NewzIntel.com

Category: Intelligence Agencies

  • MIL-OSI China: China invites global scientific community on its Mars mission

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Photo released on Jan. 1, 2022 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the group photo of the orbiter and Mars. China released on the first day of 2022 a group of new Mars images taken by the Tianwen-1 probe. China’s Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. [Photo/CNSA]
    China has invited the global scientific community to participate in its Tianwen-3 Mars exploration mission, according to a statement released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on March 11.
    Scheduled for launch around 2028, the Tianwen-3 mission is accepting project proposals from interested institutions until the end of June, with final selections expected by October.
    Proposed payloads must align with the mission’s core scientific objectives, such as the search for potential traces of life on Mars. CNSA emphasized that selected projects should demonstrate strong innovation in scientific exploration and engineering technology.
    While payloads can be included free of charge, foreign partners must independently fund their development and agree to share their data with China. CNSA also encouraged international institutions to collaborate with Chinese payload developers.
    The Tianwen-3 mission will consist of a lander, ascender, orbiter and returner. In addition to investigating signs of life, it aims to study the geological features of Mars, its internal structure, atmospheric circulation and escape processes to enhance understanding of the planet’s habitability.
    CNSA noted that the samples collected by Tianwen-3 are expected to return to Earth around 2030.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s defence – navigating US-China tensions in changing world

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Peter Cronau for Declassified Australia

    Australia is caught in a jam, between an assertive American ally and a bold Chinese trading partner. America is accelerating its pivot to the Indo-Pacific, building up its fighting forces and expanding its military bases.

    As Australia tries to navigate a pathway between America’s and Australia’s national interests, sometimes Australia’s national interest seems to submerge out of view.

    Admiral David Johnston, the Chief of the Australia’s Defence Force, is steering this ship as China flexes its muscle sending a small warship flotilla south to circumnavigate the continent.

    He has admitted that the first the Defence Force heard of a live-fire exercise by the three Chinese Navy ships sailing in the South Pacific east of Australia on February 21, was a phone call from the civilian Airservices Australia.

    “The absence of any advance notice to Australian authorities was a concern, notably, that the limited notice provided by the PLA could have unnecessarily increased the risk to aircraft and vessels in the area,” Johnston told Senate Estimates .

    Johnston was pressed to clarify how Defence first came to know of the live-fire drill: “Is it the case that Defence was only notified, via Virgin and Airservices Australia, 28 minutes [sic] after the firing window commenced?”

    To this, Admiral Johnston replied: “Yes.”

    If it happened as stated by the Admiral — that a live-fire exercise by the Chinese ships was undertaken and a warning notice was transmitted from the Chinese ships, all without being detected by Australian defence and surveillance assets — this is a defence failure of considerable significance.

    Sources with knowledge of Defence spoken to by Declassified Australia say that this is either a failure of surveillance, or a failure of communication, or even more far-reaching, a failure of US alliance cooperation.

    And from the very start the official facts became slippery.

    What did they know and when did they know it
     The first information passed on to Defence by Airservices Australia came from the pilot of a Virgin passenger jet passing overhead the flotilla in the Tasman Sea that had picked up the Chinese Navy VHF radio notification of an impending live-fire exercise.

    The radio transmission had advised the window for the live-fire drill commenced at 9.30am and would conclude at 3pm.

    We know this from testimony given to Senate Estimates by the head of Airservices Australia. He said Airservices was notified at 9.58am by an aviation control tower informed by the Virgin pilot. Two minutes later Airservices issued a “hazard alert” to commercial airlines in the area.

    The Headquarters of the Defence Force’s Joint Operations Command (HJOC), at Bungendore 30km east of Canberra, was then notified about the drill by Airservices at 10.08am, 38 minutes after the drill window had commenced.

    When questioned a few days later, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to try to cover for Defence’s apparent failure to detect the live-fire drill or the advisory transmission.

    “At around the same time, there were two areas of notification. One was from the New Zealand vessels that were tailing . ..  the [Chinese] vessels in the area by both sea and air,” Albanese stated. “So that occurred and at the same time through the channels that occur when something like this is occurring, Airservices got notified as well.”

    But the New Zealand Defence Force had not notified Defence “at the same time”. In fact it was not until 11.01am that an alert was received by Defence from the New Zealand Defence Force — 53 minutes after Defence HQ was told by Airservices and an hour and a half after the drill window had begun.

    The Chinese Navy’s stealth guided missile destroyer Zunyi, sailing south in the Coral Sea on February 15, 2025, in a photograph taken from a RAAF P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane. Image: Royal Australian Air Force/Declassified Australia

    Defence Minister Richard Marles later in a round-about way admitted on ABC Radio that it wasn’t the New Zealanders who informed Australia first: “Well, to be clear, we weren’t notified by China. I mean, we became aware of this during the course of the day.

    “What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally planes that were commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman.”

    Later the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, told ABC that two live-fire training drills were carried out at sea on February 21 and 22, in accordance with international law and “after repeatedly issuing safety notices in advance”.

    Eyes and ears on ‘every move’
     It was expected the Chinese-navy flotilla would end its three week voyage around Australia on March 7, after a circumnavigation of the continent. That is not before finally passing at some distance the newly acquired US-UK nuclear submarine base at HMAS Stirling near Perth and the powerful US communications and surveillance base at North West Cape.

    Just as Australia spies on China to develop intelligence and targeting for a potential US war, China responds in kind, collecting data on US military and intelligence bases and facilities in Australia, as future targets should hostilities commence.

    The presence of the Chinese Navy ships that headed into the northern and eastern seas around Australia attracted the attention of the Defence Department ever since they first set off south through the Mindoro Strait in the Philippines and through the Indonesian archipelago from the South China Sea on February 3.

    “We are keeping a close watch on them and we will be making sure that we watch every move,” Marles stated in the week before the live-fire incident.

    “Just as they have a right to be in international waters . . .  we have a right to be prudent and to make sure that we are surveilling them, which is what we are doing.”

    Around 3500 km to the north, a week into the Chinese ships’ voyage, a spy flight by an RAAF P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane on February 11, in a disputed area of the South China Sea south of China’s Hainan Island, was warned off by a Chinese J-16 fighter jet.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to Australian protests claiming the Australian aircraft “deliberately intruded” into China’s claimed territorial airspace around the Paracel Islands without China’s permission, thereby “infringing on China’s sovereignty and endangering China’s national security”.

    Australia criticised the Chinese manoeuvre, defending the Australian flight saying it was “exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace”.

    Two days after the incident, the three Chinese ships on their way to Australian waters were taking different routes in beginning their own “right to freedom of navigation” in international waters off the Australian coast. The three ships formed up their mini flotilla in the Coral Sea as they turned south paralleling the Australian eastern coastline outside of territorial waters, and sometimes within Australia’s 200-nautical-mile (370 km) Exclusive Economic Zone.

    “Defence always monitors foreign military activity in proximity to Australia. This includes the Peoples Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Task Group.” Admiral Johnston told Senate Estimates.

    “We have been monitoring the movement of the Task Group through its transit through Southeast Asia and we have observed the Task Group as it has come south through that region.”

    The Task Group was made up of a modern stealth guided missile destroyer Zunyi, the frigate Hengyang, and the Weishanhu, a 20,500 tonne supply ship carrying fuel, fresh water, cargo and ammunition. The Hengyang moved eastwards through the Torres Strait, while the Zunyi and Weishanhu passed south near Bougainville and Solomon Islands, meeting in the Coral Sea.

    This map indicates the routes taken by the three Chinese Navy ships on their “right to freedom of navigation” voyage in international waters circumnavigating Australia, with dates of way points indicated — from 3 February till 6 March 2025. Distances and locations are approximate. Image: Weibo/Declassified Australia

    As the Chinese ships moved near northern Australia and through the Coral Sea heading further south, the Defence Department deployed Navy and Air Force assets to watch over the ships. These included various RAN warships including the frigate HMAS Arunta and a RAAF P-8A Poseidon intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane.

    With unconfirmed reports a Chinese nuclear submarine may also be accompanying the surface ships, the monitoring may have also included one of the RAN’s Collins-class submarines, with their active range of sonar, radar and radio monitoring – however it is uncertain whether one was able to be made available from the fleet.

    “From the point of time the first of the vessels entered into our more immediate region, we have been conducting active surveillance of their activities,” the Defence chief confirmed.

    As the Chinese ships moved into the southern Tasman Sea, New Zealand navy ships joined in the monitoring alongside Australia’s Navy and Air Force.

    The range of signals intelligence (SIGINT) that theoretically can be intercepted emanating from a naval ship at sea includes encrypted data and voice satellite communications, ship-to-ship communications, aerial drone data and communications, as well as data of radar, gunnery, and weapon launches.

    There are a number of surveillance facilities in Australia that would have been able to be directed at the Chinese ships.

    Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Shoal Bay Receiving Station outside of Darwin, picks up transmissions and data emanating from radio signals and satellite communications from Australia’s near north region. ASD’s Cocos Islands receiving station in the mid-Indian ocean would have been available too.

    The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) over-the-horizon radar network, spread across northern Australia, is an early warning system that monitors aircraft and ship movements across Australia’s north-western, northern, and north-eastern ocean areas — but its range off the eastern coast is not thought to presently reach further south than the sea off Mackay on the Queensland coast.

    Of land-based surveillance facilities, it is the American Pine Gap base that is believed to have the best capability of intercepting the ship’s radio communications in the Tasman Sea.

    Enter, Pine Gap and the Americans
     The US satellite surveillance base at Pine Gap in Central Australia is a US and Australian jointly-run satellite ground station. It is regarded as the most important such American satellite base outside of the USA.

    The spy base – Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG) – showing the north-eastern corner of the huge base with some 18 of the base’s now 45 satellite dishes and covered radomes visible. Image: Felicity Ruby/Declassified Australia

    The role of ASD in supporting the extensive US surveillance mission against China is increasingly valued by Australia’s large Five Eyes alliance partner.

    A Top Secret ‘Information Paper’, titled “NSA Intelligence Relationship with Australia”, leaked from the National Security Agency (NSA) by Edward Snowden and published by ABC’s Background Briefing, spells out the “close collaboration” between the NSA and ASD, in particular on China:

    “Increased emphasis on China will not only help ensure the security of Australia, but also synergize with the U.S. in its renewed emphasis on Asia and the Pacific . . .   Australia’s overall intelligence effort on China, as a target, is already significant and will increase.”

    The Pine Gap base, as further revealed in 2023 by Declassified Australia, is being used to collect signals intelligence and other data from the Israeli battlefield of Gaza, and also Ukraine and other global hotspots within view of the US spy satellites.

    It’s recently had a significant expansion (reported by this author in The Saturday Paper) which has seen its total of satellite dishes and radomes rapidly increase in just a few years from 35 to 45 to accommodate new heightened-capability surveillance satellites.

    Pine Gap base collects an enormous range and quantity of intelligence and data from thermal imaging satellites, photographic reconnaissance satellites, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites, as expert researchers Des Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter of the Nautilus Institute have detailed.

    These SIGINT satellites intercept electronic communications and signals from ground-based sources, such as radio communications, telemetry, radar signals, satellite communications, microwave emissions, mobile phone signals, and geolocation data.

    Alliance priorities
     The US’s SIGINT satellites have a capability to detect and receive signals from VHF radio transmissions on or near the earth’s surface, but they need to be tasked to do so and appropriately targeted on the source of the transmission.

    For the Pine Gap base to intercept VHF radio signals from the Chinese Navy ships, the base would have needed to specifically realign one of those SIGINT satellites to provide coverage of the VHF signals in the Tasman Sea at the time of the Chinese ships’ passage. It is not known publicly if they did this, but they certainly have that capability.

    However, it is not only the VHF radio transmission that would have carried information about the live-firing exercise.

    Pine Gap would be able to monitor a range of other SIGINT transmissions from the Chinese ships. Details of the planning and preparations for the live-firing exercise would almost certainly have been transmitted over data and voice satellite communications, ship-to-ship communications, and even in the data of radar and gunnery operations.

    But it is here that there is another possibility for the failure.

    The Pine Gap base was built and exists to serve the national interests of the United States. The tasking of the surveillance satellites in range of Pine Gap base is generally not set by Australia, but is directed by United States’ agencies, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) together with the US Defense Department, the National Security Agency (NSA), and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

    Australia has learnt over time that US priorities may not be the same as Australia’s.

    Australian defence and intelligence services can request surveillance tasks to be added to the schedule, and would have been expected to have done so in order to target the southern leg of the Chinese Navy ships’ voyage, when the ships were out of the range of the JORN network.

    The military demands for satellite time can be excessive in times of heightened global conflict, as is the case now.

    Whether the Pine Gap base was devoting sufficient surveillance resources to monitoring the Chinese Navy ships, due to United States’ priorities in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, North Korea, and to our north in the South China Sea, is a relevant question.

    It can only be answered now by a formal government inquiry into what went on — preferably held in public by a parliamentary committee or separately commissioned inquiry. The sovereign defence of Australia failed in this incident and lessons need to be learned.

    Who knew and when did they know
     If the Pine Gap base had been monitoring the VHF radio band and heard the Chinese Navy live-fire alert, or had been monitoring other SIGINT transmissions to discover the live-fire drill, the normal procedure would be for the active surveillance team to inform a number of levels of senior officers, a former Defence official familiar with the process told Declassified Australia.

    Inside an operations room at the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) head office at the Defence complex at Russell Hill in Canberra. Image: ADF/Declassified Australia

    Expected to be included in the information chain are the Australian Deputy-Chief of Facility at the US base, NSA liaison staff at the base, the Australian Signals Directorate head office at the Defence complex at Russell Hill in Canberra, the Defence Force’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command, in Bungendore, and the Chief of the Defence Force. From there the Defence Minister’s office would need to have been informed.

    As has been reported in media interviews and in testimony to the Senate Estimates hearings, it has been stated that Defence was not informed of the Chinese ships’ live-firing alert until a full 38 minutes after the drill window had commenced.

    The former Defence official told Declassified Australia it is vital the reason for the failure to detect the live-firing in a timely fashion is ascertained.

    Either the Australian Defence Force and US Pine Gap base were not effectively actively monitoring the Chinese flotilla at this time — and the reasons for that need to be examined — or they were, but the information gathered was somewhere stalled and not passed on to correct channels.

    If the evidence so far tendered by the Defence chief and the Minister is true, and it was not informed of the drill by any of its intelligence or surveillance assets before that phone call from Airservices Australia, the implications need to be seriously addressed.

    A final word
     In just a couple of weeks the whole Defence environment for Australia has changed, for the worse.

    The US military announces a drawdown in Europe and a new pivot to the Indo-Pacific. China shows Australia it can do tit-for-tat “navigational freedom” voyages close to the Australian coast. US intelligence support is withdrawn from Ukraine during the war. Australia discovers the AUKUS submarines’ arrival looks even more remote. The prime minister confuses the limited cover provided by the ANZUS treaty.

    Meanwhile, the US militarisation of Australia’s north continues at pace. At the same time a senior Pentagon official pressures Australia to massively increase defence spending. And now, the country’s defence intelligence system has experienced an unexplained major failure.

    Australia, it seems, is adrift in a sea of unpredictable global events and changing alliance priorities.

