised release and to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $30,000.
According to court papers, from at least August 2022 through about November 2023, Owens conspired with co-conspirator Ronnie Rogers and others to distribute fentanyl and cocaine in the District. Owens served as a redistributor in the conspiracy, acquiring bulk quantities of fentanyl and cocaine from Rogers and reselling them in smaller quantities to other distributors and buyers.
Rogers supplied Owens with fentanyl in two-gram bundles, each divided into 10 individual packages. Owens repaid Rogers after making sales. Wiretap interceptions recorded the two discussing drug debts, supply quantities, and contingency plans in the event either was raided by law enforcement.
In one intercepted communication from March 2023, Owens told Rogers that his customers loved what he was selling and asked for stronger, more potent fentanyl. In another, Owens confirmed he was nearly finished distributing a supply of both fentanyl and cocaine and was ready to be resupplied.
As part of his plea agreement, Owens admitted responsibility for between 400 grams and 1.2 kilograms of fentanyl and between 500 grams and two kilograms of cocaine.
Rogers, 71, of the District, was sentenced to 236 months in prison. Co-defendant Wayne Glymph, 49, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, was sentenced to 162 months. Co-defendant Samuel Braxton, 57, of Temple Hills, Maryland, who led the organization while incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix, was sentenced to 162 months.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division Office, the FBI Washington Field Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Alexandria Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department.
The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Eliopoulos and Matthew W. Kinskey.
This operation was supported in part by the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN). The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCPP) supplies grant funding and strategic assistance to MCIN member sites. These resources enable the identification, disruption, and dismantling of criminal organizations through enhanced inter-agency collaboration and data sharing, contributing to a safer Maryland for all.
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Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Crimes in Connection with Unemployment Insurance Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – A Maryland man pled guilty in federal court to false-claims, identity theft, and wire-fraud crimes in connection with a tax fraud and unemployment insurance (UI) fraud conspiracy.
Daiwor “Mark Brown” Woah-Tee, 53, of Belcamp, is charged with conspiracy to submit false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims to the Internal Revenue Service and wire fraud conspiracy stemming from a scheme to fraudulently obtain UI benefits during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This prosecution is part of the Trump Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea agreement with Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington D.C. Field Office; Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG); and Joseph V. Cuffari Ph.D., Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security (DHS-OIG).
According to the plea agreement, beginning in January 2018, and continuing until December 2024, Woah-Tee and his conspirators knowingly and willfully conspired to defraud the United States and the Department of the Treasury. The co-conspirators filed fraudulent Form 1040s seeking tax refunds from the IRS through fictitious claims based on fraudulent material representations. Additionally, the co-conspirators identified and recruited individuals willing to become customers of their tax-return business and obtained tax documentation and personal identifiable information from individuals seeking tax-return preparation assistance.
Woah-Tee used the information obtained from individuals to prepare tax filings with the IRS. Then he and the co-conspirators filed or caused the filing of false tax returns, which contained fabricated information regarding the taxpayer’s dependents, income, education expenses, and eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
The co-conspirators caused the IRS to deposit funds into bank accounts that they controlled and then caused the IRS to deliver treasury checks to addresses they controlled. As a result, the co-conspirators obtained tax refunds they were not entitled to in connection with submitting tax returns in which they illegally sought at least $3.5 million in refunds.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Woah-Tee and his co-conspirators submitted UI applications to the Maryland Department of Labor on behalf of victims, often without the victim’s knowledge, falsely stating that the applicant was entitled to UI benefits. As a result, Woah-Tee and others caused the Maryland Department of Labor to deposit UI benefits into financial accounts that they controlled, allowing them to withdraw the funds using debit cards for their own personal use. The co-conspirators obtained more than $550,000 UI benefits.
As part of the plea, Woah-Tee agreed to restitution to the Internal Revenue Service of $3.5 million and restitution to the Maryland Department of Labor of $550,000. He also agreed to a forfeiture of approximately $4 million.
Woah-Tee is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to submit false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims to the Internal Revenue Service; 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy; and two years for aggravated identity theft.
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.
For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, and DHS-OIG for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared W. Murphy and Matthew P. Phelps who are prosecuting this federal case.
