NewzIntel.com

Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ninedee Gang Member Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Murder of Former Federal Witness

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Brooklyn Street Gang Plotted Retaliatory Murder of Shatavia Walls at the Pink Houses

    Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Quintin Green, also known as “Wild Child,” was sentenced by United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall to 35 years’ imprisonment for the murder of former federal witness Shatavia Walls in July 2020.  Green, a member of the Ninedee Gang, a violent criminal enterprise operating out of the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to causing Walls’ death through use of firearms.  Green also pleaded guilty to attempted Hobbs Act robbery for attempting to steal televisions from a Target store in Staten Island in November 2020 and was sentenced to a concurrent term of five years in prison.

    John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Leslie R. Backschies, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.

    “The calculated murder of Shatavia Walls by members and associates of the Ninedee Gang arose from a twisted desire to murder her in retaliation for her federal testimony and perceived disrespect of the gang,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “Quintin Green shot an unarmed woman in cold blood to make a name for himself in the gang, but he should be called out for what he truly is, a cowardly killer.  He deservedly will spend decades in a federal prison.  I commend the FBI special agents, the NYPD detectives and the prosecutors in my Office who worked tirelessly to dismantle this gang, achieve justice for Ms. Walls and make the Pink Houses and the surrounding area in East New York a safer place for the law-abiding residents of that community.”

    “Along with other Ninedee members, Quintin Green targeted and callously killed Shatavia Walls and then bragged across social media about his abhorrent crimes in an effort to bolster the gang’s dangerous reputation,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Backschies.  “This premeditated ambush was an unjust retributive attack against a former government witness trying to protect her community from further gang violence. May today’s sentencing reflect the FBI’s continued refusal to tolerate any attempts to intimidate those who speak out against gang violence.”

    “Today, we are bringing a cold-blooded murderer to justice,” stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch.  “Quintin Green and the Ninedee Gang terrorized their neighborhood, put children in danger, and viciously killed an unarmed woman. Let this serve as a clear message that we will go after violent gangs that break the law and cause widespread harm and fear. I thank the NYPD detectives and the prosecutors in this case for their tireless work to hold these perpetrators accountable.”

    As set forth in [the government’s sentencing memorandum and other court filings], Green and other members of the Ninedee Gang targeted Walls for murder because she testified against a Ninedee Gang member in federal court in Brooklyn in 2019, had a confrontation with Ninedee Gang members who were setting fireworks off near children on July 4, 2020 and her affiliation with the rival “7” and “8” Pink House apartment buildings.  For those reasons, she was considered by the gang to be a high-value target. The defendant became known as “Wild Child” due to his reputation for violence and, in order to earn status in the gang, boasted about his willingness to shoot rivals.  He was one of two shooters who gunned Walls down on July 7, 2020.

    Further, as proven at the trial of Green’s co-defendant, Ninedee Gang leader Maliek Miller, Ninedee Gang members were affiliated with the “5” and “6” Pink Houses apartment buildings and engaged in ongoing gang-related violence within and outside of the New York City Housing Authority complex.  Ninedee Gang protected its turf through violence and sought to silence anyone who they perceived to be working with law enforcement. 

    The murder of Walls was coordinated by Ninedee Gang members, including Green.  Prior to her court testimony, fliers had been posted around the Pink Houses stating, “Shatavia Been a Rat And She Still Ratting.” 

    On July 4, 2020, Walls and others were involved in a physical altercation with members of Ninedee for lighting fireworks around young children.  Miller went to the scene of the altercation, called Walls a “snitch,” fought with her and fired a gunshot.  Following the altercation, Miller planned with other Ninedee Gang members, including Green, to kill Walls.

    On July 7, 2020, Walls was spotted by Green and his co-defendant Joe Santana.  Green and Santana began shooting at her.  Green then chased Walls down a path at the Pink Houses, continuing to shoot her. Walls suffered numerous gunshot wounds and died of her injuries 10 days later. 

    Co-defendant Shakur Bey destroyed the clothing that Green and Santana wore during the shooting by throwing the items down an incinerator chute. Co-defendant Kevin Wint, who was not present at the murder, rented a hotel room at a Best Western Hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport to provide a place where Green and others could hide out overnight.  In the days after the murder, Green and Wint posted to social media claiming credit to the Ninedee Gang for the killing.   

    Miller was convicted in June 2024 of murder in-aid of racketeering and faces a mandatory term of life in prison when he is sentenced.  Santana and Fernandez pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder. Santana was sentenced to 22 years in prison and Fernandez is awaiting sentencing.  Wint pleaded guilty in March 2023 and was sentenced to 110 months’ imprisonment. Bey pleaded guilty in December 2023 and was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment.  Ninedee leader Raquel Dunton is charged with acting as an accessory after-the-fact to Walls’ murder and obstruction of justice for assisting fellow gang members in concealing evidence of the crime.  Dunton is also charged with trafficking cocaine and is awaiting trial.

    In addition to the murder, Green pleaded guilty to attempting to commit a November 3, 2020 robbery of a Staten Island Target store. Green attempted to steal two flat- screen televisions and was stopped by a security guard. Green punched the security guard causing her to fall and attempted to flee with one of the two televisions. He was arrested by police after fleeing the scene.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.  Assistant United States  Attorneys Emily J. Dean, Margi Schierberl and Irisa Chen are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Reed and Intelligence Analysts Eungee Hwang and Ashley Hinkson.

    The Defendant:

    QUINTIN GREEN (also known as “Wild Child”)
    Age: 24
    Brooklyn, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-331 (LDH)

    Defendant Convicted at Trial:

    MALIEK MILLER
    Age: 31
    Brooklyn, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-331 (LDH)

    Defendants Who Previously Pleaded Guilty:

    JOE SANTANA (also known as “Baby Joe”)
    Age: 20
    Brooklyn, New York

    CHAYANNE FERNANDEZ (also known as “White Boy”)
    Age: 24
    Brooklyn, New York

    KEVIN WINT (also known as “Kev G”)
    Age: 31
    Brooklyn, New York

    SHAKUR BEY (also known as “Speedy”)
    Age: 27
    Brooklyn, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-331 (LDH)

    Defendant Awaiting Trial:

    RAQUEL DUNTON (also known as “Rah”)
    Age: 38
    Brooklyn, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-344 (LDH)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Tech companies can play key roles in making rural healthcare safer

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Tech companies can play key roles in making rural healthcare safer

    A new report on how Microsoft is helping rural communities protect critical healthcare infrastructure

    Last year, Microsoft launched its Cybersecurity for Rural Hospitals Program an initiative designed to help protect access to healthcare for the 46 million people living in rural America. Funded through a philanthropic investment, the program now has more than 550 rural hospitals, nearly one-third of all US rural hospitals, participating to receive free cybersecurity assessments, cybersecurity training, Microsoft security product discounts, and AI solutions designed to promote hospital resiliency.  

    Today, we are releasing a new white paper sharing what we’ve learned in the last year, including insights on the current cybersecurity landscape for rural health and the role technology companies can play. Our goal with this program is to address both the immediate cyber risks facing these critical community resources as well as broader systemic challenges facing rural health.   

    Click here to read the Microsoft report 

    Rural hospitals are a cornerstone of healthcare in communities across the United States, providing critical services for roughly 14% of the U.S. population. The need to support rural hospitals is immense. These hospitals are often the only healthcare option for over 50 miles in the communities they serve. A cyberattack that disrupts care for weeks or months in these isolated settings can have a devastating impact and endanger human lives. When a rural hospital’s IT systems go down, patients often need to travel even longer distances for medical care. Long travel distances for healthcare are directly associated with higher mortality rates, particularly for time-sensitive conditions like heart attacks and strokes. 

    The rural health cybersecurity landscape

    According to an FBI report, the healthcare sector reported more ransomware attacks in 2023 than any of the other critical infrastructure areas in the study. Given the highly sensitive personal data involved, healthcare is a rich target for increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals and nation-state threat actors launching cyberattacks. According to a recent report based on a survey of 402 healthcare organizations, 67% experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, with the average admitted ransom payment amounting to $4.4 million.  

    And while larger hospitals can often pay ransoms to avoid patient care disruptions, ransomware attacks pose a particular threat to rural hospitals who operate with much smaller operational teams and financial margins. Rural hospitals are prime targets for these attacks due to their often-limited resources and legacy technology. For rural hospitals, a ransomware attack may represent a tipping point toward closure, impacting not just the hospital, but the communities they serve with potentially life-threatening consequences.  

    As we’ve worked with these hospitals in the last year, our goal has been to help create strong security not just through our products but to also help address specific practice needs and identify broader systemic issues. For example, early on, we found most rural hospitals hadn’t implemented basic cybersecurity best practices, such as email security and multi-factor authentication. By delivering a holistic solution that includes free assessment, curated learning pathways for employees, and non-profit pricing for Critical Access and Rural Emergency Hospitals, we can help these hospitals to be less vulnerable to common threats and ultimately, better serve their communities.  

    Supporting rural health resilience

    With the release of today’s white paper, we hope to increase awareness and understanding of these issues and drive more collaboration between technology companies, policymakers, and healthcare providers to enhance the cybersecurity resilience of rural hospitals.  

    In the coming months, Microsoft will continue to expand efforts to support rural hospitals, ensuring they have the tools and resources needed to mitigate cyber threats and enhance their overall resilience. Leveraging AI for greater efficiency—by streamlining and automating some hospital processes—is just one way we are looking to provide support.   

    By addressing both immediate cybersecurity risks and broader systemic challenges, we can help ensure that rural hospitals remain a vital part of the healthcare ecosystem, providing essential services to millions of Americans. 

    Tags: AI, cybersecurity, healthcare, Microsoft Cybersecurity Program, Rural America, Rural Hospitals

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Nigerian Man Extradited to the United States to Face Computer Intrusion and Theft Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Defendant allegedly conspired to use stolen taxpayer information to file over 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking millions of dollars in tax refunds

    BOSTON – A Nigerian national living in Mexico has been extradited to the United States for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and to file fraudulent tax returns.

