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7 August 2026
Illegal Alien Sentenced to Two and a Half Years in Federal Prison for Firing Shots Near Border Patrol Agents During Operation Midway Blitz in ChicagoRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — An illegal alien has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for firing shots near U.S. Border Patrol agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago last fall.
HECTOR GOMEZ was driving a Jeep Wrangler in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Nov. 8, 2025, when he discharged at least two rounds from a handgun. Gomez fired the shots in proximity of Border Patrol agents who were engaged in the performance of their official duties as part of Operation Midway Blitz. Later that day, Gomez brandished the handgun at an individual in a parking lot a few blocks from where he fired the shots.
Gomez had previously been convicted of a felony firearm offense in the Circuit Court of Cook County and was prohibited under federal law from possessing a gun.
Gomez pleaded guilty in April 2026 to a federal charge of illegal possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sentenced Gomez to two and a half years in federal prison, which was the high end of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range.
Gomez, 46, is a citizen of Mexico who had been residing in Chicago. He has no claim to United States citizenship or lawful permanent residence and is now subject to removal.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Ryan Whalen, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. This case was investigated by the Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago (CGIC), a multi-agency task force that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout Northern Illinois. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill J. Bhalakia.
“Hector Gomez was in this country illegally and was prohibited from possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “Even more, when Gomez illegally discharged a gun near law enforcement carrying out their sworn duties, it seriously endangered law enforcement and caused chaos in the community during an already intense and tumultuous time in Chicagoland. The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is fully committed to holding accountable those who use violence to attack, intimidate, or endanger the brave law enforcement officers who risk their lives to enforce the law.”
“Hector Gomez’s reckless conduct that day put countless lives at risk and demonstrated a complete disregard for the safety of law enforcement and members of the public,” said ATF SAC Amon. “I want to recognize the exceptional work of law enforcement that responded to the scene as well as the ATF National Laboratory. The ATF lab’s timely DNA analysis provided a critical investigative link that ensured Gomez would no longer be on the streets and a threat to the community.”
"The FBI has zero tolerance for any threats or violence against law enforcement, and any attempt to impede their service or endanger their lives will be met with the full force of the government,” said FBI Acting SAC Whalen. “Thanks to the swift action by investigators and the strong partnership with the ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gomez was identified, apprehended, and taken into custody without further harm to our community. These collaborative efforts underscore how critical our interagency partnerships are in protecting the public, and collectively, we will continue to selflessly answer the call to make our communities safe."
Illegal Alien Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Re-entry and Failure to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
A man who pled guilty to illegal reentry and failure to register as a sex offender was sentenced August 6, 2026, to more than a year in federal prison.
Sergio Niz-Mendez, age 27, from Guatemala and living in Sheldon, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 23, 2026, guilty plea to one count of illegal re-entry and one count of failure to register as a sex offender.
At the guilty plea, Niz-Mendez admitted he was a citizen of Guatemala, that he had previously been removed from the United States in 2018 after serving prison time for a felony conviction in 2016, and that he had not sought permission to legally be in the United States. He further admitted that due to his 2016 rape of a child with force conviction in Massachusetts, committed when he was 15 years old, he was required to register as a sex offender, which he failed to do while living in Iowa. In December 2025, Niz-Mendez was found in O’Brien County, Iowa, after he was arrested for operating while intoxicated and eluding.
Niz-Mendez was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Niz-Mendez was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Niz-Mendez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case was part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick T. Greenwood and Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 25-CR-4065.
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Honduran National Sentenced for Illegal Reentry of a Removed AlienRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –UBALDO YASIR AMAYA-COLINDRES (“AMAYA-COLINDRES”), age 27, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced on August 6, 2026, to 10 months imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon, after previously pleading guilty to illegal re-entry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle. The Court also sentenced AMAYA-COLINDRES to one (1) year of supervised release and ordered him to pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
According to the bill of information, AMAYA-COLINDRES reentered the United States sometime prior to March 1, 2026, after having been previously removed on or about June 13, 2024.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Irene González of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
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.
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Homeland Security Task Force Secures Life Sentences for Two Leaders of Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine and Fentanyl-Trafficking Organization That Used Children as CouriersRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL – A Mobile man and woman were sentenced to life in prison for operating a multimillion-dollar drug-trafficking organization (“DTO”) that distributed bulk cocaine and fentanyl and used children as couriers.
According to court documents and evidence presented at a three-week jury trial in January 2026, Glennie Antonio McGee, 42, Echandza Dianca Maxie, 43, and several coconspirators were members of a lucrative, Mobile-based DTO that distributed hundreds of pounds of cocaine and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills between 2017 and 2024. The DTO sourced cocaine from cartel-connected suppliers in Texas and, ultimately, Mexico. The DTO’s fentanyl pills—counterfeited “M30” pills pressed to look like oxycodone—came from various sources in Alabama, Florida, Washington, and other locales.
At trial, the evidence against McGee and Maxie included numerous court-authorized wiretap recordings, CCTV videos from a covert camera installed in McGee’s Cadillac Escalade, pole camera and aerial surveillance videos, text messages and other phone data, financial records, tax records, and DNA evidence, among other things. The jury heard evidence that the defendants used their illicit proceeds to travel the world, including trips to exotic locations including France, Greece, the Maldives, Mexico, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
In December 2022, Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) agents arrested one of McGee’s cocaine suppliers following a dangerous high-speed chase in midtown Mobile. Agents seized 9.5 kilograms of cartel-sourced cocaine from the supplier, who was scheduled to deliver one kilogram of the cocaine to McGee that same evening. Weeks later, FBI agents executed a search warrant at McGee’s and Maxie’s house in west Mobile. Agents seized a backpack containing cocaine residue from a vehicle that Maxie was driving. They also seized bulk cash, custom jewelry and other proceeds of the defendants’ drug crimes, a money-counting machine, drug ledgers, documents linking the defendants to other members of the DTO, and a Draco AK-47-style pistol from the house. Maxie lied to FBI agents and claimed the pistol belonged to her, but an FBI DNA analyst found McGee’s DNA on the weapon and other evidence showed that one of McGee’s drug couriers had illegally bought the weapon for him because he is a convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing guns. McGee’s prior felonies include state convictions for shooting into occupied buildings and vehicles, as well as a federal conviction for trafficking crack cocaine. While agents were still on-scene searching the house, Maxie left the residence and traveled to multiple bank branches in Mobile and withdrew $138,000. Agents also found a ledger in the house linking Maxie and McGee to numerous fraudulent tax returns falsely claiming millions of dollars’ worth of COVID-19 relief benefits.
In January and February 2024, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) agents obtained multiple recordings of McGee discussing his DTO’s procurement and distribution of hundreds of pounds of cocaine and thousands of fentanyl pills. In those recordings, McGee explained how he took his drug profits and laundered them through real estate properties that he and Maxie had acquired, including properties they rented out on Airbnb. On February 17, 2024, agents recorded McGee selling 1,018 fentanyl pills to a cooperating defendant.
In March 2024, HSI agents began a court-authorized wiretap of several cell phones used by McGee. Agents intercepted more than 8,000 calls during three months’ worth of monitoring. At trial, the jury reviewed more than 100 recorded calls and videos from the covert CCTV camera installed in McGee’s Escalade. On those calls and videos, agents captured McGee making dozens of drug deals for bulk cocaine and fentanyl pills. Agents also intercepted Maxie brokering a drug deal on McGee’s behalf. In one instance on March 18, 2024, McGee sold a kilogram of cocaine to a customer for $18,000 in the driveway of his mother’s house on Euclid Avenue in Mobile. A pole camera captured a 15-year-old child hand delivering the brick of cocaine to McGee.
On March 30, 2024, agents arrested one of McGee’s drug couriers, Tierra Tocorra Hill, in possession of a kilogram of cocaine, a quarter-kilogram of fake cocaine (boric acid), and a loaded pistol. McGee had unknowingly purchased several kilograms of fake cocaine and instructed Hill to mix the boric acid into real cocaine for resale on the street to recuperate his losses for the bad cocaine deal. Boric acid is a household cleaner and detergent. When McGee learned that Hill had been arrested, he traveled to a stash house on Harvey Court in Mobile. There, as recorded on the wiretap, McGee instructed several young children, including an eight-year-old boy he described as “game,” to remove a backpack that contained bulk cocaine from the house and throw it over a fence. Agents responded to the house and encountered the children, including a three-year-old boy who was wearing the backpack filled with pounds of cocaine. Inside the house, agents found additional bulk cocaine and loaded firearms that McGee was storing there. After the raid, agents intercepted calls in which McGee attempted to coach the children to lie to Alabama Department of Human Resources personnel about the incident.
In June 2024, agents intercepted several calls involving McGee and his Houston, Texas-based suppliers, Eric Anthony Aguilar and Jonathan Maurice Hackworth, arranging a shipment of five kilograms of cocaine to the DTO in Mobile. During a traffic stop in Mobile on June 13, 2024, agents seized $24,000 in bulk cash that McGee had paid Aguilar for a portion of the drugs. Later that same day, agents arrested McGee after he and one of his DTO lieutenants, Antonio Dwone Reed, attempted to flee in a brief high-speed chase. Agents boxed in the vehicle and encountered McGee with three kilograms of cocaine sitting in his lap. McGee then confessed in a videotaped interview that he had been dealing bulk cocaine since 2017 and earned $20,000 per month in profits.
Following McGee’s arrest, agents intercepted Maxie and her sister, Exavieria Deagnes Maxie (“Exavieria”) plotting to conceal evidence while operating the bugged Escalade. Specifically, Maxie gave Exavieria, a convicted felon, a shoebox full of custom jewelry and a loaded .380 caliber pistol. Exavieria took the jewelry and gun and stashed them in her apartment in west Mobile. Thereafter, on CCTV recordings, Maxie and Exavieria directed a 15-year-old child to find the gun and toss it from a balcony before agents could enter the apartment. When Maxie’s teenage son tried to instruct the 15-year-old, her nephew, how to remove the clip from the loaded weapon, Maxie stated, “No, tell him don’t do all that. Just drop it off. . . . [H]e ain’t got time to do that. We ain’t got time to coach him.” Exavieria was intercepted admitting that she told her 15-year-old son to toss the gun from the balcony. Agents found the loaded pistol near a softball field behind the apartment. Exavieria then admitted to agents that she had brought the gun to her apartment from McGee’s and Maxie’s house. Exavieria had previously been convicted of a federal methamphetamine-trafficking offense and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
“For nearly a decade, Glennie McGee and Echandza Maxie led a drug-trafficking empire that peddled hundreds of pounds of deadly cocaine and fentanyl. They despicably involved young children in that effort. Now, their crimes are over for good,” said Sean P. Costello, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. “This extraordinary multi-agency investigation demonstrates the creativeness and grit of the Homeland Security Task Force. Working alongside our agency partners, our office will stop at nothing to protect children and stem the flow of deadly drugs into our community.”
“Trafficking hundreds of pounds of cocaine and tens of thousands of counterfeit fentanyl pills is not just a crime, it is a direct assault on the safety of our communities,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. “This investigation stands as a testament to HSI’s commitment, alongside our Homeland Security Task Force partners, to eradicate violent drug trafficking organizations from our neighborhoods. The life sentences announced today guarantee that these individuals will never again force innocent children and teenagers to act as couriers or conceal weapons, sending a clear message that those who traffic poison and exploit our youth will face the ultimate consequences.”
“Our partnership through the Homeland Security Task Force demonstrates the impact of a whole‑of‑government approach. By combining intelligence, investigative tools, and the work of agents across many jurisdictions, we delivered accountability, protected vulnerable children, and continued crushing violent crime tied to deadly fentanyl and cocaine trafficking,” said Christopher Flowers, Special Agent‑in‑Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Mobile Office.
