NewzIntel.com

Category: Gun Control

  • MIL-OSI Security: Seven-Time Convicted Felon Sentenced To 15 Years For Possession Of A Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Tampa, FL – United States District Court Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Martez Manning (27, St. Petersburg) to 15 years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Manning was subject to an enhanced penalty based on his prior convictions. Manning pled guilty on December 20, 2024.

    The indictment charged that, on January 2, 2023, Manning knowingly possessed a Beretta model 21A Bobcat semiautomatic pistol and two rounds of CCI 22 Long Rifle ammunition. According to court documents, Manning had previously been convicted of seven felonies, including possession of cocaine, tampering with physical evidence, and five convictions for either sale or delivery of cocaine. As a previously convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

    This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman. The forfeiture was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Nebesky.

    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: Felon Charged with Possession of Stolen Firearm and Oxycodone Following U Street Arrest

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WASHINGTON – Don Diego Chase, 25, of the District has been indicted on federal firearms and drug charges as part of the “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

                Make D.C. Safe Again is a public safety initiative led by U.S. Attorney Martin that is surging resources to reduce violent crime in the District of Columbia. This initiative was created to address gun violence in the District, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties for offenders, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.

                Chase is charged in a three-count indictment unsealed in federal court with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, possession with intent to distribute Oxycodone, and using, carrying, and possessing a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

                According to court documents, on July 24, 2024, officers from the Third District Crime Suppression Unit were patrolling the U Street Corridor when they encountered an individual, later identified as Chase. When officers attempted to engage Chase, Chase fled on foot, leading to a brief pursuit. It is alleged that during the pursuit, officers observed a black, L-shaped object fall from Chase.  The object was recovered and subsequently confirmed to be a 9mm HS Product (imported by Springfield Armory) XDM firearm, which had been reported stolen out of Atlanta, Georgia.  At the time of Chase’s arrest, the firearm was loaded with one round in the chamber and fifteen additional rounds in a large-capacity magazine.

                A search incident to arrest revealed that Chase was also carrying over 500 Oxycodone pills and $11,621.96 in U.S. currency.   

                Officers determined that Chase did not have a license to carry a firearm in the District of Columbia and that Chase had prior convictions which prohibited him from possessing a firearm or ammunition.  Authorities also discovered that Chase had several outstanding arrest warrants for carjacking and armed robbery.

                This case is being investigated by the ATF Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Reeder-Ricchetti. 

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced To More Than Five Years In Federal Prison For Possessing A Loaded Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Tampa, FL – United States District Court Judge Virginia M. Covington has sentenced Darrius Lovett (28, St. Petersburg) to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Lovett pled guilty on January 14, 2025.

    According to court documents, on November 2, 2023, the St. Petersburg Police Department Surveillance Unit located Lovett to arrest him on a felony warrant. A police officer who located Lovett told him to get on the ground, and Lovett refused and ran away from the officer. During the short pursuit, the officer observed Lovett toss a firearm from his right hand. The firearm was located in the area of Lovett’s arrest. A second witness, who was working construction in the area, also observed Lovett toss the firearm. Lovett has numerous felony convictions, including a prior felony conviction for felonious possession of a firearm. As such, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

    This case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman.

    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 USA: NEA: Shame on Politicians for Protecting the Gun Lobby instead of Students

    Source: US National Education Union

    By: Miguel A. Gonzalez

    Published: April 18, 2025

    WASHINGTON – Florida State University experienced an active shooter event, which resulted in the deaths of two individuals and injuries to five others.

    NEA President Becky Pringle issued the following statement.

    “We stand with the Florida State University community. To every person feeling the weight of this moment: you are not alone. A campus, any campus across America, should be a place of safety, learning, and belonging—not violence and fear.

    “Florida students deserve better. Our communities across the country deserve better. This is the third shooting in three days affecting our students—first Dallas and San Antonio, now Tallahassee. Shame on politicians for protecting the gun lobby instead of students, and for failing to address the epidemic of gun violence sweeping across this country. We are past time for our elected leaders to take real action to end this senseless gun violence.”

    NEA Resources: Gun Violence Prevention and Response.

    Follow us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/neapresident.bsky.social & https://bsky.app/profile/neatoday.bsky.social

    # # # 

    The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: PENSACOLA MAN CHARGED IN FEDERAL INDICTMENT FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Austin James McCastler II, 35, was indicted by a federal grand jury this week charging him with two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and marijuana, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, attempted prevention of the government’s authority to take property during an authorized search and seizure, attempted murder and assault of a Special Agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charges today.

    McCastler is scheduled for his arraignment in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Hope Thai Cannon on April 22, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. in Pensacola, Florida. If convicted, McCastler faces up to life imprisonment.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Jessica S. Etherton are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    The 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 available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Freaky Tales: this gory 80s-inspired anthology film is all surface and no substance

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matthew Melia, Senior Lecturer and Course leader of the Humanities Foundation Degree, Kingston University

    Nostalgia for the 1980s has been in vogue since the release of Stranger Things in 2016. The Netflix show brought about a renaissance of interest in the popular culture of the time firmly rooted in nostalgia – video game arcades, the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, horror films and a reverie for the horror of the VHS and video-nasty era.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of this form of nostalgia – if it’s done right. Freaky Tales, an anthology film that deals with 80s’ California punk, anti-fascism, hip-hop and VHS culture, could have been a great addition to this sort of nostalgia bait. Sadly, it is a mess, which, for most of its run time, feels like a film about the 80s generated by AI.

    To go on TikTok is to be confronted by a gen-Z army cosplaying a neon-drenched and romanticised version of the 80s. Filters are used to replicate the low-fi aesthetics of VHS tape, super 8 and cinefilm, while the content creators dress in the styles of the decade and espouse a wishful nostalgia for an era they are at least three decades too young to have experienced firsthand. Freaky Tales seems aimed at this market.

    But this is how the nostalgia industry (or nostalgia capitalism) works. Contemporary digital media facilitates and creates nostalgia in a way that gives the appearance of authenticity but is mostly all surface. Nostalgia is passed on, remediated and sanitised.

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    It’s worth also noting that it’s always the Hollywood synthy, US version of 80s pop culture that dominates. Few young people have developed a fabricated sense of nostalgia for the dreariness of Thatcher’s Britain, for instance. A period that history academic Lucy Robinson writes was full of “pop culture and politics … that shaped modern Britain,” in her incisive critical assessment Now That’s What I Call A History of the 1980s.

    Freaky Tales is comprised of four interlocking stories, which are bound in a way that is hard to really comprehend.

    Are the stories connected through the two sets of characters – a couple of young punks and a pair of female hip-hop artists – leaving a screening of The Lost Boys who reappear in different stories? Is it the strange alien green glow that reappears across all the stories? The marker of a solid anthology film is a tight structure and a sense of place, which the film at least has with all stories based in Oakland, California. But for the most part, Freaky Tales feels half built and uncertain of itself.

    Buried somewhere though is a better film trying to get out. Take the first story “Strength in Numbers: the Gilman Strikes Back about the denizens of the Gilman punk club in Oakland, taking a violent and gory stand against a band of neo-nazis they are being harassed by.

    The sequence ends in a sort of bloody 1980s’ punk version of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (there are also clear references to Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic The Warriors). Here there was an opportunity to look deeper into the emergence of California punk culture of the era, the Gilman is a place of real cultural significance where the scene fermented and bands like Rancid, The Offspring, Green Day and the East Bay punk scene in the 1990s got a start.