    Matthew A. Akande, 36, was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of the United States and extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025. He appeared in federal court in Boston today. Akande was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 with one count of conspiracy to obtain unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud and to commit theft of government money and money laundering; one count of wire fraud; four counts of unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud; 13 counts of theft of government money; and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft.

    Co-conspirator, Kehinde H. Oyetunji, 33, a Nigerian national living in North Dakota, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to one count of conspiracy to obtain unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud and to commit theft of government money and money laundering. Oyetunji’s sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

    Between in or about June 2016 and June 2021, Akande, Oyetunji and others are alleged to have worked together to steal money from the United States government using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in the taxpayers’ names. In addition, between in or about February 2020, the scheme involved stealing taxpayers’ PII from Massachusetts tax preparation firms via phishing attacks and computer intrusions.

    To carry out the scheme, Akande is alleged to have caused fraudulent phishing emails to be sent to five Massachusetts tax preparation firms. The emails purported to be from a prospective client seeking the tax preparation firms’ services but in truth were used to trick the firms into downloading remote access trojan malicious software (RAT malware), including malware known as Warzone RAT. Akande allegedly used the RAT malware to obtain the PII and prior year tax information of the tax preparation firms’ clients, which Akande then used to cause fraudulent tax returns to be filed seeking refunds. The tax returns directed that the fraudulent tax refunds be deposited in bank accounts allegedly opened by Oyetunji and others. Once the refunds were issued, Oyetunji and others withdrew the stolen money in cash in the United States and then transferred a portion to third parties in Mexico, allegedly at Akande’s direction, while keeping a portion for themselves. In total, Akande and his coconspirators are alleged to have filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years. They are alleged to have successfully obtained over $1.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

    Federal authorities encourage all businesses that suspect they have been the target and/or victim of a cyberattack to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. Taxpayers and tax preparation firms that suspect they have been the target and/or victim of a phishing attack can also forward phishing email(s) to phishing@irs.gov.

    The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of unauthorized access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of theft of government money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with authorities in the United Kingdom to secure the extradition of Akande. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Five People Convicted in $1 Million Fraud Scheme Involving Elderly Victims

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

    TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Five defendants who participated in a conspiracy and a fraud scheme involving 401(k) accounts of elderly retired Florida school district employees have been convicted after three defendants pleaded guilty and two defendants were found guilty by a federal jury.  Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the convictions of the following defendants:

    Evidence presented at trial and court records show that the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to steal retirement funds from participants in a retirement 401(k) savings program comprised largely of Florida school district employees or prior employees. Between January 2022, and March 2022, Vargas, who worked for the company handling the retirement fund, conspired with the other defendants to have fraudulent withdraw forms faxed to the company requesting that the victims’ retirement funds be transferred to accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy.  In total, the conspirators withdrew and attempted to withdraw retirement funds from 25 different 401(k) accounts, resulting in a net total of $1.1 million being stolen. Evidence presented at trial also established that Bostic was engaging in money laundering with the stolen funds. 

    Sentencing hearings for all defendants are scheduled for April 28, 2025, beginning at 10:00 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle. All defendants face up to 20 years’ imprisonment and up to three years on supervised release for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. Vargas, Levy, Grace Aguebor, and Bostic face a mandatory minimum sentence of two years imprisonment—consecutive to any other prison sentence imposed by the court.

    These convictions were the result of a joint investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.

    If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.

    More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints can be filed with the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, at www.ovc.gov.

    The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Role in International Money Laundering Conspiracy

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

    BOSTON – A Brooklyn, N.Y. man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with his role in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organization.

    Rongjian Li, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for June 5, 2025.

    In May 2023, Li was among 12 individuals from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and California charged in a superseding indictment for their alleged involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organization led by Jin Hua Zhang. The investigation revealed that, for a fee, Zhang laundered bulk cash for drug dealers and laundered profits from other illegal businesses. In less than a year, Zhang and his organization laundered at least $25 million worth of drug proceeds and funds from other illegal businesses through undercover agents. Funds were eventually traced to, and seized from, accounts in Hong Kong and elsewhere in China, India, Cambodia and Brazil, among other locations.

    The investigation identified Li as a member of the money laundering conspiracy who, from 2021 through 2022, used his position as a Bank of America employee to knowingly open several accounts through which the organization laundered illicit funds. Li was also aware that some of the accounts were opened using fraudulent passports. As part of his involvement, when the bank’s financial auditing systems flagged or froze accounts for suspicious activity, Li helped Zhang circumvent the bank’s anti-money laundering protocols and move illicit funds elsewhere. In addition, Li was observed sitting next to Zhang at a dinner in New York, where Zhang discussed the different fee percentages he charged various criminal groups for drug trafficking and scams.

    Zhang pleaded guilty in September 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2025.

    The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater. 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.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl, Brian A. Fogerty and Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Baldwinsville Man Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Kenneth Koegel, Jr. Had a Prior Conviction for Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree Involving a 6-Year-Old

    SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Kenneth Koegel, Jr., 40, of Baldwinsville, New York was sentenced today to 45 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release following his conviction by guilty plea to seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of commission of a felony offense involving a minor by a registered sex offender, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of receipt of child pornography. Acting United States Attorney Daniel Hanlon and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement.

    As part of his prior guilty plea, Koegel admitted that he was convicted in 2004 in Monroe County Court of sexual abuse in the first degree for exposing his penis to a 6-year-old girl in a public park and touching her vagina with his hand and that he was required to register as a sex offender because of that conviction. He then admitted that, starting in or about 2014 and continuing until October 2022, he sexually abused a girl from the time she was approximately 2 years old until she was approximately 9 years old. During that time, Koegel created numerous sexually explicit images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of his victim, including Koegel subjecting her to multiple sex acts. He also used a social messaging application to distribute the material he produced to someone else, with whom he also traded thousands of other child pornography files.

    In addition to the 45-year imprisonment term and lifetime supervision, the district court also ordered Koegel to pay $12,000 in restitution and a $1,000 special assessment. Koegel will have to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.

    This case was investigated by the FBI’s Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force – comprised of FBI Special Agents and state and local police investigators, including from the New York State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Gadarian and Adrian S. LaRochelle as part of Project Safe Childhood.

    Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Executive of Chicago-Area Non-Profit Pleads Guilty in $1.8 Million Fraud Scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHICAGO — A former executive of a Chicago-area non-profit organization has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge for her role in misappropriating $1.8 million intended to support the charity’s work with underprivileged youth.

    BARBARA HARRIS served as the Executive Director of the Center for Community Academic Success Partnerships (CCASP), which received government grants and other funds to provide after-school programs to schools in the Chicago area.  The grants included funds from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, a federal program offering financial support for academic enrichment opportunities.  The 21st Century program issued grants to its local administrator, the Illinois State Board of Education, which in turn disbursed the funds to CCASP.

    Harris stated in a plea agreement that from 2012 to 2017, she schemed with another CCASP executive, TONY BELL, to submit grant applications that inflated CCASP’s projected annual expenses and falsely claimed that the organization would receive services from five subcontractors.  In reality, Harris knew that the subcontractors, two of which were other non-profit groups run by Harris and Bell, provided no actual services to CCASP.  The fraud scheme resulted in approximately $1.8 million in actual loss to the Illinois Department of Education.

    Harris further admitted in the plea agreement that from 2021 to 2023, she participated in a separate fraud scheme that bilked the federally funded AmeriCorps VISTA program, which awarded grants to non-profit organizations working to bring communities out of poverty.  Harris, who at the time of this scheme was serving as Co-Executive Director of the non-profit South Suburban Community Services, submitted grant applications falsely representing that VISTA members would work for SSCS developing programs aimed at bringing economic opportunities to the south suburbs of Chicago. Harris knew that the VISTA members would actually be used at SSCS to support already-funded job training and afterschool violence prevention programs.  Harris fraudulently obtained approval for eleven VISTA members to work at SSCS, none of whom performed services in accordance with their VISTA assignment descriptions, causing a loss to the VISTA program of $98,699.

    Harris, 55, of South Holland, Ill., pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2025, to a wire fraud charge.  U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood set sentencing for July 11, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.

    Harris’s guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John F. Woolley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Midwestern Regional Office, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Ramsey Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Stephen Ravas, Acting Inspector General of the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General.  The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General provided valuable assistance.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen Totten and Caitlin Walgamuth.

    Bell, 64, of Matteson, Ill., has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud.  He is awaiting trial.  The public is reminded that the indictment against Bell is not evidence of guilt.  Bell is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Florida businessman sentenced for migrant labor employment scheme, payroll tax evasion, worker death

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    WASHINGTON — A Florida man was sentenced Feb. 20 to 48 months in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $5.5 million to the United States as well as forfeit numerous real properties and cash, and to pay over $55 million in restitution for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and willful violation of a workplace standard that resulted in the death of his employee following a joint agency investigation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Manual Domingos Pita, of Wesley Chapel, previously pleaded guilty to those charges on July 9, 2024.

    According to court documents, Pita owned and operated Domingos 54 Construction, a subcontracting business for the wood framing of new construction homes. Domingos 54 was a shell construction company that Pita used to provide workers, including undocumented aliens, with construction jobs. However, Pita failed to secure the required workers compensation insurance coverage for these employees by falsifying in worker’s compensation insurance applications the number of workers for which he sought coverage. In addition, Pita failed to pay any federal employment taxes on the wages that these workers earned during the course of the scheme between 2018 and 2022. As a result, Pita caused several worker’s compensation insurance companies to sustain a loss of over $22.7 million in premiums that they could have charged had they been aware of the number of workers which they had been manipulated into covering with their policies. In addition, Pita failed to pay to the IRS over $33.7 million in federal employment taxes on those workers’ wages.

    Between February and July 2019, investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued six citations to Domingos 54 for failure to provide fall protection to workers. Even after being cited for these violations, Pita continued to ignore OSHA requirements. In March 2020, Pita assigned a worker and three other carpenters to install sheeting on the roof of a residential home in windy conditions without providing the required fall-protection gear or ensuring its use. As a result, one of the workers was blown off the roof and died from his injuries.