In addition to the lifetime prison terms, U.S. District Judge Terry F. Moorer ordered McGee and Maxie to pay $10 million and $1 million fines, respectively, to each reimburse the Criminal Justice Act panel nearly $250,000 in funds expended for their court-appointed attorneys. McGee and Maxie were ordered to pay a total of $2,846,901.97 in restitution for their fraud crimes. The court also ordered forfeiture of real estate, high-end vehicles, luxury jewelry, cash, firearms, and bank accounts, and issued money judgments totaling $500,000. Judge Moorer also ordered the defendants to pay a total of $1,900 in special assessments.
For their roles in the DTO, the court previously sentenced the following codefendants: Eric Anthony Aguilar (163 months); Jonathan Maurice Hackworth (48 months); Antonio Dwone Reed (43 months); William Thomas Agee, Jr. (105 months); Tavaris Lamon Body (75 months); Exavieria Deagnes Maxie (240 months). Other codefendants, including Tierra Tocorra Hill, will be sentenced at a later date.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Office of Inspector General Small Business Administration, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, the Mobile Police Department, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case. The United States Marshals Service and several local agencies in Houston, Texas substantially assisted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Roller and George May prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
This prosecution was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Mobile comprises agents and officers from, among others, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation leads to dismantling of dark web drug trafficking organizationRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI – Three defendants were convicted and sentenced in the Southern District of Ohio as part of a law enforcement operation against a dark web drug trafficking organization.
The coordinated multinational operation led to arrests of key members of the group in Florida, North Carolina, and Medellin, Colombia.
Between July 2017 and May 2023, the Undertaker45 drug trafficking organization operated as a sophisticated, transnational criminal enterprise that used the dark web marketplaces DarkMarket, White House, Dark0de, Dark0de Reborn and ASAP, along with encrypted messaging platforms like Wickr and Telegram, to distribute: (1) counterfeit OxyContin pills that actually contained fentanyl; and (2) counterfeit Adderall pills that actually contained methamphetamine. The organization was led from Medellín, Colombia, and supported by U.S.-based cell leaders in Miami, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
In Cincinnati, Cesar Augusto Olmos Usaquen, 51; Juan Carlos Carroll Borrero, 43; and Eduardo Villarroel Bellorin, 37; were prosecuted for participating in the drug and money laundering conspiracies.
According to court documents, Olmos Usaquen led the organization from Medellin, Colombia, where he ran the organization’s dark web presence. This included taking orders over the dark web and coordinating the shipment of counterfeit pills with his co-defendants.
In Miami, Carroll Borrero was responsible for receiving bulk shipments of counterfeit pills and then distributing those pills throughout the United States to the organization’s clients. The pills were commonly shipped in old DVD cases to avoid detection.
Villaroel Bellorin worked in North Carolina. There, he received bulk pill shipments and provided them to Carroll Borrero for further distribution. Villaroel Bellorin also coordinated the group’s money laundering efforts. The group received payments in cryptocurrency, largely bitcoin, before moving those funds through a variety of wallets to avoid law enforcement detection and eventually withdraw the funds in fiat currency.
In all, the group sold approximately 40 kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl pills and laundered $2.5 million in drug proceeds.
Usaquen and Borrero were each sentenced to 90 months in prison. Bellorin received a term of imprisonment of 38 months in prison.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division; Joseph O. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Mason Police Chief Levi Wells; and officials with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, Colombian National Police and DEA Colombia announced the sentences imposed. Assistant United States Attorney Frederic C. Shadley is representing the United States in this case.
This case part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Cincinnati comprises agents and officers from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
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Four Arizona Residents Charged with Anabolic Steroid-Trafficking Conspiracy in Homeland Security Task Force InvestigationRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL – A federal grand jury in Mobile returned an indictment charging four Arizona residents with a yearslong anabolic steroids-trafficking conspiracy.
According to court documents, Laura Stratton, 43, of Phoenix, Arizona, Brenna Eppley, 48, of Buckeye, Arizona, Benjamin Stratton, 39, of Avondale, Arizona, and Karissa Stratton, 33, of Avondale, Arizona conspired with one another and with other persons to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, which are schedule III controlled substances. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to traffic anabolic steroids to the Southern District of Alabama and elsewhere between October 2023 and July 2026. Between March 23, 2026, and March 30, 2026, Laura Stratton allegedly distributed anabolic steroids—namely, trenbolone enanthate and a substance containing detectable amounts of testosterone propionate, testosterone isocaproate, testosterone decanoate, and testosterone phenylpropionate—to the Southern District of Alabama. The indictment also includes a notice seeking forfeiture of two real properties in Phoenix and Avondale, three vehicles, and several cryptocurrency wallets and financial accounts, which are alleged to be proceeds of and property used to facilitate the conspiracy.
The defendants made their initial court appearances in Arizona and Montana on August 5 and August 6, 2026. They are scheduled to make their initial court appearances in the Southern District of Alabama on August 26, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, the Mesa, Arizona Police Department, and the Avondale, Arizona Police Department are investigating the case. U.S. Attorney Costello thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona for its exceptional coordination and assistance with the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Mobile comprises agents and officers from, among others, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Former USDA Program Director Sentenced in $400,000 Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Kirk Perry, 62, a former United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program director, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison in connection with a kickback scheme in which he and his nephew, Jamarea Grant, 32, of Cleveland, Ohio, conspired to bill the government nearly $400,000 for work that Grant did not actually perform, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
“Kirk Perry brazenly abused his position of authority and betrayed the public trust by diverting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for his own benefit,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Today’s sentence makes clear that he will be required to repay the very funds he siphoned from the American taxpayer and serve a prison term for his conduct. My office will continue to pursue anyone who exploits a government role for personal gain and ensure that taxpayer money is protected from fraud and abuse.”
Perry, of Lorain, Ohio, pleaded guilty April 29, 2025, before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to conspiracy to commit money, property, and honest services wire fraud. His nephew, Grant, pleaded guilty on Nov. 27, 2024, to the same charge.
In addition to the 24-month prison term, Judge Kollar-Kotelly ordered Perry to serve two years of supervised release and to pay restitution of $399,319. Federal prosecutors had requested restitution and a prison term of 33 to 41 months.
“The sentence issued today reflects our commitment to thoroughly investigate fraud, waste, and abuse by those entrusted with high-level government positions. This employee not only abused his authority by ensuring a family member was hired on contracts he oversaw, but he also devised a scheme ultimately to direct these monies to himself,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeldrys Lowry of the USDA OIG Sensitive Investigations Office. “Uncovering fraud requires diligent review and the USDA OIG will relentlessly pursue these illicit schemes ensuring taxpayer dollars are safeguarded. We are grateful to our partners at the USAO for their support in bringing this investigation to its culmination.”
According to court documents, Perry was a senior director within the USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and used his position to secure employment for Grant as an Equal Opportunity Assistant. They billed the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and Grant received about $399,319 from the government for work that was not performed.
Perry worked the same scheme with his longtime partner with whom he resides; a cousin by marriage; and a personal acquaintance who he previously coached in basketball. None of those individuals had any background, education, or experience in EEO related matters.
In pleading guilty, Perry and Grant admitted that, from August 2015 through November 2022, Perry arranged for Grant to be hired by two companies under contract with the USDA Office of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Grant reported directly to Perry, who also approved the invoices billing for Grant’s time, and the two of them conspired to bill the government for work that Grant did not perform.
Perry additionally had access to Grant’s bank account. As part of the criminal scheme, Perry transferred approximately $125,000 of the USDA payments from Grant’s account to his own account. Grant’s sentencing is pending.
This case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General - Sensitive Investigations Office. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Kelly.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
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Former USDA Employee Indicted for Threatening Federal Law Enforcement OfficerRead the Press Release
CONCORD – A former USDA employee was indicted this week for sending emails containing threats to a federal law enforcement officer, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces.
Keith Bergstrom, 40, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of Interstate Communications of Threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c).
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Each charge of threatening communications carries a maximum sentence of 5 years. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Yasir Sadat is prosecuting the case.
Fleming County Man Sentenced for Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A Flemingsburg, Ky., man, Michael La Porta, 30, was sentenced Friday to 30 years by U.S. District Judge Chad Meredith for the production of child pornography.
According to his plea agreement, La Porta entered into a "relationship" with a minor and engaged in sexual activity with that minor and communicated via various forms of electronic messaging, particularly using Snapchat. During those communications, La Porta would discuss various forms of sexual activities that he wanted to engage with the victim, as well as requesting the victim send sexually explicit videos to him. The victim’s trusted adults discovered the “relationship” and reported to law enforcement who were able to confirm the communications and production of sexually explicit videos.
Jason Parman, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Olivia Olson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office; and Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and KSP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Final member of COVID rental assistance fraud ring convicted at trial of wire fraud and money launderingRead the Press Release
Seattle – The final defendant of a six-defendant fraud scheme that submitted fraudulent applications seeking more than $6.8 million in COVID benefits was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Jahri Asad Cunningham, 48, of Houston, Texas, is the brother of the scheme’s mastermind, Paradise Williams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two worked hand-in-glove to defraud a variety of relief programs. Cunningham personally received $344,240 in benefits that were intended for those struggling to keep their homes during the pandemic. The entire group collected more than $3.3 million. U.S. District Judge John H. Chun ordered Cunningham remanded into custody after the guilty verdict was returned. He scheduled sentencing for November 2, 2026.
According to records filed in the case and evidence presented in the four-day jury trial, Cunningham initially tried to defraud the Small Business Administration (SBA) of more than $515,000 by creating fictitious companies in a bid to obtain funds from SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. The SBA recognized the applications as fake and did not pay out any money in response to the fraudulent applications.
Cunningham and his sister then turned to another program: the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which was administered by King County. In 2021 and 2022, the pair posed as landlords seeking rental assistance to prevent the supposed eviction of tenants who supposedly could not pay their rent because of the pandemic. In fact, the tenants did not exist. Cunningham did not own or represent building owners but submitted eight applications in various names posing as a landlord. At trial, prosecutors showed how Cunningham and his sister defrauded the program and narrated their activities in real-time via text message.
“They created fake tenants, they created fake documents, they created fake eviction notices for their fake tenants,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Watts Staniar told the jury in closing argument. “And every dollar that went to a fraudster was a dollar that could not go to a family in need.”
When King County identified the fraud and pulled back $100,000 it had paid out to Cunningham, he continued to try to get the county to return the money by providing additional fake documents. “Jahri Cunningham was trying to steal every last cent of the (rental assistance) program,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Chang said in the closing rebuttal.
When he realized law enforcement was investigating him, Cunningham urged his sister to get a new phone and new telephone number in an effort to hide text messages that proved damning at trial.
Cunningham was convicted of three counts of wire fraud – one for submitting fake SBA EIDL applications, and two for submitting applications to the emergency rental assistance program. He was convicted of money laundering in connection with the tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks that he paid to his sister, Paradise Williams, for her role in the scheme.
Williams was sentenced in March 2024 to five years in prison.
Wire fraud and money laundering are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
In 2016, Cunningham was convicted in the Western District of Washington and sentenced to 75 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Small Business Administration office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cindy Chang and Lauren Watts Staniar.
Felon on supervised release pleads guilty to possessing machinegun device, drugs while causing high-speed chaseRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A previously convicted felon currently on federal supervised release pleaded guilty in federal court here today to new gun and drug crimes.
Jashon Tatum, 29, of Columbus, led Columbus police officers on a high-speed chase in August 2024, striking another vehicle, before ultimately being caught with a firearm and machinegun conversion device and narcotics. He admitted in court today to possessing a machinegun, possessing ammunition as a previously convicted felon and possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances.
According to court documents, on Aug. 28, 2024, Columbus police officers used a phone ping to locate Tatum near Sullivant and South Wayne avenues as Tatum had active felony warrants. Officers observed Tatum driving a Mercedes Benz with the license plate “2BLK4U.” A police helicopter was deployed.
Tatum began to drive erratically on I-71, almost causing several accidents. He exited near 11th Avenue and struck another car. After crashing, Tatum then attempted to flee on foot, throwing things as CPD SWAT and task force officers with the ATF pursued him. He was ultimately taken into custody.
Investigators discovered a pistol with an attached machinegun conversion device, a magazine with ammunition and narcotics containing fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine base.
