Northern District of Illinois

ROCKFORD — A Stephenson County, Ill. man has been sentenced to 150 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting numerous children, including infants and toddlers.

For more than a decade, MATTHEW KAUFMAN enticed multiple children to engage in sexually explicit conduct and recorded it.  Kaufman coerced and enticed some of the children via the social media application Snapchat.  He stored hundreds of videos and images of the abuse on his electronic devices.

Kaufman is a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2008 of a felony offense for possessing child pornography. The following year, he began the abuse that gave rise to this federal conviction and 150-year sentence.

Kaufman, 45, of Lena, Ill., pleaded guilty in 2025 to three counts of production of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Iain D. Johnston on Thursday imposed the 150-year prison term and ordered that it be followed by a lifetime of court-supervised release.  Kaufman was also ordered to pay $28,000 in restitution to his victims.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department provided valuable assistance. 

“Over the course of at least thirteen years, defendant, a convicted sex offender, preyed upon vulnerable children for his own sexual gratification,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S. Maveus argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “By repeatedly and violently sexually abusing multiple young girls, defendant has proven that he is truly a predator and that each of the images and videos he created depict a crime scene.”

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to https://www.missingkids.org/ or calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ROCKFORD — The owner of a Rockford restaurant has been sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison for burning down his restaurant and filing a false insurance claim.

JAMES PURIFOY intentionally started a fire inside the 15th and Chris restaurant, 201 15th Ave. in Rockford, on Jan. 22, 2023.  To hide his involvement from law enforcement, Purifoy left the premises before police and fire personnel arrived to put out the fire. Purifoy admitted to obstructing the subsequent arson investigation by providing false statements to the Rockford Police Department, Rockford Fire Department, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Purifoy later filed a fraudulent insurance claim, which paid him $305,400.

Purifoy, 51, of Rockford, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to a federal arson charge.  U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed the 66-month prison term during a hearing on Wednesday in federal court in Rockford.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge for ATF’s Chicago Field Division, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Timothy Morris, Jr., Division Chief of the Rockford Fire Department  The Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation and prosecution.

“Arson is a seriously dangerous crime which can have devastating consequences,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S. Maveus argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “An intentionally set fire unnecessarily risks the lives of bystanders and first responders.  Others who engage in reckless and deceitful behavior must be on notice that they will be held accountable.”

“The City of Rockford Fire Department worked closely with the ATF throughout this long investigation,” said Division Chief Morris.  “The joint effort between the ATF and City Fire Investigators resulted in a case closure.  This outcome reflects our department's commitment to holding those who intentionally set fires fully accountable, protecting our community, our firefighters, and the integrity of the insurance system that citizens and residents depend on.”

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois has charged a man with illegally possessing a loaded firearm in the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.

JAMES C. LAKE, JR. possessed a loaded semiautomatic handgun on Monday morning in the lobby of the Dirksen Building, which is located at 219 S. Dearborn St. in Chicago’s downtown Loop neighborhood, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The Dirksen Building houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the offices of various governmental agencies.  It is the largest federal courthouse in the United States both by square footage and number of federal judges.

According to the complaint, Lake approached the Court Security Officers around 7:40 a.m. and placed a bookbag containing the gun, a box cutter, and a jackknife onto the magnetometer conveyer belt.  Lake informed the officers that he had a gun and “other stuff” in the bag, the complaint states.  Officers searched the bag and discovered the gun with a loaded magazine, the box cutter, 23 live rounds of ammunition, and the jackknife inside its sheath.  The seized items can be seen in the photo below.

An inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service took Lake into custody and seized the contraband.  Lake had previously been convicted of a federal felony and was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The complaint charges Lake, 53, of Chicago, with illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.  Lake made an initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday and was ordered to remain detained in federal custody.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and LaDon Reynolds, United States Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alec Smith.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for engaging in immigration fraud, possessing child pornography, and committing tax fraud.

JOSE GREGORIO SOSA CARDONA operated Delta Global Solutions, Inc., which assisted individuals in applying for asylum, immigrant visas, and other immigration benefits.  From 2020 to 2024, Sosa Cardona conspired with others to knowingly provide false information to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of his foreign national clients who were seeking immigration benefits.  Among other things, Sosa Cardona fabricated foreign law enforcement reports and other documents to falsely corroborate his clients’ asylum claims.  He also falsely represented himself as a licensed attorney to clients and USCIS when, in fact, he was not an attorney and was not authorized to represent applicants in U.S. immigration proceedings.

A court-authorized search of Sosa Cardona’s electronic devices in 2024 turned up approximately 2,877 photos and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Sosa Cardona also filed fraudulent individual tax returns and failed to pay taxes withheld from his employees’ pay for the calendar years 2020 to 2023, causing a loss to the IRS of approximately $316,000.

Sosa Cardona, 42, of Downers Grove, Ill., pleaded guilty in November 2025 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of tax fraud.  U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani imposed the nine-year prison sentence during a hearing on May 7, 2026, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell. 

On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”).  The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs. 

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than six and a half years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded firearm while attempting to burglarize a store in Chicago.

NARVEAL RAGGS possessed a loaded handgun in the early morning hours of Nov. 15, 2024, while he and others attempted to break into a store in the 2600 block of North Halsted Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. The handgun had been equipped with a “switch” device, allowing it to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger, essentially turning the firearm into a machine gun.  Chicago Police officers arrived on the scene before Raggs and the others could break into the store.  Raggs took off running and threw the handgun onto the roof of a nearby building before he was apprehended.

Raggs had previously been convicted of several felony offenses, including firearm-related convictions, and was legally prohibited from possessing a gun.

Raggs, 27, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to a federal charge of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.  On May 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall sentenced Raggs to six years and 8 months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Jodrey.

CHICAGO — An illegal alien residing in Aurora, Ill., has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for feloniously assaulting law enforcement officers during the execution of an arrest warrant.

The assaults occurred on the afternoon of July 17, 2025, in the lobby of the Kane County Sheriff’s Department in St. Charles, Ill.  Two officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations approached FRANCISCO JAVIER ACEVEDO-CALDERA and informed him that they had a warrant for his arrest.  Acevedo-Caldera, who had recently been bonded out of the Kane County Jail, resisted the arrest, kicked one of the officers, head-butted the other officer, and then bit a Kane County Sheriff’s Deputy who offered to help, puncturing the Deputy’s skin.  The officers were eventually able to subdue Acevedo-Caldera and execute the arrest warrant.

Acevedo-Caldera, 40, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to a federal charge of assaulting a federal employee.  On May 7, 2026, U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel sentenced Acevedo-Caldera to 12 months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Raymond Hernandez, Acting Field Director for ICE-ERO in Chicago.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Kane County Sheriff’s Department.

“Defendant’s conduct was serious—he made physical contact with all three officer victims and caused bodily injury to two of them,” Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Finch argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Assaulting these officers in a government building caused risk to public safety and demonstrated disrespect for the law and law enforcement.”

CHICAGO — Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today announced his appointment to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), a select and prestigious body of United States Attorneys chosen by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to advise Department of Justice leadership on national law enforcement priorities.  U.S. Attorney Boutros’s appointment to the AGAC reflects both his leadership in the nation’s third largest federal district and the important role the Northern District of Illinois plays in leading from the front as well as confronting emerging threats to public safety and national security.

Created in 1973, the AGAC is comprised of an exclusive group of 18 United States Attorneys and is designed to ensure broad geographic, operational, and subject-matter representation.  Members work through subcommittees and working groups on issues including violent crime, national security, fraud, narcoterrorism, and other critical priorities as set by the President of the United States.  The Committee plays a central role in ensuring that the experience of federal prosecutors in the field informs national Department of Justice strategy.

U.S. Attorney Boutros and other members of the AGAC met with Acting Attorney General Blanche and other Department leadership last week and will hold the first substantive meeting next month.

“I am honored to be appointed to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “I want to thank Acting Attorney General Blanche for his trust and confidence in me.  I accept his appointment with sincere humility, fully mindful of the immense responsibility it carries, and the exceptional standards of excellence set by Department leadership and my colleagues on the Committee.  As United States Attorney, I have been sharply focused on innovating, driving results, productivity, scalability, and maximizing impact, including reducing violence and disrupting fraud—all while staying true to the Department’s cherished and ancient motto: ‘Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur,’ meaning, ‘Who prosecutes on behalf of justice.’” I will do my utmost to carry that mission forward while working closely with my colleagues on the AGAC to achieve the Department’s core priorities.”

U.S. Attorney Boutros took the Oath of Office as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on April 7, 2025.  He serves as the top federal law enforcement official in the Northern District of Illinois, which contains approximately nine million people in 18 counties.  In his 13 months as U.S. Attorney, he has prioritized prosecutions of violent criminals, transnational cartels and terrorist groups, human traffickers, fraud actors, and numerous other criminal offenders.

As an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2008 to 2015, U.S. Attorney Boutros investigated and successfully prosecuted hundreds of cases, many of which involved matters of national and international significance.  From 2015 until his appointment as United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney Boutros worked in private law practice in Chicago, holding various leadership roles, including Co-Chair of White Collar.  For 16 consecutive years, U.S. Attorney Boutros has taught an advanced criminal law course at the University of Chicago Law School.  While practicing law full time, U.S. Attorney Boutros has also written and spoken extensively on criminal law and criminal law adjacent topics, including publishing two books, authoring nearly 160 articles and book chapters, and presenting at 100 speaking engagements.

U.S. Attorney Boutros earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree, In-Honors summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech.  He also clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for the Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr.

The AGAC is comprised of 18 U.S. Attorneys and First Assistant U.S. Attorneys who lead their offices.  U.S. Attorney Boutros will serve alongside the Committee’s Chairman, Jay Clayton (Southern District of New York) and Vice-Chairwoman, Leah Foley (District of Massachusetts), as well as U.S. Attorney Dan Bishop (Middle District of North Carolina), U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford (District of Oregon), U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine (District of Arizona), Acting U.S. Attorney Catherine Crosby (Northern District of Alabama), U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant (Western District of Tennessee), First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison (District of New Mexico), First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli (Central District of California), U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon (Southern District of California), U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon (Eastern District of Michigan), Acting U.S. Attorney John Marck (Southern District of Texas), U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly (District of Colorado), U.S. Attorney David Metcalf (Eastern District of Pennsylvania), U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (District of Columbia), U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones (Southern District of Florida), and U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods (District of Nebraska).