    Peter Cronau is an award-winning, investigative journalist, writer, and film-maker. His documentary, The Base: Pine Gap’s Role in US Warfighting, was broadcast on Australian ABC Radio National and featured on ABC News. He produced and directed the documentary film Drawing the Line, revealing details of Australian spying in East Timor, on ABC TV’s premier investigative programme Four Corners. He won the Gold Walkley Award in 2007 for a report he produced on an outbreak of political violence in East Timor. This article was first published by Declassified Australia and is republished here with the author’s permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley, Johnson Release Records Showing FBI Obtained Trump, Pence Cell Phones, Conducted Sweeping Interviews to Advance Anti-Trump Arctic Frost Investigation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) made public legally protected whistleblower disclosures showing the FBI, as part of its Arctic Frost investigation, acquired the government cell phones of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, among other government officials. FBI agents used taxpayer dollars to crisscross the country and conduct dozens of interviews in support of the political probe.

    The unclassified FBI records convey the alarming scope and speed of the FBI’s 2022 investigation of President Trump, which they dubbed “Operation Arctic Frost.” The investigation – launched by anti-Trump FBI agent Timothy Thibault in a breach of FBI protocol – formed the basis of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case against Trump. Upon opening the investigation, Thibault vowed it would be “prioritized over all others in the Branch” and commented that “it frankly took too long for us to open this [investigation].”

    “Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” the chairmen wrote to Bondi and Patel. “The American people deserve to know the complete extent of the corruption within the DOJ and FBI that led to the investigation into President Trump. We are making this information public for purposes of public accountability and to provide specific examples of past behavior at your institutions that must not be repeated. Quite simply, the public has a right to know what happened in Arctic Frost and, based on what we’ve exposed to date, the American public deserves better from its law enforcement agencies. It is important that every individual at your agencies maintains the highest level of professionalism, and does not allow political bias to motivate or guide their investigative work.”

    Within weeks of opening Arctic Frost on April 13, 2022, FBI agents began taking aggressive action to build out their case. The following is a summary of some Arctic Frost investigatory updates, based on unclassified internal FBI records:

    Update 1 (April 22-25, 2022):

    • FBI begins scheduling over a dozen interviews in coordination with 13 FBI field offices.
    • DOJ and FBI begin the process of acquiring Trump and Pence’s government phones, which were in the Biden White House’s possession.

    Update 2 (May 2-3, 2022):

    • FBI begins analyzing communications between Trump team members and Republican electors.
    • FBI meets with Justice Department (DOJ) officials to discuss possible search warrants for the Trump and Pence cell phones.           

    Update 3 (May 10, 2022):

    • FBI attempts to contact individuals in states throughout the country to schedule interviews.

    Update 4 (May 13-17, 2022):

    • FBI obtains Trump and Pence’s government phones and enters them into evidence for the case.
    • FBI interviews the first Trump administration’s Deputy White House Counsel.
    • Additional interviews are planned with Trump administration officials, including employees from the Offices of the President and Vice President, DOJ and former Director of National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe.
    • DOJ and FBI begin discussing the possibility of merging the DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation, which included former Acting Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Civil Division, Jeffrey Clark, with the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation.
    • DOJ OIG makes plans to seek search warrants for phones associated with former AAG Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Mark Meadows and Ken Klukowski.

    Update 5 (May 21-24, 2022):

    • FBI makes the decision to add former AAG Jeffrey Clark to the Arctic Frost investigation.
    • FBI drafts a search warrant for the Trump and Pence cell phones in its possession.
    • Plans continue for additional interviews with former Trump administration officials.

    Update 6 (May 27, 2022):

    • FBI plans to conduct approximately 50 interviews, coupled with subpoenas, across at least seven states during the week of June 20, 2022. Interviews are set to take place with those who “signed and/or mailed the certificates in each state, as well as the Trump Campaign’s Directors of Election Day Operations for the relevant states, and certain GOP officials who are believed to have facilitated the scheme by communicating with individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the ‘fraudulent’ or ‘alternate’ electors.”
    • The DOJ OIG investigation that includes Jeffrey Clark is formally merged with the FBI Arctic Frost investigation, providing FBI access to phones and email accounts from a variety of DOJ officials, including former Attorney General Bill Barr.

    Resources and Staffing

    • Over the course of just four days in June 2022, the FBI Arctic Frost team spent approximately $16,000 in taxpayer-funded travel to “conduct more than 40 interviews, serve subpoenas and execute several cellular device search warrants.”

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Newark arrests illegal alien in New Jersey with prior conviction of vehicular homicide for illegal reentry

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    NEWARK, N.J. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended Ismael Efrain Lopez-Bautista, 43, a citizen of Guatemala, March 11 for illegal reentry after deportation in Vineland, New Jersey.

    Lopez-Bautista was previously convicted of vehicular homicide and was arrested by ICE illegal reentry. He is being prosecuted in U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.

    “Our Cherry Hill office, with support from our with our federal partners, ensured this criminal alien was held accountable for reentering the United States illegally after deportation,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Newark Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “The FBI and DEA’s assistance aligns with our whole-government-approach in meeting our nation’s priorities in immigration enforcement.”

    The Vineland Police Department arrested Lopez-Bautista Oct. 31, 2012, for knowingly leaving scene of motor vehicle accident and death by auto or vessel and driving while intoxicated. On May 30, 2014, the Superior Court of New Jersey convicted Bautista for death by auto or vessel and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.

    An immigration judge ordered Lopez-Bautista removed from the United States May 2, 2019, and ICE removed him May 16, 2019.

    On Aug. 7, 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Lopez-Bautista near Nogales, Arizona, while he was trying to illegally reenter the United States. The U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, sentenced Bautista Jan. 7, 2021, to 15-months incarceration for illegal reentry after deportation. ICE removed him from the United States for a second time May 25, 2022.

    According to the ICE investigation, Lopez-Bautista illegally reentered the United States in December 2023, through Arizona, and was residing at an address in Vineland, New Jersey. ICE HSI obtained a criminal arrest warrant from the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey and arrested him March 11.

    ICE transferred Lopez-Bautista into U.S. Marshals Service custody, pending illegal reentry prosecution and lodged an immigration detainer against him.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Charges

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

    COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Council Bluffs man and Guatemalan native was sentenced today to 192 months in federal prison for distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

    According to public court documents, Wilton Omar Garcia-Castillo, 19, distributed 500 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in June 2024. Two days later, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Garcia-Castillo’s Council Bluffs residence and located 27 pounds of methamphetamine along with a loaded firearm, an extended firearm magazine, digital scales, and more than $4,000.

    After completing his term of imprisonment, Garcia-Castillo will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

    United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Iowa Department of Public Safety–Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Council Bluffs Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Iowa State Patrol.

    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.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Antioch Police Officer Found Guilty Of Deprivation Of Civil Rights And Falsification Of Records

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    OAKLAND – A federal jury today convicted former Antioch police officer Morteza Amiri of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of falsification of records.  The jury’s verdict followed an eight-day trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White.  

    Amiri, 33, was previously employed as a police officer with the Antioch Police Department.  According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Amiri, a K-9 handler, deployed his K-9 to bite suspects even when it was not necessary.  Amiri kept a running bite count that he celebrated with other officers.  Amiri also took photographs of the dog bites and shared them with other officers, stating in one text message that “gory pics are for personal stuff” and “cleaned up pics for the case.”

    “Morteza Amiri violated the oath he swore to protect the people of Antioch.  He flouted his duty as a police officer, misused his police dog, and inflicted unnecessary and excessive force against the victim.  This appalling conduct erodes public trust in law enforcement.  And it weakens law enforcement’s ability to carry out its primary mission of public safety.  As today’s jury verdict makes clear, officers who put themselves above the law will be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins.  

    “Today’s guilty verdict against Morteza Amiri sends a clear message: no one is above the law, especially those sworn to uphold it.  Amiri’s actions betrayed the trust of the community and undermined the integrity of law enforcement,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani.  “The FBI remains committed to holding accountable any officer who violates their oath and deprives citizens of their constitutional rights. The people of Antioch, and communities everywhere, deserve better.”

    According to the evidence at trial, on July 24, 2019, Amiri pulled over and stopped a bicyclist identified as A.A., who, according to Amiri, did not have his bicycle light on.  Amiri approached A.A., punched and took the victim to the ground, and then called for his K-9 to bite the victim.  As a result, A.A. sustained injuries.  At the time, Amiri was accompanied by a police officer with a neighboring agency as a ride-along, and that officer assisted with the deployment of the K-9.  Afterwards, Amiri shared pictures of the victim’s wounds with other Antioch police officers.  One officer responded, “Yeah buddy good boy,” referring to the K-9, and “Lol you bit [A.A.].”  In response to a question from another officer about what cut the dog’s face, Amiri responded, “that’s a piece of the suspect’s flesh lol.”  

    Amiri later wrote to the officer who accompanied him on the ride-along, “you got to see [the K-9] in action lol,” and stated that detectives got the victim “a 45 day violation and we are gonna leave it at that so i don’t go to court for the bite. Easy,” referring to the victim going into custody for a parole/probation violation.  Amiri then falsified a police report of the incident, stating that one of the reasons he deployed his K-9 was because he was alone, when instead the ride-along police officer was with him at the time and had helped Amiri deploy the K-9.

    The jury convicted Amiri of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242 and one count of falsification of records in a federal investigation in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519.  The jury acquitted Amiri of one count of conspiracy against rights in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242.  

    Amiri was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud following a jury trial in August 2024.  

    Amiri is scheduled to appear on March 18, 2025, for a hearing on whether to remand him to custody pending sentencing, and on June 3, 2025, for sentencing.  He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the count of deprivation of rights under color of law and 20 years in prison on the count of falsification of records.  Any sentence will be imposed by the Court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

    The case is being prosecuted by the National Security & Special Prosecutions Section and the Oakland Branch of the United States Attorney’s Office.  This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. 

    These civil rights charges against Amiri were brought as part of an investigation into the Antioch and Pittsburgh police departments that resulted in multiple charges against 10 current and former officers and employees of these two police departments for various crimes ranging from the use of excessive force to fraud.  The status of these cases, all of which are before Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, is below:

    Case Name and Number Statute(s)

    Defendant

    (Bold: multiple case numbers)

    		 Status

    Fraud

    23-cr-00264

    		 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud; 1343 (Wire Fraud) Patrick Berhan Sentenced to 30 months custody, 2 years supervised release concurrent with 24-cr-157 on 9/5/24
    Morteza Amiri Convicted at trial 8/8/24, sentencing pending
    Amanda Theodosy a/k/a Nash Sentenced to 3 months custody, 3 years supervised release 11/15/24
    Samantha Peterson Sentenced to time served, 3 years supervised release 4/24/24
    Ernesto Mejia-Orozco Sentenced to 3 months custody, 3 years supervised release on 9/19/24
    Brauli Jalapa Rodriguez Sentenced to 3 months custody, 3 years supervised release on 10/25/24

    Obstruction

    23-cr-00267

    		 18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations); 1512(c)(2) (Obstruction of Official Proceedings); 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) Timothy Manly Williams Pleaded guilty 11/28/23, status conference 4/15/25

    Steroid Distribution

    23-cr-00268

    		 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids), 841(a)(1), and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Possession with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids) Daniel Harris Pleaded guilty 9/17/24, status conference 4/15/25

    21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids);

    18 U.S.C.§ 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations)

    		 Devon Wenger Trial set for 4/28/25

    Civil Rights

    23-cr-00269

    		 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law); § 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations) Morteza Amiri Convicted at trial 3/14/25 on counts 2 and 5, sentencing set for 6/3/25
    18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) Eric Rombough Pleaded guilty 1/14/25, status conference 4/22/25
    18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) Devon Wenger Pending

    Steroid Distribution

    24-cr-00157

    		 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Possession with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids) Patrick Berhan Sentenced to 30 months custody, 2 years supervised release concurrent with 23-cr-264 on 9/5/24

    Bank fraud

    24-cr-00502

    		 18 U.S.C. § 1344(1), (2) (Bank fraud) Daniel Harris Pleaded guilty 9/17/24, status conference 4/15/25

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Western District of Texas Exceeds 200 New Immigration Cases in 4 Days

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN ANTONIO – Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 215 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from March 10 through March 13.

    In Austin, several individuals were charged with illegal reentry after deportation, after being found in local area jails. Among those were Ricardo Hernandez-Hernandez, a Mexican national who had allegedly been previously removed from the United States to Mexico on two prior occasions and had been convicted of indecency with a child sexual contact and failure to register as a sex offender; Andres Garcia-Saldana, a Mexican national who had allegedly been previously removed from the United States on four occasions and had been convicted of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury and driving while intoxicated three times—the third time being a felony conviction; Hernan Vasquez-Medina, a Mexican national who had allegedly been removed from the United States three times before and had been convicted of making a terroristic threat and driving while intoxicated three times—like Garcia-Saldana, Vasquez-Medina’s third DWI was charged as a felony as well; and Jaime Ricardo Lopez-Rojas, a Mexican national who had allegedly been removed from the United States a total eight times and had been convicted of illegal entry twice, illegal reentry after deportation four times, driving while intoxicated three times, and family violence assault causing bodily injury.

    In the Midland-Odessa area, two individuals with prior federal convictions were found in local area jails and were charged with illegal entry after deportation. Mexican national Saul Villalobos-Vasquez was allegedly removed from the United States once before and convicted in the Eastern District of Texas for unauthorized use of a social security number for which he had been sentenced to 12-months imprisonment in 2016.  Daniel Olivas-Nieto, also a Mexican national, had been allegedly removed from the United States and was previously convicted in the Western District of Texas for the illegal transportation of aliens for financial gain, for which he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.

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

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

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

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

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leaders of Los Zetas, a Violent Mexican Drug Cartel, Arraigned on Drug Trafficking, Firearm, and Money Laundering Charges

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    Mexican nationals and former leaders of the Los Zetas cartel were arraigned today in Washington, D.C., on charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved multiple murder conspiracies, conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the United States, using firearms — including a machinegun — during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and conspiring to launder monetary instruments.

    According to court documents, Miguel Trevino Morales, also known as Z-40, Zeta40, and 40, age 52, and Omar Trevino Morales, also known as 42 and Z-42, age 48, ascended to the highest level of leadership in Los Zetas, a violent cartel comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel. Miguel Trevino Morales allegedly took over leadership of Los Zetas in October 2012 until his arrest by Mexican authorities in 2013, at which point, his brother, Omar Trevino Morales, allegedly assumed primary leadership of the cartel until his arrest by Mexican authorities in 2015. After their arrests, the defendants allegedly renamed Los Zetas to Cartel del Noreste (CDN) and continued to control the cartel while incarcerated in Mexico. Through the date of the fifth superseding indictment, CDN allegedly continued Los Zetas’ criminal drug trafficking activities and acts of violence including murders, assaults, kidnappings, assassinations, and acts of torture. On Feb. 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State designated CDN as a foreign terrorist organization.

    “The Criminal Division is dedicated to achieving the Attorney General’s goal of the Total Elimination of Cartels,” said Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As alleged, former Zetas cartel leaders Z-40 and Z-42 engaged in conspiracies to kill members of the Mexican government, Mexican citizens, members of rival cartels, members of the Guatemalan government, and Guatemalan drug traffickers. We will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States violent transnational criminals and leaders of cartels and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad and for the large amounts of dangerous drugs that devastate our communities.”