Tatum admitted to having fentanyl and crack cocaine but told officers he cut his fentanyl with sugar to make it less dangerous. He said he had been selling drugs to make money to pay for legal counsel in his other criminal cases.
Tatum was indicted and arrested in this case in July 2025.
Possessing a machinegun conversion device is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Possessing ammunition as a previously convicted felon carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The narcotics charge in this case involves a prison term of five to 40 years. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jorge Rosendo, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the guilty plea offered today before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Courter M. Shimeall. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth A. Geraghty is representing the United States in this case.
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Felon Charged for Unlawful Possession of “Ghost Guns” and AmmunitionRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS – A felon has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he unlawfully possessed ammunition and privately manufactured firearms. A privately manufactured firearm without a serial number is sometimes called a “ghost gun.”
“Ghost guns are specifically designed to evade the law, making them the weapon of choice for individuals seeking to bypass background checks,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “Our office will aggressively prosecute anyone who manufactures or distributes these untraceable weapons, ensuring they are held accountable for undermining public safety.”
“The rise of ghost gun manufacturing threatens our community, prompting the FBI and its partners to join forces in combating criminals who bring their unsafe practices into our neighborhoods,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto for the FBI Las Vegas Field Office.
“Public safety is at the forefront of ATF mission,” said Special Agent in Charge John Wester, San Francisco Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). “The suspect in this case illegally possessed firearms and ammunition. ATF will continue to work alongside our partners to ensure that firearms remain out of the hands of prohibited people. We are committed to ensuring that this community is a safe place.”
According to the complaint, on August 4, 2026, Chang Tan possessed firearms, including a privately manufactured 5.56x45mm semi-automatic rifle and eight privately manufactured 3-D printed AR-15 pattern lower receivers. Additionally, he possessed more than 500 rounds of 5.56x45mm ammunition and .300 AAC Blackout ammunition. Tan has multiple prior felony convictions, including fraud activity connected with computers in the Northern District of Illinois and sale of controlled substance in Clark County, Nevada. He is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm or ammunition
Tan is charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty is ten years confinement and three years supervised release.
This case was investigated by the FBI and ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Cowhig is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Federal Jury Finds Robert Ivers Guilty on All Counts in Threats Against United States Judge and Trial WitnessRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that a federal jury has found Robert Phillip Ivers, 73, of Wayzata, Minnesota, guilty on two counts of mailing threatening communications, and one count of threatening to murder a United States District Judge. The mailings included threats to kill a witness and the judge who presided over the defendant’s 2018 federal criminal trial, in which the defendant was found guilty of threatening to murder another federal judge. See United States v. Ivers, Case No. 18-cr-90 (JMM).
The verdict follows a multi‑day trial in U.S. District Court from August 4 to 7, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
“Today’s outcome reaffirms the strength of our justice system in the face of intimidation. Those who seek to retaliate against witnesses or judges with threats of violence will be held fully accountable,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
According to court documents, the defendant mailed a manifesto titled “How to Kill a Federal Judge” to a Minneapolis law firm and the University of St. Thomas. The manifesto contained graphic threats of violence against the witness and judge involved in the defendant’s previous criminal trial, federal judges generally, and the victims’ children.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, United States Supreme Court Police, United States Secret Service, Wayzata Police Department, and Saint Paul Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Bradley M. Endicott and William C. Mattessich prosecuted the case.
Note: Previous press releases on the charges and indictment here.
Federal Jury Convicts Cherokee County Resident of Murder in 2022 Tahlequah ShootingRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that BILLIE RENEE VANN, 41, of Welling, Oklahoma, was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of Murder in Indian Country –Second Degree, one count of Child Neglect in Indian Country, and one count of Use, Carry, and Brandish of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
The jury trial began with testimony on August 4, 2026, and concluded on August 6, 2026, with the guilty verdicts.
During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on September 5, 2022, Vann:
- failed to shield her son, then a teenager and minor in her care, from exposure to illegal activity while charged with the duty of his care and welfare;
- aided and abetted her teenage son to commit murder; and
- armed herself with a handgun and purposefully brandished it during the commission of the murder.
On July 1, 2026, Vann’s co-defendants each pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges relating to the shooting. Jermyn Damon Vann Jr., 21, of Welling, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, and one count of Causing the Death of a Person in the Course of a Violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). Jermyn Damon Vann Sr., 41, of Welling, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to one count of Child Neglect in Indian Country.
The crimes occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation of Oklahoma, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The guilty verdicts were the result of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Tahlequah Police Department, and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, Senior Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report.
The defendants will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals until sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Dean Burris and Olivia Staubus represented the United States.
Ex-CBP Officer Sentenced for Opening His Inspection Lane to Cartel Drug SmugglersRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Jesse Clark Garcia was sentenced in federal court today to nine years in prison for allowing drug-laden vehicles to pass through his inspection lane at the Tecate Port of Entry on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The sentencing follows a long‑term, multi‑agency investigation that uncovered a significant corruption scheme involving Garcia and his co-defendant, then-Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer Diego Bonillo. Both officers pleaded guilty in July 2025, with Garcia admitting that since at least 2021, he provided the Sinaloa Cartel-linked drug trafficking organization with his duty schedules and lane assignments so vehicles carrying cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl could pass through his lanes unchecked. Bonillo was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2025.
“Officer Garcia betrayed his oath, his fellow officers, and his country. Officer Garcia’s conduct warranted this significant sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.
To coordinate with the traffickers, both defendants used a secret emoji-based code in text messages to discreetly communicate their shift and lane assignments. The cartel then routed drug-laden vehicles through those lanes, where the defendants allowed them to enter the United States without inspection.
Garcia also exploited CBP’s flexible duty-switching policies to place himself in inspection lanes where he was not scheduled to work. Other times, he falsely claimed technical issues prevented required checks, allowing narcotics to enter the United States despite mandatory system alerts.
In exchange for his assistance, the Garcia received at least $10,000 for each drug-filled vehicle he allowed to pass through the port. Evidence further showed that his illicit proceeds funded a lifestyle far beyond his government salary, including luxury purchases, a high-end vehicle, a San Diego residence, co-ownership of an equine racing business, and construction of a ranch in Mexico.
As the investigation progressed, the Garcia attempted to evade law enforcement. He stopped reporting for duty, ignored inquiries from CBP supervisors, and was observed driving into Mexico in a fully packed vehicle in late March 2024. On May 2, 2024, Mexican authorities—acting on a request from the United States and pursuant to a federal warrant—arrested the defendant and transferred him to U.S. custody later that same evening.
On July 8, 2025, Garcia pleaded guilty to nine felony counts, including conspiracy to import controlled substances and multiple counts of importation and aiding and abetting. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted facilitating the entry of substantial quantities of controlled substances, including at least 100 kilograms of fentanyl, 107 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 270 kilograms of cocaine.
DHS Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D., said, “DHS employees who abuse their positions and betray the public’s trust will be held accountable for their actions. The Office of Inspector General will continue to relentlessly root out corruption. We appreciate the continued partnership between DHS OIG and our law enforcement partners in bringing these individuals to justice.”
“Jesse Clark Garcia showed total disregard for the oath he took as a CBP Officer to protect our communities when he knowingly and repeatedly allowed cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into our country,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “FBI San Diego and our partners work tirelessly to ensure those individuals dishonoring the badge are held accountable. The corrupt few do not represent the whole of the federal law enforcement workforce. Today’s sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to rooting out those unworthy individuals and paving the way for justice to be served.”
According to Special Agent in Charge Sara Esparagoza, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, San Diego Field Office, “The Office of Professional Responsibility is unwavering in its commitment to upholding the highest standards within our ranks. Today’s events underscore our dedication to rooting out corruption and ensuring that those who betray the public trust are held accountable.”
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shauna R. Prewitt, Sean Van Demark, and Bianca Calderon-Peñaloza.
DEFENDANT Case Number 24-CR-0908-RBM
Jesse Clark Garcia Age: 38 San Diego, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952, 960, and 963
Maximum Penalty: Life in prison with a 10-year mandatory minimum
Importation of Controlled Substances – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952 and 960
Maximum Penalty: Life in prison with a 10-year mandatory minimum
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation – Border Corruption Task Force
Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility
U.S. Border Patrol – San Diego Sector Intelligence Unit
Homeland Security Investigations – SDNET
Drug Enforcement Administration
Homeland Security Investigations – Hermosillo Attaché
District of Arizona Charges 227 Individuals for Immigration-Related Criminal Conduct this WeekRead the Press Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. – During the week of enforcement operations from Aug. 1 through Aug. 7, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 227 individuals. Specifically, the United States filed 84 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 123 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States filed 16 cases against 20 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), ICE- Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Recent matters of interest include:
United States v. Gerardo Parada-Reyes. On July 31, 2026, Gerardo Parada-Reyes was charged by criminal complaint with Reentry of a Removed Alien. Parada-Reyes had been previously removed from the United States in 2019 after being convicted of Manufacturing/Distributing/Possession with Intent to Distribute – Heroin/Cocaine – Equal to or Greater than 5 Ounces in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Ocean County. Parada-Reyes was sentenced to 10 years in prison in that case. [26-MJ-5371]
United States v. Norberto Antunez-Moreno. On Aug. 5, 2026, Norberto Antunez-Moreno was charged by criminal complaint with Reentry of a Removed Alien. Antunez-Moreno had been previously removed from the United States in 2017 after being convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana in the United States District Court, District of Arizona. Antunez-Moreno was sentenced to 16 months in prison in that case. [26-MJ-3205]
The cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-134_August 7, 2026 Immigration Enforcement
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Crestview Cocaine Traffickers Plead GuiltyRead the Press Release
Pensacola, Florida – Arzalea Teshean McLaughlin, 37, Benjamin Eugene Mack, 54, and Roger Cornell Daniels, 38, all of Crestview, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and cocaine base, conspiracy to unlawfully use a communications facility, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the plea.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Thanks to the coordinated investigative efforts of our state and federal law enforcement partners, this trio’s days of trafficking drugs in the Northern District of Florida are at an end. With every successful prosecution by my office we are taking back our streets from these peddlers of poisonous drugs to deliver the safe, drug-free communities that the citizens of the Northern District of Florida deserve.”
According to court documents, between 2023 and 2025, McLaughlin, Mack, and Daniels conspired with each other and others to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine.” McLaughlin obtained cocaine for sale through Daniels and used multiple locations in Okaloosa County to store and distribute drugs, including Mack’s and Daniels’ residences. Search warrants at those locations led to the seizure of nearly three-quarters of a kilogram of cocaine from Mack’s residence and almost one-quarter of a kilogram of cocaine from Daniel’s residence.
McLaughlin’s sentencing has been set for September 24, 2026, at 9 a.m., Mack’s sentencing has been set for October 15, 2026, at 2 p.m., and Daniels’ sentencing has been set for November 4, 2026, at 9 a.m. before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II. McLaughlin and Mack face a minimum mandatory of 10 years up to life in prison, and Daniels faces a minimum mandatory of 5 years’ up to a total of 74 years’ imprisonment. Each defendant faces enhanced penalties due to having prior qualifying drug or violent convictions.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the Crestview Police Department, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison After Sending Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS- Christopher J. White, 46, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 16 years and three months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, after pleading guilty to distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material. White was also ordered to pay $27,0000.00 in restitution.
According to court documents, on March 19, 2024, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officers responded to White’s home after a domestic disturbance was reported. White’s relative contacted police after discovering sexually explicit images of minors on White’s cell phone.
Witnesses told officers that White, a registered sex offender with a 2016 conviction for child exploitation and possession of child sexual abuse material, had posted images of a minor relative on social media without permission. The minor was under eight years old and was wearing a swimsuit. Witnesses also reported finding text messages containing sexually explicit images of other minors on his device. Another witness stated she received a notification in January 2024 that her Google account had been locked due to uploads of child sexual abuse material while White was using her phone.
A forensic analysis revealed that since November 2023, White had been distributing and receiving sexually explicit images of children, including infants and toddlers. When White distributed the images, he described his sexual abuse of children to the individuals- later determined to be fictitious- as if he were the individual who had participated in the sexual abuse. White also made these same fictitious comments about images of his minor relative.