CHICAGO – Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today assembled the highest law enforcement leadership from the entire federal apparatus in the Chicagoland region for a historic, first-of-its-kind summit to discuss collaborative efforts to oversee important federal enforcement priorities and do the people’s business.  The most senior leaders from more than 40 federal agencies operating in the Chicagoland region participated in the summit, as did nine U.S. Attorneys from the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) and other federal districts, in addition to the Head of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force.

The day-long 2026 Chicago-Area Federal Agency Leadership Summit, informally dubbed “Davos in Chicago,” began with the Presentation of Colors and then moved on to a series of presentations and panel discussions focused on six key program areas: (i) violent crime, (ii) national security, (iii) narcoterrorism, (iv) government fraud, (v) trade fraud, and (vi) quantum computing.  U.S. Attorney Boutros convened the summit to reinforce areas of collaboration and synergies among the agencies as part of a whole-of-government approach intended to strengthen the safety and security of the Northern District of Illinois, the region, as well as the public fisc.  The pioneering summit represented the first time anywhere in the country that a United States Attorney has convened and hosted a gathering of an entire region’s federal leadership.

“As the chief federal law enforcement officer of the third largest federal district in the country—and of a U.S. Attorney’s Office that is one of the most storied in our nation’s history—I have the distinct privilege and honor to lead from the front and make the Northern District of Illinois the envy of the nation when it comes to effectuating positive changes for the betterment of the people,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “I convened this important summit because we have reached a critical juncture in Chicago where ‘good enough’ is simply not enough.  My goal in bringing together the highest-ranking officials from more than 40 federal agencies and all the U.S. Attorneys of the Seventh Circuit and others is to innovate and achieve real, positive, and transformational results both rapidly and fairly.  Although the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is in constant contact with many of these partners throughout the year, a summit of this magnitude will serve as a model for other districts, while for our purposes, allows for agency and district partners to come together in one room to exchange ideas and have candid discussions about what’s working, what’s not working, where changes may be needed, and how we can best support each other for the betterment of our communities and the nation.   My message to the leaders assembled today was clear: We must be intentional with our actions.  We must let our actions speak for themselves.  We must rise to the occasion at this moment in time.  And we must stay focused, ignore distractions, work closely together, and move with purpose, intensity, accuracy, and impact in support of our public safety and law enforcement missions.  The people are counting on us, and we must deliver for them.”

Today’s summit featured various panels and presentations, including three panels—comprised of Section Chiefs, office leaders, and agency heads—entitled, (i) “Government Fraud and Corruption,” (ii) “Anti-Violence Initiatives in Chicago,” and (iii) “Homeland Security Task Force, Narcotics Trafficking, and Narco-Terrorism.”  Two additional panels, one led by the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of Michigan and Southern District of Indiana, tackled the difficult topic of national security threats posed to our research institutions, while another panel led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation discussed quantum computing given Chicago’s emergence as a global quantum capital.

In addition, Cody Herche, Head of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force, presented on the Trade Fraud Task Force and its significance in the Chicagoland region, where the Northern District of Illinois has expansive venue.  The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is lead prosecutorial partner on the Trade Fraud Task Force, which brings robust enforcement against importers, brokers, purchasers, industrial and commercial end-users, and other supply chain actors and parties who seek to defraud the United States or introduce non-compliant goods into the commerce of the United States. 

Finally, today’s summit concluded with a special panel of United States Attorneys from throughout the Seventh Circuit, which includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.  U.S. Attorney Boutros moderated this panel, which discussed district and region priorities, emerging legal issues in the Midwest, and collaborative ways for the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to address them.  Also in attendance at the summit were the United States Attorneys for the Western District of Missouri and Eastern District of Arkansas.

The informal name of today’s summit—“Davos in Chicago”—draws from the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, which brings together world leaders and top businesspersons for a renowned conference each January in Davos, Switzerland.

The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office wishes to extend a special thank you to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for physically hosting today’s summit in its downtown Chicago headquarters and for the incredibly warm hospitality it extended to all those who gathered. 

Three affiliated skilled nursing facilities in Illinois have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing the submission of false claims to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for medically unnecessary rehabilitation services. Under the agreement, Symphony Jackson Square LLC doing business as Symphony of Chicago West, Symphony Park South LLC doing business as Symphony of Morgan Park, and Symphony Midway LLC will pay the United States a total of $300,000. The settlement is based on their ability to pay.

Prior to October 2019, Medicare reimbursed skilled nursing facilities for therapy services to patients based on a patient’s resource utilization group (RUG). The RUG was to be determined by the amount of therapy and other services provided to the patient. The more therapy a patient received each week, the higher the RUG category, and the higher reimbursement a facility received. The United States alleged that, between Jan. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2019, the skilled nursing facilities billed Medicare for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech pathology services provided to patients for longer than medically necessary and without regard for patients’ individual medical needs. These actions resulted in the submission of false claims based on inflated RUG levels.

“We expect nursing facilities to provide their patients, which include some of our most vulnerable citizens, reasonable and appropriate amounts of skilled rehabilitation therapy services,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department is committed to holding accountable skilled nursing facilities that provide services based on their financial interests rather than the clinical needs of their patients.”

“Providing unnecessary medical services endangers the health of patients and raises the cost of treatment and insurance premiums for hard-working taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will remain vigilant in our efforts to deter those who seek to exploit critically important federal health care programs that are intended to help people in need — not cheats who seek to abuse and misuse our nation’s generosity.”

“Skilled nursing facilities that place profits above patient care betray the trust placed in them by vulnerable beneficiaries and the Medicare program,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “HHS‑OIG will not tolerate the provision or billing of medically unnecessary services. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to protect vulnerable beneficiaries and ensure taxpayer‑funded health care dollars are used appropriately.”

“The FBI is committed to ensuring that the nation’s nursing facilities are poised to provide top-notch, medically necessary care, not putting vulnerable patients at-risk or increasing the costs for vital health care,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office. “While greed and fraud are often uncovered in law enforcement investigations, the FBI is uniquely poised with the personnel and resources to ensure that critical programs like Medicare and Medicaid are protected. Today’s announcement underscores the importance of the work that the FBI and our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners engage in to ensure offenders face accountability. We would especially like to thank the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General for their partnership in this investigation.”

The allegations resolved by the settlement arose from a qui tam or whistleblower lawsuit filed by Integra Med Analytics LLC. Under the False Claims Act, private parties can sue on behalf of the government and receive a portion of any recovery. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Integra Med Analytics LLC v. Symphony Healthcare LLC et al., No. 20-CV-0348 (N.D. Ill.).  The whistleblower will receive $45,000 of the recovered funds.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Northern District of Illinois, HHS-OIG, and the FBI.

The matter was handled by Fraud Section Attorney Rachel Karpoff and Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Wawzenski for the Northern District of Illinois.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Note: This release has been updated to reflect the contributions of additional law enforcement partners.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for stealing more than $10 million in goods, including liquor and commercial-grade copper, from interstate shipments.

From 2020 to 2023, AIVARAS ZIGMANTAS used various aliases to falsely pose as a representative of real and fictitious carriers and brokers that offered to transport shipments across state lines.  After fraudulently inducing individuals and entities to release shipments of goods to him, Zigmantas and others diverted the shipments from their intended destinations and stole the goods.

Zigmantas and others intended to steal at least $14.6 million in goods and successfully stole more than $10.1 million.

Zigmantas, 41, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., pleaded guilty in December 2025 to a federal wire fraud charge.  U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo imposed the 60-month prison sentence during a hearing on Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations, and Michael J. Pfeiffer, Acting Director of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Over the course of three years, defendant stole more than $10 million in shipments of copper and liquor by fraudulently posing as employees of both legitimate and fictitious logistics companies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate McClelland argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “He had the ability to make different choices, but refused to do so, resulting in increasingly serious criminal conduct and substantial losses to his victims.”

This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force, which vigorously pursues enforcement actions against parties who seek to evade or otherwise undermine federal customs laws.  The Department of Justice recently selected the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office to be a lead prosecutorial partner on the Trade Fraud Task Force.  In addition, on April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”).  The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people.  The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs. 

ROCKFORD — A Sterling, Ill., man has been sentenced to more than fifteen years in federal prison for attempting to traffic methamphetamine from California to Illinois. 

TONY CLAPP, 62, pleaded guilty in 2025 to one count of attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Clapp to 15 years and eight months in federal prison.

In his plea agreement, Clapp admitted that in February 2022 he arranged for the purchase and delivery of approximately three kilograms of pure methamphetamine from a source in California.  This crime was committed while Clapp was serving a term of court-supervised release following a 2008 federal prison sentence for distribution of cocaine—a fact that the Court found to be an aggravating factor in sentencing Clapp.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Shane R. Catone, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ladd. 

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago businessman has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a pair of fraud schemes that netted him more than $4 million.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges RAED NASER with eleven counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.

Naser owned a freight transport company based in Orland Park, Ill.  According to the indictment, Naser engaged in two wire fraud schemes—one involving the submission of false invoices from Naser’s company for nonexistent freight shipping and the other involving bakery franchises that Naser sold to an unsuspecting buyer after fraudulently inflating their value.  The money laundering charges accuse Naser of laundering the proceeds from the fraud schemes by, among other things, purchasing a Lamborghini Huracan, a BMW M8 Gran Coupe, and a Cadillac Escalade.

Naser, 41, of Crown Point, Ind., pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman in federal court in Chicago.  A status hearing is now set for June 10, 2026, at 9:45 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi Manschreck.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO – The Deputy District Director to an Illinois United States congressman has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly fraudulently obtaining more than $31,000 in unemployment insurance benefits during the Covid pandemic.  Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and consistent with the Administration’s priorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal fraud in the federal government entitlement and benefit programs, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is taking a fresh look at Covid-19 fraud.

GERARD C. MOORER engaged in fraud related to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (“PUA”) program, one of the sources of relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, according to an indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The indictment alleges that in May 2020, Moorer filed a fraudulent application for PUA benefits in which he claimed to have met Covid-related reasons for being unemployed, partially unemployed, unable to work, or unavailable to work.  Moore’s application was approved, and over approximately the next 16 months, he continued to submit fraudulent certifications of his purported unemployment to continue receiving the benefits, the indictment states.  In reality, Moorer knew that he was in fact employed by the federal government as an aide to the Illinois Congressman at the time of his application and certifications, the indictment states.

As a result of the fraud, Moorer obtained $31,887 in PUA benefits to which he was not entitled, the indictment states.

Moorer, 42, of Chicago, is charged with three counts of wire fraud, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Arraignment in federal court is scheduled for May 14, 2026, at 1:00 p.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth W. Jantz.