    Dead Kennedy’s track Nazi Punks Fuck Off became a rallying cry of 80s anti-fascist punk as did Black Flag’s Rise Above (this is at least included on the film’s soundtrack). So why not look at least a little deeper into the antifascist movement within the US punk movement during the era? It can be done and I’d recommend Jeremy Saulnier’s harrowing 2015 film Green Room, which examines the subject from a more contemporary perspective.

    Instead, the film adopts a rather more facile approach. This is most evident in its choice to use animated “bangs” and “thwocks” like a Batman comic during the big fight sequence. By and large this section (by far the worst of the four) feels like content devoid of substance.

    In story two, “Don’t fight The Feeling”, the action centres around a pair of aspiring female hip-hop performers who enter into a rap battle with the performer Too Short (the real life Too Short appears in a cameo as a cop later in the film) and tackles misogyny and hip-hop culture. There are shades of seminal black indie director Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, 1989) here in its foregrounding of black culture and subjects (although, it must be said, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are both white).

    It could have potentially complemented the punk story if it dealt with the cultural impact of 80s’ hip-hop and the struggles of female performers. But again, it feels half formed – part of the problem being that the film is trying perhaps to do too much.

    There are things to enjoy, however, in the film. It is pleasingly gory and has some clever moments. Man of the moment Pedro Pascal takes the lead in the third section (the best of the four), “Born to Mack”, as an enforcer trying to go straight and Ben Mendelsohn puts in an enjoyably sleazy turn as a corrupt cop. The success of the film rest’s chiefly on their shoulders.

    Born to Mack clearly has shades of the king of pop culture nostalgia Quentin Tarantino, especially in its clever and surprising cameo from 80s’ icon Tom Hanks who plays a mysterious video store owner. Tarantino’s films (not least 1994’s Pulp Fiction – the blueprint for this type of anthologised nostalgia cinema) were at the forefront 1990s’ indie cinema, and were framed by his obsessions with 60s, 70s and 80s pop culture.

    Freaky Tales has the potential to offer a more nuanced engagement with the era and its cultural references points while still maintaining a sense of Trashy exploitation fun. Sadly it falls short of the mark.

    Freaky Tales is in selected cinemas from April 18 and on digital platforms from April 28.

    Matthew Melia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Freaky Tales: this gory 80s-inspired anthology film is all surface and no substance – https://theconversation.com/freaky-tales-this-gory-80s-inspired-anthology-film-is-all-surface-and-no-substance-254754

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Philadelphia Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Using a Destructive Device to Start a Fire at a Northeast Philadelphia Home in 2022

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

    PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Jason Mattis, 51, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert yesterday to 120 months in prison and three years of supervised release for using a destructive device to start a fire at a Northeast Philadelphia home.

    Mattis was charged by indictment in December 2022 and convicted in September 2024, following a jury trial, of possessing an unregistered destructive device.

    As proven at trial, on July 1, 2022, Mattis lit an incendiary device similar to a Molotov cocktail and threw it onto the porch of a residence in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia. The weapon thrown by Mattis ignited and started a fire on the porch of the residence, as well as the sidewalk and the street in front. The incident occurred in the evening while the residents of the home were inside.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives examined the evidence left at the scene and determined that the weapon used by the defendant was an incendiary bomb as that term is defined under federal law.

    Mattis committed this arson while on state parole for an attempted murder conviction.

    “It’s tough to understate the seriousness of a crime like this, which put the victims, their home, and their neighborhood at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “As his lengthy criminal history shows, Jason Mattis lacks respect for both the law and other people. This sentence keeps him behind bars for years and the public is safer for it.”

    “It is remarkable that this family was able to escape with their lives when Mattis set their home ablaze with a Molotov cocktail-type incendiary device,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Arson is a serious, dangerous and often deadly crime. Using the combined capabilities of the ATF-led Philadelphia Arson and Explosives Task Force with the Philadelphia Fire and Police Departments, we will continue to seek justice and keep our communities safe from dangerous arsonists.”

    “This type of skilled investigative work and interagency cooperation makes our city safer. I am grateful for the diligence and dedication shown by our Fire Marshal’s Office, the Philadelphia Police Department and the ATF,” said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey W. Thompson.

    “Violent acts like these endanger not just the intended target, but entire communities,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel. “The thorough investigation by our officers, alongside our federal partners and the Philadelphia Fire Department, demonstrates our absolute commitment to holding individuals like Mr. Mattis accountable for violent crimes. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that those who threaten our neighborhoods are brought to justice.”

    The case was investigated by the ATF’s Arson and Explosives Task Force, the Philadelphia Fire Department, and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Eckert.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 7 Years in Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy and Role in Kidnapping and Murder of Johnathan Fraser

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HONOLULU – Acting United States Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced that Delia Fabro-Miske, 30, of Honolulu, was sentenced yesterday in federal court by U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release for racketeering conspiracy. Fabro-Miske pled guilty on January 12, 2024, in the middle of jury selection, to conspiring to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, the “Miske Enterprise,” through racketeering activity that included bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and wire fraud.

    Fabro-Miske admitted that she and codefendant Michael J. Miske committed bank fraud by submitting fraudulent paperwork in order to obtain leases for two vehicles that were used for one of Miske’s businesses. Fabro-Miske also  obstructed a joint investigation into another of Miske’s businesses, Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control (“KTPC”), which was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (“HDA”). At Miske’s direction, Fabro-Miske submitted to HDA falsified fumigation logs, which claimed that she was the certified applicator of chemicals on hundreds of jobs. In reality, most of the listed jobs were completed by unlicensed applicators. Fabro-Miske also fraudulently obtained Social Security Administration (“SSA”) survivor benefits at Miske’s direction by having her wages at KTPC decreased below the SSA benefits income threshold. At the same time, Miske paid Fabro-Miske in benefits that were not reported to the SSA or Internal Revenue Service.

    Additionally, according to information provided to the Court, in or about 2017, Miske placed Fabro-Miske in charge of his businesses in an attempt to preserve and conceal his assets in anticipation of federal prosecution. In practice, Fabro-Miske carried out Miske’s wishes and acted at his direction. Fabro-Miske assisted in a fraudulent scheme committed through Miske’s businesses, which involved submitting false filings to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs that permitted the businesses to operate under fraudulently obtained and maintained licenses. Miske Enterprise members then falsely represented to customers that Miske’s businesses were properly licensed. Between 2017 and 2020, the businesses generated millions of dollars in income annually. As the head of Miske’s businesses, Fabro-Miske was also responsible for the proper and safe application of pesticides and other chemicals at customers’ homes. Information provided to the Court, however, showed that fumigations were regularly conducted without proper supervision or chemicals. Chief Judge Watson stated that Fabro-Miske’s work at Miske’s businesses “funded any number of crimes that we heard months and months of testimony” about in Miske’s trial, and her assistance “allowed Mr. Miske to run rampant in this community.”

