NewzIntel.com

Category: Crime

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Warrant to arrest – Teina Repia

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police are working to locate a man in relation to a number of burglaries at commercial premises in Otorohonga over the last two months.

    A warrant has been issued for the arrest of 35-year-old Teina Repia, as Police believe he may have information that can assist with our enquiries.

    Sergeant Heyden Nunn says we are working to determine the circumstances of these incidents as we know they have caused distress within our local community.

    If you have seen Repia, or have any information that may assist in locating him, please contact Police on 105 either online or over the phone. Please reference file number 250212/2469.

    Alternatively, you can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Oversight Sweeps Nearly Every Corner of Taxpayer-Funded Government Agencies

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Amid Sunshine Week, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is highlighting the historic scale of his recent oversight work, which secured victories for national security, government transparency, health care and more.
    Grassley in the 118th Congress sent over 600 oversight letters to federal, state and private sector entities, as well as all 74 Offices of the Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel – sending more oversight letters over the past two years than in any Congress prior. Grassley’s oversight – a hallmark of his time in public service – inspired bipartisan laws and prompted action from numerous federal agencies to address government waste, fraud and abuse. 
    “The Framers of our Constitution tasked Congress with conducting oversight as part of our system of checks and balances. I take this constitutional responsibility very seriously, and always have,” Grassley said. “My oversight and investigations help ensure the government is a service to the people of Iowa and the American taxpayer. I’m proud of the work I’ve done to safeguard our national security, improve health care outcomes, protect patriotic whistleblowers and hold agencies’ feet to the fire. I’m keeping my nose to the grindstone this Congress as I continue fighting for a more transparent and accountable government.”   
    Grassley gave an overview of his oversight achievements in a speech on the Senate floor. He noted: “We’re [now] in the 119th Congress. As this Congress gets underway, I have become Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. My oversight is already full-speed-ahead, and I look forward to what the next couple of years produce.”
    Highlights of Grassley Oversight in the 118th Congress
    Digging into agency mismanagement | Grassley: 
    Unveiled the “most detailed picture” of the Secret Service’s communication failures leading up to the first assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. 
    The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General opened a formal review into the Secret Service just hours after receiving a request from Grassley to do so. Grassley’s request ultimately resulted in five ongoing reviews into the Secret Service’s protection processes.

    Shone light on inappropriate expenditures billed to the Environmental Protection Agency under the guise of “environmental justice.” 
    Revealed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) misclassified employees as law enforcement, an illegal practice that cost taxpayers billions.
    Demanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) come clean on its failure to investigate child sex crimes and crack down on sexual misconduct among its workforce, including questionable disciplinary patterns allowing wrongdoers to evade accountability.
    Spearheaded efforts to root out partisan bias at the FBI, stop the weaponization of government against law-abiding Americans for their religious faith and expose bureaucratic sabotage of congressional oversight.
    Built on his yearslong oversight of the Pentagon by crafting a bipartisan measure to ensure the U.S. Armed Forces identify items the Defense Department (DOD) could produce itself through reverse engineering. Grassley’s bill, introduced with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. 
    Exposed U.S. Attorney David Weiss for lacking the authorities then-Attorney General Merrick Garland publicly asserted Weiss had to fully prosecute the Hunter Biden case. Grassley further exposed, through legally protected whistleblower disclosures, that the FBI had dozens of sources who provided potentially criminal information relating to the Biden family.
    Protecting whistleblowers | Grassley:
    Forced the ATF, Executive Office of Immigration Review and Internal Revenue Service to update its nondisclosure agreements with language informing whistleblowers of their rights.
    Demanded all Offices of Inspectors General review their parent agency’s whistleblower protection measures to ensure federal agencies maintain lawful anti-gag provisions. 
    Unanimously passed a resolution and delivered remarks celebrating National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. 
    Supporting crime victims | Grassley:
    Shone a light on Credit Suisse’s failure to disclose Nazi-linked accounts the bank historically serviced. Credit Suisse reinitiated an internal investigation of the accounts thanks to Grassley’s probing. 
    The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global Jewish human rights organization, recognized Grassley for his work to right historic wrongs.
    At Grassley’s request, Argentinian President Javier Milei has agreed to cooperate with the investigation to provide Argentine-based records related to Credit Suisse’s use of Nazi “ratlines.” 

    Secured a Government Accountability Office study of the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Crime Victims Fund to ensure DOJ doesn’t squander money intended to support victims of crime. The DOJ Office of Inspector General opened its own audit following Grassley’s oversight.
    Cracking down on Biden border chaos | Grassley:  
    Spurred a federal investigation into potential trafficking of unaccompanied migrant children. Homeland Security Investigations followed up on 102 investigative targets Grassley identified. 
    Brought Health and Human Services (HHS) whistleblowers before a congressional panel to expose the abuse they witnessed in HHS’ Unaccompanied Children program. 
    Earned recognition as “the only person in a position of power” who exhibited consistent dedication to addressing government-funded migrant child trafficking.
    Called on dozens of federal contractors and grantees to account for what actions they’ve taken to safeguard unaccompanied migrant children in their care.
    Brought Customs and Border Protection whistleblowers before a congressional panel to discuss the government’s unlawful refusal to collect DNA from all individuals encountered at the border. 
    Advancing life-saving health care reforms | Grassley:  
    Championed a bipartisan law to reform the U.S. organ transplant system for the first time in four decades. The Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act ensures the best-qualified contractors manage and operate nationwide organ donations and placements, providing patients with the highest-quality care and ensuring generous donations are used to save lives.
    The nonpartisan Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy recognized Grassley and his bipartisan colleagues for their work to “[achieve] the best outcome for the American people.” 

    Spearheaded a bipartisan investigation with then-Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) into private equity ownership of hospital systems that operate across the country, including in Iowa. Grassley and Whitehouse pulled back the curtain on access and quality changes that had occurred at hospital systems purchased by private equity.
    Cutting off resources to Mexican drug cartels | Grassley:  
    Published a detailed report revealing federal agencies’ decades-long failure to conduct oversight of U.S. resources sent to Mexico, allowing taxpayer dollars to fall into the hands of cartels and fuel drug trafficking operations. 
    Informed by his report, Grassley authored bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve intercountry drug destruction efforts. The bill passed the House of Representatives last Congress.

    Exposed how Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) loopholes enable drug cartels to transport illicit drugs on U.S. registered planes. Grassley’s bipartisan bill to close FAA’s loopholes was signed into law as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.  
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Airman Stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base Charged with Murder of Missing Woman

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged an airman stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, with Second Degree Murder.

    Quinterius Charles Chappelle, age 24, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta L. Wollmann on March 17, 2025, and pleaded not guilty to a federal Criminal Complaint.

    The maximum penalty upon conviction is life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, five years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count. Restitution may also be ordered.

    The complaint charges Chappelle with killing Sahela Toka Win Sangrait on Ellsworth Air Force Base in August 2024. Sangrait’s body was found earlier this month in a wooded area near Hill City, South Dakota.

    “This charge, filed just ten days after the victim’s remains were discovered, reflects the dogged work of federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals who seamlessly collaborated to run down every lead with absolute expediency and care,” said Alison Ramsdell, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota. “Under the criminal justice system, this charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is innocent until proven guilty; the facts and evidence in this case will be litigated before a federal judge and jury. At this time, our hearts are with the victim’s family and friends, who after many agonizing months of searching for answers, are now grieving the tragic death of their loved one.”

    The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paige Petersen and Benjamin Schroeder are prosecuting the case. 

    Chappelle was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Honduran National Indicted for Re-Entry of Removed Alien

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – EDGARDO AMADOR-RODRIGUEZ, age 27, a native of Honduras, was indicted on March 13, 2025, for re-entry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.

    According to the filed indictment, on or about March 7  2025, in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the defendant, EDGARDO AMADOR-RODRIGUEZ, was found in the United States, after having been officially deported and removed therefrom, on or about June 8, 2018.

    EDGARDO AMADOR-RODRIGUEZ faces up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00, if convicted of re-entry of a removed alien.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge, and the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College

    Shackled and bent over – some of the 250-plus deportees arriving in El Salvador. El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

    El Salvador President Nayib Bukele framed his offer to house “dangerous American criminals” and “criminals from any country” as a win-win for all.