    “As alleged, the defendants represent some of the world’s most vicious cartel leaders, who oversaw Los Zetas’ reign of terror with grotesque impunity and ruthlessness, and a sheer disregard for anything beyond their wealth, power, and control,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso of ICE Homeland Security Investigations New York. “I commend ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force for consistently proving itself as a formidable opponent against cartels intent on causing harm. We will use whatever means necessary to protect the safety and security of Americans from threats both here and abroad.”

    The defendants are charged with one count each of continuing a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana for importation into the United States, use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and international money laundering conspiracy. As part of the continuing criminal enterprise count, the defendants are alleged to have engaged in conspiracies to kill members of the Mexican government, Mexican citizens, members of rival cartels, members of the Guatemalan government, and Guatemalan drug traffickers. Because the defendants are charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, they face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.    

    The defendants were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests, that were not honored during the prior Administration, but the Mexican government elected to transfer to the current U.S. government in response to the Justice Department’s efforts pursuant to President Trump’s and the Attorney General’s leadership against Mexican drug cartels. On Feb. 27, the defendants were transferred by Mexican authorities to the United States.   

    The Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE HSI, and the FBI are investigating the case.

    Acting Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth and Trial Attorneys Jayce Born and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wang for the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Ten Facts About FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (video statements)

    The following video shows ten facts about the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list from over the years.

    —————————————————
    Follow us on social media:
    X: https://twitter.com/fbi
    Facebook: https://facebook.com/FBI
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/fbi
    YouTube: youtube.com/user/fbi

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE02mkToIJg

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Who Are the Most Notorious FBI Fugitives?

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (video statements)

    The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list turns 75 this year. The FBI’s historian, Dr. John Fox, shares stories of some of the most notorious fugitives to appear on the list. The only thing is he doesn’t know which ones he’ll be asked about.

    A reward of at least $250,000 is given for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of a Ten Most Wanted Fugitive. If you have information about the location of any fugitive, let us know at tips.fbi.gov.
    Current Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten

    Follow us on social media:
    —————————————————
    X: https://twitter.com/fbi
    Facebook: https://facebook.com/FBI
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/fbi
    YouTube: youtube.com/user/fbi

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSn_ZCs-Y2g

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Remarks by President Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Before Bilateral Meeting

    Source: The White House

    class=”has-text-align-center”>Oval Office

    12:33 P.M. EDT

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Hello, everybody.  It’s great to be with a friend of mine, who was prime minister of the Netherlands, so I got to know him very well.  We had a great relationship always.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Absolutely.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Mark Rutte.  Now he’s secretary general of NATO and doing a fantastic job.  Everybody — every report I’ve gotten is what a great job he did.  And I’m not at all surprised when I hear it.  We had to support him, and we supported him as soon as I heard the name.  

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Thank you.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But he was a fantastic prime minister, and he’s doing a fantastic job. An even tougher job.  Which is tougher: being the prime minister of Netherlands or?

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  This job is quite tough.  Yeah.  (Laughter.)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I would think this is a little tougher.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  But — but Dutch politics is also brutal.  So — (laughter).

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.  But this is pretty tough. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But you’re doing good. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Thank you.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We’re going to be discussing a lot of things.  Obviously, we’ll be discussing what’s happening with respect to Ukraine and Russia. 

    At this moment, we have people talking in Russia.  We have representatives over there — Steve Witkoff and others.  And they’re in very serious discussions.  As you know, Ukraine has agreed, subject to this — what’s happening today — to a complete ceasefire, and we hope Russia will do the same. 

    Thousands of people are being killed — young people, usually, mostly young people.  We were just talking about it.  Thousands of young people are being killed a week, and we want to see that stop.  And they’re not Americans, and they’re not from the Netherlands for the most part.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  No.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They’re not from — they’re from Russia and they’re from Ukraine, but they’re people.  And I think everybody feels the same way.  We want it to stop.

    It’s also a tremendous cost to the United States and to other countries.  And it’s something that would have never happened if I were president, and it makes me very angry to see that it did happen.  But it happened, and we have to stop it.  

    And Mark has done some really good work over the last week.  We’ve been working together, and he’s done some really good work.  So, I’m very happy about that. 

    We’ll also be talking about trade and various other things, and I think we’ll have a very, very strong day.  We’re going to have lunch afterwards.  That’ll go.  And then we’ll see you all later. 

    But, Mark, would you like to say something?

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.  First of all, thank you so much, Mr. President, dear Donald, again for hosting me and — but also for taking time in Florida a couple of weeks after you —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right.  That’s right.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — you were reelected. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That’s right.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  And, of course, our phone call a couple of weeks ago.  And I must say, Trump 45 — you basically — you originated the fact that in Europe we are now spending, when you take it to aggregate, $700 billion more on defense —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — than when you came in office in 2016 — in 2017.

    But that was Trump 45.  But when look at Trump 47 —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Going to be hard to top.  (Laughter.)

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — what happened the last couple of weeks is really staggering.  The Europeans committing to a package of $800 billion defense spending.  The Germans now —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — potentially up to half a trillion extra in defense spending.  And then, of course, you have Keir Starmer here, the British prime minister, and others all committing to much higher defense spending.  

    They’re not there.  We need to do more.  But I really want to work together with you in a run-up to The Hague summit to make sure that we will have a NATO which is really reinvigorated under your leadership.  And we are getting there.  

    We also discussed defense production, because we need to produce more weaponry.  We are not doing enough — not in the U.S., not in Europe.  And we are lagging behind when you compare to the Russians and the Chinese.  And you have a huge defense industrial base, Europeans buying mo- — four times more here than the other — the other way around, which is good, because you have a strong defense industry. 

    But we need to do more there to make sure that we ramp up production and kill the red tape.  So, I would love to work with you on that. 

    And finally, Ukraine — you broke the deadlock.  As you said, all the killing, the young people dying, cities getting destroyed.  The fact that you did that, that you started the dialogue with the Russians and the successful talks in Saudi Arabia now with the Ukrainians — I really want to commend you for this.

    So, well, The Hague is my hometown.  I’d love to host you there in the summer and work together to make sure that —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We’ll do that.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — that will be a splash, a real success, projecting American power on the world stage. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  What Mark is saying is: When I first went to NATO, my first meeting, I noticed that very few people were paying.  And if they were, they weren’t paying their fair share.  There were only seven countries that were paying what they were supposed to be paying, which was —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  It’s even worse, there were three.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  That’s even worse.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It could be even worse. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But there were just very few countries that were paying.  And even the paying, it was at 2 percent, which is too low.  It should be higher.  It should be quite a bit higher.

    But you had Poland and I remember Poland was actually paying a little bit more than they were supposed to, which I was very impressed with.  And they’ve been actually terrific and some of the others.  But most of them weren’t paying or they were paying very little.  

    And I didn’t think it was appropriate to bring it up there, but I said, “It’s going to be brought up at my next meeting.”  And my next meeting — you know, the first meeting, you want to give them a little break.  The second meeting, it began.

    And I was able to raise —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  You did.  (Laughs.)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — hundreds of billions of dollars.  I just said, “We’re not going to be involved with you if you’re not going to pay.”  And the money started pouring in.  And NATO became much stronger because of my actions and working along with a lot of people, including Mark.

    But they would not pay for other presidents.  I don’t think other presidents even knew that they weren’t paid.  I asked, first question, “Has everybody paid up?”  And literally, I mean, they showed — they told me seven.  You could be right.  It could be three.  But — that makes it even worse — but they just weren’t paying. 

    And I said, “No, I won’t protect if you’re not paying.  If you’re delinquent or if the money isn’t paid, why would we do that?”

    And as soon as I said that, got a little hit from the press, because they said, “Oh, gee, that’s not very nice.”  But if you said the other, nobody would have paid.  And the money started coming in by the billions.  

    And, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars flowed into NATO, and NATO became strong.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And you remember that.  And your predecessor, who I thought was a very good man actually.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Absolutely.  Jens Stoltenberg.  He sends his best greetings.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.  He was terrific.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Stoltenberg, secretary general.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Great man.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And he made the statement that when Trump came in, the money started coming in like we never saw before.  Hundreds of billions — it was actually probably close to $600 billion came in.  And NATO became strong from that standpoint.

    And now, we have to use it wisely.  And we have to get this war over with.  And you’ll be back to a normal — much more normal life. 

    And maybe we’re close.  We’re getting words that things are going okay in Russia, and it doesn’t mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is. 

    But they have very serious discussions going on right now with President Putin and others.  And hopefully, they all want to end this nightmare.  It’s a nightmare.  It’s a horrible thing, when you look.  I get pictures every week.  They give me the pictures of the battlefield, which I almost don’t want to see.  It’s so horrible to see.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  It’s so terrible.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Young people laying — arms and legs and heads laying all over the field.  It’s the most terrible thing that you’ll ever see. 

    And it’s got to stop.  These are young people with mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends, and it’s got to stop. 

    So, we hopefully are going to be in a good position sometime today to have a good idea.  We’ll have — we know where we are with Ukraine, and we are getting good signals outside of Russia as to where we are with Russia, and hopefully they’ll do the right thing.  

    It’s a really — humanity — we’re talking about humanity.  We’re not talking about the money.  But then you add the money to it, and, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars is being spent and, really, wasted so unnecessarily.  It should have never happened.  

    So, it’s an honor to have you here.  They picked a great gentleman.  I’ll tell you, that was — I was so happy to hear, because you had somebody — Stoltenberg was really good.  And you have somebody that’s going to do an incredible job.  And I was so much in favor of you, you have no idea. 

    They had another person that I did not like.  (Laughter.)  I was not happy.  And I think I kept him from — you know what I’m talking about.  I said, “This is the right man to do it.”  And he really did.  He was a great prime minister of the Netherlands.  He did a great job.  And that’s what he’s doing right now. 

    So, thank you, everybody, for being here.  And very great honor to have you.  And we even have some of our great energy people here today, right?  We have the governor, and we have Chris.  You know Chris.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.  Absolutely.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  He’s supposed to be the most talented man in the world of energy, according to the governor.  (Laughter.)  So, I don’t know if he’s right.

    And we have — General, you’ve been fantastic.  Thank you very much. 

    And we have a lot of good people that won’t be so much involved with this, but they wanted to see what was happening.  It’s become a little bit of a show — (laughter) — but they wanted to see what was happening.  And I think a lot of good things are happening.  

    So, with that, if anybody would have a question.

    (Cross-talk.) 

    Q    Mr. President, o- — on Russia. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Please, go ahead.

    Q    Vlad- —

         Q    Sorry.  Sorry, Mary.  Steve Witkoff’s trip to Moscow, you spoke about it.  What sort of agreement do you hope he comes away from there with?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we’d like to see a ceasefire from Russia.  And we have, you know, not been working in the dark.  We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost and all of the other elements of a final agreement.  

    There’s a power plant involved — you know, a very big power plant involved.  Who’s going to get the power plant and who’s going to get this and that.  And so, you know, it’s not an easy process.

    But phase one is the ceasefire.  A lot of the individual subjects have been discussed, though.  You know, we’ve been discussing concepts of land, because you don’t want to waste time with the ceasefire if it’s not going to mean anything.  So, we’re saying, “Look, this is what you can get.  This is what you can’t get.” 

    They discussed NATO and being in NATO, and everybody knows what the answer to that is.  They’ve known that answer for 40 years, in all fairness. 

    So, a lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.  Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia is there, and if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world. 

    Yeah. 

    Q    And Vladimir Putin just said he is open to a ceasefire, but he does still have some concerns.  He suggested that you two should speak directly.  Do you have plans to speak to him soon?  If so, when?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I would.  Yeah, sure.

    Q    And are you confident you can get this across the finish line?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Sure.  He did say that today.  It was a very promising statement, because other people are saying different things, and you don’t know if they have anything to really — if they have any meaning, or I don’t know.  I think some of them were making statements.  I don’t think they have anything to do with it.

    No, he put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete.  And, yeah, I’d love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast.  You know, every day people are being killed.  It’s not like — as we sit here, two people will be killed.  Think of it.  Two people are going to be killed during this little period of time. 

         Thousands of people a week are dying, so we really don’t have very much time.  We have to make this fast.  It shouldn’t be very complicated.

    (Cross-talk.) 

    Yes.

    Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  A representative of Canada, the finance minister, are in town and will meet members of your administration during the day. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Sure.  Yeah.

    Q    Any chances that you will ban on the tariffs on aluminum and — and the — the ones that are planned for April 2nd?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No.

    Q    You are not going to change your mind? 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I’m not.  Look, we’ve been ripped off for years, and we’re not going to be ripped off anymore.  No, I’m not going to bend at all on aluminum or steel or cars.  We’re not going to bend.  We’ve been ripped off as a country for many, many years.  We’ve been subjected to costs that we shouldn’t be subjected to. 

    In the case of Canada, we’re spending $200 billion a year to subsidize Canada.  I love Canada.  I love the people of Canada. I have many friends in Canada.  “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky, the great.  Hey, how good is Wayne Gretzky?  He’s the Great One.  

    But we have — I know many people from Canada that are good friends of mine.  But, you know, the United States can’t subsidize a country for $200 billion a year.  We don’t need their cars.  We don’t need their energy.  We don’t need their lumber.  We don’t need anything that they give. 

    We do it because we want to be helpful, but it comes a point when you just can’t do that.  You have to run your own country.  And to be honest with you, Canada only works as a state.  We don’t need anything they have.  As a state, it would be one of the great states anywhere.  

    This would be the most incredible country visually.  If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it — between Canada and the U.S.  Just a straight artificial line.  Somebody did it a long time ago — many, many decades ago — and makes no sense.  

    It’s so perfect as a great and cherished state, keeping “O Canada,” the national anthem.  I love it.  I think it’s great.  Keep it, but it’ll be for the state.  One of our greatest states.  Maybe our greatest state.  

    But why should we subsidize another country for $200 billion?  It costs us $200 billion a year.  And again, we don’t need their lumber.  We don’t need their energy.  We have more than they do.  We don’t need anything.  We don’t need their cars.  I’d much rather make the cars here.  

    And there’s not a thing that we need.  Now, there’ll be a little disruption, but it won’t be very long.  But they need us.  We really don’t need them.  And we have to do this.  I’m sorry, we have to do this.  

    Yes. 

    Q    Mr. President — 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah. 

    Q    — you have made it very clear that NATO needs to step up, although great progress —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    Q    — has been made in your first mandate.  How do you envision this new transatlantic —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Are you talking about NATO stepping up?

    Q    Yes.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, NATO is stepping up through this man. This man is a man that only knows how to step up.  And we have the same goal in mind: We want the war ended.  And he’s doing his job.  He only knows how to do a good job.  That’s one thing.  That’s why I fought for him to get that job —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Thank you so much.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — because they had some other candidates that I’ll tell you would not have done a very good job.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  I need this part of the — of the movie for my family.  (Laughter.)

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That’s right.  That’s right.  We’ll get you a clip. 

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.  Exactly.  (Laughs.)

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We’re going to get him a clip of that — of that little last essay.  But the rest of the statements he doesn’t care about.

    Q    Sir, how does this new transatlantic cooperation — how do you envision it?  What is it going to look like?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we have — that’s one thing.  I mean, you know, we’re the other side of the ocean, and they’re right there.  And yet, we’re in for $350 billion because of Biden, and they’re in for $100 billion.  So, it’s a big difference, and it’s unfair.  

    And I said, “You have to equalize.”  They should equalize.  They should have — it should have never happened, where Biden just gave his money away. 