    Finally, the Court determined that Fabro-Miske was also responsible for participating in a conspiracy with other Miske Enterprise members to kidnap and murder 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser. According to information provided to the Court, Caleb Miske – Miske’s son and Fabro-Miske’s husband – and Fraser were driving together when the two were involved in a car crash in November 2015.  Caleb Miske ultimately passed away from his injuries, and Miske blamed Fraser for his son’s death and enlisted several Miske Enterprise members to assist in his plan to murder Fraser. As part of that plan, Miske directed Fabro-Miske to rekindle her friendship with Fraser and his girlfriend and to lure them into living with her at an apartment paid for by Miske. On July 30, 2016, Fabro-Miske took Fraser’s girlfriend on a “spa day” paid for by Miske, ensuring that Fraser would be isolated when he was kidnapped. Fraser was never seen again after that day. Due to Miske’s death in December 2024, Chief Judge Watson explained that “the person most involved in Mr. Fraser’s demise will not ever be sentenced by this Court.” While Chief Judge Watson found that Fabro-Miske did not “directly and personally kill” Fraser and determined her to be a minimal participant in the kidnapping and murder conspiracy, he noted that there was “no doubt” that her actions led to Fraser’s murder and that the circumstances painted a “strong and clear picture” of a conspiracy to commit kidnapping murder in aid of racketeering.

    Fabro-Miske was charged alongside twelve other defendants, all of whom pled guilty except for Miske, who proceeded to trial and was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder, and 11 other felony charges on July 18, 2024. Seven other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise pled guilty to various offenses in related cases. 

    “Delia Fabro-Miske was an integral member of the Miske Enterprise, which terrorized, exploited, and defrauded our community for decades. She participated in Miske’s bank frauds, social security fraud, falsification of fumigation records, and the concealment of Miske’s illegally obtained assets, and was a vital cog in the plot to murder of Johnathan Fraser. Fabro-Miske’s sentence yesterday demonstrates that those who occupy even the lower rungs of Hawaii’s criminal enterprises will pay a steep price when they face justice in federal court,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. “The dismantling of the Miske Enterprise represents one of the most significant law enforcement efforts in the history of Hawaii law enforcement, and it would not have been possible without the tremendous and dedicated work of our partners at the Honolulu Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and Environmental Protection Agency, among many others.”

    “Ms. Fabro-Miske was a key member in the Miske Enterprise fraud schemes, actively participating in defrauding the government and taxpayers,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter. “This sentencing reflects years of collaboration between FBI Honolulu and our law enforcement partners. The FBI remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantle violent criminal enterprises, hold their members accountable, and pursue justice for victims.”

    “Our investigators follow the money because criminal organizations profit at the expense of public safety,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “Ms. Fabro-Miske’s racketeering conviction is a reminder that, in the end, crime really doesn’t pay.”

    “The sentencing of Ms. Fabro-Miske underscores HSI’s commitment to disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations in Hawaii,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas. “HSI will continue to hold accountable those who significantly harm our communities by breaking federal laws. By bringing justice to the Miske Enterprise, HSI sends the message that we will not tolerate any violent activity on our islands.”

    “By falsifying documents, defendant obstructed EPA and the state’s criminal investigation of a pesticide applicator that illegally applied restricted use pesticides,” said Benjamin Carr, Special Agent in Charge for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in Hawaii. “Yesterday’s sentencing reflects the seriousness of defendant’s fraudulent conduct and the importance of complying with pesticide reporting requirements so EPA and Hawaii Department of Agriculture can keep our communities safe.”

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

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Honolulu Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Cybercrime Lab of the Department of Justice Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team, the Office of Investigations–Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Inciong, Michael Nammar, KeAupuni Akina, and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cherokee County man sentenced to federal prison in drug trafficking conspiracy

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

    TYLER, Texas – An Alto man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.

    Robert Jessie Martin, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 220 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker on April 17, 2025.  Judge Barker also entered an order forfeiting to the government Martin’s 75 acre property located in Cherokee County.

    According to information presented in court, Martin conspired with others to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of actual methamphetamine. As part of the conspiracy, Martin set up rotary tablet pill presses on his property near Alto to manufacture and press out hundreds of thousands of counterfeit pills laced with methamphetamine that were then distributed throughout the United States for profit. Martin recruited and supplied wholesale and mid-level distributors of the pills he manufactured.

    On July 11, 2023, law enforcement executed a federal search and arrest warrant on Martin’s property located near Alto and seized five firearms, five rotary pill presses, 111.22 grams of actual methamphetamine, approximately 7,669 grams of methamphetamine in powder form, and 29,283 methamphetamine-laced pills.

    This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); HSI Currency Narcotics Enforcement Team-Houston; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office; the Jacksonville Police Department; and the Texas Department of Public Safety.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Hurst.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leader and Money Launderer for the KDY Drug Trafficking Crew Sentenced to 160 Months in Federal Prison

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

    WASHINGTON – Kenneth Amedola Olugbenga, 29, a leader of and money launderer for the violent Kennedy Street Crew (KDY), was sentenced today to 160 months in federal prison for his role in a massive drug trafficking organization that operated open-air markets in Northwest Washington D.C.

                The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division, Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office , and ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives – Washington Field Division.

                Olugbenga, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty Sept. 20, 2024, to a two-count Superseding Information, charging him with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, cocaine base, and marijuana and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. In addition to the 160-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Olugbenga to serve four years of supervised release. Judge Howell also ordered Olugbenga to forfeit $374,598.00 as part of his sentence.

                KDY members operated open-air drug markets on an 11-block stretch of Kennedy Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding streets. Like many drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), KDY armed itself with fire power to facilitate the drug trade defend its territory from rival crews and commit other violent crimes. Olugbenga was arrested in June 2023 as part of a coordinated arrest operation in this case and has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

                According to court documents, and by his own admission, Olugbenga served as an organizer and leader of the Kennedy Street Crew. Olugbenga was one of the originators of KDY’s drug trafficking operation via commercial flights from California. He served as the lead money launderer for the crew, establishing phony companies that included an auto detailing business to project an illusion of legitimacy for the crew’s drug trafficking. From 2019 until the date of his arrest, Olugbenga also used a local casino to launder $1.8 million in illegal proceeds from drug trafficking. In addition, Olugbenga used one of the phony businesses to apply for and receive a forgivable Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. He used the SBA funds to buy more bulk narcotics.

                Olugbenga took nearly six dozen roundtrip flights to the West Coast over the course of the four-year conspiracy and spent more than $21,000 on one-way airline tickets in one year alone.

                Olugbenga was a bulk supplier of cocaine, both powdered and crack, along with marijuana. He regularly referred customers to other KDY drug trafficking operations when they sought pills or other narcotics that he himself was unable to readily access. He tracked drug expenses and debts within the crew, pooling resources and noting law enforcement seizures over the course of the four-year conspiracy.

                He also engaged in drug activity on KDY turf. Within the open-air drug market in Kennedy Street territory, MPD officers conducted 15 controlled purchases from Olugbenga totaling 52.3 grams of cocaine base.

                On February 20, 2023, in the 500 block of Emerson Street NW, the MPD’s Fourth District Crime Suppression Team observed a Ford Econoline van driving recklessly as it swerved into oncoming traffic to pass a bicyclist. This van was the same vehicle that Olugbenga had been seen using around the open-air drug market on Kennedy Street since the beginning of the investigation. MPD officers attempted to stop the van, chasing it as it fled. The vehicle eventually stopped near the intersection of 7th and Longfellow Streets NW. Olugbenga abandoned the van and fled on foot. The van was subsequently searched, and law enforcement recovered distribution quantities of crack cocaine and marijuana, a loaded Glock handgun, a drug ledger, and a brochure for one of Olugbenga’s shell companies.

                On June 27, 2023, law enforcement arrested Olugbenga and served search warrants at two residences associated with him. At his residence in KDY territory, officers recovered five kilos of marijuana, nearly a kilo of cocaine, and various scales. 