    The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, ICE Tampa, Florida Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Insurance Fraud-Criminal Investigations and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay L. Hoffer for the Middle District of Florida and Senior Trial Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Newark worksite enforcement operation results in 16 arrests

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    NEWARK, N.J. — On Feb. 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel joined U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Port of New York/Newark in conducting an unannounced inspection of a CBP-bonded warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey, to ensure individuals working in government-regulated facilities were lawfully present and permitted to work in the United States. ICE and CBP worked alongside the FBI Newark Field Office, DEA New Jersey Division, and ATF, to ensure that all facility personnel were acting in compliance with U.S. employment laws.

    This operation resulted in the discovery of 16 individuals who were present in the U.S. illegally. The individuals were apprehended and placed under administrative arrest.

    “This operation underscores HSI’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding the integrity of our trade infrastructure and, in turn, the wellbeing of the public at-large,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Newark Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “ICE HSI Newark is proud to stand side-by-side with our law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our neighborhoods and our livelihoods.”

    “In the current threat climate, enforcement efforts like this are critical,” added CBP Acting Port Director Jeffrey Greene. “Holding our trade industry partners accountable provides a baseline for operational proficiency.  This baseline allows us to be laser focused on our broader enforcement efforts — keeping bad actors and bad things from harming our country.”

    Additionally, this operation was conducted in part to determine whether imported merchandise was properly secured. Unannounced inspections serve to identify unauthorized manipulations of commercial merchandise within bonded areas, noncompliance with customs regulations, and unauthorized access by employees who lack the authority to access the bonded areas.

    ICE is the federal agency responsible for upholding the laws established by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which requires employers to verify the identity and work eligibility of all individuals they hire. These laws help protect jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed, eliminate unfair competitive advantages for companies that hire an illegal workforce, and strengthen public safety and national security.

    Under federal law, employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all individuals they hire, and to document that information using the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. ICE uses the I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law, part of a comprehensive strategy to address and deter illegal employment. Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government uses to ensure that businesses are complying with U.S. employment laws.

    ICE’s worksite enforcement strategy includes leveraging the agency’s other investigative disciplines, since worksite investigations can often involve additional criminal activity, such as alien smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, document fraud, worker exploitation and/or substandard wage and working conditions.

    ICE uses a three-pronged approach to worksite enforcement: compliance, from I-9 inspections, civil fines and referrals for debarment; enforcement, through the criminal arrest of employers and administrative arrest of unauthorized workers.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley, McConnell Introduce Legislation to Enhance Accountability at Federal Prisons

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reintroduced the Federal Prisons Accountability Act. The legislation would bring greater accountability to federal prisons by requiring the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to be confirmed by the Senate. Currently, the BOP Director is not subject to Senate confirmation, despite having significant authority over taxpayer dollars and federal personnel.
    “The Director of the Bureau of Prisons oversees a massive budget and thousands of employees, including many Iowans. It’s a significant responsibility that requires serious oversight to protect inmates and employees from mismanagement or abuse. Requiring the BOP Director to face Senate confirmation would bring much needed transparency and accountability to the federal prison system,” Grassley said.
    “The Senate plays a vital role in staffing the federal government, evaluating the qualifications of more than a thousand presidential nominees to ensure transparency and accountability. The Director of the Bureau of Prisons oversees thousands of employees and a multi-billion-dollar budget, and should be subject to Senate review and confirmation as well. Our bill would extend the Senate’s advice and consent role to the Bureau of Prisons Director and expand supervision over this federal agency. The thousands of Americans – and hundreds of Kentuckians – employed by the Bureau of Prisons deserve Senate oversight and an added layer of protection from harm,” McConnell said.
    Background:
    The Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2025 would require the President to appoint the BOP Director with the advice and consent of the Senate. The legislation would also limit a BOP Director’s tenure to a single, 10-year term.
    Unlike most Department of Justice (DOJ) administrators and directors, the BOP Director is appointed by the Attorney General – not the President – without Senate consideration. The BOP Director supervises the federal prison employees who serve in over 120 facilities across the country. This legislation would subject the Director to the same congressional scrutiny as other top law enforcement agency chiefs within the DOJ, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives Director and the Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Report Reveals Obama-Biden State Department’s Refusal to Exact Justice Against Iranian Terrorists

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released investigative findings detailing the full scope of the Obama-Biden State Department’s pervasive obstruction of FBI law enforcement efforts before, during and after the Iran Nuclear Deal negotiations. According to legally protected whistleblower disclosures, FBI arrest efforts against high-level Iranian targets were severely hampered until President Trump took office in 2016; Trump’s election “result[ed] in an immediate move back toward normal enforcement of the law against the Iran regime and its supporters.”
    “This report offers chilling evidence the Obama-Biden administration jeopardized our national security and demoralized the morale of FBI agents who were working to keep Americans safe,” Grassley said. “Democrats’ historic refusal to get tough on Iran emboldened its regime and allowed Tehran to continue funding global acts of terrorism, like what we saw on October 7, 2023. We should all be breathing a sigh of relief President Trump is back in the White House to restore American strength on the world stage and hold Iran accountable for its evil acts.”
    Per a legally protected whistleblower disclosure: “The State Department and Obama-Biden administration officials persistently and systematically derailed criminal and national security investigations, creating a shadow amnesty program that protected scores of additional Iranian criminals. FBI offices abandoned dozens of Iran-related investigations and U.S. Attorneys shut down prosecutions after recognizing the State Department and DOJ obstruction would thwart effective enforcement efforts.”
    Read Grassley’s staff report HERE.
    Findings:
    Unclassified FBI email records show the State Department, under the leadership of then-Secretary of State John Kerry, repeatedly blocked FBI officials from executing arrests on individuals involved in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Per an FBI official, in at least once instance, “Secretary of State [Kerry] personally told DOJ officials that they were to stand down on an arrest.” Kerry’s actions flew in the face of his sworn testimony to Congress; ahead of the Iran Nuclear Deal’s signing, Kerry promised Congress the deal would not prevent the U.S. from using its authorities to hold Iran accountable “for terrorism, human rights, missiles or any other non-nuclear reason.” 

    FBI officials elevated their concerns regarding the State Department’s obstruction to the highest rungs of DOJ leadership – including then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch – to no avail. As arrest opportunities passed, one FBI official wrote, “We are all beside ourselves on asking the field to stand down on a layup arrest, however as it stands right now we all have to sit back and wait until all the US and Iran negotiations resolve themselves.”

    A State Department official characterized the absurdity of the Obama-Biden administration’s inactive law enforcement posture, writing to an FBI official, “it’s a little like WTF that [the arrest is] being held up (if you’ll excuse the phrasing). However it is what it is.”

    Ultimately, FBI officials resigned to take steps documenting the State Department’s stonewalling “should there ever be a special investigation/hearing etc. on why FBI could not action law, and potentially prevent [a] national security incident.”

    The Biden-Harris administration last year failed to muster a response to Grassley’s initial findings regarding this obstruction. Today’s report provides the fullest public account of the Obama-Biden State Department’s unlawful actions.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: United States Attorney Durham Launches the Eastern District of New York’s Transnational Criminal Organizations Strike Force

    Source: United States Department of Justice (Human Trafficking)

    Strike Force Focuses on Dismantling Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations

    U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York John J. Durham announced today the creation and launch of the Eastern District of New York’s Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) Strike Force. Capitalizing on the Office’s preeminence in this area, the Strike Force will focus on investigating, prosecuting and dismantling cartels and TCOs, and their senior leadership by bringing charges that include terrorism, racketeering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise.

    “I am establishing this Strike Force with immense pride in what this Office has already accomplished, as well as the knowledge that there is much more work to be done in the fight against TCOs,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “Because of my Office’s significant experience and expertise in this area, we have a responsibility to our community and our country to dismantle these ruthless organizations from the top down in order to stop the violence, flow of drugs, and dangers they unleash in our District and across the nation.”

    For more than two decades, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has been a nationwide leader in prosecuting many of the most significant TCOs in the country and the world, including innovative indictments of the highest-ranking international leaders of the La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Sinaloa Cartel, Guadalajara Cartel, Juarez Cartel, H-2 Drug Cartel, Clan de Golfo and others.  In addition, this Office has investigated and prosecuted numerous other TCOs that have a significant operating presence in our district, including the Trinitarios, 18th Street and, more recently, Tren de Aragua (TdA). Notably, United States Attorney Durham has been at the forefront of these prosecutions, leading and serving on the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force Subcommittee for MS-13 and directing Joint Task Force Vulcan, while other AUSAs in the Office have served on the subcommittees for Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) Cartel, Hezbollah and Clan de Golfo.

    Consistent with the Attorney General’s memorandum titled “TOTAL ELIMINATION OF CARTELS AND TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS” issued on February 5, 2025, which provided further guidance regarding President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order regarding TCOs such as TdA and MS-13, the Strike Force’s mission is as follows:

    • Investigating, prosecuting and dismantling cartels and TCOs, with a particular focus on their senior leadership and management, including without limitation: Mexican drug cartels such as the Sinaloa, H-2, Juarez, CJNG and Clan de Golfo cartels, and TCOs that have a significant operating presence in the District, such as MS-13, the Trinitarios, the 18th Street gang and TdA.   

    • Disrupting the criminal activities of TCOs, particularly those operating in the United States and/or that impact United States victims at home or abroad, including TCOs engaged in criminal activity involving terrorism; racketeering; drug trafficking, particularly with respect to fentanyl and fentanyl precursors; violent crime; human trafficking and smuggling; corruption of foreign officials; money laundering; immigration crimes; and fraud and cybercrime schemes.

    • Identifying the sources and methods of illicit funds related to TCO financing and profits, and seizing and forfeiting bank accounts, digital assets, real property and other assets that are criminally derived, commingled with criminal proceeds, or otherwise involved in money laundering by or in support of TCOs.

