Northern District of Texas

The Justice Department filed a proposed statement of interest today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to make clear that federal law protects the equal right of all Americans to make and enforce contracts regardless of their race.

According to the allegations in the case, the 2024 ¡Lánzate!/Take Off! Travel Award Program was an annual program in which college and graduate students could receive free Southwest Airlines flight vouchers, but only Hispanic students were eligible to apply. The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued Southwest alleging that by denying that opportunity to all other students on the basis of their race or ethnicity, Southwest’s program facially discriminated against non-Hispanic students in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The Department’s proposed statement of interest affirms its continuing commitment to eradicating racially exclusionary practices across the government and in the private sector.

“Every person in the United States should have equal and nondiscriminatory rights to make and enforce contracts, and race should never be a consideration,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is working to end discrimination using all of the tools at our disposal.”

“Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated in our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham for the Northern District of Texas. “Our office will continue to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws to address racial discrimination affecting our residents.”

To learn more about the Civil Rights Division visit www.justice.gov/crt, and to report possible violations of federal civil rights laws go to www.civilrights.justice.gov.

The Justice Department filed a proposed statement of interest today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to make clear that federal law protects the equal right of all Americans to make and enforce contracts regardless of their race.

According to the allegations in the case, the 2024 ¡Lánzate!/Take Off! Travel Award Program was an annual program in which college and graduate students could receive free Southwest Airlines flight vouchers, but only Hispanic students were eligible to apply. The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued Southwest alleging that by denying that opportunity to all other students on the basis of their race or ethnicity, Southwest’s program facially discriminated against non-Hispanic students in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The Department’s proposed statement of interest affirms its continuing commitment to eradicating racially exclusionary practices across the government and in the private sector.

“Every person in the United States should have equal and nondiscriminatory rights to make and enforce contracts, and race should never be a consideration,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is working to end discrimination using all of the tools at our disposal.”

“Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated in our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham for the Northern District of Texas. “Our office will continue to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws to address racial discrimination affecting our residents.”

To learn more about the Civil Rights Division visit www.justice.gov/crt, and to report possible violations of federal civil rights laws go to www.civilrights.justice.gov.

A North Texas man who threatened to shoot and kill ICE agents was arrested and charged in federal court, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Robert Wilson King, 35, was charged on April 3, 2025, via criminal complaint with transmitting an interstate threat. King made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver this morning and was detained pending a detention hearing set for Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.

According to the complaint, on March 29, 2025, King allegedly posted a threat on a social media platform, stating, “If I see ICE agents in my neighborhood I’m opening fire. It’s time to stop being p****** and put the second amendment to work.  ICE are not real cops, they are a secret police force with no real legal authority. Kill them.”
 

Later, King allegedly posted on another social media platform that he wanted to “double down” on his threat to shoot and kill ICE agents.

The complaint, filed in case no. 3:25-mj-00324, details other instances of King’s alleged violent rhetoric this year.  

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. King is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.  If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Meacham praised the joint efforts of the law enforcement agencies investigating this case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Secret Service, with the assistance of the Texas Department of Safety, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, and the McKinney Police Department. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Brasher and Tiffany H. Eggers are prosecuting the case.

Members of the public can report potential threats to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.
 

A Fort Worth man who was on deferred adjudication for dealing the heroin that killed a 21-year-old in 2013 was sentenced today to 51 months in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Brennan Trainor Rodriguez, 33, was indicted in October 2024 and pled guilty in December 2024 to illegal possession of a machinegun.  He was sentenced on April 4, 2025, to 51 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor.

According to court records, Mr. Rodriguez was charged on June 7, 2013, with injecting heroin into a 21-year-old man who suffered a fatal overdose.  He admitted to causing the man’s death and was placed on 10 years of deferred adjudication beginning on Nov. 26, 2014.  Conditions of his community supervision prohibited him from possessing firearms.

On Aug. 6. 2024, law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance call from Mr. Rodriguez’s former girlfriend, who told police that the defendant had been stalking and harassing her since their breakup.  She also reported that Mr. Rodriguez frequently shot guns, including one that fired fully automatic.  

The following week, Mr. Rodriguez was arrested for stalking.  In searching his home, law enforcement found nine firearms, including a Smith & Wesson rifle equipped with a machinegun conversion device, commonly known as a “switch” or “auto sear.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division – Fort Worth Resident Agency and the Fort Worth Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric B. Chen prosecuted the case.
 

A man who sexually abused a child for over two years was sentenced to life in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Alec Mendoza, 26, of Lubbock, Texas, was indicted in May 2024.  He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to enticement of a minor and was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.

According to court documents, Mendoza first met the victim, “Jane Doe” and Doe’s mother at a party in 2020 when Doe was 10 years old, and Mendoza was 22 years old.  Mendoza began messaging Doe online and on Valentine’s Day 2021, Mendoza began sexually abusing Doe.  At the time, Doe was 11 years old, and Mendoza was 23 years old.

Soon after Mendoza began abusing Doe, Mendoza moved into Doe’s family home.  For the next two and a half years, Mendoza had sexual intercourse with Doe approximately 30-50 times.  Mendoza would also send messages to Doe discussing sex and would remind Doe to delete her messages.

In December 2023, Mendoza was caught sending text messages to Doe in the middle of the night from his bedroom down the hall.  Doe’s mother confronted Mendoza about the messages and Mendoza admitted to having an ongoing sexual relationship with Doe.

At sentencing, the government noted that following his conviction, Mendoza agreed to take a polygraph examination.  Mendoza failed the polygraph.  In his post-polygraph interview, Mendoza confessed to also sexually abusing a second child.  A search warrant of Mendoza’s phone also revealed Mendoza to be in possession of 20 videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).  Mendoza admitted to law enforcement to receiving and distributing CSAM over the Internet.

At sentencing, Judge Hendrix told Mendoza that he could not “capture with words the trauma you caused that will last for lifetimes.”  In imposing a life sentence, Judge Hendrix said: “I have to make a lot of difficult decisions.  This is not one of them.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the Lubbock Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Rancourt prosecuted the case.

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, Corey Wilson, 20, was convicted by Senior United States District Judge Barabara M. G. Lynn for possession of an unregistered machinegun on May 30, 2023 and June 6, 2023, announced Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

According to evidence presented at trial, Wilson advertised machinegun conversion devices—which can be installed in an AR-platform to allow the firearm to fire fully automatic—for sale on his Instagram account.  Although these devices can be made quickly from a few dollars’ worth of material, Wilson asked for $150 apiece. 

Testimony at trial revealed that undercover ATF agents contacted Wilson to purchase the devices. During the first purchase of six devices, Wilson explained that the devices had to be “activated” and demonstrated how to adjust and place them in a rifle to get them to fire “fully,” meaning fully automatic.  He sold six to the agents on May 30, 2023 and twenty on June 6, 2023, all within the Project Safe Neighborhood area of Northeast Dallas.

Wilson is facing up to ten years in federal prison on each count.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Withers, Walt Junker, and Elise Aldendifer are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of “Operation Texas Kill Switch,” a statewide initiative taking aim at machinegun conversion devices, also known as “switches,” which transform commercially available semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons capable of firing faster than military-grade machineguns.

This case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

An armed serial robber and convicted felon was found guilty by a jury on March 26, 2025, of robbing five cash loan businesses across the Fort Worth metroplex in May 2024, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Charles Lenard Brownlee, 37, was charged via criminal complaint in July 2024 and indicted in August 2024.  After two-and-a-half days of trial, a jury convicted him of one count of Hobbs Act Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery, five counts of Hobbs Act Interference with Commerce by Robbery, five counts of Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm during a Crime of Violence, and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

According to evidence presented at trial, between May 9 and May 21, 2024, Brownlee robbed at gunpoint five Cash Store businesses in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Euless, Hurst, and Grapevine. Trying to conceal his identity, Brownlee covered his face with a medical mask and wore different baseball caps and outfits for the robberies. 

Reviewing hours of surveillance footage from nearby businesses and other camera systems, detectives from the Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Euless, Hurst, and Grapevine police departments ascertained that Brownlee used the same vehicle—a black Hyundai Santa Fe equipped with a blue fuzzy steering-wheel cover—to drive to and from each of the five robberies.

At trial, the jury heard from an eyewitness who observed the robber drop a Black & Mild cigarillo as he was running from one of the robberies and thereafter enter the backseat of a black SUV that had a blue fuzzy covering on its steering wheel.  Law enforcement collected that cigarillo for DNA testing, and the DNA test results were consistent with Brownlee being the robber from that incident.

The jury also heard testimony from a member of the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team who testified that the cellular phones tied to Brownlee placed him at or near each Cash Store location when it was robbed.

For two of the robberies, Brownlee enlisted the help of his girlfriend and co-conspirator, who testified that she and Brownlee conspired to rob the Fort Worth and Euless Cash Stores—driving there together in the black Hyundai SUV and with her serving as Brownlee’s getaway driver. She also testified that after committing these “licks” (robberies), Brownlee planned to target jewelry stores and ultimately obtained a Mini Draco-style firearm to do so, since that gun had more “muscle.”

Shortly after committing the May 21 Grapevine robbery, Brownlee was arrested, and—upon searching the vehicle he was in—law enforcement found a black leather bag that Brownlee used in the Hurst and Grapevine robberies, a blue hat that Brownlee wore during the Euless robbery, a disposable medical mask matching what he wore for all of the robberies, and two loaded firearms—a black Smith & Wesson handgun matching the make and model of the gun identified by one of the victim-witnesses and a Century Arms Mini Draco AK-style pistol. Law enforcement also seized the black Hyundai Santa Fe with the blue fuzzy steering wheel cover, which at the time was being driven by Brownlee’s sister.

Brownlee’s cell phone showed that he had conducted multiple online searches of and for Cash Stores during the time span of the robbery spree and that he ran searches for nearby jewelry stores and where to purchase a Mini Draco gun. The jury also saw videos and images from Brownlee’s and his co-conspirator’s phones showing them posing with piles of cash and Brownlee smoking a Black & Mild cigarillo like that observed to have been dropped by the perpetrator of the Euless robbery.

Brownlee now faces a statutory minimum of 35 years and up to life in federal prison. His sentencing date is set for July 11, 2025, before the Honorable Reed O’Connor, who also presided over this trial.

Brownlee’s co-conspirator pled guilty to one count of Hobbs Act Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery and faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison. She is set to be sentenced on April 8, 2025.

"A strong relationship with our local law enforcement partners is crucial to tackling violent crime,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “The collaboration with multiple agencies from Tarrant County resulted in a successful guilty verdict and sends a message that we will not tolerate acts of violent crime in our communities.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham praised the joint efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved in the case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, Fort Worth Resident Agency, Grand Prairie Police Department, Fort Worth Police Department, Euless Police Department, Hurst Police Department, and Grapevine Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric B. Chen and Levi Thomas prosecuted and tried the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gordon for the Northern District of Texas provided appellate support. 

Twenty-three alleged methamphetamine and fentanyl traffickers in Lubbock, Texas, have been federally charged with drug crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

The defendants, charged in nine indictments, were apprehended on Wednesday, March 26th.  Initial appearances began today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda ‘Amy’ R. Burch.

This investigation began in March 2023.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized over 43 kilograms of methamphetamine, 285.4 grams of fentanyl (approx. 1,902 pills), 335.5 grams of cocaine, 2,296.7 grams of marijuana, and six firearms.  The 285.4 grams of seized fentanyl equals potentially 21,662 lethal doses of fentanyl.