               Of the 17 KDY members charged in connection with the investigation, 16 have now been sentenced. Co-defendant Jovan Williams, aka Chewy, will be sentenced tomorrow, April 18.

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

               This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the DEA’s Washington Division, the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Field Office, and ATF’s Washington Field Division.

               The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, of the of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

    KDY DEFENDANTS

    NAME

    AGE

    CHARGES/SENTENCES
    Kenneth Ademola Olugbenga 29 Sentenced March 17, 2025, to 360 Months in Prison after Pleading Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or more of Cocaine Base, and a Detectable Amount of Marijuana; and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.
    Khali Ahmed Brown, aka “Migo Lee” 24 Sentenced January 16, 2025, to 168 Months after Pleading Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilograms or More of Marijuana and 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl and Oxycodone; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense; and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
    Keion Michael Brown 21 Sentenced January 16, 2025, to 147 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilograms or More of Marijuana and Oxycodone and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.
    Miasiah Jamal Brown, aka “Michael Jamal Crawford” 23 Sentenced August 16, 2024, to Five Years for Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.
    Tristan Miles Ware, aka “Greedy” 24 Sentenced December 13, 2024, to 120 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilos of Marijuana; and Possessing a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking Crime.
    Jovan Williams, aka “Chewy” and “Choo” 20 Sentencing Scheduled for April 18, 2025. Pleaded Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilograms or More of Marijuana and Armed Carjacking.
    Herman Eric-Bibmin Signou, aka “Herman Signour” 25 Sentenced March 22, 2024, to 40 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute 100 Kilograms of More of Marijuana
    Cameron Xavier Reid 28 Sentenced May 31, 2024, to 60 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilograms of More of Marijuana.
    Warren Lawrence Fields, III, aka B-Dub 26 Sentenced May 16, 2024, to 60 Months for Possessing a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking Offense and for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
    Juwan Demetrius Clark, aka “Squirrel” 28 Sentenced January 10, 2025, to 37 Months for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
    Aaron DeAndre Mercer, aka “Curby,” 34 Sentenced September 13, 2024, to 120 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl, Marijuana, and Cocaine Base.
    David Penn, aka “Turtle” 32 Sentenced November 15, 2024, to 220 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana, 40 Grams or More of Fentanyl, and a Mixture of Cocaine Base; and Two Counts of Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.
    Ronald Lynn Dorsey, aka “Ron G” and “HBGeezy” 31 Sentenced September 13, 2024, to 30 Months for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
    Antonio Reginald Bailey, aka “Boy Boy,” and “Fellow King” 24 Sentenced February 8, 2024, to 24 Months for Receiving a Firearm While Under Indictment.
    Anthony Trayon Bailey, aka “Fat Ant,” and “Bizzle” 29 Sentenced April 26, 2024, to 15 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Kilograms or More of Marijuana, 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl, and a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Cocaine Base.
    Angel Enrique Suncar, aka “Coqui” 31 Sentenced December 12, 2024, to 60 Months for Possessing a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking Crime.
    Adebayo Adediji Green 31 Sentenced August 16, 2024, to 60 Months for Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

                Defendant Cameron Reid is from Falmouth, VA; all remaining defendants are from Washington, D.C.

    Kenneth Olugbenga photographed at the local casino where he laundered illicit drug proceeds.

    Olugbenga frequented the open-air drug market in the Kennedy Street Corridor, often with his panel van or one of several sedans he operated.

     

    At Olugbenga’s residence in KDY territory, officers recovered nearly five kilograms of marijuana, and nearly a kilogram of cocaine.

    23cr202

    ##

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Tucson Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Firearms Trafficking Offenses

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    TUCSON, Ariz. – Julian Canastillo, 23, of Tucson, was sentenced on April 15, 2025, by United States District Judge John C. Hinderaker to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Canastillo previously pleaded guilty to six counts of Smuggling Goods from the United States and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

    Canastillo was the lead defendant in a 51-count indictment filed on September 15, 2022, charging 10 individuals involved in a firearms trafficking organization based in Tucson. An investigation leading to the indictment revealed a series of transactions linked to the organization for firearms that were later seized in the Republic of Mexico. In total, the Tucson-based organization is connected to more than 200 firearms transactions, and Canastillo alone admitted to smuggling 36 firearms into Mexico.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, and Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela W. Woolridge, Craig H. Russell, and Matthew C. Cassell, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

    CASE NUMBER:            CR-22-01857-001-TUC-JCH
    RELEASE NUMBER:           2025-058_Canastillo

    # # #

    For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

    Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Union County man sentenced to federal prison for gun offenses

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

    BENTON, Ill. – A federal district judge sentenced a Wolf Lake man to 150 months’ imprisonment after he admitted to possessing firearms as a felon.

    Kyle M. Bond, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm. Following imprisonment, Bond will serve three years of supervised release.

    “In an effort to protect the public and help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, convicted felons lose their right to legally possess firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft. “As this case demonstrates, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work to remove repeat criminal offenders who threaten the safety of our communities.”

    According to court documents, on January 5, 2023, deputies with the Union County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in Union County in connection to an investigation and located nine firearms on his property—six rifles and three handguns. Four of the nine firearms Bond possessed had obliterated serial numbers.

    One of the firearms recovered by law enforcement was a short-barrel semi-automatic rifle, with an approximate barrel length of 12 ½ inches, that Bond did not register in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

    Prior to Bond’s indictment in 2023, he had been convicted of a felony offense in Missouri and therefore unable to legally possess firearms.

    “Mr. Bond showed blatant disregard of federal laws that have been put in place to assure public safety,” said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge, Bernard Hansen. “As we did in this case, we will continue to work with the Union County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that safety of our communities.”

    The Union County Sheriff’s Office and ATF contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. David Sanders prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Marathon County Woman Sentenced to 6 Years for Conspiring to Traffic Methamphetamine

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Mercadys A. Perkins is the first defendant sentenced from trafficking organization

    MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Mercadys A. Perkins, 32, Weston, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 6 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Perkins pleaded guilty to this charge on January 21, 2025.

    In early 2024, investigators with the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force began investigating a group of individuals who were distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in the Marathon County area. Perkins was identified as a distributor for the group.

    In March and April of 2024, Perkins sold methamphetamine three times to an informant, the largest sale being 230 grams. On April 16, 2024, task force officers executed a search warrant at Perkins’s residence in Weston. Officers found over 300 grams of methamphetamine, over $2,000 in cash, drug ledgers, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia during the search. Perkins later admitted to trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine.

    Further investigation revealed that between February 18, 2024, and April 12, 2024, a co-conspirator provided Perkins and another individual approximately 16 pounds of methamphetamine and 6 ounces of cocaine intended for further distribution.

    At the time of these events, Perkins was serving a term of state probation for a methamphetamine possession conviction and was out on bond on four open state cases, three of which involved methamphetamine trafficking. Her state probation was revoked, and she was sentenced to 2 years in state prison, which she is currently serving. Judge Conley ordered the federal sentence to run concurrently with the remainder of Perkins’ state prison sentence.

    At sentencing, Judge Conley said Perkins participated with her co-defendants to distribute significant quantities of methamphetamine in an around Marathon County. He said he weighed this serious conduct against some mitigating factors including her profound drug addiction.