U.S. Attorney Boutros announced the indictment along with Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, and Erin Silk, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alec Smith and William Hogan.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

CHICAGO — A California man who claimed to be an investment advisor has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for swindling a suburban Chicago resident out of $2 million.

Over the course of six months in 2023, RAYMOND ECHAVEZ VILLAMOR fraudulently solicited and obtained a $2 million investment from an individual residing in Glenview, Ill.  Villamor made false representations about the purported investment and falsely promised that the victim would receive all his money back, plus a substantial return.  Villamor instead used the money on personal expenses, including to purchase, among other things, vintage automobiles.  Villamor had also raised funds from other investors and used some of the money from the Glenview victim to repay those investors in classic Ponzi-scheme conduct.

Villamor, 62, of Newport Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty in 2025 to a federal wire fraud charge.  On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood imposed the 30-month prison sentence and ordered Villamor to pay full restitution to his victim.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hasten. 

CHICAGO – A Chicago Police sergeant has been charged in federal court with fraudulently obtaining more than $41,000 in small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and consistent with the Administration’s priorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal fraud in the federal government entitlement and benefit programs, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is taking a fresh look at Covid-19 fraud.  This prosecution reflects those efforts.

BRANDI WRIGHT engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), one of the sources of relief under the CARES Act, according to a criminal information filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The information alleges that Wright submitted two applications for PPP loans in 2021 on behalf of a bakery business she claimed to own but that did not actually exist.  The applications contained materially false statements and misrepresentations about Wright’s purported business, including gross revenue, payroll needs, and operational expenses, the information states.

Wright fraudulently obtained two loans totaling $41,662, which she intended to use for her personal benefit, the information states.

Wright, 44, is a Chicago Police sergeant who resides in Chicago.  The information charges her with wire fraud, which is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  Arraignment in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

U.S. Attorney Boutros announced the charge along with Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Sheri Mecklenburg.

The public is reminded that an information contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A seventh defendant has been charged in federal court with robbery and kidnapping offenses for allegedly participating in a violent home invasion in Winnetka, Ill.  The defendant, TYRESE FENTON-WATSON, 23, of Chicago, was arrested on April 28, 2026, and has been ordered to remain detained in federal custody without bond.

Fenton-Watson is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping in connection with the alleged home invasion, which occurred on the afternoon of March 8, 2026, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.  Six other defendants were previously arrested and charged with the same offenses in a superseding indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court.  Those defendants have also been ordered to remain detained in federal custody without bond.  For one of those defendants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully appealed a U.S. Magistrate judge’s order of release on bond to a U.S. District judge, who ordered the defendant to remain detained without bond.

According to the charges, DASHUN BROWN posed as a food delivery driver to cause an individual in the residence to open the front door.  Armed with loaded firearms, Brown, Fenton-Watson, DAVID FRANKLIN, JALEN CHAMBERS, and another co-conspirator then forcibly entered the residence.  Brown, Fenton-Watson, Franklin, Chambers, and the co-conspirator kept an individual in the residence captive for approximately an hour and used firearms to physically restrain the victim, the charges alleged.   The perpetrators also restrained a child who arrived home while the violent home invasion was in progress, the charges alleged.  The captors allegedly demanded access to a safe, computer, and online accounts holding cryptocurrency.

The conspirators fled the residence after about an hour, later meeting up with ISAIAH DUKES, KHIELL DUKES, ANTHONY RAMSEY, and other co-conspirators who were waiting nearby and had been communicating with the captors while they were inside the residence, the charges alleged.

Fenton-Watson’s complaint and arrest were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Brian O’Connell, Chief of the Winnetka Police Department. Valuable assistance has been provided by the Chicago Police Department, Northbrook, Ill. Police Department, Glencoe, Ill. Police Department, and Orland Park, Ill. Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen Merin and Jessica Ecker.  The officials noted that the investigation remains ongoing.

Brown, 24, of Chicago, Franklin, 24, of Chicago, Ramsey, 22, of Chicago, Isaiah Dukes, 28, of Los Angeles, Calif., Khiell Dukes, 30, of Elgin, Ill., and Chambers, 24, of Bourbonnais, Ill., have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them in the superseding indictment.  Kidnapping conspiracy is punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while robbery conspiracy is punishable by up to 20 years.  The public is reminded that indictments and complaints are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

“It’s Halloween, and somebody is going to die tonight.” Those were the chilling words of a Chicago gang member who made good on his threat by firing a hail of bullets into a car on Halloween night in 2009 in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. A passenger in the car was shot multiple times and died. It’s a tragedy we sadly see all too often in Chicago. It also was entirely preventable.

I, Andrew S. Boutros, was then a new assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago when I received a call from an experienced federal agent about a large-scale case that had just been reassigned. Turns out the gang member who committed the drive-by murder had been under federal investigation for months. Prior to Halloween, federal agents coordinated undercover firearm purchases from him and referred the matter for federal prosecution. Federal agents had identified the defendant as highly dangerous and volatile, but the U.S. attorney’s office had opted not to charge him then while prosecutors looked for more evidence. The agent soon came to meet with me, and he did not mince words. I heard him; he was right.

Working alongside another assistant federal prosecutor returned multiple indictments charging nearly two dozen members of that violent gang and others. All defendants were convicted and sent to prison. But should the case have sat for as long as it did in the quest for better evidence and case building? After all of our experience, the answer to that question is almost always: No.

As I, Andrew, embark on my second year leading the Chicago U.S. attorney’s office and working closely with many law enforcement partners, including Christopher Amon, special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, I can now do something about cases that trouble me, such as what happened in Humboldt Park in 2009.

We, Andrew and Christopher, decided to chart a different course, which we will describe here.

With dozens of newly minted federal criminal prosecutors coming on board in Chicago, many with deep experience handling violent crime cases in federal and state courts around the country, we are building the team to do it. Indeed, we will do it, all while we continue to prosecute corrupt public officials, narco-terrorists, drug traffickers, large-scale fraud, corporate crime, government benefit schemes, child predators, human traffickers and other worthy federal targets. Just scroll through our office’s news releases from last year and this year — including the first-ever annual report we issued in January: Under fresh office-wide leadership, we are doing significantly more with far fewer resources.

On the violent crime front, there has long been a perception from some in Chicago that federal prosecutors must turn to large-scale conspiracy cases against street gangs as a centerpiece of urban violence reduction. The theory is intuitive: Dismantle the organization, incapacitate its leadership and send a deterrent message that reverberates across the streets. These noteworthy prosecutions, often built under racketeering or similar statutes, are resource-intensive, multiyear undertakings that culminate in sweeping indictments, dramatic news conferences and lengthy sentences. They are also, as a primary strategy for reducing today’s street violence, not the principal tool for the job.

If the goal is reducing shootings this week, next month or even this year, the overwhelming evidence based on empirical research and law enforcement experience — including Christopher’s more than two decades of experience in multiple cities — as well as common sense, points toward rapid, targeted and responsive interventions that interrupt violence in real time.

This is the strategy that gets results quicker. It’s the strategy that reduces violent crime and saves lives. It means measuring success not by the size of an indictment but by the absence of violence and, even more pointedly, the prevention of violence. And with the summer months ahead, it’s the strategy that will drive our violent crime initiatives at the federal level here in Chicagoland.

Long-term federal gang and violence cases are built deliberately and painstakingly. Investigations often take years, involving wiretaps, informants, controlled drug and firearm transactions, financial tracing and coordination across agencies. Arrests and charges often occur long after the individuals contributed to cycles of violence and retaliation. That means by the time an indictment is returned, the factual narrative typically reflects a backward-looking account of conduct that may stretch over a decade. That retrospective orientation is inherent to the model. It is designed to tell a comprehensive story of enterprise criminality, not to disrupt the next retaliatory shooting.

Violence, however, operates on a different clock. Most shootings are not the product of hierarchical gang directives or long-term conspiracies; they are reactive, situational and often impulsive. A slight, a social media post, a perceived encroachment on territory, a dispute involving a girlfriend can escalate into lethal violence in hours or even minutes. The individuals involved are frequently known to local law enforcement and community members. What is missing is not information. What is needed is clear deterrence and accountability through immediate arrest, detention and prosecution of worthy targets. Arresting and federally charging a dangerous felon in possession of a firearm before he shoots someone are far more effective — and decent — actions than prosecuting that defendant for murder after he has already killed somebody.

There is also a mismatch in scale. Long-term federal gang and violence prosecutions are designed to take down organizations. But as the data shows, violence is largely concentrated among a small number of individuals and increasingly smaller, yet no less violent and lethal, groups of street gangs and crews. Strategies that focus on rapid, targeted intervention operate at the right level of analysis and on the right timeline. They are not about building perfect courtroom cases; they are about preventing the next act of violence.

When it comes to dangerous offenders, simple and straightforward gun cases spearheaded through violent crime prevention centers like ATF’s Chicago Gun Intelligence Center and charged swiftly by federal prosecutors can do more with less to immediately curb violence in Chicago. As the head of ATF Chicago, I, Christopher, have seen firsthand that by leveraging technology such as ballistic evidence, law enforcement can identify the true drivers of violence to intervene early and disrupt the violence cycle. In doing so, we can focus on individuals with extensive criminal histories who illegally possess guns as well as those linked to prior shootings.

Federal law can also serve as a backstop when state prosecutions face complicated legal or factual scenarios, such as self-defense. In those instances, perpetrators can be charged under federal firearms statutes that carry a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

Critically, real-time prosecutions also are far less resource-intensive. A single long-term federal gang case can consume enormous prosecutorial, investigative and judicial resources. Agents are tied up for years. Prosecutors devote substantial time to managing multidefendant litigation, complex evidentiary records and massive volumes of discovery. Even successful prosecutions may not bring about the desired force-multiplier effects. Convictions have frequently resulted in retrials for one reason or another. Lengthy prison sentences imposed years after the crime may not influence other individuals making split-second decisions in volatile situations.

Meanwhile, those same law enforcement resources, if redeployed toward proactive intervention such as gun prosecutions and rapid-response initiatives, can produce swift, predictable justice that is more immediate, measurable, exact and effective in reducing violence, even if they lack major headlines, courtroom drama, celebrated outcomes and obvious career advancement.

Rapid-response strategies are not ad hoc; they depend on structured, robust collaboration among law enforcement partners and prosecutors. In Chicago, when it comes to anti-violence work, we are lucky to have first-rate federal agents and experienced federal, state and local leadership in place at all those levels, including FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug DePodesta, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Todd Smith, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino, U.S. Marshal LaDon Reynolds, Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and many others.