Those charged in the indictments include:

•    Vida Tamor Overstreet, 49, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, unlawful use of communication facility, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Patrick Wayne Frazier aka Pat Pat, 38, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Juantay Dewayne Frazier aka Broadway, 39, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, unlawful use of communication facility, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    David Wayne Frazier aka Dinky, 39, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, unlawful use of communication facility, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Santiago Daniel Baltazar aka Chago, 26, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl

•    Walter Wood, 36, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl

•    Santos Moncada aka Tos, 28, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Jessie Franco, 41, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Shondra Christine Walker, 40, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Orian Emanuel Garcia, 35, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Rudolfo Luna aka Roy Luna, 43, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Adam Lee Arredondo, 37, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Justin Lee Dominguez, 37, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Anthony James Lockett, 44, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl, distribution of     methamphetamine

•    Rita Adelita Castillo, 44, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine

•    Paul Wayne Frazier, 38, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Charles Andre Sykes, 41, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Heather Jane Whitehead, 40, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Henry Tienda, Jr., 35, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Gary Dewayne Bolton aka Bay Bay, 36, charged with distribution of fentanyl

•    Arhmad Rashad Fountain aka Ra Ra, 47, charged with distribution of methamphetamine

•    Rubith Diaz Rodriguez, age 24, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

•    Tyler Kristian Piseno, 37, charged with distribution of fentanyl.

“Cooperation of local, state and federal law enforcement led to success in disrupting a drug trafficking organization,” said Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “These arrests will have a considerable impact on the distribution of methamphetamine in the greater-Lubbock area, and law enforcement will continue work together to ensure the safety and security of our communities.”

“This operation sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the flow of illegal drugs into our neighborhoods,” said Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA.  “By working together at every level of law enforcement, we are leveraging all available resources to destroy these criminal networks and commit to safeguard our communities from drug trafficking and violent crime.”

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, some of the defendants face up to life in federal prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham praised the joint efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved in the case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Office, the Caprock HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Lubbock Police Department, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Anti-Gang Center, the Levelland Police Department, and the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office.  The cases are being prosecuted by the West Texas Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

This prosecution stems from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transitional criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.  

This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs).
 

An illegal alien and convicted felon was charged with federal firearm crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.  

Manuel Najera-Garcia, a Mexican citizen and illegal alien, was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 26, 2025 with one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Najera-Garcia made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 and was ordered detained.  

According to the indictment, on December 22, 2024, Najera-Garcia possessed a .38-caliber revolver after having been convicted of a felony offense in 2012.  After his felony conviction, Najera-Garcia returned to Mexico.  However, it is alleged that sometime thereafter Najera-Garcia re-entered the United States prior to possessing the firearm on December 22, 2024.  

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence.  Mr. Najera-Garcia is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.  If convicted, Najera-Garcia faces up to 15 years in federal prison on each count.  

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Hocter is prosecuting the case.  

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Trivikram Reddy, 43, a Waxahachie nurse practitioner previously convicted of wire fraud conspiracy and sentenced to 20 years in 2021, will now forfeit over $40 million from foreign accounts into which he moved the funds, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham.  

Following Mr. Reddy’s conviction, the government filed a civil forfeiture action alleging that Mr. Reddy and others transferred and laundered the fraud proceeds to nearly 200 bank accounts located in India.  Through forensic financial analysis, the government traced the proceeds to these accounts and obtained seizure warrants to forfeit and restrain the funds.  On Monday, March 3, 2025, after Mr. Reddy and two family members stipulated up to $41,237,703.16 of the funds’ return from India, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown issued a judgment ordering the funds to be transferred to U.S. government custody.  

According to court documents, Mr. Reddy, a licensed nurse practitioner, devised a scheme to defraud Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Cigna.  Mr. Reddy and co-conspirators created false patient bills using the provider numbers of six doctors as the treating physicians on the claims.  All the claims were false, as none of the six doctors provided billable services to any of Mr. Reddy’s medical clinics.  In response to federal agents’ investigative inquiries, Mr. Reddy and his staff manufactured fake medical records in a failed attempt to justify the false claims.  Mr. Reddy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October 2020.  In May 2021, Judge Brown sentenced Mr. Reddy to 20 years imprisonment and ordered over $50 million in restitution to the victims of his offense.

The civil forfeiture case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Chapman is handling the restitution.  The case was investigated by the FBI Dallas Field office and Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). 
 

Speed Fab-Crete Corporation, a precast concrete manufacturer in Kennedale, Texas, agreed to pay $1,817,546.25 to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by applying for and receiving a loan it was not eligible for in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Congress created the PPP in March 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide emergency loans to small businesses suffering economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whether an applicant qualified for a PPP loan depended on various factors.

Speed Fab-Crete applied for and received a PPP loan in the principal amount of $1,170,000 in 2020, at a time when certain of its owners were facing criminal charges.  The government contends that Speed Fab-Crete was ineligible for the loan for that reason, because applicable SBA rules disqualified a business from PPP eligibility if any owner of 20% or more of the business’s equity was subject to criminal charges.

“This office is committed to finding and recovering PPP funds that were obtained by ineligible recipients during the pandemic,” said Acting United States Attorney Chad E. Meacham.  “We will continue to investigate and take action as necessary to reclaim those funds on behalf of the American taxpayer.”

“This settlement highlights the enhanced efforts of the SBA, working with the Department of Justice, SBA’s Office of Inspector General, and other Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as private individuals who have information about possible fraud in connection with PPP loans, to pursuing those who violated PPP program requirements and holding them accountable,” said SBA General Counsel Wendell Davis.  

The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States and share in a portion of the government’s recovery.  The qui tam lawsuit is case number 3:23-CV-2162-S in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and the qui tam relator, Aidan Forsyth, will receive a 15% share of the government’s recovery as part of the settlement.  

The government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Brian Stoltz in the lawsuit, with assistance from Lane Siems of the SBA.  The civil claims settled by the agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

Shaoping Wen and her son, Xu Wang, were sentenced on March 18, 2025, for their roles in operating massage parlors that operated as fronts for commercial sex operations, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

In September 2024, Wen, 65, and Wang, 42, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Lubbock, Texas, for conspiracy to commit interstate travel and use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering enterprises and other offenses related to the operation of illicit massage parlors in Texas and New Mexico and money laundering.   According to court documents, Wen owned and operated at least seven massage parlors where Asian women engaged in illegal commercial sex. Wang operated the parlors on Wen’s behalf when Wen was out of state.

Shaoping Wen pled guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate travel and use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering enterprises in November 2024.  She was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release.  Wen was also ordered to forfeit $291,990.88 in U.S. currency and pay a money judgment of $1,771,360 to the United States.  

Xu Wang pled guilty to misprision of a felony in November 2024 and was sentenced by Judge Kacsmaryk to time served (362 days), to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

Court documents revealed that, on at least 10 occasions between June 2023 and February 2024, undercover officers purchased massages for varying dollar amounts at Wen’s parlors in Texas and New Mexico.  The officers were generally greeted by lingerie-clad women who agreed to have sex with them for an additional fee of between $140 and $200.  Several of the women used translation apps to negotiate for sexual services. When the women were arrested for prostitution, they identified themselves as Chinese citizens and listed their occupation as simply, “laborer.”  On several occasions, Wen or Wang facilitated payment of the arrested women’s cash bond.

Officers also observed Wen’s vehicle transporting Asian females directly from the airport to her massage parlors. Neighbors said the women never left the building. Searches of the premises revealed beds placed on the floors, suggesting the women lived at the massage parlors.

On at least one occasion, a passerby heard a woman screaming and entered the parlor to check-in.  He reported seeing three women between the ages of 30 and 50 dressed in provocative clothing.

Officers found the massage parlors advertised on sites often used to advertise for commercial sex. The ads included photos of partially naked women and promoted “100% sexy” girls who “like to spend time with nice upscale gentlemen.”  They advertised the “girlfriend experience,” “porn star experience,” and “fantasy outfits on request.”  Prostitution is illegal in Texas and New Mexico.

In March 2024, Wen’s seven illicit massage parlors were searched.  During the search, law enforcement located further evidence that the women were residing in the parlors, as well as condoms and other items indicative of sexual activity, and approximately $291,990.88 in U.S. currency. Casino records revealed that Wen frequently traveled to California to launder the proceeds of her illicit massage parlor businesses.  From between January 2018 and August 2023, Wen cashed out approximately $1,771,360 in chips from the casino.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency, Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Lubbock Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, HSI’s Albuquerque Field Office, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Wolfforth Police Department, the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, the Carlsbad Police Department, the Roswell Police Department, the Clovis Police Department, the Roswell Fire Department, the Carlsbad Fire Department, the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam prosecuted the case. 
 

Erik Jeovany Garcia Brizuela, a Mexican national illegally living in the United States, was sentenced to over 30 years in federal prison for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that involved approximately 92.4 pounds of methamphetamine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

On March 11, 2025, United States District Judge Jane J. Boyle sentenced Garcia Brizuela, 35, to 365 months’ imprisonment.  According to court documents, in December 2023, Garcia Brizuela pled guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine in 2021, during which he sold methamphetamine to a confidential human source and enlisted a co-conspirator, Melissa Enit Alvarado, to translate between Spanish and English drug-price negotiations and other details such as meeting times and places with methamphetamine purchasers.  

At Garcia Brizuela’s sentencing hearing, a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified that Garcia Brizuela cooked liquid methamphetamine into crystal form for his suppliers from Mexico.  Testimony further revealed that, after he stopped cooking methamphetamine, he sold methamphetamine for $3,200 to $7,000 per kilogram.  On one occasion, Garcia Brizuela received as much as 40 kilograms of methamphetamine.  In all, the methamphetamine for which Garcia Brizuela was held responsible had a wholesale value ranging from $134,000.00 to $296,100.00.  Sentencing testimony also revealed that Garcia Brizuela sold heroin, at a price of $14,000 per kilogram, aided by Alvarado’s translation assistance.  

Melissa Enit Alvarado pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine in September 2022 and was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment on June 23, 2023 by United States District Judge Jane J. Boyle.

“Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to hold the defendant accountable for his leadership role in an organization that distributed a large amount of methamphetamine,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “Drugs inflict our communities with crime and addiction. The FBI thanks our partners for their continued collaboration in disrupting criminal organizations that threaten the well-being of our residents.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham praised the joint efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved in the case, including the Dallas Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration Dallas Field Division, the Dallas Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the North Richland Hills Police Department, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Coppell Police Department and members of the North Texas Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force.  Assistant United States Attorney George Leal prosecuted the case.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
 

Gerardo Barraza-Ortiz, a Mexican national illegally living in the United States, was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison for his role in trafficking over 48 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

On March 10, 2025, Barraza-Ortiz, 42, was sentenced to 262 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge David C. Godbey.  According to court documents, Barraza-Ortiz pled guilty on September 5, 2023, to possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.  

Testimony at sentencing revealed that in June 2022, after two controlled methamphetamine purchases of approximately one ounce each, officers with the Duncanville, Texas police department executed a search warrant at an auto body shop located on South Cockrell Hill Road in Dallas, Texas.  As officers entered the building, Barraza-Ortiz fled from officers but was soon apprehended.  