    Three others were charged in connection with this drug trafficking conspiracy. Co-defendants Joshua Lake, Jessica Colby, and Dustin Brunker have all pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

    The charge against Perkins was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force comprised of investigators from the FBI, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain Bay Police Department, Wausau Police Department and the Wisconsin National Guard Counter Drug Program. The ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force also assisted with the case. The ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force consists of federal agents from ATF and Task Force Officers from state and local agencies throughout the Western District of Wisconsin. The Marathon County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted this case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Arrests Local Man for Possession of Unregistered Destructive Device

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

    CINCINNATI—A Mason man has been arrested by the FBI for possessing an unregistered destructive device.

    James River Phillips, 20, was arrested today by the FBI Cincinnati Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) following federal court-authorized law enforcement activity at locations in Mason, Oxford, and Liberty Township, Ohio.

    “The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested James River Phillips after he allegedly possessed a dangerous destructive device,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola. “The FBI and our partners worked together to ensure his actions were stopped before there was any risk to public safety.”

    According to the criminal complaint, Phillips is believed to have possessed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that was discovered by a Lebanon Police Department patrol officer on September 22, 2024, at an outdoor sports complex. The device was collected by the Butler County Bomb Squad and the components were tested.

    Charging documents detail that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was able to identify Phillips as the primary suspect who left the device at the sports complex. The JTTF has also been able to connect Phillips to other incidents where he is alleged to have possessed and detonated potential explosives.

    The FBI is being assisted in this case by the Lebanon Police Department, Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Butler County Sheriff’s Office, Mason Police Department, Oxford Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Dayton Police Department, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Deputy Criminal Chief Emily N. Glatfelter with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio is representing the United States in this case.

    A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Hancock County Man Admits to Fentanyl Charge

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

    WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Daniel Paul Truax, age 46, of Weirton, West Virginia, has admitted to the distribution of fentanyl. 

    According to court documents, Truax was selling fentanyl for a drug trafficking organization that stretched from Chicago to the Ohio Valley including Weirton, WV.

    Truax is facing up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clayton Reid and Carly Nogay are prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

    Investigative agencies include the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the United States Marshals Service; the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office; the Brooke County Sheriff’s Office; the Weirton Police Department; the West Virginia State Police; the Jefferson County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office; and the Steubenville, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office.

    U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Markey, Evans Announce Legislation to Support Victims of Gun Violence

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Bill would help the 100,000 new U.S. victims & survivors each year
    better navigate & use available resources
    Washington (April 17, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) along with Congressman Dwight Evans (PA-03), today announced the introduction of the Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act of 2025, legislation that would help all victims of gun violence – from survivors to their loved ones, coworkers, and classmates – identify and access the resources available to them to help meet medical, legal, financial, and other needs.
    The bill would establish a federal interagency advisory council to help victims navigate and use these resources, streamlining what can be a complex process in a nation of gun violence survivors. Every year in America, about 100,000 people survive gun-related injuries. An estimated 10,000,000 people in the U.S. have been shot and injured in their lifetimes.
    “For communities across the country, gun violence is an all too familiar tragedy. It is impossible to imagine the trauma that gun violence causes to victims, survivors, and their loved ones,”?said Senator Markey. “I am proud to join Congressman Evans in introducing the Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act, which would establish an advisory council to gather information about programs to aid victims of gun violence and their families. These efforts can help heal the harm that gun violence inflicts on our society.
    “While gun violence is down in Philadelphia and many other communities, it’s still far too common – more than 1,000 people were injured by gunfire just in Philadelphia in 2024. So the list of victims and survivors who need well-coordinated help continues to grow, and our bill would make a difference for many of them,” said Congressman Evans. “I appreciate Senator Markey’s leadership in the Senate on this bill that would help so many victims and survivors across America.”
    The bill text is available HERE.
    The legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
    The full list of House cosponsors is available here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Haven Gang Member Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison

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

    DONELL ALLICK, JR., also known as “D-Nice,” 26, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 240 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his participation in a violent New Haven street gang and a murder in September 2022.

    Today’s announcement was made by Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; John P. Doyle, Jr., State’s Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division; Anish Shukla, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England; and New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, in an effort to address violence in New Haven, the ATF, FBI, DEA and New Haven Police Department, working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, investigated a gang war between members and associates of the Exit 8 street gang and rival gangs in the Hill section and other areas of the city.  The Exit 8 gang is named after the geographic area accessed by exiting Interstate 91 at Exit 8 in New Haven.  Recently, younger members of Exit 8 are identifying themselves with the word “Honcho,” which is derived from the street name of an Exit 8 member who was murdered on Quinnipiac Avenue in February 2020.

    The investigation revealed that Allick and other members of the Exit 8 gang engaged in drug trafficking, used and shared firearms, and, since June 2018, have committed at least three murders and 16 attempted murders.  Exit 8 members and associates also stole vehicles, at times from outside of the state, and used those stolen vehicles when committing acts of violence.  Gang members also promoted, coordinated, facilitated, and celebrated their narcotics distribution and acts of violence through text messaging and the use of social media applications and websites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.

    On August 1, 2024, Allick pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, including acts of violence, narcotics trafficking, and gun sales, and specifically admitted that, on September 16, 2022, he and others shot Kenneth Cloud, 46, who was sitting on the porch of an Atwater Street residence in New Haven.  The victim was paralyzed as a result of the shooting and died approximately three months later.  Forty-three shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting.  Ballistics analysis revealed that 19 had been fired from a handgun later found in Allick’s vehicle, and 24 had been fired from a handgun later found inside Allick’s residence.

    Allick has been detained since his arrest on November 10, 2022.  On July 15, 2024, Judge Bolden sentenced him to 115 months of imprisonment in a separate federal case.  Allick’s 240-month sentence will run concurrently with his 115-month sentence.

    This investigation was conducted by the ATF, the FBI, the DEA, the New Haven Police Department, the Hamden Police Department, and the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis and Rahul Kale.

    This prosecution was part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs.

    PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.

    Project Longevity is a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities.  Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it.

    OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Apollo Announces Changes to its Board of Directors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Gary Cohn to join the Board as Lead Independent Director

    Outgoing Chair and Lead Independent Director Jay Clayton assuming role as interim US Attorney for SDNY

    NEW YORK, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apollo (NYSE: APO) today announced changes to its Board of Directors. Financial services leader Gary Cohn has been appointed to the Board as Lead Independent Director. Jay Clayton, who has served as Chair and Lead Independent Director since March 2021, has informed Apollo that he will assume the role of Interim US Attorney for the Southern District of New York on April 22, 2025 and his resignation from the Apollo Board will be effective as of April 21, 2025. In addition, CEO Marc Rowan has been appointed to the expanded role of CEO and Chair of the Board. Both appointments will be effective as of April 21, 2025.

    Commenting on the Board appointments, Clayton said, “It was an honor to Chair the Apollo Board of Directors over the past four years. Our Board has overseen a remarkable transformation to shareholder-aligned stewardship and our management team, under Marc Rowan’s leadership, has delivered outstanding results for all our stakeholders. I am pleased to welcome Gary Cohn to the Board. Gary has a wealth of business and financial services experience across both the private and public sectors and has an unparalleled understanding of the role financial services firms play in our global economy. His appointment as Lead Independent Director supports Apollo’s continued commitment to best-in-class governance. I am pleased Marc has accepted the Board’s request to take on the expanded role of Chair where he will continue to provide stakeholder-oriented leadership, shape firm strategy and ensure operational excellence.”

    Cohn said, “I couldn’t be more excited to work with a transformational firm like Apollo that is driving the financial services industry forward. With the ongoing convergence of public and private markets, this is a remarkable time to create value for its shareholders and investors. I look forward to working with Marc and the Board to help Apollo capitalize on this opportunity and execute its growth plans.”