    The fee for transferring detainees to a newly built Salvadoran mega-prison “would be relatively low” for the U.S. but enough to make El Salvador’s “entire prison system sustainable,” Bukele wrote in a post on the social media platform X dated Feb. 3, 2025.

    What was left unsaid is that the individuals would be knowingly placed into a prison system in which a range of sources have reported widespread human rights abuses at the hands of state forces.

    A first transfer of U.S. deportees from Venezuela has now arrived into that system. On March 16, the U.S. government flew around 250 deportees to El Salvador despite a judge’s order temporarily blocking the move. Bukele later posted a video online showing the deportees arriving in El Salvador with their hands and feet shackled and forcibly bent over by armed guards.

    As experts who have researched human rights and prison conditions in El Salvador, we have documented an alarming democratic decline amid Bukele’s attempts to conceal ongoing violence both in prisons and throughout the country.

    We have also heard firsthand of the human rights abuses that deportees and Salvadorans alike say they have suffered while incarcerated in El Salvador, and we have worked on hundreds of asylum cases as expert witnesses, testifying in U.S. immigration court about the nature and scope of human rights abuses in the country. We are deeply concerned both over the conditions into which deportees are arriving and as to what the U.S. administration’s decision signals about its commitments to international human rights standards.

    Eroding democratic norms

    Bukele has led El Salvador since 2019, winning the presidency by vowing to crack down on the crime and corruption that had plagued the nation. But he has also circumvented democratic norms – for example, by rewriting the constitution so that he could be reelected in 2024.

    For the past three years, Bukele has governed with few checks and balances under a self-imposed “state of exception.” This emergency status has allowed Bukele to suspend many rights as he wages what he calls a “war on gangs.”

    The crackdown manifests in mass arbitrary arrests of anyone who fits stereotypical demographic characteristics of gang members, like having tattoos, a prior criminal record or even just “looking nervous.”

    As a result of the ongoing mass arrests, El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The proportion of its population that El Salvador incarcerates is more than triple that of the U.S. and double that of the next nearest country, Cuba.

    Safest country in Latin America?

    Bukele’s tough-on-gangs persona has earned him widespread popularity at home and abroad – he has fostered an immediate friendship with the new U.S. administration in particular.

    But maintaining this popularity has involved, it is widely alleged, manipulating crime statistics, attacking journalists who criticize him and denying involvement in a widely documented secret gang pact that unraveled just before the start of the state of exception.

    Bukele and pro-government Salvadoran media insist that the crackdown on gangs has transformed El Salvador into the safest country in Latin America.

    But on the ground, Salvadorans have described how police, military personnel and Mexican cartels have taken over the exploitative practices previously carried out by gangs like MS-13 and Barrio 18. One Salvadoran woman whose son died in prison just a few days after he was arbitrarily detained told a reporter from Al Jazeera: “One is always afraid. Before it was fear of the gangs, now it’s also the security forces who take innocent people.”

    Torture as state policy

    Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has come at a huge cost to human rights – and nowhere is this seen more than in El Salvador’s prison system.

    Bukele has ordered a communication blackout between incarcerated people and their loved ones. This means no visits, no letters and no phone calls.

    Such lack of contact makes it nearly impossible for people to determine the well-being of their incarcerated family members, many of whom are parents with young children now cared for by extended family.

    Despite the blackout, scholars, international and national rights’ groups and investigative journalists have been able to build up a picture of conditions inside El Salvador’s prisons through interviews with victims and their family members, medical records and forensic analysis of cases of prison deaths. What they describe is a hellscape.

    Incarcerated Salvadorans are packed into grossly overcrowded cells, beaten regularly by prison personnel and denied medicines even when they are available. Inmates are frequently subjected to punishments including food deprivation and electric shocks. Indeed, a U.S. State Department’s 2023 country report on El Salvador noted the “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.”

    The human rights organization Cristosal estimates that hundreds have died from malnutrition, blunt force trauma, strangulation and lack of lifesaving medical treatment.

    Often, their bodies are buried by government workers in mass graves without notifying families.

    Although El Salvador is a signatory to the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture, Amnesty International concluded after multiple missions to the country and interviews with victims and their families that there is “systemic use of torture” in Salvadoran prisons.

    Likewise, a case-by-case study by Cristosal, which included forensic analysis of exhumed bodies of people who died in prison, determined in 2024 that “torture has become a state policy.”

    ‘At risk of irreparable harm’

    What makes this all the more worrying is the scale of potential abuse.

    El Salvador now houses a prison population of around 110,000 – more than three times the number of inmates before the state of exception began.

    To increase the country’s capacity for ongoing mass incarceration, Bukele built and opened the Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison in 2023. An analysis of the center using satellite footage showed that if the prison were to reach its full supposed capacity of 40,000, each prisoner would have less than 2 feet of space in their cells.

    It is to this prison that deportees from the U.S. have been taken.

    President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in transferring the detainees. The wartime act has been invoked only three times, including to justify Japanese internment during World War II.

    There are serious concerns over both the process and the legality of transferring U.S. prisoners to a nation that has not protected the human rights of its detained population.

    El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison.
    El Salvador Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

    While Trump said the deportees were members of the gangs Tren de Aragua and MS-13, the incarcerated individuals did not receive a hearing to contest allegations of their gang membership, eliciting questions as to the viability of that claim.

    Moreover, the agreement through which the Trump administration is seeking to moving migrants detained in the U.S. to El Salvador faces scrutiny under international law, given what is known about the country’s prison conditions.

    International human rights is governed by laws that prohibit nations from transferring people into harm’s way, be it returning foreign nationals to countries where “there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be at risk of irreparable harm,” or transferring detainees to jurisdictions in which they are at risk of being tortured or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

    The efforts of human rights organizations, journalists and scholars to document prison conditions point to an unequivocal conclusion: El Salvador does not meet the terms necessary to protect the human rights of deported and incarcerated migrants.

    To the contrary, the government of El Salvador has repeatedly been accused by rights groups of committing crimes against humanity, including against its prison population.

    Mneesha Gellman received funding from Emerson College’s Faculty Development Fund. She is the Director of the Emerson Prison Initiative.

    Sarah C. Bishop has received research funding from the Fulbright Organization, The Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society at Villanova University, the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, and the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York. She serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit organization Mixteca.

    – ref. Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison – https://theconversation.com/beatings-overcrowding-and-food-deprivation-us-deportees-face-distressing-human-rights-conditions-in-el-salvadors-mega-prison-250739

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Utah Man Admits to Defrauding his Employer of Approximately $1.7M

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A Davis County man pleaded guilty in court today to embezzling approximately $1.7 million from his employer for his own benefit.

    Timothy Sean Edgar, 44, of Farmington, Utah, was charged by felony information March 11, 2025, for wire fraud and money laundering.

    According to court documents and admissions made at the change of plea hearing, beginning in 2021 and continuing until October 2024, Edgar defrauded his employer to obtain money and property by stealing and lying. As part of Edgar’s scheme, he fraudulently opened a sales channel through a popular online marketplace and used his employment credentials to access the vendor portal and redirect Automated Clearing House payments to his personal bank account. Edgar then made payments back to his employer using his personal credit card.  Edgar embezzled approximately $1,778,251 from his employer.

    Edgar is scheduled to be sentenced August 7, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. before a U.S. District Court Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

    Acting United States Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah made the announcement.

    The case is being investigated jointly by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, and the North Salt Lake City Police Department.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Woolf and Jacob J. Strain of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah are prosecuting the case.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fresno Man Sentenced to Over 12 Years in Prison for Federal Gun and Drug Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    FRESNO, Calif. — Antonio Sorondo Jr., 52, of Fresno, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 12 years and seven months in prison for conspiring to traffic methamphetamine and cocaine as well as illegally possessing firearms, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

    According to court documents, in January and February 2022, Sorondo conspired with others to possess and distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. On Feb. 1, 2022, when law enforcement officers tried to contact Sorondo, he fled and tossed a firearm over a chain-link fence. The officers apprehended Sorondo and then recovered the abandoned, loaded firearm. Two weeks later, a police officer arrested Sorondo in possession of another two firearms and about 100 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Sorondo is prohibited from possessing firearms because of his prior felony convictions.