Investigators recovered at least 13 files depicting violence or exploitation and more than 600 additional images, including approximately 1,038 files identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as known child sexual abuse material.
The U.S. Secret Service and IMPD investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
“Protecting children from exploitation is one of our most critical responsibilities,” said Tom Wheeler, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “This sentence makes clear that those who victimize children, whether through hands‑on abuse or the distribution of child sexual abuse material, will be held accountable. We are grateful for the diligent work of the U.S. Secret Service and IMPD in ensuring this offender was brought to justice.”
“Individuals who exploit children through the use and distribution of child sexual abuse material must be held accountable for the profound harm they cause to victims and their families,” said Special Agent in Charge Ike Barnes of the U.S. Secret Service Indianapolis Field Office. “The sentence in this case reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s actions. The Secret Service remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect children from exploitation and bring offenders to justice. We thank the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana for their collaboration and commitment throughout this investigation.”
U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle M. Sawa, who prosecuted this case.
This 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. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
If you are a victim of child sexual exploitation, please contact your local police department. Resources for victims of child exploitation can be found on our website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/project-safe-childhood
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Convicted Felon Sentenced for Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Michael Ralph Collins, 33, a previously convicted felon residing in the District of Columbia, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 71 months in prison in connection with his unlawful possession of a loaded Ruger .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol that he stashed inside an open washing machine as he was pursued by police, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
“As a convicted felon, Collins wasted no time after his release from custody; he armed himself with a loaded firearm and then tried to hide the weapon in a washing machine while fleeing from police,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “His record shows a persistent pattern of using firearms to threaten and harm others. This sentence removes him from our streets, and our communities are safer as a result.”
Collins pleaded guilty on May 7, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In addition to the 71-month prison term, Judge Howell ordered Collins to serve three years of supervised release.
Collins has an extensive prior criminal record, including a 2011 conviction for attempted burglary and two 2013 convictions for armed robbery. Less than two weeks before this offense, Collins had been released from custody following a 2025 conviction for armed theft of a motor vehicle.
The case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Division.
This case was prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful initiative by Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Liss.
Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful is a law enforcement initiative in support of President Trump's Executive Order to crack down on gun violence, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
Retracing Collins’ path, officers found a loaded Ruger .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun hidden inside an open washing machine in a laundry room along his flight route.
Still photo from a video that Collins posted to the victim’s TikTok account.
26cr89
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Concord Man Sentenced to Eighteen Years of Imprisonment for Violent Extortion Scheme and Shooting at Federal OfficersRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Joel Dowen was sentenced today to eighteen years in federal prison, for engaging in a violent extortion scheme, shooting at a federal officer, drug dealing, and bank fraud. Co-defendant Micah-Luc Almeida was sentenced to three years in federal prison for conspiring to deal drugs with Dowen. United States District Judge Jon S. Tigar handed down the sentence.
Dowen, 46, of Concord, California, and Almeida, 47, of San Francisco, California were indicted in a superseding indictment by a federal grand jury on March 26, 2024. Dowen was charged with mailing threatening communications with intent to extort, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 376(b) and assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(b); both Dowen and Almeida were charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute MDA; and Almeida was additionally charged with possession with intent to distribute MDA, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1). Dowen was separately charged in 2025 with bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344. The defendants pleaded guilty to all counts.
In their plea agreements, Dowen and Almeida admitted that from 2020 to 2024 they conspired to manufacture and distribute large quantities of federally controlled substances, including MDA and psilocin. Dowen and Almeida maintained a drug manufacturing laboratory in Richmond, California, from where law enforcement seized hundreds of kilograms of waste material from attempted drug manufacturing.
Dowen also admitted to engaging in a pattern of threats and violence against a victim and their family to extort the victim for millions of dollars and a drug-manufacturing recipe. Dowen arranged for three individuals to violently assault the victim’s elderly father (then 80 years old) in his home, causing life-threatening injuries. After the assault, Dowen continued to threaten the victim and other members of the victim’s family and set the victim’s home on fire. When law enforcement came to arrest Dowen in 2024, he shot at them with a handgun through the front door as they were breaching the entrance, hitting one DEA agent’s protective shield.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and DEA Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris made the announcement.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Tigar sentenced both Dowen and Almeida to a 3-year period of supervised release.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Organized Crime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lina Peng and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Karmel handled the case, with assistance from Legal Administrative Specialist Sara Slattery and Legal Assistant Freya Picciotto. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA, IRS-CI, ATF, FBI, HSI, and US Postal Inspectors, with the assistance of the Concord Police Department.
Cocaine and Fentanyl Ringleader Sentenced to 22 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – A federal judge sentenced Donnie Dontez Jeffreys, 35, to 22 years in federal prison for leading a large-scale cocaine and fentanyl distribution operation throughout the Eastern District of North Carolina. On May 12, 2026, Jeffreys pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 11 pounds or more of cocaine, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and possessing with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine.
“Donnie Jeffreys traded human lives for drug money, poisoning our streets with fentanyl and cocaine. This sentence sends a stark message: we will hunt down every Big Shark Bad Boy pushing deadly poison, tear up the roots of their kudzu crew, and put them where they belong - behind bars. Don’t mess around with these dedicated sheriffs and cops, you will find out. Simple Lesson: Drugs Kill, Prison Awaits – Do Right,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle.”
In February 2024, investigators identified Jeffreys as the leader of a drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of cocaine, powder fentanyl, and pressed fentanyl pills. Federal and local law enforcement employed a range of methods, including traffic stops, freight interdictions, interviews, federal wiretaps, and controlled drug purchases to investigate his crimes and built the case against him.
As a result, investigators executed search warrants at multiple stash houses tied to Jeffreys’ organization and seized significant amounts of narcotics and firearms. Their searches uncovered a freight shipment containing 52 pounds of cocaine concealed in desk chair boxes, more than 33 pounds of fentanyl pills and over 35 pounds of cocaine stored in a duffle bag inside a stash house, along with $400,000 in cash from a car outside. A subsequent search warrant recovered even more cocaine, marijuana, and 32 weapons.
“Today’s 22-year federal prison sentence is the result of the unwavering collaboration between DEA and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners,” said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “Together, we dismantled a significant drug trafficking operation responsible for distributing cocaine and fentanyl in our communities. This sentence sends a clear message, those who choose to profit from poisoning our neighborhoods will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.”
"The Wake County Sheriff's Office makes it clear that illegal drugs and drug trafficking have no place in our communities. I thank the men and women who worked diligently to hold Donnie Jeffreys accountable. This investigation and sentencing highlight the value of our strong partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies," Sheriff Willie Rowe said.
W. Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. DEA, SBI, Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Raleigh Police Department, and Wake Forest Police Department investigated the case.
A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:25-CR-147-FL-1.
Clarksville, Tennessee, Woman Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison and Ordered to Pay $291,470 in Restitution for Defrauding EmployerRead the Press Release
Paducah, KY – A Clarksville, Tennessee, woman was sentenced this week to 2 years in federal prison on five counts of wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky and Special Agent in Charge Olivia Olson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Louisville Field Office made the announcement.
Kathleen M. Michaelis, 50, was sentenced to 2 years in prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for five counts of wire fraud. According to court documents, between May 2017 and May 2024, Michaelis was employed as a bookkeeper for a business in Christian County, Kentucky. She embezzled over $238,000 from her employer utilizing a fraudulent check scheme. She used the stolen money to pay personal expenses. Michaelis concealed her scheme by failing to forward employee paystub withholdings to the United States Treasury and the company’s retirement plan.
Michaelis was also ordered to pay $291,470 in restitution.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the FBI Bowling Green Satellite Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond McGee of the U.S. Attorney’s Paducah Branch Office prosecuted the case.
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Canadian Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud for Falsely Posing as a Commercial Airline PilotRead the Press Release
HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Dallas Pokornik, 34, of Toronto, Canada, pled guilty yesterday in federal court to wire fraud. After his indictment in October 2025, Pokornik was arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States to face his charges here in the District of Hawaii.
According to court documents, Pokornik, a former flight attendant for a commercial airline in Canada, admitted to falsely posing as a commercial pilot to get hundreds of free flights on three different airlines. During the scheme, which spanned from January 2020 to October 28, 2024, Pokornik used a fictitious employee identification card to obtain the free flights. As part of his plea agreement, Pokornik agreed to pay restitution to the three victim airlines, which are all based in the United States.
“Travel security protocols help keep our citizens and visitors safe, and anyone who breaches those protocols should expect to be brought to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. “We thank our law enforcement partners at Homeland Security Investigations and abroad for helping us hold this fraudster accountable.”“Dallas Pokornik’s guilty plea is a testament to the seamless collaboration between HSI Honolulu, the Department of Justice, and our international law enforcement partners. This individual took advantage of travel security protocols for his own benefit, and he will now face the consequences of his actions,” said CJ Ammons, Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge.
Pokornik’s sentencing hearing is set for December 8, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Shanlyn A.S. Park. Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, plus a term of supervised release.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar is prosecuting the case.
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking multiple controlled substances—including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin. U.S. District Judge Gregory B. Williams imposed the sentence.
According to court documents, Daniel Fernandez, 45, was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by the New Castle County Police Department (NCCPD) on June 25, 2025. A drug-sniffing canine alerted to the presence of controlled substances in the car. Officers of the NCCPD searched the vehicle and discovered over 9 kilograms of cocaine, over 3 pounds of methamphetamine, and over a half pound each of heroin and fentanyl. Fernandez admitted that the drugs were his and that he had travelled from New York City in order to deliver them to a customer in Delaware.
“Daniel Fernandez tried to smuggle substantial quantities of street drugs from his State into ours,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace. “Those drugs could have ruined the lives of countless Delawareans. But due to the vigilance of our partners at the New Castle County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, those drugs are off the street, and Mr. Fernandez will be spending more than five years in federal prison. This case exemplifies our tireless efforts to protect Delaware from the scourge of drug trafficking.”
“This case highlights both the ongoing threat that drug traffickers pose to our communities and the outstanding work of law enforcement at every level to meet that threat,” said DEA Dover Group Supervisor Jason Kaunas. “A significant amount of dangerous drugs were kept off the streets due to the dedication and collaboration between DEA, New Castle County PD, and the USAO. This sentence sends a powerful message and a warning to others that would seek to do harm.”
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER by searching for Case No. 26-cr-04-GBW.
Bixby Man Convicted by Federal Jury for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. – A federal jury convicted a Bixby man of possessing more than 220 images of child sexual abuse material, including an AI-generated and morphed video that he made of an identifiable toddler engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
After a 3-day trial, Aaron Chase Sanders, 28, was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography.
In January 2026, a Tulsa Police officer was dispatched in response to a possible child molestation report. When the officer arrived, they spoke with a woman who was messaging with Sanders on the social media app Snapchat. When the witness testified, she explained that their conversations became sexual; however, she felt uncomfortable when Sanders stated that he wanted to include a toddler in their sexual acts. She testified that Sanders messaged that the toddler had walked in on him having sex before and that it “turned him on.” The sexual messages shown to the jury showed that Sanders repeatedly asked if she wanted to come over for sex while he was with the toddler.
When the Tulsa Police officer testified, he explained to the jury that he read the messages between the woman and Sanders, and that the messages concerned him as well. He preserved the evidence and discovered that Sanders lived in Bixby and possibly had access to minor children. The officer contacted a detective with the Bixby Police Department. Both officers shared the same concern for the well-being of the children that Sanders possibly had access to.
A detective with the Bixby Police Department testified that they went to a home in Bixby to check on the children's well-being and verified that Sanders was not currently with the children. After executing search warrants, Sanders agreed to speak with the detective. During that conversation, Sanders admitted to chatting with the woman on Snapchat; however, downplayed it as “fantasy.” When the detective looked through Sanders' cellphone, they discovered additional conversations Sanders had with other women on the dating app Hinge, and that he possessed images and videos of children being sexually abused. The detective then collaborated with the Glenpool Police Department on extracting an exact copy of the data from Sanders' device.