    • Coordinating the investigative efforts of the Office’s federal law enforcement partners in the Eastern District and beyond, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, United States Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service, as well as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program (HIDTA), state and local police departments and district attorneys’ offices.

    • Strengthening the Office’s partnerships and coordination with other Department of Justice components, including the National Security Division, Criminal Division, Joint Task Force Vulcan, Joint Task Force 10-7, Joint Task Force Alpha, OCDETF, MLARS, NDDS, OIA and other United States Attorney’s Offices. 

    The Chief of the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section Francisco J. Navarro has been selected to serve as Director of the EDNY TCO Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan E. Farrell and Gabriel Park have been selected as Deputy Directors.  In addition, the Strike Force will have at least one representative from each section of the Office’s Criminal Division to capitalize on existing experience, coordinate strategic focus and maximize resources to make an even more significant impact combatting TCOs. The Strike Force will also include OCDETF-designated AUSAs, Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) coordinators, as well as a designated representative from the Civil Division to ensure the Strike Force leverages civil remedies as appropriate.  The Strike Force will also coordinate closely with the Office’s Immigration Enforcement Working Group.

    Francisco J. Navarro

    AUSA Navarro joined the Department in 2013 and the Office in 2018 after serving as an AUSA in the District of New Jersey.  He has been in charge of INML since April 2023.  He received his B.A. from Boston University and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

    AUSA Navarro has prosecuted several significant narcotics, national security and material support cases.  He has also prosecuted significant white collar cases involving sanctions evasion, money laundering and the Bank Secrecy Act.  For example,  AUSA Navarro is part of the team prosecuting Rafael Caro Quintero for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, including his role in the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.  He is also leading the team prosecuting Ismael Zambada Garcia (aka “El Mayo”) for his founding and two-decade leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel—a continuing criminal enterprise—and one of the most violent and powerful drug cartels in the world.  In United States v. Usuga David, et al., he led the team that obtained a 45-year prison sentence against Dairo Usuga David (aka “Otoniel”) who was the supreme leader of the Clan del Golfo and was considered the most dangerous narco-terrorist in Colombia since Pablo Escobar.  AUSA Navarro also led the team that obtained the first indictments in the nation against Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and employees for importing fentanyl precursors into the United States and working with Mexican cartels to manufacture and distribute fentanyl in the United States.  In addition, AUSA Navarro is also leading the prosecution of Mohammad Bazzi, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and financier for Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization on sanctions evasion and money laundering charges.  AUSA Navarro has been involved in multiple prosecutions of individuals and institutions for failing to follow United States laws regarding maintaining effective anti-money laundering programs, the prohibition on the provision of material support to designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, or other financial regulations.

    Megan E. Farrell

    AUSA Farrell joined the Office in 2018, and currently serves in the Office’s Long Island Criminal Section.  She is one of the Office’s Human Trafficking Coordinators and previously served as an Acting Deputy Chief in the Office’s General Crimes Section.  She received her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from St. John’s University.

    AUSA Farrell has prosecuted significant organized crime, gang and sex trafficking cases during her time in the Office.  In United States v. Canales-Rivera et al. and United States v. Arevalo-Chavez et al., she is part of the team prosecuting the highest-ranking members of MS-13’s international command and control structure, including the body known as the Ranfla Nacional, with charges that include conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narco-terrorism conspiracy.  In United States v. Alexi Saenz et al., AUSA Farrell was part of a team that secured the convictions of two MS-13 defendants to racketeering and other charges in connection with eight murders.  In United States v. Blanco et al., she was a member of the team that secured the convictions of three high-ranking MS-13 gang members to racketeering charges in connection with nine murders.  In United States v. Escobar, AUSA Farrell was part of the team that secured a sentence of 50 years after the defendant was convicted on April 8, 2022, following a four-week trial, of racketeering, including predicate acts of murder, conspiracy to murder rival gang members, and obstruction of justice and murder in aid-of racketeering, in relation to the deaths of four young men who were hacked to death with machetes and other sharp objects by  more than a dozen MS-13 members and associates after Escobar lured them to a local park in 2017.  In United States v. Lampley-Reid, AUSA Farrell was part of the team leading to a Bloods gang member being sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors.  Additionally, AUSA Farrell is part of the team charging former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and two other individuals with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

    Gabriel Park

    AUSA Park joined the Office in 2022 after serving in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps.  He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and clerked for the Honorable Dora L. Irizarry.  He currently serves in the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.

    AUSA Park has prosecuted significant violent organized crime and gang cases.  In United States v. Yu, he was part of the prosecution team that convicted two defendants who were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder-for-hire scheme of a perceived business rival, and in the related case United States v. Abreu, AUSA Park was on the prosecution team that convicted a third defendant for his role in the murder-for-hire scheme.  In United States v. Thompson, AUSA Park was on the prosecution team that convicted a Long Island man who was later sentenced to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking, distribution of fentanyl that resulted in a death and illegal possession of firearms.    

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Dallas arrests foreign fugitive wanted in his home country for rape

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    DALLAS – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Dieudonne Ishimwe, 38, a Rwandan foreign fugitive wanted for rape, in Fort Worth, March 3.

    Ishimwe was served with a notice to appear following an arrest warrant issued by the government of his home country for rape.

    “Foreign fugitives who attempt to evade responsibility for their criminal actions should take heed that we will find them,” said ICE Enforcement and Removals Operations Dallas acting Field Office Director Josh Johnson. “ICE will work relentlessly with our state, local and federal law enforcement partners by arresting and removing those who threaten the public safety of our communities.”

    Ishimwe was residing in Fort Worth without authorization prior to his arrest. The FBI assisted in the apprehension.

    Ishimwe entered the United States legally but violated the terms of his admission. The Prosecutor General of Rwanda issued a warrant for his arrest for rape Oct. 29, 2024.  

    He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

    Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

    For more news and information on ICE ERO’s efforts to enforce our nation’s immigration laws follow us on X at @ @ERODallas.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cornyn on President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement on President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress:

    “Tonight, President Trump laid out his vision to renew the American dream, which he is already putting into action at an unprecedented pace. In just over six weeks, the President has made historic strides to reduce illegal immigration, cut waste and fraud, get our economy back on track, and restore American dominance on the world stage. Nowhere is this success more apparent than our southern border, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection are reporting record low crossings. That’s called deterrence, and Texans are safer for it.

    “President Trump delivered a message of peace, prosperity, and strength in tonight’s address, which was a welcome change after four years of failure and weakness under Joe Biden. I look forward to continuing to work alongside President Trump and my colleagues in Congress to enact his America First agenda and fulfill his promises to the American people.”

    Sen. Cornyn has voted to confirm all of President Trump’s nominees in both his first and second administrations, including Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary, Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, and Kash Patel as FBI Director. Additionally, Sen. Cornyn supported the Laken Riley Act, the first bill to be signed into law in President Trump’s second term, which included his amendment to require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants who assault a member of law enforcement. He is also a member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate DOGE Caucus, where he is focused on rooting out fraud and reining in spending.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced to 2 1/2 Years in Prison for Gun Crime Related to Road Rage Incident

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A convicted felon has been sentenced for illegal possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

    U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie Axon sentenced David Lee Hooker, 53, to 30 months in prison.  In November 2024, Hooker pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a road rage incident in Jefferson County.

    This sentence sends a clear message that violent and reckless behavior on our roads will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who threaten the safety of our communities and endanger innocent lives.”

    “The safety of our communities is a priority,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples, Birmingham Division. “The strong collaboration between FBI Birmingham and our state and local law enforcement partners works as a force multiplier to remove violent offenders from the communities we protect and serve.”

    According to the plea agreement, on April 4, 2023, Hooker was involved in a road rage incident at the intersection of Bessemer Road and BY Williams Sr. Drive. Hooker’s vehicle remained stationary during two cycles of the traffic light, and the individual in the vehicle behind Hooker continued to blow their horn.  When Hooker made a left turn, he pulled to the right side of the roadway. As the driver of the second vehicle drove by, Hooker drove up beside the vehicle and pointed a firearm at the driver.  The driver of the second vehicle then pulled into a nearby parking lot. Hooker followed the driver into the parking lot where he got out of his vehicle and proceeded to walk toward the second vehicle.  A Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office Task Force Officer witnessed this and activated his emergency lights to intervene. Hooker placed the firearm into his front pocket and raised his hands above his head.  The officer recovered a Smith &Wesson 9mm pistol from Hooker.     

    The FBI investigated the case along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Keown, Sr., prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 12 men sentenced for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, marijuana in Tennessee, California

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Twelve members of a drug trafficking conspiracy were sentenced to more than 70 years combined for their roles in conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances in middle Tennessee and elsewhere following a joint investigation with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Nashville.

    According to court documents, around 2022, agents with ICE Nashville, FBI, and Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating large shipments of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills that were inscribed “M30,” methamphetamine, and marijuana that someone was shipping to Tennessee and approximately 16 other states from California.

    Agents reviewed shipping materials, monitored social media accounts, and conducted surveillance before identifying Matthew Cox as the individual who was shipping these packages to members of the drug trafficking conspiracy. In their messages on social media applications and phones, the defendants discussed drug prices, drug shipments, and quality of the drugs. One defendant, Quortez Duncan, told Cox that he wanted stronger pills to get customers hooked on the pills to increase profits. Cox complied and attempted to send Duncan these pills, but agents seized them. Agents also learned that another defendant, Khyre McClain, attempted to establish and launder money through a limited liability corporation.

    In addition to this evidence of shipments to other states, agents seized packages of drugs that were being shipped to Tennessee. Specifically, on July 25, 2022, ICE agents seized a package from a UPS Store in Sebastopol, Calif., which was destined for Nashville. This package contained thousands of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills weighing over two kilograms. The package also contained more than eight pounds of methamphetamine. On Aug. 9, 2022, ICE agents intercepted two additional packages from the Santa Rosa, Calif., area which were destined for residences in Nashville. One package contained 472 grams of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills, and the other package contained approximately four pounds of methamphetamine.