    This case is the product of an investigation by FORT, a multi-agency team composed of Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio prosecuted the case.

    This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Indicted for Re-Entry of Removed Alien

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – ENRIQUE TORRES-BEIZA, a/k/a “Enrique B. Torres,” age 39, a native of Mexico, was indicted on March 13, 2025, for re-entry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.

    According to the filed indictment, on or about October 26, 2024, in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the defendant, ENRIQUE TORRES-BEIZA, a/k/a “Enrique B. Torres,”, was found in the United States, after having been officially deported and removed therefrom, on or about December 26, 2018

    ENRIQUE TORRES-BEIZA, a/k/a “Enrique B. Torres,” faces up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00, if convicted of  re-entry of a removed alien.

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

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. Attorneys for Southwestern Border Districts Charge More than 750 Illegal Aliens with Immigration-Related Crimes During the Second week in March.

    Source: US Justice – Antitrust Division

    Headline: U.S. Attorneys for Southwestern Border Districts Charge More than 750 Illegal Aliens with Immigration-Related Crimes During the Second week in March.

    President Trump has been clear that securing the Southwestern Border of the United States is a priority of the absolute highest level. To that end, the Department of Justice is prosecuting every possible immigration violation, including first-time illegal entry cases, and is seeking a meaningful prison sentence in every possible case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Guilty of Federal Drug and Machinegun Offenses

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –LOVON WHITE (“WHITE”), age 22, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on March 12, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to possession with the intent to distribute tapentadol and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 841(b)(1)(D); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i); and possession of a machinegun, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(o) and 924(a)(2).

    According to court documents, WHITE used social media to sell drugs and machinegun conversion devices. These are devices that turn a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic firearm.  In June of 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at WHITE’s residence and recovered an Anderson Manufacturing Model AM-15 pistol and a Glock Model 21, .45 caliber pistol, both equipped with machinegun conversion devices; tapentadol and marijuana that WHITE intended to sell; drug trafficking supplies; and hundreds of dollars in drug sale proceeds.

    Pursuant to the plea agreement, WHITE will serve 10 years in prison. WHITE also faces a term of supervised release of at least three years up to life.  Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Memphis Man Sentenced to 220 Months Imprisonment for Trafficking 14-Year-Old Girl to New Orleans for Commercial Sex

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LA – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that JEREMY TALBERT (a/k/a “J-Nasty,” a/k/a “Jay Nastie”) (“TALBERT”), age 29, from Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced on March 12, 2025, after previously pleading guilty to Sex Trafficking of a Minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1591(a)(1), 1591(b)(2), 1594(a), and 2, by  U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to 220 months in prison.  TALBERT was also sentenced to ten (10) years of supervised release after  release from prison. Judge Africk further ordered TALBERT to pay $47,000 in restitution to the victim, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.  TALBERT will also have to register as a sex offender.

    According to court documents, TALBERT brought a fourteen-year-old female (“Minor Victim”) from Memphis to New Orleans to have  her engage in commercial sex acts between in or about October 2020 and on or about December 17, 2020.  During this time, TALBERT was aware of Minor Victim’s age from her mother, who informed TALBERT that Minor Victim was missing.  TALBERT falsely told Minor Victim’s mother that he would help locate Minor Victim and bring her home.

    Instead, TALBERT advertised Minor Victim on websites commonly used to advertise sexual services in exchange for money.  TALBERT directed and supervised Minor Victim when she  performed commercial sex acts including, setting the fee  sexual acts, waiting in a nearby vehicle while Minor Victim solicited “dates,” requiring Minor Victim to share her location via phone with him, and providing  condoms for her use during commercial sex dates.  TALBERT required Minor Victim to earn approximately $1,000 per day from commercial sex acts and, kept all or most of the money she earned.

    TALBERT trafficked Minor Victim until December 17, 2020, when law enforcement officers encountered them during the execution of a search warrant at a hotel in New Orleans. During the search warrant, agents seized approximately $1,223 in United States currency, a black handgun, and TALBERT’s Phone, which connected him to the trafficking of Minor Victim.

    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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Memphis Police Department, in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Carboni of the Financial Crimes Unit and Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, are in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Honduran Man Sentenced for Illegal Use of Social Security Number to Obtain Employment

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that JOSE DAVID SANCHEZ (“SANCHEZ”), age 28, a native of Honduras, was sentenced on March 13, 2025 for illegally using a social security number to qualify for employment, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B).

    United States District Court Judge Barry W. Ashe sentenced SANCHEZ to time served (approximately 4 months), 1 year of supervised release and a $100 special assessment fee.

    According to court documents, SANCHEZ used the Social Security number of a United States citizen in an initial application to obtain employment.  On September 30, 2020, SANCHEZ arrived at the Gulf Coast Safety Council office in St. Rose, Louisiana to complete the safety course to finalize his employment with Company “A.”  On that day, SANCHEZ presented a fraudulent United States Social Security card bearing the name and United States Social Security number of a United States citizen, which he represented to be his own, in order to obtain employment.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of United States Customs and Border Protection and Social Security Administration agents in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

     

                                

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brown Brotherhood Gang Members Indicted for Drug and Firearms Trafficking

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On March 13, 2025, a federal grand jury returned four separate indictments against Brown Brotherhood Gang Members Leo Alphonzo Alonso-Medina, 32, of Vallejo; Jeremiah I’amafana Salanoa, 22, of Vallejo; Doroteo Suastegui, 47, of Vallejo; and Carlos Osvaldo Higuera-Aldana, 22, of Dixon, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

    According to court documents, the Brown Brotherhood gang is a subset of the Sureño gang and has been a frequent target of investigations of the Vallejo Police Department and the Solano County Violent Crime Task Force. The primary criminal activities of this gang have included murder, robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, burglary, and stolen vehicles. The current investigation began in February 2024 and led to searches and arrests on Feb. 27, 2025. FBI agents and task force officers arrested these four members of the Brown Brotherhood gang on that day for federal drug trafficking and firearms charges.

    Contraband seized from search warrants executed on Feb. 27, 2025.

    The indictment against Leo Alphonzo Alonso-Medina charges counts of distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine, unlawful dealing in firearms, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, Alonso-Medina faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

    The indictment against Jeremiah I’amafana Salanoa charges three counts of distribution of fentanyl, one count of distribution of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted, Salanoa faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

    The indictment against Doroteo Suastegui charges counts of distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and unlawful dealing in firearms. If convicted, Suastegui faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. 

    Finally, the indictment against Carlos Osvaldo Higuera-Aldana charges three counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted, Higuera-Aldana faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

    These cases are the product of investigations by the FBI Violent Crime Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fairfield Police Department, the Vacaville Police Department, the Vallejo Police Department, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, and the Solano County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Hitt, R. Alex Cárdenas, and Adrian Kinsella are prosecuting these four federal cases.

    Any sentence imposed would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Slidell Man Pleads Guilty of 10,593 Gram Fentanyl Distribution Conspiracy, Firearm Possession by Felon, and Money Laundering

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that GREGORY SMITH (“SMITH”), age 41, of Slidell, pled guilty on March 13, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with the intent to distribute, over 400 grams of fentanyl, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846 (Count 1).  SMITH also pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8) (Count 2).  Finally, SMITH pled guilty to engaging in monetary transactions derived from specified unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1957 (Counts 3-5).

    According to court documents, SMITH conspired with others to distribute fentanyl in the Eastern District of Louisiana and elsewhere.  On May 4, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) searched SMITH’s residence and seized approximately 10,593.572 grams of fentanyl, 3.76 grams of cocaine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia, including two digital scales with fentanyl residue, a rectangle cake pan with fentanyl residue, multiple blenders with fentanyl residue, and a vacuum sealer with fentanyl residue.  Law enforcement also seized $15,520 in United States currency and a loaded Masterpiece Arms MPA Defender, nine-millimeter semi-automatic submachine gun, with an extended magazine.  In July and August of 2021, SMITH structured cash deposits of his illegal narcotics proceeds into an account at a bank, then sent a wire to a credit union account using the funds to pay-off the balance on a car and purchase a $27,617.55 official check payable to a title company.  This official check was used at the closing for the purchase of SMITH’s residence.  SMITH also used $48,931 in illegal drug proceeds to purchase a 2018 Maserati Levante.