A sergeant with the Glenpool Police Department explained to the jury that he is trained to extract data from electronic devices and that they help several police departments that may not have the funding or equipment to extract data. After an exact copy was made of Sanders' cell phone, they provided it back to the detective with the Bixby Police Department. He reviewed Sanders' phone data and flagged child sexual abuse material, including an AI-generated and morphed video of an identifiable toddler engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
An expert and agent with Homeland Security Investigations testified about the data he reviewed from Sanders' cellphone. The data was voluminous; however, the expert went through several examples and showed the jury that Sanders was actively seeking out child sexual abuse material online, viewing sample videos, downloading, and even purchasing it. The expert showed the jury some of the child sexual abuse material found on Sanders' phone and specified exactly when it was viewed and where it was saved on the phone. The jury was also shown the AI-morphed video that Sanders created of an identifiable toddler and adult woman performing a sexual act. The jury was also shown where the original photo was stored on Sanders' phone that he used to create the video. Prosecutors asked the expert if there was any proof that Sanders reported any child sexual abuse material that he “found” online to the local police or an official law enforcement agency. The expert said that there was no evidence that Sanders reported to a law enforcement agency from September 2025 through January 2026.
Two additional women testified about meeting Sanders through Hinge. They both explained to the jury that the conversations quickly became sexual. However, when Sanders began discussing that he wanted to include a toddler in their sexual acts, both women attempted to change the conversation and take the toddler out of the conversation. Both women testified that Sanders kept bringing the toddler back into the conversations. One woman told the prosecutors that she was afraid that Sanders would “catch a case” because of how he was texting. The other woman described a photo that Sanders sent her, which appeared to be taken in a child’s bedroom with his penis erect. She went on to explain that during a separate conversation, Sanders also discussed his “erection” while being with children.
The sexually explicit images of children found on Sanders' devices were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). They identified more than 220 images on Sanders’ devices. Forty-three minor children were identified in the child sexual abuse material. Sanders will remain in custody, and sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
The Bixby Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Tulsa Police Department, and the Glenpool Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Robert and Matt Cyran prosecuted the case.
This 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. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, local, and tribal resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
August Underway with 271 New Federal Immigration Cases in Western District of TexasRead the Press Release
SAN ANTONIO – Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 271 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from July 31 through August 6, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. Charges were brought against alien smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for numerous DWIs, violent crimes, thefts, and multiple prior removals.
Among the new cases, illegal alien from Mexico Karla Yaslin Montes-Esparza is charged with bringing in and harboring aliens. According to a criminal complaint, U.S. Border Patrol agents requested and received consent to view, search and utilize the cellphones of two arrested illegal aliens on July 23. The agents allegedly discovered the aliens had jointly paid a smuggler in Juarez, Mexico, $1,500 for their illegal passage into the United States. USBP agents allege the smuggler was linked to Montes-Esparza, who then attempted to gain entry into the U.S. via the Ysleta Port of Entry on July 31. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers determined that Montes-Esparza allegedly received $1,500 for aiding in the smuggling of two illegal aliens on July 23. Additionally, CBP officers determined Montes-Esparza had allegedly assisted with the illegal entry, transportation, and furtherance of approximately 100 illegal aliens, from which she received approximately $83,174. The criminal complaint alleges Montes-Esparza’s cellphone revealed multiple images and videos of proof of transportation and furtherance of several illegal aliens.
Ricardo Gonzalez-Aguirre aka Antonio Ybarra-Rodriguez aka Francisco Carranza-Salas, an illegal alien from Mexico, is charged with illegal re-entry. A criminal complaint alleges Gonzalez-Aguirre approached the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry on Aug. 2 and claimed to be a U.S. citizen born in Cameron. Gonzalez-Aguirre allegedly stated he was in the process of obtaining a new state identification card and therefore did not have documents. The complaint alleges Gonzalez-Aguirre provided the CBP officer with his name, date of birth and age, but the age did not correlate to the date of birth. Further inspection revealed that Gonzalez-Aguirre was an illegal alien previously removed from the U.S. for the third time in June 2024. His criminal record includes convictions for domestic violence and disorderly conduct, as well as burglary and grand larceny.
Illegal alien from Ecuador Gen Santiago Aguirre-Zapata was arrested by USBP near Eagle Pass and charged with illegal re-entry. He’s been deported only once, in October 2021, but has been previously convicted of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property exceeding $1,000 in value, forcible theft armed with a deadly weapon, murder with intent, and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury.
USBP agents also arrested Jose Luis Amador-Bonilla, an illegal alien from Guatemala, near Eagle Pass. Amador-Bonilla was deported for the fifth time in September 2025. He’s been twice convicted of illegal re-entry, as well as forgery, interference with a law enforcement officer and a DUI.
Arturo Vasquez De La Sancha, an illegal alien from Mexico, was found in the Travis County Jail and transferred into ICE custody. Vasquez De La Sancha was removed for the third time in July 2022. He was convicted of his third DWI in 2021 and had his temporary supervised release revoked in 2022. Vasquez De La Sancha has also been previously convicted of deadly conduct, discharge of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. He’s now charged with his second illegal re-entry offense.
Roberto Quintanilla, also an illegal alien from Mexico, was found in Travis County and charged with illegal re-entry as well. Like Vasquez De La Sancha, Quintanilla has three DWI convictions on his criminal record. He has also been previously convicted of improper entry by an alien and illegal re-entry. He’s been removed from the United States three times.
Illegal alien from Mexico Jose Martin Velasquez-Monsivais was transferred into ICE custody from the Blanco County Jail and charged with illegal re-entry. Velasquez-Monsivais has previously been convicted of alien smuggling, escape while arrested/confined, and prohibited substance/item in a correctional or civil commitment facility. He was previously deported from the U.S. in 2020.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Alabama Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation CrimesRead the Press Release
Tallahassee, Florida – Justin William Gifford, 26, of Enterprise, Alabama, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after being earlier found guilty by a federal jury in Tallahassee of one count of attempted enticement of a minor, one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to minors, and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Our state and federal law enforcement partners are relentless in their pursuit of sexual predators, like this defendant, who seek to exploit and victimize kids online, and my office will continue to match their efforts with aggressive prosecutions to send these sick offenders to federal prison.”
During the two-day jury trial, court records and evidence showed that the defendant was identified during a multi-agency law enforcement operation conducted in June 2025, after he responded to an online advertisement on a website known for escort services. Over a two-day period, the defendant engaged in increasingly sexually explicit text and telephone conversations with an undercover investigator posing as a 15-year-old child. During the conversations, Gifford sent an explicit photograph to the undercover investigator, then planned to meet the child to engage in sexual activity. The defendant was electronically tracked travelling from his home in Enterprise, Alabama to Panama City Beach, where he was arrested upon his arrival at the agreed location. After his arrest, forensic analysis of Gifford’s seized cellular telephone verified the communications and the obscene image were sent by him from his phone.
In addition to the ten years in prison, upon release he will be required to serve a five-year period of supervised release.
“Predators who exploit children commit truly reprehensible acts that can never be tolerated,” said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “HSI Tampa and our law enforcement partners are relentless in our pursuit of those who prey on children and will use every resource at our disposal to stand in the gap to protect our communities and ensure offenders face the full consequences of their actions.”
“Our message to anyone who preys on children is simple: don’t,” said Sheriff Tommy Ford. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you think you can hide. We will work alongside our law enforcement partners to find you, arrest you, and make sure you answer for your crimes. If you target our children, expect relentless pursuit and zero tolerance.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric K Mountin
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
6 August 2026
Winnebago County Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Straw Purchase FirearmsRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A Winnebago County man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for conspiring to straw purchase five firearms.
From 2022 to 2024, MATTHEW S. MEYERS conspired to make false or fictious written statements to licensed firearms dealers in connection with the acquisition of five firearms. Meyers instructed another individual to straw purchase firearms on his behalf, knowing that the other individual would falsely certify on federal forms that they were the actual buyer. Meyers then sold or transferred some of the straw-purchased firearms to others.
Meyers, 41, of Machesney Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of conspiracy to provide false and fictitious written statements to federally licensed dealers of firearms. On July 31, 2026, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed a 60-month prison sentence during a hearing in federal court in Rockford.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Winnebago County, Ill. Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim.
Wichita man sentenced after caught with firearms and methamphetamineRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita man was sentenced to 84 months in prison after law enforcement found drugs and illegal firearms on his person and in his vehicle.
According to court documents, John Hicks, 39, of Wichita pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
In January 2025, the Wichita Police Department was attempting to locate Hicks because of a felony arrest warrant for aggravated assault. Officers observed Hicks exit from a residence and drive away. They followed him to a second location where he was arrested.
While searching Hicks, officers found a baggie containing approximately 14 grams of pure methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and ammunition. Officers also searched his vehicle where they found two firearms, one of which had an extended 30-round magazine with 12 rounds of ammunition.
Hicks admitted to eating some of the methamphetamine just prior to officers arresting him.
“Drug trafficking and violence are often linked. Armed drug dealers put innocent people living in the community at greater risk of falling victim to gun violence,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “The defendant in this case was found in possession of illegal narcotics and firearms, which is a recipe for disaster.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Wichita Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ola Odeyemi prosecuted the case.
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West Hartford Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Distribution and Gun Possession OffensesRead the Press Release
David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI, announced that MATTHEW CRUZ, 36, of West Hartford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to narcotics distribution and firearm possession offenses.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in February and March 2025, members of the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force made a series of controlled purchases of narcotics from Cruz. On March 27, 2025, a court-authorized search of Cruz’s residence on Newington Road in West Hartford revealed thousands of bags of packaged fentanyl and loose fentanyl totaling more than 600 grams, approximately 184 grams of heroin, quantities of cocaine and crack, drug processing and packaging materials, six firearms, ammunition, gun magazines, and nearly $14,000 in cash.
Cruz’s criminal history includes multiple felony convictions for state drug offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Cruz pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 100 grams or more of heroin, and other controlled substances, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. At sentencing, which is scheduled for October 29, Cruz faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.
Cruz has been detained since his arrest.
This investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the Hartford and West Hartford Police Departments. The Task Force includes members from the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, and the East Hartford, Hartford, New Britain, West Hartford, Wethersfield, and Newington Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Durham.
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.
Warm Springs Man Found Guilty of Attempted Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a ChildRead the Press Release
Yakima, Washington – First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on August 5, 2025, a jury found Gordon Dean Rhoan, 25, guilty of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of child. United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke presided over the trial and set sentencing for October 27, 2026. Rhoan faces a sentence of at least 30 years, and up to life, in prison followed by no less than 5 years of supervised release and up to a lifetime of supervision and registration as a sex offender.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Rhoan is a member of the Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation and had been living on tribal trust land of the Yakama Nation along the Columbia River in Klickitat County. The evidence established that in February of 2023, Rhoan attempted to engage in oral sex with a seven-year-old girl. This victim courageously testified about this abuse before the jury.
During the trial, evidence was presented that this was not the first child Rhoan had victimized. Evidence showed two separate incidents of Rhoan’s abuse of a child. The first prior incident occurred on the Warm Springs Reservation in February 2020, where Rhoan sexually assaulted a fifteen-year-old girl and admitting to having had sexual relations with her at least nine times over a three-year period. The second instance occurred in April/May of 2020, when a mother found Rhoan in bed with her five-year-old daughter. During that incident, Rhoan claimed not to know where the child was when he was, in fact, attempting to hide the child in the bed. When the woman discovered the child, her pants were pulled down, and she was not wearing underwear.
“I commend the courage of this young victim -- without her willingness to come forward, we could not hold a recidivist sex offender accountable,” stated Serrano. “Through the courage of this victim, her family and the efforts of our tribal and FBI partners, a dangerous offender who was never going to stop victimizing children has been removed from our community.”