    Now, as you know, we have an agreement with Ukraine on the rare earths and other things, and that’ll get us

    something back — a lot back.  It’ll get us our money back.  We’re not doing it for that, though.  We’re doing — I’m just doing this to get the war stopped.  I’m doing it, really, to save lives.

    But, at the same time, we were treated very unfairly, as we always are by every country.  And we’re in for very substantially more than the European nations are in for, and that shouldn’t be.

    You know, they’re much more affected by it than we are, because we do have an ocean in between. 

    But I don’t know.  I think good things are going to happen.  I really do.  I think good things are going to happen. 

    I do say — we were talking before, and Mark was very nice.  He said, “If you wouldn’t get involved, there would be” — you’d just be going on.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  This thing would have gone on for a long time.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Breaking a deadlock.  It was crucial.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, we broke a deadlock. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We did break a deadlock.  I hope it’s meaningful. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yes, did you have one?

    Q    Mr. President — 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, please.

    Q    Yes, sir.  Thank you, Mr. President.  Amanda Head with Just the News.  On the southern border, you’ve got DHS and ICE, who are reporting that there was a little bit of fudging of numbers during the Biden administration —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    Q    — on both the catch and the release side with respect to reporting the number of illegals coming into the country who were released.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They cheated on the numbers.  They were — the numbers were — I love that question.

    Q    Right.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Who are you with?

    Q    Just the News.  Amanda Head.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Very nice.  That’s good.  That’s good.

    Q    Do you know how many of those are criminal illegal aliens? 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Many of them.

    Q    And Biden is out of office —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:   Yeah.

    Q    — Alejandro Mayorkas.  Who gets held accountable?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, Biden fudged the numbers.  The numbers were totally fake, and he gave fake numbers.  I knew they were fake.  Everybody knew they were fake, but now it came out.  And terrible what — what they did.  That administration was a horror show for this country.

    Q    Can you hold anyone accountable?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I don’t know.  They gave phony numbers, and phony numbers are a very bad thing to give.  But I’m not sure about that.  I don’t know how it would play.  We want to get it straightened out.  

    We have — we’re after many, many bad people that were let into our country.  And Kristi Noem and my friend Homan — how good is Tom Homan doing, right?  And they’re after them.  And they — I mean, you see: They’re taking them out in record numbers.  Gang members, gang leaders, drug dealers. 

    This is a problem the Netherlands does not have.  The Netherlands never had this problem.  If you’d like to take —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  We have a few drug- — drug dealers, I’m afraid.  (Laughter.)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I could deliver some people.  I could deliver some nice people to the Netherlands if you’d like.  (Laughter.)

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  I’m not sure.  (Laughs.)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, what he did to this country, letting 21 million people flow through an open border — many of those people were hard criminals from prisons and jails, from mental institutions, and I always say “insane asylums,” because they were seriously deranged.  And they’re here from not South America, from all over the world.  From South America, but from all over the world.  And it’s so sad. 

    You’d say, “Why would anybody do this?  Why?”

    Yeah, go ahead.

    Q    And — and one more.  There’s some new internal Democrat polling that doesn’t look great for Democrats, but it also has 54 percent unfavorability for Republicans in swing states and battlegrounds for the midterms.  Do you consider those voters cap- — capturable for — for Republicans?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, well, we did — you know, I won every swing state, as you know, by a lot, and I won the popular vote by a lot, and we won the counties.  If you look at the counties and district plan, we had 2,725, and they had 501.  That’s a real — that’s why the map is all red.  So, we had a great thing.

    Yeah, I think winning from the Democrats — I saw — if you looked the other night, I made a speech, and I introduced two young ladies who were killed.  Two killed.  Viciously, violently killed.  Young.  Unbelievable.  Both outstanding people.  They were killed by illegal aliens.  And the Democrats wouldn’t get up and applaud.  The mothers were, I mean, inconsolable.  They were crying, and everybody was crying.  The Democrats sat there with stone faces.  They didn’t clap, they didn’t stand, they didn’t do anything.  

    We had a young man with very serious cancer, wanted to — his dream is to be with the police department someday, and he was introduced. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  That was very touching.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They didn’t even clap.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah, I saw it.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I mean, they were disgusting.  Frankly, they were disgusting.  There’s something wrong with them.  They’re deranged.  They’re deranged.  Like Jack Smith, they’re deranged people. 

    And I never saw anything like it.  I’m standing up, and I introduce the mother and the parents of these two young girls that were just recently, essentially, killed.  Violently killed.  And the Democrats are like this.  It’s so sad.  

    And I saw this morning where — one of them is pretty well-known — one is arguing, fighting like crazy over men being able to play in women’s sports.  I said, “Yeah, I thought that was tried.”  I thought that was about a 95 — I think it’s a 95 percent issue.  

    But, in a way, I want them to keep doing it, because I don’t think they can win a race.  I mean — and I tell the Republicans, I said, “Don’t bring that subject up, because there’s no election right now.  But about a week before the election, bring it up, because you can’t lose.”  

    And everything is “transgender this, transgender that.”  You know, they have bad politics. 

    But one thing: They stick together.  You know?

    I wish — and the Republicans stick together, mostly, but we have a couple that are grandstanders.  You know, you always have grandstanders in life.

    But the Democrats, they don’t seem — they have grandstanders, but when it comes to a vote, they do stick together, right?

    VICE PRESIDENT VANCE:  They get in line.  Yes, sir.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So.

    Q    It seems like they’ll stick together on the shutdown.  Will that hurt Democrats going into midterms?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, if they do a shutdown and, ultimately, that might lead to very, very high taxes, because we’re talking about a shutdown.  We’re talking about getting to work immediately on the greatest tax bill ever passed.  That was the one we did.  It’s a renewal, and it’s an addition to it.  And we’re going to cut people’s taxes. 

    And if we don’t open, the Democrats are stopping all of these good things that we’re providing.  We’re providing the greatest package of benefits that this country has ever provided. 

    The biggest part of that’s going to be tax cuts for the middle class and for businesses, small businesses, employers — people that hire people and jobs. 

    And if it’s shut down, it’s only going to be — if there’s a shutdown, it’s only because of the Democrats, and they would really be taking away a lot from our country and from the people of our country.

    Q    Mr. President, on — on tariffs.  You made clear you’re not backing down from this, but many American small-business owners say they are concerned that these tariffs are going to hurt them.  What’s your message to them?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They’re going to be so much richer than they are right now.

    And we have many — yesterday, General Motors was in.  They want to invest $60 billion.  The people from Facebook were in yesterday.  They’re going to invest $60 billion by the end of the year.  Other people are talking about numbers.  

    Apple, as you know, a few days ago, announced $500 billion investment.  They’re going to build their plants in the United States, which, as you know, almost all of their plants are in China.  Now they’re building in the United States.

    Look, the reason is two things.  Number one, the election. November 5th.  And the other thing is tariffs.  I think, probably, in that order. 

    But Tim Cook came in and he announced 500 — think of it, $500 billion, not million.  Five hundred million is a lot, when you think about it, right?  But —

    VICE PRESIDENT VANCE:  Yes, sir.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I would have been happy with $500 million.  But it’s $500 billion investment by Apple in the United States, and that’s because of the election result and it’s because of the tariffs and the tax incentives too.  You know, tariffs and tax incentives.  And I’ve never seen anything like it. 

    We have plants going up now in Indiana.  We have plants going up in Michigan.  A lot of plants going to be planned from — I’m trying to steer them to Michigan, because Michigan got so badly beaten by, you know, what happened with Europe.

    You know, if you look at Europe. Take a look at the EU.  We’re not allowed to sell cars there.  It’s prohibitive because of their policies, and also their nonmonetary tariffs.  They put obstacles in your way that you can do nothing about.  

    But if you take a look at what happens — so, we sell no cars to Europe — I mean, virtually no cars — and they sell millions of cars to us.  They don’t take our agriculture.  We take their agriculture. It’s like a one-way street with them.

    The European Union is very, very nasty. 

    They sue our companies.  Apple was forced to pay $16 billion on a case that — very much like my cases that I won.  They shouldn’t have been even cases.  But we felt they had no case, and they ended up having an extremely favorable judge and decision.  

    But they’re suing Google, they’re suing Facebook, they’re suing all of these companies, and they’re taking billions of dollars out of American companies, many more than the ones I just mentioned.  And I guess they’re using it to run Europe or something.  I don’t know what they’re using it for. 

    But they treat us very badly.  China obviously treats this very badly.  Almost everybody does.  And I blame past presidents, to be honest. 

    Because when I was president, I — we received, so far, about $700 billion from China, over the years, on the tariffs that I put in.  No other president got 10 cents from China.  And that was only beginning.  Except for COVID, it would have — I would have been able to finish the process.  But we had to fight the COVID thing, and we did really well with it.  But we had to fight.

    And then we had actually — as you remember, Mark, we actually handed over the stock market.  It was higher than just previous to COVID coming in, which was sort of a miracle, frankly.  We did a good job.

    But the tariffs are very important.  And I think the psychology — there’s great spirit.  When Mark came in, he said, “Congratulations.  There’s a whole new spirit.  There’s a whole new light over this country, and really over the world” —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — because you have somebody that — a whole group of people, really, because I talk about this whole group, that we know what we’re doing.  And a lot of great things are happening.

    But I’ve never seen investment like this.  Trillions of dollars is being invested in the United States now that would have never — our country could have failed.  Another four years of this, what happened in the last four years, our country would have been a crime-ridden mess.  

    And I don’t know if you noticed — a little thing, they call it, but it’s not a little thing if you don’t have — if you like eggs and you don’t have a lot of money — eggs have gone down 25 percent in the last couple of weeks.  We inherited that problem: eggs.  

    Groceries have gone down a little bit.  Energy has gone down. 

    Do you want to speak to that for a second, Governor?  Would you just say a couple of words, you and Chris, about energy, what’s happened?

    SECRETARY BURGUM:  Well, happy to, but I think that — Chris and I just came from CERAWeek, which is the largest conference in the world.  So, global leaders, people from the EU, officials from all the energy-producing countries all there.  And all the global nationals, all the U.S.  The — the spirit of that group is through the roof, because now they realize that in the United States, that President Trump’s policies are pro — pro developing more energy, as opposed to we’re trying to shut down energy.  

    And that pro-growth, pro-business, pro- — pro-energy approach is giving people the optimism.  So, then the markets are reacting to that, and energy prices on the futures market are going to go down because people know we’re — we’re not going to be killing off the energy we need for prosperity in all of our countries, but also for peace, because people have used energy to fuel these wars that President Trump is working so hard to end.  And — and we — we know that energy — high energy prices were driving the inflation that he talked about. 

    So, it accomplishes two goals for us — which is prosperity for the world, peace for the world — when we have smart energy policies.  And — and President Trump has brought common sense back to how we think about energy.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And it’s brought down now $65 a barrel,  I saw this morning.  That’s phenomenal news, and that’s going to bring — that’s what brought it up.  The energy went — they took our beautiful energy policies and they just messed them up.  And then they went immediately back to them, because — but by that time, they lost it.  They lost that bronco, as the expression goes.

    Chris, do you have something to say?

    SECRETARY WRIGHT:  I think Doug said it well, but you just can’t overstate how important the return of common sense, the return of knowledge about energy and pro-American consumers, pro investment in our country.  I think, globally, that was welcomed.  It means capital flows.  It means more sobriety and lower energy prices, more economic opportunity for Americans. 

    So, yeah, it was elated atmosphere at a global energy conference. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we’re working on one project, and it should be very easy.  It’s a pipeline going through a small section of New York.  New York has held it up for years, actually.  For years they’ve wanted to do it. For years and years.  And it will reduce — 

    The most expensive energy, almost, in the world is in New England, because they have no way of getting it there because it’s been held up by New York.  And the whole of New England and Connecticut and New York — the energy prices are through the roof.  And this one pipeline will save per family, $2,500 just on heating and another $2,500 on everything else.  So, the energy — by just a simple pipeline going through an area that wants it — an area that’s not a rich area; it’s actually a very poor area — would create jobs and everything else.

    And it’s going to be way underground.  Nobody’s going to see it.  Once they fill it up, nobody’s going to see it.  Nobody’s going to know it’s there. 

    And families in New York and Connecticut and New England are going to save $5,000 a family.  Think of that.  Because, right now, they have the highest energy prices maybe in the world, they say.  New England is a disaster.  

    So, we’re working on that.  In fact, the governor is coming in — governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, who’s a very nice woman.  She’s coming in tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock to meet me on that and other things — not only that, but other things.

    So, I hope we don’t have to use the extraordinary powers of the federal government to get it done, but if we have to, we will.  But I don’t think we’ll have to. 

    I can tell you, Connecticut wants it and all of New England wants it.  And who wouldn’t want it?  And it’s also jobs on top of everything else.  So, that’s going to be very exciting.  So, we’re meeting with the governor tomorrow morning. 

    (Cross-talk.)

    Yeah. 

    Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  Greenland.  What is your vision for the potential annexation of Greenland and getting them, potentially, to —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    Q    — to statehood?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I think it’ll happen.  And I’m just thinking — I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental.  You know, Mark, we need that for international security — not just security, international.  We have a lot of our favorite players, you know, cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful.  And we’ll be talking to you.

    And it’s a very appropriate — really, a very appropriate question. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  It’s an —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — an issue in the high north, so the Arctic.  So, what you did —

    So, when it comes to Greenland, yes or no, joining the U.S., I would leave that outside, for me, this discussion, because I don’t want to drag NATO in that. 

    But when it comes to the high north in the Arctic, you are totally right.  The Chinese and — are using these routes.  We know that the Russians already arming.  We know we have a lack of icebreakers.  So, the fact that the seven — outside of Russia, there are seven Arctic countries — working together on this, under U.S. leadership — it’s very important to make sure that that region, that that a part of the world stays safe.  And — and we know things are changing there, and we have to be there.

    Q    Well, they just had an election there the other day.  I mean, do you see a referendum, a plebiscite where the people of Greenland would be in a position to decide if they want to become part of the United States? 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, it was a good election for us, as you know.  It was not a referendum.  It wouldn’t be called that.  It was an individual election.  But the person that did the best is a very good person, as far as we’re concerned.  And so, we’ll be talking about it.  And it’s very important. 

    Mark mentioned the word “icebreaker.”  So, we’re in the process of ordering 48 icebreakers, and Canada wants to know if they could use them.  I said, “Well, you know, you got to pay for them.”  Think of it.  Canada.  We pay for their military.  You know, Canada pays very little for their military, because they think we’re going to protect them, but — even with the icebreakers. 

    So, we’re going to order 48, and Canada wants to be part of the deal.  I say, “You got to get your own icebreakers.  I mean, if you’re a state, you can be part of the deal, but if you’re a separate country, you’ve got to get your own icebreakers.”  

    Russia, as you know, has about 40 of them, and we have 1 big icebreaker.  But that whole area is becoming very important and for a lot of reasons.  The routes are, you know, very direct to Asia, to Russia, and you have ships all over the place.  And we have to have protection.  So, we’re going to have to make a deal on that.

    And Denmark is not able to do that.  You know, Denmark is very far away and really has nothing to do. 

    What happens?  A boat landed there 200 years ago or something, and they say they have rights to it.  I don’t know if that’s true.  I’m not — I don’t think it is, actually.

    But we’ve been dealing with Denmark.  We’ve been dealing with Greenland.  And we have to do it.  We really need it for national security.  I think that’s why NATO might have to get involved in a way, because we really need Greenland for national security.  It’s very important.  