    SMITH faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and at least 5 years of supervised release for Count 1.  SMITH also faces a maximum sentence of 15 years of imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to 3 years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  SMITH faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, up to a $500,000 fine, and up to 3 years of supervised release for each count of engaging in monetary transactions derived from specified unlawful activity.  He also faces a $100 mandatory special assessment fee for each count.

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

    This case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Louisiana State Police.  Assistant United States Attorneys Rachal Cassagne and André Jones of the Narcotics Unit are in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Colombian Man Illegally in the United States Pleads Guilty to Participating in Armed Robbery at Hotel in Beverly Hills Last Year

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from Colombia pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for participating in the armed robbery of a victim at a Beverly Hills hotel and belonging to a robbery crew that possessed a firearm once registered to the late former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Dorner.

    Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act). Sepulveda has been in federal custody since August 2024.

    According to his plea agreement, Sepulveda was the getaway driver during the August 7, 2024, armed robbery of a victim identified in court documents as “T.A.” On that date during dinnertime, two unidentified robbers held the victim at gunpoint inside the patio of “THE Blvd,” a restaurant located within the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The robbers stole a Patek Philippe Nautilus wristwatch from T.A. at gunpoint. T.A. reported that his watch was valued at approximately $1 million. 

    Sepulveda and his co-defendant, Jesus Eduardo Bryan Padron Rojas, 20, an illegal alien from Venezuela, cased the area two day before the robbery trying to find T.A.’s watch, which they and their co-conspirators valued at $1.3 million.

    The crew coincidentally stumbled upon another victim walking in Beverly Hills wearing a $30,000 Rolex wristwatch. A member of Sepulveda’s crew stole that wristwatch at gunpoint.

    During this time, the robbery crew stayed at an Airbnb and possessed multiple firearms, including a Glock .45-caliber handgun loaded with 12 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition. The gun previously was registered to Dorner, known for committing a series of murders before dying in a standoff with law enforcement in February 2013. 

    United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II scheduled a July 14 sentencing hearing, at which time Sepulveda will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. 

    Criminal charges are still pending against Padron.

    Homeland Security Investigations, the Beverly Hills Police Department, and the Blythe (California) Police Department investigated this matter.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Jena A. MacCabe and Kevin J. Butler of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this matter.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Guilty of Illegal Firearm Possession

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –BRYAN SPEARS (“SPEARS”) , age 21, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on March 12, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8).

    According to court documents, on September 1, 2023, SPEARS was in the front passenger seat of a stolen car in Joe Brown Park in New Orleans.  After he was ordered out of the car, New Orleans Police Department officers recovered a Glock Model 17 firearm that was partially hidden underneath SPEARS’s seat.  The firearm was equipped with an extended magazine and loaded with 29 live rounds.

    SPEARS faces up to 15 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed Votes for HALT Fentanyl Act to Keep Fentanyl A Schedule I Drug & Help Curb Trafficking, Overdoses and Deaths

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
    WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate voted 84-16 to pass a bipartisan bill last week that will permanently classify fentanyl-related substances, or ‘copycat’ fentanyl knock-offs, as Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act.  The current temporary Schedule I classification will expire this fall unless the U.S. House of Representatives takes action, approves the bill, and sends it to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
    U.S. Senator Jack Reed joined 83 of his Senate colleagues in voting to pass the bipartisan Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or HALT Fentanyl Act (S.331) to ensure law enforcement and prosecutors continue to have a key tool needed to combat the scourge of crime, overdoses, and deaths caused by fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.
    The HALT Fentanyl Act aims to close loopholes exploited by drug traffickers who smuggle substances with chemical compositions similar to fentanyl but are different enough to evade legal penalties.  The bill also ensures researchers can continue to test fentanyl-related substances and incentivizes medical research to benefit patients with conditions such as advanced cancer and neurological disorders and ensure they are able to access necessary opioid therapies.
    “I voted for the HALT Fentanyl Act to help save lives and close loopholes that cartels and drug smugglers have exploited to flood our communities with deadly fentanyl and fentanyl copycats.  This isn’t about going after low-level dealers or putting more people in jail.  Rather, it gives law enforcement the tools they need to stop cross-border traffickers, combat cartels, and keep lethal drugs off our streets while also allowing researchers to study and develop new strategies for preventing overdoses and treating addiction,” said Reed, a co-leader of the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, a sanctions and anti-money laundering law aimed at combatting the fentanyl crisis.
    In addition to retaining Schedule I status for street fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, the legislation includes provisions related to fentanyl research, controlled substance dispensing, and criminal penalties for fentanyl-related substance crimes.  Lawful fentanyl uses for currently-accepted medical practices would retain its Schedule II classification.
    The HALT Fentanyl Act is endorsed by the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies, the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, the National Narcotic Officers Associations’ Coalition, and the National District Attorneys Association
    An epidemic of synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China, have made overdoses the leading cause of death among Americans 18 to 45 years old. 
    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 107,543 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023. Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances accounted for nearly 75,000 of those deaths.
    Traffickers are continually altering the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution, sometimes with tragic results. Since 2013, China has been the principal source of fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and the precursor chemicals from which they are produced.  Chinese fentanyl product is commonly shipped to Mexico and smuggled into the U.S.
    Traffickers have favored fentanyl-related substances to try and skirt current U.S. laws against trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl analogues.  In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized nearly 12,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl, including fentanyl powder and more than 78 million pills laced with illicit fentanyl.  The 2023 seizures were equivalent to nearly 389 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
    A similar version of the bill passed the House last month on a vote of 312-110.  The amended version that passed the Senate must now be approved by the full U.S. House of Representatives.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Committee on Enforced Disappearances Opens Twenty-Eighth Session

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee on Enforced Disappearances this morning opened its twenty-eighth session, during which it will examine the reports of the Central African Republic, the Gambia and Malta on their implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

    The Committee will also review follow-up and addition information provided by Panama, Serbia and Belgium, as well as by Peru and Argentina, for the latter two States in the context of a special request made in the light of recent developments in these two countries.

    Opening the session, Antti Korkeakivi, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Representative of the Secretary-General, said the global landscape today was fraught with challenges that continued to highlight the urgency and necessity of eradicating the heinous crime of enforced disappearances. 

    Mr. Korkeakivi welcomed that, since the last session, Poland became party to Convention, which now had 77 States parties.  The holding of the World Congress on Enforced Disappearances, held in Geneva two months ago, was a pivotal step in joining forces to address enforced disappearances and to encourage ratification of the Convention.  Since the last session, the Committee had registered 120 new urgent actions, bringing the number of registered urgent actions to a total of 2,003 since 2012.  Out of these cases, 518 have been closed following the location of the disappeared person, including 410 alive.

    Olivier de Frouville, Committee Chairperson, in his opening statement, said the substantive work, the day-to-day work of the treaty bodies, was carried out by the members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and they should be recognised.  Investing in human rights was an investment in security and development.  However, the crisis in which multilateral organizations were experiencing, which also affected the human rights protection system, could not be ignored. 

    It was practically impossible for the Committee to carry out regular monitoring, with more than 2,000 cases now recorded.  Yet the victims were counting on the Committee.  The Committee looked forward to the evaluation process under Measure 46, from the Pact of the Future, on adequate, predictable, more substantial and sustainable funding to enable the treaty bodies to carry out their mandates efficiently and effectively.

    During the meeting, Obeida Dabbagh, recounted his family’s searched for justice after the arrest and subsequent enforced disappearance of his brother Mazen Dabbagh, and his son Patrick in November 2013 by the Syrian Air Force intelligence. 

    Committee Expert Fidelis Kanyongolo thanked Mr. Dabbagh for sharing his story and underlined the importance of extra-territorial jurisprudence in the Committee’s work. 

    Before closing the meeting, the Committee adopted its agenda for the session.

    All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Webcasts of the meetings of the session can be found here, and meetings summaries can be found here.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 18 March, to review additional information on the report of Serbia (CED/C/SRB/AI/1).

    Statements 

    ANTTI KORKEAKIVI, Chief, Human Rights Treaties Branch at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Representative of the Secretary-General, thanked the five Members of the Committee whose first mandate would come to an end next June.  In accordance with the Convention, some may be re-elected by the States parties. States parties were called on to nominate well qualified candidates, as the deadline had been extended. 

    The global landscape today was fraught with challenges that continued to highlight the urgency and necessity of eradicating the heinous crime of enforced disappearances. Enforced disappearances remained a pervasive violation of human rights, contributing to a climate of fear, despair and injustice.  It was therefore important to work towards universal ratification of the Convention. Since the last session, Poland became the seventy-seventh State party to the Convention, which should be celebrated. 

    The holding of the World Congress on Enforced Disappearances, held in Geneva two months ago, was a pivotal step in joining forces to address enforced disappearances and to encourage ratification of the Convention.  It gathered more than 620 participants in Geneva and 1,392 persons online, coming from 118 countries and all regions of the world.  The event concluded with a call to action and unveiling of key follow-up activities.  These initiatives included the creation of a victim-led regional network in Africa; the organization of regular meetings of women searchers; the promotion of civil society contributions to the sessions of the Committee; and the creation of a global youth network against enforced disappearances.  States were called on to support them without delay. 

    Enforced disappearances had a disproportionate impact on women.  During the session, the Committee would consider a draft concept note for the elaboration of a general comment on women and girls and enforced disappearances.  Since the last session in September, the Committee undertook a two week-visit to Colombia, the report of which would be considered during the session.  During the session, the Committee would address the situation of enforced disappearances in 14 other States parties to the Convention, and the consideration of an individual complaint. 

    Through the Committee’s work on urgent actions, the Committee could request a State party to take immediate action to search for a disappeared person and to investigate his or her disappearance.  Since the last session, the Committee had registered 120 new urgent actions, bringing the number of registered urgent actions to a total of 2,003 since 2012. Out of these cases, 518 have been closed following the location of the disappeared person, including 410 alive. This meant that 1,481 urgent actions remained active, requiring follow-up by the Committee.

    The periodic reports on urgent actions adopted at each session traced the general trends in the cases and the Committee’s jurisprudence on urgent actions.

    The Secretary-General’s latest report on the treaty body system highlighted the fact that due to insufficient staff resources, the Committee was facing challenges in handling urgent action requests and ensuring follow-up in a timely manner.  In addition to the chronic resource constraints, the liquidity crisis had hampered the planning and implementation of the Committee’s work.  While the Office was doing its utmost to ensure that the Committee and other treaty bodies could implement their mandates, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future. 

    Despite the challenging circumstances, the treaty body strengthening process remained active. It reached a key moment, with the adoption last December of the biennial resolution on the treaty body system by the General Assembly.  On the occasion of Human Rights Day last year, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, in cooperation with the Office and the Directorate of International Law of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, organised an informal meeting of the Chairs and focal points on working methods.  The meeting explored the latest developments on the treaty body system and sought to identify possible ways to improve harmonisation of procedures and brainstorm on the way forward. 

    Mr. Korkeakivi concluded by saying that the eradication and prevention of enforced disappearances demanded unwavering commitment and concerted action.  The work of the Committee was at the core of these efforts, despite the challenging circumstances.  The Office looked forward to continuing to support the Committee in implementing its imperative mandate. 

    OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Chairperson of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, said the substantive work, the day-to-day work of the treaty bodies, was carried out by the members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and they should be recognised. 

    Human rights currently faced particularly vicious rhetoric.  Ideologues were using the art of reversing arguments that totalitarian movements were already practicing in the 1930s.  All those who had worked alongside the families of the disappeared were familiar with this misleading rhetoric: the disappeared were often stigmatised as nuisances to society or even as criminals.  All over the world today, the return of this madness could be seen, and with it the return of enforced disappearance, torture and executions to bring society to heel and silence all dissent.  It was important to continue to bear witness to this, and for the Committee to continue to meet and organise.

    The First World Congress on Enforced Disappearances was an extraordinary demonstration of the strength and resilience of the global movement against enforced disappearances. The families of the disappeared came in large numbers from all continents to testify and exchange their experiences, their challenges, their struggles, the adversity they faced, and the means to overcome it.  The Congress underscored the commitment of the major international non-governmental organizations and regional human rights protection organs. 

    Sixteen States came publicly to the opening to announce their commitments and pledges; 86 per cent of attendees felt that the Congress would have a direct impact on their work, while 90 per cent expressed their wish to actively contribute to the implementation of the priority actions identified during the Congress.  This week the report of the Congress would be published; it would summarise all the activities that took place there, but also all the commitments made.  It was now important that all partners organised themselves to follow up on these commitments within the year, including a significant acceleration in the pace of ratifications of the Convention to achieve near-universality within a reasonable time.  To do this, resources were needed.

    Investing in human rights was an investment in security and development.  However, the crisis which multilateral organizations were experiencing, which also affected the human rights protection system, could not be ignored.  It was practically impossible for the Committee to carry out regular monitoring, with more than 2,000 cases now recorded.  Yet the victims were counting on the Committee.  The Committee looked forward to the evaluation process under Measure 46, from the Pact of the Future, on adequate, predictable, more substantial and sustainable funding to enable the treaty bodies to carry out their mandates efficiently and effectively.

    The General Assembly, in its last resolution on the Committee system, did not take into consideration the pragmatic and realistic proposals made by the treaty bodies, particularly with a view to reforming the reporting procedure.  However, all parties agreed on a necessary reform. But the States seemed undecided and were presenting difficult conditions.  The thirty-sixth official meeting of the Presidents was an opportunity for a constructive exchange with a view to reaching new proposals for action and improvements. 

    The Committee was ahead of the curve and did not have a periodic reporting system.  States must submit a report within two years of ratification.  This was the subject of constructive dialogue and concluding observations, as would be the case at this session for the Gambia, the Central African Republic and Malta. States were then called upon to come back to the Committee after a few years to take stock of the implementation of the recommendations made in the concluding observations.  Thus, at the session, the Committee would consider follow-up and additional information provided by Panama, Serbia and Belgium, as well as by Peru and Argentina, in the context of a special request, made in light of recent developments in these two countries.

    OBEIDA DABBAGH, said his brother Mazen Dabbagh, an educational advisor at the French Lycée Charles de Gaulle in Damascus, and his son Patrick, a psychology student at Damascus University, were arrested in November 2013 by Syrian Air Force intelligence. Their arrest, at first arbitrary, turned into an enforced disappearance, then into an ordeal marked by atrocious torture, as revealed by testimonies and court documents.  In 2018, the Syrian regime declared them dead, years after their disappearance, while putting forward false causes of death.  These arrests were not motivated by substantiated charges; neither Mazen nor Patrick were involved in protests against the regime, which underscored the indiscriminate and systemic brutality of a regime that preyed on entire families to establish its rule through terror.

    In November 2013, the family took steps with the Syrian, French and international authorities, including the President of the French Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as several parliamentarians and human rights organizations, including the Red Cross and European Union.  In 2016, in collaboration with the International Federation for Human Rights, a complaint was filed with the Paris Prosecutor’s office for crimes against humanity.  This was a turning point in the fight, allowing the French justice system to open an investigation and collect crucial testimonies, particularly from Syrian deserters.  This investigation led to an indictment order in March 2023, sending three senior Syrian regime officials to trial for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    There were many obstacles.  In Syria, asking for news of Mazen and Patrick exposed loved ones to serious reprisals.  The Syrian regime, in addition to torture and executions, extorted the family, eventually expelling Mazen’s wife and daughter from the family home in Damascus.  But despite these hardships, Mr. Dabbagh remained committed.  Through this legal action, he wanted not only to obtain justice for Mazen and Patrick, but to participate in the global fight against the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime.  The trial held in France from 21 to 24 May 2024 against Syrian officials was a historic step forward, which would hopefully inspire other families of Syrian victims to continue their quest for justice, despite the obstacles. 

    After the fall of the Assad regime, there was hope that the new authorities would take ownership of the issue of enforced disappearances, which concerned hundreds of thousands of people, through transitional justice.  The truth must be established, justice must be done, reparation must follow, without which reconciliation between communities could not be achieved.  Mr. Dabbagh hoped that in the near future the family would be able to know the place where his brother and nephew were buried, to give them a dignified burial, and to be able to finally mourn.

    FIDELIS KANYONGOLO, Committee Expert, conveyed sincere gratitude to Mr. Dabbagh for taking the time to present his testimony and for being willing to revisit painful memories.  The testimony reinforced the heavy responsibility that lay upon the shoulders of the members of the Committee.  The concept of extra-territorial jurisdiction was particularly important in the Committee’s work.  In a world where many States continued to demonstrate reluctance to ratify the Convention, the ability of courts of willing countries to punish human rights violations was critical.  In this case, it was important to note that Syria had not ratified the Rome Statute, no resolution from the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Courts, and the domestic justice system was neither independent nor accountable.  Extra-territorial jurisdiction affirmed the idea that human rights were universal.

    Mr. Dabbagh’s testimony showed that although the legal pathways existed for invoking extra-territorial jurisdiction, many practical hurdles continued to limit its potential as a tool for its application in specific cases.  It was hoped the testimony would act as a constant reminder for the Committee that they were dealing with the lives of real people who suffered the consequences of enforced disappearances, and that opportunities existed in jurisprudence to maximise the human rights protection extended to ordinary citizens of countries.

     

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

     

     

     

     

    CED25.001E

     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Klobuchar, Peters, Casten, Johnson Introduce Legislation to Combat Trafficking of Dangerous Gun Conversion Devices

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
    Legislation would help address gun violence epidemic by tackling proliferation of machine gun conversion devices and seizing profits from illegal weapons trafficking
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and 11 of their colleagues introduced legislation to combat the trafficking and proliferation of dangerous gun conversion devices. The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act would help tackle the ongoing gun violence epidemic by requiring federal law enforcement to coordinate efforts to prevent the importation and trafficking of ‘auto-sears’ — illegal gun modification devices that can convert semi-automatic weapons into fully-automatic weapons — and seize all profits that come from the illegal trafficking of these devices. Companion legislation in the House of Representatives is led by Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL) and Hank Johnson (D-GA). 
    “We must address the alarming prevalence of gun conversion devices that can turn ordinary hand guns into automatic weapons. These devices that can be easily 3-D printed or cheaply purchased online have devastating consequences for public safety,” said Klobuchar. “By preventing the importation and trafficking of these deadly devices and by stopping traffickers from profiting from illegal sales, this legislation will help keep our communities safe and save lives.”
    “Law enforcement must do more to protect our communities from gun violence by stopping the flow of illegal gun modification devices into and throughout our country,” said Peters. “This bill will enhance coordination across law enforcement agencies to prevent these dangerous and deadly devices from being used.”
    “Congress has an obligation to do everything we can to make our communities safer from gun violence,” said Rep. Casten. “This epidemic needs to be addressed head-on and that includes the proliferation of illegal gun conversion. Devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to be easily converted into fully automatic weapons should not be readily accessible. I’m proud to introduce this bill with Rep. Johnson, Sen. Klobuchar, and Sen. Peters to prevent the importation and trafficking of these dangerous modifications.”
    “Auto-sears and other gun conversion devices are making the gun violence epidemic in the U.S. that much worse,” said Rep. Johnson. “The dramatic rise in the use of conversion devices and 3-D printed guns in crimes must be addressed. The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act will give law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on and confiscate these dangerous devices. We in Congress must do what we can to keep our communities safe, and this bill helps us address this growing menace.”
    The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act is cosponsored by Senators Blumenthal (D-CT), Duckworth (D-IL), Durbin (D-IL), Heinrich (D-NM), Hirono (D-HI), Markey (D-MA), Padilla (D-CA), Shaheen (D-NH), Smith (D-MN), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Wyden (D-OR). It has been endorsed by GIFFORDS and Brady: United Against Gun Violence.
    “Auto sears and other machine gun conversion devices make deadly weapons more lethal,” said Emma Brown, Executive Director at GIFFORDS. “These illegal devices, which are increasingly recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes, pose an urgent public safety risk that Congress must address. Senator Klobuchar’s bill helps to intercept these devices before they fall into the hands of those who wish to do harm, and drives attention to a developing issue for communities and law enforcement. We urge Congress to take action to help keep these dangerous weapons off the streets.”
    “Conversion devices are an all too common means of illegally converting semiautomatic firearms into machine guns,” said Mark Collins, Director of Federal Policy at Brady: United Against Gun Violence. “Such firearms are being recovered by law enforcement at a staggering rate, with a nearly 570% increase between 2011 and 2021. Providing law enforcement with the resources to stem the flow of illegally trafficked machine gun conversion devices must be a top priority for Congress. The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act will help law enforcement agencies coordinate efforts to crack down on these dangerous, and illegal devices. Brady is proud to endorse this bill and thanks Sen. Klobuchar for her dedication to protecting Americans and communities across the country from the proliferation of illegal machine guns.”
    The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act of 2025 would: 
    Direct the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of the Treasury to develop a coordinated national strategy to prevent or intercept the importation and trafficking of automatic gun conversion devices;
    Ensure that proceeds from the illegal trafficking of automatic gun devices are subject to forfeiture; and 
    Require that the Attorney General include data and information about illegal gun modification devices in the Justice Department’s annual firearms trafficking report.
    Auto-sears and other gun conversion devices can be installed in about a minute, and 3-D printed or purchased online for less than $20. An investigation by The Trace and VICE News found that federal prosecutions involving gun conversion devices have increased over eight-fold from 2017-2021. Additionally the investigation reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) seized 1,500 weapons modified with auto sears in 2021, a five-fold increase from the year before. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: ‘Bearded Bandit’ Bank Robber Sentenced for New Year’s Eve 2019 Robbery

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    PROVIDENCE, RI – A Cranston man, previously referred to as the “Bearded Bandit,” and who served more than six years in federal prison for robbing nine banks in 2012, was sentenced on Friday to time served (62 months) for robbing an East Providence bank on New Year’s Eve in December 2019, and for violating the terms of his supervised release related to his previous convictions, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

    Justin Worley, 44, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Court Senior Judge William E. Smith. In addition to the imposition of a sentence of times served, Worley is ordered to serve a term of three years of supervised release, the first six months in a residential reentry center. Additionally, he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $11,569.

    Worley pleaded guilty on October 30, 2024, to charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery. He has been detained since his arrest on January 21, 2020.

    In pleading guilty, Worley admitted to the court that on New Year’s Eve Day in December 2019,  he and a co-defendant approached bank tellers inside an East Providence bank branch and demanded that they empty their money drawers. The second man, Nicholas Lage, 39, brandished a knife during the robbery. Between them, the two men fled the bank with approximately $11,569. They were located and arrested later that evening at Twin River casino.

    The court found that Worley violated the terms of his federal supervised release imposed at sentencing related to his conviction for robbing nine banks in 2012.

    Nicholas Lage pleaded guilty on April 1, 2021, to charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery.  He was sentenced on August 6, 2021, to 36 months of incarceration to be followed by three years of federal supervised release.

    The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.

    The matter was investigated by the East Providence Police Department and the FBI.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Arkansas Man Convicted of Armed Bank Robbery

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal jury has convicted BRIAN KEITH MAYS, 58, of Arkansas, of committing armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

    On January 21, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a two-count Superseding Indictment, charging Mays with armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. On March 13, 2025, after a three-day trial, a federal jury found Mays guilty of both counts.

    According to evidence presented at trial, on July 5, 2024, Mays brandished a pistol at the FNB Community Bank in Harrah, Oklahoma, and demanded money from the tellers. The tellers complied, and Mays left the bank with $12,123.00. Agents with the FBI reviewed surveillance footage from the bank and an adjoining store, where they viewed Mays flee the scene. An eyewitness was able to obtain the tag number of the get-away vehicle, and an investigation into that car led authorities to Mays. Location data from Mays’s cell phone showed that Mays was in the area of the bank at the time of the robbery and visited a Walmart shortly after the robbery. While at Walmart, Mays transferred approximately $3,000.00 dollars to a person in Arkansas and could be seen on surveillance video pulling a large amount of cash from his pocket to pay for an item.

    At sentencing, Mays faces up to life in federal prison and fines of up to $500,000.00.

    This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City and Fort Smith Field Offices, Harrah Police Department, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Gridley and Drew E. Davis are prosecuting the case.

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

    Reference is made to public filings for additional information.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Four Chinese Nationals Sentenced to Federal Prison in Scheme Targeting Hundreds of U.S. Consumers and Multiple U.S. Retailers

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – Four Chinese nationals were sentenced to federal prison today for their participation in a complex scheme that involved the theft of hundreds of identities to defraud multiple domestic retailers out of at least $1.2 million.

    A fifth co-conspirator was previously sentenced to more than four years in prison, and a sixth is awaiting sentencing following a guilty plea.

    As part of the scheme, these six defendants stole the victims’ identities – including their Social Security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses – and used that information to make fake driver’s licenses that were used to access credit in the victims’ names at large national retailers, including Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Williams-Sonoma, Dillard’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

    The four defendants, all Chinese nationals who entered the country under false pretenses, were sentenced today by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. All four pleaded guilty on January 6. They are:

    • Kar Kee “Steven” Cheung, 36, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of visa fraud, one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents, and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud;
    • Qian Guo, 37, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud;
    • Chongming “Ming” Wang, 28, of Temple City, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aiding and abetting access device fraud in excess of $1,000; and
    • Jiaozhu “Yanny” Yan, 30, of Alhambra, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for one count of visa fraud.

    Previously in this case, Sizhen “Rachel” Liu, 35, also a Chinese national and a resident of Chino Hills, was sentenced on January 6 to 50 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of access device fraud in excess of $1,000.

    The sixth defendant in the case, Hyun Woo “Scott” Jung, 30, of Ontario, pleaded guilty on February 10 to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of possession with intent to use unlawfully five or more false identification documents. Jung is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Wilson on May 5.

    The ongoing investigation in this matter is being conducted by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. The DSS Los Angeles Field Office has created a tipline to solicit information confidentially from sources with information about this scheme. Security and loss prevention personnel from large national retailers, particularly those identified above, are encouraged to contact the DSS LA Retail Fraud Tipline if they have information about Los Angeles-area transactions closely matching this scheme. Suspects using fake driver’s licenses as part of this scheme may also be opening retail-branded credit accounts in the victims’ names.

    During this investigation, DSS has received substantial assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, with additional support coming from the Alhambra Police Department, the Arcadia Police Department, and the Bel Air, Maryland Police Department.

    Assistant United States Attorney Kim Meyer of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Davidson and Davie County Men Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    GREENSBORO, NC – Two North Carolina man have recently been sentenced to more than ten years in prison each for possession of child pornography by the Honorable Catherine C. Eagles, Senior United States District Judge in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (MDNC) in unrelated cases, announced Randall S. Galyon, Acting United States Attorney for the MDNC. 

    DAVID ARNOLD SHARPE, 41, of Davidson County, was sentenced today to 228 months in prison plus 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography. The sentence will run consecutive to a 24-month sentence for the revocation of supervised release in a prior case.

    According to court documents, SHARPE, a registered sex offender, was on federal supervised release when he admitted to his probation officer that he possessed an unauthorized device and child pornography. United States Probation Officers searched SHARPE’s residence where they located a cell phone that contained child pornography. Less than three weeks later, SHARPE was identified by investigators from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) after a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) tip revealed that a Facebook user in Davidson County was suspected of uploading images of suspected child pornography to the platform. After going to Sharpe’s residence, investigators discovered SHARPE’s unauthorized phone had already been seized and they contacted the United States Probation Office and took over the investigation. Further investigation revealed SHARPE had been trading child pornography in groups online.    

    On March 14, 2025, LUIGI CARCIATI, age 49, of Davie County, was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography in October 2023. He was also ordered to pay $74,000 in restitution. According to court documents, multiple tips from NCMEC led to the execution of a search warrant at CARCIATI’s Mocksville residence where investigators located a tablet and cell phone containing child pornography. A review of the devices also revealed CARCIATI had secretly recorded minors in the bathroom at La Vita e Bella, a Mocksville restaurant CARCIATI owned and operated. During execution of a search warrant at the restaurant, investigators located two hidden cameras in the women’s restroom, and a third one in a drawer under the cash register.

    The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI), the United States Probation Office, and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) assisted with the SHARPE investigation. The Davie County Sheriff’s Office, NCSBI, and HSI assisted in the CARCIATI investigation. Both cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kennedy Gates and Karla Painter.

    The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and focuses on coordinating federal, state, and local resources to better identify and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Beckley Woman Sentenced to Prison for Role in Beckley Drug Trafficking Organization

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BECKLEY, W.Va. – Kimberly Rosetta Logan, 48, of Beckley, was sentenced today to two years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of fentanyl. Logan admitted to her role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine base, also known as “crack,” in Beckley and elsewhere within the Southern District of West Virginia.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 10, 2024, Logan sold a quantity of fentanyl to a confidential informant at her residence in Beckley. Logan admitted to the transaction and to distributing additional amounts of fentanyl and cocaine to other individuals while using some herself throughout May 2024. Logan ordered an average of 8 grams of fentanyl and 4 grams of cocaine per week from her Beckley-based supplier by phone during that time period, receiving the controlled substances at her residence.

    Logan has a long criminal history that includes prior convictions including for battery, obstruction of an officer, numerous shoplifting offenses, and controlled substances offenses.

    Logan is among 12 individuals indicted on charges alleging the defendants conspired to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine base within the Southern District of West Virginia from in or about June 2023 to in or about May 2024. All 12 have pleaded guilty, including two defendants who pleaded guilty to separate charges in lieu of the offenses alleged in the indictment.

    Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit, which consists of officers from the West Virginia State Police, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department, and the Beckley Police Department.

    Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell prosecuted the case.

    The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-cr-90.

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  • MIL-OSI USA: Baldwin Votes to Strengthen Penalties, Step Up Enforcement Around Deadly Fentanyl

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) released the following statement after voting to pass the bipartisan Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, putting the drug on par with the deadliest and most dangerous substances.
    “When it comes to confronting the opioid epidemic, to me and so many families in every corner of our state, it’s personal. With fentanyl, one pill can kill, and we need to be giving our law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on suppliers who traffic fentanyl into our communities,” said Senator Baldwin. “As I have always said, I will work with anyone to do right by Wisconsin and this bipartisan bill will help save lives and save more families from the heartache of losing a loved one too soon from fentanyl poisoning.”
    The HALT Fentanyl Act would permanently classify street versions of fentanyl as Schedule I substances, ensuring clear and enforceable penalties under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It also streamlines the registration process for studying Schedule I substances, allowing researchers to better understand and address the fentanyl crisis, while bolstering efforts to research fentanyl equivalents. Fentanyl-related substances are currently considered a Schedule I substance on a temporary basis until March 31; however, this legislation would make that qualification permanent. The HALT Fentanyl Act ensures that street versions of fentanyl produced by transnational criminal organizations are subject to criminal penalties and enables law enforcement, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to have the authority to seize these illicit substances and keep our communities safe.
    In Wisconsin, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were identified in 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths and 73 percent of all drug overdose deaths, according to the Department of Health Services. Provisional data shows the number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Wisconsin grew by 97 percent from 2019 (651) to 2021 (1,280).

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  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Capito Attends White House Signing Overturning Democrats’ Natural Gas Tax Collection Rule

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, attended a White House ceremony where President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval overturning the collection of Democrats’ natural gas tax. The CRA, which was introduced by U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and co-sponsored by Chairman Capito, reverses the November 2024 rule that implemented collection of the Democrats’ natural gas tax, which would inflate energy prices, reduce domestic energy production, and empower our adversaries abroad.

    “I’m honored to join President Trump and my congressional colleagues in officially rejecting the Democrats’ attempt to collect a tax on natural gas production and stand for American energy dominance. Natural gas is a vital resource that strengthens our electricity reliability while reducing emissions, and is responsible for over 40% of electricity generation in our country. We should be expanding production of this resource instead of decreasing it, and I will continue to work with my colleagues through the reconciliation process to stop the underlying law establishing this tax that was a part of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act,” Chairman Capito said. 

    BACKGROUND:

    Senator Capito has continuously expressed concern with the Biden Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) regulation as part of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. 

    Last month, Senator Capito voted for the CRA to overturn the Biden EPA’s WEC regulation and delivered remarks on the Senate floor reiterating her support to repeal the rule.

    In November 2024, Senator Capito strongly criticized the Biden administration’s final WEC regulation and pledge to repeal the misguided rule.

    In December 2023, Senator Capito led several of her EPW Republican colleagues in sending a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan outlining major concerns with the agency’s proposed “subpart W” rule on methane emissions reporting, and urged the EPA to reconsider and revise its proposal.

    PHOTOS:

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with President Donald Trump at the White House signing ceremony.

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with President Donald Trump, U.S. Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and U.S. Representatives August Pfluger (R-Texas-11) and Mike Ezell (R-Miss.-4) at the White House signing ceremony.

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with President Donald Trump, U.S. Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and U.S. Representatives August Pfluger (R-Texas-11) and Mike Ezell (R-Miss.-4) at the White House signing ceremony.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Executives of Louisiana Compounding Pharmacy Convicted of Defrauding TRICARE and New Jersey State Health Benefits Programs, Identity Theft, and Money Laundering

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    CAMDEN, N.J. – Two former executives of a Louisiana compounding pharmacy were found guilty of conspiring to use the pharmacy to defraud New Jersey and military health benefits programs of approximately $100 million, conspiring to commit identity theft in connection with the fraud, and conspiring to transact in the criminal proceeds, U.S. Attorney John Giordano announced.

    Christopher Kyle Johnston, 46, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Trent Brockmeier, 62, of The Villages, Florida, were convicted on March 10, 2025 of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, one count of conspiring to commit identity theft by fraudulently using a means of identification, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering by transacting in criminal proceeds following a six-week trial before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel.

    According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

    Central Rexall Drugs was a pharmacy in Louisiana that prepared compounded medications, which are specialty medications mixed by a pharmacist to meet the specific medical needs of an individual patient.  In 2013, Johnston and Brockmeier entered into an agreement to take over the management of the pharmacy and expand the compounding business in exchange for 90 percent of the profits.  Brockmeier became chief operating officer of Central Rexall and Johnston became general counsel. 

    Johnston and Brockmeier learned that certain insurance plans would reimburse thousands of dollars for a one-month supply of certain compounded medications – including pain, scar, and antifungal creams, as well as vitamin combinations.  The health plans for New Jersey state and local government and education employees, including teachers, firefighters, municipal police officers, and state troopers, covered these medications, as did TRICARE, which insures current and former members of the U.S. military and their families.

    Johnston and Brockmeier designed compounded medications and manipulated the ingredients in the medications in order to obtain high insurance reimbursements rather than serve the medical needs of patients.  To determine which ingredients and combinations resulted in high insurance reimbursements, Johnston and Brockmeier directed Central Rexall employees to submit false prescription claims to test out different combinations of ingredients, but they did not have a valid prescription signed by a doctor for these formulas.   Central Rexall submitted these false claims using, without their consent, individuals’ names, dates of birth, and identifying information (including insurance information) from pre-existing Central Rexall prescriptions.

    By use of these false claims, Johnston and Brockmeier designed compounded medications with combinations of ingredients that were chosen solely based on the amount of money that insurance would pay rather than on the medications’ ability to serve the medical needs of patients.

    Johnston and Brockmeier retained and directed an outside sales force that used various methods to get doctors to prescribe these medications and patients to accept them, including having prescriptions signed without the patient seeing a doctor or knowing about the medications, having medications or refills ordered without the patients’ knowledge, paying patients to accept the medications, and paying doctors to prescribe them.

    Johnston and Brockmeier caused approximately $100 million in fraudulent insurance claims for compounded medications that were not medically necessary.  Johnston received approximately $34 million and Brockmeier received approximately $5 million in illicit profits.

    50 people have been convicted or pled guilty in the overarching conspiracy.

    The health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy count carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense.  The conspiracy to commit identity theft count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  The conspiracy to commit money laundering charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense or not more than twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transactions.  Sentencing is scheduled for July 21, 2025.

    U.S. Attorney John Giordano credited special agents of the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark; special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan  in Newark; and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, with the investigation leading to today’s conviction.

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. David Walk, Jr. and Daniel A. Friedman of the Criminal Division.

                                                                 ###

    Defense counsel:

    Johnston: Lawrence S. Lustberg, Anne Collart, and Andrew Marino, Esqs. (Newark, NJ)

    Brockmeier: Marc Agnifilo and David Gelfand, Esqs. (New York, NY)

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Trinitarios Gang Member Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Defendant was on probation for armed robbery when he sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover officer

    BOSTON – A Lynn, Mass. man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for drug offenses relating to an ongoing investigation of fentanyl distribution. 

    Ricardo Bratini-Perez, a/k/a “Rico,” a/k/a “Ricofromthesin,” 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 10 years years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. In November 2024, Bratini-Perez pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, fentanyl analog and methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Bratini-Perez on Oct. 3, 2024. 

    According to court papers, Bratini-Perez is a member of the Trinitarios gang and was on probation following his release in 2023 from state custody on armed robbery and firearm charges. While on state probation, Bratini-Perez sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover officer on three occasions in March 2024 and April 2024. On April 8, 2024, Bratini-Perez was arrested following a fourth sale to the undercover officer. A search of Bratini-Perez’s residence resulted in the recovery of over 5,000 grams of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. 
               
    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Lynn Police Chief Christopher P. Reddy made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.
     

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Fairfax District Resident Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Fraudulently Obtaining Public Assistance Benefits via Identity Theft

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – A former resident of the Fairfax District of Los Angeles was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison his role in a scheme that involved using illegal skimmers on ATMs to harvest data, creating counterfeit debit cards using the stolen account holders’ information, and then using the cards to make cash withdrawals from numerous victims’ accounts.

    Sorin-Miguel Ghiorghe, 47, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who will schedule a restitution hearing to occur in the coming months.

    Ghiorghe pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, and one count of possession of device-making equipment.

    Ghiorghe – a Romanian national whom prosecutors believe illegally entered the United States – admitted that he and his accomplices used counterfeit cards to fraudulently make withdrawals from the accounts of numerous victims, and that he specifically used the counterfeit cards to withdraw thousands of dollars from victims’ accounts.

    The skimming ring focused on illegally accessing funds administered by the California Department of Social Services to low-income California residents through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) accounts, including CalFresh and CalWorks benefits.  When law enforcement searched the apartment Ghiorghe was living in, they located ATM-skimming equipment and EBT account numbers in other peoples’ names.

    The United States Secret Service investigated this case and received significant assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Assistant United States Attorney Max A. Shapiro of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Spencer Woman Charged with Bank Fraud

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A Spencer woman was charged today in federal court in Worcester with scheming to fraudulently obtain Social Security benefits.

    Gina Llerena-Donohue, 62, was charged with one count of bank fraud. Llerena-Donohue will make an appearance in federal court in Worcester at a later date.

    The charging document alleges that from February 2006 through May 2021, Llerena-Donohue, fraudulently obtained approximately $41,954.20 in Social Security benefits. Llerena-Donohue is alleged to have held a power of attorney (POA) for a Social Security beneficiary that died in January 2006. She is further alleged to have not reported the beneficiary’s death to either the Social Security Administration or the bank where the benefits were deposited. Instead, Llerena-Donohue allegedly accessed the improperly paid benefits through several counter cash withdrawals. Further, she is alleged to have submitted four false affidavits to the bank in 2018 and 2019 stating that the POA was still in effect because it had not been terminated by the death of the beneficiary.

    The charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Amy Connelly, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division made the announcement. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
     

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