This shift in mindset took hold in the federal law enforcement community many years ago, even if it has not made its way to some former prosecutors and others who practiced decades ago or never really practiced in this space at all. Those who reminisce about large-scale, multiyear violence prosecutions often speak of a bygone era when prosecutors and defendants operated with beepers, typewriters, fax machines, Dictaphones and cassette players — as opposed to the lightning speed of social media, encrypted messaging apps, drones and other forms of modern technology, such as computers, the internet and smartphones.

The Chicago U.S. attorney’s office and the ATF’s Chicago Field Division play a key role in providing investigative and prosecutorial muscle for tough-on-crime enforcement that quickly disrupts the cycle of violence and leads to safer streets and fewer victims. The next shooting will not be prevented by a case that will be indicted three years from now. It will be prevented by what happens in the next 24 to 72 hours.

The tragic murder of that young man in Humboldt Park years ago is a prime example of what we speak. But his senseless death has informed the thinking of today’s law enforcement leaders, who are working, strategizing and innovating to try to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

Against that backdrop, at the U.S. attorney’s office and ATF, our collective focus squarely resides in acting now, all while upholding the most cherished traditions of our storied offices.

~~~~

Andrew S. Boutros is United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Christopher C. Amon is Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This Op-Ed was published in the Chicago Tribune on April 29, 2026. 

CHICAGO — An illegal alien has pleaded guilty to a federal firearm charge after he fired shots near U.S. Border Patrol agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago last fall.

HECTOR GOMEZ admitted in a plea agreement that he was driving a Jeep Wrangler in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Nov. 8, 2025, when he discharged at least two rounds from a handgun.  Gomez fired the shots in proximity of Border Patrol agents who were engaged in the performance of their official duties, the plea agreement states.  Gomez had previously been convicted of a felony firearm offense in the Circuit Court of Cook County and was prohibited under federal law from possessing a gun.

Gomez admitted that later the same day, he brandished the handgun at an individual in a parking lot a few blocks from where he fired the shots.

Gomez pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of illegal possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon.  The conviction is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly set sentencing for July 20, 2026, at 1:15 p.m.

Gomez, 46, is a citizen of Mexico who had been residing in Chicago.  He has no claim to United States citizenship or lawful permanent residence and is now subject to removal.

The guilty plea was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill J. Bhalakia.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted six men on robbery and kidnapping offenses for allegedly participating in a violent home invasion in Winnetka, Ill., last month.  A seventh defendant was arrested this morning, and federal charges are forthcoming against him.  Working with its law enforcement partners, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office obtained court-authorized arrest warrants within 12 days of the home invasion but kept the warrants under seal while it continues to obtain evidence to identify and arrest additional defendants involved in the violent incident.

A superseding indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court charges DASHUN BROWN, 24, of Chicago, DAVID FRANKLIN, 24, of Chicago, ANTHONY RAMSEY, 22, of Chicago, ISAIAH DUKES, 28, of Los Angeles, Calif., KHIELL DUKES, 30, of Elgin, Ill., and JALEN CHAMBERS, 24, of Bourbonnais, Ill., with conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping in connection with the alleged home invasion, which occurred in Winnetka, Ill., on the afternoon of March 8, 2026.  Brown, Ramsey, and Franklin were taken into federal custody on March 22, 2026, while Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes, and Chambers were taken into federal custody on April 10, 2026.  All six defendants charged in the superseding indictment have been ordered detained pending trial.  They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A seventh defendant was arrested this morning and a criminal complaint will be submitted to the Court for his alleged role in the home invasion.

According to the superseding indictment, Brown posed as a food delivery driver to cause an individual in the residence to open the front door.  Armed with loaded firearms, Brown, Franklin, Chambers, and two other co-conspirators then forcibly entered the residence.  Brown, Franklin, Chambers, and the two other co-conspirators kept the individual in the residence captive for approximately an hour and used firearms to physically restrain the victim, the charges alleged.  The captors demanded access to a safe, computer, and online accounts holding cryptocurrency, the indictment states.

The conspirators eventually fled the residence, later meeting up with Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes, Ramsey and other co-conspirators, who searched Brown, Franklin, and additional co-conspirators to ensure that all the proceeds from the robbery were collected, the indictment states.

The charges and arrests were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Brian O’Connell, Chief of the Winnetka Police Department. Valuable assistance has been provided by the Chicago Police Department, Northbrook, Ill. Police Department, Glencoe, Ill. Police Department, and Orland Park, Ill. Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen Merin and Jessica Ecker.  The officials noted that the investigation remains ongoing.

“By immediately deploying targeted federal resources to this investigation and working closely with our federal and local law enforcement partners, we were able to swiftly disrupt a violent criminal conspiracy and remove dangerous individuals from the streets in a matter of days,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “I will continue to push hard to crack down on violent crime in the Chicago area, which means the U.S. Attorney’s Office is going to federally prosecute significant violent offenses throughout the city and suburbs.  The people of the Northern District of Illinois deserve our tireless and unwavering efforts to hold violent offenders accountable, and they will get it.”

“Home invasions strike at the core of an individual’s most basic right to safety, security, and privacy in their own home,” said ATF SAC Amon.  “ATF and our partners were on this case from the very beginning, and let me be clear: No matter who you are, we will find you and hold you accountable.  I am grateful to our law enforcement partners and the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office for their assistance and partnership in this investigation.  Together, we will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice.”

“This indictment serves as a reminder of the FBI’s promise to leverage our prosecutorial and law enforcement partnerships against anyone seeking to harm or endanger those in our community," said FBI SAC DePodesta.  "This investigation exemplifies the ways in which both local and federal law enforcement were able to deploy our agencies’ unique tools and resources as a collective group when apprehending the individuals identified in this scheme.  The FBI stands ready to disrupt and investigate violent crime at a moment’s notice wherever it may be occurring in the world.”

“On behalf of the Winnetka Police Department, I’d like to recognize the diligent work and partnership of the ATF, FBI, other local agencies, and Winnetka’s investigations unit in the pursuit of the offenders in this case, and the commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecuting violent criminals,” said Chief O’Connell.  “These charges are a positive step forward toward resolution of this incident and they demonstrate our shared commitment to protecting our constituents.  This is an example of the collaborative efforts between multiple federal, state, and local agencies working together, utilizing the best investigative technology available, and prosecuting offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”

The kidnapping conspiracy count is punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while the robbery conspiracy count is punishable by up to 20 years.  The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — Federal law enforcement this month arrested an alleged drug trafficker and seized 22 firearms and multiple kilograms of narcotics from his Chicago storage unit.

MARIO NEUSTADTER sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer in Chicago on three occasions in January of February of this year, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The complaint charges Neustadter, 47, of Chicago, with distribution of a controlled substance.  Neustadter was arrested on April 7, 2026.  He has been ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim to remain detained in federal custody pending trial.

During a detention hearing, the government advised the Court that federal law enforcement conducted a court-authorized search of Neustadter’s storage unit on the day of his arrest and discovered 22 firearms, approximately 30 kilograms of methamphetamine, 12 kilograms of cocaine, more than two kilograms of suspected fentanyl, and dozens of cell phones, among other items.  A photo of the seized items was entered into evidence at the hearing and can be viewed below.

The complaint and arrest were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Todd C. Smith, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.  The officials noted that the investigation remains ongoing.

This investigation is part of Operation Fentanyl Free America, a DEA-led initiative to protect the United States from synthetic opioids by disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing its availability, and saving American lives.

“I commend the actions of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners who worked diligently to seize dangerous drugs and an arsenal of high-powered firearms from the defendant before they could flood the streets,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “The arrest and substantial seizures in this case are but one example of the outstanding work being done by the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office, the DEA, Chicago Police Department, and Cook County Sheriff’s Office every day to combat drug trafficking and reduce violent crime.  Let this case serve as a warning to criminal drug traffickers: There is no hiding place for those who flood our communities with illegal narcotics.”

“Today’s announcement underscores DEA’s commitment to removing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, as well as illegally possessed firearms, from our communities,” said DEA SAC Smith.  “Through Operation Fentanyl Free America and strong partnerships with the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, and all of our law enforcement partners, we remain committed to saving American lives from tragic drug overdoses and poisonings.”

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A reputed member of a violent Chicago street gang has been indicted on a federal firearm charge for allegedly unlawfully possessing two firearms.

ALEXANDER MARTINEZ-QUIROZ, 35, of Chicago, possessed a rifle and handgun from December 2025 to April 2026, according to an indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  As a previously convicted felon, Martinez-Quiroz was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

A criminal complaint filed in the case alleges that Martinez-Quiroz fired three shots from the handgun while standing in front of a Chicago building on Dec. 18, 2025.  While firing the shots, Martinez-Quiroz calls out that he is a member of the street gang, the complaint states.  Martinez-Quiroz recorded himself firing the shots, and the government played the video at Martinez-Quiroz’s detention hearing in federal court.  The video can be viewed here. [Note: You may need to download the video to see it properly. The download button is on the bottom right of the video, next to the volume button.]

Martinez-Quiroz was arrested on April 9, 2026.  A U.S. Magistrate judge initially ordered him released from custody on bond, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office appealed to a U.S. District Court judge, who reversed the Magistrate judge’s ruling and granted the government’s motion for pre-trial detention.  The defendant is now in federal custody pending trial.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan L. Shih.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CHICAGO — An illegal alien who resided in a Chicago suburb has been indicted on a federal immigration charge for allegedly unlawfully re-entering the United States after a deportation.

An indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges HECTOR DANIEL GAMBOA-MANTALVO, 30, with one count of unlawful re-entry after deportation and removal. Gamboa-Mantalvo pleaded not guilty to the charge during his arraignment on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing is set for May 27, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt.

Gamboa-Mantalvo, a Mexican national who resided in Palatine, Ill., was removed from the United States in July 2020, the indictment states. During the arraignment hearing on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kartik K. Raman advised the Court that Gamboa-Mantalvo was discovered in the United States in 2023 when he was arrested for committing an attempted vehicular hijacking in Palatine.  He was convicted of that offense and has been serving a five-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.  While in pre-trial custody in that case, Gamboa-Mantalvo possessed a dangerous weapon in the Cook County Jail.  He was later convicted of a weapons offense and sentenced to a concurrent term of four years in state custody.

Gamboa-Mantalvo waived his right to a detention hearing on the federal charge and has been ordered into federal custody.  The unlawful re-entry charge is punishable by up to twenty years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  Defendants convicted of this offense are subject to deportation.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Russell Hott, Field Office Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Chicago.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion.  Among other priorities, the HSTF utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

ROCKFORD — Two men from Kentucky have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges for operating a scheme that caused borrowers, lenders, and investors to turn over nearly $12 million through sham loan programs and investments.