"Mr. Rhoan displayed a shocking pattern of conduct endangering the most vulnerable members of his community. Protecting our children and bringing their offenders to justice is one of the most important things the FBI does. I am proud of the work by our investigators and Tribal partners, and the courage of the victims who told their stories, ensuring Mr. Rhoan was held accountable for his actions," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Yakima Resident Agency and Bend, Oregon Resident Agency, the Columbia River Intertribal Police Department, and the Warm Springs Tribal Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Murphy.
1:24-CR-2008-MKDVentura County Tax Preparer Sentenced to More Than 2 Years in Federal Prison for Filing More Than 1,700 False ReturnsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Thousand Oaks tax preparer was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison for filing more than 1,700 false tax returns for her clients.
Ann Quach, 50, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also ordered her to pay $6,481,731 in restitution.
Quach pleaded guilty on February 18 to one count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns for the clients of her business AQ Financial, also known as A2Z Tax Solutions. She also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
From 2011 to 2024, Quach prepared 1,734 Form 1040 returns resulting in the multi-million losses to the United States Treasury.
She included made-up losses for fake businesses that didn’t exist and used those fictitious losses to offset her client’s income. Quach also frequently included false deductions for medical expenses and charitable contributions.
These false entries on the tax returns fraudulently reduced the taxes the clients owed – often to the point of generating refunds. Quach collected substantial fees from her satisfied clients, many of whom returned year after year.
“Tax fraud is a serious crime that corrodes the foundation of a functional society,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “[Quach’s] tax fraud was serious. It was not committed because of a brief lapse in judgment. For years, [Quach] used her tax expertise to help clients evade tax on their income, causing significant losses to the U.S. Treasury.”
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this case.
Assistant United States Attorney Ranee A. Katzenstein and Matthew R. Hoffman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Tax Section, prosecuted this case.
Two Individuals Sentenced for Their Roles in Transnational Fraud Scheme Targeting Elderly VictimsRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE – Two members of a multi-jurisdictional conspiracy who helped orchestrate a transnational fraud and money laundering scheme that targeted elderly victims in the United States and Canada have been sentenced in federal court.
Cynthia Jia Sun, 36, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 18 months in federal prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Sun pleaded guilty on April 1, 2026, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to court documents, Sun and Wang were part of a conspiracy that used pop‑up messages and telephone calls to convince elderly victims that their financial accounts had been compromised or were at risk. To carry out the scheme, members of the conspiracy sent pop-up messages to seniors’ computers, often styled to appear as if they were originating from a well-known technology company. The messages contained various false claims, including that the victims’ financial accounts had been compromised, that their computers had been hacked, or that the victims had been identified as the target of a criminal investigation.
Victims were directed to call a supposed “live agent,” who falsely informed them that their assets were in danger of being frozen, seized, or garnished, and that the agent could assist in “protecting” their funds. During a series of calls, victims were connected with other persons who falsely claimed to be “representatives” of the victim’s financial institutions and/or government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Reserve Bank. Those “representatives” were, in fact, members of the conspiracy.
During these calls, some victims were instructed that, in order to protect their assets, they should initiate a transfer of their funds from their accounts via wire transfers and cryptocurrency transfers to accounts controlled by agencies the scammers purportedly represented. Other victims were told to withdraw their funds in cash and purchase gold bars and turn them over to a purported government courier who would come to their home for transfer to a secure government location. Still others were told to simply turn the cash over to a courier for safekeeping by the government.
Sun and Wang coordinated with co‑defendants to travel to the victims’ homes to pick up cash and gold from victims, transport the money or gold, and deliver it to other members of the conspiracy.
Wang was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy on July 8, 2026, to a time-served sentence, 13 months, and 24 days.
“Sun and Wang played a direct role in a scheme designed to frighten and financially devastate elderly victims,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles C. Calenda. “When criminals manipulate seniors into handing over their life savings under the guise of government authority, the response must be decisive. This office will continue to bring the full weight of federal prosecution against anyone who targets vulnerable victims for profit.”
“Sun and her co-conspirators have fleeced victims around the country of millions of dollars. These scams rely on fear and threats to manipulate victims into acting against their good judgement,” said Homeland Security Investigations New England Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming. “Anyone can become a victim of these scams, and I urge the public to stay alert and to be wary of high-pressure tactics. Legitimate authorities won’t contact you on the phone or through a pop-up to resolve legal issues and will never ask for cash, gold, or gift cards.”
At the time of indictment, law enforcement had identified approximately 300 victims in at least 37 states, including Rhode Island. Known losses attributed to the conspiracy exceed $5 million, and investigators identified an additional $16 million in suspected fraud proceeds laundered through a related account.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney’s Stacey A. Erickson and Denise M. Barton.
The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Providence and the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation, as part of the Rhode Island Homeland Security Task Force, a multi-agency task force focused on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
Two Defendants Convicted of Bank Fraud Schemes Targeting a Federal Court and a Luxury Vehicle Dealership, and Prison Contraband OffensesRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL – A federal jury convicted a Mobile man and woman for a conspiracy to commit bank fraud involving more than $25 million in fraudulent checks they mailed to the U.S. District Court and a luxury car dealership, and prison contraband offenses.
According to court documents and evidence presented at a two-day trial, Kartarius Dewan Johnson, 45, and Danisha Anita Foster, 39, conspired to commit bank fraud while Johnson was a federal inmate at the Escambia County Detention Center (“ECDC”) in Brewton, Alabama, attempting to secure Johnson’s release from federal custody. In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Terry F. Moorer of the Southern District of Alabama sentenced Johnson to serve 231 months in federal prison for various fraud schemes, aggravated identity theft, and false statements to a federal agency.
At trial, the jury reviewed emails, Snapchat messages, recorded jail calls, and other evidence showing that after Johnson’s sentencing, Johnson and Foster coordinated with one another to draft fictitious, “sovereign citizen”-style documents, which Foster mailed to the federal courthouse in Mobile and the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, DC. The packages included fictitious checks containing the routing number of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The fraudulent checks totaling $25 million were accompanied by documents purporting to obligate the Court to release Johnson from federal custody. Federal agents also discovered that Johnson sent a similar fictitious check for $825,000 to a luxury vehicle dealership in Houston, Texas, in an attempt to fraudulently purchase two Rolls-Royce vehicles.
In October 2023, federal agents seized a contraband cell phone from Johnson at the ECDC, and in January 2024, agents seized Foster’s cell phone pursuant to a federal search warrant. The phones contained messages, photos, videos, and other evidence regarding the defendants’ schemes to defraud several banks, the Court, and the vehicle dealership in Houston. Jurors also reviewed evidence that Foster made contraband payments to Johnson via Cash App, which Johnson converted to Bitcoin and used to illegally gamble from inside the ECDC while he was a federal inmate. In December 2023, Johnson and Foster submitted a fake driver’s license bearing Johnson’s name but another person’s photo to Bovada, an online gambling platform. Bovada closed Johnson’s account because of fraudulent activity.
U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose will sentence Johnson and Foster in November 2026. Each defendant faces a maximum prison term of 30 years, supervised release terms of up to five years, and possible fines, restitution, and special assessment fees.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Roller and Michael Tabarrok are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Tulsa Man Federally Indicted for Sexually Abusing Two VictimsRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. – A Tulsa man was indicted for sexually abusing and assaulting two victims under 16 years old.
Joseph Scott Warledo, 19, of Tulsa and a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is charged with two counts of Sexual Abuse of an Incapable Victim; two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country; Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country; Carrying, Using, Brandishing, and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
Court documents show that Warledo is charged with knowingly engaging in a sexual act with two minor victims physically incapable of being able to decline or communicate willingness in 2025.
The indictment alleges that Warledo knowingly engaged in a sexual act with a minor victim on three occasions, who was under the age of 16 while he was at least four years older. He is charged with assaulting a victim with a dangerous weapon and with intent to do bodily harm. Additionally, Warledo is accused of knowingly brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The FBI and the Tulsa Police Department are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Blithe Cravens is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Three O.C. Gang Members Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Murdering a Gangster Who’d Fallen Afoul of Mexican MafiaRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – Three Orange County street gang members were each sentenced today to life in federal prison for murdering a gangster in August 2017 who had come into conflict with a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.
Mike Escobar, 43, a.k.a. “Risky,” a member of the Little Hood gang in Anaheim; James Mendez, 47, a.k.a. “Buck,” a Sureño gang member from Garden Grove; and Kevin Trejo, 38, a.k.a. “Minor,” a member of the Jeffrey Street gang in Anaheim, were sentenced by United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter.
At the conclusion of an eight-day trial, a jury in October 2023 found the defendants guilty of one count of murder in aid of racketeering.
“We will never tolerate violence ordered by imprisoned gangsters operating from behind bars,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s life sentences demonstrate our commitment to holding these thugs accountable until their dying day.”
“Gang members directing murders from behind bars will be charged and prosecuted just like those who pull the triggers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the murder. The Criminal Division will maintain its commitment to eradicate gangs at all levels and make America safe.”
“Gang members committing violent acts of murder on the streets of America violates everyone’s sense of safety and security in our neighborhoods,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Three more members of the Mexican Mafia who steal from society and degrade our communities are off the streets for the rest of their lives thanks to the joint efforts of the Orange County Violent Gang Task Force and the Homeland Security Task Force.”
According to evidence presented at trial, on August 21, 2017, the defendants murdered the victim, a member of a Costa Mesa street gang. At the time of his murder, the victim trafficked drugs and collected “taxes” from gangs in Orange County for imprisoned Mexican Mafia member Johnny Martinez, 50, a.k.a. “Crow,” a co-defendant in this case who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and who is scheduled to go to trial in August 2027.
The defendants tricked the victim into driving with them just before midnight from his home in Anaheim to a residential neighborhood in Orange, where they shot him seven times in the back and once in the head. Escobar, Mendez, and Trejo were acting on orders from Martinez, who issued the order to kill the victim because the victim on two occasions stole drugs and money controlled by Martinez.
The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; the Orange Police Department; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Anaheim Police Department; the Fullerton Police Department; the Placentia Police Department; the Orange County District Attorney’s Office; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) investigated this matter.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders.
Assistant United States Attorney Greg Staples of the Orange County Office and Trial Attorneys Grace Bowen and Chris Matthews of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case, with substantial assistance from Assistant United States Attorney Greg Scally of the Orange County Office.
Taos Man Sentenced to Life in Prison Plus 120 Months for Brutal 2023 Taos Slaying and CoverupRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A federal judge sentenced Zebadiah Romero, 38, a non-Indian, to life in prison plus 120 months following his convictions for multiple felonies in relation to the cold-blooded murder of a Taos Pueblo man in 2023.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, Romero will spend the rest of his life in prison.
According to evidence presented at trial, on October 30, 2023, Romero, who had been previously evicted and banned from the Taos Pueblo, shot and killed John Doe inside John Doe’s residence on the Taos Pueblo before stealing Doe’s property and concealing evidence. Doe was an enrolled member of the Taos Pueblo. After the killing, Romero removed Doe’s body from the residence and barricaded it within a separate structure on Doe’s property. Romero then stole Doe’s pickup truck and dog before disposing of evidence related to the offense. On November 4, 2023, Taos Pueblo Department of Public Safety officers discovered a blood trail leading from the victim’s bedroom, which ultimately led investigators to Doe’s body inside an adjacent abandoned structure. The victim had been wrapped in bedding material, covered with a tarp, and hidden beneath other miscellaneous items.
The Office of the Medical Investigator determined that Doe died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
At trial, the United States presented extensive evidence placing Romero with Doe on the morning of the murder and eyewitness testimony identifying Romero driving Doe’s truck with Doe’s dog shortly after Doe had been slain. Witnesses recounted Romero’s motive prior to the killing as revenge for his belief that Doe had reported Romero’s criminal activities to law enforcement. Prior to the murder, Romero stated his intent to kill Doe and steal his truck, adding that he would “sleep like a baby and get away with it.”
Among other pieces of evidence, jurors heard Romero’s recorded interviews with the FBI following his arrest. In those interviews, Romero gave shifting accounts of the events inside the home before ultimately acknowledging that he shot Doe and removed evidence, including the spent casing and the murder weapon. Trial evidence also showed that Romero, a previously convicted felon, unlawfully possessed the firearm used in the killing and later disposed of it.
