title: Mexican National And Florida Man Indicted For Drug Trafficking And Possessing Firearm In Furtherance Of Trafficking Methamphetamine

component: USAO - Florida, Middle

body_text: Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Carlos Antonio Leon (29, Plant City) and Luis Fernando Aguirre Marin (29, Mexico) with drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. If convicted on all counts, Leon and Aguirre Marin each face a minimum of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Leon and Aguirre Marin that the United States intends to forfeit the firearm and ammunition alleged to be involved in, or used to facilitate, the offense. According to the indictment, beginning not later than March 2025, Leon and Aguirre Marin conspired to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. The indictment specifically alleges that, on March 21, 2025, they possessed with intent to distribute more than 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. Further, it is alleged that they possessed a firearm in furtherance of those offenses. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Plant City Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam W. McCall. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).


title: Jury Finds Pine Ridge Man Guilty of Assault With a Dangerous Weapon

component: USAO - South Dakota

body_text: RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted Frank Long Black Cat, age 31, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon following a two-day jury trial in federal district court in Rapid City, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on April 9, 2025. The conviction carries a maximum penalty of ten years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered. Long Black Cat was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2025. Evidence at trial established that Long Black Cat used a knife to repeatedly stab another person in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court. This case was investigated by the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Schroeder and Megan Poppen prosecuted the case. A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date has been set for July 14, 2025.


title: Union City Pharmacy Agrees To Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Of Billing For Drugs Not Dispensed

component: USAO - New Jersey

body_text: NEWARK, N.J. – People’s Rx, Inc., d/b/a The People’s Pharmacy Shoppe (“People’s”), a pharmacy located in Union City, New Jersey, has agreed to pay $995,420 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing a federal health care program for medications that it never dispensed, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. According to the contentions of the United States in the settlement agreement: The United States alleged that, from January 2, 2015, through January 24, 2022, People’s caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program for drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. The government contends that inventory records showed that People’s did not purchase enough of these medications from wholesalers to fill the prescriptions billed to the federal health care program. The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Toll and Kruti Dharia of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit and Senior Trial Counsel Jennifer Cihon in the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section). The government’s pursuit of these matters illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. 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 1-800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. ### peoples_pharmacy.agreement.pdf


title: Parrish Man Indicted For Arson Of A Vehicle

body_text: Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Kendarius Devonta Stitten (25, Parrish) with a violation of the federal Anti-Arson Act. If convicted, Stitten faces a minimum penalty of 5 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Stitten that the United States intends to forfeit assets that are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense. According to the indictment, on March 20, 2025, Stitten set fire to a rental van that was parked at a motel in Bradenton. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations, and Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam W. McCall.


title: Mineral County Woman Admits to Federal Drug Charge

component: USAO - West Virginia, Northern

body_text: MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Sara L. Jackson, age 48, of Keyser, West Virginia, has admitted to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine hydrochloride. According to court documents, Jackson was working with another defendant to sell large amounts of fentanyl, some pressed into pills, as well as methamphetamine in Mineral County. A search warrant executed at an apartment resulted in the seizure of 1300 grams of fentanyl and 788 grams of methamphetamine. Jackson is facing up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.


title: Man Sentenced to Over Nine Years in Federal Prison for Robbing Two Montgomery Convenience Stores

component: USAO - Alabama, Middle

body_text: Montgomery, Ala. – On April 10, 2025, a federal judge ordered that Jalen Lamarcus Gunn, a 21-year-old man from Montgomery, Alabama, serve 111 months in prison after pleading guilty to robbery and firearm charges, announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson. Following his prison sentence, Gunn will serve three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. According to his plea agreement and other court records, on April 27, 2024, Gunn entered a convenience store on Wares Ferry Road in Montgomery and leapt over the counter. Gunn then pointed a firearm at the clerk and demanded money from the register be placed in a plastic bag. Gunn then fled the store with approximately $3,000. Just two days later, on April 29 th , Gunn robbed a convenience store on Perry Hill Road in a similar fashion, again pointing a handgun at the clerk and demanding money. This time, Gunn made away with $2,500 and multiple packs of cigarettes. During his November 8, 2024, plea hearing, Gunn pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a federal crime of violence. This case was prosecuted as part of the Middle District of Alabama’s Violent Offender Intervention and Deterrence (VOID) program. Launched by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in March 2024, VOID aims to reduce violent crime by enhancing coordination, communication, and collaboration with law enforcement partners. The program focuses on working directly with local agencies—as well as traditional federal partners—to prosecute violent offenders and armed felons, dismantle drug trafficking organizations, and build proactive cases targeting gangs and repeat violent offenders. At its core, VOID prioritizes the most serious violent crime cases and fosters close working relationships with state and local prosecutors and law enforcement throughout the Montgomery River Region. “Prosecuting individuals who endanger innocent lives through armed robbery and other violent crimes is the very reason my office started the VOID program,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Davidson. “Jalen Gunn traumatized his victims by threatening them with a gun pointed at their heads, an act of pure intimidation and violence. This prosecution should send a clear warning: if you choose to terrorize our communities with guns, you will be held accountable. I am grateful to our VOID partners for their unwavering commitment and collaboration in bringing this defendant to justice.” “This type of behavior has to stop and the men and women of the FBI, along with our partners in law enforcement, are dedicated to tracking down the individuals who continuously victimize their own communities,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Rachel A. Byrd. “This sentence should send a clear message to those who refuse to obey the law.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Montgomery Police Department investigated this case, with Assistant United States Attorney Christopher P. Moore prosecuting.


title: Albuquerque Man Sentenced for Threatening and Stalking  a Raleigh Woman He Met Online

component: USAO - North Carolina, Eastern


title: Philadelphia Man Admits To Conspiring To Defraud The IRS

body_text: CAMDEN, N.J. – A Philadelphia man admitted to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by paying himself and his co-workers in cash in order to avoid payroll taxes, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. Henry “Hank” Collins, 53, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to defraud the IRS. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Collins worked at Davis Brothers Chimney Sweep & Masonry (“Davis Brothers”), a business located in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. Collins admitted that between January 1, 2018 and April 30, 2024, he conspired with the spouse of the owner of Davis Brother to defraud the IRS. As part of the conspiracy, Collins utilized a commercial check casher to negotiate a substantial amount of Davis Brothers’s gross receipts checks. Collins used some of the resulting cash to pay himself and other Davis Brothers employees in cash. Collins provided the rest of the cash to the business owner and spouse. Collins then provided false and misleading information to the business’s outside accounting firm that resulted in the preparation and filing of false payroll tax returns that omitted the employees paid in cash and their cash wages. Collins also admitted filing false individual income tax returns for himself that concealed his own cash wages. Collins admitted that the conspiracy resulted in a tax loss of approximately $1 million. The count of conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for August 18, 2025. U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden. ### Defense counsel: Joseph Marrone, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania collins.information.pdf


title: Leader of Detroit Gang Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking Conspiracy and Money Laundering