MARK CARROLL and LUKE CURRY admitted in plea agreements that they made materially false and fraudulent representations to victims to cause them to invest in companies Carroll and Curry created, including Catapult Marketing LLC and Catapult Funding LLC.  As part of the scheme, Carroll and Curry fraudulently purported to extend lines of credit to victim borrowers in exchange for initial deposits of about 20%, a practice known as an “80/20 line of credit,” the plea agreement states. They also fraudulently entered into “private loan agreements” with victim lenders and investors in which Carroll and Curry falsely promised to repay principal and interest at maturity in exchange for the victims’ funds, the plea agreement states.  Carroll and Curry instead misappropriated the victims’ money for purposes other than what they had represented to the victims, the plea agreement states.

The government contends that Carroll and Curry perpetrated their fraud scheme against 60 individuals, resulting in an actual loss of at least $11.8 million.

Carroll, 50, of Lexington, Ky., and Curry, 39, of Bowling Green, Ky., pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges during a hearing on Thursday in federal court in Rockford.  They each face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.  U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston set sentencings for Aug. 4, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

The guilty pleas were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa R. Munch and Robert Ladd.

CHICAGO — A leader of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang in Chicago has been sentenced to life in federal prison for participating in a criminal organization that terrorized the West Side of Chicago for two decades by committing murders, robberies, extortions, witness tampering, and drug dealing.

LABAR SPANN, 47, of Chicago, was convicted in December 2025 after a five-week trial in federal court in Chicago on all four counts against him, including racketeering conspiracy, two murders in aid of racketeering, and extortion. The jury found that Spann committed a total of four murders in a premeditated manner as part of the racketeering conspiracy, including the killings of Rudy Rangel on June 4, 2003; Willie Woods on April 16, 2003; George King on April 8, 2003; and Maximillion McDaniel on July 25, 2000.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin imposed a life sentence on Spann during a hearing in federal court in Chicago.  Given the gravity of Spann’s crimes, the life sentence was a mandatory penalty under federal law.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Illinois Secretary of State Police Department, Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“At defendant’s direction, his co-conspirators ruthlessly murdered, extorted, and robbed anyone in their way, from rival gang members, to law enforcement cooperators, to innocent bystanders,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan C. Morrissey, Michelle J. Parthum, and Emily C.R. Vermylen argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “His actions ended the lives of four men, depriving their families of time with their loved ones.  The harm and pain caused to these families can never be repaired.”

The Four Corner Hustlers operated primarily in the Chicago neighborhoods of West Garfield Park and North Lawndale on the city’s West Side, as well as in the former LeClaire Courts public housing development on the city’s Southwest Side.  According to evidence presented at Spann’s trial, the gang dealt drugs and robbed and extorted rival dealers, while using violence and intimidation to prevent victims and witnesses from cooperating with law enforcement.  The gang engaged in numerous acts of violence, including multiple murders and armed robberies.  During the trial, the jury heard testimony from other members of the Four Corner Hustlers, eyewitnesses to numerous crimes, law enforcement officers who responded to crime scenes, and expert witnesses who analyzed forensic and other evidence.

Spann was indicted in 2017 along with eight other members of the Four Corner Hustlers and two additional defendants.  All the defendants were convicted. 

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted the former Chief Financial Officer of a Chicago-area company’s subsidiary on fraud charges for embezzling more than $1 million.

TINA FEUERSTEIN, 53, of Hanover, Penn., was convicted of eight counts of wire fraud. The jury returned the verdicts on April 9, 2026, after a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Each count of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt set sentencing for Aug. 26, 2026.

Feuerstein served as the CFO of a Pennsylvania company that was owned by a company in the Chicago area.  Evidence at trial showed that Feuerstein used a company credit card over the course of five years to purchase personal items, including luxury furniture, designer apparel, and everyday expenses.  To conceal her theft, Feuerstein falsified entries in the company’s general ledgers to offset the amounts that she had stolen.  She also deleted items in the company’s expense-reporting system to hide more than 3,800 credit card charges that she had made totaling more than $1 million.

In addition, Feuerstein prepared false consolidated financial statements misstating the company’s total expenses that her employer relied upon to make business decisions.  The evidence at trial also showed that Feuerstein had previously embezzled more than $250,000 while working in the accounting department of another company.

The conviction was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Anne Yonover.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) by using social media to encourage attacks on ISIS’s enemies and recruit ISIS members.

ASHRAF AL SAFOO was a leader of Khattab Media Foundation, a sophisticated online organization that swore allegiance to ISIS and created and disseminated threats and ISIS propaganda on social media and other online platforms.  Al Safoo and other members of Khattab created and posted pro-ISIS videos, articles, essays, and infographics at the direction of, and in coordination with, ISIS.  Much of Khattab’s propaganda promoted violent jihad on behalf of ISIS, which has been designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization. In one posting, Al Safoo encouraged Khattab members to post pro-ISIS information “to cause confusion and spread terror within the hearts of those who disbelieved.”  In another posting, Al Safoo wrote, “Work hard, brothers, edit the issue into short clips, take the pictures out of it and publish the efforts of your brothers in the pages of the apostates.  Participate in the war, and spread terror, the [Islamic] State does not want you to watch it only, rather, it incites you, and if you are unable to, use it to incite others.”

Many of Khattab’s postings included images of violence, celebrations of terrorist attacks and mass shootings in the United States, and encouragement for “lone wolf” attacks in western countries.

Al Safoo, 41, has been in federal custody since his arrest in Chicago in 2018. After a bench trial last year in U.S. District Court in Chicago, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey found Al Safoo guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate commerce, conspiracy to intentionally access a protected computer without authorization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization.  Judge Blakey imposed the 25-year prison term during a hearing on Thursday in federal court and ordered that it be followed by ten years of court-supervised release.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Peabody of the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Andrew J. Dixon of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

CHICAGO — A Texas man who orchestrated a cryptocurrency scam that bilked nearly 1,000 investors out of more than $20 million has been sentenced to 23 years in federal prison.

From 2018 to 2023, ROBERT DUNLAP claimed to operate a cryptocurrency business that sold a purported digital asset called “Meta-1 Coin” through a “Meta-1 Coin Trust.”  Dunlap made numerous false and misleading statements to potential and actual investors, including claims that the Meta-1 Coin was backed by as much as $1 billion in art and $44 billion in gold.  Dunlap falsely claimed that an accounting firm had audited the gold and certified its value.  The purported art collection was alleged to have included works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and other acclaimed artists.  Dunlap created bogus legal documents to conceal the fact that he did not actually possess the gold or art.

Dunlap’s fraud scheme caused nearly 1,000 investors to lose more than $20 million.  Many of the victim investors lost all of their savings.

A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois last year convicted Dunlap, 55, of Houston, Texas, on mail fraud charges.  On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced Dunlap to 23 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“Defendant lied to investors for years telling them that he had created a safe investment for them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Over the years, defendant was unrepentant and his lies became bigger.  Would-be criminals planning to engage in similar conduct need to know that such actions will be met with a serious repercussion that includes loss of one’s liberty for an extended period of time.”

“Robert Dunlap didn’t just take money—he took years of hard work, trust, and financial security from his victims,” said IRS-CI SAC Jobes.  “He used lies and deception to pull in millions, leaving some investors with nothing.  Crimes like this don’t just hit bank accounts—they upend lives.  This 23-year sentence reflects the depth of that harm and sends a clear warning: Those who exploit others for personal gain will be found, and they will face serious consequences.”

CHICAGO – A man has admitted in federal court that he used his vehicle to impede, intimidate, and interfere with the work of federal immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, and then filed a false police report after the collision.  The statutory maximum sentence for this conviction, which is a felony, is three years in federal prison.

On Oct. 3, 2025, ANTHONY GONZALEZ ALVAREZ joined a caravan of vehicles that was following a vehicle driven by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers on the Southwest Side of Chicago. Gonzalez Alvarez admitted in a plea agreement that he drove his Ford pickup truck into the rear passenger-side of the CBP vehicle in order to impede, intimidate, and interfere with the CBP officers’ immigration operation.  To conceal his involvement in the collision, Gonzalez Alvarez filed a false report with the Chicago Police Department, claiming that his truck had been stolen on the morning of the collision, the plea agreement states.

Gonzalez Alvarez, 27, of Lyons, Ill., pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of misprision of felony.  U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt set sentencing for July 22, 2026.

The guilty plea was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago today indicted the former Chief Executive Officer of a Chicago charter school network for allegedly misappropriating more than $103,000 in funds intended to support the non-profit’s educational work.

TIMOTHY KING served as CEO of Urban Prep Academies, a not-for-profit corporation that operated three charter schools in Chicago. Urban Prep received educational and organizational funds from Chicago Public Schools that were originally derived from the federal government.

An indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that in 2021 and 2022, King embezzled $103,833.31 from Urban Prep to pay for his personal credit card charges.  The indictment further alleges that after receiving a federal grand jury subpoena and learning of the criminal investigation in 2022, King obstructed justice by deleting online records of three purported cash donations he had made to Urban Prep.

The indictment charges King, 59, of Chicago, with two counts of federal program theft and one count of obstruction of justice. Arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John F. Woolley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Midwestern Regional Office, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Public Schools, Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Prashant Kolluri and Sean Hennessy.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Each count of federal program theft is punishable by up to ten years in federal prison, while the obstruction count is punishable by up to 20 years.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for attempting to carjack a vehicle at gunpoint while the driver’s wife and children were inside.

The attempted carjacking occurred on the afternoon of Feb. 19, 2023, at a gas station in Dolton, Ill.  An off-duty Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy was standing next to his Dodge Challenger when JAVON STINGLEY and two other men—JOSEPH SMITH and MICHAEL BANKS—approached with loaded handguns and demanded the vehicle.  One of the carjackers said words to the effect of, “I’ll shoot you, don’t move,” and removed the Deputy’s service weapon from his waistband.  The Deputy’s wife and children were able to flee the Challenger before the men started to get inside.  The men decided not to take the Challenger and drove off in their own vehicle.

Stingley, 28, of Midlothian, Ill., was arrested in October 2024 and has remained in law enforcement custody since then.  He pleaded guilty in federal court last year to an attempted carjacking charge.  On April 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis sentenced Stingley to five years and ten months in federal prison.

Banks, 23, of Chicago, admitted his role in the attempted carjacking as part of a plea agreement that included other carjackings and firearm offenses that he committed.  Banks is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ellis on June 24, 2026, at 10:15 a.m.

Smith, 34, of Hammond, Ind., has pleaded not guilty to the attempted carjacking as well as to other carjackings and firearm offenses for which he is charged. Smith is awaiting trial.

Stingley’s sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner.

CHICAGO — A man who carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint in the backyard of a Chicago residence has been sentenced to 14 and a half years in federal prison.

On the evening of Nov. 2, 2023, DAMARRI CONNER and KENNETH MERRITT carjacked an Audi sedan in the backyard of a residence in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood.  A woman and her daughter had just returned home in another vehicle when Conner and Merritt sprang from a hiding place and attacked them.  Conner punched the woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, and then pointed a loaded handgun at her.  Conner then pointed the gun at the woman’s husband, who had rushed outside to help his family and calm the situation by providing instructions to the carjackers on how to start the Audi.  The carjackers took the Audi and drove off.  The carjacking was captured on a home-security video, which can be viewed here.