The jury found Romero guilty of first-degree murder, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and larceny of the victim’s truck.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office made the announcement today.
The Santa Fe Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Taos Pueblo Department of Public Safety and the Albuquerque Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jesse E. Pecoraro and Mark A. Probasco are prosecuting the case.
Syracuse Man Sentenced to 75 Months for Gun and Drug Trafficking OffensesRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Lomere Holliman, 23, of Syracuse, New York, was sentenced July 8th 2026, to 75 months in prison for possessing and distributing fentanyl and carrying a firearm during those crimes.
First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Bryan DiGirolamo and Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin made the announcement.
As part of his earlier plea, Holliman admitted that, from March to September 2025, the defendant repeatedly sold firearms, ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and fentanyl in Syracuse. He further admitted that he used his firearm sales to foster his drug trafficking business.
“This defendant’s blatant disregard for public safety is evident in his trafficking of both dangerous firearms and fentanyl,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone. “Working in partnership with our federal and local law enforcement colleagues, we are aggressively targeting violent offenders whose actions endanger our communities. My office remains firmly committed to working with our law enforcement partners in pursuing justice and removing these violent criminals from our streets.
ATF - New York Special Agent in Charge Bryan DiGirolamo said, “When firearms are used to support drug trafficking, the threat to public safety is amplified. This sentence sends a clear message to those who profit from illegally trafficking guns and fentanyl will be held accountable. ATF is proud to stand alongside the Syracuse Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in our shared commitment to reducing violent crime and protecting our communities.”
“The sentencing of Lomere Holliman sends a clear message that those who traffic deadly narcotics and illegally sell firearms will be held accountable,” said Chief Mark Rusin. “This case highlights the strong partnership between the Syracuse Police Department, ATF, and the United States Attorney's Office. Together, we remain committed to reducing gun violence, disrupting illegal drug trafficking, and making our neighborhoods safer.”In imposing sentence, United States District Court Judge Elizabeth C. Coombe also ordered that, once released from federal prison, Holliman be supervised by the office of United States Probation and Pretrial Services for a term of four years.
ATF investigated the case with assistance from the Syracuse Police Department’s Intelligence Division. Jessica N. Carbone prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department’s commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump’s Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.
Syracuse Felon Sentenced to 77 Months for Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
Syracuse Felon Sentenced to 77 Months for Possessing a Firearm
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – John Burgos, 30, of Syracuse, New York, was sentenced July 9th, 2026, to serve 77 months in prison following his conviction for possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Bryan DiGirolamo, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III and Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin made the announcement.
As part of his earlier plea, Burgos admitted that, despite being prohibited from possessing a firearm based on a 2022 robbery conviction, he possessed a firearm on April 16, 2025.
“Now serving 77 months in federal prison, this defendant is facing the consequences of illegally possessing a firearm,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone. “Through the collaborative efforts of the ATF and the Syracuse Police Department, Project Safe Neighborhoods has removed another firearm from the streets and brought this defendant to justice. I look forward to continued collaboration as we work to remove more violent felons and deadly weapons from the community.”
ATF- New York Special Agent in Charge Bryan DiGirolamo said, “This sentence reflects the unwavering commitment of ATF and our law enforcement partners to proactively identify and hold accountable individuals who illegally possess firearms. I commend the work of our agents alongside the Syracuse Police Department, the New York State Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the continued efforts to help keep our communities safe.”NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said, “Protecting our communities remains a top priority for DOCCS. John Burgos, a parolee, already was located and arrested by Syracuse Area Parole Officers working with the Syracuse Police Department on a Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative detail. Utilizing GPS supervision technology and other investigative efforts, parole staff were able to identify his location, leading to his apprehension and the recovery of an illegal firearm. This highlights the critical partnership between DOCCS and local law enforcement in removing dangerous weapons from our communities and holding those who threaten public safety accountable.”
“The sentencing of John Burgos is strong evidence that convicted offenders who illegally possess firearms will be held accountable. Our continued partnership with the ATF and the United States Attorney’s Office is instrumental in removing illegal firearms from our streets and enhancing public safety,” said Chief Mark Rusin, Syracuse Police Department.
In addition to the 77-month term of imprisonment, United States District Court Judge Anthony J. Brindisi also ordered Burgos to serve a 3-year term of supervision once released.
ATF and the Syracuse Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica N. Carbone prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department’s commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump’s Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.
Six Defendants Sentenced to Total of 540 Months’ Imprisonment for Role in Conspiracy to Distribute Nearly 30 Kilograms of Fentanyl PillsRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that Amanda Jennifer Freeman was sentenced for her role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. Freeman was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis on August 4, 2026. Freeman is the sixth and final defendant to be sentenced in United States v. Shiloe Devanglo Nixon et al. The six defendants were sentenced to a total of 540 months in prison.
Together, the actions of these individuals enabled a large‑scale flow of fentanyl pills from Arizona into Minnesota. Their roles included sourcing and transporting drugs to storing and redistributing them, forming a coordinated operation responsible for nearly 30 kilograms of fentanyl pills intended for distribution throughout Minnesota and elsewhere.
The defendants received the following sentences:
- Shiloe Devanglo Nixon, 37, of Woodbury, Minnesota: 180 months’ imprisonment with five years of supervised release for role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Malik Deronte Nixon, 30, of Woodbury, Minnesota: 180 months’ imprisonment with five years of supervised release for role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Ernesto Alexis Seals, 28, of Welch, Minnesota: 120 months’ imprisonment with five years of supervised release for role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Justin Keith Banks, 37, of Rush City, Minnesota: 60 months’ imprisonment with four years of supervised release for role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Amanda Jennifer Freeman, 38, of St. Paul, Minnesota: time served with two years of supervised releasefor role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
- Zakiya Niajoneu Whitney, 25, of San Tan Valley, Arizona: time served with two years of supervised release for role in conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
According to court documents, beginning in September 2023 and continuing through on or about March 2024, Shiloe Nixon and Malik Nixon, conspired to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Shiloe Nixon and Malik Nixon enlisted others to bring fentanyl pills from their source in Arizona to the Twin Cities. Once the pills arrived in the Twin Cities, the Nixons distributed them to lower-level dealers, who then distributed the pills to others.
On February 5, 2024, the Nixons received a shipment of fentanyl pills from Freeman, who drove the pills from Arizona to the Twin Cities and stored the pills at a rental home in St. Paul, Minnesota. The next day, police executed a search warrant of the rental home and seized almost 9.7 kilograms of fentanyl pills.
Roughly a month later, a New Mexico State Police trooper stopped Whitney’s car on Interstate 40. Whitney consented to a search of her car, and the trooper seized roughly 10 kilograms of fentanyl pills. Those pills were supposed to be delivered to the Nixons and were intended for further distribution in Minnesota.
Finally, just weeks after the New Mexico seizure, Shiloe Nixon and Malik Nixon were driving back to Minnesota from Phoenix where they had picked up roughly 9.7 kilograms of fentanyl pills from their source. A Minnesota State Patrol trooper stopped the Nixons’ car, searched it, and found the pills divided among nine clear plastic bags and concealed in a backpack.
In addition to the Nixons, Freeman, and Whitney, co-conspirators in the operation included Ernesto Seals, and Justin Banks.
From September 2023 through November 2023, Ernesto Seals was regularly supplied with fentanyl pills that he distributed to others. On November 7, 2023, police executed a search warrant of Seals’ home and found a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol that he possessed in connection with his fentanyl distribution.
From October 2023 through November 2023, Justin Banks obtained fentanyl pills from his supplier and distributed them to his customers.
Shiloe Nixon, Malik Nixon, and Banks had multiple prior felony convictions. Shiloe Nixon’s criminal history includes a 2014 conviction for first-degree aggravated robbery, a 2013 conviction for third-degree burglary, and a 2009 conviction for first-degree aggravated robbery. Malik Nixon’s criminal history includes a 2017 conviction for second-degree aggravated robbery and a 2016 conviction for third-degree assault. Banks has a 2015 conviction for aiding and abetting the solicitation of a person under the age of 18 years to practice prostitution, a 2015 conviction for felony theft, and a 2013 conviction for domestic assault by strangulation.
“These sentences demonstrate my office’s commitment to investigate and take down fentanyl trafficking operations. The coordinated efforts of our law enforcement partners ensured that those responsible were prosecuted and held accountable,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
“A priority of the Dakota County Drug Task Force is to hold accountable those who choose to distribute fentanyl in our communities. This case highlights the dedication of our agents and federal partners in investigating and prosecuting those who traffic this deadly drug. The Task Force would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their collaboration and commitment to this case,” said Captain Joshua Fahey, Commander of the Dakota County Drug Task Force.
“The sentencing in this case reflects the serious consequences of trafficking dangerous narcotics into our communities. The Minnesota State Patrol is proud of the professionalism and dedication demonstrated by our troopers, whose work contributed to the successful seizure of a significant quantity of fentanyl pills and supported our federal law enforcement partners in holding those responsible accountable. This outcome is a testament to the value of strong partnerships between local, state and federal law enforcement and our shared commitment to protecting the public from the devastating impact of illicit drugs,” said Colonel Christina Bogojevic, Chief of the Minnesota State Patrol.
“This was a sizable load of fentanyl that could have caused tremendous harm in our communities. I’m proud of the work our officers did and grateful for our partnership with the Department of Justice in Minnesota and all the law enforcement agencies involved. The New Mexico State Police always has, and will continue to, work alongside our law enforcement partners across state lines to hold traffickers accountable and keep these deadly drugs off our streets,” said New Mexico State Police Chief Matthew Broom.
“Drug trafficking conspiracies are built on individual choices, and every person who agrees to play a part helps move dangerous drugs closer to our communities,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Olson of the ATF St. Paul Field Division. “After years in law enforcement, I have seen how quickly one bad decision can alter the course of a life. With all defendants now sentenced, we remain committed to working with our federal and local partners to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into Minnesota.”
“Nearly 30 kilograms of fentanyl pills represents an extraordinary threat to public safety. Thanks to the outstanding work of investigators and prosecutors, that threat was stopped before it could cause further devastation in Minnesota communities,” said Michael McCarthy, Special Agent in Charge of HSI St. Paul. “I commend our federal, state, and local partners for their tireless efforts to dismantle this operation and protect the public from the lethal impact of fentanyl.”
This case was the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, the Minnesota State Patrol, the New Mexico State Police, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police Department, and other law enforcement partners.
Assistant United States Attorney Campbell Warner prosecuted the case.
Note: This press release was updated on August 7, 2026, to correct the name of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Repeat felon bites cops during arrest, sentenced to over 11 years for drugs and firearms chargesRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A 45-year-old Edinburg resident has been ordered to federal prison for possession with intent to distribute meth and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Alvaro Salinas Jr. pleaded guilty April 27.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now handed Salinas a 140-month term of imprisonment to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence about Salinas’s criminal history, including prior convictions for federal drug trafficking, transporting of illegal aliens, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In imposing the sentence, the court noted Salinas seemed unable to live a law-abiding life.
On the afternoon of Dec. 7, 2025, law enforcement responded to a report of an unconscious driver in the middle of the road. They found Salinas asleep behind the wheel of a Nissan Rogue.
As authorities attempted to wake him, Salinas became combative and tried to flee with the vehicle doors open. They were able to remove him from the car, but Salinas continued to resist arrest and attempted to bite them.
Law enforcement soon discovered a firearm inside the driver’s side door panel within his reach. Salinas has multiple prior felony convictions. As such, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law.
A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed a large plastic bag containing approximately 127 grams of meth.
Salinas has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation with assistance of Pharr Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia prosecuted the case.
Repeat Offender Sentenced to Prison for Unlawful Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas man who has 16 prior felony convictions was sentenced on Tuesday by United States District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey to 30 months in prison for unlawfully possessing multiple firearms. The government requested 77 months’ imprisonment.
“The illegal possession and carrying of firearms pose a direct threat to the safety, peace, and well-being of our communities," said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. "We are actively working alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to disrupt illegal weapon pipelines, remove unauthorized firearms from our streets, and hold violators fully accountable under the law."