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Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy Nets D.C. Man 24 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Ricardo Anton Koonce, 35, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison in connection with a bicoastal marijuana distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
"Koonce and his co-conspirators ran a systematic drug trafficking operation, making repeated cross‑country trips to stock a D.C. stash house and selling marijuana on the streets while armed with firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “We will not allow armed traffickers to endanger our neighborhoods, and anyone who treats this city as their drug marketplace will be held accountable.”
Koonce, aka “King Phew,” pleaded guilty on March 3 before U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. In addition to the 24-month prison term, Judge Friedrich ordered Koonce to serve three years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors had requested a 26-month prison term.
According to court papers, from at least October 2023 through May 2024, Koonce and his co-conspirators traveled multiple times between the Baltimore-Washington area and Los Angeles to buy marijuana for distribution on the East Coast.
In February 2024, agents stopped Koonce and his co-conspirators at BWI Airport when they returned from one of their trips to L.A. Agents seized about 54.5 pounds of marijuana, packaged in vacuum-sealed plastic bags, that had been hidden in suitcases carried by one of Koonce's co-conspirators.
Koonce and his co-conspirators stored and sold their marijuana out of an apartment in the 1900 block of C Street SE. Agents observed Koonce and his co-conspirators conducting hand-to-hand transactions consistent with drug sales outside the building on a daily basis.
On Oct. 30, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at the C Street SE apartment and at Koonce's home on the 700 block of 2nd Street NE. At the apartment, agents recovered marijuana, other narcotics, and several firearms. At Koonce's residence, agents recovered two Glock pistols, magazines and ammunition, about $53,569 in cash, and a quantity of marijuana. Koonce admitted that he possessed the firearms in connection with his role in the marijuana trafficking conspiracy.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division, and the FBI's Washington Field Office.
The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nihar Mohanty and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Isabelle Sun.
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Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
The Model Cities Initiative will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Make America Safe Again Mission by taking a whole-of-city approach to reduce crime and restore law and order.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
“The Model Cities Initiative presents an exceptional opportunity to enhance and modernize public safety infrastructures and reduce rates of violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “Law enforcement in Arizona has a long history of working together to protect our communities. I encourage cities in Arizona to apply for the grant funding, and I look forward to our continued cooperation.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
If you have questions about the grants, please call the Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs at 202-514-2007.
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-090_Model Cities Initiative Grants
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
“With the safety and well-being of citizens as our highest priority, we recognize the Model Cities Initiative as a valuable opportunity to advance meaningful and lasting public safety efforts at the local level,” said U.S. Attorney R. Matthew Price of the Western District of Missouri. “We are encouraged by the support this program will provide and look forward to seeing leaders leverage these resources to reduce crime and strengthen public safety.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
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OAG
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If you have questions, please use the contacts in the message or call the Office of Public Affairs at 202-514-2007.
Making America Safe Again: DOJ to Award $300 Million to Model Cities Dedicated to Restoring Law and OrderRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Proposals from qualifying cities are due September 1.
“This administration is leveraging every authority to ensure the safety of all Americans,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Model Cities Initiative will supercharge our law enforcement partners and restore the rule of law to America’s neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Our message is clear: We will help those who help us Make America Safe Again.”
Investments will be made in a variety of areas addressing public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide. Eligible applicants include local government entities serving a population of at least 100,000.
The MCI initiative will support a range of allowable activities, including:
- Hiring and retention of sworn and non-sworn personnel directly engaged in or supporting violent crime reduction efforts.
- Purchase or lease of equipment, tools, or technology that reduce crime and restore law and order including but not limited to real-time crime centers; forensic and DNA tools; body-worn cameras; license plate readers; artificial intelligence systems; small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS; ballistic identification systems; and information technology upgrades.
- Training and professional development that support intelligence-led policing, violent crime investigations, crisis response, correctional practices that strengthen reentry outcomes, and coordination with state and federal law enforcement partners.
- Facility Costs including lease, rental, or renovation expenses for space directly used in program operations, such as service delivery sites, training facilities, real-time crime centers, or intelligence analysis centers.