    You know, we have a couple of bases on Greenland already, and we have quite a few soldiers that — maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers go there.  I don’t know.

    What do you think about that, Pete? Don’t answer that, Pete.  (Laughter.)  Don’t answer that question.  

    But we have bases, and we have quite a few soldiers on Greenland already. 

    Q    Mr. President, some people question your commitment to NATO.  Will everything — anything change?

    Your com- — your commitment to NATO, will anything change?  Same amount of money?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I think they made —

    Q    Same number of troops?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — a great step by putting Mark in charge.  I think, to me, that’s a great step, because he and I have seen eye to eye on everything for a long time.  We’ve been doing this a long time now.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Nine years now.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And so, that’s a great step. 

    You have to keep NATO strong.  You have to keep it relevant. 

    But the biggest thing we have to worry about right now is what’s going on right now.  I think the rest is going to take care of itself. 

    I don’t see this having — this was a fluke.  This was something that if we had a competent president, it would not have happened.  The man was grossly incompetent.  All you have to do is look in — take a look at — he signs by autopen.

    Who was signing all this stuff by autopen?  Who would think you signed important documents by autopen?  You know, these are major documents you’re signing.  You’re proud to sign them.  You have your signature on something — in 300 years, they say, “Oh, look.”  Can you imagine?  Everything was signed by autopen — almost everything.  Nobody has ever heard of such a thing. 

    Q    Do you —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So —

    Q    Sorry. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Should have never happened. 

    Q    You’re speaking tomorrow at the Justice Department about law and order.  Could you tell us a little bit about that? 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, we’re going to be with the Justice Department.  We have a great Justice Department.  Pam Bondi is so fantastic.  And Todd Blanche and Emil — you got to know him a little bit; he was acting for a little while — and some other people are incredible in the Justice Department. 

    And I consider the FBI to be a part of it, in a sense, and Kash is going to be fantastic, and all the people he’s — Dan Bongino, I love that.  I mean, I love that.  I think Dan is great. 

    I think we have unbelievable people.  And all I’m going to do is set out my vision.  It’s going to be their vision, really, but it’s my ideas.  And basically, we don’t want to have crime in the streets.  We don’t want to have people pushed into subways and killed, and then the — the person that did the pushing ends up in a 15-year trial and gets off scot-free.  We want to have justice, and we want to have safety in our cities, as well as our communities. 

    And we’ll be talking about immigration.  We’ll be talking about a lot of things.  Just the complete gamut.  So, I look forward to that.  That will be tomorrow at the Justice Department. 

    Q    Mr. President, you are a man of peace.  You’ve said it several times and made it very clear.  A man of peace dealing with belligerent people. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    Q    And I’m thinking we saw you handled Zelenskyy in this very own room.  What is your leverage on Putin?  Are you thinking sanctions?  What if he refuses to —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I do have leverage, but I don’t want to talk about leverage now, because right now we’re talking to him.  And based on the statements he made today, they were pretty positive, I think, so I don’t want to talk about that.  

    I hope Russia is going to make the deal too.  And I think once that deal happens, you’re never going to be in a process.  I don’t think they’re going back to shooting again.  I really believe if we get a peace treaty, a ceasefire treaty, I think that leads to peace.  That’s going to really lead to a —

    I don’t think anyone wants to go back.  They’ve been doing this for a long time, and it’s vicious and violent.  And I think if President Putin agrees and does a ceasefire, I think we’re going to be in very good shape to get it done.  We want to get it over with.  That’s why — it was very important what I instructed everybody, including Steve, what we’re looking for: to discuss concepts of land, concepts of —

    MR. WALTZ:  Yes, sir.   

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — of power plants because it’s complicated.  You know, you have a whole — you’re sort of creating the edge of a country. 

    The sad part is that country, if they didn’t — if this didn’t happen — and it wouldn’t have happened — I don’t know if they would have to give anything back.  I guess Crimea? 

    You know, I said it last time, Crimea was given by Obama, Biden gave them the whole thing, and Bush gave them Georgia.  And Trump didn’t give them anything. 

    I gave them — you know what I gave them?  I gave them Javelins.  And the Javelins were very effective, as you know.  I gave them nothing —

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  2019. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And then also, if you take a look, I was the one that stopped the pipeline going into Europe.  It was totally stopped: Nord Stream 2.  Nobody ever heard of Nord Stream 2 before I came along.

    But I got along very well with President Putin.  I got along with most of them.  I get along great with President Xi.  I got along great with Kim Jong Un.  I got along great with all of them.  And we had no wars.  We had no problems.  We wiped out ISIS in record time. General “Razin” Kane.  And he wiped them out. 

    And he is going to be our new chief, right?  He’s going to be —

    SECRETARY HEGSETH:  Yes, sir.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  — the head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he’s a highly respected man.  He’s going to be great. 

    Pete is going to be fantastic.  I have no doubt about it.  We have a great team.  A really great team. 

    Yeah, please.  Go ahead, please.

    Q    Mr. President, some of our allies have said that they’re worried that they could be the next to be attacked by Russia.  You’ve spoken directly with the Russian president.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

    Q    Do you think those fears are justified?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I don’t.  I think when this gets done, it’s done.  They’re going to all want to go home and rest.  I don’t see it happening.  Nope, I don’t see that happening.  And we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.  Not going to happen.  But we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. 

    Yeah, go ahead, please. 

    Q    Leaders from Russia and Iran are heading to Beijing tomorrow to discuss nuclear programs.  What do you hope to get out of that?

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, maybe they’re going to talk about non-nuclear programs.  Maybe they’re going to be talking about the de-escalation of nuclear weapons, because, you know, I was talking about that with President Putin very strongly.  And we could have done something.  Had that election not been rigged, we would have had something.  I think I would have made a deal with Putin on de-escalation, denuclearization, as they say.  But we would have de-escalated nuclear weapons, because the power of nuclear weapons is so great and so devastating. 

    And, right now, Russia and us have by far the most, but China will catch us within five years.  China doesn’t have — but they’re in the process of building.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: And they build.  And within four or five years, they’ll probably have the same.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  And, by the way, you — this is a Republican tradition.  Ronald Reagan, when he negotiated with Gorbachev —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right. 

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — in the 1980s —

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That’s right.

    SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — about bringing down the number of nuclear weapons is what you have been doing your first term.  And it is important. 

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It would be a great achievement if we could bring down the number.  We have so many weapons, and the power is so great. 

    And we — number one, you don’t need them to that extent.  And then we’d have to get others, because, as you know, in a smaller way — Kim Jong Un has a lot of nuclear weapons, by the way — a lot — and others do also.  You have India.  You have Pakistan.  You have others that have them, and we’d get them involved. 

    But we started off with Russia and us.  We have, by far — actually, by far, the most.  And we were going to denuclearize, and that was going to happen. 

    And then we were going to China.  And I spoke to China.  I spoke to President Xi about it.  And he really liked the idea.  You know, he’d like not to spend trillions of dollars building weapons that, hopefully, he’s never going to have to use.  And — because they are very expensive also.  So, that would have been great. 

    Okay, one or two more. 

    (Cross-talk.)

    Yeah, go ahead.  

    Q    Thank you.  We are looking at an impending government shutdown Friday at midnight.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah. 

    Q    Democrats, for 30 years straight, have said, if there’s a shutdown, bad things happen.  Do you anticipate direct negotiations yourself with conference leader of the Democrats, Chuck Schumer?

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, if they need me, I’m there a hundred percent.  It’s — right now, it’s two or three people.  If it shuts down, it’s not the Republicans’ fault.  You know, we passed a bill where we had an incredible Republican vote.  We only had one negative vote, a grandstander.  You know, one grandstander.  There’s always a grandstander in the lot. 

         But it was amazing.  People were amazed that the Republicans were able to vote in unison like that so strongly. 

         If there’s a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will be their fault.  And I’m hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote for it, and I hope they do.  This is an extension. 

         But ultimately, we want to vote for one big, beautiful bill where we put the taxes in, we put everything in.  We’re going to have big tax cuts.  We’re going to have tremendous incentives for companies coming into our country and employing lots of people.  

         It’ll be — I called it, in a rare moment, one big, beautiful bill.  That’s what I like.  And it seems to be that’s where they’re heading.  And we’ll have to take care of something to do with Los Angeles. 

         A place called Los Angeles almost burned to the ground.  By the way, I broke into Los Angeles.  Can you believe it?  I had to break in. 

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah?

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I invaded Los Angeles.  And we opened up the water, and the water is now flowing down.  They have so much water, they don’t know what to do.  They were sending it out to the Pacific for environmental reasons.  Okay?  Can you believe it?  And in the meantime, they lost 25,000 houses.  They lost — and nobody’s ever seen anything like it. 

         But we have the water.  I’d love to show you a picture.  You’ve seen the picture.  The water is flowing through the half pipes.  You know, we have the big half pipes that go down.  Used to — 25 years ago, they used to have plenty of water, but they turned it off for — again, for environmental reasons.  Well, I turned it on for environmental reasons and also fire reasons. 

         And I’ve been asking them to do that during my first term.  I said, “Do it.”  I didn’t think anything like — could happen like this, but they didn’t have enough water. 

         Now the farmers are going to have water for their land, and the water is in there. 

         But I actually had to break in.  We broke in to do it because we had people that were afraid to give water.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They were — in particular, they were trying to protect a certain little fish.  And I say, “How do you protect a fish if you don’t have water?”  They didn’t have any water, so they’re protecting a fish, and that didn’t work out too well, by the way.  

         So, they have a lot of water going down throughout California, all coming out from the Pacific Northwest, even some from Canada. 

         Thank you, Canada, very much.  I appreciate it. 

         Next thing you know, they’ll want to turn the water off.  They’ll want to charge us for the water.

         But it comes up from the Pacific Northwest, and it’s a beautiful thing to see.  I mean, it is brimming with water. 

         Now, if they would have had that done, you wouldn’t have had the damage, because the fire would have been put out.  The fire hydrants would have been loaded.  The sprinklers in people’s living rooms and bedrooms would have been loaded up with the — they had no water.  The government makes them put sprinklers in.  They had no water in the sprinklers because they had no water. 

         So, the water is flowing, and we’re going to have to give a lot of money to Los Angeles to help them, and the Democrats are going to want to do that.  So, that’s the one thing different. 

         And I frankly, I think that makes it a lot easier.  But one of the big thing is we have the big, beautiful bill.  We got to get that done.  And that will put our country in a position like it’s never been in. 

         It’s a reduction of taxes.  It’s tremendous incentives for companies to come from all over the world into our country.  It’s great environmentally, but it’s not this environmental scam that we went through — that we all went through.  It provides for everything.  

         It’s a big, beautiful bill, and I hope we can get it approved.  And that will be next. 

         But in the meantime, we have the continuing resolution, and the Republicans have approved it, and now the Democrats have to approve it.  And I hope they will. 

         And I think a lot of them — I can tell you, they want to.  I’ve spoken to some of them.  They really want to.  Their leadership may not want them to.  And if it closes, it’s purely on the Democrats. 

         All right, one more.

         Q    On Korea, sir.  We’ve seen tension increasing in the Peninsula.  You’ve talked about Kim Jong Un.  Do you have any plans of getting — of reestablishing the relationship you had during the first meeting?

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.  Well, I would.  I had a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, North Korea.  If I wasn’t elected, if Hillary got in, you would have had a nuclear war with North Korea.  He expected it.  He expected it.  And they said, “Oh, thousands of people.”  No, millions of people would have been killed.  

         But I got in.  We went to Singapore.  We met.  We went to — to Vietnam.  We met.  We got along really good.  We had a very good relationship.  And we still do.  We still do.  You don’t have that threat that you had.

         Q    You have talked with — have you talked to him?  

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I mean, look, when I was running the first time, it looked like there was going to be a war with North Korea.  You know that better than anyone.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Tensions were high.  Yes.  Yeah.

         PRESIDENT TRUMP.  Yeah.  And it started off —

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  And everybody was — was startled that you —

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  — invited him for talks. 

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  But you did, and it —

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It started out very rough.  

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.  Yeah.

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And he wouldn’t meet with Obama.  Wouldn’t take his calls.  I said, “How many times did you call?” They called a lot.  He wouldn’t take their call.  He told me, “I wouldn’t take his call.” 

         But with me, it did start off rough, if you remember.  Very rough, actually.  Very nasty.  And — 

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  That was in Singapore, the first one?

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, but then — no, before that.  Then it stopped.  The rhetoric was extremely tough.  It was a little bit —

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  You had it in your speech at the U.N. I remember.  (Laughs.)

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, that’s right.  It was a little bit dangerous.  

         And then we met.  They asked for a meeting, and then we met.  And the meeting caused the Olympics, which was in South Korea, to become a tremendous success.  Nobody was buying tickets for the Olympics because they didn’t want to be nuked.  

         And I met, and not only did the Olympics become successful, but North Korea participated in the Olympics.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.  His sister visited.

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It was an amazing thing.

         SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE:  Yeah.

         PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And that was something that was an achievement of the Trump administration. Great achievement.  And so, I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un.  And we’ll see what happens. 

         But certainly, he’s a nuclear power.

         Okay?  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

                                      END            1:20 P.M. EDT

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Virginia Businessman Sentenced for Tax and Investment Fraud

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    A Virginia man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for tax crimes and his wire fraud scheme.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Rick Tariq Rahim, of Great Falls, owned and operated several businesses, including laser tag facilities and an Amazon reseller. From 2015 to 2021, Rahim did not pay the IRS the taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks or file the required quarterly employment tax returns reporting those withholdings.

    Between October 2010 and October 2012, Rahim filed two personal income tax returns on which he reported owing substantial taxes, but did not pay all the taxes due. When the IRS attempted to collect the unpaid taxes, Rahim submitted a false statement that omitted valuable assets he owned, including a helicopter, a Bentley, a Lamborghini, and real estate in Great Falls. Approximately two weeks later, Rahim transferred ownership of the Great Falls property to his wife. He also paid personal expenses from his business bank accounts, including more than $889,000 toward his mortgages and more than $669,000 to purchase or lease cars, including three different Lamborghinis. Rahim withdrew more than $1.1 million in cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid triggering currency transaction reports from the bank. Rahim has not filed a personal income tax return since 2012 despite earning more than $34 million in gross income.

    In total, Rahim caused a loss to the IRS of at least $4.4 million.

    Rahim also defrauded customers who invested using his automated trading bots and by “copying” Rahim’s supposed trading activities that he posted to Discord. He marketed his products on websites named BotsforWealth, TradeAutomation, ProChartSignals, OptionCopier, CopyAndWin, SnipeAlgo, and QQQtrade. Rahim charged customers a subscription fee to access his bots and other software, and to copy his supposed trades. Rahim also offered a “lifetime membership” to which customers received access to Rahim’s private Discord channel, some of his products, and his “in-office” trading days. Rahim personally traded stocks for at least two individuals, claiming “We’ll hit home runs and make $500k+ per day very very often.” Instead, Rahim lost over $300,000 of his clients’ funds in eight months. 

    Rahim induced customers to subscribe to his products by using social media tools, including TikTok, YouTube, and Discord. He also sought to induce customers by claiming he was extremely wealthy, boasting about trading millions of dollars and posting about his large home, pool, and luxury cars, including his Lamborghini. He posted false information to his websites and to his social media accounts claiming to “beat the stock market every day” and promising extreme profit margins. His claim of regularly beating the market was exaggerated. In reality, he did not post his trades that lost money. In fact, Rahim realized over $500,000 in losses from February 2021 through December 2022, and did not earn millions in the market during this time period as he had claimed. As part of his fraud scheme, Rahim also created at least 20 Discord user profiles where he posted emojis, likes, and symbols showing agreement and excitement regarding Rahim’s posts. Rahim earned at least $1,397,000 in subscription fees during the course of his schemes.