    Rowan said, “In just a few years, Jay has made tremendous and lasting contributions to Apollo, and he was a stabilizing force at an extraordinary time for our firm. He operates with the highest integrity, and we are grateful for his strong stewardship. With his forthcoming departure, I can think of few professionals more qualified to help fill his shoes than Gary Cohn, who we are pleased to appoint as Lead Independent Director.”

    Gary Cohn is the Vice Chairman of IBM and former director of the US National Economic Council. He spent 26 years with Goldman Sachs, including a decade as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2006-2016. He began his career in commodities trading in 1982. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of NYU Langone Health and is a graduate of American University.

    Accounting for these changes, Apollo continues to maintain a two-thirds independent Board of Directors.

    About Apollo

    Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade credit to private equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of December 31, 2024, Apollo had approximately $751 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    In this press release, references to “Apollo,” “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refer collectively to Apollo Global Management, Inc. and its subsidiaries, or as the context may otherwise require. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, discussions related to Apollo’s expectations regarding the performance of its business and other non-historical statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. When used in this press release, the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “continue,” “will,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 24, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this press release and in our other filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. This press release does not constitute an offer of any Apollo fund.

    Contacts

    Noah Gunn
    Global Head of Investor Relations
    Apollo Global Management, Inc.
    212-822-0540
    ir@apollo.com

    Joanna Rose
    Global Head of Corporate Communications
    Apollo Global Management, Inc.
    212-822-0491
    communications@apollo.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican Nationals Charged with Unlawful Possession of Ammunition

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

    DENVER – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that defendants Caesar Ramon Martinez Solis, 41, and Humberto Ivan Amador Gavira, 24, both of Mexico, were charged with Unlawful Possession of Ammunition by Alien Admitted Under a Nonimmigrant Visa.

    According to the criminal complaint, on March 26, 2025, Detectives with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office (FSCO) conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle occupied by defendants in Canon City.  Defendant Martinez Solis consented to a search of the vehicle. During the search, the Detectives found what they estimated to be approximately 150 boxes of .308 ammunition, and approximately 30 boxes of 7.62 ammunition.  Each box was labeled as containing 1,000 rounds. 

    The investigation is being handled by the Denver Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Denver Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  The prosecution is being handled by the Violent Crime and Immigration Enforcement Section of the United States Attorney’s Office.

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

    The charges in the complaint are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Case Number:  25-mj-00074-CYC

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Bristol Virginia Man Sentenced to Over 31 Years for Carjacking and Firearm Offenses

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    GREENVILLE, Tenn. – On April 16, 2025, Charles Nile Mixon, 49, of Bristol, Virginia, was sentenced to 377 months imprisonment by the Honorable Clifton L. Corker, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville. Following his imprisonment, Mixon will be on supervised release for five years. 

    On October 30, 2024, following a three-day trial, a jury convicted Mixon of carjacking in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 2119; using and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii); possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18. U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession of a stolen firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j). The jury also made a special finding that Mixon had previously been convicted of at least three, qualifying violent crimes, which established Mixon as an armed career criminal in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).

    According to witnesses, court documents, and evidence presented at trial, in the early morning hours of May 24, 2023, Mixon carjacked a female victim at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Taco Bell restaurant in Bristol, Tennessee. Mixon briefly held the victim at gunpoint inside the vehicle. Following a police chase, Mixon escaped into Virginia and abandoned the carjacked vehicle. The following day, during a conversation with a relative, Mixon admitted to taking the relative’s firearm and using it to carjack the woman at the Taco Bell. The relative contacted law enforcement and Mixon was arrested after another chase from Bristol, Virginia into Bristol, Tennessee. The stolen firearm was located on Mixon after his arrest. 

    “The sentence imposed is a powerful reminder that violent offenses, such as this carjacking, will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. “Individuals who repeatedly commit violent offenses are a threat to public safety and our office will continue to prosecute those individuals vigorously.”

    “This case involves an individual who has continuously shown total disregard for the law by committing armed carjackings, firearm related offenses, and terrifying acts of violence,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Stankiewicz of the Nashville Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “The ATF remains committed to working tirelessly with our local, state, and federal partners to combat violent crime, and protect the communities that we serve.”

    The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the Bristol Tennessee Police Department and ATF.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Todd Martin and Emily Swecker represented the United States.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline), a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

                                                                                                                   ###

     

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Maryland Drug and Firearms Trafficker Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Greenbelt, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Thomas Emmanuel Williams, 52, of Laurel, Maryland, to 17 years in federal prison.  On January 17, 2025, a federal jury convicted Williams on 12 federal charges related to drug-and-firearms trafficking.

    Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

    According to the evidence at trial, in January and February 2023, the defendant illegally sold 10 firearms, three machineguns, ammunition, and hundreds of oxycodone, codeine, and fentanyl pills to an undercover law-enforcement source. The defendant sold several privately made firearms that didn’t have serial numbers, and so-called “Glock switches,” designed to convert semi-automatic Glock-style pistols into fully automatic firearms.

    Williams arranged to sell the drugs and guns to the source on four different dates through FaceTime and phone calls. He met with the undercover source in shopping-center parking lots in Laurel and Hyattsville, Maryland, to sell guns, ammunition, and drugs in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash.

    The firearms sold included a Hi Point 45 ACP Pistol and 9mm Rifle, Taurus 85 Ultra Lite .38 Special Revolver, two AR-style 5.56mm pistols, a Glock 21 .45 Auto Pistol, and a Glock 43 9mm Pistol, along with three “Glock switches” which are classified as machineguns under federal law.

    U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the ATF — and its special agents Christopher Szakolczai and Katherine Rottman — for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darren S. Gardner and Dawn Williams who prosecuted the federal case.

    For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Sixteen charged in East Texas federal methamphetamine conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BEAUMONT, Texas – A federal indictment in the Eastern District of Texas has resulted in the arrest of 16 individuals charged with various violations related to a wide-spread methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.

    The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on April 2, 2025, in the Eastern District of Texas, charges the defendants with federal drug and gun violations.  A multi-agency law enforcement action was held on April 16, 2025, resulting in those arrests.  Since the investigation began in November 2022, law enforcement has seized over 10 kilograms of methamphetamine and 14 firearms.  Those in custody began making initial appearances in federal court on April 16, 2025, in Beaumont.

    According to information provided in court, the following individuals are alleged to have been involved in the methamphetamine conspiracy in the Angelina, Nacogdoches, and Polk counties area:

    •    Albert Lopez, 39, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime;

    •    Adaryl Douglas, 45, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime;

    •    Hector Gomez, 40, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Oscar Padilla, 44, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Leanna Jean Busby, 45, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Amanda McBride, 43, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    John Christopher Rios, 53, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Jose Pedro Guzman Jr., 34, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Lorene Michelle Baker, 44, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    David Davis, Jr., 48, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Penny Ann King, 51, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Jodi Calvin Sparkman, 53, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Christopher Dewayne Harvey, 51, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine;

    •    Gary Mills, 65, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and felon in possession of a firearm;

    •    Clifton Collin-Dakota Smith, 32, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; and

    •    Corey Mullan, 39, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

    If convicted, defendants face from 10 years to life in federal prison.

    As part of the operation, Eduardo Barajas-Macias, 32, a close associate of the criminal conspiracy, was also arrested and charged with unlawful reentry by a removed or deported alien.