- Mental health and substance use services that directly support prevention, crisis response, screening and early intervention, treatment, case management, and related services addressing issues linked to public safety outcomes, including services provided in correctional facilities and in the community.
- Reentry, transitional support, and recidivism reduction programs and services designed to reduce repeat offending, support transitions from custody, and promote successful reintegration into communities, including operational costs for county jails and state prisons that support reentry preparation.
- Victim services for American victims of crime, including, emergency assistance, case management, shelter and temporary housing, medical and dental care, advocacy, transportation, childcare, legal services, and employment assistance.
- Youth crime prevention and intervention services that address risk factors for juvenile delinquency and violence, including gang intervention and suppression programs.
Cities will apply through a whole-of-city approach. That means that city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, county prosecutor, and others will work together to submit one application that proposes a persuasive vision of how this money can be awarded strategically throughout their city to improve law enforcement engagement, victim services, detention and reentry services, and preventive programs.
Additional information about the award is available at www.justice.gov/grants. The planned competition is a multi-phase process. DOJ anticipates making initial award decisions in late 2026. To apply for this award, please submit application materials to [email protected].
For any questions related to the MCI Call for Applications, you can send your inquiry to [email protected].
Luzerne County Resident Indicted on Federal Charges of Sexually Exploiting a MinorRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating federal child sexual exploitation laws, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
The three-count Indictment named Christopher Jones, 27, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, on May 1, 2026, Jones did knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully coerce and entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. Additionally, on May 3, 2026, and May 4, 2026, Jones produced and attempted to produce material that depicted the sexual exploitation of a minor.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Nicole A. Stockey is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.Lawton Man in Illegal Possession of 11 Firearms while Subject to a Protective Order is Sentenced to Serve 57 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – JUSTIN DAVID GILLILAND, 46, of Lawton, has been sentenced to serve 57 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of firearms while subject to a protective order, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
According to public records, on October 18, 2024, deputies with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence following a disturbance call. The victim reported that she had received multiple unwanted phone calls from Gilliland throughout the day. Fearing for her safety, she and her children left the residence. When they later returned home, they found Gilliland’s vehicle parked in the driveway.
Responding deputies eventually arrested Gilliland at the residence after officers recovered a firearm, a loaded magazine, and a bottle of liquor from his vehicle. At the time, Gilliland was subject to a protective order that prohibited him from possessing firearms under federal law. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant at Gilliland’s residence and recovered ten additional firearms that Gilliland had falsely denied possessing.
On July 16, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Gilliland for being a prohibited person in possession of firearms. On November 4, 2025, Gilliland pleaded guilty and admitted that he knowingly possessed firearms while subject to a protective order.
At a sentencing hearing yesterday, U.S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick sentenced Gilliland to serve 57 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing the sentence, Judge Wyrick noted the seriousness of the offense, the need to protect the public, and to promote respect for the law as reasons for the sentence imposed.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Grady County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary E. Walters and Daniel Gridley 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.
Laurel County Man Sentenced for Transporting a Minor to Engage in Criminal Sexual ActivityRead the Press Release
LONDON, Ky. – A London, Ky., man, Austin Hawk, 26, was sentenced on Wednesday to 165 months by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom for transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to his plea agreement, from September 25, 2022, through October 25, 2022, Hawk transported a minor across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Hawk left Laurel County with a minor victim and took them on a monthlong cross country road trip, which spanned across 11 states with the pair sleeping inside Hawk’s car in parking lots. Hawk admitted that during the trip he engaged in sexual conduct with the minor.
Under federal law, Hawk must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.
Jason Parman, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Olivia Olson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
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Kansas woman sentenced to prison for stealing deceased relative’s identity to fraudulently receive federal and state benefitsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas woman was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraudulently receiving approximately $450,000 by simultaneously collecting federal and state government benefits in her own name and through identity theft.
According to court documents, Tamera Ruth Powers, 68, of Tonganoxie pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Tamera Ruth Powers stole the identity of her relative, Minda Sue Rakestraw, who died in 1977. Powers used Rakestraw's identity to obtain a Kansas identification card and to marry a man by the last name Landis. Powers then began using the name Minda Sue Landis. Powers defrauded the U.S. government and the State of Kansas by receiving benefits under separate identities. Powers maintained accounts at two different banks to receive payments under her name and the alias Minda Sue Landis.