Conner, having stolen the keys to the victims’ other car—a Range Rover—during the carjacking, returned to the victims’ home on Nov. 14, 2023, and took the Range Rover from in front of the house.  Law enforcement was able to track the Range Rover to Conner’s neighborhood and later found him hiding in the closet of a residence, leading to his arrest.

Conner, 23, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal carjacking and firearm offenses. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani sentenced Conner to 14 and a half years in federal prison. Merritt, 29, of Chicago, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to carjacking and firearm offenses.  Judge Harjani scheduled Merritt’s sentencing for June 9, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.

Conner’s sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

“Carjackings are among the most personal and terrifying crimes committed in this District,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in Conner’s case.  “This crime was heinous and violent.  The trauma he inflicted on his victims will take years to repair.”

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged a suburban Chicago man with robbing a federal task force officer during an undercover drug transaction last week.

The task force officer was working undercover for the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 3, 2026, when the officer met with MARCUS LEWIS and a juvenile in a residential neighborhood of Ford Heights, Ill. to buy cocaine from them, according to a criminal complaint unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  During the meeting, Lewis and the juvenile said words to the effect that they knew the undercover officer “was a cop,” the complaint states.  They then beat the officer with a firearm and robbed the officer of $10,000 in government funds that the officer planned to use to purchase the cocaine, the complaint states.  Lewis and the juvenile attempted to flee in their vehicle, but it crashed into a responding law enforcement vehicle, the complaint states.  The juvenile was quickly arrested, while Lewis fled on foot and was apprehended early the next morning.  The juvenile is expected to face charges in state court.

The federal complaint charges Lewis, 23, of Ford Heights, Ill., with one count of robbery.  Lewis waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered to remain detained in federal custody pending trial.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 15, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The Cook County Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance in the investigation. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jalan L. Jaskot.

“FBI task force officers and agents are first responders in the fight against violent crime in our neighborhoods and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “The dangerous and brave work they do requires them to put their lives on the line every day.  We all owe our law enforcement agents and task force officers a debt of gratitude for their dedication to the mission and their commitment to public safety.  As I have said numerous times during my first year as United States Attorney, we will not tolerate attacks against federal law enforcement officers in the Northern District of Illinois.  The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek to hold this violent offender accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The men and women of the FBI swore an oath to serve and protect the very communities in which they live and serve,” said FBI SAC DePodesta.  “Violent attacks on our personnel, which include the elite cadre of embedded task force officer partners, erode respect for the rule of law and compromise the safety of everyone across our country.  The FBI, with the full backing of our federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, will ensure that there is no safe haven or amnesty for anyone seeking to harm the very personnel working to protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution.”

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  Defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CHICAGO — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois has charged a Chicago man with making a threat to “shoot up” an office of the United States Secret Service and “hunt” an agent.

On March 19, 2026, MICHAEL KOVCO sent an electronic message via the official White House website that stated, “I’m gonna hunt the secret service agent that comes to my door’s family so he better not tell me any identifying information at all like first or last name or pet name or address or place of work because im going to buy a small concealable firearm and go shoot up his place of work immediately if he tells me anything,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The message was sent approximately two hours after a Secret Service agent and two Secret Service task force officers visited Kovco’s residence in Chicago to inquire about a prior threat Kovco had sent on March 17, 2026, the complaint states.  Kovco’s prior message, which was also transmitted via the official White House website, threatened President Donald J. Trump and one of the President’s sons, the complaint states.  Kovco electronically signed that message as being from “Mr. I’m going to [expletive] kill your child Kovco,” the complaint states.

The complaint charges Kovco, 29, with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.  Kovco was arrested on April 3, 2026.  A detention hearing is scheduled for April 10, 2026, in federal court in Chicago, at which time the government will be seeking Kovco’s continued detention pending trial.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Dai Tran, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Ruvinsky.

“As I have stated repeatedly during my first year as United States Attorney, it is never acceptable to threaten a law enforcement officer, political figure, or a member of their family,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “Under my watch, political violence will be dealt with as the serious federal crime that it is.  Working closely with our federal and state law enforcement partners, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will find, arrest, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those responsible for criminally threatening the safety of our public officials and law enforcement officers.”

“The U.S. Secret Service’s top priority is safeguarding the President of the United States and all those we protect,” said SAIC Tran.  “We take any threats seriously and aggressively pursue them to ensure our protectees’ safety.  I commend our agents’ work in bringing this defendant to justice.  I want to thank our partners at the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois for their help in pursuing this case.”

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The charge in the complaint is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

CHICAGO — A man who trafficked fentanyl and cocaine and illegally possessed 17 firearms in his Chicago residence has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

Law enforcement conducted a court-authorized search of HUGO PINZON’s residence in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago in April 2024 and discovered distribution quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, as well as 17 firearms. As a previously convicted felon, Pinzon was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The search also turned up a money-counting machine, a digital scale for weighing narcotics, and $95,456 in cash, which constituted proceeds from narcotics transactions.  Pinzon had sold drugs on three occasions earlier in 2024 to an individual who, unbeknownst to Pinzon, was cooperating with law enforcement.

Pinzon, 36, pleaded guilty last year to federal drug and firearm charges. On April 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness sentenced Pinzon to nine years in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Carpentersville, Ill. Police Department.

“Distribution of narcotics, particularly cocaine and fentanyl, is a very serious offense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Snell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “These addictive drugs destroy lives and shatter families.  In addition to the narcotics defendant kept in his house, he also kept an array of 17 firearms, knowing that he had previously been convicted of a felony and was not permitted to possess a firearm.”

CHICAGO — A former executive of a Chicago-area non-profit organization has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for misappropriating nearly $1.9 million through a pair of fraud schemes.

BARBARA HARRIS served as the Executive Director of the Center for Community Academic Success Partnerships (CCASP), which received government grants to provide after-school programs to schools in the Chicago area.  From 2012 to 2017, Harris schemed with another CCASP executive, TONY BELL, to submit grant applications that inflated CCASP’s projected annual expenses and falsely claimed that the organization would receive services from five subcontractors.  In reality, Harris knew that the subcontractors, two of which were other non-profit groups run by Harris and Bell, provided no actual services to CCASP.  The scheme resulted in approximately $1.8 million in losses to the Illinois Department of Education.

Harris also engaged in a separate fraud scheme before and after she was indicted in the CCASP fraud case.  From 2021 to 2023, while serving as Co-Executive Director of another non-profit, specifically, the South Suburban Community Services (SSCS), Harris bilked the federally funded AmeriCorps VISTA program, which awards grants to non-profits working to bring communities out of poverty.  Harris submitted grant applications falsely representing that VISTA members would work for SSCS programs in the south suburbs of Chicago. Harris knew, however, that those SSCS programs had already been funded.  Harris nonetheless obtained approval for eleven VISTA members to work at SSCS, and none of them performed services in accordance with their assignment descriptions, causing a loss to the VISTA program of $98,699.

Harris, 55, of South Holland, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge and admitted her criminal conduct in both schemes.  On March 20, 2026, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood sentenced Harris to 12 months in federal prison.

Harris’s sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Woolley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Midwestern Regional Office, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General, and the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General.

“This type of crime erodes the public’s faith in non-profit organizations generally and the federal programs that fund these organizations,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Walgamuth argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in Harris’s case.  “Additionally, because the misappropriated grant funds were competitive, Harris’s conduct likely denied other organizations critical federal funding opportunities.”

Bell, 65, of Matteson, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.  Judge Wood scheduled Bell’s sentencing for Aug. 21, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. 

ROCKFORD — A man was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for setting fire to two Rockford churches.

MARZAVIOUS THOMAS set fire to the churches on Oct. 19, 2022.  The first arson occurred at Bethesda Covenant Church, 2101 E. State St. in Rockford. Thomas poured gasoline on entrance doors of the church and on the ground, causing a fire.  Thomas then drove to Crosspoint Church, 3215 E. State St. in Rockford, where he threw a piece of concrete through the glass entry doors.  He poured liquid from a container and unsuccessfully attempted to light the liquid. Thomas later returned with an object he lit on fire and dropped into the entryway through the broken glass doors, causing a fire to develop rapidly.  The fires caused a combined damage to the churches of more than $35,000.

Thomas, 31, of Rockford, pleaded guilty last year to federal arson charges.  In addition to the five-year prison term, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston ordered Thomas to pay restitution to the churches.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Rockford Fire Department and the Rockford Police Department.

“Arson is a serious violent crime, and it is by sheer luck that these fires did not set Bethesda and Crosspoint churches ablaze, or seriously harm or kill anyone inside,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S Maveus argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged three men with attempting to rob a federal agent during an undercover firearm transaction in Chicago.

JEREMY JONES, CHRISTOPHER DENSMORE, and CARMELL MASSEY attempted to rob an agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Thursday morning, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The agent was working undercover when the agent met with the defendants in a parking lot on the South Side of Chicago for the purpose of buying two firearms from them, the complaint states.  During the meeting, the defendants attempted to rob the agent of $600 in government funds that the agent planned to use to purchase the guns, the complaint states. When Jones pointed a firearm at the undercover agent, the agent responded by firing a shot at him, the complaint states.  Jones and the two other defendants attempted to flee the area, but law enforcement quickly arrested all three defendants, the complaint states.

The complaint charges Jones, 19, Densmore, 22, and Massey, 20, all of Chicago, with one count of attempted robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  The firearm charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life.  The attempted robbery charge is punishable by a maximum of 25 years. The defendants were scheduled to make initial appearances in federal court in Chicago this afternoon.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  The Chicago Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Gurley.

“Each and every day in Chicago, ATF agents put their lives on the line to fight violent crime and make our city safer,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “The undercover agent in this case demonstrated the utmost bravery, courage, and skill, all of which are the hallmarks of our nation’s dedicated ATF agents.  Any crimes against law enforcement—especially violent crimes—are direct assaults on the rule of law.  Through these serious federal charges, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek to hold these violent offenders accountable.”

“During an undercover firearms trafficking operation yesterday, the offenders arrived with the intention of conducting a robbery,” said ATF SAC Amon.  “They did not realize they were targeting highly trained agents who immediately took action to take the offenders into custody and protect their own.  I am proud of the professionalism and bravery demonstrated by our undercover law enforcement officers, ATF agents, and Task Force Officers on the scene.  These professionals risk their lives day in and day out to target violent criminals and their sources of crime guns.  Once the radio call went out, the Chicago Police Department immediately responded and provided critical investigative support, and I am grateful for their work.  To be very clear, the conduct of these offenders will not be tolerated, and I want to thank U.S. Attorney Boutros and his team for swiftly bringing federal charges in this case.”

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for sexually abusing two children and recording it.

DENIKOS HAWKINS induced two children to engage in sexual acts with him in 2023.  Hawkins recorded the acts and sent the sexually explicit videos to other minors, offering to pay them if they created the same type of videos.  When one of the victims stopped responding to Hawkins on Instagram, he threatened to send the videos of her to her school and to “everyone” she knew.

Hawkins, 36, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to federal charges of production of child pornography.  U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang imposed the 24-year prison sentence during a hearing in federal court in Chicago on March 19, 2026.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

CHICAGO — An illegal alien unlawfully residing in the United States, who is charged in state court with murdering an 18-year-old Loyola University student, was charged today in federal court with illegally possessing a firearm in Chicago.

JOSE MEDINA-MEDINA illegally possessed a handgun on March 20, 2026, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Chicago Police officers discovered the firearm during a court-authorized search of his residence in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side, the complaint states.  The search was conducted as part of a state investigation relating to a homicide that occurred in the neighborhood the day before, the complaint states.  Chicago Police officers arrested Medina-Medina after the search, and he was subsequently charged in Cook County Circuit Court with murder and other offenses related to the homicide, the complaint states.

Medina-Medina is a citizen of Venezuela and has no lawful status in the United States, the complaint states.  As an illegal alien unlawfully residing in the United States, Medina-Medina was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The federal complaint charges Medina-Medina, also known as “Jose Gregorio Medina,” “Jose Gregorio Medina-Medina,” and “Jose Medina,” 25, with one count of illegal possession of a firearm, which is punishable by a maximum sentence of ten years in federal prison.  Medina-Medina is currently detained in state custody without bond. His initial appearance in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

The federal complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill Bhalakia and William Dunne.

“Given the senseless, cold-blooded nature of the murder of a young student with a bright future ahead of her, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will take no chances that this illegal alien perpetrator will be released back into our community,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office applauds the excellent work of the Chicago Police Department and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to quickly identify, apprehend, and charge the culprit and hold him accountable for the murder in state court.  Our Office will be ready to move forward with the federal charge as needed.”

“ATF will pursue all applicable federal charges to ensure that those who commit acts of violence are held accountable, and I am grateful for the strong investigative work conducted by the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office," said ATF SAC Amon.  "The addition of federal charges in this case further ensures that the defendant is held fully accountable under the law.”

The federal investigation is being conducted in coordination with ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago.  The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement partnership that focuses exclusively on investigating and prosecuting violent offenders who utilize firearms in commission of their crimes in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois.  Every firearm-related case in Chicago is processed through the CGIC on a daily basis.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

ROCKFORD — A federal drug investigation has resulted in criminal charges against four individuals for allegedly trafficking cocaine in the Rockford area.

The investigation, led by the FBI and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, utilized covert surveillance operations, undercover narcotics purchases, and wiretapped communications to shut down an alleged drug trafficking organization involving four Rockford men—AMJED ALSADUN, 38, AHMED ALSADUN, 38, NAMARIO L. HALEY, 38, and WILL A. EVANS, 32.  An indictment unsealed on Tuesday in federal court in Rockford charges the four defendants with drug conspiracy and drug distribution. 

Amjed Alsadun, Ahmed Alsadun, and Haley were arrested on Tuesday morning and pleaded not guilty during their arraignments that afternoon in federal court in Rockford.  Detention hearings for Amjed Alsadun and Ahmed Alsadun are set for April 3, 2026, while a detention hearing for Haley will be held on April 7, 2026.  Evans is currently in state custody in Winnebago County on an unrelated charge.  His arraignment in federal court is set for April 6, 2026.

The charges and arrests were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Gary Caruana. Winnebago County Sheriff. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted a woman on fraud charges for allegedly swindling multiple victims out of at least $3.5 million by falsely claiming their money would be used to support immigration services, projects in Ukraine, and other supposed needs.

TATIANA BAZER falsely represented to victims that their money would be used in various ways, including, among things, projects in Ukraine, immigration services, or as loans to Bazer to help resolve her purported arrest for shoplifting, according to an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Some of the victims entrusted Bazer with hundreds of thousands of dollars, the indictment states.  Bazer spent much of the victims’ money in a manner other than what she had represented, including for her own personal use, the indictment states.  Bazer concealed the fraud by sending the victims false records, including bogus wire transfer receipts and fraudulent checks, the indictment states.

Furthermore, after learning that federal law enforcement was investigating her fraud scheme, Bazer pretended to be FBI agents, a prosecutor, and a criminal defense attorney to lull victims into believing that her case would be resolved and that victims would receive their money back, the indictment states.

Bazer, 40, of Buffalo Grove, Ill., is charged with seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer.  Bazer pleaded not guilty to the charges during her arraignment in federal court in Chicago.  A status hearing is scheduled for April 21, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The Illinois Secretary of State’s Securities Department provided valuable assistance.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, while each count of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer is punishable by up to three years.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

If you or someone you know may be a victim of fraud allegedly committed by Tatiana Bazer, you are encouraged to report it to the FBI by clicking here. 

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago investment advisor has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for inducing clients to invest in nonexistent business opportunities.

RALPH ROGERS III held himself out as an entrepreneur and investment advisor. From 2021 to 2023, Rogers fraudulently obtained funds from multiple individuals by falsely promising to invest their money in purported business opportunities, including fiber optic cable installation, computer chip manufacturing for Tesla, and a fitness recovery studio.  Instead of investing the funds as promised, Rogers used the money for his own personal benefit, including for travel, hotel rooms, jewelry, apparel, and gym fees. He also made Ponzi-type payments to lull earlier investors.

Rogers carried out his scheme while on court-supervised release following a period of incarceration for a prior federal fraud conviction.

Rogers, also known as “Tres Rogers,” 63, of Batavia, Ill., pleaded guilty in November 2025 to a federal wire fraud charge.  On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis imposed the 78-month prison term and ordered Rogers to pay $238,044.62 in restitution to his victims.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

“Defendant is a serial fraudster who, through both sophisticated and unsophisticated means, pursues every opportunity to victimize any person who comes into his orbit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin M. Pinkston argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant selects his victims from his immediate environment: his gym, the local bicycle store, the local smoothie shop, the hotel bar where he is a guest, the restaurant where he is dining, the relatives of his romantic partner.  He will defraud anyone he can.”

CHICAGO — Federal law enforcement this week arrested two suspected gang members and seized eleven firearms, ammunition, and twenty machine gun conversion devices from their Chicago residence.

Criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago charge JULIAN TORRES, 19, and BRANDON OSORIO, 29, with possession of a machine gun. Torres and Osorio were arrested on Monday.  Today, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez granted the government’s motion for both defendants to remain detained pending trial.

Law enforcement on Monday of this week conducted a court-authorized search of Torres’s and Osorio’s residence in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. During the search, agents discovered a short-barrel rifle and ten handguns, one of which was equipped with an extended magazine, the charge alleges.  Agents also discovered 20 machine gun conversion devices, which when affixed to a firearm allow it to operate like a machine gun, meaning the gun would be able to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger.  The search also turned up assorted ammunition and firearm accessories, the complaints state.

During the detention hearing in federal court today, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirsten Moran advised the Court that Torres and Osorio are members of the 31st and Morgan Satan’s Disciples, a Chicago street gang that allegedly engages in illegal firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, and other criminal offenses. The Court was also advised that the gang used Torres’s and Osorio’s residence as a hub for its illegal activities.

The complaints and arrests were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Chicago Field Office, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State Police and the Illinois Army National Guard Counterdrug Program.  The officials noted that the investigation remains ongoing.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A federal jury today convicted a suburban Chicago man of making a true threat to kill multiple public officials, including President Donald J. Trump, the 47th and 45th President of the United States.

TRENT SCHNEIDER, 58, of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., was found guilty of making a true threat in interstate commerce to injure a person. The jury returned its verdict after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The conviction is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

On Oct. 21, 2025, Schneider posted a video of himself on Instagram in which he stated, “People like me have suffered real [expletive] crimes from [expletive] judges, doctors, lawyers, police.  They all should be killed.  All of them should be executed for what they’ve done . . . I’m going to get some guns.  I know where I can get a lot of [expletive] guns and I am going to take care of business myself.  I’m tired of all you [expletive] frauds.  People need to [expletive] die and people are going to die. [Expletive] all of you, especially you Trump.  You should be executed.”  The video also included a caption that stated, in part: “THIS IS NOT A THREAT!!!  AFTER LOSING EVERYTHING and My House Auction date is 11.04.2025 @realDonaldTrump SHOULD BE EXECUTED!!!”

On the same date, Schneider appeared at the Lake County, Ill. courthouse and told the judge presiding over Schneider’s pending foreclosure case that he would burn the courthouse down.

The conviction was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Dai Tran, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Lake County, Ill. Sheriff’s Office and the Winthrop Harbor, Ill. Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hanna Helwig and Paige Nutini.

“Let this conviction send a clear message that it is never acceptable to threaten a political figure or a member of the judiciary,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “Political violence is not only intolerable, but it is a serious crime.  Working closely with our law enforcement partners, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will find, arrest, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those responsible for criminally threatening the safety of our elected officials and judges.”

“Threats of political violence are not a joke,” said SAIC Tran.  “They are a federal crime.  The U.S. Secret Service vigorously pursues all threats to harm the President of the United States.  I am proud of our agents’ work in this case and thank our partners at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Winthrop Harbor Police Department for their assistance in bringing this defendant to justice.  I also want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois for prosecuting this case to its conclusion.”

CHICAGO – A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain more than $3.3 million in small business loans and grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).  Under the leadership of United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and consistent with the Administration’s priorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal fraud in the federal government entitlement and benefit programs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is taking a fresh look at Covid-19 fraud.