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

    The case is being investigated by the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; FBI; U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations; Lufkin Police Department; Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office; Texas Department of Public Safety; and U.S. Marshals Service.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald S. Carter.

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

    ###

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Brazilian Man Charged with Possessing a Firearm While Being Unlawfully in the United States

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Gabriel Lopes Da Silva Santos, 27, of Brazil, has been charged by criminal complaint with illegal possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the United States.

    On April 16, 2025, Santos appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle, who ordered that Santos be detained during the pendency of this matter.

    According to court records, Santos illegally possessed an AR-15 style rifle on June 9, 2024, when law enforcement responded to an apartment complex in Ludlow, Vermont. A neighbor had reported that someone was shooting behind the complex. Law enforcement found Santos, who claimed ownership of the AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun that was also on scene. Law enforcement later discovered that Santos had overstayed his visa, which expired in September 2020.

    The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that the complaint contains allegations only and that Santos is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Santos faces up to 15 years of imprisonment if convicted.  The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.

    Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the investigatory efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  

    The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Joshua L. Banker. Santos is represented by Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Vermont.

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

    This 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. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
     

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Mineral Springs Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Distributing Methamphetamine and Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking Crime

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A resident of Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 181 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, on his convictions of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

    United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Brian Gidney, 51.

    According to information presented to the Court, from in and around July 2019 to in and around June 2020, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Gidney conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine. Further, on or about June 9, 2020, Gidney possessed with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine, and also possessed a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking crime. Gidney was intercepted on a federal wiretap obtaining quantities of methamphetamine that he distributed to others.

    Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

    Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Drug Enforcement Administration and Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Gidney. Additional agencies participating in this investigation include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Clearfield County District Attorney’s Office, Erie County District Attorney’s Office, Millcreek Police Department, Erie Bureau of Police, and other local law enforcement agencies.

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

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  • MIL-OSI Canada: Budget Commitments Include Targeted Investments for Safer Communities

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on April 17, 2025

    The Government of Saskatchewan is reinforcing its commitment to delivering safer communities and neighbourhoods through new and continued investments in the 2025-26 Budget. This includes $665 million for the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety; $271 million for the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General; $118.9 million for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA); and $9.1 million for the Saskatchewan Firearms Office (SFO). 

    “Public safety continues to be a top priority for our government, which is reflected through investments in Budget 2025-26,” Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety and Justice and Attorney General Tim McLeod said. “Investments in policing, border security initiatives, reintegration supports for offenders and measures to address gangs, illegal drugs and weapons will help create safer communities for everyone in Saskatchewan.” 

    In 2024-25 and 2025-26, the Government of Saskatchewan invested $2 billion in public safety. This includes an increase of $28.4 million, totaling $699.4 million over two years, to support policing and community safety in the province and over $518 million over two years to enhance access to justice services.

    Investing in the protection of people and property 

    This year, the budget includes $261 million to fund RCMP operations in the province, including $23.7 million for the First Nations Policing Program. 

    The 2025-26 Budget also includes funding to continue public safety commitments that were announced last fall. These include $6 million as part of the $11.9 million commitment to hire approximately 100 new municipal police officers; $2.7 million to hire 14 new Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods personnel to reduce crime by targeting nuisance properties; and $1.6 million for the Saskatchewan Police College, as part of the government’s three-year commitment to train more officers in the province. 

    An additional $3.6 million will be invested to hire 50 new officers under the Saskatchewan Marshals Service (SMS), which is expected to become operational in the coming months – a full year ahead of schedule. The SMS will focus on provincial policing priorities, including gangs, illegal weapons and drugs, along with apprehending prolific, high-risk offenders and wanted individuals who pose a public safety risk.

    The 2025-26 Budget includes a targeted investment of $1.5 million to enhance roadway patrols, border security initiatives and other public safety priorities, including investments for six weigh-scale operators to conduct commercial vehicle inspections and seven prisoner transport deputy sheriffs to increase their capacity for prisoner transport, allowing more RCMP officers to focus on addressing frontline calls for service.

    This enhanced law enforcement presence extends to Saskatchewan’s border with the United States. To enhance security and safety at the border, the government introduced the Saskatchewan Border Security Plan in January 2025 to mobilize Provincial Protective Services officers to work in partnership with provincial policing services and federal agencies to boost law enforcement’s presence near the border.

    Investing in a more accessible court system

    The 2025-26 Budget provides funding to create a more accessible court system, support the enforcement of municipal bylaw offences and enhance prosecution services. This year’s budget also supports initiatives that reduce the amount of time police need to spend in court, which will allow them to spend more time delivering core policing duties in their communities. 

    Major investments in the 2025-26 Justice and Attorney General budget include $665,000 to support the expansion of traffic safety courts; a commitment of $447,000 for the development of municipal bylaw court hubs which will streamline and improve municipal bylaw enforcement; and investing $822,000 in Public Prosecutions to accommodate the introduction of body-worn cameras by the RCMP and the expansion of body-worn camera use by the Saskatoon Police Service.

    This year’s budget will continue to invest in the Court Modernization Project, providing $3.38 million for ongoing enhancements such as modernized courtroom technology and infrastructure and the continued implementation of the Judicial Scheduling, Tracking and Amalgamated Reporting system. 

    “Over the last two years we have improved police accountability, built community partnerships and invested in courtroom modernization,” McLeod said. “Our government is following through on our ongoing commitment to increase access to justice services across the province for the benefit of all Saskatchewan individuals, families and communities.” 

    Improving safety for correctional staff, offenders and the public

    To improve overall safety for correctional staff, offenders and the public, and to address capacity concerns at correctional facilities, this year’s budget provides $11.7 million to the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety to support the opening of the new Saskatoon Correctional Centre expansion. 

    It includes investments to expand the capacity for women in the correctional system, as well as increasing funding to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan as it works to successfully reintegrate female offenders back into their communities. 

    This year’s budget also includes $1.1 million for the Electronic Monitoring Program to increase the real-time monitoring of offenders in the community.

    Investing in interpersonal violence programs and services 

    In 2025-26, government will invest $31.7 million for interpersonal violence programs and services through the justice system. This includes $328,000 for second-stage housing and an additional $720,000 for community-based organizations, including those that deliver supports and services to individuals and families impacted by interpersonal violence and abuse. 

    The 2025-26 Budget includes funding to allow the SPSA to continue its four-year plan to purchase four repurposed airtankers for use in fighting wildfires and other emergency services.

    The budget provides $9.1 million in funding for the SFO this year, including $569,000 to support the Saskatchewan Ballistics Laboratory, which is set to open this fall. The ballistics laboratory will play a vital role in supporting firearms-related criminal investigations and help reduce the impact of illegal firearms and gun violence in the province. 

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    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Haven Man Admits Distributing Methamphetamine Pills and Crack While on Supervised Release

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

    Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DONALD OGMAN, also known as “Mainey-O” and ”Manny O,” 43, of New Haven, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to methamphetamine and cocaine distribution offenses.  A trial in this matter was scheduled to begin this morning.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Ogman has been a leader of the Grape Street Crips (GSC), a violent New Haven gang.  In 2012, the FBI arrested Ogman for offenses related to his role in GSC, including drug trafficking.  He pleaded guilty to narcotics offenses and, on March 10, 2015, was sentenced to 188 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release.  In August 2022, a federal judge granted Ogman’s motion for compassionate release, reduced Ogman’s sentence to time served, and he was released from prison. 