component: USAO - Michigan, Eastern

body_text: DETROIT – A 34-year-old Shelby Township man, Martaze Davis, was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for trafficking methamphetamine and laundering drug proceeds, Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck announced. Beck was joined in the announcement by Andrew Lawton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration, Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Charles E. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Detroit Field Divisions. Davis was a leader in a Detroit gang, 42 Hustle Boys. The 42 Hustle Boys and a rival gang, the Seven Mile Bloods, engaged in a longstanding and deadly feud. This investigation and prosecution, which began in 2023, focused on Davis’s leadership of a drug conspiracy that sent members to California to purchase methamphetamine brought into the United States from Mexico and transport it across the United States for distribution in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee. On October 24, 2023, Davis and codefendant Alexander Polanco, 28, conspired to load a rental car occupied by codefendants Taneeya Richard, 25, and Dejon Howard-Henderson, 24, with 38.9 kilograms of methamphetamine. The following day, officers stopped the rental car in Texas and seized the methamphetamine. Davis also laundered drug proceeds through his personal and business bank accounts intending to conceal the nature and source of the proceeds. “Our office vigorously pursues drug traffickers, including gang leaders and members, who push dangerous drugs like methamphetamine into our communities with indifference to the tragedy it inflicts. Thanks to the outstanding teamwork among the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Attorney’s Office, a dangerous drug trafficker and money launderer has been removed from our streets,” stated Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck. "Bringing members of violent street gangs to justice is one of our top operational priorities in the DEA Detroit Division. Mr. Davis and his 42 Hustle Boys co-conspirators are responsible for fueling untold suffering by funneling massive amounts of methamphetamine into areas already hard-hit by the opioid crisis. Today's sentence sends another clear message to drug trafficking organizations that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated and will be met with consequences," said Andrew Lawton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration. “Today’s sentencing of Martaze Davis represents a significant victory in our ongoing fight against organized crime and drug trafficking in Detroit,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “This case underscores the powerful collaboration between the FBI, DEA, and Detroit’s IRS Criminal Division. Together, we remain steadfast in our mission to disrupt criminal networks, dismantle money laundering operations, and protect our communities. The removal of Mr. Davis, a dangerous Detroit gang leader, from the streets is a pivotal step in safeguarding Michigan and ensuring the safety of all its residents. Our combined efforts reflect our unwavering commitment to keeping Detroit and the surrounding areas free from criminal activity.” “The laundering of illegal drug profits is as important and essential to drug traffickers as the very distribution of their illegal drugs. Without these ill-gotten gains, the traffickers could not finance their organizations,” said Charles Miller, Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation. “We will continue to be relentless in our mission to dismantle drug trafficking organizations and bring the criminals who run them to justice.” The Honorable Sean F. Cox sentenced Davis to 20 years in prison. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by AUSA Paul Kuebler.


title: Fort Myers Couple Sentenced To Federal Prison For $3.4 Million COVID Relief Fraud Scheme

body_text: Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Barber has sentenced Timothy Craig Jolloff (48, Fort Myers) and Lisa Ann Jolloff (58, Fort Myers) to eight years and one month, and three years, respectively, in federal prison for wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal monetary transactions. The Court also ordered the Jolloffs to pay $3.4 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and to forfeit $3.4 million which was the proceeds of the offense. The Jolloffs entered guilty pleas on April 24, 2024. According to the indictment and other court documents, between April and March 2021, Timothy Jolloff and his wife, Lisa Jolloff, submitted false and fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to the SBA, as well as PPP approved lenders. In PPP loan applications, the Jolloffs falsely represented the number of employees and average monthly payroll for the applicant businesses. The Jolloffs also falsely represented and certified that PPP funds would be used to retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments. In EIDL applications, Timothy Jolloff misrepresented the gross revenue and cost of goods sold for the applicant businesses for which he sought EIDL funds. Timothy Jolloff also misrepresented the number of employees the EIDL applicant businesses had. Moreover, in loan documents signed and submitted by Timothy Jolloff for EIDL loans, he mispresented that EIDL proceeds would be used solely for working capital and to alleviate economic injury. The Jolloffs’ false and fraudulent representations caused the SBA and PPP lenders to approve and fund eleven EIDLs and eight PPP loans, as well as EIDL Advances, totaling approximately $3,403,265. The Jolloffs then used the funds to purchase three pontoon boats totaling more than $300,000, real estate in Fort Myers, Florida and Angola, Indiana, home furnishings, outdoor kitchens for their homes, a 2019 GMC truck, a 2020 Polaris UTV, as well as jewelry, and two dogs. The Jolloffs also fraudulently used more than $600,000 in EIDL funds to purchase a furniture business in Indiana and a landscaping business in Sarasota, Florida, which had no connection to the businesses for which the Jolloffs obtained COVID relief money. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted March 2020. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding. The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if the business spends the proceeds on these expenses within a set time-period and uses at least a certain percentage of the loan toward payroll expenses. The EIDL program is designed to provide economic relief to small businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. EIDL proceeds can be used to cover a wide array of working capital and normal operating expenses, such as continuation of health care benefits, rent, utilities, and fixed debt payments. If an applicant also obtains a loan under the PPP, the EIDL funds cannot be used for the same purpose as the PPP funds. This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant United States Attorney Jesus M. Casas.


title: California resident indicted for wire fraud for scheme to steal nearly $1 million from Seattle area employer

component: USAO - Washington, Western

body_text: Seattle – A Seattle grand jury this week indicted a 43-year-old Laguna Niguel, California man on six counts of wire fraud for his scheme to steal nearly $1 million from his employer, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Paul Joseph Welch was the IT manager of Kent, Washington energy manufacturing company Algas-SDI when he allegedly used various schemes to steal more than $950,000 from the company. Welch will be arraigned on the indictment on April 17, 2025. According to the indictment, Welch worked for the company from 2011 to 2024. He was promoted to Information Technology Manager in 2018. The indictment alleges that as early as 2017, Welch used the company’s Amazon business account to make unauthorized personal purchases from Amazon.com. Between 2017 and 2023, those purchases totaled at least $43,000. Welch primarily purchased electronics such at televisions, laptops and more—all for personal use. In 2019, Welch began using his company credit card for personal purchases through other online retailers such as Apple, Alaska Airlines, Instacart and BestBuy. Between 2019 and 2024, those unauthorized personal purchases totaled at least an additional $60,000. The scheme really accelerated in January 2021 when Welch began making payments to himself disguised as payments to a computer services company. Welch allegedly created a series of email addresses and payment processor accounts using a business name that was very similar to a legitimate computer services company based in Washington State. Welch then used Algas-SDI company credit cards to pay the computer services company under the guise that the company was providing IT equipment and services to Algas-SDI. However, the legitimate computer services company had no relationship with Welch and never provided any services or equipment to Algas-SDI. The credit card payments Welch made from Algas-SDI’s credit cards went directly to the payment processor accounts that Welch controlled. Between 2021 and 2024 Welch allegedly used this scheme to transfer approximately $879,175 from company accounts to his own accounts. Algas-SDI tried to verify the legitimacy of Welch’s activity on multiple occasions, but each time, Welch allegedly provided false or misleading information to cover up his scheme. Algas-SDI employees asked Welch to submit invoices to substantiate his charges, but Welch allegedly emailed phony documents designed to look like invoices from the legitimate computer services company. At one point in 2023, an Algas-SDI accounting employee identified personal purchases on Welch’s company credit card. Welch claimed the charges were inadvertent and said he would repay the company. Welch never repaid the charges and continued to defraud the company through unauthorized personal purchases and more fake vendor charges. In January 2024, alone, Welch allegedly submitted phony invoices to Algas-SDI showing that the computer services company had purportedly invoiced Algas-SDI more than $55,000 for equipment and services in that timeframe. On January 19, 2024, Algas-SDI employees confronted Welch about the charges from the computer services company accounts that Welch controlled. After Welch again told Algas-SDI that the vendor was a real vendor for the company, the company fired him. The wire fraud charges represent six of the times Welch emailed the company false statements or invoices purported to be from a legitimate computer services company. In all, between 2017 and January 2024 Walch secretly made at least 250 fraudulent charges for the third party vendor he controlled. He made at least 140 unauthorized purchases with retailers using the company credit card and at least 100 fraudulent purchases on the company’s Amazon account. While Welch profited some $950,000 from his theft, the loss to ALGAS-SDI was approximately $982,520 due to various fees on the transactions. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dane A. Westermeyer. welch_indictment.pdf


title: Canadian man sentenced for being a money mule in a scam targeting the elderly

component: USAO - New York, Western

body_text: BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Mohamed Khaled Sakr, 31, of Montreal, Quebec, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was sentenced to serve 36 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. Sakr was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $262,500 to 18 elderly victims. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that between May 8 and May 13, 2023, Sakr conspired with others to defraud elderly victims out of money and property. Unknown members of the conspiracy contacted elderly victims by telephone, posing as a relative or loved one, and falsely advised them that they had been arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) following a purported motor vehicle accident. The elderly victims were told that the loved one could only be released from custody if the elderly victim posted cash bail on their behalf. Members of the conspiracy utilized “money mules” or “bail bondsmen” to retrieve money from the elderly victims. Once cash was obtained, it was transported to other unknown conspirators in the New York City area. Mohamed Khaled Sakr was one of the money mules involved in the conspiracy Sakr and others in the Western District of New York and elsewhere collected approximately $262,500 from elderly victims and attempted to collect an additional $9,500 in furtherance of the conspiracy. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan, the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff David Linder, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Kevin Sucher, and the Monroe Crime Analysis Center. # # # #


title: New York Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Role In Kidnapping

body_text: NEWARK, N.J. – A Queens, New York man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a Paterson, New Jersey, kidnapping, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. Reginald Law, 39, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with kidnapping and Hobbs Act robbery. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: On October 8, 2020, Law and his conspirator, Maurice Cottman, entered a retail store in Paterson, where they accosted the victim, who was working in the store. Law and Cottman physically removed the victim from the store, then transported him in the back of a U-Haul truck from Paterson to New York. Law admitted that during the kidnapping, he and Cottman called the victim’s family and demanded ransom for his return. Law and Cottman also forced the victim to give them his debit card and pin number, which they used to withdraw money from his bank accounts. In addition to the prison term, Judge Padin sentenced Law to five years of supervised release. Cottman previously pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to an Information charging him with one count of kidnapping. On March 29, 2022, Judge Chesler sentenced Cottman to 15 years in prison with five years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the FBI New York Field Office and the Paterson Police Department for their assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Economic Crimes Unit. ### Defense counsel: Christopher L. Patella Esq., Bayonne, New Jersey


title: Missouri Gang Member Indicted for Murder in Aid of Racketeering and Other Crimes Including Three Murders

component: Criminal Division

body_text: A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri returned an indictment on Wednesday charging Travis Santel Jones, 21, of St. Louis, Missouri, with one count of murder in aid of racketeering, RICO conspiracy, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and causing death with a firearm, all related to Jones’s alleged part in the Cochran Crips, a violent street gang based in St. Louis. Two victims were gunned down in the street and one victim was killed at his own home. “There is no place in our communities for groups that terrorize their neighbors,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This indictment alleges violent criminal acts and the tragic loss of three lives, all at the hands of a dangerous gang member. The Department of Justice’s Criminal Division will continue to pursue justice for these victims and for the people of St. Louis.” “The alleged activity here is exactly the type of case that the Violent Crime Initiative was designed to tackle — complex criminal conspiracies involving drugs and years of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri. “There are severe federal consequences for anyone who is tempted to kill and maim to peddle poison.” “For years, FBI St. Louis has been investigating violent crimes and drug trafficking by Cochran Crips gang members. In 2020, our office surged resources to assist the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department after two innocent Saint Louis University students were gunned down simply because their vehicle was misidentified by the gang,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will not stop until we bring all those involved in the murders to justice.” “Violence has no place in our community, and this indictment sends a clear message: we will always be a voice for victims, and we will not stop pursuing justice until there is accountability,” said St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Tracy. “I am proud of the dedication by our investigators on this case, and we will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners to keep our neighborhoods safe and take dangerous criminals off our streets.” According to court documents, Jones conspired with other Cochran Crips members to commit multiple acts of murder and multiple drug trafficking offenses. Specifically, it is alleged in July 2020, Jones and other members were driving the streets of St. Louis, armed with multiple firearms, looking for “get backs” (retaliation) against a rival gang. While searching for rival gang members, Jones and others allegedly killed two innocent people whom they mistakenly believed to be rivals. After allegedly shooting and killing the victims, Jones and other Cochran Crips allegedly sped away, fleeing the scene and endangering other motorists on the road. Just a day after the murders, it is alleged that Cochran Crips gang members glorified the murders in a rap song. In 2022, Jones allegedly murdered another Cochran Crips member when the gang believed that the victim had disrespected a fellow gang member. The gang members are alleged to have obtained a car, armed themselves with multiple firearms, drove to the victim’s home, and murdered him. If convicted of murder in aid of racketeering, Jones faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty. All other charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. The FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Jared A. Hernandez and Matthew Mattis of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj for the Eastern District of Missouri are prosecuting the case. This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in St. Louis conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Missouri and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and their associates in St. Louis. This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF . An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Colombian National Sentenced To 178 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Transport Hundreds Of Kilograms Of Cocaine Into The United States

body_text: NEWARK, N.J. – A Colombian citizen was sentenced to 178 months in prison for conspiring to import hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the United States from other countries including Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. Raul Orlando Torres Cubides, aka “Jose Jota,” 57, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to Count One of an Indictment charging him with conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From 2016 through January 2020, Cubides and others conspired to import hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. Cubides admitted playing a managerial role in this conspiracy, which involved more than five individuals. In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Cubides to five years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz in Newark, New Jersey, as well as special agents and task force officers with the DEA operating in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. She also thanked the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs; the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section Judicial Attachés in Bogotá, Colombia; Colombian law enforcement authorities; and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF . This case is also part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Farhana C. Melo of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark. ### Defense counsel: James Plaisted, Esq., Hackensack, New Jersey


title: Two Members of a Transnational Money Laundering Organization Sentenced for Laundering Millions of Dollars in Drug Proceeds

body_text: A Georgia man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds on behalf of foreign drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (the Jalisco cartel). On Dec. 4, 2024, his co-conspirator was sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in the money laundering scheme. According to court documents, Li Pei Tan, 47, of Buford, Georgia, and Chaojie Chen, 41, a Chinese national who resided in Chicago, worked for an organization that laundered millions of dollars in proceeds related to the importation and distribution of illegal drugs into the United States, primarily through Mexico. Tan, Chen, and their co-conspirators traveled throughout the United States to collect proceeds of fentanyl and cocaine trafficking, among other drugs. The defendants communicated and coordinated with co-conspirators in China and other foreign countries to arrange the laundering of these proceeds through financial transactions that were designed to conceal the illicit source of the drug money, including through a sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme involving purchasing bulk electronics in the United States and shipping them to co-conspirators in China. On multiple occasions prior to Chen’s May 2024 arrest, law enforcement seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in bulk cash drug proceeds from Chen at locations across the United States. Tan was intercepted by law enforcement in South Carolina while attempting to transport over $197,000 in drug proceeds. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) National Drug Threat Assessment, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are at the heart of the fentanyl crisis in the United States. Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Special Agent in Charge Louis A. D’Ambrosio of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Special Operations Division made the announcement. The DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit investigated the case, with assistance from the DEA’s Office of Special Intelligence, Document and Media Exploitation Unit and the DEA’s offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). Trial Attorney Mary K. Daly of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States, using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF .


title: Two Foreign Nationals With Prior Convictions Charged For Illegally Reentering The United States

component: USAO - Nevada

body_text: LAS VEGAS – Mexican and Salvadorian nationals residing in Las Vegas made their initial court appearances Thursday to face charges of illegally reentering the United States after previously being removed from the country. David Cristales-Machado, 35, and Juan Manuel Lopez-Mendez, 35, are both charged with one count of deported alien found in the United States. Preliminary hearings for both defendants are scheduled for April 24, 2025, before United States Magistrate Judge Daniel J Albregts. According to allegations contained in the criminal complaints and statements made during court proceedings, Cristales-Machado, a citizen and national of El Salvador, and Lopez-Mendez, a citizen and national of Mexico, were both previously deported and removed from the United States and reentered the United States illegally. On March 22, 2025, Cristales-Machado was remanded to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), from the Clark County Detention Center, based on an ICE detainer after he had twice been arrested and convicted of carry a concealed weapon without permit. Cristales-Machado had previously been deported on or about October 8, 2014. Cristales-Machado has three prior felony convictions: two for attempt possession of a stolen vehicle, and one attempt burglary. On March 28, 2025, Lopez-Mendez was remanded to the custody of ICE, from the Clark County Detention Center, based on an ICE detainer after he been arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. Lopez-Mendez had previously been deported to Mexico on July 12, 2018. Lopez-Mendez has two prior felony convictions: one for transport of a controlled substance, and another for attempt possession of a stolen vehicle. If convicted, Cristales-Machado faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. If convicted, Lopez-Mendez faces 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. United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada and Salt Lake City Field Office Director Michael Bernacke 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 . A complaint is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. ###


title: Adam Gordon Sworn in as U.S. Attorney

component: USAO - California, Southern

body_text: SAN DIEGO – Adam Gordon, a career prosecutor who became a nationally-recognized expert on prosecutorial strategies to combat the fentanyl epidemic, was sworn in today as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, one of the busiest federal districts in the nation. Mr. Gordon, 43, was appointed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Cynthia A. Bashant administered the oath of office to Gordon in the presence of his senior leadership team, office colleagues, friends and family. “Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for the opportunity to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California,” Mr. Gordon said. “I am deeply honored to lead this office and protect the people of this district. For too long, criminal organizations have exploited the chaos at our border. That chaos of criminality and lack of consequences cannot prevail. Together with our dedicated law enforcement partners, we will focus our resources on the Operation Take Back America priorities including securing the border, prosecuting cartel leaders, and removing dangerous offenders from our communities.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office enforces federal criminal laws in the Southern District of California, which includes San Diego and Imperial counties, and represents the federal government in civil litigation. The office is one of the nation’s largest, comprised of approximately 300 attorneys and staff members. As the U.S. Attorney, Gordon is the chief federal law enforcement official for the district. Mr. Gordon is a veteran prosecutor who has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California since 2019. He most recently worked in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Unit. Prior to that assignment, he was the office’s Criminal Division Opioid Coordinator for approximately three years. Gordon was instrumental in creating the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (“FAST”) in San Diego County which is now a national model. Formed in September 2022, FAST is a multi-agency task force led by Homeland Security Investigations working in conjunction with federal partners, along with state and local agencies to target significant fentanyl distributors in San Diego County to reduce the overdose death rate. He also has personally prosecuted many of resulting in death cases, achieving justice for the families of victims of fentanyl poisonings, including the drug dealer responsible for the death of a 13-year-old in Coronado. Prior to serving as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Gordon was a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County where he prosecuted a variety of criminal matters but focused on violent crimes. From 2014 to 2018, Adam was in private practice in San Diego. Gordon received his bachelor’s degree in economics in 2004 from Harvard University, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008.


title: Justice Department Surpasses $12 Billion in Compensation to Crime Victims Since 2000

body_text: To commemorate the 2025 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the Department of Justice reaffirms its steadfast commitment to compensate crime victims with federally forfeited assets. The Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program has surpassed $12 billion in compensation to crime victims. In fiscal year 2024 and the beginning of fiscal year 2025 alone, more than $735.3 million has been returned to victims of human trafficking; romance, investment, and healthcare fraud; business email compromise and government imposter schemes; drug diversion; and cryptocurrency-related thefts and frauds. “This extraordinary milestone demonstrates the effectiveness of the Asset Forfeiture Program in taking the profit out of crime and compensating victims,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “While the Criminal Division is deeply proud of these efforts, we recognize that crime victims often lose much more than money. We hope that victims, from exploited children to older Americans targeted by sophisticated criminal schemes, can move forward in their recovery through this compensation. This milestone was made possible by the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, which manages the Asset Forfeiture Program, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country, and the many federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies that have dedicated their time and resources to these investigations.” Recent cases in which victims were compensated for their losses with forfeited assets in 2024 or 2025 include: $4.3 Billion to Victims of Bernie Madoff United States v. Bernard L. Madoff (Southern District of New York) In December 2024, the Justice Department announced that the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) would make its 10th and final distribution of over $131.4 million to victims of the Bernard L. Madoff fraud scheme. These funds were forfeited by the U.S. government in connection with the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) fraud scheme. Through its 10 distributions, MVF paid over $4.3 billion from forfeited funds to 40,930 victims in 127 countries for losses they suffered from the collapse of BLMIS, bringing recovery for victims to nearly 94% of their fraud loss. According to court documents and information presented in related proceedings, for decades, Madoff used his position as chairman of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the investment advisory business he founded in 1960, to steal billions from his clients. On March 12, 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies, admitting that he had turned his wealth management business into the world’s largest Ponzi scheme, benefitting himself, his family, and select members of his inner circle. $420 Million to Victims of Fraud Schemes Facilitated by Western Union United States v. The Western Union Company (Middle District of Pennsylvania) In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the United States. Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct, which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and abetting wire fraud. Western Union agreed to forfeit $586 million, which has been made available to compensate victims of the international consumer fraud scheme through the remission process. Western Union simultaneously resolved a parallel civil investigation with the Federal Trade Commission. To date, the Criminal Division has disbursed more than $420 million to approximately 175,000 victims. $8 Million Returned to Victims of Email Business Compromise Scams United States v. Olalekan Jacob Ponle (Northern District of Illinois) Olalekan Jacob Ponle worked with co-schemers to engage in numerous business email compromise schemes. The co-schemers used phishing links to gain unauthorized access to email accounts and then created false instructions directing employees of the victim companies to wire money to bank accounts opened by money mules at Ponle’s direction. After unwitting employees wired money, in some cases millions of dollars, to the bank accounts, Ponle instructed the money mules to convert the proceeds to Bitcoin and send them to him. As a result of Ponle’s scheme, victim companies suffered more than $8.03 million in actual losses. The government seized the Bitcoin, obtained a final order of forfeiture, liquidated the cryptocurrency, and used the proceeds to compensate the victims of Ponle’s fraud. $5.6 Million to the Small Business Administration United States v. Aydin Kalantarov, et al. (Northern District of Ohio) According to court documents, from May 2020 through October 2020, Aydin Kalantarov, along with his two brothers, Zaur Kalantarli and Ali Kalantarli, conspired to defraud the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) of nearly $7 million in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). As part of the scheme the brothers created 70 fictious Ohio corporations with agriculture sounding names. Once the fictitious corporations were created, the brothers submitted fraudulent EIDL loan applications to the SBA claiming that their business was adversely affected by the pandemic. The SBA funded 47 of the applications for a total of approximately $7 million. $5.6 million in forfeited funds was transferred to the clerk of the court for payment to the SBA. $2.28 Million Returned to Victims of Two Business Email Compromise Schemes United States v. Contents of TD Bank Account, Account Ending 7684, Held in the Name of O’Shane K. Malcolm, et al. (District of Connecticut) United States v. Contents of Truist Bank Account Ending 5792, Held in The Name of Quest Freight LLC (District of Connecticut) In the first scam, criminal actors compromised an email account associated with a member of the management team of a city’s Board of Education. In June 2023, these actors created a fake email account that mimicked the email of a bus company that held a contract with the Board of Education for bussing. Using the fake bus company email address, the criminal actors then were able to change the bus company’s payment information from the real bus company to an account held by the criminal actors, and the city sent approximately $5.9 million dollars to the account. The government successfully seized and forfeited approximately $1,187,691 of the stolen money, which was returned to the city through remission. The second forfeiture action involved a healthcare company that was a victim of a business email compromise (BEC) attack. In April 2023, the company’s yearly medical malpractice insurance payment was set to be paid. Shortly before the due date, the company received a fraudulent email, purportedly from its malpractice insurance company, with new wire instructions. The company sent approximately $1,652,254 via a wire transfer using the newly provided instructions. The government successfully seized and forfeited approximately $1,100,694 remaining in the account, which was returned to the healthcare company through remissions. $328,500 to an Elderly Victim of a Computer Support Scam United States v. Discovery Bank Account Ending in 2237 (District of Connecticut) According to court documents, in February 2024, an elderly woman who was tricked by a computer support scheme that mimicked Microsoft customer support transferred approximately $550,000 to the scammers in two wire transfers. Within two days of the transfers, the victim and a family member reported the incident to a local police department, who then partnered with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to investigate the crime. Fortunately, one of the wire transfers, in the amount of $221,000, was reversed by the bank and returned to the victim. HSI traced the remaining money, totaling approximately $328,573, and seized it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then filed a civil asset forfeiture action to forfeit the money to the government, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and HSI then worked with the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section to return the money to the victim. $6.4 Million to the Internal Revenue Service United States v. Michael Little (Middle District of Florida) From 2019 to 2021, Michael Little filed a series of false tax returns claiming massive, bogus fuel tax credits. He filed the false returns in his own name and in the names of co-conspirators and identity theft victims. As a result of this scheme, Little and his co-conspirators obtained at least $12.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds and attempted to obtain at least $27 million more. Little and his co-conspirators also conspired to launder their ill-gotten gains and used significant portions of the fraudulent tax refunds to purchase real estate and other assets. Over $6.4 million in forfeited funds were transferred to the clerk of court for payment to the IRS. $52,000 to a Survivor of Human Trafficking United States v. Thuy Tien Luong (Western District of North Carolina) Thuy Tien Luong was convicted of forced labor and ordered to serve 15 years in prison for compelling the labor of one of her nail technicians at a salon she owned and operated. From October 2016 to June 2018, Luong forced the survivor’s labor by, among other things, physically assaulting the survivor, threatening to ruin the survivor’s reputation with her family, and falsely claiming that the survivor owed Luong a fictitious debt. In addition to resulting in the return of funds seized from Luong to the Clerk of Court to pay the survivor, the case also resulted in the return to the survivor of a seized bracelet that Luong had held as “payment” towards the survivor’s fictitious debt. $6.3 Million Returned to Estate Victims of an Embezzlement Scheme United States v. Richard J. Sherwood, et al. (Northern District of New York) Starting in 2006, Richard J. Sherwood and Thomas K. Lagan provided estate planning and related legal services to Capital Region philanthropists Warren and Pauline Bruggeman, and to Pauline’s sister, Anne Urban, all of Niskayuna, New York. They were advising the Bruggemans when, in 2006, the Bruggemans signed wills directing that all their assets go to churches, civic organizations, a local hospital, and a local university scholarship fund, aside from bequests to Urban and Julia Rentz, Pauline’s sisters. Warren Bruggeman died in April 2009, and Pauline died in August 2011. In each pleading guilty, Sherwood and Lagan admitted that they conspired to steal, and did steal, millions of dollars from Pauline Bruggeman’s estate as well as from the estate of Urban, who died in 2013. The co-conspirators admitted that they stole $11,831,563 and Sherwood also admitted that he transferred to himself the Bruggeman family camp located on Galway Lake, in Saratoga County. For additional information about the Department of Justice’s victim compensation program, please visit: Criminal Division | Victims .


title: U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 116 Border-Related Cases This Week

body_text: SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 116 border-related cases this week, including charges of transportation of illegal aliens, bringing in aliens for financial gain, receipt of bribes by public official, reentering the U.S. after deportation, deported alien found in the United States, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city). In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here . A sample of border-related arrests this week, includes: On April 10, six Mexican nationals were arrested and charged with various immigration crimes. According to complaints, they were apprehended by Border Patrol agents while attempting to illegally enter the U.S. about three miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. While an agent turned his attention to two other suspected illegal border crossers, the six defendants absconded after being placed in handcuffs. Jose Lastra Palafox, Pedro Orlando Aguilar-Vazquez, Javier Eduardo Jimenez Gonzalez, Jose Javier Solis Jardon, Joel Alonso Soria-Garcia, and Lazaro Velazquez Morales were later recaptured. On April 6, Jose Manuel Guzman, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, he was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers when a drug detection dog alerted to his vehicle as he attempted to cross the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Officers found 115 packages of methamphetamine weighing 125 pounds, concealed in the quarter panels, gas tank and doors of the vehicle, the complaint said. On April 7, Raul Vallejo-Isordia, Victor Manuel Quintero Sanez, Noe Avila, Jose Juan Cisneros-Cisneros and Valentin Gonzalez-Elizalde – all Mexican nationals - were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, the defendants were taken into custody in connection with the smuggling of 17 undocumented immigrants who were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard 12 miles west of Point Loma. Also on April 7, Dennis Geovanny Marquez-Cordova of Honduras was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, the defendant had been previously deported. Federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community. The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners. Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Justice Department Files Statement of Interest In New York in Support of Religious Muslim Community’s Land Use Claim

component: Civil Rights Division

body_text: The Justice Department filed a statement of interest today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York supporting a claim by a religious Islamic organization that the Town of Oyster Bay violated its rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when it denied the organization’s site plan application to expand its current facility into a mosque that would meet the religious needs of its congregation. The lawsuit alleges that Muslims on Long Island (MOLI) have worshipped at a mosque in Bethpage, Long Island, since 1998, but that it has grown and now needs additional space for prayer, religious education, ritual washing and religious counseling. In its complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction, MOLI claims that the Town’s recently revised zoning code imposes more onerous parking requirements on houses of worship than on comparable nonreligious places of assembly like theaters, museums and libraries. MOLI alleges that the Town denied its application to expand its house of worship, relying on the Town’s recently revised parking code. The Department’s statement of interest supports MOLI’s argument that the zoning code treats religious uses less favorably than non-religious uses, in violation of RLUIPA’s equal terms provision, and that the Town has failed to justify this unequal treatment. “RLUIPA prohibits local governments from imposing more onerous requirements on religious assemblies than comparable nonreligious assemblies,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Zoning codes violate RLUIPA when they single out religious uses for tougher restrictions than comparable secular uses. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigilantly enforce RLUIPA’s protections and ensure that religious groups have equal access to places to worship.” “Zoning regulations that unfairly restrict assemblies by faith-based groups violate federal law,” said United States Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York. “Municipalities cannot impose tougher parking or other land use standards on houses of worship than comparable secular assemblies. The Justice Department and my Office will vigorously protect the right of religious institutions to receive equal treatment under the law.” RLUIPA is a federal law that protects persons and religious institutions from unduly burdensome, unequal, or discriminatory land use regulations. More information about RLUIPA and the department’s efforts to enforce it can be found on the Place to Worship Initiative’s webpage . As part of this initiative, the department distributed a letter to state, county, and municipal leaders throughout the country to remind them of their obligations under RLUIPA, including its requirement that land use regulations treat religious assemblies and institutions at least as well as nonreligious assemblies and institutions. Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section at (718) 254-7000 or the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the RLUIPA complaint portal . More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php .


title: Oakland Resident Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison For Unlawful Possession Of A Firearm And Ammunition

component: USAO - California, Northern

body_text: SAN FRANCISCO – Pedro Juarez was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a felony, announced Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and ATF Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Cicolani. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge. Juarez, 33, of Oakland, Calif., was found guilty of the charge by a jury on September 25, 2024. The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that, on August 16, 2023, Juarez forced a woman he knew to travel with him from San Jose to San Francisco. After Juarez let the woman go, she called 9-1-1 and police responded to a location in San Francisco at which Juarez was located. Juarez fled from police and, during his flight, pulled a handgun from his waistband and began to point it towards officers before his arm hit a railing and the firearm fell to the ground. The firearm was loaded with ammunition. In addition to the 84-month prison term, Judge Breyer ordered Juarez serve a three-year term of supervised release, which will begin after he leaves prison. Judge Breyer also ordered Juarez to forfeit his interest in the recovered firearm and ammunition. Juarez is currently in custody and will begin to serve is prison term immediately. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ivana Djak and Noah Stern with the assistance of Tina Rosenbaum and Madeline Wachs. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the ATF.


title: Judge Hands Down 18 Year Sentence for the 2021 Fatal Shooting of a Man in Southeast, Washington, DC

component: USAO - District of Columbia

body_text: WASHINGTON – Kirk Spencer, 30, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on April 9, 2025, to 18 years in prison for the February 2021 shooting death of Marcus Covington, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein sentenced Spencer to the upper middle of the guideline period of incarceration, 18 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Spencer pleaded guilty on October 11, 2024, to one count of second-degree murder while armed with a firearm. At approximately 1:35 p.m., on February 23, 2021, Spencer and the decedent, Mr. Marcus Covington, were on the Anacostia Metro platform, located in the 1100 block of Howard Road in Southeast, Washington, DC. Video surveillance footage captured Spencer descend the escalator to the platform where he approached the victim, Marcus Covington. He greeted the victim with a half-hug and the two engaged in a brief conversation. At the end of the conversation, the defendant half-hugged Mr. Covington and as Mr. Covington was turning to head back to the bench area on the platform, Spencer pulled a handgun from his pocket, held it to the side of Mr. Covington’s head and shot him twice. Mr. Covington fell to the ground and as he laid there, Spencer fired again and fled the station. Mr. Covington was transported to Medstar Washington Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead early the next morning. In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marybeth Manfreda and Ryan Sellinger of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.


title: Cuban National Sentenced to Federal Prison for Alien Smuggling

component: USAO - Florida, Southern

body_text: MIAMI – A federal district judge in Miami sentenced a Cuban national to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after he previously pleaded guilty to alien smuggling in January. On Sept. 29, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers on a CBP air and maritime operations vessel, intercepted Rafael Rodriguez Hernandez, 35, while he was transporting 27 people on his boat from the Bahamas to the United States. The CBP officers brought the individuals from Hernandez’s boat onboard the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Richard Etheridge where USCG Officers confirmed that all the individuals, except Hernandez, were aliens who did not have authorization to enter the United States. The CBP officers also determined that five of the aliens were Ecuadorian nationals who had been previously removed from the United States. USCG officers brought Hernandez and the five Ecuadorians to shore to face charges. The rest of the aliens were returned to the Bahamas. U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, announced Hernandez’s sentence. HSI Miami investigated the case with assistance from CBP and USCG, 7th Coast Guard District. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner Stiehl is prosecuting the case. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov , under case number 24-cr-20458. ###


title: Owner Of Florida Healthcare Companies Sentenced for Employment Tax Crimes

body_text: Defendant Did Not Pay Over $10M in Taxes MIAMI – A Florida man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4,381,265.76 in restitution to the United States for willfully failing to pay over employment taxes and willfully failing to file individual income tax returns. According to court documents and statements made in court, Paul Walczak controlled a network of interconnected health care companies operating under various names, including Palm Health Partners. Through another of his entities, Palm Health Partners Employment Services (PHPES), Walczak employed over 600 people and paid over $24 million annually in payroll. As such, Walczak was required to withhold Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes from his employees’ paychecks and to pay those monies over to the IRS each quarter, and to pay the companies’ portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes. For more than a decade, Walczak was not compliant with his tax obligations and instead used the withheld taxes to enrich himself. In 2011, Walczak did not pay two quarters of withheld taxes to the IRS. In 2012, the IRS began collection efforts, including by sending him notices about his unpaid taxes, and by meeting with Walczak to help bring him into compliance. When that effort was unsuccessful, the IRS assessed the outstanding taxes against him personally. After that was imposed, Walczak paid the assessments in October 2014. Walczak’s compliance did not last long, however. By the end of the following year, Walczak was again withholding taxes from his employees’ paychecks and keeping the money. From 2016 through 2019, Walczak withheld $7,432,223.80 of taxes from his employees’ paychecks, but did not pay those taxes over to the IRS. While Walczak was withholding taxes from the pay of his employees under the pretext of paying these funds to the IRS, he used over $1 million from his businesses’ bank accounts to purchase a yacht, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal bank accounts, and used the business accounts for personal purchases at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier, and Saks. During this same time, he also did not pay $3,480,111 of his business’s portion of his employees’ Social Security and Medicare taxes. By 2019, the IRS had assessed millions of dollars in civil penalties against Walczak. Beginning with the 2018 tax year, Walczak also stopped filing personal income tax returns despite that he was still receiving income including a $360,000 salary from PHPES and $450,000 in transfers from his business bank accounts. Moreover, in 2019, Walczak created a new business, NextEra. Walczak used a family member as the 99% nominal owner of NextEra, but Walczak had ultimate control of the finances and operations of NextEra. Through NextEra, Walczak transferred in 2020 just under $200,000 to a bank account titled in a family member’s name, over $250,000 to a bank account in his wife’s name, and over $800,000 in payments directly to third parties for Walczak’s personal expenses, including clothing stores, department stores, and fishing retailers. In total, Walczak caused a tax loss to the IRS of $10,912,334.80 U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Special Agent in Charge Emmanuel Gomez of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement. IRS-CI investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Andres E. Chinchilla for the Southern District of Florida, and Trial Attorneys Brian Flanagan, Andrew Ascencio, and Ashley Stein of the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cr-80024. ###


title: Alpine Man Sentenced to Six Years for Fentanyl Trafficking

body_text: SAN DIEGO – Erik David Morgan of Alpine was sentenced in federal court today to 72 months in prison for possessing a significant amount of fentanyl with the intent to distribute. According to plea documents, Morgan used social media messaging applications to arrange to sell 3.5 grams of fentanyl for $150 to an individual who was, in fact, an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). On March 14, 2024, when Morgan arrived at the meeting location in El Cajon, he was encountered by uniformed El Cajon police officers, who discovered Morgan in possession of 10.05 grams of fentanyl. Federal agents and task force officers with Homeland Security Investigations’ Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST) led this investigation. HSI San Diego FAST is a multiagency task force comprising state, local and federal partners and was first established in August 2022 focusing on the disruption and dismantlement of criminal organizations that smuggle and distribute fentanyl with San Diego County. HSI’s FAST targets fentanyl smuggling and distribution networks to counter the rising overdose rate and decrease the availability and accessibility of fentanyl. Fentanyl remains a serious threat. The latest DEA laboratory testing announced last fall indicated that five out of 10 pills tested contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. For perspective, one gram of fentanyl, equivalent in size to a sugar packet, has the potential to kill up to 500 people. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron McElhose. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). DEFENDANT Case Number 24cr787-BAS Erik David Morgan Age: 44 Alpine, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGES Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841(a)(1) Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $1,000,000 fine INVESTIGATING AGENCIES Homeland Security Investigations El Cajon Police Department


title: Justice Department Files Statement of Interest in New York in Support of Muslim Community’s Land Use Claim

component: USAO - New York, Eastern

body_text: The Justice Department filed a statement of interest today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York supporting a claim by a religious Islamic organization that the Town of Oyster Bay violated its rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when it denied the organization’s site plan application to expand its current facility into a mosque that would meet the religious needs of its congregation. The lawsuit alleges that Muslims on Long Island (MOLI) have worshipped at a mosque in Bethpage, Long Island, since 1998, but that it has grown and now needs additional space for prayer, religious education, ritual washing and religious counseling. In its complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction, MOLI claims that the Town’s recently revised zoning code imposes more onerous parking requirements on houses of worship than on comparable nonreligious places of assembly like theaters, museums and libraries. MOLI alleges that the Town denied its application to expand its house of worship, relying on the Town’s revised parking code. The Department’s statement of interest supports MOLI’s argument that the zoning code treats religious uses less favorably than non-religious uses, in violation of RLUIPA’s equal terms provision, and that the Town has failed to justify this unequal treatment. “RLUIPA prohibits local governments from imposing more onerous requirements on religious assemblies than comparable nonreligious assemblies,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Zoning codes violate RLUIPA when they single out religious uses for tougher restrictions than comparable secular uses. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigilantly enforce RLUIPA’s protections and ensure that religious groups have equal access to places to worship.” “Zoning regulations that unfairly restrict assemblies by faith-based groups violate federal law,” said United States Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York. “Municipalities cannot impose tougher parking or other land use standards on houses of worship than comparable secular assemblies. The Justice Department and my Office will vigorously protect the right of religious institutions to receive equal treatment under the law.” RLUIPA is a federal law that protects persons and religious institutions from unduly burdensome, unequal, or discriminatory land use regulations. More information about RLUIPA and the department’s efforts to enforce it can be found on the Place to Worship Initiative’s webpage . The department distributed a letter to state, county, and municipal leaders throughout the country to remind them of their obligations under RLUIPA, including its requirement that land use regulations treat religious assemblies and institutions at least as well as nonreligious assemblies and institutions. This matter is being handled by the Office’s Civil Division, Civil Rights Chief Michael J. Goldberger with Trial Attorneys Noah Sacks and Beth Pepper of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section at (718) 254-7000 or the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the RLUIPA complaint portal . More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php . E.D.N.Y. Docket No.: 25-CV-428 (SJB) moli_brief_filed.pdf


title: Deadly Illegal Alien Smuggling Venture Leads to Federal Prison Sentence for Cuban National

body_text: MIAMI – Today, a federal district judge in Miami sentenced a 25-year-old woman who was in the country unlawfully to seven-and-a-half years in prison for her role in a for-profit scheme to illegally smuggle 18 Cubans by boat from the island, across the Florida straits, and into the United States. Sixteen people died during the trip. Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves pleaded guilty to alien smuggling conspiracy and related charges on January 21, 2025. The Facts: Dominguez-Nieves is a Cuban national who entered the United States illegally in October 2022. A month later, she and a boyfriend arranged to illegally smuggle 18 Cubans by boat from the island, through the Florida straits, and into the United States at Florida’s coast. They would charge admission for the trip. In the weeks leading up to it, for example, Dominguez-Nieves collected over $11,500 from South Florida family members of the to-be-smuggled Cuban aliens. On November 16, 2024, the smugglers’ fishing boat left Playa Jaimanitas, Cuba toward South Florida with about 18 aliens onboard. It sank approximately 30 miles into the trip, killing 16 identified people, many of whom were children. Three of their bodies washed up in Monroe County, Florida. Cause of death: drowning. According to two survivors, the boat was too small for 18 people, did not carry lifejackets, and its captain did not seem to know what he was doing. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom imposed a sentence higher than that recommended by the advisory federal sentencing guidelines due to the severity of the offense. U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. Margelot of the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), Southeast Field Office announced the sentence. CGIS Southeast Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller is prosecuting this case. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 24-CR-20223. ###