A Duncanville police officer testified that a search of the building revealed approximately 48.66 kilograms (107.05 pounds) of crystalized methamphetamine.  Most of the methamphetamine was located in 1,022 small packages hidden in buckets and pallets.  A further search of the auto body shop also revealed a freezer, burners, coolers, storage bins, and barrels that were being used to store, cook, and clean liquid methamphetamine into a crystalized form.  Officers also located three firearms and several pounds of marijuana during the search. 
 

According to the Duncanville Police Department, the 48.66 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, if sold in ounce quantities, has a street value of approximately $3,128,400.00 in the Dallas, Texas area.      

“This conviction sends a clear message that our community will not tolerate the distribution of dangerous narcotics. The successful prosecution of this case is a testament to the dedication and hard work of personnel of the Duncanville Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office.  Removing over $3 million worth of methamphetamine from our streets is a significant victory in our ongoing fight against drug trafficking, and we remain committed to protecting our neighborhoods from the devastating impact of illegal drugs,” said Chief of Police Matthew Stogner.

Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham praised the joint efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved in the case, including the Duncanville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Leal and Sarah Douglas prosecuted the case.
 

A Florida man who traveled from Florida to the Northern District of Texas to have sex with a minor was sentenced on March 11, 2025 to 30 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Carlos Robles, 31, was indicted in May 2020 and pleaded guilty in August 2022 to Interstate Travel with Intent to Engage in a Sexual Act with a Minor. He was sentenced on March 11, 2025 to the statutory maximum of 360 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Karen G. Scholer, who also ordered him to 24 years of supervision following his release and registration as a sex offender.

According to court documents, on or about January 31, 2020, the defendant traveled via commercial airline from Florida to the Northern District of Texas for the purposes of engaging in sexual conduct with the victim, who was under the age of 18.  In handing down the sentence, the court emphasized the need to protect society from further crimes of the defendant.  Specifically, the Court noted multiple facts of the case when imposing the sentence, including the age of the victim, the fact the defendant had over 5,000 messages with the victim in a four-month span, and that the defendant traveled from Florida four times to meet the victim, including once at a roller-skating rink.

“The sentence today is a message to anyone who even thinks about traveling to the Northern District of Texas to prey on children – you will go to prison for a very long time,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Meacham.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Garland Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jongwoo Chung and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

On Feb. 21, Texas pharmacist Dehshid “David” Nourian, 62, of Plano, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay over $115 million in restitution for his role in a $145 million scheme to defraud the Department of Labor through the submission of fraudulent claims for prescription compound creams. On March 6, the court also forfeited $405 million in assets tied to Nourian’s fraud and money laundering schemes.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Nourian and others conspired to pay doctors to prescribe medically unnecessary compound creams to injured federal workers. Nourian and others owned and operated three pharmacies located in Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas. Over the course of the scheme, they paid doctors millions of dollars in illegal bribes and kickbacks for referring expensive compound medications to be filled by those pharmacies. Evidence at trial showed these compounds were being mixed in the back rooms of the pharmacies by untrained teenagers at a cost to the defendants of around $15 per prescription and then billed to the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) for as much as $16,000 per prescription. Patients who received the creams testified at trial to the creams’ ineffectiveness and, in some instances, that using the creams resulted in painful, irritating skin rashes.

“Protecting victims and safeguarding the public fisc are two of the Criminal Division’s highest priorities,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “Today’s 17-year sentence sends a clear message that our prosecutors, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our investigative partners, will identify, investigate, and prosecute even the most sophisticated fraud schemes that target taxpayer money and endanger patients.  As a result of our tireless efforts, this defendant was tried, convicted, and ordered to forfeit more than $400 million – the highest forfeiture ever obtained in a health care fraud case in the Department’s history – and now his ill-gotten proceeds will be returned to the taxpayers and programs designed to care for our most vulnerable citizens.”

“This sentence sends a strong message to those who would defraud our federal healthcare programs for personal gain,” said Inspector General Tammy Hull of the U.S. Postal Service. “The outstanding work by the legal and investigative teams stopped a multi-year health care fraud scheme responsible for tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent billing to government agencies. Along with the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners, the USPS Office of Inspector General will remain committed to investigating those who would engage in this type of fraud and abuse.”
In less than three years, between May 2014 and March 2017, the pharmacies billed the DOL-OWCP and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145 million and were paid more than $90 million for unnecessary prescriptions referred by medical providers in exchange for the illegal bribes and kickbacks. Nourian and others then attempted to conceal their ill-gotten gains by laundering the money through purported holding companies and attempted to evade paying $24 million in federal income taxes on the illicit proceeds.

In November 2023, a federal jury in the Northern District of Texas convicted Nourian of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, eight counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to launder money, five counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by failing to report and attempting to evade the collection of taxes owed to the IRS.

In an order issued following Nourian’s sentencing, the court also ruled that Nourian will forfeit $405 million in seized assets tied to his crimes. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Nourian and his co-conspirators used a complex web of bank accounts and shell companies to launder their fraud proceeds, ultimately depositing tens of millions of dollars into Nourian’s and other family members’ bank and investment accounts. The forfeiture order returned that money to the taxpayers and included the forfeiture of $395 million in brokerage accounts, over $2 million in bank accounts, real estate in Dallas and Austin worth $8 million, and a BMW luxury vehicle.

Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham for the Northern District of Texas; Inspector General Tammy Hull of the U.S. Postal Service; Special Agent in Charge Casey Howard of the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Dallas Regional Office; Special Agent in Charge Kris Raper of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), South Central Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office made the announcement.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, DOL-OIG, VA-OIG, and IRS-CI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Ethan Womble and Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha for the Northern District of Texas handled the criminal forfeiture for the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
 

On Feb. 21, Texas pharmacist Dehshid “David” Nourian, 62, of Plano, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay over $115 million in restitution for his role in a $145 million scheme to defraud the Department of Labor through the submission of fraudulent claims for prescription compound creams. On March 6, the court also forfeited $405 million in assets tied to Nourian’s fraud and money laundering schemes.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Nourian and others conspired to pay doctors to prescribe medically unnecessary compound creams to injured federal workers. Nourian and others owned and operated three pharmacies located in Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas. Over the course of the scheme, they paid doctors millions of dollars in illegal bribes and kickbacks for referring expensive compound medications to be filled by those pharmacies. Evidence at trial showed these compounds were being mixed in the back rooms of the pharmacies by untrained teenagers at a cost to the defendants of around $15 per prescription and then billed to the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) for as much as $16,000 per prescription. Patients who received the creams testified at trial to the creams’ ineffectiveness and, in some instances, that using the creams resulted in painful, irritating skin rashes.

“Protecting victims and safeguarding the public fisc are two of the Criminal Division’s highest priorities,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This 17-year sentence sends a clear message that our prosecutors, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our investigative partners, will identify, investigate, and prosecute even the most sophisticated fraud schemes that target taxpayer money and endanger patients. As a result of our tireless efforts, this defendant was tried, convicted, and ordered to forfeit more than $400 million – the highest forfeiture ever obtained in a health care fraud case in the Department’s history – and now his ill-gotten proceeds will be returned to the taxpayers and programs designed to care for our most vulnerable citizens.”

“This sentence sends a strong message to those who would defraud our federal health care programs for personal gain,” said Inspector General Tammy Hull of the U.S. Postal Service. “The outstanding work by the legal and investigative teams stopped a multi-year health care fraud scheme responsible for tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent billing to government agencies. Along with the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners, the USPS Office of Inspector General will remain committed to investigating those who would engage in this type of fraud and abuse.”

“Dehshid Nourian defrauded the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) by submitting false claims for medically unnecessary services. His actions placed illegal profits above patient safety,” said Special Agent in Charge Casey Howard of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) Central Region. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and OWCP to protect the integrity of DOL’s worker compensation programs.”

In less than three years, between May 2014 and March 2017, the pharmacies billed the DOL-OWCP and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145 million and were paid more than $90 million for unnecessary prescriptions referred by medical providers in exchange for the illegal bribes and kickbacks. Nourian and others then attempted to conceal their ill-gotten gains by laundering the money through purported holding companies and attempted to evade paying $24 million in federal income taxes on the illicit proceeds.

In November 2023, a federal jury in the Northern District of Texas convicted Nourian of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, eight counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to launder money, five counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by failing to report and attempting to evade the collection of taxes owed to the IRS.

In an order issued following Nourian’s sentencing, the court also ruled that Nourian will forfeit $405 million in seized assets tied to his crimes. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Nourian and his co-conspirators used a complex web of bank accounts and shell companies to launder their fraud proceeds, ultimately depositing tens of millions of dollars into Nourian’s and other family members’ bank and investment accounts. The forfeiture order returned that money to the taxpayers and included the forfeiture of $395 million in brokerage accounts, over $2 million in bank accounts, real estate in Dallas and Austin worth $8 million, and a BMW luxury vehicle.

Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham for the Northern District of Texas; Inspector General Tammy Hull of the U.S. Postal Service; Special Agent in Charge Casey Howard of the DOL-OIG Central Region; Special Agent in Charge Kris Raper of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), South Central Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office made the announcement.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, DOL-OIG, VA-OIG, and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Ethan Womble and Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha for the Northern District of Texas handled the criminal forfeiture for the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Alejandro Aguirre, 28, of Plainview, Texas, pleaded guilty to Production of Child Pornography announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.  Aguirre pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda ‘Amy’ R. Burch and was immediately remanded to custody pending sentencing.

According to court documents, in June 2023, officers with the Amarillo Police Department received information that Aguirre was contacting minors through a social media application and that he had sexual intercourse with at least one minor.  One of the minors, who was 16 years old, was forensically interviewed and stated that Aguirre had sexual intercourse with her in Amarillo.

When APD detectives interviewed Aguirre, he admitted to having sex with the minor and recording it on his cell phone.  APD detectives obtained a search warrant for Aguirre’s cell phone and recovered the video Aguirre described.  However, the minor in the video was not the one that had been forensically interviewed.

APD officers contacted a detective with the Plainview Police Department to help identify the minor in the video.  The Plainview Police Department detective was able to identify the minor as a 16-year-old Plainview resident.  

That minor was forensically interviewed and stated that Aguirre had messaged her on a social networking application.  The minor stated that Aguirre made a video of them having sexual intercourse in Plainview, which was the video found on Aguirre’s cell phone.

Aguirre faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison.  His sentencing date has not been set.

The Amarillo Police Department and Plainview Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Rancourt is prosecuting the case.
 

A former Mansfield tax preparer who previously pled guilty to charges related to his false preparation of tax returns was sentenced last week to nearly 5 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Festus Adenisimi, 65, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to one count of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.  He was sentenced on March 6, 2025 to 57 months in federal prison by U.S. Senior District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn, who also ordered him to pay $10,283,737.65 in restitution.

According to court documents, Adenisimi was the owner of a tax preparation business, FA Tax, where he and other tax preparers prepared fraudulent tax returns for their clients, often causing the IRS to issue refunds to those clients.  Adenisimi admitted to falsely preparing his own tax returns as well.

As part of the plea agreement, Adenisimi also admitted that he fraudulently obtained two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $760,415 under the Small Business Administration’s COVID -19 relief program.   The Court ordered Adenisimi to pay restitution in relation to both the tax fraud and the PPP loan fraud.

IRS-Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu prosecuted the case.
 

A Nigerian man who overstayed his visa has been charged with defrauding the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Benefits Program and the Paycheck Protection Program, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham. 