    Ogman resumed his drug trafficking activity while on federal supervised release, distributing multi-colored pills containing methamphetamine in and around New Haven.  The investigation included surveillance, trash pulls, and controlled purchases of methamphetamine pills from Ogman in March and April 2024.

    Ogman was arrested on May 9, 2024.  On that date, searches of his person and residence revealed additional quantities of methamphetamine, as well as crack cocaine.

    Ogman pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, methamphetamine; three counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; and one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of cocaine. 

    Judge Oliver scheduled sentencing for July 9.  Due to Ogman’s prior conviction for a serious drug felony, he faces a prison term of at least 10 years.  He also faces additional penalties for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

    Ogman has been detained since his arrest.

    This matter has been investigated by the DEA New Haven District Office (NHDO) Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the New Haven Police Department and the Hamden Police Department.  The NHDO Task Force includes members from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Waterbury, East Haven, Branford, West Haven, Ansonia, Meriden, Naugatuck, and Shelton Police Departments.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie T. Levick and Nathan J. Guevremont through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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  • MIL-OSI Australia: In-house audit review results

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    The term ‘in-house audit’ refers to an auditor who works for a firm, or network firm, that also provides services like accounting or administration to the same self-managed super fund (SMSF) clients.

    Since 1 January 2020, auditors have not been allowed to perform in-house audits unless:

    It is hard for firms to meet these rules, demonstrating the ‘routine or mechanical’ test is difficult due to the professional judgment involved. When we review auditors, we contact SMSF trustees to check their role in preparing the funds accounts and statements.

    In a recent review using data matching we focused on auditors who still perform in-house audits. Our risk assessment shows around 800 auditors might still be doing in-house audits.

    This financial year, we reviewed 30 auditors suspected of doing in-house audits. As a result of these reviews:

    • 14 auditors were referred to ASIC
    • 6 auditors were deregistered voluntarily
    • 8 auditors received education
    • 2 auditors were compliant.

    Since 1 July 2021, we have referred 42 auditors to ASIC for various reasons including doing in-house audits, this was 32% of all referrals. In March 2024, ASIC released a statementExternal Link detailing the actions taken against 15 of the 42 auditors we referred.

    Firms must follow independence requirements when planning their structure and their audit engagements. They should not rely on one referral source for their fees. ASIC suspended three high-volume SMSF auditorsExternal Link linked to an SMSF administration provider for not considering these factors.

    Looking for the latest news for SMSFs? – You can stay up to date by visiting our SMSF newsroom and subscribingExternal Link to our monthly SMSF newsletter.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Four Sentenced for Roles in Morgantown-Area Drug Trafficking Operation

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

    CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Four people were sentenced for their involvement in a drug trafficking organization that stretched from Philadelphia to Detroit to Morgantown, West Virginia.

    Those sentenced today were:

    • Charles Johnson, 33, of Detroit, Michigan, sentenced today to 96 months in federal prison;
    • Sandra Tennant, 55, of Morgantown, West Virginia, sentenced to 51 months;
    • Stephanie Miller, 48, of Charleston, West Virginia, sentenced to 84 months in federal prison; and
    • Jordan Spadafore, 34, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced to five years of probation.

    According to court documents, Johnson, Tennant, Miller, and Spadafore were distributors for the operation that was selling methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda Wesley prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.

    This case was investigated by the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative. The task force consists of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the West Virginia State Police; the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office; the Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; the Morgantown Police Department; the WVU Police Department; the Granville Police Department; and the Star City Police Department.

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

    Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Rapid City Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing a Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on April 11, 2025.

    Dakota Jolley, age 28, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

    Jolley was indicted on the possession charge in February 2024, and he pleaded guilty on January 8, 2025.

    In November 2023, the defendant got into an argument with his spouse, who was holding the couple’s small child. During the argument, the defendant initially threatened to hit his spouse and small child with a belt. The defendant then obtained a loaded Springfield Armory, model 1911, .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, threatened to kill his spouse, and held the loaded firearm to her head on several occasions while she worked to protect their child. Jolley is prohibited from possessing firearms due to several prior felony conviction.   

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

    This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.

    Jolley was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Technology Development Board-Department of Science and Technology (TDB-DST) supports M/s dvipa Defence India Pvt. Ltd. in Strengthening India’s Small Arms Manufacturing Ecosystem”

    Source: Government of India

    Technology Development Board-Department of Science and Technology (TDB-DST) supports M/s dvipa Defence India Pvt. Ltd. in Strengthening India’s Small Arms Manufacturing Ecosystem”

    TDB-DST backs Homegrown Innovation: dvipa’s UGRAM Rifle Marks a New Era in Indian Small Arms Manufacturing”

    Posted On: 17 APR 2025 2:45PM by PIB Delhi

    The Ministry of Science and Technology, through the Technology Development Board (TDB), has taken a pivotal step toward indigenizing India’s small arms manufacturing capability by extending financial assistance to M/s dvipa Defence India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad (erstwhile M/s dvipa Armour Pvt. Ltd.). The project, titled “Development and Commercialization of 7.62 mm x 51 mm Assault Rifles,” aims to produce high-performance, indigenous assault rifles in alignment with the Indian Army’s General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR).

    TDB’s assistance will play a crucial role in enabling the development, testing, and commercialization of the UGRAM rifle, including the creation of a state-of-the-art in-house manufacturing unit with integrated quality assurance and testing infrastructure.

    For decades, India has depended heavily on imported small arms, resulting in substantial foreign exchange outflows and interoperability challenges across armed forces, thereby complicating training and logistics. The ageing INSAS rifles, once developed through earlier collaborations, are increasingly viewed as inadequate for modern combat needs. In 2017, the Government initiated a policy shift to replace these with advanced, reliable rifles chambered in 7.62 mm x 51 mm NATO-grade ammunition.

    In response to this national need, dvipa Defence, incorporated in October 2018, emerged as a strong domestic player in the defence manufacturing sector. As one of the early license holders for small arms and ammunition production, the company partnered with DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, to develop a fully indigenous assault rifle, UGRAM – Sanskrit for “ferocious.” Demonstrating exceptional execution, five prototypes were developed within 100 days and successfully passed initial testing at ARDE.

    UGRAM: A Modern, Indigenous Combat-Ready Assault Rifle

    UGRAM is a modular, ergonomically designed 7.62 mm x 51 mm assault rifle, tailored for counter-insurgency (CI) and counter-terror (CT) operations by armed forces, paramilitary units, and special forces. It incorporates several advanced features:

    • Indigenous Development:
      • 100% design, material selection, manufacturing, and testing conducted domestically and approved by ARDE, DRDO.
    • Key Features:
      • Long-stroke piston mechanism for enhanced reliability.
      • High-strength steel used in all pressure-bearing parts.
      • High-grade nylon-based handguard, pistol grip, and buttstock.
      • Ambidextrous magazine release and ergonomic, side-mounted cocking handle.

    Speaking on the occasion, Sh. Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, TDB, said,
    “TDB’s support to dvipa Defence underscores our commitment to indigenizing critical defence technologies under ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. This project not only strengthens self-reliance but also paves the way for import substitution and future exports through trusted strategic partnerships.”

    Commenting on TDB’s support, Founders of M/s dvipa Defence India Pvt. Ltd. said,
    “We are proud to contribute to India’s strategic autonomy by building world-class defence products from Indian soil. The support from TDB strengthens our resolve to manufacture for the forces, by the forces, in India.”

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –