NewzIntel.com

Category: Department of Justice

  • MIL-OSI Security: After Two-Day Manhunt, Suspect Charged with Shooting Two Minnesota Lawmakers and Their Spouses

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minnesota, has been charged by federal complaint with stalking and murdering Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, in addition to stalking and shooting Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife.

    According to court documents, in the early morning hours of June 14, 2025, Vance Luther Boelter put into effect a calculated plan to inflict fear and violence upon Minnesota elected officials and their families. Boelter equipped himself with firearms and body armor, disguised himself as a law enforcement officer, and drove to the home of Senator Hoffman. Boelter knocked on the door repeatedly, claiming to be a police officer. Shortly after the Hoffmans opened the door, they were alarmed to realize Boelter was wearing a facemask. The Hoffmans tried to close the door on Boelter, but Boelter repeatedly shot both Senator and Mrs. Hoffman.

    “The horrific, targeted murders of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, as well as the shooting of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman, have shocked the nation and united us in grief,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “These horrific acts of violence will not go unanswered: the Department of Justice will prosecute this suspect to the fullest extent of the law and if convicted deliver severe consequences for his alleged crimes.”

    “According to the charges, the defendant had a list of possible targets and went to the homes of public officials to conduct violent attacks,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “This type of violence is unacceptable, and the FBI stands united with our law enforcement partners to find and hold accountable anyone who commits such despicable acts. I commend all the law enforcement officers who worked throughout the weekend to find the defendant and take him into custody.”

    “Vance Luthor Boelter went on a violent rampage against our elected officials,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson for the District of Minnesota. “These were targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota. It was an attack on our state and on our democracy. We will not rest until he is brought to justice.” 

    “This was a horrific act of targeted violence,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office. “A gunman, impersonating a police officer, deliberately lured public servants to their own doorstep and opened fire. A Minnesota lawmaker and her spouse were murdered in cold blood, and others wounded, simply for serving as elected officials. This is not only unacceptable — it is an attack on the democratic values that define this nation. This marked the largest manhunt in Minnesota’s history, and it would not have been possible without the extraordinary partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The tireless coordination and commitment ensured Boelter was located and taken into custody without further incident. The FBI remains steadfast in our pursuit of justice. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the communities they served.”

    “The deliberate targeting of elected officials and their families is an appalling act of political violence that has no place in our country,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Riddle of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) St. Paul Field Division. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and all those affected by this tragedy. In response, ATF brought forward key investigative resources, including firearms tracing, NIBIN analysis, and a specially trained K-9 team, to help recover evidence and generate leads. Our agents contributed their full expertise and manpower to the search and continue to support the ongoing investigation. I’m proud of the role ATF has played and commend the extraordinary work of all law enforcement partners who came together to bring the suspect into custody.”

    Boelter then traveled to the homes of two other Minnesota elected officials, still disguised as a law enforcement officer. Boelter did not manage to make contact with either of those officials or their families.

    Next, Boelter drove to the home of Speaker Emerita and Representative Melissa Hortman. Meanwhile, local law enforcement, having heard of the shooting at the Hoffman residence, drove to the Hortman household to conduct a safety check. Upon arriving, officers saw Boelter’s car, a black Ford Explorer SUV designed to look at a law enforcement vehicle. It was equipped with police-style lights that were on and flashing. Officers saw Boelter, standing several feet from and facing the front door of the Hortman home. Moments later, Boelter fired several gunshots into the home, repeatedly striking Mr. Hortman. As Boelter did so, he rushed into the home and fired several additional shots, repeatedly striking Representative Hortman. Officers provided medical aid to the Hortmans and attempted to pursue Boelter, who abandoned the SUV and fled, initially, on foot. Both Hortmans died from their wounds.

    Law enforcement searched Boelter’s SUV and recovered five firearms, including semi-automatic, assault-style rifles, a large quantity of ammunition, and several notebooks filled with handwritten notations. Those notes listed out the names of dozens of Minnesota state and federal elected officials. The notes often identified those officials’ home addresses.

    A two-day manhunt, coordinated among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies across the state, ensued. As a result of those efforts, at approximately 9:15 on the evening of June 15, law enforcement located Boelter in a field in Green Isle, Minnesota, approximately one mile from his family residence. Law enforcement officers then took Boelter into custody.

    Boelter will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court today, before Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty.

    The FBI, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, ATF, Brooklyn Park Police Department, Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sherriff’s Office, Champlin Police Department, and New Hope Police Department, together with several other state and local partners, are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Jacobs, Bradley M. Endicott, Matthew D. Forbes, and Daniel W. Bobier for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Trial Attorneys Dimitriy Slavin and Joshua Champagne of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

    A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Charged in Albuquerque Alien Harboring, Kidnapping Case

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – Two men face federal charges for harboring illegal aliens after a kidnapping and human smuggling investigation in Albuquerque.

    According to court documents, on March 1, 2025, a complainant told the FBI their spouse had been kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers demanded 90,000 quetzales (about $11,600) and threatened to turn the victim over to the Zeta Cartel if payment was not made. “Proof of life” videos were sent to the family.

    Using phone data from the ransom calls, agents traced the location to a residence in southwest Albuquerque. On March 2, agents executed a search warrant and found 11 undocumented immigrants, including an unaccompanied minor and defendants Isaias David Jose and Tomas Mateo Gaspar. The house was sparsely furnished and contained over 20 cell phones and a ledger of smuggling activity.

    Victims said they were locked in rooms, threatened with violence or being turned over to criminal organizations, and told not to talk to law enforcement. Both Jose and Gaspar were identified as running the stash house and making ransom videos.

    Jose and Gaspar were indicted for harboring an illegal alien and aiding and abetting and will remain in custody pending trial, which is scheduled for August 11, 2025. If convicted of the current charges, Jose and Gaspar each face up to five years in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec is prosecuting the case as 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.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: San Antonio Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years for Two Counts of Enticing, Coercing a Minor

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced in a federal court to 151 months in federal prison and 20 years of supervised release for attempted online enticement and coercion of a minor.

    According to court documents, between June and August of 2023, Stephen Eugene Hall, 41, communicated with two undercover law enforcement agents whom he believed to be 12- and 14-year-old girls. Throughout their conversations over the Kik app, Hall attempted to entice them to engage in sexual activity and to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    Hall was arrested by FBI agents on Aug. 23, 2023, when he traveled to a hotel in San Antonio with the intent to engage in sex with the individual whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2025, to two counts of attempted online enticement and coercion of a minor and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

    “These proactive law enforcement operations, using the social media apps many children use today, are vital and necessary in order to catch child predators before they can cause their irreparable intended harm,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “Thanks to the work of our FBI partners in Boston and in San Antonio, we were able to put another child predator in federal prison for over a decade, with another 20 years of supervised release to follow.”

    “This sentencing sends a clear message that neither the FBI, our law enforcement partners, nor the American people will tolerate those who seek to sexually abuse or exploit children,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office. “We want to thank our colleagues at the San Antonio Police Department and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for their outstanding work and ongoing partnership as we continue to seek justice on behalf of the victims in this case.”

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Mangels prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: San Antonio Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years for Two Counts of Enticing, Coercing a Minor

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced in a federal court to 151 months in federal prison and 20 years of supervised release for attempted online enticement and coercion of a minor.

    According to court documents, between June and August of 2023, Stephen Eugene Hall, 41, communicated with two undercover law enforcement agents whom he believed to be 12- and 14-year-old girls. Throughout their conversations over the Kik app, Hall attempted to entice them to engage in sexual activity and to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    Hall was arrested by FBI agents on Aug. 23, 2023, when he traveled to a hotel in San Antonio with the intent to engage in sex with the individual whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2025, to two counts of attempted online enticement and coercion of a minor and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

    “These proactive law enforcement operations, using the social media apps many children use today, are vital and necessary in order to catch child predators before they can cause their irreparable intended harm,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “Thanks to the work of our FBI partners in Boston and in San Antonio, we were able to put another child predator in federal prison for over a decade, with another 20 years of supervised release to follow.”

    “This sentencing sends a clear message that neither the FBI, our law enforcement partners, nor the American people will tolerate those who seek to sexually abuse or exploit children,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office. “We want to thank our colleagues at the San Antonio Police Department and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for their outstanding work and ongoing partnership as we continue to seek justice on behalf of the victims in this case.”

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Mangels prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Signs On to $7.4 Billion Purdue Settlement

    Source: US State of California

    California will receive up to $440 million  

    OAKLAND – Attorney General Bonta today announced that 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma L.P. and its owners, the Sackler family. The Sackler family has also informed the attorneys general of its plan to proceed with the settlement, which would resolve litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers for their role in creating the national opioid crisis. Now that the state sign-on period has concluded, local governments across the country will be asked to join the settlement contingent on bankruptcy court proceedings.   

    “The opioid epidemic has ravaged communities in California and across the country. The companies and individuals who fueled this crisis must be held accountable. With today’s announcement, the California Department of Justice is continuing to deliver results for our communities,” said Attorney General Bonta. “By holding Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic, we’re bringing much-needed funds for addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery to those impacted by this crisis. The California Department of Justice will continue to fight for the health and wellbeing of all Californians.”

    Under the Sacklers’ leadership, Purdue sold and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling the largest drug crisis in the nation’s history. The settlement ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and their ability to sell opioids in the United States. Communities across the country will directly receive funds over the next 15 years to support addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery. This settlement in principle is the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for the opioid crisis. California’s state and local governments will receive as much as $440 million from this settlement over the next 15 years.  

    Most of the settlement funds will be distributed in the first three years. The Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion and Purdue will pay roughly $900 million in the first payment, followed by the Sacklers paying $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years. 

    Like prior opioid settlements, the settlement with Purdue and the Sacklers will involve resolution of legal claims by state and local governments. The local government sign-on and voting solicitation process for this settlement moving forward will be contingent on bankruptcy court approval. A hearing is scheduled on that matter in the coming days. 

    The settlement also reflects the end of the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and bars them from selling opioids in the United States. A board of trustees selected by participating states in consultation with the other creditors will determine the future of the company. Purdue will continue to be overseen by a monitor and will be prevented from lobbying or marketing opioids under the settlement. 

    Including the Purdue/Sackler settlement, California has obtained settlements committing up to $4.6 billion in funds from companies that helped fuel the opioid epidemic.  

    Attorney General Bonta is joined in securing this settlement in principle by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: North Fort Myers Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Child Sexual Abuse And Firearm Offenses

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber today sentenced Samuel Villarreal III (25, North Fort Myers) to five years in federal prison for possessing and accessing with intent to view images depicting the sexual abuse of children and possessing an unregistered firearm. He was also sentenced to a life term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. Villarreal entered a guilty plea on March 4, 2025.

    According to court documents, from on or about December 29, 2022, through on or about June 29, 2023, Villarreal knowingly possessed and accessed with intent to view images of children being sexually abused that he sought out and downloaded from the internet. 

    In December 2022, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from an electronic service provider reporting that Villarreal had uploaded files that depicted child sexual abuse material (CSAM). A subsequent search warrant for Villarreal’s social media account revealed CSAM.

    On June 29, 2023, the FBI executed a search warrant at Villarreal’s residence in North Fort Myers, Florida, and seized Villarreal’s laptop and cellphones.  Villarreal agreed to speak with agents and admitted that he used his computer to access CSAM on the internet and that he had a folder on his computer where he stored CSAM images. He also admitted that he had also used his cellphone to view CSAM and having used the social media application. 

    During the search of Villarreal’s residence, agents located Villarreal’s unregistered short-barreled rifle, which they seized. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted a record check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Records database and found no records of the firearm being registered, as required since the barrel was less than 16 inches. Villarreal admitted that he got the firearm as a rifle and modified it himself by putting a shorter barrel on it. He told agents that he never applied to have it registered with ATF, and that he was aware of the requirement before replacing the barrel with a shorter one.

    The subsequent forensic examination of Villarreal’s cellphones and laptop revealed images of CSAM.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

    This is another case 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.justice.gov/psc.

    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.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: North Fort Myers Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Child Sexual Abuse And Firearm Offenses

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber today sentenced Samuel Villarreal III (25, North Fort Myers) to five years in federal prison for possessing and accessing with intent to view images depicting the sexual abuse of children and possessing an unregistered firearm. He was also sentenced to a life term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. Villarreal entered a guilty plea on March 4, 2025.

    According to court documents, from on or about December 29, 2022, through on or about June 29, 2023, Villarreal knowingly possessed and accessed with intent to view images of children being sexually abused that he sought out and downloaded from the internet. 

    In December 2022, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from an electronic service provider reporting that Villarreal had uploaded files that depicted child sexual abuse material (CSAM). A subsequent search warrant for Villarreal’s social media account revealed CSAM.

    On June 29, 2023, the FBI executed a search warrant at Villarreal’s residence in North Fort Myers, Florida, and seized Villarreal’s laptop and cellphones.  Villarreal agreed to speak with agents and admitted that he used his computer to access CSAM on the internet and that he had a folder on his computer where he stored CSAM images. He also admitted that he had also used his cellphone to view CSAM and having used the social media application. 

    During the search of Villarreal’s residence, agents located Villarreal’s unregistered short-barreled rifle, which they seized. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted a record check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Records database and found no records of the firearm being registered, as required since the barrel was less than 16 inches. Villarreal admitted that he got the firearm as a rifle and modified it himself by putting a shorter barrel on it. He told agents that he never applied to have it registered with ATF, and that he was aware of the requirement before replacing the barrel with a shorter one.

    The subsequent forensic examination of Villarreal’s cellphones and laptop revealed images of CSAM.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

    This is another case 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.justice.gov/psc.

    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.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leader of Multi-Million Dollar International Money Laundering and Drug Trafficking Ring Convicted

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ATLANTA – Monica Dominguez Torres, 36, of Mexico, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Dominguez led a transnational criminal organization that operated methamphetamine conversion laboratories in the Atlanta area and laundered millions of dollars of drug proceeds to Mexico.

    “Dominguez’s elaborate criminal operation has been dismantled, and more than $3.5 million of illicit drug proceeds have been seized as a result of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners’ diligent work,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute individuals like Dominguez who seek an undeserved life of luxury by trafficking deadly drugs in our community.”

    Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division stated, “Through hard work, this drug trafficking and money laundering network has been removed from our streets. This criminal organization had no regard for the destructive impact on our communities.”