Oluwanishola Oyedyipo Jinadu, 25, was charged on February 26, 2025 in a seventeen-count indictment with five counts of theft of government money, three counts of wire fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft,  and one count of false statements in immigration documents. He made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian McKay. 

The indictment alleges that Mr. Jinadu, who was in the United States illegally after overstaying his B1/B2 nonimmigrant Visa, defrauded the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which provided supplemental unemployment insurance benefits to qualified claimants pursuant to the CARES Act, and unlawfully obtained unemployment benefits. 

Records show that Mr. Jinadu allegedly received stolen unemployment benefits into his bank accounts. Applications were submitted in the names of at least five victims in Washington, Massachusetts, and Kansas without their authorization.

The indictment further alleges that Mr. Jinadu also defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided forgivable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, rent, and certain other expenses pursuant to the CARES Act. 

Mr. Jinadu allegedly received more than $65,000 in stolen PPP funds into his bank accounts. Applications were submitted in the names of at least three victims in Oklahoma without their authorization. 

Not long after allegedly committing these frauds, Mr. Jinadu applied to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States. When asked on his application, “Have you EVER committed a crime of any kind (even if you were not arrested, cited, charged with, or tried for that crime)?” Mr. Jinadu allegedly answered, “no.” He then certified, under penalty of perjury, that all of the information he provided was “complete, true, and correct.” 

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Jinadu is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

If convicted, he faces up to 96 years in federal prison. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Madeline S. Case are prosecuting the case.

Eight gang members were arrested Tuesday in ATF-led  “Operation Blue Laces,” announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Monday’s takedown, which occurred in the Wheatley Place Neighborhood in South Dallas, resulted in the apprehension of eight members of the 42 Oakland Crips street gang. They made their initial appearances Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee H. Toliver.

Those charged in three separate indictments include: 

• Kendrick Jamal Young, aka “Peanut,” charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, felon in possession of a firearm (a Springfield Hellcat 9mm pistol, a Ruger 9mm pistol, and a FedArm AR-15 style pistol), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
• Christopher Jamiel Love, aka “Black,” charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, felon in possession of a firearm (a Springfield Hellcat 9mm pistol, a Ruger 9mm pistol, and a FedArm AR-style pistol) and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
• Alex Jerome Bowman, aka “Big A,” charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances
• Victor Scott Wingham, aka “Johnny Joe,” charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances
• Joshua Jimond Wheatley, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances
• Travion Williams, aka “Traa Savage,” charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence (a Taurus 9mm pistol and a Glock 9mm pistol)
• Jihadd Thies Gorree Thomas, charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence (a Taurus 9mm pistol and a Glock 9mm pistol)
• Jamarian Augustus Hewitt, charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substances, felon in possession of a firearm (a Ruger 9mm pistol), possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime , and using a communication facility (cell phone) to facilitate a drug felony

At a detention hearing on Friday, prosecutors said defendants had been dealing drugs on a daily basis on Dallas’ Casey Street, in an area known as the “Dead End.” Phone records introduced into evidence showed that several members of the conspiracy texted to warn one another about upcoming law enforcement raids, sent young people in to look for missing dope following the raids, and went right back to dealing drugs after the raids concluded.

Many of the arrestees had extensive criminal histories, with rap sheets that included drug and gun crimes.

During the takedown, agents seized 14 firearms, more than a kilogram’s worth of methamphetamine pills, as well as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, alprazolam, marijuana, TXC wax, hash, and more than $47,000 in cash. They also seized six vehicles, several pieces of Crips -themed jewelry, and a caiman alligator, which was transported to the Dallas Zoo. 

Indictments are merely allegations of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

If convicted, some defendants face up to life in federal prison. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division, the Dallas Police Department, Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, IRS – Criminal Investigative Division, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Game Wardens. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assisted with care and transportation of the seized alligator. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert is prosecuting the case. 

Among the 29 cartel bosses expelled from Mexico and transferred to the custody of the United States on Thursday was Northern District of Texas defendant Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, aka “El Gato,” announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham. 

Mr. Villarreal Hernandez, a Mexican national who held a high-level position in the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) Drug Cartel, was charged in June 2018 with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the brutal slaying of a 43-year-old Southlake, Texas lawyer in 2013. 

He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in October 2020 and arrested by Mexican law enforcement agents in Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico in January 2023.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his successful expulsion yesterday, pledging to prosecute all cartel bosses “to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels.” 

Mr. Villarreal Hernandez will make his initial appearance in federal court next week.

According to evidence presented at the trial of his coconspirators, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez allegedly directed and financed a multi-year effort to locate and assassinate his victim, an attorney with ties to a rival cartel. Testimony revealed that Mr. Villarreal Hernandez allegedly believed the attorney was involved with the death of Mr. Villarreal Hernandez’s father and wanted revenge. 

The victim was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle outside an upscale shopping center in  Southlake on May 22, 2013. His wife was standing near the driver’s side door when her husband was killed. 

Three men who, acting on orders from Mr. Villarreal Hernandez, tracked the victim prior to his death were convicted and sentenced in 2016: Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes and Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda were convicted at trial of interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire; Mr. Cepeda-Cortez was also convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings. Both men received life sentences. Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, son of Mr. Ledezma-Cepeda, pleaded guilty prior to trial to one count of interstate stalking and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A fourth defendant, Ramon Villarreal-Hernandez, the brother of Jose Rodolfo, was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States in 2020. He pleaded guilty to interstate stalking in June 2022 and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

According to the U.S. State Department, in addition to allegedly ordering the Southlake murder, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez is believed to have overseen the importation of large quantities of cocaine into the United States as well as committing violent acts within the Republic of Mexico and the United States to maintain his organization’s power and status.

“After more than a decade, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez will have to answer for his alleged crimes in an American courtroom,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “Since the victim was gunned down in a public parking lot in 2013, law enforcement’s commitment to this case has never wavered. I extend my sincere thanks to the federal, state, local, and international partners who have pulled together to ensure this defendant will be brought to justice.”

“FBI Dallas and the Southlake Police Department have been determined to bring this individual to justice since he orchestrated a brutal murder in one of the many communities we serve in North Texas,” said R. Joseph Rothrock, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Field Office. “We would like to thank the United States Marshals Service for ensuring that Villarreal-Hernandez arrived safely and is now in federal custody on U.S. soil.”

“An investigative success such as this one does not come easily or through individual efforts.  Policing is a team sport,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. “We are proud to stand hand-in-hand with our colleagues from the FBI to secure Villarreal Hernández’ indictment, arrest, and transfer.  Violence and drug trafficking are evil bedfellows, but together we will ensure communities remain safe and criminals face justice.”

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. Villarreal Hernandez is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The statutory maximum penalty for interstate stalking is life in prison; the statutory maximum for the murder-for-hire charge is life in prison or death.

The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division, with assistance from the Southlake Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Grapevine Police Department. The  Mexican Secretariat of the Navy, Fiscalía Generalde la República (FGR), Coordinación Nacional Antisecuestro (CONASE) coordinated in the arrest of Mr. Villarreal-Hernandez.  The U.S. Marshal Service for the Northern District of Texas assisted in securing the defendant upon his arrival in Texas. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Mexico City, and the U.S. Marshals Mexico City Foreign Field Office provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Burgess (fmr) and Aisha Saleem prosecuted the case against Mr. Luis Cepeda-Cortes, Mr. Ledezma-Cepeda, and Mr. Ledezma-Campano. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn Smith and Laura Montes are prosecuting the case against Mr. Villarreal Hernandez.

A serial bank robber who robbed three banks while on supervised release for a prior bank robbery conviction was sentenced Thursday to more than 10 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham. 

Taurick Demon Walker, 43, was charged via criminal complaint in August 2023 and indicted the following month. He pleaded guilty in October 2024 to bank robbery and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 105 months for the bank robbery plus 24 months for violating the conditions of his supervised release – which prohibited committing any felonies – for a total of 129 months in federal prison. 

According to court records, Mr. Walker was convicted of bank robbery in March 2018 and sentenced to six years in federal prison. He served his time and was released in March 2023. 

Just five months after his release, on Aug. 10, 2023, Mr. Walker entered a Regions Bank in Irving, passed a teller a note, and demanded “all your money now.”  The teller handed over a wad of cash and Mr. Walker fled the scene. 

Eight days later, on Aug. 18, Mr. Walker robbed two other banks: a Truist Bank in Dallas and a Wells Fargo in Garland. On both occasions, he approached a teller and pressed a note against the glass that read “Bank Robbery 20,000.”

Investigators were able to link Mr. Walker to both robberies using a network of FLOCK license plate readers.

In an interview with law enforcement, a family member told police she recognized a cowboy hat worn during one of the robberies as Mr. Walker’s. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Dallas, Garland, and Irving Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Withers prosecuted the case..

The owner of a company that distributed school swag pleaded guilty  to defrauding the Fort Worth Independent School District, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Virenkumar Patel, the 33-year-old owner of VR Group Promotions, was indicted in January. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of wire fraud.

According to court documents, Mr. Patel admits that in the spring of 2021, the principal of a Fort Worth ISD high school told Mr. Patel she needed to purchase planners, notepads, and flash drives for the school. Knowing that the district required principals to obtain three quotes before agreeing to purchase such items, Mr. Patel fabricated to quotes from competitors, along with a quote from VR Group Promotions, which quoted the lowest price. Mr. Patel hand-delivered the quotes to the principal, who selected VR Group’s $18,287 quote.

In the winter of 2022, the principal of another Fort Worth ISD high school told Mr. Patel he needed to purchase flash drives. Mr. Patel again fabricated two competitor quotes, along with a quote from VR Group Promotions, which quoted the lowest price. The principal selected VR Group’s $5,250 quote.

In spring 2023, the principal of the first high school again contacted Mr. Patel, and told him that she needed to purchase headphones, wireless charges, and power banks for the school. Once again, Mr. Patel fabricated competitor quotes, and once again, the principal selected VR Group Promotion’s $9,245 bid.

Mr. Patel now faces up to 30 years in federal prison per count. His sentencing hearing has been set for June 6, 2025.   

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl is prosecuting the case. 

The architect of a nearly $5 million insurance fraud was sentenced today to more than 13 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham. 

Jordan Ford, 32, was charged via criminal complaint in June 2024 and pleaded guilty in September 2024 to a criminal information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced Thursday to 157 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, who also ordered him to pay $4,471,338.92 in restitution to the defrauded insurance companies. 

According to court documents, Mr. Ford and his coconspirators recruited insurance company employees to pull clients’ personal information from legitimate insurance claims. The employees handed those details over to Mr Ford. 

Using the stolen information, Mr. Ford – posing as the client – called the insurance companies and requested they update the payment information to accounts he and his coconspirators controlled. 

Other times, Mr. Ford paid insurance employees to lend him their company-issued laptops, logged onto the companies’ systems, and authorized and issued payments, which were sent to accounts he and his coconspirators controlled. 

In total, the coconspirators misdirected funds from at least three insurance companies, netting more than $4.4 million. 

All nine defendants charged in the scheme have pleaded guilty, including Mr. Ford’s lieutenant, Humberto Corona; Jaquan Hall and Elexis McLain, who recruited insurance employees and received and distributed fraudulent proceeds; and insurance employees Timothy Starling, Desiree Thomas, Daja Webb, and Sesedrick Wedlow, who were compensated for handing over stolen client information and allowing Mr. Ford to access company systems.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Texas Department of Insurance conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Weybrecht is prosecuting the case. 