    In addition to Rahim’s prison sentence, he agreed to forfeit over $1.3 million and must pay restitution to the IRS and to his investment fraud victims.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

    IRS Criminal Investigation investigated Rahim’s tax fraud and FBI investigated his investment fraud. The case was consolidated for sentencing.

    Trial Attorneys William Montague and Ashley Stein of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted Rahim for his tax fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shartar prosecuted Rahim for his investment fraud.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Member of ‘764’ Network Sentenced for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Jack Rocker, 19, of Tampa, was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The court also ordered Rocker to forfeit an iPhone 12, thumb drive, and Acer Laptop, all of which possessed CSAM. Rocker will also have to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to the victims.

    Rocker pleaded guilty on Dec. 16, 2024. According to court filings, Rocker was a member of “764” a network of violent online extremists who engage in criminal conduct within the United States and abroad, in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos, destruction, and social instability. These extremists work individually or as part of a network with these goals of destroying civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors. 764 uses known online social media communications platforms, as mediums to support the possession, production, and sharing of extreme gore media and CSAM.

    On Jan. 19, 2024, the FBI conducted a search of Rocker’s residence located in the Middle District of Florida. The FBI seized Rocker’s iPhone, thumb drive, and Acer laptop. At this time, the FBI has determined that Rocker’s devices contain over 8,300 images and videos of CSAM, including images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, masochistic sexual behavior, and bestiality.

    This case was investigated by the FBI. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

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

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Virginia Businessman Sentenced for Tax and Investment Fraud

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Defendant Caused Nearly $4.5M in Loss to IRS and Caused Significant Losses to Investors

    A Virginia man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for tax crimes and his wire fraud scheme.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Rick Tariq Rahim, of Great Falls, owned and operated several businesses, including laser tag facilities and an Amazon reseller. From 2015 to 2021, Rahim did not pay the IRS the taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks or file the required quarterly employment tax returns reporting those withholdings.

    Between October 2010 and October 2012, Rahim filed two personal income tax returns on which he reported owing substantial taxes, but did not pay all the taxes due. When the IRS attempted to collect the unpaid taxes, Rahim submitted a false statement that omitted valuable assets he owned, including a helicopter, a Bentley, a Lamborghini, and real estate in Great Falls. Approximately two weeks later, Rahim transferred ownership of the Great Falls property to his wife. He also paid personal expenses from his business bank accounts, including more than $889,000 toward his mortgages and more than $669,000 to purchase or lease cars, including three different Lamborghinis. Rahim withdrew more than $1.1 million in cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid triggering currency transaction reports from the bank. Rahim has not filed a personal income tax return since 2012 despite earning more than $34 million in gross income.

    In total, Rahim caused a loss to the IRS of at least $4.4 million.

    Rahim also defrauded customers who invested using his automated trading bots and by “copying” Rahim’s supposed trading activities that he posted to Discord. He marketed his products on websites named BotsforWealth, TradeAutomation, ProChartSignals, OptionCopier, CopyAndWin, SnipeAlgo, and QQQtrade. Rahim charged customers a subscription fee to access his bots and other software, and to copy his supposed trades. Rahim also offered a “lifetime membership” to which customers received access to Rahim’s private Discord channel, some of his products, and his “in-office” trading days. Rahim personally traded stocks for at least two individuals, claiming “We’ll hit home runs and make $500k+ per day very very often.” Instead, Rahim lost over $300,000 of his clients’ funds in eight months. 

    Rahim induced customers to subscribe to his products by using social media tools, including TikTok, YouTube, and Discord. He also sought to induce customers by claiming he was extremely wealthy, boasting about trading millions of dollars and posting about his large home, pool, and luxury cars, including his Lamborghini. He posted false information to his websites and to his social media accounts claiming to “beat the stock market every day” and promising extreme profit margins. His claim of regularly beating the market was exaggerated. In reality, he did not post his trades that lost money. In fact, Rahim realized over $500,000 in losses from February 2021 through December 2022, and did not earn millions in the market during this time period as he had claimed. As part of his fraud scheme, Rahim also created at least 20 Discord user profiles where he posted emojis, likes, and symbols showing agreement and excitement regarding Rahim’s posts. Rahim earned at least $1,397,000 in subscription fees during the course of his schemes.

    In addition to Rahim’s prison sentence, he agreed to forfeit over $1.3 million and must pay restitution to the IRS and to his investment fraud victims.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

    IRS Criminal Investigation investigated Rahim’s tax fraud and FBI investigated his investment fraud. The case was consolidated for sentencing.

    Trial Attorneys William Montague and Ashley Stein of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted Rahim for his tax fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shartar prosecuted Rahim for his investment fraud.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Reserve Board announces approval of proposal by EverBank Financial Corp

    Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

    .

    March 14, 2025
    Federal Reserve Board announces approval of proposal by EverBank Financial Corp
    For release at 2:30 p.m. EDT

    The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced its approval of the proposal by EverBank Financial Corp, of Jacksonville, Florida, to acquire Sterling Bank and Trust, FSB, of Southfield, Michigan.
    For media inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 202-452-2955.

    Last Update: March 14, 2025

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Member of ‘764’ Network Sentenced for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: United States Department of Justice

    Jack Rocker, 19, of Tampa, was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The court also ordered Rocker to forfeit an iPhone 12, thumb drive, and Acer Laptop, all of which possessed CSAM. Rocker will also have to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to the victims.

    Rocker pleaded guilty on Dec. 16, 2024. According to court filings, Rocker was a member of “764” a network of violent online extremists who engage in criminal conduct within the United States and abroad, in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos, destruction, and social instability. These extremists work individually or as part of a network with these goals of destroying civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors. 764 uses known online social media communications platforms, as mediums to support the possession, production, and sharing of extreme gore media and CSAM.

    On Jan. 19, 2024, the FBI conducted a search of Rocker’s residence located in the Middle District of Florida. The FBI seized Rocker’s iPhone, thumb drive, and Acer laptop. At this time, the FBI has determined that Rocker’s devices contain over 8,300 images and videos of CSAM, including images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, masochistic sexual behavior, and bestiality.

    This case was investigated by the FBI. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Security News: Virginia Businessman Sentenced for Tax and Investment Fraud

    Source: United States Department of Justice 2

    A Virginia man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for tax crimes and his wire fraud scheme.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Rick Tariq Rahim, of Great Falls, owned and operated several businesses, including laser tag facilities and an Amazon reseller. From 2015 to 2021, Rahim did not pay the IRS the taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks or file the required quarterly employment tax returns reporting those withholdings.

    Between October 2010 and October 2012, Rahim filed two personal income tax returns on which he reported owing substantial taxes, but did not pay all the taxes due. When the IRS attempted to collect the unpaid taxes, Rahim submitted a false statement that omitted valuable assets he owned, including a helicopter, a Bentley, a Lamborghini, and real estate in Great Falls. Approximately two weeks later, Rahim transferred ownership of the Great Falls property to his wife. He also paid personal expenses from his business bank accounts, including more than $889,000 toward his mortgages and more than $669,000 to purchase or lease cars, including three different Lamborghinis. Rahim withdrew more than $1.1 million in cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid triggering currency transaction reports from the bank. Rahim has not filed a personal income tax return since 2012 despite earning more than $34 million in gross income.

    In total, Rahim caused a loss to the IRS of at least $4.4 million.

    Rahim also defrauded customers who invested using his automated trading bots and by “copying” Rahim’s supposed trading activities that he posted to Discord. He marketed his products on websites named BotsforWealth, TradeAutomation, ProChartSignals, OptionCopier, CopyAndWin, SnipeAlgo, and QQQtrade. Rahim charged customers a subscription fee to access his bots and other software, and to copy his supposed trades. Rahim also offered a “lifetime membership” to which customers received access to Rahim’s private Discord channel, some of his products, and his “in-office” trading days. Rahim personally traded stocks for at least two individuals, claiming “We’ll hit home runs and make $500k+ per day very very often.” Instead, Rahim lost over $300,000 of his clients’ funds in eight months. 

    Rahim induced customers to subscribe to his products by using social media tools, including TikTok, YouTube, and Discord. He also sought to induce customers by claiming he was extremely wealthy, boasting about trading millions of dollars and posting about his large home, pool, and luxury cars, including his Lamborghini. He posted false information to his websites and to his social media accounts claiming to “beat the stock market every day” and promising extreme profit margins. His claim of regularly beating the market was exaggerated. In reality, he did not post his trades that lost money. In fact, Rahim realized over $500,000 in losses from February 2021 through December 2022, and did not earn millions in the market during this time period as he had claimed. As part of his fraud scheme, Rahim also created at least 20 Discord user profiles where he posted emojis, likes, and symbols showing agreement and excitement regarding Rahim’s posts. Rahim earned at least $1,397,000 in subscription fees during the course of his schemes.

    In addition to Rahim’s prison sentence, he agreed to forfeit over $1.3 million and must pay restitution to the IRS and to his investment fraud victims.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

    IRS Criminal Investigation investigated Rahim’s tax fraud and FBI investigated his investment fraud. The case was consolidated for sentencing.

    Trial Attorneys William Montague and Ashley Stein of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted Rahim for his tax fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shartar prosecuted Rahim for his investment fraud.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Customs and Border Protection Officer Sentenced for Abducting and Sexually Assaulting a Minor Victim

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    Aaron Thomas Mitchell, 30, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for abducting a 15-year-old female middle school student, driving her to his apartment, and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.

    According to the evidence presented at trial, Mitchell found the child waiting for school to start, introduced himself as a law enforcement officer, and ordered the child into his car. Mitchell then restrained the child’s hands and feet with handcuffs and drove her nearly an hour away to his apartment.

    At his apartment, Mitchell forced the victim into his bedroom, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her over the course of several hours, before he returned the victim to an alley near the middle school.

    An examination of Mitchell’s cellphone revealed that he conducted numerous searches regarding rape, how to stop someone from screaming, and how long it takes to smother someone.

    “As we work to secure the southern border, it is essential that our law enforcement officers remain above reproach and are trusted by the people they protect,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona. “This sentence shows that if anyone abuses their position of authority, they will face the harshest consequences available. And while we can never undo the pain inflicted by this defendant on the victim, we are proud to see that justice has been served.”

    “This sentence underscores the FBI’s commitment to holding law enforcement officers accountable when they violate the rights of individuals. When an officer shrugs off his sworn oath and harms those they promised to protect, he betrays the people of his community and all of us who wear a badge,” said Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Perez of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “The FBI continues to ensure the rights of every American are protected. Thank you to the Douglas Police Department for their partnership and work on this case.”

    The Douglas Police Department and FBI Phoenix Field Office, Sierra Vista Resident Agency investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Carin Duryee for the District of Arizona and Trial Attorney MarLa Duncan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Security News: Former Customs and Border Protection Officer Sentenced for Abducting and Sexually Assaulting a Minor Victim

    Source: United States Department of Justice 2

    Aaron Thomas Mitchell, 30, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for abducting a 15-year-old female middle school student, driving her to his apartment, and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.

    According to the evidence presented at trial, Mitchell found the child waiting for school to start, introduced himself as a law enforcement officer, and ordered the child into his car. Mitchell then restrained the child’s hands and feet with handcuffs and drove her nearly an hour away to his apartment.

    At his apartment, Mitchell forced the victim into his bedroom, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her over the course of several hours, before he returned the victim to an alley near the middle school.

    An examination of Mitchell’s cellphone revealed that he conducted numerous searches regarding rape, how to stop someone from screaming, and how long it takes to smother someone.

    “As we work to secure the southern border, it is essential that our law enforcement officers remain above reproach and are trusted by the people they protect,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona. “This sentence shows that if anyone abuses their position of authority, they will face the harshest consequences available. And while we can never undo the pain inflicted by this defendant on the victim, we are proud to see that justice has been served.”

    “This sentence underscores the FBI’s commitment to holding law enforcement officers accountable when they violate the rights of individuals. When an officer shrugs off his sworn oath and harms those they promised to protect, he betrays the people of his community and all of us who wear a badge,” said Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Perez of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “The FBI continues to ensure the rights of every American are protected. Thank you to the Douglas Police Department for their partnership and work on this case.”

    The Douglas Police Department and FBI Phoenix Field Office, Sierra Vista Resident Agency investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Carin Duryee for the District of Arizona and Trial Attorney MarLa Duncan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE arrests former Cuban intelligence officer for allegedly obtaining legal status through fraudulent means

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    March 14, 2025Miami, FL, United StatesDocument and Benefit Fraud

    MIAMI – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the FBI, administratively arrested a Cuban national who allegedly gained Legal Permanent Resident status through fraudulent means.

    Tomas Emilio Hernandez Cruz, 71, from West Park was arrested at his residence after an investigation into fraudulent claims he made on his immigration application. In September 2023, ICE Homeland Security Investigations Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force alongside FBI Miami Division, initiated an investigation regarding inconsistencies in Hernandez Cruz’s immigration application that warranted further investigation.

    During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Hernandez Cruz was a member of Cuban intelligence at various high-level posts overseas. Hernandez Cruz knowingly and willfully withheld his true position and profession within the Cuban Communist Party to deliberately deceive U.S. authorities when he applied for and obtained his LPR status.

    Hernandez Cruz was arrested, processed and is currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

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

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

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eight GoodFellas Gang Members and Associates Charged with Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering, Including Attempted Murder

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    An indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Northern District of Georgia charging eight members and associates of the GoodFellas Gang for their alleged roles in a criminal enterprise engaged in attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and attempted carjacking in and around Atlanta.

    According to the indictment, the GoodFellas are a violent gang that heavily recruits members in Atlanta neighborhoods, local jails, and Georgia Department of Corrections facilities. Members engage in violence to enhance the violent reputation of the gang.

    As alleged in the indictment, six of the defendants shot and attempted to murder four victims. Additionally, two GoodFellas members and associates allegedly attempted a carjacking and assaulted three victims with a dangerous weapon.

    Frank Hubbert, also known as Capo Frank, 38; Montavis Jones, also known as Nigel Woods, Jitt, and Git, 37; Darian Sheppard, also known as Lil D, 27; De’Andre Jackson, also known as Gen, Glock, and Glizzy, 22; Ephram Marshall, also known as Lil E, 24; Tahj Rankine, also known as Biggz, 26; and Leonunte Carson, also known as Lil Tae, 22, are each charged with multiple counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and with using a firearm during these crimes.

    Hubbert and Ahday Nelson-George, also known as Baby K, 25, are each charged with multiple counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and attempted carjacking.

    Seven of the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison; Nelson-George faces a maximum penalty of 75 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie Jr. for the Northern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office; Georgia Department of Corrections; and the Atlanta Police Department.

    Trial Attorney Sarah J. Rasalam of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Renaud for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to 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).

    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 USA: Eight GoodFellas Gang Members and Associates Charged with Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering, Including Attempted Murder

    Source: US State Government of Utah

    An indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Northern District of Georgia charging eight members and associates of the GoodFellas Gang for their alleged roles in a criminal enterprise engaged in attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and attempted carjacking in and around Atlanta.

    According to the indictment, the GoodFellas are a violent gang that heavily recruits members in Atlanta neighborhoods, local jails, and Georgia Department of Corrections facilities. Members engage in violence to enhance the violent reputation of the gang.

    As alleged in the indictment, six of the defendants shot and attempted to murder four victims. Additionally, two GoodFellas members and associates allegedly attempted a carjacking and assaulted three victims with a dangerous weapon.

    Frank Hubbert, also known as Capo Frank, 38; Montavis Jones, also known as Nigel Woods, Jitt, and Git, 37; Darian Sheppard, also known as Lil D, 27; De’Andre Jackson, also known as Gen, Glock, and Glizzy, 22; Ephram Marshall, also known as Lil E, 24; Tahj Rankine, also known as Biggz, 26; and Leonunte Carson, also known as Lil Tae, 22, are each charged with multiple counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and with using a firearm during these crimes.

    Hubbert and Ahday Nelson-George, also known as Baby K, 25, are each charged with multiple counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and attempted carjacking.

    Seven of the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison; Nelson-George faces a maximum penalty of 75 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie Jr. for the Northern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.

    The FBI is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office; Georgia Department of Corrections; and the Atlanta Police Department.

    Trial Attorney Sarah J. Rasalam of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Renaud for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to 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).

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

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE, law enforcement partners arrest more than 200 alien offenders during enhanced gang operation in Northern Virginia

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    CHANTILLY, Va. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement partners apprehended 214 illegal aliens during an enhanced targeted enforcement operation focusing on transnational organized crime, gangs, and egregious illegal alien offenders in Northern Virginia March 1 to 13.

    “Our communities in Virginia are safer today because our law enforcement officers stood between them and the danger. During this enforcement operation, ICE and our law enforcement partners targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most gang-infested neighborhoods in Northern Virginia, and this resulted in 214 arrests,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russ Hott. “Over 200 arrests in such a brief time is an impressive number by any measure. It is truly awe-inspiring to see what can be accomplished with the level of cooperation shared among our federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Everyone was truly invested in the success of this joint operation. ICE will continue our mission to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing illegal alien offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities.”

    ICE and their law enforcement partners targeted transnational criminal organizations known to operate in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. These organizations include the notorious MS-13 and 18th Street gangs.

    “The agents and officers involved in this enhanced operation truly made a difference in the Northern Virginia communities. The apprehension of 214 alien offenders is impressive and was only made possible through strong partnerships,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck. “The level of dedication to this operation by the entire team was impressive to witness. Each of our law enforcement partners brought their own expertise to the mission. This was truly a team effort. ICE will continue to work tirelessly to dismantle transnational criminal organizations working in our neighborhoods.”

    “The level of support ICE received from our partner law enforcement organizations was inspiring,” said Hott. “In the spirit of illicit gang activity, we are making gang members an offer they can’t refuse; leave the United States now. If you don’t, we will find you, and there will be consequences. We will arrest and prosecute you to the full extent of the law.”

    Among those arrested during the enhanced targeted operation include:

    • A 26-year-old Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 previously convicted for malicious wounding and larceny.
    • A 46-year-old, previously removed Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 previously convicted for carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing, illegal re-entry after removal, and disorderly conduct.
    • A 40-year-old Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 who is wanted by authorities in El Salvador for aggravated extortion.
    • A 37-year-old Jamaican alien previously convicted for second-degree murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
    • A 46-year-old Mexican alien previously convicted for indecent liberties with a minor and soliciting a minor for prostitution.
    • A 27-year-old Honduran alien previously convicted for object sexual penetration. The alien is currently detained pending removal proceedings.

    Partner law enforcement participating in the operation were: U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia; FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Office of the Governor; the Office of the Attorney General; Virginia State Police; and Virginia Department of Corrections.

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

    Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our communities on X: @EROWashington.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Marshall Islands: How the Rongelap evacuation changed the course of history

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and RNZ Pacific correspondent in Majuro

    The late Member of Parliament Jeton Anjain and the people of the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Atoll changed the course of the history of the Marshall Islands by using Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship to evacuate their radioactive home islands 40 years ago.

    They did this by taking control of their own destiny after decades of being at the mercy of the United States nuclear testing programme and its aftermath.

    In 1954, the US tested the Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, spewing high-level radioactive fallout on unsuspecting Rongelap Islanders nearby.

    For years after the Bravo test, decisions by US government doctors and scientists caused Rongelap Islanders to be continuously exposed to additional radiation.

    Marshall Islands traditional and government leaders joined Greenpeace representatives in showing off tapa banners with the words “Justice for Marshall Islands” during the dockside welcome ceremony earlier this week in Majuro. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ Pacific

    The 40th anniversary of the dramatic evacuation of Rongelap Atoll in 1985 by the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior — a few weeks before French secret agents bombed the ship in Auckland harbour — was spotlighted this week in Majuro with the arrival of Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior III to a warm welcome combining top national government leaders, the Rongelap Atoll Local Government and the Rongelap community.

    “We were displaced, our lives were disrupted, and our voices ignored,” said MP Hilton Kendall, who represents Rongelap in the Marshall Islands Parliament, at the welcome ceremony in Majuro earlier in the week.

    “In our darkest time, Greenpeace stood with us.”

    ‘Evacuated people to safety’
    He said the Rainbow Warrior “evacuated the people to safety” in 1985.

    Greenpeace would “forever be remembered by the people of Rongelap,” he added.

    The Able US nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 1 July 1946. Image: US National Archives

    In 1984, Jeton Anjain — like most Rongelap people who were living on the nuclear test-affected atoll — knew that Rongelap was unsafe for continued habitation.

    There was not a single scientist or medical doctor among their community although Jeton was a trained dentist, and they mainly depended on US Department of Energy-provided doctors and scientists for health care and environmental advice.

    They were always told not to worry and that everything was fine.

    Crew of the Rainbow Warrior and other Greenpeace officials — including two crew members from the original Rainbow Warrior, Bunny McDiarmid and Henk Hazen, from Aotearoa New Zealand – were welcomed to the Marshall Islands during a dockside ceremony in Majuro to mark the 40th anniversary of the evacuation of Rongelap Atoll. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ Pacific

    But it wasn’t, as the countless thyroid tumors, cancers, miscarriages and surgeries confirmed.

    As the desire of Rongelap people to evacuate their homeland intensified in 1984, unbeknown to them Greenpeace was hatching a plan to dispatch the Rainbow Warrior on a Pacific voyage the following year to turn a spotlight on the nuclear test legacy in the Marshall Islands and the ongoing French nuclear testing at Moruroa in French Polynesia.

    A Rainbow Warrior question
    As I had friends in the Greenpeace organisation, I was contacted early on in its planning process with the question: How could a visit by the Rainbow Warrior be of use to the Marshall Islands?

    Jeton and I were good friends by 1984, and had worked together on advocacy for Rongelap since the late 1970s. I informed him that Greenpeace was planning a visit and without hesitation he asked me if the ship could facilitate the evacuation of Rongelap.

    At this time, Jeton had already initiated discussions with Kwajalein traditional leaders to locate an island that they could settle in that atoll.

    I conveyed Jeton’s interest in the visit to Greenpeace, and a Greenpeace International board member, the late Steve Sawyer, who coordinated the Pacific voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, arranged a meeting for the three of us in Seattle to discuss ideas.

    Jeton and I flew to Seattle and met Steve. After the usual preliminaries, Jeton asked Steve if the Rainbow Warrior could assist Rongelap to evacuate their community to Mejatto Island in Kwajalein Atoll, a distance of about 250 km.

    Steve responded in classic Greenpeace campaign thinking, which is what Greenpeace has proved effective in doing over many decades. He said words to the effect that the Rainbow Warrior could aid a “symbolic evacuation” by taking a small group of islanders from Rongelap to Majuro or Ebeye and holding a media conference publicising their plight with ongoing radiation exposure.

    “No,” said Jeton firmly. He wasn’t talking about a “symbolic” evacuation. He told Steve: “We want to evacuate Rongelap, the entire community and the housing, too.”

    Steve Sawyer taken aback
    Steve was taken aback by what Jeton wanted. Steve simply hadn’t considered the idea of evacuating the entire community.

    But we could see him mulling over this new idea and within minutes, as his mind clicked through the significant logistics hurdles for evacuation of the community — including that it would take three-to-four trips by the Rainbow Warrior between Rongelap and Mejatto to accomplish it — Steve said it was possible.

    And from that meeting, planning for the 1985 Marshall Islands visit began in earnest.

    I offer this background because when the evacuation began in early May 1985, various officials from the United States government sharply criticised Rongelap people for evacuating their atoll, saying there was no radiological hazard to justify the move and that they were being manipulated by Greenpeace for its own anti-nuclear agenda.

    Women from the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Atoll greeted the Rainbow Warrior and its crew with songs and dances this week as part of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the evacuation of Rongelap Atoll in 1985 by the Rainbow Warrior. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ Pacific

    This condescending American government response suggested Rongelap people did not have the brain power to make important decisions for themselves.

    But it also showed the US government’s lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation in which Rongelap Islanders lived day in and day out in a highly radioactive environment.

    The Bravo hydrogen bomb test blasted Rongelap and nearby islands with snow-like radioactive fallout on 1 March 1954. The 82 Rongelap people were first evacuated to the US Navy base at Kwajalein for emergency medical treatment and the start of long-term studies by US government doctors.

    No radiological cleanup
    A few months later, they were resettled on Ejit Island in Majuro, the capital atoll, until 1957 when, with no radiological cleanup conducted, the US government said it was safe to return to Rongelap and moved the people back.

    “Even though the radioactive contamination of Rongelap Island is considered perfectly safe for human habitation, the levels of activity are higher than those found in other inhabited locations in the world,” said a Brookhaven National Laboratory report commenting on the return of Rongelap Islanders to their contaminated islands in 1957.

    It then stated plainly why the people were moved back: “The habitation of these people on the island will afford most valuable ecological radiation data on human beings.”

    And for 28 years, Rongelap people lived in one of the world’s most radioactive environments, consuming radioactivity through the food chain and by living an island life.

    Proving the US narrative of safety to be false, the 1985 evacuation forced the US Congress to respond by funding new radiological studies of Rongelap.

    Thanks to the determination of the soft-spoken but persistent leadership of Jeton, he ensured that a scientist chosen by Rongelap would be included in the study. And the new study did indeed identify health hazards, particularly for children, of living on Rongelap.

    The US Congress responded by appropriating US$45 million to a Rongelap Resettlement Trust Fund.

    Subsistence atoll life
    All of this was important — it both showed that islanders with a PhD in subsistence atoll life understood more about their situation than the US government’s university educated PhDs and medical doctors who showed up from time-to-time to study them, provide medical treatment, and tell them everything was fine on their atoll, and it produced a $45 million fund from the US government.

    However, this is only a fraction of the story about why the Rongelap evacuation in 1985 forever changed the US narrative and control of its nuclear test legacy in this country.

    The crew of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior III vessel were serenaded by the Rongelap community to mark the 40th anniversary of the evacuation of Rongelap Islanders from their nuclear test-affected islands this week in Majuro. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ Pacific

    Rongelap is the most affected population from the US hydrogen bomb testing programme in the 1950s.

    By living on Rongelap, the community confirmed the US government’s narrative that all was good and the nuclear test legacy was largely a relic of the past.

    The 1985 evacuation was a demonstration of the Rongelap community exerting control over their life after 31 years of dictates by US government doctors, scientists and officials.

    It was difficult building a new community on Mejatto Island, which was uninhabited and barren in 1985. Make no mistake, Rongelap people living on Mejatto suffered hardship and privation, especially in the first years after the 1985 resettlement.

    Nuclear legacy history
    Their perseverance, however, defined the larger ramification of the move to Mejatto: It changed the course of nuclear legacy history by people taking control of their future that forced a response from the US government to the benefit of the Rongelap community.

    Forty years later, the displacement of Rongelap Islanders on Mejatto and in other locations, unable to return to nuclear test contaminated Rongelap Atoll demonstrates clearly that the US nuclear testing legacy remains unresolved — unfinished business that is in need of a long-term, fair and just response from the US government.

    The Rainbow Warrior will be in Majuro until next week when it will depart for Mejatto Island to mark the 40th anniversary of the resettlement, and then voyage to other nuclear test-affected atolls around the Marshall Islands.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Dumfries man sentenced to over 19 years in prison for a series of armed robberies and fentanyl possession

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Dumfries man was sentenced today to 19 years and two months in prison for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl.

    According to court documents, from March 6, 2024, through March 27, 2024, Dwayne Selman-Neville, 38, and a co-conspirator, Al Gibran Taylor, 42, of Reston, conspired to rob multiple local businesses throughout Northern Virginia.

    On March 8, 2024, Taylor entered a Starbucks in Herndon, jumped over the store’s counter, and pointed a handgun at employees. Taylor ordered the employees to open the store’s safe and give him cash. Taylor left the store with stolen money and fled with Selman-Neville who was waiting nearby in a vehicle.

    On March 11, 2024, Selman-Neville entered a check cashing store in Chantilly dressed as an Amazon delivery driver and carrying a cardboard box with an Amazon.com logo on it. Selman-Neville showed a cashier a piece of paper on the clipboard that stated, among other things, “This is a robbery.” Selman-Neville then grabbed the cashier’s arm and pushed her toward the store’s safe. When the cashier attempted to press a panic button, Selman-Neville said, “No, don’t do that, I’m going to kill you.” At Selman-Neville’s demand, the cashier took a tray of cash from the safe and gave it to him. Selman-Neville ran out of the store and fled with Taylor, who was waiting nearby in a vehicle. 

    On March 14, 2024, Selman-Neville and Taylor approached a drive-through window at a bank in Herndon. Either Selman-Neville or Taylor handed the drive-through teller a note stating, among other things, “This is a bank robbery. Follow your training and follow my instructions. I have an associate inside the bank right now, who is ready to kill on my signal.” The note demanded money from the bank and stated, “If you comply, no one will get hurt.” The teller left the drive-through window for a short period of time, and Selman-Neville and Taylor drove away before they could obtain any money.

    On March 14, 2024, Selman-Neville, again disguised as an Amazon delivery driver, entered a check cashing store in Annandale and spoke with the store’s cashier, who was behind a window. Approximately 40 seconds later, Selman-Neville walked out of the store after the cashier, who did not speak English, was unable to understand what Selman-Neville was saying to her.

    On March 26, 2024, Taylor was arrested by federal authorities for a different offense and detained pending trial.

    On March 27, 2024, Selman-Neville robbed a check cashing store in Woodbridge, once again dressed as an Amazon delivery driver. He drove to the store in a vehicle that he and Taylor had rented together the previous week. The store’s cashier area was separated by a window and a locking door from customers. As Selman-Neville approached the window, a cashier opened the door and took an Amazon box from Selman-Neville. Selman-Neville then grabbed this cashier by the arm and pushed her toward a cash register. Selman-Neville pointed a handgun at the cashier and another employee and ordered them to give him money. The employees complied and Selman-Neville ran to the rental vehicle and fled.

    On April 15, 2024, law enforcement arrested Selman-Neville and searched a residence where he had been staying. Investigators found clothes that Selman-Neville wore during some of the robberies, including a vest with an Amazon logo. They also found 280 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, 136 pills containing oxycodone, 46.37 grams of solid pink material containing methamphetamine, 26.07 grams of solid material containing dipentylone, and 7.23 grams of cocaine hydrochloride.

    Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Sean Ryan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles. The Fairfax County Police Department and Prince William County Police Department assisted in the investigation.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel K. Amzallag prosecuted the case.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:24-cr-220.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Dual Russian And Israeli National Extradited To The United States For His Role In The LockBit Ransomware Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEWARK, N.J. – A dual Russian and Israeli national was extradited to the United States on charges that he was a developer of the LockBit ransomware group, United States Attorney John Giordano announced.

    In August, Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel pursuant to a U.S. provisional arrest request.  Today, Panev was extradited to the United States and had an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa where Panev was detained pending trial.

    “Rostislav Panev’s extradition to the District of New Jersey makes it clear: if you are a member of the LockBit ransomware conspiracy, the United States will find you and bring you to justice,” said United States Attorney John Giordano. “Even as the means and methods of cybercriminals become more sophisticated, my Office and our FBI, Criminal Division, and international law enforcement partners are more committed than ever to prosecuting these criminals.”

    “No one is safe from ransomware attacks, from individuals to institutions. Along with our international partners, the FBI continues to leave no stone unturned when it comes to following LockBit’s trail of destruction. We will continue to work tirelessly to prevent actors, such as Panev, from hacking their way to financial gain,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark Division Terence G. Reilly.

    According to the superseding complaint, documents filed in this and related cases, and statements made in court, Panev acted as a developer of the LockBit ransomware group from its inception in or around 2019 through at least February 2024. During that time, Panev and his LockBit coconspirators grew LockBit into what was, at times, the most active and destructive ransomware group in the world. The LockBit group attacked more than 2,500 victims in at least 120 countries around the world, including 1,800 in the United States. Their victims ranged from individuals and small businesses to multinational corporations, including hospitals, schools, nonprofit organizations, critical infrastructure, and government and law-enforcement agencies. LockBit’s members extracted at least $500 million in ransom payments from their victims and caused billions of dollars in other losses, including lost revenue and costs from incident response and recovery.

    LockBit’s members were comprised of “developers,” like Panev, who designed the LockBit malware code and maintained the infrastructure on which LockBit operated. LockBit’s other members, called “affiliates,” carried out LockBit attacks and extorted ransom payments from LockBit victims. LockBit’s developers and affiliates would then split the ransom payments which were extorted from victims.

    As alleged in the superseding complaint, at the time of Panev’s arrest in Israel in August, law enforcement discovered on Panev’s computer administrator credentials for an online repository that was hosted on the dark web and stored source code for multiple versions of the LockBit builder, which allowed LockBit’s affiliates to generate custom builds of the LockBit ransomware malware for particular victims. On that repository, law enforcement also discovered source code for LockBit’s StealBit tool, which helped LockBit affiliates exfiltrate data stolen through LockBit attacks. Law enforcement also discovered access credentials for the LockBit control panel, an online dashboard maintained by LockBit developers for LockBit’s affiliates and hosted by those developers on the dark web.

    The superseding complaint also alleges that Panev exchanged direct messages through a cybercriminal forum with LockBit’s primary administrator, who, in an indictment unsealed in the District of New Jersey in May, the United States alleged to be Dimitry Yuryevich Khoroshev (Дмитрий Юрьевич Хорошев), also known as LockBitSupp, LockBit, and putinkrab. In those messages, Panev and the LockBit primary administrator discussed work that needed to be done on the LockBit builder and control panel.

    Court documents further indicate that, between June 2022 and February 2024, the primary LockBit administrator made a series of transfers of cryptocurrency, laundered through one or more illicit cryptocurrency mixing services, of approximately $10,000 per month to a cryptocurrency wallet owned by Panev. Those transfers amounted to over $230,000 during that period.

    In interviews with Israeli authorities following his arrest in August, Panev admitted to having performed coding, development, and consulting work for the LockBit group and to having received regular payments in cryptocurrency for that work, consistent with the transfers identified by U.S. authorities. Among the work that Panev admitted to having completed for the LockBit group was the development of code to disable antivirus software; to deploy malware to multiple computers connected to a victim network; and to print the LockBit ransom note to all printers connected to a victim network. Panev also admitted to having written and maintained LockBit malware code and to having provided technical guidance to the LockBit group.

    The LockBit Investigation

    The superseding complaint against, and apprehension of, Panev follows a disruption of LockBit ransomware in February 2024 by the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA)’s Cyber Division, which worked in cooperation with the Justice Department, FBI, and other international law enforcement partners. As previously announced by the Department, authorities disrupted LockBit by seizing numerous public-facing websites used by LockBit to connect to the organization’s infrastructure and by seizing control of servers used by LockBit administrators, thereby disrupting the ability of LockBit actors to attack and encrypt networks and extort victims by threatening to publish stolen data. That disruption succeeded in greatly diminishing LockBit’s reputation and its ability to attack further victims, as alleged by documents filed in this case.

    The superseding complaint against Panev also follows charges brought in the District of New Jersey against other LockBit members, including its alleged primary creator, developer, and administrator, Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev. An indictment against Khoroshev unsealed in May alleges that Khoroshev began developing LockBit as early as September 2019, continued acting as the group’s administrator through 2024, a role in which Khoroshev recruited new affiliate members, spoke for the group publicly under the alias “LockBitSupp,” and developed and maintained the infrastructure used by affiliates to deploy LockBit attacks. Khoroshev is currently the subject of a reward of up to $10 million through the U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program, with information accepted through the FBI tip website at www.tips.fbi.gov/.

    A total of seven LockBit members have now been charged in the District of New Jersey. Beyond Panev and Khoroshev, other previously charged LockBit defendants include:

    • In July, two LockBit affiliate members, Mikhail Vasiliev, also known as Ghostrider, Free, Digitalocean90, Digitalocean99, Digitalwaters99, and Newwave110, and Ruslan Astamirov, also known as BETTERPAY, offtitan, and Eastfarmer, pleaded guilty in the District of New Jersey for their participation in the LockBit ransomware group and admitted deploying multiple LockBit attacks against U.S. and foreign victims. Vasiliev and Astamirov are presently in custody awaiting sentencing.
    • In February 2024, in parallel with the disruption operation described above, an indictment was unsealed in the District of New Jersey charging Russian nationals Artur Sungatov and Ivan Kondratyev, also known as Bassterlord, with deploying LockBit against numerous victims throughout the United States, including businesses nationwide in the manufacturing and other industries, as well as victims around the world in the semiconductor and other industries. Sungatov and Kondratyev remain at large.
    • In May 2023, two indictments were unsealed in Washington, D.C., and the District of New Jersey charging Mikhail Matveev, also known as Wazawaka, m1x, Boriselcin, and Uhodiransomwar, with using different ransomware variants, including LockBit, to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. Matveev remains at large and is currently the subject of a reward of up to $10 million through the U.S. Department of State’s TOC Rewards Program, with information accepted through the FBI tip website at www.tips.fbi.gov/.

    The U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program is offering rewards of:

    Information is accepted through the FBI tip website at tips.fbi.gov.

    Khoroshev, Matveev, Sungatov, and Kondratyev have also been designated for sanctions by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for their roles in launching cyberattacks.

    Victim Assistance

    LockBit victims are encouraged to contact the FBI and submit information at www.ic3.gov. As announced by the Department in February, law enforcement, through its disruption efforts, has developed decryption capabilities that may enable hundreds of victims around the world to restore systems encrypted using the LockBit ransomware variant. Submitting information at the IC3 site will enable law enforcement to determine whether affected systems can be successfully decrypted.

    LockBit victims are also encouraged to visit www.justice.gov/usao-nj/lockbit for case updates and information regarding their rights under U.S. law, including the right to submit victim impact statements and request restitution, in the criminal litigation against Panev, Astamirov, and Vasiliev.

    The FBI Newark Field Office, under the supervision of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly, is investigating the LockBit ransomware variant. Israel’s Office of the State Attorney, Department of International Affairs, and Israel National Police; France’s Gendarmerie Nationale Cyberspace Command, Paris Prosecution Office — Cyber Division, and judicial authorities at the Tribunal Judiciare of Paris; Europol; Eurojust; the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency; Germany’s Landeskriminalamt Schleswig-Holstein, Bundeskriminalamt, and the Central Cybercrime Department North Rhine-Westphalia; Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice, Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Zurich, and Zurich Cantonal Police; Spain’s Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil; authorities in Japan; Australian Federal Police; Sweden’s Polismyndighetens; Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Politie Dienst Regionale Recherche Oost-Brabant of the Netherlands; and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation have provided significant assistance and coordination in these matters and in the LockBit investigation generally.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly, David E. Malagold, and Vinay Limbachia for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorneys Debra Ireland and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) are prosecuting the charges against Panev and the other previously charged LockBit defendants in the District of New Jersey.

    The Justice Department’s former Cybercrime Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust, Office of International Affairs, and National Security Division also provided significant assistance.

    Additional details on protecting networks against LockBit ransomware are available at StopRansomware.gov. These include Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Advisories AA23-325A, AA23-165A, and AA23-075A. 

    The charges and allegations contained in the superseding complaint and above-named Indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    ###

    Defense counsel: Frank Arleo, Esq.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Charged with Firearm Crimes

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned an indictment charging a Mexican national, in the United State illegally, with firearm and immigration crimes.

    Gerardo Lopez-Gutierrez, 44, of Salt Lake County, Utah, was initially charged by complaint on March 6, 2025.

    According to court documents, on March 4, 2025, Lopez-Gutierrez was approached by law enforcement for unlawful camping. During the interaction, Lopez-Gutierrez was in possession of a Ruger AR-556 rifle and a records check showed the firearm was reported stolen out of Moab, Utah.  Lopez-Gutierrez is restricted from possessing a firearm after he was convicted of re-entry of a previously removed alien in the District of Arizona. As a result, Lopez-Gutierrez was taken into custody.

    Lopez-Gutierrez is charged with felon in possession of a firearm, alien in possession of a firearm, and illegal re-entry of a previously removed alien. His initial appearance on the indictment is scheduled for March 14, 2025 at 11:30 a.m. before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

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

    The case is being investigated by an FBI Task Force Officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Assistant United States Attorney Victoria K. McFarland of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.

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

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: $TOCKHOLDER ALERT: The M&A Class Action Firm Continues To Investigate The Merger – TGI, VOXX, ML, SKGR

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, March 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Monteverde & Associates PC (the “M&A Class Action Firm”), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm by ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating:

    • Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI), relating to the proposed merger with Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Triumph will receive $26.00 per share in cash.

    Click here for more https://monteverdelaw.com/case/triumph-group-inc-tgi/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

    • VOXX International Corporation (NASDAQ: VOXX), relating to the proposed merger with Gentex Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, Gentex will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of VOXX common stock not already owned by Gentex for $7.50 per share.

    ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for March 31, 2025.

    Click here for more https://monteverdelaw.com/case/voxx-international-corporation-voxx/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

    • MoneyLion Inc. (NYSE: ML), relating to the proposed merger with Gen Digital Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of MoneyLion will receive $82.00 per share in cash, and one contingent value right per share entitling the shareholder to a contingent payment of Gen Digital common stock.

    ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for April 10, 2025.

    Click here for more https://monteverdelaw.com/case/moneylion-inc-ml/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

    • SK Growth Opportunities Corporation (NASDAQ: SKGR), relating to the proposed merger with Webull Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of SK Growth will be converted into shares of Webull Corp.

    Click here for more information: https://monteverdelaw.com/case/sk-growth-opportunities-corporation-skgr/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

    NOT ALL LAW FIRMS ARE THE SAME. Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask:

    1. Do you file class actions and go to Court?
    2. When was the last time you recovered money for shareholders?
    3. What cases did you recover money in and how much?

    About Monteverde & Associates PC

    Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholders…and we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. 

    No company, director or officer is above the law. If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

    Contact:
    Juan Monteverde, Esq.
    MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC
    The Empire State Building
    350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740
    New York, NY 10118
    United States of America
    jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com
    Tel: (212) 971-1341

    Attorney Advertising. (C) 2025 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com).  Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Involved in Smuggling and Labor Trafficking Scheme Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PORFIRIA MARIBEL RAMOS SANCHEZ, 47, a citizen of Mexico last residing in Vernon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 36 months of imprisonment for her involvement in a scheme to smuggle aliens into the U.S., harbor them at Hartford area residences, force them to work, and threaten to harm them in various ways if they failed to pay exorbitant fees, interest, and other living expenses.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in September 2022, the FBI and Hartford Police interviewed several Mexican nationals who disclosed that they were smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. and transported to Hartford.  The investigation revealed that victims typically arranged with Ramos’s mother, Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero, and others in Connecticut and Mexico, to cross the border into the U.S. in exchange for a fee of between $15,000 and $20,000 that each would need to pay once they were in the U.S.  In most cases, the victims were required to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico.  They were then smuggled across the border and transported to Hartford area residences, often at a substantial risk of bodily injury or death.

    After the victims arrived in Connecticut, they were told that they would have to pay approximately $30,000, with interest, and that they would have to pay Sanchez, Ramos, and their co-coconspirators for rent, food, gas, and utilities.  The co-conspirators created false documents for the victims, including Permanent Residence cards and Social Security cards, and helped the victims find employment in the Hartford area.  In addition to their own jobs, some victims were required to perform housework and yardwork without compensation and without having their debt reduced.

    Victims were rarely provided with an accounting of their debt.  If victims failed to make regular payments, or in amounts that the co-conspirators expected, they were sometimes threatened, including with threats to harm family members in Mexico, to take property in Mexico that had been secured as collateral, to reveal victims’ immigration status to U.S. authorities, and to raise their interest payments.

    To date, investigators have identified 19 victims of this scheme.  Multiple victims were minors, and at least two were smuggled into the U.S. unaccompanied by a relative or legal guardian.

    Ramos has been detained since her arrest on October 5, 2023.  On October 4, 2024, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to encourage and induce, bring in, transport, and harbor aliens.

    Judge Dooley ordered Ramos to pay restitution of $574,608.  As a condition of her plea agreement, in partial satisfaction or her restitution obligation, Ramos and her husband agreed to sell a house they owned at 74 Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, which was used to facilitate this criminal offense.  However, in violation of her plea agreement, Ramos did not inform the government of the pending sale and sold the house in November 2024 to a relative of her husband for $75,000 less than its appraised value.

    Ramos faces immigration proceedings when she completes her prison term.

    Sanchez pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

    This investigation has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hartford Police Department, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Shan Patel.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Department of State Employee Charged for Conspiracy to Gather, Transmit, or Lose National Defense Information

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    View the complaint affidavit.

    Michael Charles Schena, 42, of Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested on criminal charges related to his alleged participation in a criminal conspiracy to gather, transmit, or lose national defense information.

    According to court documents, Schena is employed by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) working out of DOS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Schena held a top secret security clearance and had access to information up to the secret level within his DOS workspace. Beginning in or about April 2022, Schena allegedly communicated with people he met online through various communication platforms and provided them with information they were not authorized to receive. In return, Schena received payments. On Feb. 27, Schena allegedly used a cellphone to take images of multiple documents, which were displayed on the monitor of his classified computer and marked as “SECRET.” Schena then allegedly left work and returned to his home in Alexandria, where the cellphone was seized.        

    Schena is charged with conspiracy to gather, transmit, or lose national defense information and faces a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the FBI Richmond Field Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of Enforcement Operations, and the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service Office of Counterintelligence.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Ben’Ary and Gavin R. Tisdale for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Maria Fedor of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

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

    MIL OSI USA News –