title: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Enticement of a Minor

body_text: MIAMI – Clifford Frederic Lind, 40, pleaded guilty in federal court this week to attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor and attempting to entice a minor. Lind, who used the online alias “it is what it is,” admitted to engaging in sexually explicit communications with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. In connection with his guilty plea, Lind admitted that between May 29 and June 4, 2024, he communicated with a person he believed was an underage girl, via a social media application and text messages. During the exchanges, Lind sent sexually explicit images and videos of himself and requested sexual images in return. Lind also discussed plans to meet the supposed 13-year-old in person to engage in sexual activity, including details about picking her up and where they would stay. The communications, which took place while Lind was in the Southern District of Florida, involved the use of a smartphone and the internet, with the illicit materials traveling through interstate commerce. Sentencing is set for July 9, at 10:00 a.m., in Key West before United States District Court Judge Darrin P. Gayles. Lind faces up to life in prison. U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami made the announcement. FBI Miami, Key West Resident Agency investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Maultasch is prosecuting the case. Assistant United States Attorney Sara Klco is handling asset forfeiture. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov . Anyone with information relating to child sexual exploitation or abuse is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov , under case number 24-cr-10008. ###


title: Washington State Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Enticing and Sexually Exploiting Three Oregon Children Online

component: USAO - Oregon

body_text: PORTLAND, Ore.—A Battleground, Washington man was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for coercing and sexually exploiting three children online using Discord, an instant messaging social media application. Jakob Joshua Stickney, 26, was sentenced to 246 months in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of his victims. According to court documents, between August and September 2023, Stickney, who used the names “UNHOLY,” “unholy_xx2,” or “Unholy_22x” online, engaged in sexually explicit communications with children on Discord. Following months of online chatting with children in different states, Stickney attempted to arrange an in-person meetup with a child in Oregon. Stickney went in person to the child’s house where he was confronted by the child’s mother, and she reported the contact to law enforcement. In October 2023, Discord submitted a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for sexually explicit messages that occurred between Stickney and another child. Stickney learned the child had a sibling and persuaded both children to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, he convinced the child to record sexually explicit conduct and send to him to gain membership to a Discord group called “Unholy Girls” that Stickney created and maintained. Stickney was arrested on November 17, 2023, and his phone, which contained child sexual abuse material, was seized. On December 30, 2024, Stickney was charged by criminal information with coercing and enticing a minor, sexually exploiting children, and possessing child pornography. On January 23, 2025, Stickney pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting children and coercing and enticing a minor. This case was investigated by the FBI and Portland Police Bureau. It was prosecuted by Eliza Carmen Rodriguez, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov . The FBI Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF) conducts sexual exploitation investigations, many of them undercover, in coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. CETF is committed to locating and arresting those who prey on children as well as recovering and assisting victims of sex trafficking and child exploitation. Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. It is important to remember child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document the victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, re-victimize and re-traumatize the child victims each time their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org . This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc .


title: Restaurant Owner Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Tax Evasion and COVID-Relief Fraud

body_text: SAN DIEGO – Restaurateur Leronce Suel was sentenced in federal court today to 42 months in prison for submitting more than $1.7 million in fraudulent applications for COVID relief programs and failing to report the income to the IRS. Suel was convicted by a federal jury in September 2024 of wire fraud, conspiracy, and tax crimes. The court ordered him to pay $1,773,245 in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration and criminal forfeiture of $1,466,918 from the over $2.4 million in cash seized from Suel’s home in June 2022. Restitution to the IRS will be determined at a hearing on June 6, 2025. Suel was the majority owner of Rockstar Dough LLC and Chicken Feed LLC, both of which operated restaurants in the San Diego area, including Streetcar Merchants in the North Park neighborhood. “This defendant took resources meant to support those most vulnerable during a time of crisis and used them for his own enrichment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “By misappropriating over $1.7 million in COVID relief funds, he robbed individuals and families of the assistance they desperately needed. Today, justice holds him accountable for his exploitation of a public emergency for personal gain.” According to evidence presented at his eight-day trial, Suel conspired with his business partner to underreport over $1.7 million in gross receipts on Rockstar Dough LLC’s 2020 corporate tax return and COVID relief applications. Suel’s businesses also fraudulently received approximately $1,773,245 million in COVID-related Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants by falsely certifying his businesses were eligible and that his businesses would use the money appropriately. Instead of using the COVID-19 relief program funds on eligible expenses like rent and payroll, Suel and his co-conspirator made substantial cash withdrawals from their business bank accounts and purchased a home in Arkansas. As part of their conspiracy, Suel concealed more than $2.4 million in cash in his bedroom. On June 23, 2022, IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents executed a search warrant at Suel’s residence where they seized the $2.4 million in cash. During the trial, the evidence showed that Suel attempted to cover-up his crimes by providing false information to an accountant who prepared dozens of original and amended tax returns that contained false information. In 2023, Suel signed and filed these original and amended tax returns for prior years that included false depreciable assets, business losses, and deductions. In one example, Suel caused one business to deduct significant amounts of rent for years 2020 and 2021, but evidence at trial established Suel paid no rent to that restaurant’s landlord. Suel also failed to report income he received from his business, including millions of dollars in cash and personal expenses paid for by the businesses. “Mr. Suel’s 10-plus years of tax evasion and fraudulent claims for COVID relief grants and loans caught up to him when a jury of his peers found him guilty,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Now Mr. Suel will feel the repercussions of his disregard for his fellow taxpayers. Our tax system only works when people pay their fair share, and IRS-CI will continue pursue those who evade their tax responsibilities to their fellow Americans.” This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Beeler and Trial Attorney Julia Rugg of the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division. DEFENDANTS Case Number 23-CR-965-RBM Leronce Suel Age: 47 Fayetteville, Arkansas SUMMARY OF CHARGES Wire Fraud Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349 Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $1,000,000 fine Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1343 Maximum Penalty: Thirty years in prison and $1,000,000 fine Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S. – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371 Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine Tax Evasion – Title 26, U.S.C., Section 7201 Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison and $100,000 fine Filing False Tax Returns – Title 26, U.S.C., Section 7206(1) Maximum Penalty: Three years in prison and $100,000 fine Failure to File –Title 26, U.S.C., Section 7203 Maximum Penalty: One year in prison and $25,000 INVESTIGATING AGENCY Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)


title: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico Weekly Immigration and Border Crimes Report

component: USAO - New Mexico

body_text: ALBUQUERQUE – Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced its immigration enforcement statistics for this week. These cases are prosecuted in partnership with the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, along with Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, and assistance from other federal, state, and county agencies. In the one-week period ending April 11, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office brought the following criminal charges in New Mexico: 63 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326) 4 individuals were charged this week with Alien Smuggling (8 U.S.C. 1324) 38 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325) Many of the defendants charged pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1326 had prior criminal convictions, with some of those convictions being for drug trafficking, alien smuggling, and grand theft. It was announced this week that a Guatemalan citizen , previously convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 14, was sentenced to 100 months in prison for illegally reentering the United States on July 23, 2024. This reentry occurred just three months after his most recent removal from the country. In a separate case, Jose Soto-Perez and Marco Olvera-Aguilar were each sentenced to 36 months of incarceration for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death. The April 9, 2024, incident involved the defendants leading a group of migrants across active railroad tracks near the U.S.-Mexico border, where one individual was struck and killed by a train. 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. [use if applicable] Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). These statistics represent prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico only. The numbers do not include individuals apprehended by immigration enforcement officials and subjected solely to administrative process. Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for the District of New Mexico. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children. The District of New Mexico consists of 33 counties and shares 180 miles of international border with Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from Albuquerque and Las Cruces work directly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to prosecute immigration-related and other federal offenses.