A Perryton ISD coach who sexually abused a 15-year-old student was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Cole Underwood, 29, was charged via criminal complaint in June 2024 and indicted later that same month. In September 2024, he pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk to 30 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

According to court documents, Perryton ISD’s superintendent reached out to law enforcement in May 2024 to report a possible inappropriate relationship between Mr. Underwood and a female student. According to the superintendent, surveillance video allegedly showed Mr. Underwood meeting with the girl alone after hours, despite being given a specific directive not to be alone with her.

Agents reviewed the footage and observed Mr. Underwood propping an exterior door open and then shutting off lights. Approximately 15 minutes later, the girl entered the darkened building through the propped door and walked into Mr. Underwood’s office.

In interviews with law enforcement, the child said Mr. Underwood had sex with her in his office more than a dozen times between February and May.

She said that after she added him as a contact on Snapchat, he established a personal friendship with her, and even invited her to his office to confide in him. She said that Mr. Underwood began messaging her in a flirtatious and sexual manner in December, and eventually used Snapchat to arrange sexual encounters.

A search of the girl’s cell phone revealed multiple late-night conversations – some lasting more than six hours – between her and Mr. Underwood, who allegedly occasionally referred to the child as “wifey” and told her he loved her.

At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the student detailed how the situation escalated from the defendant acting as a confidant during a stressful period to isolating her and continually pressuring her for sex:

“I had no idea that he was slowly in the process of grooming me, I genuinely thought that he actually cared about me,” she said in a victim impact statement. “I didn't know how to stop it… He convinced me to shut everyone out. I felt like I seriously had no one but him.”

“I hope if there is a girl out there who is going through what I have been through, she has the chance to hear my story to know it's okay to speak up. There are people who want to help,” she bravely added. “Just because you have one bad chapter does not mean your story is over.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Amarillo Resident Agency, the Ochiltree County Sheriff’s Office, and the Perryton Police Department conducted the investigation with the full cooperation of the Perryton Independent School District. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam is prosecuting the case.

A truck driver who kidnapped a 25-year-old woman and dumped her dead body in the woods has been convicted at trial, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. 

Naasson Hazzard, 28, of Austin, was charged via criminal complaint in August and indicted in October. After nine days of trial and approximately an hour of deliberation, a jury on Tuesday convicted him of kidnapping resulting in death.

“A young woman’s life was cut tragically short, her last moments likely spent in terror,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “But those final moments do not define her life. She mattered, her life had worth, and we are proud to put her kidnapper behind bars.”

“Just a few months ago, this violent criminal not only kidnapped an unsuspecting victim, but also took her life. From that time, our commitment has been to seek justice,” said Travis Pickard, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Dallas. “With this guilty verdict, we are one step closer to achieving justice. HSI remains steadfast in using every method at our disposal to apprehend those who commit heinous acts in our communities.”

According to evidence presented at trial, surveillance video caught Hazzard’s victim, a young sex worker, entering his semi-truck in Dallas at 9:27 p.m. on Aug. 15.

Eight days later, her decomposing body was found in a wooded area off Texas Highway 11 in Pittsburg, Texas with a black plastic bag tied around her head. 

Cell phone records showed that on the evening of Aug. 15, Mr. Hazzard traveled from the pickup location to a nearby parking lot, where he remained for approximately 17 minutes. He then drove over three hours to a wooded area off Highway 11 in Pittsburg, Texas, where he texted his boss that he would be out sick the following day and remained for almost an hour before completing a load for work.

The next day, he and his wife returned to the scene before going to dinner in Tyler, Texas.

In the days that followed, Mr. Hazzard switched cell phones and deleted his Google and Life360 location sharing accounts. He also cleaned the truck with bleach and searched “how many years for first second and third degree murders.” Meanwhile, his wife searched for “Pittsburg Texas news.”

On Aug. 23, the same day the victim’s body was recovered, agents found her cell phone shattered on the side of the road along Mr. Hazzard’s route the night she was killed.  

Mr. Hazzard now faces an automatic life sentence. 

The North Texas Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation with the assistance of the following agencies: the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Midlothian Police Department, the Texas Rangers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Titus County Sheriff’s Office, the Buda Police Department, the Austin Police Department, the Hayes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office leads the Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandie Wade and Renee Hunter prosecuted the case with the help of appellate liaison Jonathan Bradshaw.

A man who fired shots outside a San Angelo residence was sentenced to 30 months in prison for a federal gun crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Edgar Eduardo Gamez-Rodriguez, a 22-year-old citizen of Mexico, was indicted in September 2024 and pleaded guilty in October 2024 to illegal alien in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.

According to a plea papers, at around 5:05 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2023, law enforcement responded to a call of “shots fired” outside a home in San Angelo. Witnesses, who were attending a party there, reported that Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez had fired several rounds from a handgun into the air.

A sheriff’s office incident report details how Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez – intoxicated and irate at having his keys taken away – pulled out his gun, racked the slide, and pointed it straight at two musicians who’d been hired to play at the party. He climbed into his vehicle, then fired four to six shots into the air before driving off, according to multiple witnesses. He later allegedly told a partygoer he “knows people” who could “shoot up” the house.

According to plea papers, law enforcement later executed a search warrant at Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez’s residence, where they recovered a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun along with two 9mm magazines. In the drawer where the gun and ammunition were stored, they found an employment contract with Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez’s signature and the keys to his vehicle.

Officers also reviewed Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez’s facebook profile photo, which showed him holding a black handgun.

A query of the defendant’s immigration records showed that he was a citizen of Mexico based on his birth in Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico. Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez had never been given permission to enter or remain in the United States, and had been removed to Mexico previously via Laredo.

After serving his sentence, Mr. Gamez-Rodriguez will once again face deportation proceedings.

Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Haag prosecuted the case. 

A man who threatened to shoot up a Lubbock elementary school has been arrested and charged, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Stephen Patrick Furr, 29, was charged via criminal complaint with interstate threatening communications and arrested Monday afternoon. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda ‘Amy’ R. Burch Wednesday morning.

“The foresight of a single tipster – coupled with the prompt action of law enforcement – may have saved dozens of young lives,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “The adage holds true: If you see something, say something. You may help law enforcement avert a tragedy.”

“The defendant’s concerning social media posts were reported to the FBI, and the resulting law enforcement response ensured no one was harmed,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “The FBI and our partners are committed to protecting the communities we serve, and we encourage the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious or threatening behavior to law enforcement.”

According to the complaint, on Feb. 2, the FBI received a tip about threats posted on BlueSky, a microblogging site.

“Thinking about going out and buying a gun,” the user posted. “When in Texas, shoot [expletive] [expletive] am I right? Good thing I live next to an elementary school.”

The posts escalated from musings about a possible future shooting to statements that the user had a gun and intended to carry out a school shooting:  “Will be fun to legally shoot up a school,” the user posted. “I can already smell the blood.”

“Anyone wanna sign my gun?” he added.

The user also posted images from the March 2019 shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed 51 people and injured 89 more.

Agents identified the user of the account as Mr. Furr and visited him at his home in Lubbock on Feb. 3.

According to the complaint, Mr. Furr was “disheveled and unkempt.” He allegedly screamed incoherent profanities and stated that he would not talk to the agents until the President confirmed their identity.

Officers contacted two of Mr. Furr’s family members, who stated that Mr. Furr had also threatened them.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Furr is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency conducted the investigation with the Lubbock Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag is prosecuting the case.

Members of the public can report potential threats to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.

Thirteen alleged drug traffickers operation out of the Texas Panhandle were federally charged in DEA-led Operation Put It In Reverse, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Those charged in a 15-count indictment filed include:

• Juan Gabriel Castro, aka “Big Boy,” charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine

• Luis Gilberto Garcia, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine,  possession with intent to distribute cocaine

• Terry Deon Noble, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, distribution of methamphetamine

• David Dewayne Keelin, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine

• Charlotte Ann Villanueva, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Kody Ryan Patterson, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Melissa Lynn Nelson, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Joshua James Tarver, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, distribution of methamphetamine,

• Danny James Wise, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Christopher Steven Conley, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Reba Lynn McLaughlin, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Mario Socorro Martinez, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

• Alfredo Olivares Jimenez, aka “Freddie,” charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

The defendants were arrested last week.

Over th course of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 70 kilograms of methamphetamine, four kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of fentanyl, $70,000 in assets, and eight firearms.

“These arrests demonstrate the continued resolve of DEA Amarillo Resident Office to investigate this organization to the fullest extent possible,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez.  “Local street dealers, transporters, bulk suppliers, and anyone in between should know DEA is committed to holding everyone in this organization, and others like it, accountable for selling deadly drugs to our communities.”

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants face as much as twenty years to life in federal prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division – Amarillo Resident Office conducted the investigation with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation and Highway Patrol Divisions, the Amarillo Police Department, the Randall County Sheriff’s Department, the Potter County Sheriff’s Department, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Agents of the Texas Attorney General’s Office (OIG),  Texas Game Warden Officers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the United States Marshal’s Service, and Texas State Probation – Amarillo. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Marie Bell is prosecuting the case.

An 29-year-old man who sent sexually explicit images of his ex-girlfriend to her father, brother, and employer pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, announced acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Huston Tyler McLearen, of Lubbock, was indicted in November 2024. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to cyber staking before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda “Amy” R. Burch.

“Cyberstalking is a uniquely vicious crime with devastating impacts on its victims. And unfortunately, online intimidation and harassment can quickly escalate to physical violence,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “We applaud this victim for pushing past her fear and shame and reporting her experience to law enforcement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas is proud to stand up for her.”

"The defendant’s alarming behavior was countered by the bravery of his victim who so courageously reported him to law enforcement despite the threats he made to kill her," said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to do everything in our power to seek justice for victims and their families, hold perpetrators accountable and protect others from harm."

According to court documents, in June 2024, Mr. McLearen’s ex-girlfriend – identified in court documents as Jane Doe – submitted a tip to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) stating that Mr. McLearen had been harassing her, her family, her friends, and her work colleagues.

During an interview with law enforcement, Ms. Doe said that after she broke up with Mr. McLearen and moved out of their shared apartment, he hounded her with texts and calls urging her to kill herself and threatening to share sexually explicit photographs of her online.

Cell phone records confirmed that Mr. McLearen called the victim as many as 39 times per day.

Ms. Doe showed officers social media profiles Mr. McLearen created to share lewd images of her with the public. Officers later uncovered posts in which Mr. McLearen claimed Ms. Doe was “looking for a  man that would pay for sex.”

In a recorded phone call, Mr. McLearen admitted to an acquaintance that he also sent nude images of the victim to her own brother and father as well as her employer.

In the same phone call, introduced into evidence at Mr. McLearen’s detention hearing, the defendant described women as devils who deserve to be tortured, killed, and raped, and remarked that if the conditions were right, he would kill Jane Doe.

“It would be a bullet shot going through her window,” he said.

Mr. McLearen now faces up to five years in federal prison. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Texas Tech University Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Rancourt is prosecuting the case.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline urges victims of cyberstalking to implement a safety plan. For more information, click here or dial 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

An Abilene man who sexually abused his friend’s four-year-old son was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Victor Van Taylor, 31, was charged via criminal complaint in June 2024 and indicted the following month. He pleaded guilty in September 2024 to production of child pornography and was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix to 25 years in federal prison. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

According to plea papers, in June 2024, law enforcement identified a 26-second video of an adult man sexually abusing a four-year-old child on the darkweb.  The man was later identified as Mr. Taylor. 

While executing a search warrant at his home, officers showed Mr. Taylor a screengrab of the video and asked if he produced it. Mr. Taylor lowered his head and admitted that he had produced the video and posted it online in exchange for other child sexual abuse material. 

Law enforcement identified the victim as the son of Mr. Taylor’s friend.  The child’s mother told officers the assault likely happened while Mr. Taylor was babysitting.  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas – Abilene Division prosecuted the case.

A police sergeant who sold stolen service weapons has been indicted on federal gun charges, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Thomas Michael Fry, 52, was indicted Wednesday with three counts of possession and sale of a stolen firearm.

“Police officers have a sacred duty to uphold the rule of law. Instead, this sergeant betrayed his department – and his community – by allegedly pawning stolen firearms,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not hesitate to pursue charges against law enforcement officers who fail to live up to their oaths.”

According to the indictment, at least three 9mm Sig Sauer pistols were stolen from a Dallas Police Department substation.

Sgt. Fry, a Dallas Police Officer, then allegedly pawned the firearms through a pawn shop in Oklahoma.

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Sgt. Fry is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted of the federal charges, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

Sgt. Fry has also been charged by the state with three counts of theft of a firearm.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua D. Detzky and Marty Basu are prosecuting the case. 

A 24-year-old who solicited sexually explicit photos from an eight-year-old online was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Geovanny Davila Cisneros, of Las Vegas, was indicted in January 2024 and pleaded guilty in April 2024 to enticement of a child. He was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 262 months in federal prison followed by 25 years of supervised release. The defendant will also have to register as a sex offender. 

According to plea papers, Mr. Cisneros admitted he used text messaging and social media to communicate with an 8-year-old girl. He told her she had a nice body and asked her to send him sexually explicit photos. 

The U.S. Secret Service’s Dallas Field Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Special Investigations Unit conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Secret Service’s Las Vegas Field Office and the Las Vegas Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem prosecuted the case. 

A Florida man who assaulted a gate agent at DFW Airport pleaded guilty to interfering with security personnel, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Keith Charles Owens, 53, was charged via criminal complaint in November 2024. He pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging interference with security screening personnel before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton on Wednesday.

In plea papers, Mr. Owens admitted that he assaulted an American Airlines gate agent at DFW Airport on Oct. 5, 2024.  Security footage showed Mr. Owens repeatedly punched the gate agent in the head.

According to court documents, around 4:42 p.m., Mr. Owens approached the gate agent at gate A36, explained he was late, and attempted to scan his boarding pass. When the gate agent informed him he was at the wrong gate, Mr. Owens cursed and walked away. The agent then radioed the correct gate, A35, to inform airline personnel that Mr. Owens was headed their way and appeared to be intoxicated.

Mr. Owens then walked onto the A35 jet bridge without scanning his boarding pass. Airline personnel removed him from the jet bridge.

A few moments later, at 4:48 p.m., Mr. Owens again approached gate A36. He began yelling at the gate agent, grabbed him by the shoulders, and punched him repeatedly in the face and neck. Eventually, airline personnel were able to restrain him.

Both the gate agent and the personnel who assisted in restraining Mr. Owens sustained minor injuries. The flight departing from gate A36 was delayed.

Mr. Owens now faces up to 10 years in federal prison. His sentencing has been set for May 2, 2025.  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Division conducted the investigation with the DFW Airport Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Beck is prosecuting the case.

A 46-year-old man who raped a 14-year-old on video while his friend filmed the assault was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Lukumond Adebola Olatunji, 46, and his coconspirator, Vincent Jerome Thompson, 42, were indicted in January 2022. Mr. Thompson pleaded guilty in June 2024 to production of child pornography and aiding and abetting; two months later, Mr. Olatunji pleaded guilty to kidnapping a minor.

Mr. Olatunji was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to 240 months in federal prison, and ordered to register as a sex offender. Mr. Thompson received the same sentence in October.

According to plea papers, the men admit that on Oct. 23, 2021, they approached a 14-year-old girl and offered her a ride home. They then drove to an alleyway where Mr. Olatunji sexually assaulted her in the backseat of the car. Mr. Thompson recorded the assault on his cell phone, providing commentary as the assault progressed.

On the video, the child can be heard saying, “I don’t want to do it no more,” and “can we go?”

The pair then took the child to a nearby motel, where both men continued to sexually assault her. After approximately five hours inside the motel room, the child ran out of the room carrying her backpack and shoes. Police responded and searched the motel room, where they found condom wrappers and drug paraphernalia.

In interviews with law enforcement, both men admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with the child. Mr. Olatunji admitted that the child repeatedly told them that she did not want to have sex anymore.

Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle A. Winters, Jenna Rudoff (fmr.), and Joe Magliolo (fmr.) are prosecuting the case. 

Opioid overdose rates in Abilene fell precipitously following a large-scale takedown of fentanyl traffickers, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. 

According to Abilene Police Department data collected by OD MAP, from January 1, 2024 to September 11, 2024, Abilene suffered 41 overdoses, including nine that were fatal, for an average of 4.9 overdoses per month. Victims ranged in age from 13 to 72. 

On September 11, a federal grand jury indicted 12 alleged fentanyl traffickers who were arrested the next week. All were detained pending trial.  

Following that takedown, Abilene saw just three overdoses, none of them fatal, through the end of the year, for an average of 0.8 overdoses per month. 

In addition, according to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the street price of fentanyl pills rose from roughly $8 per pill to between $20 and $30 per pill, making fentanyl less accessible to at-risk users.

“This is precisely why the U.S. Attorney’s Office does the work it does – and why I am proud to have led the Northern District of Texas for the past two years,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “To see our fentanyl prosecutions having tangible impacts on the lives of the people of Abilene is immensely gratifying. I want to laud the hard work of our local law enforcement partners, especially the Abilene Police Department and the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, for helping to make this happen.”

To date, 10 of the 12 defendants indicted on Sept. 11 have entered guilty pleas and await sentencing. The other two await trial and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

Agencies involved in the fight against fentanyl in the region include the Abilene Police Department, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – all members of North Texas HIDTA and the OCEDTF Program. The Fort Worth Branch of the United States’s Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. 

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threat the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. 

A Mansfield businesswoman was sentenced today to more than 7 years in federal prison in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $8.5 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. 

Tamara Starks, 42, of Mansfield, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to wire fraud.  She was sentenced Thursday to 86 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, who also ordered her to pay $4,476,523.73 in restitution.  

According to court documents, from approximately May 2020 to May 2021, Ms. Starks devised a scheme to defraud the PPP program through materially false pretenses.  As part of the scheme, Ms. Starks created and submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications that included false payroll information and tax documentation for companies owned by her and her husband.  She also obtained PPP loans for other individuals. 

In total, Ms. Starks, and others working with her, submitted more than 100 PPP loan applications totaling approximately $8.5 million and received $4.5 million in PPP loan funds.  

Once the loans were funded, Ms. Starks directed loan recipients to set up fraudulent payrolls through third-party vendors to make the PPP funds appear as though they were being used for legitimate purposes.  In many cases, Ms. Starks received money back from their “employees” and used the PPP funds for personal expenses and purchases.  Once the loan proceeds were distributed, the loan recipients paid Starks a portion of the loan proceeds as a “fee” for obtaining the loan. 

The Dallas Field Offices of FDIC-OIG, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and SSA-OIG conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha and Nashonme Johnson (fmr.) prosecuted the case.  

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who suffered the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  One source of relief provided by CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP.  Anyone with general information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Six federal defendants involved in the sale of switches via social media were arrested in a joint takedown by ATF Dallas and the Irving Police Department on Thursday, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Marnelius Burks, 20, Marco Cabrales, 22, Royce Weaver, 21, were charged in one indictment with possession and transfer of a machinegun, aiding and abetting the possession and transfer of a machinegun,  and conspiracy to possess and transfer a machinegun. Damien Sereseroz, 21, and Gracie Valadez, 20, were charged in a separate indictment with aiding and abetting the possession and transfer of a machine gun. Anthony Joel Cantu, 18, was charged via criminal complaint with possession of a machinegun.

The defendants made their initial appearances in federal court on Monday.

“Six months ago, we pledged to deploy the full force of the federal government against those who traffic in machinegun conversion devices. With the help of our law enforcement partners, we’ve done just that,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “In the hands of a criminal, these illegal devices exponentially increase a firearm’s lethality. We will not allow them to overtake our streets.”

“Unfortunately for the bad guys, the good guys work together. It may not always look that way in Hollywood, but fortunately for our citizens, we work better together than any criminal organization out there. We promised an all-out blitz on machine gun conversion devices last year, and this case shows that our team has all the momentum. I would like to thank the Irving Police Department, specifically their ultra talented detective team, and all our law enforcement partners for this collective win for the people of the DFW metroplex” stated ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.

“I want to commend the collaborative effort between the Irving Police Department and ATF Dallas in addressing the serious issue of illegal firearm modifications. Our commitment to public safety remains unwavering, and we will continue to work diligently to prevent the proliferation of dangerous weapons in our community.”

According to court documents, Mr. Burks and Mr. Weaver allegedly ordered switches from China off the internet and had them shipped to North Texas. Mr. Cabrales allegedly advertised the switches on social media and sold them to an undercover.

Mr. Cantu also allegedly advertised the sale of switches, as well as drop-in sears, on social media. On Dec. 3, 2024, he allegedly met with an undercover officer to deliver one. When asked if the sear in question made rifles fire fully automatic, Mr. Cantu allegedly responded, “hell yeah, my boy,” and said he had one on his own AR-style pistol.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. Burks, Mr. Cabrales, Mr. Weaver, Mr. Sereseroz, Ms. Valdez, and Mr. Cantu are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Two juveniles arrested in the takedown are being charged by the state. They, too, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and Irving Police Department conducted the investigation with the help of Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marissa Aulbaugh and Eric B. Chen are prosecuting the cases.

Thursday’s takedown was part of “Operation Texas Kill Switch,” a statewide initiative taking aim at machinegun conversion devices, also known as “switches,” which transform commercially available semi-automatic firearms into fully-automatic weapons capable of firing faster than military-grade machine guns. Launched by U.S. Attorneys Leigha Simonton, Alamdar Hamdani, Damien Diggs, and Jaime Esparza in June 2024, Operation Texas Kill Switch relies on partnerships with state and local law enforcement as well as rewards offered by Crime Stoppers.

The arrests were also part of Irving Police Department’s “Operation Reel Switch,” targeting the illegal possession and distribution of machinegun conversion devices in the metroplex. A partnership between Irving Police, ATF Dallas and Homeland Security Investigations Dallas, Operation Reel Switch was launched in September 2024.  To date, law enforcement involved in the operation have seized 38 machinegun conversion devices and several guns.

Just 12 months after an Amarillo methamphetamine trafficker received a life sentence, his twin brother was sentenced to life in prison for similar crimes, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. 

Landis Charles Barrow, 46, was charged in February 2023. After a six-day trial, a jury convicted Mr. Barrow of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, three counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of possession of intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in August. Landis Barrow was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk. 

His twin brother, Mandis Barrow, was convicted at a separate trial of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of distribution methamphetamine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced in January by the same judge. 

According to evidence presented at Landis’ trial, Landis sold, or facilitated the sale, of large quantities of methamphetamine to a confidential source on three occasions in late 2022.  

During a February 2023 search of Landis’ residence, DEA agents discovered pound quantities of methamphetamine, two large baggies of cocaine, drug scales and paraphernalia, $7,000 in cash, a firearm, and a drug ledger with Landis’ name written in it.  During a call made from the Randall County Detention Center, he admitted to being part of a criminal organization. 

During his trial testimony, Landis admitted to distributing approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of controlled substances for a Mexican Cartel.  Landis admitted to running a “crew” of individuals, and that he was a “gangster.”  Landis admitted to carrying a firearm with him at all times.   

Court documents and trial testimony reflect that Landis Barrow is a suspect in a murder investigation involving his alleged retaliation for the theft of a large quantity of drugs and money that occurred in November 2022 at second residence associated with him.   

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Kacsmaryk ruled that Landis had, in fact, made credible threats of violence to shoot or harm people he believed were involved in the robbery.  Judge Kacsmaryk further found that Landis had perjured himself during his trial testimony.  

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division – Amarillo Resident Agency conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Potter County Sheriff’s Office, the Randall County Sheriff’s Office, the Amarillo Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Marie Bell and Sean Long prosecuted the case.

A bank CFO who embezzled more than $800,000 from a small-town bank was sentenced Thursday to nearly three years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Vicki Lee Grisham, the 52-year-old former CEO of First State Bank of Abernathy, Texas, pleaded guilty in July to a felony information charging theft, embezzlement, or misapplication bank a bank officer. She was sentenced in Lubbock on Thursday to 33 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who ordered her to pay $800,755.63 in restitution to the bank’s insurer and to serve five years of supervised release after competing her sentence.

According to court documents, Ms. Grisham was issued a credit card for purchasing business-related items for the bank and was responsible for paying invoices for that credit card.

In March 2023, the bank discovered that she systematically used the credit card for all manner of items and services unrelated to bank business, including vacations, restaurant meals, clothing, college tuition, and even her own personal income taxes. She did not reimburse the bank for any unauthorized charges.

On the day bank management confronted her, Ms. Grisham signed a document admitting she made unauthorized charges for the benefit of herself and her family.

Under the terms of her plea agreement, Ms. Grisham will also be required to consent to an FDIC Order of Prohibition from Further Participation barring any future employment for and participation with any FDIC-insured financial institution.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Howey prosecuted the case. 

United States Attorney Leigha Simonton will resign from the Department of Justice effective Jan. 19, the office announced today.  

“I began my career in this office as a summer intern after my first year of law school,” said Ms. Simonton.  “It was love at first sight.  Every day after that internship, I was figuring out how to become an Assistant U.S. Attorney here.  I got that chance when I was nine months pregnant with my first child—a baby who is now 20 years old.  I am so proud to have served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for almost eighteen years and then to have been chosen to lead this district—comprised of 100 counties and over 8 million people—as the United States Attorney.  I cannot put into words what this experience has meant to me, and I leave with two decades of incredible memories.  There is nothing more important than the work of our outstanding women and men in this office and in North Texas law enforcement, and I will be forever grateful to have been a part of it.”

Nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on Nov. 14, 2022 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 6, 2022, Ms. Simonton was sworn in as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas on Dec. 10, 2022. (Download a high-res version of her headshot here.)

Under her leadership, the district has fought relentlessly for justice, trying its highest number of cases in over a decade. Ms. Simonton actively supervised several high-profile jury trials, from Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, the anesthesiologist convicted of injecting heart-stopping drugs into patient IV bags, to Christopher Kirchner, the Slync founder found guilty of defrauding investors out of more than $25 million, to Holly Elkins, the woman convicted of helping her fiancé cyberstalk and ultimately murder his former girlfriend and mother of his child.  She also oversaw the charging of a Russian national for using the BitPaymer ransomware variant to attack numerous victims throughout the United States and the sentencing of a Ukrainian national for demanding over $700 million in ransom payments using the REvil ransomware variant.  Other notable cases included charges against 14 individuals in the largest case investigated by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force to date for allegedly bilking the Paycheck Protection Program and numerous financial institutions out of more than $53 million, charges against a Texas Christian University divinity professor for possessing child pornography, the sentencing of a retired Cook Children’s Hospital Chaplain for producing child pornography, the sentencing of a would-be bomber who idolized the Columbine High school shooters, and the sentencing of another man who set off a bomb in his backyard and plotted to blow up a high school.

During her tenure, Ms. Simonton also oversaw the prosecution of 11 drug traffickers charged in the wake of the juvenile fentanyl overdose scandal, which claimed the lives of four Carrollton-area middle and high schoolers and injured 10 more.  In the wake of these tragedies, Ms. Simonton launched the “Protect Our Children Project,” aimed at bringing federal resources to bear on issues affecting schools, including fentanyl use.  She hosted a series of webinars for hundreds of North Texas school administrators that covered the dangers of fentanyl, how to respond to an overdose, and how to discourage teens from using the drug.  She also visited several area colleges to share the dangers of fentanyl with young adults.  And, last summer, along with the other Texas U.S. Attorneys, she met in Austin with the heads of all Texas regional education service centers to provide important information and resources on fentanyl that they could use in Texas public schools.

Ms. Simonton also focused on curbing violent crime in North Texas, and the violent crime rate fell in major North Texas cities during that time. She prioritized prosecution of violent recidivists and launched Operation Take Aim in the summer of 2023 to further target such offenders.  And she partnered with the other Texas U.S. Attorneys and the ATF in the summer of 2024 to launch “Operation Texas Kill Switch,” a statewide initiative to combat the illegal use of machine gun conversion devices, also known as "switches.”  The operation, which included a partnership with CrimeStoppers, raised public awareness of the dangers of switches, generated multiple tips, and resulted in numerous ongoing prosecutions.

The Civil and Appellate Divisions also thrived under Ms. Simonton’s stewardship. Ms. Simonton oversaw the creation and implementation of the district’s new Voluntary Self-Disclosure policy, incentivizing companies to quickly detect, disclose, and remediate suspected misconduct, and negotiated settlements in several self-disclosure cases.  For instance, the Civil Division negotiated a $14.2 million settlement with Horizon Medical Center of Denton for potential violations of Medicare regulations and the physician self-referral law and an $18.4 million settlement with Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC (CNS) after CNS self-disclosed that it submitted false claims for payment to the National Nuclear Security Administration related to the Pantex Plant—the nation’s primary facility for the assembly, disassembly, and retrofitting of nuclear weapons.  Further, the Civil Division negotiated a $4.5 million settlement with a 3D printing company that allegedly transmitted technical data to China in violation of export control laws and obtained $1.2 million in judgments against two doctors who prescribed hydrocodone to drug-seekers without legitimate medical purpose.

Meanwhile, under her leadership, the Appellate Division persuaded the Fifth Circuit to affirm the life sentence of a Michigan man who stalked, transported, and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, convinced the Fifth Circuit that a retrial in the Ruel Hamilton real estate bribery case would not violate double jeopardy, and successfully defended against 19 issues on appeal arising from the Forest Park Medical Center kickback case.  The Appellate Division also successfully defended the conviction of four UDF executives who misled investors and the SEC about their investment fund’s performance; the Fifth Circuit upheld the conviction, citing the government’s “avalanche of evidence” proving its case, and the Supreme Court later denied cert, allowing the Fifth Circuit decision to stand.  

Ms. Simonton also oversaw the progress of the U.S. v. Rahimi case—charged in the Northern District of Texas—through the Fifth Circuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.  She supported the Solicitor General’s efforts seeking certiorari of the Fifth Circuit’s decision invalidating Rahimi’s conviction for using a firearm while under a domestic violence protection order. After the Supreme Court granted cert, she attended the oral argument as a guest of the Solicitor General, and the Supreme Court later decided 8-1 that Rahimi’s statute of conviction was constitutional under the Second Amendment. The Rahimi case originated from the Northern District of Texas’s Domestic Violence Initiative, which targets domestic abusers for federal prosecution and resulted, during Ms. Simonton’s tenure, in cases such as the sentencing of a San Diego man to life in prison for traveling to Texas and killing his boyfriend, and the sentencing of a felon domestic abuser to 10 years in prison for violating his supervised release by attacking his partner.  As U.S. Attorney, Ms. Simonton has been an outspoken advocate for domestic violence awareness, partnering with regional and national domestic violence organizations, holding press conferences with the other Texas U.S. Attorneys to honor Texas domestic violence victims, and sharing resources with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices so they can create their own domestic abuser prosecution programs.

Throughout her time in office, Ms. Simonton and her staff actively supported other especially vulnerable communities, including religious communities.  She held hate-crime seminars for Jewish and Muslim community leaders and oversaw hate-crimes prosecutions that resulted in the sentencing of a Dallas man to 37 years after he shot five individuals, killing one, at a tire shop because it was a Muslim-owned business, and the sentencing of an Amarillo man for threatening to execute three Jewish rabbis.

Ms. Simonton further attempted to stem the tide of defendants who make their way into the federal system, revitalizing and expanding the district’s Project Safe Neighborhood Re-Entry Night program, which educates individuals on state parole and probation about avoiding behaviors, like drug trafficking and gun possession, that could end up in federal prosecution, and connects them with community resources—like therapy, addiction, and job placement programs—to live productive lives.  During her tenure, thousands of such individuals across the district attended these programs, and the vast majority have not reoffended.  Further, Ms. Simonton and her staff created events to foster positive relationships between residents of high-crime communities and the law enforcement officers who serve them, such as adopting neighborhood schools, holding book fairs staffed by U.S. Attorney’s Office personnel and law enforcement officers, and having officers read books to preschoolers via the office’s “Pre-K Reading Program.”

After a brief hiatus, Ms. Simonton anticipates likely reentering private practice, and she plans to continue to advocate for domestic-violence victims and to protect children and young adults from the harms of fentanyl and other threats to their health and safety.  An Acting U.S. Attorney will be announced at a later date. 

A drug trafficker who sold fentanyl to an 18-year-old girl who died of an overdose was sentenced this week to 17 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Ladraelyn Bolar, 34, was charged via criminal complaint in April and pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. He was sentenced Tuesday by senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.

According to plea papers, Mr. Bolar admitted he conspired with others to distribute fentanyl. He acknowledged he sold blue M-30 pills containing fentanyl to an undercover ATF agent on March 25, 2024.

A confidential informant introduced the agent to Mr. Bolar and accompanied him to a parking lot in Fort Worth, where Mr. Bolar sold the undercover agent 100 M-30 fentanyl pills for $250, or $2.50 per pill. Later in the day, Mr. Bolar offered the undercover agent a “k-pack” of 1,000 fentanyl pills; the agent then bought 900 more fentanyl pills for $1,400, or approximately $1.55 per pill.

According to the evidence in the case, just five days prior, the friend of a woman who died from a fentanyl overdose told officers that she and the victim had purchased the offending pills from Mr. Bolar.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and the Fort Worth Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas prosecuted the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith.

An Irving man who filed 10 bankruptcies in 12 years in an effort to stave off foreclosure pleaded guilty Tuesday to bankruptcy fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Michael Shaub, 62, was charged via felony information and pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of bankruptcy fraud.

According to court documents, Mr. Shaub and his spouse purchased a house in Irving, Texas, incurring a mortgage loan secured by their ownership interest in the property.

In January 2012, he filed a Chapter 13 voluntary bankruptcy petition, which was dismissed without prejudice for failing to timely pay the Bankruptcy Trustee as specified in the Debtor’s Plan.

Over the ensuing seven years, he filed five additional bankruptcy petitions, the last of which was dismissed with prejudice, barring him from filing any more bankruptcies for two years, through May 2021. 

Less than five months after the dismissal, however, Mr. Shaub filed a seventh bankruptcy petition under his wife’s name without her knowledge or consent. The fraudulent petition – which Mr. Shaub admitted was intended to circumvent the court order prohibiting him from filing bankruptcies for two years – was dismissed without prejudice in October 2019.

Roughly two months after that dismissal, Mr. Shaub filed an eighth bankruptcy petition in contravention of the order barring him from filing through May 2021. In that petition, in response to a question asking whether he had filed any bankruptcies within the last eight years, Mr. Shaub listed only one of his bankruptcies and not the bankruptcy that resulted in the order barring him from filing.

In February 2020, a month after the eighth petition was filed, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed it with prejudice and barred Mr. Shaub from filing any more bankruptcies for a period of five years, through February 2025.

Roughly two years after that dismissal, Mr. Shaub filed a ninth bankruptcy, which was also dismissed with prejudice. This time, the Court barred Mr. Shaub from filing any bankruptcies for a period of ten years, through June 2032.

And yet just 14 months later, in August 2023, Mr. Shaub filed his tenth bankruptcy petition, which was dismissed with prejudice the same day.

Mr. Shaub now faces up to five years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s  Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu is prosecuting the case. 

An Arlington babysitter who sexually exploited more than a dozen young clients has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Kaleb Layne Nix, 26, was indicted in July. He pleaded guilty in August to two counts of sexual exploitation of children and was sentenced Thursday to 720 months in federal prison (360 months on count two and 360 months on count five, to run consecutively) by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman. The judge also ruled that Mr. Nix’s sentence would run consecutive to any sentence handed down in the state’s pending sexual abuse and child pornography cases against him.

According to court documents, the investigations began with a cybertip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) about an internet user who uploaded files containing sexually explicit images of children.

Agents identified the user as Mr. Nix and executed a search warrant on his phone, where they found multiple videos and images of Mr. Nix sexually exploiting at least 15 boys and girls between the ages of three and seven.  A parent told investigators that his family used an online childcare service to schedule babysitters, and provided Mr. Nix’s profile photo.

Homeland Security investigations, the Arlington Police Department, and the Denton Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem prosecuted the case.

United States Attorney Leigha Simonton today released the following statement in response to The Dallas Morning News' December 2024 methamphetamine series:

Federal judges, prosecutors, and agents work each day to do justice, which includes protecting our North Texas communities from defendants who seek to spread methamphetamine throughout our region.  As they tackle headline-grabbing drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine – a drug disproportionally trafficked by armed white supremacist gang and cartel members – continues to wreck lives.  Research shows the methamphetamine mortality rate has increased 50-fold over the past decade as more traffickers mix meth with other drugs, and that Texas has the second-highest number of meth users in the United States. North Texas in particular has a plethora of interstate highways running north-to-south and east-to-west, and for decades we have seen meth and other deadly substances come to and through our cities at an alarming rate not seen in most of the rest of America.

Understanding the toll of methamphetamine, federal officials work doggedly to hold traffickers accountable, exhibiting leniency where appropriate.  But importantly, each case – and each defendant – is different.  The high sentences specifically cited by The News were impacted by various circumstances not mentioned in the articles: At least one defendant outright admitted to membership in the white supremacist gang Aryan Circle, while others worked with Mexican drug cartels like Los Zetas and others.  Several lied on the stand, not only about their involvement in methamphetamine trafficking, but about where certain cash came from, the purpose of certain drug paraphernalia, their general knowledge of the drug, and even conversations they’d had with attorneys.  One defendant even placed online advertisements for “ice skating,” common parlance for traffickers exchanging meth for sex during drug binges.

Calculating average methamphetamine sentences in North Texas, comparing them to meth sentences nationwide, exploring certain evidentiary standards, and even probing the fairness of the sentencing guidelines promulgated by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, are well within the bounds of objective journalism.  But labeling federal judges and prosecutors “accomplices,” as if they are involved in something nefarious when in fact they are sincerely committed to justly applying the law and taking account of all the facts involved in a particular case, is misleading and offensive.  While the press certainly retains the freedom to critique our system of justice, it remains the best system the world has ever known.  That system, and our rights, crumble without the noble efforts of our federal Judges and Assistant United States Attorneys.  I am proud to stand with them.   
 

A  convicted-felon-turned-CFO who defrauded his company was sentenced today to more than four years in federal prison and ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.  

Jon Robert Rush, 56, of Keller, TX, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to wire fraud.  He was sentenced Wednesday to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, who also ordered him to pay $1,062,459.49 in restitution to his victims.  

Mr. Rush was employed first as the Vice President, and subsequently Chief Financial Officer, of a logistics and transportation company located in the DFW area. The company arranges for the transportation of freight and cargo for the military, defense contractors, disaster relief organizations, and others.  

According to court documents, from 2016 to 2020, Mr. Rush misappropriated the company’s funds for his own benefit and misdirected funds to pay off his debt.  

As part of the scheme, Mr. Rush transferred funds from the company’s bank accounts to bank accounts he owned or controlled, then he recorded these transfers in the company’s internal accounting software to conceal the fraud.  Mr. Rush disguised the monetary transfers by using the names of vendors with whom company routinely did business. 

At sentencing, the Court found that losses relevant to the offense extended beyond those just to Mr. Rush’s employer.  The majority shareholders provided statements that they were faced with “almost insurmountable debt” to keep the company afloat, employee layoffs, and financial instability that resulted in the closing of one of the related companies.  

Mr. Rush was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit counterfeit check fraud and wire fraud in 1994.  At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, the Court noted that his prior conviction was a factor in the decision to deny a downward variance. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Chapman is handling the restitution.  

The pair that supplied fentanyl pills to a 15-year-old Carrollton girl who fatally overdosed have been sentenced to a combined 15 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Lizbeth Prieto, 19, also known as Lizbeth Escamilla, and Cristian Lopez, 24, were charged via criminal complaint in June 2023 and indicted the following month. Ms. Prieto pleaded guilty in November 2023 to distribution of a controlled substance to a person under 21 and was sentenced in April 2024 to 84 months in federal prison. Mr. Lopez pleaded guilty in July 2024 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced Monday to 96 months in federal prison.

“Fentanyl rips through communities and decimates families. And with so many traffickers wantonly pushing these pills, all of our teenagers are vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.  “I launched the Protect Our Children Project – aimed at using law enforcement resources to help schools prevent fentanyl overdoses and other tragedies – in honor of children like this victim, lost to drugs or guns in our schools. It is my fervent hope that we can drastically reduce fentanyl fatalities in North Texas. Removing traffickers from the streets is another step towards that goal.”

“Selling poison in the form of fentanyl to our youth is one of the most treacherous and evil ways to hurt our community,” said Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division.  “To all of those who still continue to traffic fentanyl pills: DEA Dallas and our law enforcement partners such as Carrollton PD will find you and hold you accountable for your selfish actions.  The safety of our families and community depends on it.”

According to court documents, Mr. Lopez supplied fentanyl pills to Ms. Prieto, who provided them to the victim, a 15-year-old student at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton identified in court documents as “J.G.”

Family members called 911 when they found the J.G. unresponsive, face down on her bed on Tuesday, June 13. She was transported to the hospital and pronounced deceased shortly thereafter.

Inside the child’s bedroom room, agents found ten counterfeit Percocet pills inscribed M/30, which later tested positive for fentanyl. On her Instagram, they found communications between the girl and Ms. Prieto from approximately 24 hours before the death.

In messages, Ms. Prieto allegedly offered to sell J.G. 13 fentanyl pills for $100 dollars, confirmed she could pay with cash, and asked for her address. A short while later, Ms. Prieto allegedly advised J.G. that she was pulling up to the home to deliver the pills. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division and the Carrollton Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phelesa Guy and Rick Calvert prosecuted the case.

Note: Illicitly produced, fentanyl-laced pills often look similar to legitimate prescription pills like Oxycontin or Percocet, but can pose significantly more danger. On the street, these pills are often referred to as “M30s” (a reference to the markings on some of the pills), “blues,” “perks,” “yerks,” “china girls,” or “TNT.” DEA research shows that five out of ten pills laced with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. One pill can kill. For resources, visit https://www.dea.gov/onepill.

An alleged child molester has been identified and charged, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. 

Christopher Lynn Driskill, 48, formerly identified by the FBI as “John Doe 49,” thought to have critical information about ongoing child sexual exploitation, was identified on November 18. He was charged via criminal complaint with production of child pornography, arrested on Nov. 26, and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge John R. Parker on Tuesday. 

According to court documents, in July 2024, a foreign partner referred child sexual abuse material posted on the dark web to the FBI’s Victim Identification Program. In the videos, an unknown male subject with several distinctive tattoos – including the word “DABBY” on his chest,” the number “197x” on his left bicep, the words “CAST NO STONES” on his left forearm, and a Texas flag in the shape of a head on his right forearm – can be seen sexually assaulting a prepubescent male. 

Separately,  in September 2024, Mr. Driskill’s former dating partner reported to the Coleman Police Department that Mr. Driskill had confessed, while intoxicated, to molesting a child and recording it. Officers met with the child, who did not make an outcry, and interviewed Mr. Driskill, who denied sexually abusing the child and claimed his former partner was mad at him over a bad breakup. With no additional evidence at the time, the police department closed their investigation. However, the recorded interview with Mr. Driskill showed a “CAST NO STONES” tattoo on his left forearm, a 1975 tattoo on his left bicep, and part of a Texas flag in the shape of a head on his right forearm. 

Meanwhile, FBI agents searching for John Doe 49 located a public Instagram account whose profile picture appeared similar to the images of the subject in the child sexual abuse material. They traced the account to Mr. Driskill in Coleman, Texas.  On Nov. 22, agents coordinating with Coleman Police Department learned of the investigation into a possible molestation involving Mr. Driskill, and compared the footage of his interview to the child sexual abuse material.  The face and tattoos allegedly matched. 

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. Driskill is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the help of the Bureau’s Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP). Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Tusing is prosecuting the case.

A man who injured a flight attendant in an attempt to exit a plane mid-air has been federally charged, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya, 29, was charged via criminal complaint with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

According to court documents, on Nov. 19, roughly two hours into the flight from Milwaukee to Dallas, Mr. Olaiya became frustrated with a flight attendant as she worked the forward galley.

Witnesses told law enforcement they heard Mr. Olaiya tell her he was “captain of this flight” and needed to “get off the plane.”

He then allegedly charged the flight attendant in an attempt to access the aircraft exit door. The flight attendant, identified in court documents as S.J., used her body to shield the door and was injured in the scuffle.

Able-bodied passengers rushed to assist her. They subdued Mr. Olaiya and duct-taped his wrists and ankles. With only about 30 minutes left on the flight, pilots made the decision to continue to DFW, calling the tower for priority landing and taxing.

Upon landing, Mr. Olaiya was removed from the plane by officers and taken in for a mental evaluation.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. Olaiya  is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas is prosecuting the case.