    After collecting an overwhelming amount of evidence, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple residences in California and Tennessee. They recovered handguns, assault rifles, bulk cash, expensive cars, marijuana, and large amounts of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills.

    Each defendant was convicted of conspiring to distribute controlled substances. Three defendants were also convicted of unlawfully possessing firearms after previously being convicted of felony offenses.

    The defendants were sentenced as follows:

    • Quortez Duncan, age 37, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
    • Mathew Cox, age 28, was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in federal prison.
    • Jonny Rodriguez-Gonzalez, age 26, was sentenced to 11 years and 2 months in federal prison.
    • Ricardo Molinero-Alcarez, age 29, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
    • Khyre McClain, age 23, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
    • Davontay Holt, age 30, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
    • Marcus Johnson, age 27, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.
    • Tristain Orr, age 25, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.
    • Ethan Kimes, age 22, was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison.
    • Marquitues Sawyers, age 24, was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in federal prison.
    • Jahari Armstrong, age 22, was sentenced to 3 years of probation.
    • Jaydan Armstrong, age 22, was sentenced to 3 years of probation.

    This case was investigated by ICE in Tennessee and California, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI Nashville Field Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Columbia Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ahmed Safeeullah and Rachel Stephens prosecuted this case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Charges 12 Chinese Contract Hackers and Law Enforcement Officers in Global Computer Intrusion Campaigns

    Source: US State of California

    Chinese Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services Leveraged China’s Reckless and Indiscriminate Hacker-for-Hire Ecosystem, Including the ‘APT 27’ Group, to Suppress Free Speech and Dissent Globally and to Steal Data from Numerous Organizations Worldwide,

    Note: View the indictments in U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., U.S. v. Yin Kecheng, U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al. here.

    The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (安洵信息技术有限公司) also known as “i-Soon,” and members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).

    These malicious cyber actors, acting as freelancers or as employees of i-Soon, conducted computer intrusions at the direction of the PRC’s MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS) and on their own initiative. The MPS and MSS paid handsomely for stolen data. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024.

    “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed. We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security.”

    “The FBI is committed to protecting Americans from foreign cyber-attacks,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To those victims who bravely came forward with evidence of intrusions, we thank you for standing tall and defending our democracy. And to those who choose to aid the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities, these charges should demonstrate that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see.”

    According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement. In some cases, the MPS and MSS paid private hackers in China to exploit specific victims. In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively. Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government. The result of this largely indiscriminate approach was more worldwide computer intrusion victims, more systems worldwide left vulnerable to future exploitation by third parties, and more stolen information, often of no interest to the PRC government and, therefore, sold to other third-parties. Additional information regarding the indictments and the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem is available in Public Service Announcements published by the FBI today.

    U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., Southern District of New York

    Today, a federal court in Manhattan unsealed an indictment charging eight i-Soon employees and two MPS officers for their involvement, from at least in or around 2016 through in or around 2023, in the numerous and widespread hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites. The Department also announced today the court-authorized seizure of the primary internet domain used by i-Soon to advertise its business.

    “State-sponsored hacking is an acute threat to our community and national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York. “For years, these 10 defendants — two of whom we allege are PRC officials — used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC. These charges will help stop these state-sponsored hackers and protect our national security. The career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover alleged state-sponsored hacking schemes, disrupt them, and bring those responsible to justice.”

    The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI. Concurrent with today’s announcement,  the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, engages in certain malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The reward is offered for the following individuals who are alleged to have worked in various capacities to direct or carry out i-Soon’s malicious cyber activity:

    • Wu Haibo (吴海波), Chief Executive Officer
    • Chen Cheng (陈诚), Chief Operating Officer
    • Wang Zhe (王哲), Sales Director
    • Liang Guodong (梁国栋), Technical Staff
    • Ma Li (马丽), Technical Staff
    • Wang Yan (王堰), Technical Staff
    • Xu Liang (徐梁), Technical Staff
    • Zhou Weiwei (周伟伟), Technical Staff
    • Wang Liyu (王立宇), MPS Officer
    • Sheng Jing (盛晶), MPS Officer

    i-Soon and its employees, to include the defendants, generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue as a key player in the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem. In some instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions at the request of the MSS or MPS, including cyber-enabled transnational repression at the direction of the MPS officer defendants. In other instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative and then sold, or attempted to sell, the stolen data to at least 43 different bureaus of the MSS or MPS in at least 31 separate provinces and municipalities in China. i-Soon charged the MSS and MPS between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully exploited. i-Soon also trained MPS employees how to hack independently of i-Soon and offered a variety of hacking methods for sale to its customers.

    The defendants’ U.S.-located targets included a large religious organization that previously sent missionaries to China and was openly critical of the PRC government and an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China. In addition, the defendants targeted multiple news organizations in the United States, including those that have opposed the CCP or delivered uncensored news to audiences in Asia, including China and the New York State Assembly, one of whose representatives had communicated with members of a religious organization banned in China.

    The defendants’ foreign-located targets included a religious leader and his office, and a Hong Kong newspaper that i-Soon considered as being opposed to the PRC government. The defendants also targeted the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel, Steven J. Kochevar, and Kevin Mead for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    U.S. v. Yin Kecheng and U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al., District of Columbia

    Today, a federal court unsealed two indictments charging APT27 actors Yin Kecheng (尹可成) and Zhou Shuai (周帅) also known as “Coldface” for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013. The Department also announced today court-authorized seizures of internet domains and computer server accounts used by Yin and Zhou to facilitate their hacking activity.

    The defendants remain at large. View the FBI’s Wanted posters for Shuai and Kecheng here.

    Concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of States State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing two reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $2 million each for information leading to the arrests and convictions, in any country, of malicious cyber actors Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, both Chinese nationals residing in China.

    “These indictments and actions show this office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We again demand that the Chinese government to put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

    The APT27 group to which Yin and Zhou belong is also known to private sector security researchers as “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” “Iron Tiger,” “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” As alleged in court documents, between August 2013 and December 2024, Yin, Zhou, and their co-conspirators exploited vulnerabilities in victim networks, conducted reconnaissance once inside those networks, and installed malware, such as PlugX malware, that provided persistent access. The defendants and their co-conspirators then identified and stole data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating it to servers under their control. Next, they brokered stolen data for sale and provided it to various customers, only some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military. For example, Zhou sold data stolen by Yin through i-Soon, whose primary customers, as noted above, were PRC government agencies, including the MSS and the MPS.

    The defendants’ motivations were financial and, because they were profit-driven, they targeted broadly, rendering victim systems vulnerable well beyond their pilfering of data and other information that they could sell. Between them, Yin and Zhou sought to profit from the hacking of numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages.

    The documents related to the seizure warrants, also unsealed today, further allege that Yin and Zhou continued to engage in hacking activity, including Yin’s involvement in the recently announced hack of Treasury between approximately September and December 2024. Virtual private servers used to conduct the Treasury intrusion belonged to, and were controlled by, an account that Yin and his co-conspirators established. Yin and his co-conspirators used that same account and other linked accounts they controlled to lease servers used for additional malicious cyber activity. The seizure warrant unsealed today allowed the FBI to seize the virtual private servers and other infrastructure used by the defendants to perpetrate these crimes.

    On Jan. 17, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Yin for his role in hacking that agency between September and December 2024. Concurrent with today’s indictments, OFAC also announced sanctions on Zhou and Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company Ltd., a company operated by Zhou for purposes of his hacking activity.

    Private sector partners are also taking voluntary actions to raise awareness and strengthen defenses against the PRC’s malicious cyber activity. Today, Microsoft published research that highlights its unique, updated insights into Silk Typhoon tactics, techniques, and procedures specifically its targeting of the IT supply chain.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba and Tejpal S. Chawla for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    ***

    The above disruptive actions targeting PRC malicious cyber activities were the result of investigations conducted by FBI New York and Washington Field Offices, FBI Cyber Division, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    The Department acknowledges the value of public-private partnerships in combating advanced cyber threats and recognizes Microsoft, Volexity, PwC, and Mandiant for their valuable assistance in these investigations.

    The details in the above-described indictments and warrants are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Chinese Nationals with Ties to the PRC Government and “APT27” Charged in a Computer Hacking Campaign for Profit, Targeting Numerous U.S. Companies, Institutions, and Municipalities

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Department Seizes Virtual Private Server Account and Domains Tied to Malicious Activity to include the U.S. Department of Treasury Hack

                WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today, unsealed two separate indictments that allege Chinese nationals Yin Kecheng, 38, (尹 可成) a/k/a “YKC” (“YIN”) and Zhou Shuai, 45, (周帅) a/k/a “Coldface” (“ZHOU”) violated various federal statutes by participating in years-long, sophisticated computer hacking conspiracies that successfully targeted a wide variety of U.S.-based victims from 2011 to the present-day. According to the documents unsealed today, the defendants targeted a multitude of U.S. victim companies, municipalities, and organizations for profit, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damages. YIN and ZHOU, who have ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), are alleged to have stolen and exfiltrated data from numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, defense contractors, government municipalities, and universities that they later brokered for sale. Arrest warrants have been issued for YIN and ZHOU, who both remain fugitives.

                The unsealing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is part of the coordinated effort by Department of Justice (the “Department”), other U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”), and private sector partners that highlights the Chinese government’s unique role in intentionally promoting and protecting the wide-scale computer hacking activity by its citizens. According to court documents unsealed today, the PRC Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) and Ministry of State Security (“MSS”) directed or financed Chinese hackers, such as the defendants, to conduct computer intrusions against high-value targets in the United States and elsewhere. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including most recently in 2024.

                According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s direct involvement. By employing these hackers-for-hire, the PRC government further allowed these same hackers to profit by committing additional computer intrusions around the world with impunity, and then to sell stolen data through Chinese data brokers. The PRC government’s state-sponsorship and protection of these hackers resulted in the loss of sensitive, valuable and personal identification information that was a direct harm to U.S. entities and other foreign governments and victims.