“Firearms trafficking threatens the safety of the public," said Special Agent in Charge John Wester, San Francisco Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). “ATF will continue to work alongside our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to ensure that firearms remain out of the hands of prohibited people. The suspect in this case illegally possessed firearms and sold them in the Las Vegas area. That kind of conduct will not be tolerated. We are committed to ensuring that those who choose to operate in a manner that endangers the safety of this community are prosecuted.”
According to court documents, from October 31, 2022 to November 18, 2022, Frederick Warren, 70, illegally possessed and sold multiple firearms in the Las Vegas area. He possessed a loaded Colt Defense Carbine 5.56 caliber rifle; a Remington Arms, 700, 22-250 rifle; a loaded 9mm caliber pistol; another 9mm caliber pistol; and a 12-gauge shotgun.
Warren has 16 prior felony convictions, including robbery with use of a firearm in Riverside County, California; and possession of a controlled substance for sale, manufacture controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm, and taking a vehicle without owner’s consent/vehicle theft, all in San Bernardino County, California. He is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
Warren pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of a firearm.
This case was investigated by the ATF. Assistant United States Attorney Melinda Brewer prosecuted the case.
Anyone with information about unlawful firearms activity should call ATF at 1-888-ATF-TIPS (1-888-283-8477), email ATFTips@atf.gov or submit an anonymous tip at www.reportit.com.
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Repeat Felon Sentenced After Ghost Gun, Drugs Recovered at Southeast D.C. Apartment ComplexRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Anthony Thomas, 31, a previously convicted felon of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 42 months in prison in connection with his unlawful possession of a loaded ghost gun, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Thomas pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. In addition to the 42-month prison term, Judge Kelly ordered Thomas to serve three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, on May 19, 2025, Metropolitan Police Department officers approached a group of people at the Stanton Terrace Apartments in Southeast D.C. When an officer noticed a bulge on Thomas' back, officers stopped him and recovered a ghost gun, which is a privately manufactured firearm, bearing no serial number and untraceable by law enforcement. The gun was loaded with 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
A search incident to arrest recovered suspected narcotics and a digital scale. Lab testing confirmed the substances included marijuana, hashish, methamphetamine mixed with cocaine, and pills, two of which tested positive for fentanyl.
This is Thomas' third conviction involving the illegal possession or use of a handgun. He was previously convicted of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence as a juvenile, and later of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence as an adult. He was on supervised release from that case when he committed the offense here.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Office.
This case was prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful initiative by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nihar Mohanty.
Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful is a law enforcement initiative in support of President Trump's Executive Order to crack down on gun violence, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
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Red Lake Man Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison for Violent Assault Against Intimate Partner and Vulnerable ChildRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced today that Mason Alexander Bullhead, 30, of Red Lake, was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his violent assault against his then‑girlfriend and her three‑year‑old child.
Bullhead was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz on August 3, 2026.
According to court documents, on May 4, 2024, Bullhead assaulted the child inside the family home. He struck the child repeatedly and kicked him while wearing steel‑toed boots. When the child’s mother attempted to intervene to protect her son, Bullhead assaulted her as well. He threatened her, stating, “I should just kill you,” before placing his hands around her neck and strangling her, impairing her ability to breathe.
In February 2026, Bullhead pleaded guilty to one count of assault upon a child resulting in substantial bodily injury and one count of strangling an intimate partner.
“Domestic violence will not be tolerated. Today’s sentencing is another example of my office’s unwavering commitment to maintaining public safety,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Red Lake Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Garrett S. Fields prosecuted the case.
Recidivist Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Distributing Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Richard Sevear Greene, 58, of Franklin, N.C., was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for distributing and attempting to distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Greene was also ordered to register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime term of supervised release after his release from prison.
According to court documents and the court proceedings, Greene was previously convicted in North Carolina state court of Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and was required to register as a sex offender. In February 2025, while Greene was a registered sex offender, he used a messaging application to communicate with individuals in a public group on the application whose members were known to be interested in the sexual exploitation of minors.
An investigator working with the FBI in an undercover capacity began communicating with Greene. Over the course of their communications, Greene sent the undercover investigator videos depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On March 27, 2025, the FBI arrested Greene. During an interview, Greene admitted to possessing CSAM and to sending CSAM through the messaging application to others. He also admitted to being the administrator or owner of several chat groups on the messaging application that were dedicated to the sexual exploitation of minors.
In imposing Greene’s sentence, Judge Reidinger noted that in reoffending, Greene had “doubled down” and not only returned to the same criminal conduct that he had previously been convicted of, but had engaged in even more serious and harmful behaviors, and that Greene’s conduct clearly shows that he is a danger to the community and has not been deterred by prior convictions and sentences.
Greene is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation to a federal facility.
The investigation was led by the FBI with assistance from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, United States Forest Service, and the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction - Division of Community Supervision.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Benjamin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Rapid City Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on August 3, 2026.
Jackson Moss, 38, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $15,095 in restitution and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Forfeiture of several cell phones was also ordered.
Moss was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in March 2025. He pleaded guilty on April 21, 2026.
Between June and December 2024, Moss used Kik, an internet-based chat application and cloud service, to search for, download, and view sexually explicit visual depictions of child pornography to his cellular phone. Moss’s online conduct involving child pornography was so prevalent that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received at least 12 CyberTips involving multiple files associated with each CyberTip, all relating to his consumption of child pornography. Investigators found 649 images and 185 videos of child pornography on his phone. The images and videos depicted minors who were unmistakably under the age of 18 and were engaged in sexually explicit conduct and being sexually abused.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.
Moss was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Prior Federal Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 14 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A prior federal drug trafficker was sentenced to prison yesterday for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl throughout Burke and Catawba Counties, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Rodney Justin Crisp, 38, of Morganton, N.C., was sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. On January 5, 2026, Crisp pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine.
According to filed court documents and the sentencing hearing, in June 2024, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation into Crisp for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl in Burke and Catawba Counties. Investigators developed a confidential source who began purchasing methamphetamine and fentanyl from Crisp. Prior to each controlled purchase, the confidential source communicated with Crisp to arrange the transaction, then travelled to various locations in Burke and Catawba Counties to purchase the drugs. During the investigation, the confidential source engaged in multiple controlled drug transactions with Crisp.
On October 13, 2025, deputies with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office encountered Crisp and two passengers in a vehicle. Deputies executed a federal arrest warrant. A search of the vehicle uncovered numerous small, empty clear plastic baggies in and around the driver’s seat and center console, as well as a leather bag on the rear center floorboard. Inside the bag, deputies located drug paraphernalia and a smaller purple bag containing methamphetamine.
Crisp is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation to a federal facility.
In making the announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted 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.
Porcupine Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Five Charges of Abusive Sexual ContactRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Porcupine, South Dakota, man convicted of five charges of Abusive Sexual Contact. The sentencing took place on August 3, 2026.
Gary Pourier, 59, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for each count, followed by five years of supervised release. Each sentence was ordered to run concurrently. Further, Pourier was ordered to pay a $500 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Pourier was initially indicted for Abusive Sexual Contact by a federal grand jury in August 2024. After his initial indictment, additional charges were added as two other victims came forward alleging abuse at the hands of the defendant. Four victims testified during the three-day jury trial in federal district court in Rapid City, South Dakota, beginning April 16, 2026. The jury found Pourier guilty of all counts.
In July of 2024, Pourier was at the Common Cents Convenience Store near Porcupine when he made contact with a 10-year-old female. Pourier sexually fondled the young girl inside the store. After the victim left the store, she reported to a guardian what had happened. Officers with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, responded to the scene and the child’s home. During its investigation, the FBI learned of additional victims.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.
Pourier was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Philadelphia Man Indicted on Civil Rights Charge in Connection with July Arson at Northeast Philadelphia Islamic CenterRead the Press Release
Vincent Lang, 60, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged by indictment with one count of malicious damage by means of fire to a building used in interstate commerce and one count of damage to religious real property, in connection with an arson fire last month at a city mosque.
The defendant has been detained in federal custody since his July 16 arrest on a criminal complaint and warrant.
The indictment alleges that, in the early hours of July 5, Lang maliciously damaged and destroyed, and attempted to damage and destroy, by means of fire, the Northeast Philadelphia Islamic Center, located on the 1400 block of Tyson Avenue.
The indictment further alleges that Lang carried out the act because of the religious character of that property, that is, because it was a mosque.
“Setting fire to a house of worship is an appalling act,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously protect Americans’ right to be free from intimidation and violence while practicing their religion.”
“We will not let anyone attack a place of faith,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “This case demonstrates our resolve to protect our core constitutional liberty of religion. It also exemplifies the swift and decisive response that results for anyone who attempts to disturb the faith of another.”
“There is no place for acts of violence in our city, especially those motivated by bias,” said Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of FBI Philadelphia Field Office. “The FBI is grateful for the valued partnerships we share with law enforcement and public safety agencies across Philadelphia. Together, we remain committed to pursuing those who threaten the safety and wellbeing of those we are charged to protect.”
“We thank the city, state, and federal agencies that helped us in this important public safety case,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric DeGree of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division. “Houses of worship fire investigations are an ATF priority that we tackle with all our considerable arson investigation resources.”
“An attack on a house of worship is an attack on the fundamental right of every person to practice their faith safely and without fear,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel. “The additional civil rights charge reflects the seriousness of what is alleged in this case and sends a clear message that acts intended to threaten or intimidate a religious community will be met with the full force of our collective law enforcement response. I am grateful to our investigators and our federal, state and local partners for their continued work to ensure accountability and protect every community in our city.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years’ imprisonment.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the Philadelphia Police Department, with assistance from the Philadelphia Fire Department Fire Marshal’s Office Special Investigations Unit and Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda R. Reinitz and J. Jeanette Kang for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Owner of Santa Ana-Based Fruits-and-Vegetables Food Truck Indicted on Charges She Committed Food Stamp FraudRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – The owner of an Orange County-based fruits-and-vegetables food truck that law enforcement believes is the highest-redeeming vendor of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits among nearby fruit-and-vegetable stores and large grocery stores, has been indicted on food stamp fraud charges, the Justice Department announced today.
Esmeralda Soriano, 48, a.k.a. “Esmeralda Aguilar” and “Esmeralda Silva,” of Santa Ana, is charged with two counts of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits.
Soriano’s arraignment is scheduled for August 13 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. She is free on $5,000 bond.
According to an indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Wednesday and other court documents, Soriano Produce is a low-volume fruits-and-vegetables mobile food truck operating in Santa Ana and, in March 2023, was authorized as an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)-SNAP retailer. The business has one point-of-sale device that is used to complete EBT-SNAP transactions. Its lack of scanners coupled with consistent high-dollar transactions and rapid back-to-back transactions are indicators of possible fraud.
Law enforcement identified similar SNAP-authorized fruits-and-vegetables businesses between April 2025 and April 2026 that were within a 20-mile radius from Soriano Produce and determined that Soriano’s business was the largest SNAP-authorized redeemer with a total store volume of approximately $640,924, more than six times its nearest competitor, and an average purchase amount of $151.41.
Compared to large grocery stores within a five-mile radius during this same period, Soriano Produce was also the highest redeeming store of SNAP benefits, despite having more than 9,700 fewer transactions than the closest store. Further, Soriano Produce had the highest average transaction amount.
Law enforcement also discovered numerous excessively large EBT-SNAP transactions at Soriano Produce for a store of its type, with a dozen reaching or exceeding $1,000, far surpassing the California average of $17.72 for a fruits-and-vegetables store.
If convicted, Soriano would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.
In a separate case, a federal grand jury on July 31 indicted Jesse Cervantes-Gomez, 30, a.k.a. “Ventura,” of Fontana, on three counts of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits. Cervantes-Gomez was arrested on July 2 for exchanging SNAP benefits for cash at Escamex, a downtown Los Angeles-based store. His arraignment is scheduled for August 11 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. He is free on $5,000 bond and, if convicted, would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General are investigating these matters with assistance from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Jones of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.