    “This conviction sends a strong message to those who think they can live a life of luxury funded by illegal activities,” said Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. “Thanks to the dedicated collaboration between HSI and our law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local levels, we were able to dismantle Monica Dominguez Torres’s multi-million dollar drug trafficking and money laundering ring, seizing millions in illicit proceeds and bringing her to justice.”

    “Monica Torres led a transnational organized crime organization, which like others of its nature, threatens the national and economic security of the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents, along with our other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners of the Atlanta Strike Force are working together to find, investigate, and bring to justice those who endanger American citizens lives through their drug trafficking and other illicit crimes.”

    According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges and other information presented in court: Monica Dominguez Torres’s organization operated methamphetamine conversion laboratories where liquid methamphetamine, obtained from sources in Mexico, was converted into hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine to be sold in the Atlanta area and elsewhere. Dominguez and her associates also used residences in the Atlanta area to collect and count millions of dollars in cash from these drug sales. The proceeds were laundered and sent to coconspirators in Mexico. 

    As part of the criminal operation, Dominguez and her associates purchased millions of dollars’ worth of real estate, vehicles, and luxury goods – all designed to conceal the illicit source of their wealth. The investigation revealed that Dominguez purchased five separate residences, including a seven-bedroom waterfront home in Jonesboro, Georgia. Three of these residences were purchased with bulk cash brought directly to the transaction. Dominguez and others also purchased nine luxury vehicles worth approximately $780,000. Dominguez also spent lavishly on high-end goods, including nearly $400,000 at Louis Vuitton and more than $425,000 at Burberry over roughly four and a half years. 

    During the investigation, agents seized nearly $3.6 million in cash from Dominguez’s residences, stash locations, and associates. When agents arrested Dominguez at her Conyers, Georgia home in February 2024, they seized more than $1.7 million in cash, five firearms, and three vehicles.

    Dominguez is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15, 2025, at 1:30 pm, before Chief United States District Judge Leigh Martin May. Regarding her drug trafficking conviction, Dominguez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life in prison, a maximum $10,000,000 fine, and a minimum of five years of supervised release. The money laundering conviction carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the value of the laundered funds, up to three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of property involved in the offense. 

    This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, with valuable assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, Georgia State Patrol, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, and the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.

    Assistant United States Attorneys John T. DeGenova, Deputy Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section, and Nicholas L. Evert 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).

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to eliminate the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

    The specific mission of the David G. Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force (Atlanta Strike Force) is to eliminate transnational organized crime syndicates and major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the Northern District of Georgia. To accomplish this mission, the Atlanta Strike Force will target these organizations’ leaders, focusing on targets designated as Consolidated Priority Organization Targets, Regional Priority Organization Targets, and their associates. The Atlanta Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from ATF, DEA, FBI, HSI, USMS, USPIS, and IRS, as well as numerous state and local agencies; and the prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

    For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6280. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Rep. Hinson Joins The Signal Sitdown

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-01)

    Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02) joined Daily Signal’s Bradley Devlin on The Signal Sitdown podcast. The two discussed the media bias contributing to the cover-up of President Biden’s mental decline, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, countering the CCP’s illicit practices, and more.

    In case you missed it…

    Click here to watch the full episode of The Signal Sitdown.

    China Has Secret Police in the US. This Congresswoman Is Trying to Stop It.
    The Daily Signal
    Bradley Devlin
    June 12, 2025

    In December 2024, Chen Jinping, a 60-year-old Manhattan resident, pleaded guilty to opening and operating a secret Chinese police station for China’s Ministry of Public Security in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood. Chen was arrested with “Harry” Lu Jianwang in April 2023, following an FBI investigation into the outpost.

    Though these arrests were the first of their kind, according to Justice Department officials, American authorities suspect that China has these kinds of outposts all over the country. 

    And China’s nefarious activities in New York City hardly scratch the surface. For decades, Chinese operatives have infiltrated American universities and companies, smuggled drugs and human beings across America’s borders, and stolen American intellectual property and technology—even corn seeds from fields in Iowa.

    President Donald Trump was one of the first to see the threat of China clearly. Under the president’s leadership, Republicans in Congress are trying to prevent and punish this malign Chinese activity. This week, one of the House Republicans spearheading that effort, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, joins “The Signal Sitdown” to discuss.

    “My passion for this policy started in my district,” Hinson said. The aforementioned seed-stealing spies were operating in Hinson’s backyard. “There was actually a Chinese spy ring busted stealing seeds out of a cornfield in Dysart, Iowa.”

    “They wanted to take them back to China. They want to cheat,” Hinson explained. “It’s all about reverse engineering because there is so much R&D that has gone into seed technology so that we can grow the most resilient, best yielding plants in the world.”

    China’s unfair trade practices can often be more subtle than outright theft, however. “[The Chinese] are using tactics like transnational shipment,” Hinson told The Daily Signal.

    “So, especially in the auto-parts industry, for example,” Hinson explained, “something coming in from China is gonna be tariffed, so then they ship it through Singapore or Vietnam or someplace with a lesser tariff to get around our tariff laws.”

    “They’re economically cheating and getting a better deal,” Hinson continued. “Meanwhile, you’ve got American producers trying to play on that same playing field and it’s not level.”

    Hinson has introduced the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act with Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., to provide federal law enforcement more capacity to crack down on these trade practices.

    “What we’re trying to do is make sure that President Trump’s Department of Justice… [will have] the resources and a specific task force to be able to go after these malign actors who are, again, intentionally cheating,” she explained.

    “We think this cost is hundreds of billions of dollars every year on the low end,” Hinson said. “This has been decades in the making, right? You’ve got entire industries that have been ceded and now China owns them.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University

    In the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat.

    The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition to finding a solution to the Palestinian problem.”

    For other, even more radical Israelis – such as the ultra-nationalist assassin Yigal Amir – the answer lay elsewhere. They sought the assassination of Israeli leaders such as Yitzak Rabin who wanted peace with the Palestinians.

    Despite Rabin’s long personal history as a famed and often ruthless military commander in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars, Amir stalked and shot Rabin dead in 1995. He believed Rabin had betrayed Israel by signing the Oslo Accords peace deal with Arafat.

    It’s been 20 years since Arafat died as possibly the victim of polonium poisoning, and 30 years after the shooting of Rabin. Peace between Israelis and the Palestinians has never been further away.

    What Amnesty International and a United Nations Special Committee have called genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza have spilled over into Israeli attacks on the prominent leaders of its enemies in Lebanon and, most recently, Iran.

    Since its attacks on Iran began on Friday, Israel has killed numerous military and intelligence leaders, including Iran’s intelligence chief, Mohammad Kazemi; the chief of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri; and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. At least nine Iranian nuclear scientists have also been killed.

    Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said:

    We got their chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran.

    Iran, predictably, has responded with deadly missile attacks on Israel.

    Far from having solved the issue of Middle East peace, assassinations continue to pour oil on the flames.

    A long history of extra-judicial killings

    Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman’s book Rise and Kill First argues assassinations have long sat at the heart of Israeli politics.

    In the past 75 years, there have been more than 2,700 assassination operations undertaken by Israel. These have, in Bergman’s words, attempted to “stop history” and bypass “statesmanship and political discourse”.

    This normalisation of assassinations has been codified in the Israeli expression of “mowing the grass”. This is, as historian Nadim Rouhana has shown, a metaphor for a politics of constant assassination. Enemy “leadership and military facilities must regularly be hit in order to keep them weak.”

    The point is not to solve the underlying political questions at issue. Instead, this approach aims to sow fear, dissent and confusion among enemies.

    Thousands of assassination operations have not, however, proved sufficient to resolve the long-running conflict between Israel, its neighbours and the Palestinians. The tactic itself is surely overdue for retirement.

    Targeted assassinations elsewhere

    Israel has been far from alone in this strategy of assassination and killing.

    Former US President Barack Obama oversaw the extra-judicial killing of Osama Bin Laden, for instance.

    After what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced as a flawed trial, former US President George W. Bush welcomed the hanging of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as “an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy”.

    Current US President Donald Trump oversaw the assassination of Iran’s leader of clandestine military operations, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020.

    More recently, however, Trump appears to have baulked at granting Netanyahu permission to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    And it’s worth noting the US Department of Justice last year brought charges against an Iranian man who said he’d been tasked with killing Trump.

    Elsewhere, in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it’s common for senior political and media opponents to be shot in the streets. Frequently they also “fall” out of high windows, are killed in plane crashes or succumb to mystery “illnesses”.

    A poor record

    Extra-judicial killings, however, have a poor record as a mechanism for solving political problems.

    Cutting off the hydra’s head has generally led to its often immediate replacement by another equally or more ideologically committed person, as has already happened in Iran. Perhaps they too await the next round of “mowing the grass”.

    But as the latest Israeli strikes in Iran and elsewhere show, solving the underlying issue is rarely the point.

    In situations where finding a lasting negotiated settlement would mean painful concessions or strategic risks, assassinations prove simply too tempting. They circumvent the difficulties and complexities of diplomacy while avoiding the need to concede power or territory.

    As many have concluded, however, assassinations have never killed resistance. They have never killed the ideas and experiences that give birth to resistance in the first place.

    Nor have they offered lasting security to those who have ordered the lethal strike.

    Enduring security requires that, at some point, someone grasp the nettle and look to the underlying issues.

    The alternative is the continuation of the brutal pattern of strike and counter-strike for generations to come.

    The Conversation

    Matt Fitzpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace – https://theconversation.com/iran-war-from-the-middle-east-to-america-history-shows-you-cannot-assassinate-your-way-to-peace-259038

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: 300 drawn to Mainland legal course

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Mainland Civil & Commercial Legal Practice Training Course 2025 organised by the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy concluded today, attracting about 300 participants from the local legal sector.

    The two-day course is the first course held by the academy specifically for local barristers, solicitors, in-house counsel and dispute resolution practitioners.

    It aims to deepen the local industry’s understanding of the Mainland’s civil and commercial laws and practical operations, and promote exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland’s legal and dispute resolution sectors.

    Addressing the opening ceremony, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said that Hong Kong and the Mainland have become more closely connected since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, with economic and trade activities becoming increasingly frequent. While many Mainland enterprises leverage Hong Kong as an internationalised platform to go global, overseas enterprises also invest in the Mainland through Hong Kong.

    The academy specially organised this course to enable the local legal industry to gain in-depth understanding of the practice of civil and commercial law on the Mainland so that they can meet the actual needs arising from growing cross-boundary business, while improving their own competitiveness and expanding the room for their career development, Mr Lam added.

    Speaking at the closing ceremony, Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan pointed out that Hong Kong’s leading position in international arbitration continues to be reinforced and enhanced.

    Mr Cheung highlighted the Department of Justice’s commitment to promoting the city’s leading position in arbitration in the Greater Bay Area and the international community, and providing legal services of higher quality and competitiveness to the Mainland and around the world, so as to further establish Hong Kong’s position as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

    The course covers various key areas of the Mainland civil and commercial legal practice. Through lectures and seminars, the course further enhances the understanding and knowledge of Hong Kong’s legal and dispute resolution sectors on the practice and operation of the Mainland civil and commercial legal system, while providing a platform for exchange and co-operation between the Hong Kong and Mainland legal sectors.

    Speakers of the course comprise Mainland judges, academics, legal professionals, corporate representatives, arbitration practitioners and members of the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Expert Committee.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warnock, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Georgians from Payment Scams

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia

    Warnock, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Georgians from Payment Scams

    The Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payments Scams (TRAPS) Act, would create a task force to combat the growing issue of payment scams

    A champion of consumer protections, Senator Reverend Warnock has a long history of combating payment scams, including fighting to protect students and seniors

    Senators Reverend Warnock: “Scams and financial schemes continue to target Georgians’ bank accounts, especially our seniors who work their entire lives to build savings”

    Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Mike Crapo (R-ID) Mark Warner (D-VA), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the bipartisan Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payments Scams (TRAPS) Act. The legislation would create a task force to combat the growing issue of payment scams. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that losses to fraud have soared 25 percent over the last year to $12.5 billion nationwide.

    “Scams and financial schemes continue to target Georgians’ bank accounts, especially our seniors who work their entire lives to build savings,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “The Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payments Scams (TRAPS) Act better equips law enforcement and regulators to fight back and provide much-needed protection for fraud victims, and helps prevent scams before they happen.”

    Payment scams occur when a scammer induces a victim, usually under false pretenses to voluntarily send them money. The Senators’ legislation would bring together industry, law enforcement, financial regulators and telecommunication regulators to decide best practices for identifying and preventing future scams.

    Specifically, the TRAPS Act would:

    1.    Create a task force, chaired by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and composed of the prudential regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and representatives from industry. 

    2.    Direct the task force to examine the payments landscape and compile a report to recommend legislative and regulatory changes, including best practices to coordinate state, local and federal efforts.

    3.    Require the task force to update the report annually for three years.

    The TRAPS Act is supported by AARP, Early Warning Services, Electronic Transactions Association, GoWest Credit Union Association, American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, National Bankers Association, the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions.

    “Criminals continue to target vulnerable Americans through creative ways to trick them out of their hard-earned money,” said Senator Crapo.  “We can–and should–better equip law enforcement and regulators with the tools to go after scammers and prevent scams before they happen.”

    “The evolving sophistication of financial scams emphasizes the urgent need for unified and proactive defense,” said Senator Warner. “The TRAPS Act will bridge the gap between law enforcement, regulators and the financial industry in order to better protect Americans’ financial welfare and hold those who prey on hard-working individuals accountable.”


    “Combatting the global rise in fraud starts with making certain federal regulators and law enforcement agencies are coordinating effectively to address these threats,”     said Senator Moran.  “Establishing a task force to promote inter-agency cooperation on preventing payment scams and other fraud is yet another step in protecting the financial security of Kansans.”

    Senator Warnock has long been a champion of consumer protections and ensuring our nation’s seniors aren’t taken advantage of financially. During a Senate Again Committee hearing, Senator Warnock highlighted the need for government agencies to increase efforts to better protect seniors from Artificial Intelligence (AI) scams. Senator Warnock also introduced a consumer protection bill aiming to restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) longstanding authority to return money to consumers victimized by illegal scams, fraud, and other deceptive practices.

    The bill text for the TRAPS Act is HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Baxter Springs, Kansas, Man Charged with Child Pornography Possession

    Source: US FBI

    WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man has been charged through criminal complaint in Wichita, Kansas, on allegations related to child sexual abuse materials.  

    According to court documents, Kenneth Norman Baker, 41, of Baxter Springs is charged with one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting the case.

    Project Safe Childhood
    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

    A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: District of Arizona Charges 266 Individuals for Immigration-Related Criminal Conduct this Week

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PHOENIX, Ariz. – During the week of enforcement operations from June 7, 2025, through June 13, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 266 individuals. Specifically, the United States filed 108 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 140 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States filed 16 cases against 18 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

    Recent matters of interest include:

    United States v. Fernando Alvin Robles:  On June 9, 2025, Fernando Alvin Robles drove a vehicle to the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint. While Robles was at primary inspection, agents noticed that he was looking around as if he was searching for an exit. Robles then gave the agents consent to search the trunk of his vehicle and was referred to secondary inspection for the search. Robles parked outside of the secondary inspection area, but as agents approached the vehicle to direct him to the designated area, Robles drove off at a high rate of speed. Agents pursued Robles and he eventually came to a stop approximately 9 miles later. During a search of Robles’ trunk, agents found a Guatemalan citizen hiding inside who was illegally present in the United States. Robles was charged by criminal complaint with Transportation of Illegal Aliens for Profit and Illegal Re-entry. [Case Number: 25‐MJ‐05230]

    United States v. Jesus Maldonado-Cortez, United States v. Jessie Pacheco Jose, and United States v. Miguel Alejandro Abril-Miramon:  On June 8, 2025, Border Patrol Agents observed Jesus Maldonado‐Cortez driving on a rural dirt road commonly used by smuggling organizations. Agents initiated a vehicle stop to conduct an immigration inspection, but Maldonado‐Cortez failed to yield. As agents pursued Maldonado‐Cortez, he drove through a barbed wire fence and off the road. Agents continued their pursuit on foot and ran to the vehicle’s last location. When they approached the vehicle, they observed that the driver’s door was open and there was no one inside. Agents searched the area and apprehended one individual approximately 300 meters from the vehicle, who was determined to be a citizen of Mexico, illegally present in the United States. The next day, agents received information about a group of five suspected illegal aliens in close proximity to the place where the vehicle stopped. Agents responded to the area and apprehended all five subjects, including Maldonado‐Cortez. All five individuals were determined to be citizens of Mexico, illegally present in the United States. Maldonado‐Cortez was charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens for Profit and Illegal Re‐entry. Two of the other subjects apprehended, Jessie Pacheco Jose and Miguel Alejandro Abril‐Miramon, were charged with Illegal Re‐entry. [Case Numbers: 25‐MJ‐05181; 25‐MJ‐05250; 25‐MJ‐05233]

    A criminal complaint is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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

    RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-094_June 13 Immigration Enforcement

    # # #

    For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
    Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Afghan National Pleads Guilty to Plotting Election Day Terror Attack in the United States

    Source: US State of California

    Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, a native and citizen of Afghanistan, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Oklahoma City to two terrorism-related offenses: conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a federal crime of terrorism.

    “The defendant admits he planned and obtained firearms to carry out a violent terror attack on Election Day in 2024, a plot that was detected and disrupted through the good work of the FBI and our partners,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Let this serve as notice to anyone who tries to conduct attacks in our homeland for ISIS or any other terror group: we will find you and you’ll face American justice. I want to commend the FBI teams and our partners for their hard work and success in executing the mission.”

    “Through incredible law enforcement effort and coordination, a violent terrorist attack on American soil was thwarted, and those responsible are being held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma. “I commend the outstanding work by the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and prosecutors to diligently discover, thoroughly investigate, and completely foil this terror plot. These guilty pleas serve as an emphatic reminder that the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue those who attempt to harm Americans through terrorist acts.”

    “Thanks to outstanding work by the Oklahoma City Joint Terrorism Task Force, the defendant’s plan to kill innocent Americans in a terrorist attack on Election Day was stopped,” said Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “The FBI is grateful to all who stand beside us in our fight against terrorism. Together, we will continue to safeguard our communities from those who conspire against the United States.”

    According to court documents, Tawhedi admitted that between June 2024 and October 2024 he conspired with at least one other individual to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines, with the intent to carry out a mass-casualty attack on or around Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS.  According to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in the case, Tawhedi communicated with an ISIS facilitator about his plan to purchase firearms for use in the terror plot, including asking the individual whether 500 rounds of ammunition would be sufficient.

    Tawhedi and his co-conspirator, Abdullah Haji Zada, were arrested on Oct. 7, 2024, after purchasing the firearms and ammunition from an undercover FBI employee.  Zada, 18, pleaded guilty in April 2025 to the firearms offense in connection with his role in the terror plot and is awaiting sentencing. Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, entered his guilty plea as an adult and will be sentenced as an adult.

    At sentencing, Tawhedi faces a maximum penalty 20 years in prison for the material support charge and up to 15 years in prison for the firearms charge. Zada faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Upon completion of any sentence, Tawhedi and Zada will be permanently removed from the United States and barred from reentry under stipulated judicial orders of removal to Afghanistan. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Marshals Service, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Edmond Police Department, the Moore Police Department, the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma City Community College Police Department, and the Oklahoma City University Police Department, is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica L. Perry and Matt Dillon for the Western District of Oklahoma; Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett McMillian, who previously served in the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section; and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. Trial Attorney Mark Stoneman of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, who previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, also assisted with the prosecution.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Afghan National Pleads Guilty to Plotting Election Day Terror Attack in the United States

    Source: United States Attorneys General 7

    Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, a native and citizen of Afghanistan, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Oklahoma City to two terrorism-related offenses: conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a federal crime of terrorism.

    “The defendant admits he planned and obtained firearms to carry out a violent terror attack on Election Day in 2024, a plot that was detected and disrupted through the good work of the FBI and our partners,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Let this serve as notice to anyone who tries to conduct attacks in our homeland for ISIS or any other terror group: we will find you and you’ll face American justice. I want to commend the FBI teams and our partners for their hard work and success in executing the mission.”

    “Through incredible law enforcement effort and coordination, a violent terrorist attack on American soil was thwarted, and those responsible are being held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma. “I commend the outstanding work by the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and prosecutors to diligently discover, thoroughly investigate, and completely foil this terror plot. These guilty pleas serve as an emphatic reminder that the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue those who attempt to harm Americans through terrorist acts.”

    “Thanks to outstanding work by the Oklahoma City Joint Terrorism Task Force, the defendant’s plan to kill innocent Americans in a terrorist attack on Election Day was stopped,” said Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “The FBI is grateful to all who stand beside us in our fight against terrorism. Together, we will continue to safeguard our communities from those who conspire against the United States.”

    According to court documents, Tawhedi admitted that between June 2024 and October 2024 he conspired with at least one other individual to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines, with the intent to carry out a mass-casualty attack on or around Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS.  According to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in the case, Tawhedi communicated with an ISIS facilitator about his plan to purchase firearms for use in the terror plot, including asking the individual whether 500 rounds of ammunition would be sufficient.

    Tawhedi and his co-conspirator, Abdullah Haji Zada, were arrested on Oct. 7, 2024, after purchasing the firearms and ammunition from an undercover FBI employee.  Zada, 18, pleaded guilty in April 2025 to the firearms offense in connection with his role in the terror plot and is awaiting sentencing. Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, entered his guilty plea as an adult and will be sentenced as an adult.

    At sentencing, Tawhedi faces a maximum penalty 20 years in prison for the material support charge and up to 15 years in prison for the firearms charge. Zada faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Upon completion of any sentence, Tawhedi and Zada will be permanently removed from the United States and barred from reentry under stipulated judicial orders of removal to Afghanistan. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Marshals Service, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Edmond Police Department, the Moore Police Department, the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma City Community College Police Department, and the Oklahoma City University Police Department, is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica L. Perry and Matt Dillon for the Western District of Oklahoma; Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett McMillian, who previously served in the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section; and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. Trial Attorney Mark Stoneman of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, who previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, also assisted with the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Assault and threat to federal agents among 331 cases filed in SDTX in support of Operation Take Back America

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HOUSTON – A total of 332 individuals have been charged in cases filed from June 6-12 in border-security related matters, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. 

    The cases include 10 that involve human smuggling. A total of 205 people are charged with illegally entering the country, while another 109 face charges of felony reentry after prior removal. Most of those individuals have prior felonies such as narcotics, violent crime, immigration crimes and more. Other relevant cases include those involving other immigration crimes as well as an assault and threat to federal officers.

    One of those is Maria Isabel Cruz-Salas, a Mexican national who lives in San Benito. The criminal complaint alleges that while authorities were conducting a lawful immigration enforcement action at a local establishment, they encountered Cruz-Salas. When they attempted to detain Cruz-Salas, she allegedly kicked a federal agent in the face. If convicted, she faces up to eight years in prison.

    Another woman facing charges this week is Michelle Lee Varela, who allegedly threatened to shoot a federal agent in the course of his duties. Law enforcement had been requesting information regarding the status of her husband in the United States. She used profanity and threatened to shoot if they tried to take him into custody. The charges allege law enforcement advised her to consider her remarks as she had just threatened a federal agent, but she continued in an elevated voice and a threatening tone.  

    “The Southern District of Texas takes allegations of threatened violence against law enforcement very seriously,” said Ganjei. “Immigration authorities must be able to carry out their lawful duties free from violence or threats, and those that attempt to obstruct or harm such agents will be held accountable.”

    Among those also charged this week are Paulina Lopez-Bello and Juan Eliud Calva-Lopez, both Mexican nationals. According to court documents, authorities discovered fraudulent lawful permanent resident cards and Social Security documents at their residence in South Texas. According to the charges, both individuals used the counterfeit materials to secure employment in the United States. They allegedly paid $300 for the fake identification. If convicted of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents, they face up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

    Roberto Carlos Moncada-Pena, a Mexican national living in Mission, faces charges of human smuggling. The criminal complaint alleges authorities encountered Moncada-Pena during a traffic stop where they discovered three illegal aliens in the vehicle. Upon searching his apartment, law enforcement discovered 10 additional illegal aliens. If convicted, Moncada-Pena faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 possible fine.

    In addition to the new cases, also announced this week was the sentencing of four Mexican nationals, all of whom have been previously convicted of illegal reentry into the United States, among other crimes. Josue Rodriguez-Rodriguez has been removed 10 times. He now faces another 69-month federal prison sentence.  

    Jose Manuel Cruz-Diaz, Adrian Villa-Morales and Jose De Jesus Soto-Gonzalez have been removed at least twice before and have various felony convictions such as evading arrest with a motor vehicle, methamphetamine distribution, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and aggravated assault family violence. Sentences in federal court this week ranged from 21-57 months. 

    Also of note was the sentencing of a Nigerian man who had illegally resided in Houston. Omokehinde Muyiwa Oyegoke-Tewogbade and co-conspirators schemed to steal U.S. mail containing new credit cards and bank statements intended for account holders. They contacted financial institutions to activate the stolen cards, increased credit limits and altered account information. They then used the cards to purchase goods, services, gift cards, cash and merchandise at retail stores. In total, they fraudulently activated at least 120 stolen credit cards, causing an estimated $1 million in losses to Chase Bank. He is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Homeland Security Investigations, ICE – Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

    The cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations 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 and Project Safe Neighborhood.

    Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for this district. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.  

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than nine million people covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo work directly with our law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels to prosecute the suspected offenders of these and other federal crimes. 

    An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Secures $1 Million Settlement in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Lassen County Landlord

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    The owners of approximately 80 rental units in and around Susanville have agreed to pay $1 million to resolve a civil lawsuit alleging that owner Joel Lynn Nolen sexually harassed female tenants and prospective tenants for more than a decade in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The settlement resolves claims against Joel Nolen, Shirlee Nolen, and Nolen Properties LLC.

    The Department of Justice’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in February 2023, alleged that Joel Nolen’s sexual harassment included unwelcome sexual acts and unwelcome touching, demanding sexual acts to terminate eviction proceedings or forgive missed payments, unwelcome sexual comments, soliciting explicit photographs, and adverse housing actions against tenants who rejected his sexual advances.

    “Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. “My office will continue to hold accountable any landlord who enables or engages in sexual harassment or retaliation in violation of the Fair Housing Act.”

    Under the consent order, which must be approved by the court, defendants must pay $960,000 to 19 tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Joel Nolen’s harassment and a $40,000 civil penalty to the United States. The consent order permanently bars Joel and Shirlee Nolen from managing residential rental properties, requires Joel and Shirlee Nolen to hire an independent property manager, mandates training and policies to prevent future discrimination, and requires Joel and Shirlee Nolen to take steps to vacate discriminatory evictions and repair credit of tenants harmed by the harassment.

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

    The department previously reached a $100,000 settlement with several defendants who co-owned rental property with Nolen.

    If you are a victim of sexual harassment by another landlord or property manager or have suffered other forms of housing discrimination, call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 or submit a report online.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Amin and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Arielle R. L. Reid and Alan A. Martinson handled the case for the United States.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Honduran man pleads guilty, sentenced for possessing fraudulent green card

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Pedro Alexander Colindres-Hernandez, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to fraud and misuse of a visa. Colindres-Hernandez was then sentenced to time served and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fauzia K. Mattingly and Sasha Mascarenhas, who handled the case, stated that Colindres-Hernandez is an alien without any legal status in the United States. On April 10, 2025, Colindres-Hernandez was encountered in the parking lot of a store on Southwestern Boulevard in Hamburg, NY, and found to be in possession of a fraudulent alien resident card that contained his photo, which had not been lawfully issued to him by the U.S. government.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

    The plea and sentencing are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Border Patrol, under the direction of Patrol Agent in Charge Martin B. Coombs.   

    # # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ecuadorian man pleads guilty, sentenced for illegal re-entry

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Luis Castro Mayancela, 24, a citizen of Ecuador, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to re-entry after prior removal, and was sentenced to time served. Mayancela was then turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Sasha Mascarenhas, who handled the case, stated that in April 2019, Mayancela, who had no legal status in the United States, was arrested and detained by United States Border Patrol agents in Palo Pinto County, Texas. In December 2019, he was physically removed from the United States. On March 26, 2025, Mayancela was found in Genesee County. He was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Department of Homeland Security agents and did not have any documents allowing him to be legally present in the United States.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

    The plea and sentencing are the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Emergency Removal Operations, under the direction of Acting Field Office Director Steven Kurzdorfer.

    # # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Hopkinsville, Kentucky Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for Fentanyl Trafficking Conspiracy and a Supervised Release Violation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Paducah, KY – A Hopkinsville, Kentucky man was sentenced on June 11, 2025, to a total of 9 years in federal prison for conspiring to traffic in fentanyl and violating his federal supervised release.

    U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Lesley Allison of the Pittsburgh Division, and Chief Jason Newby of the Hopkinsville Police Department made the announcement.

    According to court documents, on January 12, 2024, Jamie A Harris, 47, obtained a shipment of fentanyl pills that he intended to distribute. The DEA lab confirmed the presence of more than 40 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectible amount of fentanyl.   

    As a result of his conduct, Harris was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release, for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Harris was sentenced to an additional 1 year in federal prison for a violation of his federal supervised release from a previous federal conviction.

    There is no parole in the federal system.

    This case is being investigated by the DEA Paducah Post of Duty, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Hopkinsville Police Department Special Investigations Unit.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Ann Dycus, of the U.S. Attorney’s Paducah Branch Office, prosecuted the case.

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

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cartel Enforcer Sentenced to 28 Years for Drug Trafficking and Violence

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN DIEGO – Edgar Herrera Pardo, aka Caiman, an admitted violent cartel enforcer who ordered the killing of a Tijuana police officer, was sentenced in federal court today to 28 years in prison for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.

    Herrera Pardo was indicted in the Southern District of California on April 10, 2019, as a leader of a group known as Los Cabos, which operated in Baja California to secure control of the region for Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, commonly known as CJNG, one of the most violent criminal organizations in the world. Los Cabos employed rampant violence to ensure that CJNG maintained the ability to traffic drugs through Tijuana and into the United States.

    President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 designated CJNG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the Secretary of State subsequently designated the same on February 20, 2025. Executive Order 14157 recognized that cartels such as CJNG have “engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere.” Los Cabos had a direct role in that terror, by abducting and killing enemies of CJNG, and then hanging so called “narco banners” bragging about their violence and warning others who would dare to defy the cartel.

    Herrera Pardo’s calling card was violence. According to his plea agreement and the government’s sentencing memo, the defendant admitted that:

    • On September 9, 2018, he ordered the murder of a police officer in Tijuana, telling a co-conspirator “I want a dead (body) in the Segunda (street).” He provided the co-conspirator an AR-15 and further assistance.
    • On October 5, 2018, Herrera Pardo ordered a co-conspirator to pick up cartel rivals who had provided information about CJNG to law enforcement officials.
    • On November 12, 2018, Herrera Pardo told a co-conspirator that he would send a group of enforcers to kidnap and kill rivals.
    • On November 20, 2018, Herrera Pardo discussed locating and killing former members of CJNG who had switched allegiances to a rival cartel. In all, investigators intercepted a group chat of Los Cabos – led by Herrera Pardo – wherein they discussed well over 100 murders.

    “My Day One pledge in creating our office’s Narcoterrorism Unit was to make this the District where cartel members will receive the full measure of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This cartel sicario ordered brutal killings to instill terror and crush opposition. The cartel he served earned its designation as a foreign terrorist organization for a reason: its reach and ruthlessness rivaled that of any terror group. But today, his reign of terror has come to an end.”

    “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: those who use violence and fear to advance the deadly operations of drug cartels will be held accountable,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark. “Herrera was not just a drug trafficker, he was an enforcer, a key instrument of intimidation and brutality. The DEA remains committed in its mission to dismantle these criminal networks and protect our communities from the violence and addiction they bring.”

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Narcoterrorism Unit. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Herrera Pardo.

    DEFENDANT                                               Case Number: Case Number: 19CR1274-BAS

    Edgar Herrera Pardo aka Caiman                   Age: 35                       Tijuana, Mexico

    SUMMARY OF CHARGES

    Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances for Purpose of Unlawful Importation, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 959, 960 and 963

    Maximum Penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison; $10 million fine

    Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846

    Maximum Penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison and $10 million fine

    INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

    Drug Enforcement Administration

    Homeland Security Investigations

    United States Marshals Service

    Department of Justice, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force

    Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations

    Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs

    San Diego Sheriff’s Department

    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).

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Honduran national indicted in the Eastern District of Texas for immigration violations

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SHERMAN, Texas – A Honduran man has been charged with a federal immigration violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

    Jose Mejia-Carranza, 37, was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in the Eastern District of Texas charging him with illegally reentering the United States after previously being deported.

    According to the indictment, on August 18, 2024, Mejia-Carranza was found unlawfully in Sherman after being previously deported from the United States on October 14, 2023.

    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).

    If convicted, Mejia-Carranza faces up to 20 years in federal prison and deportation.

    This case is being investigated by the Sherman Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chalana A. Oliver.

    A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Michigan Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material on a Military Base

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    A Michigan man was sentenced today to five years in prison for possessing over 41,026 images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). He was also ordered to pay $63,000 in restitution.

    According to court documents, David Mark Bartels, 38, of White Cloud, admitted to purchasing collections of CSAM while he was employed at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. Forensic review of a five-terabyte hard drive seized from Bartels revealed tens of thousands of CSAM files within the folder “NSFWNopeDont openYou were WarnedDeeper.” These files included 1,500 images and videos of 285 known victims. Bartels used the Tor browser, which allows users to surf the dark web, to access images and videos of CSAM, including content depicting bondage, domination, and sadomasochism.

    Bartels pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of possession of child pornography by a person employed by the armed forces outside of the United States.

    Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew B. Birge for the Western District of Michigan, and Special Agent in Charge Norm Dominesey of the NCIS Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

    NCIS Resident Agency Guantanamo Bay investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Doaa K. Al-Howaishy for the Western District of Michigan prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Guatemalan National Indicted for Unlawful Reentry into the United States

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CONCORD – A Guatemalan national was indicted on the charge of unlawful reentry into the United States, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack announces.

    Jorge Misael Niz, 42, a Guatemalan national unlawfully residing in Salem, was previously deported back to Guatemala on March 30, 2006.  He was located in Salem on April 27, 2025. Niz is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. He will appear in federal court at a later date.

    The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than two years in prison, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement led the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo is prosecuting the case.

    This effort 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).

    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.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Western District of Texas Adds 331 New Immigration Cases

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN ANTONIO –United States Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 331 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from June 6 through 12.

    Among the new cases, Guatemalan national Geremias Ambrocio-Vicente was arrested for illegal re-entry less than four miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso on June 8. Ambrocio-Vicente is a felon with multiple convictions including a 2020 conviction in Albany, New York for rape, and an illegal re-entry conviction in 2022 in Rio Grande City. He was previously deported on July 13, 2022, through New Orleans, Louisiana.

    The El Paso Division also filed multiple cases for charges of transporting or harboring illegal aliens. Miguel Angel Enriquez-Ramirez is a Mexican national who, according to an affidavit, admitted to working for the Transnational Criminal Organization La Linea. On June 9, he was arrested during an immigration inspection conducted by U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations at an El Paso residence. During the inspection, agents allegedly encountered a total of nine individuals—eight of whom who were determined to be citizens of Mexico, one a citizen of Guatemala, and all illegally present in the United States. The affidavit alleges that Enriquez-Ramirez admitted to getting paid $600.00 per week to harbor illegal aliens at the apartment and had been harboring between eight and 12 illegal aliens since arriving at the apartment earlier this year.

    Mexican national Ranferi Alonso-Osorio was arrested for allegedly picking up several illegal aliens in a pickup truck near the International Boundary fence and transporting them further into the U.S. Alonso-Osorio was pulled over by Texas Department of Public Safety, after which, the DPS troopers and partnered USBP agents allegedly observed seven individuals flee from the vehicle. A criminal complaint alleges that five of the individuals were quickly detained and the sixth was located and detained shortly after. The seventh individual, Alonso-Osorio, was allegedly located inside the recycling bin in the backyard of a residence. The complaint alleges that Alonso-Osorio admitted to picking up and transporting the illegal aliens and that he would be paid $50 for each alien he picked up. He also allegedly claimed to have picked up illegal aliens on about 15 previous occasions and believed he had picked up about 30 illegal aliens in total.

    In Del Rio, Salvadoran national Alberto De Jesus Moran-Mejia was arrested by USBP agents for illegal re-entry. Moran-Mejia is a twice convicted felon, with an illegal re-entry conviction in 2010 and an assault on a law enforcement officer in 2024, which coincided with a DWI conviction. He has been deported five times, the last one being to El Salvador on Aug. 30, 2024, through Washington DC.

    Mexican national Luis Cesar Carmona-Lopez is also charged with illegal re-entry, having been deported six times—the last one being to Mexico on Dec. 21, 2024, through Del Rio. Carmona-Lopez has been previously convicted for illegal re-entry felonies three times, and had also been found to have violated the terms of his felony probation in August 2024.

    Marlon Catalino Diaz-Flores, a Honduran national, was arrested in Eagle Pass and charged with illegal re-entry. He was recently removed for the fourth time on March 16 through El Paso, after being convicted in January for illegal re-entry.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

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

    Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Minnesota Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Methamphetamine Trafficking

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Xa Xiong, 32, St. Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 10 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Xiong pled guilty to this charge on February 21, 2025.

    In July 2024, investigators received information from a confidential source that a large quantity of methamphetamine was being stored inside a storage unit in Eau Claire. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the storage unit and found a backpack with about six pounds of methamphetamine inside, ultimately linked to Xiong. On July 26, 2024, Xiong sold approximately one pound of methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in Menomonie, Wisconsin. A week later, Xiong met up with the same undercover officer to sell the officer two pounds of methamphetamine and Xiong was arrested during the attempted delivery.

    At Xiong’s sentencing, Judge Conley expressed concern over the large quantity of drugs the defendant was distributing. Judge Conley remarked that it was far beyond what was necessary to support a personal drug habit.

    The charges against Xiong were the result of an investigation conducted by the West Central Drug Task Force, Eau Claire Police Department, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. The ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force also assisted with the case. The ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force consists of federal agents from ATF and Task Force Officers from state and local agencies throughout the Western District of Wisconsin. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Levins prosecuted the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Georgia Couple Arrested For Stealing More Than $1.7 Million Dollars In COVID Relief Funds

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the indictment and arrests of Earlisha Louis (44, Newnan, Georgia) and Somoza Louis (44, Newnan, Georgia) for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud related to COVID-19 relief funds. If convicted, each faces up to 30 years in federal prison on each count. Earlisha Louis is also charged with two counts of illegal monetary transactions. Each of those counts carry a maximum penalty of 3 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies the pair that the United States intends to forfeit a residence and $1,705,553.80, which are alleged to be traceable to the proceeds of the offense.

    According to the indictment, between April 2020 and June 2021, Earlisha and Somoza Louis devised a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration by submitting multiple false and fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. These programs were some of the sources of economic relief provided for by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. After receiving one of the loans, Earlisha Louis transferred more than $10,000 of the fraud proceeds between her accounts. 

    An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

    This case was investigated by the Small Business Administration – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Merrilyn E. Hoenemeyer.         

    On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by contacting the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Seven defendants charged with trafficking drugs from Lower 48 to Alaska

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned two unrelated indictments last month charging seven defendants with trafficking drugs from California and Nevada to Alaska for distribution.

    “These cases are a reminder that our office takes seriously the threat of drug traffickers targeting Alaska, and we will be relentless in working with our law enforcement partners in stopping the flow of dangerous drugs to keep Alaskans safe,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska.

    U.S. v. Miles et al.

    According to court documents, beginning in at least March 2024 and continuing through February 2025, Kinarla Miles, 67, of Highland, California, Jerome Larue, 51, of Juneau, and Edie Seslar, 60, of Juneau, allegedly conspired with each other to traffic meth to Alaska and knowingly and intentionally attempted to possess meth with intent to distribute it in Alaska.

    During the same offense period, Miles, Larue, Seslar and Travis Lind, 38, of Juneau, also allegedly conspired to launder money from their drug trafficking activity.

    Miles, Larue and Seslar face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison for their drug trafficking charges. Lind faces up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy.

    The USPIS Juneau Domicile, Juneau Police Department and Alaska State Troopers, as part of the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force (SEACAD), are investigating the case, with assistance from the USPIS San Bernadino Domicile.

    U.S. v. Rodgers et al.

    According to court documents, beginning in at least September 2024 and continuing through March 2025, Christian Rodgers, 33, of Kenai, Helmut Mey, 37, of Las Vegas, and Jonhatan Lau-Osuna, 37, of Las Vegas, conspired with each other to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in Alaska.

    Rodgers is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. At the time of the alleged conduct, Rodgers had two prior felony convictions for misconduct involving controlled substances and misconduct involving weapons in Alaska Superior Court, Kenai.

    Mey is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Lau-Osuna is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

    If convicted, all three defendants face between 10 years to life in prison.

    The charges are a result of an investigation conducted by the USPIS Anchorage Domicile, FBI Anchorage Field Office, and Alaska State Troopers through the Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Initiative’s Southcentral Area-Wide Narcotics (SCAN) team, with assistance from the Anchorage Police Department.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Caille Petursson is prosecuting these cases, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central District of California, District of Nevada and District of Idaho.

    These cases were brought as part of the Alaska Parcel Interdiction Initiative, a statewide partnership between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Alaska State Troopers and other local law enforcement to disrupt the flow of dangerous narcotics into Alaska through the mail. Together, the agencies work tirelessly to interdict suspicious U.S. Postal Service and other carriers’ parcels, with a goal of seizing narcotics before they enter communities and prosecuting those responsible for trafficking drugs to Alaska. 

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) 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 and drug trafficking. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Osceola County, Florida, Man Sentenced to More Than 16 Years for Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: US FBI

    Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed has sentenced Alex Ramon (34, Kissimmee) to 16 years and 3 months in federal prison for production of child sexual abuse material. The court also ordered Ramon to forfeit the electronic device used in the commission of the offense. Ramon pleaded guilty on March 12, 2025. 

    According to court documents, a search warrant was executed at Ramon’s residence following cyber tips related to online child sexual abuse activities, which resulted in the recovery of Ramon’s cellphone. The cellphone contained more than 450 videos and 160 images of child sexual abuse material. A further forensic examination of the device revealed that Ramon also shared links and screen-recorded live streams of child sexual abuse, producing his own child sexual abuse material. 

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Testerman and Kaley Austin-Aronson.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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.justice.gov/psc.

    MIL Security OSI –