In April 2005, Powers applied for Social Security Administration (SSA) Disability benefits under the name of Minda Sue Landis. In August 2012, Powers applied for SSA disability benefits in her actual name, falsely stating on the application she had not previously applied for SSA benefits.
In August 2013, Powers applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits using her real name. In the SSI application, she lied about her marital status and failed to disclose previously using another name and social security number.
Also in August 2013, Powers applied for assistance from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through the State of Kansas. She didn’t report she was married or her spouse’s income on the application while led to her receiving more than to which she was entitled.
In December 2013, she began receiving Medicaid benefits through the State of Kansas. She did not disclose her marriage, true household income, or that she had used other names which would have made her ineligible for any Medicaid benefits.
In June 2023, Powers applied for Retirement Insurance Benefits through SSA. In the application she falsely stated that she was not married, and she failed to disclose that she had used other names.
Based upon Powers’ scheme, which is estimated to have gone on for 10 years, the United States suffered loss in the amount of $137,839 and the State of Kansas suffered losses in the amount of $315,257.
“Public benefits provide a safety net to those who need and legally qualify for the assistance. Defrauding the system by misappropriating taxpayer money is a violation of public trust, and it’s only a matter of time until we find the perpetrators and hold them accountable,” said U.S Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “To reduce the risk of identity theft following the passing of a loved one, we encourage all next of kin or estate executors to report the death to the Social Security Administration and all major credit reporting agencies.”
As part of the sentence, a federal judge ordered Powers to pay approximately $452,097 in restitution.
“This sentencing sends a strong message that schemes to defraud the Medicaid, SNAP, LIEAP, and Social Security Disability programs will not be tolerated,” stated Steven D. Anderson, Kansas Inspector General. “The Office of Inspector General will continue to work cooperatively with our law enforcement partners to aid in the identification and prosecution of individuals engaged in these types of crimes.”
The Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, Office of the Kansas Inspector General, Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), and Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Oakley prosecuted the case.
National Fraud Enforcement Division
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
###Kansas City, Missouri Man Charged with Unlawfully Possessing Unregistered Destructive DevicesRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo. man was charged in federal court for possession of unregistered destructive devices, in violation of U.S. law.
Lake Ethan Roberts, 26, of Kansas City, Mo., was charged in a one-count criminal complaint. Roberts had his initial appearance this morning/afternoon.
Court documents, allege that Roberts was a member of a group called the “Red Legs.” The Red Legs has been active since at least November 2023. Red Legs members frequently communicated with each other using a private chat group. In their chat, Red Legs members discussed plans to commit acts of violence directed towards government entities and property, particularly the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), the National Guard, and other opposing political groups.
Some of Roberts’ communications to the group included the following messages:
“We need to plan decisive action against ice and dhs.”
“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.
“After we build our ranks and adequately arm ourselves, we can look into escalation.”
“If ice moves to kc, thoughts on an armed response.”
As part of their preparations for armed conflict with the federal government, Red Legs members also periodically trained by shooting firearms at a local firearm range.
According to the complaint, on May 14, 2026, Roberts and another Red Legs member met with an undercover law enforcement officer in Richmond, Mo. Roberts had brought with him two devices that were wrapped in duct tape and had an apparent fuse. Roberts referred to the devices as “alcohol shooters filled with black powder surrounded with steel BBs.” Roberts brought the devices to test how they worked. Roberts detonated both devices in a rock quarry area. The FBI Laboratory Explosives Unit provided an opinion that the two devices constituted improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
According to an explosive expert’s opinion, IEDs, also called homemade bombs, generally consist of an explosive main charge, method of initiation, and sometimes a container and/or enhancements. These devices were described as small liquor bottles containing the low explosive black powder with a cannon fuse used as the method of initiation. Properly assembled, the described IEDs would be capable of causing property damage, injury, and/or death. Investigators conducted an inquiry of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Firearms Act Branch and determined that Roberts had not registered any destructive devices as required by the National Firearms Act of 1934.