                In conjunction with the unsealing, the Department announced the judicially authorized seizure of internet domains linked to YIN that he used in facilitating the conspiracy’s network intrusion activity. In addition, the Department announced the judicially authorized seizure of a Virtual Private Server (“VPS”) account linked to ZHOU that he used to facilitate network intrusion activity. In conjunction with these actions, the Treasury announced sanctions against ZHOU and his company Shanghai Heiying Information Technology company, Limited (“Shanghai Heiying”).  YIN was previously sanctioned for his role in the recent Treasury network compromise in January 2025.

    “These indictments and actions show this Office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We, again, demand that the Chinese government put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

                “The defendants allegedly waged a yearslong hacking campaign against U.S.-based organizations to steal their data and sell it to various customers, some of whom had connections to the Chinese government,” said FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s indictment is the first step toward bringing these perpetrators to justice for endangering U.S. national security and causing significant financial losses for both U.S. and foreign companies. The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue these hostile cyber actors to the full extent of the law.”

                “The defendants’ years-long hacking conspiracy to steal data from Cleared Defense Contractors that support the U.S. military—among many other U.S.-based victims—and sell it to customers with ties to the Chinese government poses a significant threat to our national security,” said NCIS Cyber Operations Field Office Special Agent in Charge Josh Stanley. “NCIS remains committed to working with the FBI and our law enforcement partners around the world to expose malicious actors who seek to undermine the cybersecurity of the Department of the Navy.”

                “The Department of State appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with the Department of Treasury, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in announcing today’s actions,” said Senior Bureau Official F. Cartwright Weiland of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). “With reward offers up to $2 million each for malicious cyber actors Zhou Shuai and Yin KeCheng under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, we ask the public to contact the FBI with tips to help bring these cybercriminals to justice.”

    Overview

                Today’s announcement reflects nearly a decade-long effort by the Department and the FBI.   The action targets actors that various security researchers have historically referred to as “APT27,” “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” and “Iron Tiger,” and more recently referred to as “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” 

                The Department obtained a 19-count indictment against YIN on May 2, 2018 (the “2018 Indictment”) from a grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The 2018 Indictment, which alleges conduct between August 2013 and December 2015, charges wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”).

                Another federal grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted both YIN and ZHOU on March 28, 2023 (the “2023 Indictment”), with similar offenses.  Specifically, the 2023 Indictment, which alleges conduct between June 2018 and November 2020, charges conspiracy, wire fraud, various violations of the CFAA, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. 

                On March 4, 2025, a federal magistrate judge sitting in the District of Columbia authorized FBI to seize a VPS account and multiple internet domains involved in the criminal activity.  According to the unsealed affidavits in support of those warrants, ZHOU utilized the VPS account to create additional accounts used to facilitate computer intrusion activity and to discuss the sale of access to compromised computer networks. Separately, YIN utilized his own servers and stood up the seized domains to exploit victim computer networks to include networks at Treasury.

    Computer Hacking Scheme

                As alleged in the documents unsealed today, at various points between August 2013 and December 2024, YIN, ZHOU, and their unindicted co-conspirators used sophisticated hacking tools and techniques in their efforts to overcome network defenses and avoid detection of numerous hardened targets in the United States and around the world. The defendants and their co-conspirators would routinely scan victim networks for vulnerabilities, exploit those vulnerabilities with sophisticated hacking techniques, and conduct reconnaissance once inside a victim’s network. The defendants and their co-conspirators and would install malware that would allow them to maintain persistent access and enable them to communicate with malicious external servers and other hacking infrastructure. The defendants and their co-conspirators would identify and steal data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating the data to servers under their control. The stolen data was then brokered for sale and provided to various customers, some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military.

    Targeting of U.S. Victims

                According to the 2018 Indictment, YIN targeted U.S.-based defense contractors, technology firms, and think tanks, among other victims. The 2018 Indictment alleges YIN openly discussed his preference for targeting American victims. For example, on one occasion in September 2013, YIN told an associate he wanted to “mess with the American military” and “break into a big target” so that he could earn enough money to buy a car. YIN used mapping software to identify network vulnerabilities for the purpose of gaining unlawful access to victim computer and installing malware. YIN used stolen network credentials to maintain persistent access to victim networks and utilized intermediary servers or “hop points” and malicious domains to remotely access and exfiltrate victim computer data.

                According to the 2023 Indictment, YIN, ZHOU, and others targeted U.S.-based companies like technology and defense contractors, law firms, communication service providers, local governments, health care systems, and think tanks. The 2023 Indictment charges YIN and ZHOU with scanning victim networks for access points and also exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities. Once inside the networks, YIN other conspirators would then install malware such as web shells to maintain persistent access. YIN and other conspirators would then use hop point servers to exfiltrate stolen data to servers under YIN’s control. ZHOU then brokered access to such stolen data to interested third parties for a financial profit. The indictment further alleged that YIN, ZHOU, and other conspirators laundered cryptocurrency payments for their operational infrastructure from locations outside of the United States through the U.S. financial system.

                The affidavit in support of the seizure warrant for the VPS account alleges that ZHOU used servers created by the account in order to establish a virtual private network (“VPN”) that would encrypt network traffic such that the true location and IP address of the actor or actors would be obfuscated. ZHOU also used the VPS accounts to create other accounts through which he communicated with buyers who were interested in obtaining access to computer networks compromised by YIN. ZHOU also used the accounts for victim reconnaissance purposes.

                The affidavit in support of the seizure of the domains alleges that funds used to purchase computer network infrastructure used in numerous victim network breaches ultimately connected to an account registered in YIN’s name, from China, using an email address and phone number belonging to YIN. Of particular note, a virtual private server account controlled by YIN was associated with the compromise at Treasury.

                This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) who continue to investigate malicious cyber activity associated with these defendants and threat actors and continue to notify affected victims immediately once any networks intrusions are discovered. The FBI’s Cyber Division and Department of Defense’s Cyber Crimes Center provided valuable assistance to the investigation.  Private partners from Microsoft, Volexity, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, and Mandiant also provided valuable assistance with this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba, and Tejpal S. Chawla, and National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger. Paralegal Specialist Michael Watts and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Demian Ahn and Opher Shweiki for the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia provided assistance on this case.

                An indictment is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Texas Man Sentenced to 200 Months in Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    FORT WAYNE – Elijah Shores, 30 years old, of Irving, Texas, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady, after pleading guilty to distributing fentanyl, possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

    Shores was sentenced to 200 months in prison followed by 4 years of supervised release.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Indiana State Police and the Fort Wayne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley J. Miller Lowery.

    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: Former Clovis CPA Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $800,000 From a Bank

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

    FRESNO, Calif. — Kenneth Gould, 68, formerly of Clovis, pleaded guilty to bank larceny for stealing more than $800,000 from a bank, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced today.

    According to court records, Gould was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and operated a payroll services company in Clovis. From October 2017 through March 2018, he initiated several fraudulent electronic payments from one of his clients’ accounts to his payroll company’s account at the bank. Gould then withdrew the money in cashier’s checks while the payments were pending. After the bank had credited the fraudulent payments to the payroll company’s account for a short period of time, it realized there were insufficient funds to cover the payments, denied the payments, and attempted to recover its money, but it was too late. Approximately $830,000 of the credited funds was already gone. Gould gave the funds to the client from whose account he initiated the fraudulent payments because he had loaned that individual money and was hopeful that the individual would pay him back. Instead, the client gambled the money away.

    This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

    Gould is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on June 2, 2025. Gould faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Stockton Man Pleads Guilty for His Role in Large-Scale Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy

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

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jose Manuel Ontiveros Verdugo, 39, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

    According to court documents, between July 2019 and December 2019, Verdugo conspired with his co-defendants and others to distribute methamphetamine both in Stockton and throughout the country. During the investigation, an undercover source bought a total of 11 pounds of methamphetamine and a half pound of heroin from this drug trafficking organization. Law enforcement interdicted the group’s shipments of 50 pounds of methamphetamine destined for Nebraska, as well as a 21‑pound shipment destined for Pennsylvania.

    This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, San Joaquin County Probation, the Stockton Police Department, and the Tracy Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella is prosecuting the case.

    Charges are pending against co-defendants Jorge Omar Arredondo Garcia, 46, of Lodi; Gregorio Ontiveros Verdugo, 41, of Morada; Alberto Navarro Zapata, 50, of Stockton; and Wilfredo Reyes, 48, of Manteca. The charges against them are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Verdugo is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on June 16, 2025. Verdugo faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 210 Months for Drug Distribution Conspiracy

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

    SAN DIEGO – Rodolfo Benjamin Silva, a prolific cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl trafficker who called himself the “King of Coke,” was sentenced in federal court today to 17.5 years in prison for distributing large quantities of illicit drugs in the U.S. and for facilitating the movement of cartel hitmen into the United States.

    At today’s hearing, prosecutors described Silva as a long-time San Diego-based drug distributor who worked directly with Mexican counterparts to receive narcotic shipments from Mexico. According to his plea agreement, in October 2022, Silva provided a drug courier with 114 pounds of methamphetamine and a kilogram of fentanyl for transport to Indianapolis, but it was interdicted in Oklahoma.

    Silva also admitted in his plea agreement to threatening, directing or using violence as part of his drug trafficking activities. Prosecutors told the court today that Silva assisted in bringing assassins known as “sicarios” from Mexico into the San Diego area for cartel enforcement operations. On one occasion, Silva hired a sicario from Mexico to come to San Diego where that individual attempted to fatally shoot one of Silva’s rivals, prosecutors said.

    This investigation was led by FBI and DEA in San Diego with integral assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana and FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Goff.

    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.

    DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 23CR02513-WQH                            

    Rodolfo Benjamin Silva, aka “Rudy”            Age: 44                       San Diego, CA

    SUMMARY OF CHARGES

    Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841(a)(1) and 846

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

    INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

    Federal Bureau of Investigation

    Drug Enforcement Administration

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New York Man Who Ran Multimillion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme Found Guilty of Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

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

    SAN FRANCISCO – A federal jury convicted Douglas Jae Woo Kim, 32, of New York, New York, on 14 counts of wire fraud, international money laundering, and money laundering.  The jury reached its verdict yesterday afternoon, following a three-week trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer.  