In 2020 and 2021, FRANCESCO DISTEFANO and a co-defendant, SARGIS URUMIEH, engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), two sources of relief under the CARES Act.  The pair applied for and obtained loans and grants for two companies where Urumieh served as a corporate officer.  Distefano also applied for and obtained loans for a technology company that he owned and controlled.  The applications contained numerous false statements and misrepresentations regarding the companies’ operations, including the number of employees, gross revenues, and payroll expenses.  As a result of the fraud, Distefano and Urumieh caused a loss to the federal government of more than $3.3 million.

Distefano also fraudulently collected more than $37,500 in unemployment benefits from the state of Illinois in his name and the name of a relative while simultaneously receiving the Covid-relief loan proceeds and continuing to work for his technology company.  Distefano used his Covid-relief and unemployment fraud proceeds to purchase, among other things, a Lamborghini Huracan, Maserati Ghibli, Land Rover Evoque SE, and Porsche 911, all of which were seized by law enforcement and forfeited to the government.

Distefano, 29, of Addison, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.  On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel sentenced Distefano to 78 months in federal prison.

Urumieh, 58, of Glendale, Calif., also pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge. Urumieh is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Daniel on July 22, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

U.S. Attorney Boutros announced Distefano’s sentence along with Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Brett Lehnert, Acting Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General.

“As the nation was struggling with the Covid pandemic, the defendant was scheming to defraud the PPP, EIDL, and unemployment programs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Snell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in Distefano’s case.  “It was not the result of a momentary lack in judgment, but a continuing series of decisions, motivated by greed.”

Anyone with information about suspected Covid-19 fraud can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by submitting an online complaint here.

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has charged a man with making a threat to shoot up a Jewish synagogue.

On March 3, 2026, TIMOTHY HOLMES publicly posted on X, “I’m going to shoot up a synagogue,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois.  Holmes’s post was made in reply to a post from @Israel, the Israeli government’s official X account, concerning the death of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei in Iran, the complaint states.

The FBI National Threat Operation Section received information regarding the threat, which Holmes made using @MapleStCapital, his X account, the complaint states.  Further investigation revealed additional threatening communications from Holmes’s account this month, including a series of derisive posts concerning Jewish people, the complaint states.  Holmes also posted the purported address in the United States of relatives of an Israeli government official, the complaint states.

The complaint charges Holmes, 31, of Chicago, with making a threat in interstate commerce to injure a person. Holmes was arrested on Wednesday morning in Florida and appeared that afternoon in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.  Over the government’s objection, he was ordered released on a $100,000 bond subject to various conditions, including not possessing a firearm or dangerous weapon, not contacting victims or witnesses in the case, not accessing social media or chat-based platforms, allowing the U.S. District Court to install GPS monitoring and access his electronic devices to confirm compliance with the conditions, and limiting his travel to the Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida.   Holmes will appear in federal court in Chicago on a date to be scheduled.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Chicago Field Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Peabody.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago is using all available legal tools to combat criminal conduct that rears its head in hateful anti-Semitism.  This Administration has made clear that threats and violence against the Jewish community will not be tolerated.  Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will find, prosecute, and hold accountable the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic threats and violence.”

“The FBI works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year to swiftly detect and disrupt threats of violence across the country,” said FBI SAC DePodesta. “Anti-Semitic speech and threats against the Jewish community are reprehensible, and our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners remain committed to holding accountable those seeking to intimidate or harm.  Public tips are key in our shared effort of keeping Chicago safe.  The public is encouraged to report any suspicious or threatening behavior immediately by calling 9-1-1, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), or online at tips.fbi.gov.”

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The charge in the complaint is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. 

CHICAGO – An Illinois businessman has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining $14 million across 1,500 fraudulent small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  The scheme netted SHARHABEEL SHREITEH at least $741,000 in kickback payments.  In turn, Shreiteh then funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in loan proceeds fraudulently obtained from the United States government to financial institutions in the Palestinian Territories, much of which was used to build a second home there.  He also used some of the fraud proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle in the United States, including renovations to his residence in Crete, Ill., and vacations to South Carolina and Florida.  Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and consistent with the Administration’s priorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal fraud in the federal government entitlement and benefit programs, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is taking a fresh look at Covid-19 fraud.

Shreiteh engaged in fraud in 2020 and 2021 related to the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was created by the CARES Act to cover lost revenue due to economic disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic.  Shreiteh, who worked as a tax preparer in Palos Hills, Ill., recruited purported sole proprietors, self-employed individuals, and businesses to provide their personal identifying information and other documents, and then submitted more than 1,500 fraudulent PPP loan applications on their behalf, causing the government to disburse at least $14 million in fraudulent PPP loans.  As part of the scheme, the applications contained numerous misrepresentations that inflated the applicants’ operations, payroll, income, and other expenses.   For each successful fraudulent loan, Shreiteh received at least $1,000 to $4,000 in kickback payments from the loan applicants.

Shreiteh, 46, pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.  On March 10, 2026, U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold sentenced Shreiteh to ten years in federal prison and ordered him to forfeit $741,000 to the United States government.  Judge Pacold also ordered Shreiteh to pay $14 million in restitution to the United States government.  During the sentencing hearing, Judge Pacold remarked, “Any fraud against any government program, but in particular a program that was an emergency relief program, to take advantage of those emergency funds and ultimately to steal from taxpayers is a terrible thing, and it’s a very serious offense.”  Judge Pacold continued, “This was emergency money, it was supposed to help people who were suffering.  It was supposed to help people who were suffering the effects of the Covid pandemic.  It was funded by the government, therefore, by the American taxpayers, and [the fact] it was then sent overseas is very aggravating.  And it's true, as the government pointed out, the next time there’s a crisis . . . people will point to this sort of fraud as a reason why there might be a problem with putting this sort of program out there, and that just hurts ultimately the people who really needed the funds.”

Judge Pacold also cited evidence that Shreiteh collected unemployment benefits from the states of Illinois and Ohio in 2020 and 2021 while simultaneously receiving the PPP fraud proceeds and working as a tax preparer.  “That just shows a general disregard for the law, and . . . [a] willingness to lie to get money from government programs,” Judge Pacold said.

U.S. Attorney Boutros announced the sentence along with Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Chicago Field Office.

“In America’s time of need, the defendant saw a chance to upgrade his lifestyle,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “His fraudulent scheme resulted in a massive loss to the federal government at a time when Americans were struggling in the pandemic and legitimate businesses needed money to pay their employees.  This was a massive, callous fraud motivated purely by greed.”

Anyone with information about suspected Covid-19 fraud can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by submitting an online complaint here.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is a federal benefit program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to supplement the food budgets of eligible individuals.  Retail stores authorized to participate in the program can accept SNAP benefits through EBT cards, also known as Link cards, although it is illegal for stores or individuals to exchange the cards for cash or other items.

From 2018 to 2023, DAVID QUINONES gave cash or other items to SNAP recipients in exchange for access to their Link cards. Quinones used the cards to purchase various goods at authorized retail stores, fraudulently representing himself as the authorized user of the cards.  He then re-sold most of the goods, keeping the proceeds for himself.  In total, Quinones used more than 1,200 cards and fraudulently caused the USDA to pay out approximately $1,554,804 in SNAP benefits.

Quinones, 45, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.  On March 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger sentenced Quinones to four years and four months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $1,554,804 in restitution to the government.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been charged in federal court with sending threatening letters to federal judges in Texas and Florida.

JAMES LEBUHN, 65, of Libertyville, Ill., is charged with two counts of mailing a threatening communication, according to a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Arraignment is set for March 26, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis.

According to the information, Lebuhn mailed letters in March of last year to U.S. District Court judges in Amarillo, Texas, and Fort Pierce, Fla.  Lebuhn mailed the letters for the purpose of making a true threat and knowing that the letters would be viewed as such, the information states.  When mailing the letters, Lebuhn also recklessly disregarded the substantial risk that others would regard the communications as a threat, the charges allege.

The charges were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Federal Protective Service, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard M. Rothblatt of the Northern District of Illinois.

“The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to holding accountable anyone who seeks to intimidate and instill fear in members of the federal government, including the esteemed public servants on the bench,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.  “When a threat such as this occurs, our Office will find, arrest, and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.  We are grateful for the close collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the Northern District of Texas and Southern District of Florida and the fine work they provided in support of this prosecution.”

“In today’s times of increasing threats of violence, these criminal charges should serve as a warning to others contemplating such behavior,” said Ryan Raybould, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.  “I applaud the investigative efforts of our agents in this District and the prosecution team in the Northern District of Illinois for their outstanding work.”

The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Each count in the information is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago has fined a Chinese telecommunications company $50 million for criminally conspiring to steal proprietary technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, Inc.

Beginning in 2006, China-based HYTERA COMMUNICATIONS CORP. LTD. recruited and hired Motorola employees and directed them to take proprietary and trade secret information from Motorola without authorization.  The stolen information related to Motorola’s digital mobile radio technology, which Motorola had developed through years of research and design.  The engineers used the stolen information, including source code, to develop products for Hytera—at a fraction of the cost that it took Motorola to develop the exclusive technology—and competed with Motorola in the digital radio market through 2020.

Hytera pleaded guilty last year in the Northern District of Illinois to a federal charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.  In addition to the $50 million fine, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. on Thursday sentenced Hytera to a five-year term of probation, which includes conditions for maintaining an effective compliance program and annual reporting of the program to the government.  Judge Tharp found that Hytera caused Motorola to lose $214 million in profits, but restitution was offset in full by payments previously made by Hytera as a result of a civil judgment.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Peabody and Wesley A. Morrissette of the Northern District of Illinois.

Seven Hytera employees were indicted in 2021 in federal court in Chicago for their alleged roles in the thefts from Motorola. One of them—GEE SIONG KOK—pleaded guilty in 2022 to a federal charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.  As part of a plea agreement, Kok agreed to cooperate with the government in its investigation.  Kok is awaiting sentencing.  Warrants have been issued for the arrests of the six other defendants.