The allegations contained in the complaint are accusations, not evidence of guilt, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted of unlawfully possessing an unregistered destructive device, Roberts would be subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison. In the federal judicial system, there is not the possibility of parole. These maximum statutory sentences are prescribed by Congress and they are provided here for informational purposes. Any sentence would be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Justice Department announces grants for improvements to Kansas forensic laboratoriesRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The U.S. Department of Justice through the Department’s Office of Justice Programs -Bureau of Justice Assistance announced awarding the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) a $500,000 federal grant and the State of Kansas a $211,367 federal grant to improve forensic science capabilities.
“Law enforcement depends heavily on forensic evidence in criminal investigations as the results can provide evidence of a suspect’s guilt or innocence. To protect Constitutional rights to due process and a speedy trial, prosecutors need access to forensic test results in a timely manner,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “These grants are a demonstration of the federal government’s commitment to expanding the capabilities of state and local laboratories by helping them gain access to modern forensic technology and equipment.”
The KBI Forensic Laboratory in Topeka, Kansas, provides accredited forensic toxicology testing for 104 of the 105 Kansas counties. The laboratory supports KBI investigations as well as coroners and law enforcement across the state. According to the KBI, novel psychoactive substances (NPS) and opioids are becoming increasingly common in Kansas. KBI toxicology testing provides results for NPS and opioids on behalf of law enforcement investigating impaired driving, deaths, sexual assault, and violent crime. KBI plans to use the federal grant to purchase two liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectrometers (LC/MSMS) to improve the quality and timeliness of toxicology testing. The instrumentation provides increased sensitivity and specificity in testing for NPS and opioids, which is expected to lead to a shorter turnaround time for final results.
"This critical federal investment allows the KBI to upgrade laboratory technology with advanced instrumentation, directly improving the speed and precision of our toxicology testing," said KBI Director Tony Mattivi. "By enhancing our ability to detect dangerous opioids and novel psychoactive substances, we are strengthening support for local law enforcement and public health partners. Ultimately, this funding translates into quicker answers for investigators, safer highways, and a more robust response to the overdose crisis in Kansas."The $211,367 grant to the State of Kansas is to fund improvements at KBI regional laboratories as well as at Johnson County Crime Lab and Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center. The laboratories will receive upgraded equipment and workstations, and forensic tool software maintenance and support. The goal is to reduce turn-around time for completing casework, improve workflow efficiency, and reduce the backlog of cases with pending forensic analysis.
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Justice Department Launches Title VI Investigation into DEI Programs at Arizona State UniversityRead the Press Release
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today that it launched an investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at Arizona State University (ASU). Recent viral videos indicating ASU denied equal treatment to students based on race, color, or national origin — while attempting to hide its discriminatory practices from federal scrutiny — prompted the investigation.
“No student should be denied access to opportunities or resources because of race, color, or national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The United States is committed to keeping universities free of unlawful discrimination — especially when they try to hide illegal conduct to avoid oversight and compliance.”
Federal law requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to open their doors to students on an equal basis, regardless of race, color, or national origin. ASU is one of the nation’s largest universities and is a major recipient of federal funds. The Division’s investigation will examine whether ASU subjects its students to illegal discrimination through its DEI policies in admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and the provision of educational support.
The Civil Rights Division has not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation.
Jersey City Man Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Transport Stolen GoodsRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Jersey City man was sentenced on June 1, 2026 to 48 months’ imprisonment for engaging in a conspiracy to burglarize logistics warehouses and transport the goods stolen from those warehouses and an additional 8 months’ imprisonment for violating his supervised release, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.
Derek Spivey, 38, of Jersey City, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel to an information charging him with conspiring to transport stolen goods. Spivey also previously pleaded guilty to violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Spivey conspired with Jamil Bethea, Jamal Reid, Rasheed Sharpe, and others to burglarize trailers at logistics warehouses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, transport the goods stolen from those warehouses, and sell the stolen goods to others. As part of the conspiracy, burglars stole $50,000 of Department of Defense laptops from a Pennsylvania warehouse in January 2025; $200,000 of high-end perfume from a Pennsylvania warehouse in March 2025; and $20,000 of liquor from a New Jersey warehouse in March 2025. Spivey and his co-conspirators then transported stolen goods into and through New Jersey for the purpose of selling them.
Bethea, Reid, and Sharpe previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy. Judge Kiel previously sentenced Sharpe to 41 months’ imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy. Bethea and Reid are scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
U.S. Attorney Frazer credited agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the sentencing. He also thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Philadelphia Field Division with its assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.
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Defense counsel: Thomas Young, Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender.
Japanese National Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Export Firearm Components and Tactical Accessories to JapanRead the Press Release
HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Shota Yamamoto, 29, of Tokyo, Japan, was sentenced yesterday in federal court by United States District Court Judge Micah W.J. Smith to 12 months and one day in prison for conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act by exporting firearm components and tactical accessories to Japan. Yamamoto pled guilty on January 22, 2026. Yamamoto is expected to be deported to Japan upon the completion of his sentence.
According to court records, from approximately March 2024 through July 2025, Yamamoto conspired with another person to export firearm components and tactical accessories from the United States to Japan without the required licenses. Yamamoto intended to use those items to retrofit airsoft equipment for sale to airsoft enthusiasts in Japan seeking highly realistic equipment. Airsoft is a recreational activity in which participants use replica firearms to engage in simulated combat scenarios using non-metallic pellets.
Yamamoto used an address in Hawaii to receive shipments from U.S. firearms components and accessories dealers, and then arranged for their export to Japan, either by carrying them in checked luggage or by shipping them through a commercial shipping company. Yamamoto admitted that he exported or attempted to export over 900 firearms components and accessories, including AR-15 lower receiver parts kits, upper receivers, magazines, and similar components, each of which required a license to export that Yamamoto did not have.
“The unlawful export of firearm components endangers the public and presents a significant national security threat,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson.
“Yamamoto’s sentence and expected deportation should serve as a stern warning that this conduct will not be tolerated. The protection of our country is paramount, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will devote significant resources to investigating and prosecuting these cases.”
“The sentencing sends a clear message: Homeland Security Investigations will not tolerate the illegal export of firearm components that threaten public safety and national security. HSI remains committed to working with our partners to investigate and disrupt these criminal networks, and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Albanese prosecuted the case.
Indictments, Convictions through Guilty Pleas, and Sentencings in Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) Prosecutions (May 26 through May 29, 2026)Read the Press Release
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, in conjunction with our partner agencies in the Homeland Security Task Force (“HSTF”) announce the following investigative and prosecutorial results for the week of May 26 through May 29, 2026. The HSTF is a permanent, interagency law enforcement task force created by executive order to combat transnational criminal organizations—including cartels, trafficking networks, and foreign terrorist organizations.
Indictments:
- On May 28, 2026, a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment charging three Dominican nationals with conspiracy and attempt to import cocaine into the United States from the Dominican Republic. According to court documents, on May 15, 2026, defendants José Manuel Clase-Montilla, Daniel Luis Cuevas, and Pedro Emmanuel Carrión-Sánchez knowingly and intentionally conspired to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Specifically, HSTF seized approximately 178 kilograms of cocaine that the defendants were smuggling in a vessel. Defendant Carrión-Sánchez is facing one count of failure to heave because, while being the person in charge of the vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, he knowingly and unlawfully failed to obey an order by an authorized Federal Law enforcement officer to heave that vessel. In addition, the three defendants are each facing an immigration charge of improper entry by alien. Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Luis A. Valentín is in charge of the prosecution of the case. A copy of the indictment is attached to this press release.
- 26-217_adc_indictment_redacted.pdf
Convictions through Guilty Pleas:
- On May 27, 2026, Paola Romero-Marín pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in Criminal Case No. 25-277 (RAM). According to court documents, the defendant attempted to transport kilograms of cocaine through the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. The defendant was arrested on June 13, 2025. AUSA Ryan R. McCabe is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 27, 2026, Paul Herrera-Rivera, Jazhiel Ocasio-Herrera, Jean Fernández-Garay and Yander Santos-Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Paul Herrera-Rivera, Jazhiel Ocasio-Herrera and Yander Santos-Ramos also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking in Criminal Case No. 24-453 (MAJ). According to the indictment, the defendants were charged with participating in a violent drug trafficking organization that operated out of several public housing projects in the Carolina and San Juan areas, including the Sabana Abajo Public Housing Project. Defendants were arrested on December 11, 2024. The court set defendants’ sentencing date for August 26, 2026. AUSA Laura Diaz and Joseph Russell are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 28, 2026, José David Serrano-Santiago pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (Count One) and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy (Count Seven) in Criminal Case No. 25-392 (SCC). According to the indictment, the defendant was charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances in public housing projects and other areas in and around Cayey, Puerto Rico, and with using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Defendant was arrested on September 26, 2026.AUSAs R. Vance Eaton and Andrés Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 29, 2026, Christopher J. Fontanez-Vega pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (Count One) and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy (Count Seven) in Criminal Case No. 25-392 (SCC). According to the indictment, the defendant was charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances in public housing projects and other areas in and around Cayey, Puerto Rico, and with using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Defendant was arrested on September 25, 2026. AUSAs R. Vance Eaton and Andrés Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 29, 2026, Melvin Germán-Muñoz pleaded guilty to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2199 and 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a) in Criminal Case No. 26-160. According to the indictment, the defendant was charged with stowing away on a vessel and improper entry by an alien. Defendant was arrested on April 17, 2026. The court set defendant’s sentencing for June 29, 2026. U.S. Coast Guard SAUSA Cody A. McKinney is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
Sentencings:
- On May 26, 2026, Yomvier Torres-Ruiz was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach to 121 months’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the state-level sentence in Cr. Nos. ISCR-2022-00597; ISCR-2022-00598; ISCR-2022-00599; ISCR-2022-00600 and ISCR-2022-00601. The Court imposed a term of supervised release of five years. The defendant was sentenced for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. According to court documents, defendant was charged on March 22, 2023, in Criminal Case No. 23-114 (RAM), and pleaded guilty on February 25, 2026. AUSA Corinne Cordero-Romo is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 26, 2026, Luis J. Alvarado-De La Cruz was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gina Méndez-Miró to five years’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute between 3.5 kilograms and 5 kilograms cocaine. According to court documents, defendant was charged on May 22, 2024, in Criminal Case No. 24-188 (GMM), and pleaded guilty on February 24, 2026. AUSAs R. Vance Eaton and Andrés Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 26, 2026, Luis Marino Medina-Martínez was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge María Antongiorgi-Jordán to 87 months of imprisonment for drug trafficking. According to court documents, defendant was charged on May 4, 2023, in Criminal Case No. 23-178 (MAJ), and pleaded guilty on February 11, 2026. AUSA Antonio Pérez is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 27, 2026, Jeorge Jhonney Lara was re-sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge María Antongiorgi-Jordán to 96 months of imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release for conspiring to possess and possessing with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. According to court documents, defendant was charged on April 4, 2023, in Criminal Case No. 23-139 (MAJ), and pleaded guilty on October 31, 2023. AUSA Antonio J. López-Rivera is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 27, 2026, Antonio López-Olivencia was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado Colón to 33 months of imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. According to court documents, defendant was charged on April 9, 2025, in Criminal Case No. 25-184 (ADC) and pleaded guilty on January 26, 2026. AUSA Laura Díaz González and Andres Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- Ezequiel Soto Bonilla was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado Colón to 60 months of imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. According to court documents, defendant was charged on April 9, 2025, in Criminal Case No. 25-184 (ADC) and pleaded guilty on February 12, 2025. AUSA Laura Díaz González and Andres Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 28, 2026, Juan Ortiz-Mendoza was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado Colon to 144 months of imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, the defendant was charged on April 9, 2025, in Criminal Case No. 25-184 (ADC) and pleaded guilty January 30, 2026. AUSA Laura Díaz González and Andres Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 28, 2026, Jonathan Rodríguez-Acosta was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado Colón to 120 months of imprisonment and 6 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, the defendant was charged on April 9, 2025, in Criminal Case No. 25-184 (ADC) and pleaded guilty on January 30, 2026. AUSA Laura Díaz González and Andres Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 28, 2026, Argelis Marcano-Zerpa was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll to 30 months of imprisonment for conspiring to import more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States, jettisoning property subject to forfeiture, and related charges. According to court documents, defendant was charged on March 6, 2025, in Criminal Case No. 25-114 (SCC), and pleaded guilty to the charges on February 19, 2026. AUSA Lani Lear is in charge of the prosecution of the case.