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between October 2017 and June 2020, after moving to San Francisco, Kim engaged in a scheme to defraud investors, many of whom were friends and acquaintances, of over $7 million in money and cryptocurrency by holding himself out as a legitimate trader of cryptocurrency, a form of virtual currency.  Kim falsely represented that he was seeking short-term liquidity in the form of loans or investments for cryptocurrency trading or other legitimate business purposes and promised to trade or invest the cryptocurrency provided by investors and lenders to make a profit.  He also told victims that the loans carried no or very low risk, promised high rates of return on their loans, and claimed that he had sufficient funds to personally guarantee the loans.  

    “This case may involve the new world of virtual currency, but there’s nothing new about the defendant’s scheme to defraud,” said Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins.  “Douglas Kim made bogus promise after promise to investors and lenders, only to cheat them and send their money to offshore gambling sites.  Today’s verdict sends a clear message to anyone who engages in fraud in the Northern District of California: you will be prosecuted, and you will face serious consequences.”

    “Mr. Kim deceived those who trusted him, exploiting their confidence to fund his personal gambling activities rather than the legitimate investments he offered his victims. The FBI remains committed to identifying and bringing to justice individuals who manipulate and defraud others for financial gain,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin.

    In October 2017, Kim contacted a victim by text message and said he was looking for investors interested in making what he called a short-term loan for a “fairly modest operation.”  Kim represented that he was investing in a cryptocurrency operation in which he would make a profit from fees charged to a peer-to-peer network and from exchange transactions, and informed the victim that the operation “isn’t very risky to me.”  Within days of receiving cryptocurrency from the victim to finance the investment, Kim transferred almost all of it to bitcoin sports betting sites located outside the United States.  Kim went on to obtain over a million dollars’ worth of funds from this victim over the course of the scheme, the majority of which went to offshore sports betting sites.

    In November 2017, Kim contacted another victim by email and said he was looking for cryptocurrency for a trading strategy.  Kim assured that the victim that “my activities are fairly low risk.”  On Dec. 1, 2017, Kim obtained a cryptocurrency loan from this victim worth approximately $186,000 at the time. Once the cryptocurrency was obtained, Kim immediately sent all of it to offshore sports betting sites. In total, Kim obtained over $500,000 in funds from this victim.

    In an agreement dated Jan. 1, 2018, Kim set out the terms of a similar investment with a third victim.  The agreement called for the victim to provide cryptocurrency valued at approximately $200,000 at the time.  The same day, Kim converted more than half of the funds to bitcoin and, in the following days, transferred substantially all the converted cryptocurrency to his account with an offshore casino.  Kim went on to obtain over $4 million in funds from this victim.

    Kim defrauded numerous other victims, including nine who testified at trial, until at least July 2020, when he was charged by federal complaint.  In 2023, while he was out on pretrial release, Kim allegedly renewed his scheme to defraud.  One count related to this renewed period of fraud remains pending.  

    The jury acquitted Kim of one count of international money laundering.

    Kim is scheduled to appear on June 25, 2025, to set a date for sentencing.  He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and international money laundering, and 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering.  Any sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.  

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah Stern and Maya Karwande are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Veronica Hernandez, Maryam Beros, Andy Ding, Lynette Dixon, and Christine Tian. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. 
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Charges 12 Chinese Contract Hackers and Law Enforcement Officers in Global Computer Intrusion Campaigns

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Chinese Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services Leveraged China’s Reckless and Indiscriminate Hacker-for-Hire Ecosystem, Including the ‘APT 27’ Group, to Suppress Free Speech and Dissent Globally and to Steal Data from Numerous Organizations Worldwide,

    Note: View the indictments in U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., U.S. v. Yin Kecheng, U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al. here.

    The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (安洵信息技术有限公司) also known as “i-Soon,” and members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).

    These malicious cyber actors, acting as freelancers or as employees of i-Soon, conducted computer intrusions at the direction of the PRC’s MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS) and on their own initiative. The MPS and MSS paid handsomely for stolen data. Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024.

    “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed. We will continue to fight to dismantle this ecosystem of cyber mercenaries and protect our national security.”

    “The FBI is committed to protecting Americans from foreign cyber-attacks,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To those victims who bravely came forward with evidence of intrusions, we thank you for standing tall and defending our democracy. And to those who choose to aid the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities, these charges should demonstrate that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see.”

    According to court documents, the MPS and MSS employed an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement. In some cases, the MPS and MSS paid private hackers in China to exploit specific victims. In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively. Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government. The result of this largely indiscriminate approach was more worldwide computer intrusion victims, more systems worldwide left vulnerable to future exploitation by third parties, and more stolen information, often of no interest to the PRC government and, therefore, sold to other third-parties. Additional information regarding the indictments and the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem is available in Public Service Announcements published by the FBI today.

    U.S. v. Wu Haibo et al., Southern District of New York

    Today, a federal court in Manhattan unsealed an indictment charging eight i-Soon employees and two MPS officers for their involvement, from at least in or around 2016 through in or around 2023, in the numerous and widespread hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites. The Department also announced today the court-authorized seizure of the primary internet domain used by i-Soon to advertise its business.

    “State-sponsored hacking is an acute threat to our community and national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York. “For years, these 10 defendants — two of whom we allege are PRC officials — used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC. These charges will help stop these state-sponsored hackers and protect our national security. The career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover alleged state-sponsored hacking schemes, disrupt them, and bring those responsible to justice.”

    The defendants remain at large and wanted by the FBI. Concurrent with today’s announcement,  the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, engages in certain malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The reward is offered for the following individuals who are alleged to have worked in various capacities to direct or carry out i-Soon’s malicious cyber activity:

    • Wu Haibo (吴海波), Chief Executive Officer
    • Chen Cheng (陈诚), Chief Operating Officer
    • Wang Zhe (王哲), Sales Director
    • Liang Guodong (梁国栋), Technical Staff
    • Ma Li (马丽), Technical Staff
    • Wang Yan (王堰), Technical Staff
    • Xu Liang (徐梁), Technical Staff
    • Zhou Weiwei (周伟伟), Technical Staff
    • Wang Liyu (王立宇), MPS Officer
    • Sheng Jing (盛晶), MPS Officer

    i-Soon and its employees, to include the defendants, generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue as a key player in the PRC’s hacker-for-hire ecosystem. In some instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions at the request of the MSS or MPS, including cyber-enabled transnational repression at the direction of the MPS officer defendants. In other instances, i-Soon conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative and then sold, or attempted to sell, the stolen data to at least 43 different bureaus of the MSS or MPS in at least 31 separate provinces and municipalities in China. i-Soon charged the MSS and MPS between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully exploited. i-Soon also trained MPS employees how to hack independently of i-Soon and offered a variety of hacking methods for sale to its customers.

    The defendants’ U.S.-located targets included a large religious organization that previously sent missionaries to China and was openly critical of the PRC government and an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China. In addition, the defendants targeted multiple news organizations in the United States, including those that have opposed the CCP or delivered uncensored news to audiences in Asia, including China and the New York State Assembly, one of whose representatives had communicated with members of a religious organization banned in China.

    The defendants’ foreign-located targets included a religious leader and his office, and a Hong Kong newspaper that i-Soon considered as being opposed to the PRC government. The defendants also targeted the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel, Steven J. Kochevar, and Kevin Mead for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    U.S. v. Yin Kecheng and U.S. v. Zhou Shuai et al., District of Columbia

    Today, a federal court unsealed two indictments charging APT27 actors Yin Kecheng (尹可成) and Zhou Shuai (周帅) also known as “Coldface” for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013. The Department also announced today court-authorized seizures of internet domains and computer server accounts used by Yin and Zhou to facilitate their hacking activity.

    The defendants remain at large. View the FBI’s Wanted posters for Shuai and Kecheng here.

    Concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of States State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing two reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $2 million each for information leading to the arrests and convictions, in any country, of malicious cyber actors Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, both Chinese nationals residing in China.

    “These indictments and actions show this office’s long-standing commitment to vigorously investigate and hold accountable Chinese hackers and data brokers who endanger U.S. national security and other victims across the globe,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “The defendants in these cases have been hacking for the Chinese government for years, and these indictments lay out the strong evidence showing their criminal wrongdoing. We again demand that the Chinese government to put a stop to these brazen cyber criminals who are targeting victims across the globe and then monetizing the data they have stolen by selling it across China.”

    The APT27 group to which Yin and Zhou belong is also known to private sector security researchers as “Threat Group 3390,” “Bronze Union,” “Emissary Panda,” “Lucky Mouse,” “Iron Tiger,” “UTA0178,” “UNC 5221,” and “Silk Typhoon.” As alleged in court documents, between August 2013 and December 2024, Yin, Zhou, and their co-conspirators exploited vulnerabilities in victim networks, conducted reconnaissance once inside those networks, and installed malware, such as PlugX malware, that provided persistent access. The defendants and their co-conspirators then identified and stole data from the compromised networks by exfiltrating it to servers under their control. Next, they brokered stolen data for sale and provided it to various customers, only some of whom had connections to the PRC government and military. For example, Zhou sold data stolen by Yin through i-Soon, whose primary customers, as noted above, were PRC government agencies, including the MSS and the MPS.

    The defendants’ motivations were financial and, because they were profit-driven, they targeted broadly, rendering victim systems vulnerable well beyond their pilfering of data and other information that they could sell. Between them, Yin and Zhou sought to profit from the hacking of numerous U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages.

    The documents related to the seizure warrants, also unsealed today, further allege that Yin and Zhou continued to engage in hacking activity, including Yin’s involvement in the recently announced hack of Treasury between approximately September and December 2024. Virtual private servers used to conduct the Treasury intrusion belonged to, and were controlled by, an account that Yin and his co-conspirators established. Yin and his co-conspirators used that same account and other linked accounts they controlled to lease servers used for additional malicious cyber activity. The seizure warrant unsealed today allowed the FBI to seize the virtual private servers and other infrastructure used by the defendants to perpetrate these crimes.