- On May 29, 2026, Wanda Vargas-Álvarez was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gina Méndez-Miró to 12 months and 1 day of imprisonment followed by supervised release term of 6 years for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 200 to 300 grams of cocaine. According to court documents, defendant was charged on May 22, 2024, in Criminal Case No. 24-188 (GMM), and pleaded guilty on October 21, 2025. AUSAs R. Vance Eaton and Andrés Orr are in charge of the prosecution of the case.
These prosecutions are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF San Juan comprises agents and officers from the following federal partners: FBI, ICE-HSI, CBP (OFO, AMO and Border Patrol), the U.S. Marshals Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, DEA, ATF, IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of State, and the U.S. Secret Service, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA, TSA, FAA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The HSTF also has the following state and local law enforcement partners as participating agencies: the Puerto Rico Police Department; the San Juan, Carolina, Guaynabo, Barceloneta, and Ponce Municipal Police Departments, the Puerto Rico National Guard – Counter Drug Program; the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Service (Hacienda); the Puerto Rico Port Authority; and the Virgin Islands Police Department.
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Illegal alien admits to role in failed human smuggling attempt resulting in deathRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 39-year-old Mexican national has pleaded guilty to harboring 32 illegal aliens in a stash house under dangerous conditions that resulted in one death, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Cruz Alberto de la Garza admitted he conspired with others to harbor illegal aliens at a stash house in Laredo and assisted in transporting them.
The investigation began Oct. 15, 2025, after two illegal aliens had been dropped off at an emergency room. One was pronounced deceased upon arrival. The medical examiner’s report identified one cause of death as environment exposure with heat effects.
Later that day, law enforcement encountered a tractor-trailer at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Cotulla and discovered 30 illegal aliens crammed into the trailer’s sleeper compartment.
The investigation revealed all had been housed in a white trailer on a ranch-style property used as a stash house. The trailer had extreme heat with little to no air conditioning, limited food and water and inadequate ventilation. There was no access to a toilet, and the aliens were forced to use a bucket. No one was permitted to leave.
De la Garza had instructed the aliens to get into the tractor trailer and initially drove them before parking and exiting the vehicle.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 1, before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo. At that time, de la Garza faces up to life in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tae W. Chon 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.
Illegal Aliens Sentenced for Distribution of Kilogram Quantities of Fentanyl and Heroin in Myrtle BeachRead the Press Release
FLORENCE, S.C. – Federico Parra Lopez, 32, and Marcos Flores Aquino, 25, have been ordered to serve lengthy sentences in federal prison after being convicted of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and heroin in the Myrtle Beach area. These sentencings follow those of their co-defendants, Miguel Angulo Perez, 22, and Omar Sanchez Aquino, 33, who were previously sentenced in this case. All four men are from Mexico and were in the United States illegally.
Evidence presented at the sentencing hearings showed that the men were part of a drug trafficking organization that originated in Mexico and operated in Myrtle Beach during 2023 and 2024. After being sent to South Carolina from Mexico, Parra Lopez served as a manager of the operation here and was responsible for maintaining an apartment in Myrtle Beach were kilogram quantities of fentanyl and heroin were received for further distribution. Parra Lopez was also held accountable for possessing a firearm that was used to protect the drugs at the apartment. Flores Aquino, Angulo Perez, and Sanchez Aquino served as drivers who were responsible for repackaging and delivering the drugs at Parra Lopez’s direction and collecting drug proceeds to be sent back to Mexico. The entire operation was shut down after a joint federal, state, and local investigation resulted in a federal indictment in October 2024.
Parra Lopez was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison, which includes a five-year sentence for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Flores Aquino and Angulo Perez were both sentenced to 46 months imprisonment, and Sanchez Aquino was sentenced to 37 months. Each of the men will be deported upon completion of their prison sentences. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, in partnership with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Myrtle Beach Police Department, the Horry County Sheriff’s Office, and the Horry County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett McMillian is prosecuting the case.
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