    On Jan. 17, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Yin for his role in hacking that agency between September and December 2024. Concurrent with today’s indictments, OFAC also announced sanctions on Zhou and Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company Ltd., a company operated by Zhou for purposes of his hacking activity.

    Private sector partners are also taking voluntary actions to raise awareness and strengthen defenses against the PRC’s malicious cyber activity. Today, Microsoft published research that highlights its unique, updated insights into Silk Typhoon tactics, techniques, and procedures specifically its targeting of the IT supply chain.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba and Tejpal S. Chawla for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Tanner Kroeger of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    ***

    The above disruptive actions targeting PRC malicious cyber activities were the result of investigations conducted by FBI New York and Washington Field Offices, FBI Cyber Division, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    The Department acknowledges the value of public-private partnerships in combating advanced cyber threats and recognizes Microsoft, Volexity, PwC, and Mandiant for their valuable assistance in these investigations.

    The details in the above-described indictments and warrants are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Former Alabama Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Violation and Child Sexual Exploitation

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    A former Killen, Alabama, Police Department officer pleaded guilty yesterday for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and for receiving sexually explicit photos of a minor.

    As part of the plea agreement, Jarrod Gailen Webster admitted that, on Nov. 12, 2023, he violated the civil rights of a woman after initiating a traffic stop on the woman’s vehicle. Webster asked the woman to step out of her vehicle and he asked her what she wanted to do to “get out of this.” When the woman told Webster that she was not going to do anything for him, Webster handcuffed the woman and sexually assaulted her.

    Further, Webster admitted that, between June 2016 and October 2018, he communicated with a minor by phone. Webster asked the minor to produce and send him sexually explicit images of herself. The minor victim sent multiple photos to Webster at his request, at least one of which constituted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    “Jarrod Webster took an oath to protect and serve citizens of his community. He violated that oath when he sexually assaulted a woman and exploited a minor to produce and send sexually explicit images,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who violate positions of public trust are held accountable for their actions.”

    “Police officers are given immense trust and responsibility to serve and protect, and are therefore held to a higher standard, so there are serious consequences when one tarnishes the badge by breaking the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office. “Jarrod Gailen Webster disgraced the uniform when he abused his authority, his sentencing affirms that the FBI has zero tolerance for officials who prey on the citizens they have sworn to protect.”

    Webster pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of sexual exploitation of children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20.

    Webster faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, supervised release for life, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of sexual exploitation of children. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Royster for the Northern District of Alabama and Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Maura White and Trial Attorney Sarah Howard of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Alabama Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Violation and Child Sexual Exploitation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    A former Killen, Alabama, Police Department officer pleaded guilty yesterday for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and for receiving sexually explicit photos of a minor.

    As part of the plea agreement, Jarrod Gailen Webster admitted that, on Nov. 12, 2023, he violated the civil rights of a woman after initiating a traffic stop on the woman’s vehicle. Webster asked the woman to step out of her vehicle and he asked her what she wanted to do to “get out of this.” When the woman told Webster that she was not going to do anything for him, Webster handcuffed the woman and sexually assaulted her.

    Further, Webster admitted that, between June 2016 and October 2018, he communicated with a minor by phone. Webster asked the minor to produce and send him sexually explicit images of herself. The minor victim sent multiple photos to Webster at his request, at least one of which constituted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    “Jarrod Webster took an oath to protect and serve citizens of his community. He violated that oath when he sexually assaulted a woman and exploited a minor to produce and send sexually explicit images,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who violate positions of public trust are held accountable for their actions.”

    “Police officers are given immense trust and responsibility to serve and protect, and are therefore held to a higher standard, so there are serious consequences when one tarnishes the badge by breaking the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office. “Jarrod Gailen Webster disgraced the uniform when he abused his authority, his sentencing affirms that the FBI has zero tolerance for officials who prey on the citizens they have sworn to protect.”

    Webster pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of sexual exploitation of children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20.

    Webster faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, supervised release for life, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the count of sexual exploitation of children. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Royster for the Northern District of Alabama and Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Maura White and Trial Attorney Sarah Howard of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eielson Airman Sentenced to Five Years for Possessing Child Pornography

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    FAIRBANKS, Alaska – An Eielson Airman was sentenced today to five years in prison and will serve 15 years on supervised release for paying to receive child pornography.

    According to court documents, on Nov. 7, 2023, Kyle Cozens, 32, who was stationed on Eielson Air Force Base, was interviewed by the FBI in a related case from Illinois involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Cozens allowed agents to review messages on his phone and they observed CSAM images of a known victim. Agents obtained a search warrant for Cozens’ phone and discovered he was communicating with individuals on messaging apps and buying CSAM images from them. Agents discovered multiple CSAM images and videos on his phone, with some visuals depicting prepubescent females.

    On March 1, 2024, law enforcement searched Cozens’ residence and seized over 30 electronic devices. To date, law enforcement has identified over 80 videos and over 680 images depicting child sexual abuse on Cozens’ devices.

    On Nov. 15, 2024, Cozens pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. In addition to prison time and supervised release, Cozens is required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison as part of his sentence.

    “The widespread dissemination of images of children forced to endure sexual abuse is a horrific crime that law enforcement fights every day. Mr. Cozens contributed to the revictimization of those children by paying for visuals of child sexual abuse,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn R. Vogel for the District of Alaska. “My office will continue to protect our most vulnerable by partnering with law enforcement to find and prosecute anyone who targets children for nefarious purposes.”

    “The defendant purchased and possessed large amounts of CSAM, directly contributing to online child exploitation and the re-victimization of young children,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This sentencing underscores the FBI’s commitment to ensuring child predators are identified and held accountable for their crimes against children.”

    “Interagency partnerships, like the ones utilized in this case, are vital to fighting child exploitation,” said Special Agent Tyler Pierson, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 632.  “AFOSI is committed to these partnerships and our mission of protecting the Department of the Air Force from criminal behavior that threatens the mission, equipment and people of the Department.”

    The FBI Anchorage Field Office, Fairbanks Resident Agency, and U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Springfield Field Office.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Florida Dentist Sentenced for Threatening Public Figures and an Election Official

    Source: US State of Vermont

    A Florida dentist was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for threatening public figures, an election official, and others between 2019 and 2024.

    According to court documents, from September 2019 to July 2020, Richard Glenn Kantwill, 61, of Tampa, sent over 100 threats via Facebook and Instagram messages, email, and text to various public figures based on their political commentary. As charged in the superseding information, those communications included threats to an author, a religious figure, and a television personality. Kantwill also sent at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including a threat to an election official in another state in February 2024.

    Kantwill pleaded guilty in November 2024 to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney for the Middle District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor of the FBI Tampa Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney Aaron L. Jennen of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail K. King for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested, Charged with Bank Theft and Conspiracy

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    BUFFALO, N.Y. –U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that David Jose Gomez Cegarra, 24, and Jesus Segundo Hernandez-Gil, 19, both of Venezuela, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with bank theft and conspiracy to commit bank theft. The charges carry a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey E. Intravatola and Douglas A.C. Penrose, who are handling the case, stated that the defendants are members of the Tren de Aragua Gang, which has been designated by the White House as a Global Terrorist Organization. They are accused of participating in an ATM Jackpotting scheme. ATM Jackpotting involves removing an ATM’s cover and infecting the ATMs hard drive with malware or removing the hard drive and replacing it with an infected hard drive, which allows the operator to assume control of the ATM and cause it to dispense currency.

    According to the complaint, Gomez-Cegarra, Hernandez-Gil, and other co-conspirators successfully completed an ATM Jackpotting scheme at a Radius Federal Credit Union in Kenmore, NY, on October 5, 2024. Video surveillance shows that at approximately 4:05 p.m., a vehicle, driven by Gomez-Cegarra,  approached the drive-up ATM, a co-conspirator exited the vehicle and opened the ATM utilizing a key, appeared to install something in the ATM, pressed buttons, and closed the ATM. The vehicle then left the area. Over the next several hours, the vehicle re-appeared multiple times at the ATM and conducted illegal withdrawals. Radius Federal Credit Union reported that $110,440.00 was stolen from the ATM during this ATM Jackpotting event.

    Gomez-Cegarra, Hernandez-Gil, and other co-conspirators are also believed to be responsible for ATM Jackpotting events St. Maly’s Federal Credit Union in Framingham, Massachusetts, on October 6, 2024, at First National Bank of Dryden in Dryden, NY, on October 17, 2024, and at two Community First Bank locations in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on November 11, 2024. During these events, approximately $187,000 was reported stolen.

    On November 11, 2024, the Mahomet, Illinois Police Department stopped Gomez-Cegarra and Hernandez-Gil in a vehicle together for suspicious activity. Both men presented Venezuelan identifications. They were arrested by the Mahomet Police Department, and ultimately charged by the Mount Vernon Police Department in relation to the incidents that occurred at the Community First Bank locations in Mount Vernon, IL.

    The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, the Kenmore Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas Phillips, the Homer, NY, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Robert Pitman, the Framingham, MA, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Lester Baker, and the Mahomet, Illinois, Police Department.

    The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

    # # # # 

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Florida Dentist Sentenced for Threatening Public Figures and an Election Official

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    A Florida dentist was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for threatening public figures, an election official, and others between 2019 and 2024.

    According to court documents, from September 2019 to July 2020, Richard Glenn Kantwill, 61, of Tampa, sent over 100 threats via Facebook and Instagram messages, email, and text to various public figures based on their political commentary. As charged in the superseding information, those communications included threats to an author, a religious figure, and a television personality. Kantwill also sent at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including a threat to an election official in another state in February 2024.

    Kantwill pleaded guilty in November 2024 to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney for the Middle District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor of the FBI Tampa Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney Aaron L. Jennen of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail K. King for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

    MIL Security OSI –