NewzIntel.com

Category: Law

  • MIL-OSI Security: California Man Sentenced to 12 Months and One Day for Federal Cares Act Fraud

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that NIPUN DESAI (“DESAI”), formerly of Hammond, La., but now a California resident, age 56, was sentenced to 12 months plus one day by U.S. District Judge Wendy B. Vitter for making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

    On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the CARES Act, which provided emergency assistance, administered by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), to small business owners affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  The two primary sources of funding for small businesses were the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program.

    According to court records, on or about January 25, 2021, DESAI made false statements to an approved lender in order to obtain an SBA backed PPP loan in the amount of $146,947.50 for a hotel in Metairie, LA.  At the time of the loan application, DESAI’s hotel was permanently closed and had no employees or payroll.

    In addition to incarceration, which is to be divided between time in the Bureau of Prisons and home incarceration, DESAI was sentenced to 2 years of supervised release.  He was also ordered to repay the SBA approximately $234,000 and the Louisiana Workforce Commission $26,000.  He also paid a mandatory special assessment fee of $100 and a fine of $25,000.

    For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    As part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Task Force, this investigation was conducted by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General. The PRAC was established to promote transparency and facilitate coordinated oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response.  The PRAC’s 20 member Inspectors General identify major risks that cross program and agency boundaries to detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the more than $5 trillion in COVID-19 spending, including spending via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.  This case was also supported by the PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence, which applies the latest advances in analytic and forensic technologies to help OIGs and law enforcement pursue data-driven pandemic relief fraud investigations.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee’s Office (Region 5) in investigating this matter.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit was in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 195 Months in Prison (DOJ)

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

    ORT WAYNE–Yesterday, Jamic C. Johnson, 50 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after his guilty plea to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

    Johnson was sentenced to a total of 195 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

    According to documents in the case, Johnson had been selling methamphetamine in 2020, and law enforcement located multiple ounces of methamphetamine in his Fort Wayne residence during the service of a search warrant in October of 2020.  Officers also found firearms in Johnson’s home that Johnson was using to facilitate and protect his drug trafficking activity.  Johnson was previously convicted of dealing in cocaine or narcotic drug and carrying a handgun without a license, meaning that he was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm. 

    This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Also assisting in this investigation was the Drug Enforcement Administration’s North Central Laboratory.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Rhode Island Man Charged with Assaulting Border Patrol Agents by Discharging Machine Gun (DOJ)

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

    urlington, Vermont – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on May 29, 2025, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Brenden Sackal, 32, of Rockville, Rhode Island, with assaulting federal officers with a deadly weapon, possessing and discharging a machine gun in furtherance of the assault on federal officers, possessing an unregistered machine gun, and possessing a machine gun lacking an identification number as required by the National Firearms Act. Sackal’s federal arraignment date has not yet been set. Sackal also faces charges related to the shooting in Caledonia Superior Court.

    According to court records, Sackal is alleged to have assaulted five U.S. Border Patrol agents with a deadly weapon by discharging a privately manufactured 5.56 caliber AR-type pistol, on July 14, 2024. This AR-type pistol is alleged to have been a machine gun, which the National Firearms Act requires to be registered and bear a serial number. Sackal’s weapon was not registered and did not bear a serial number.

    The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Sackal is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. If convicted of all counts in the superseding indictment, Sackal faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years, and up to imprisonment for life. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.

    Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the investigatory efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Vermont State Police. Acting United States Attorney Drescher stated “Anyone who discharges a firearm at a federal law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I commend the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, the Vermont State Police, and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department personnel who pursued and apprehended Sackal on July 14, 2024.”

    The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt. Sackal is represented by Mark Kaplan, Esq.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Four-Hundred-Thirteen New Immigration Cases This Week in the Western District of Texas

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO – Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 413 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from May 23 through May 29.

    Among the new cases, Salvadoran national Jaqueline Del Carmen Aleman-Aguilar was charged with one count of illegal re-entry in San Antonio. According to a criminal complaint, Aleman-Aguilar was convicted for transportation of aliens in June 2015 and sentenced to six months in federal prison. She was then removed from the United States to Mexico in July 2015.

    Christian Ruben Corea-Benavides, a Nicaraguan national, was charged in El Paso with attempting to transport illegal aliens. U.S. Border Patrol agents allegedly observed Corea-Benavides pick up five illegal aliens just over four miles west of the Fort Hancock Port of Entry. A criminal complaint alleges that during a traffic stop, the investigating USBP agent observed a female passenger in the front seat of the vehicle, and four additional passengers lying on top of one another in the backseat—all appearing to be wet and muddy.

    Mexican national Sabino Renteria-Alvarado was arrested May 28 at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry after he attempted to enter through the pedestrian entrance and allegedly presented the Customs and Border Protection officer (CBPO) with a false claim that he had been a Legal Permanent Resident, but that police in Nevada possessed his LPR card. The CBPO referred Renteria-Alvarado to Passport Control Secondary, where records revealed he had been previously removed in January 2024 through Nogales, Arizona. His criminal record includes a 15-year prison sentence for a sexual assault of a minor conviction in 2017. Renteria-Alvarado is currently charged with one count of illegal re-entry.

    Two U.S. citizens were arrested in the Del Rio area as the result of separate human smuggling attempts, as alleged in criminal complaints. Nancy Anna Gwyn, of Houston, was encountered during a May 22 traffic stop near Carrizo Springs. USBP agents allegedly uncovered three passengers in her vehicle who were identified to be citizens of foreign countries and illegally present in the U.S. On May 24, an immigration checkpoint inspection near Eagle Pass allegedly revealed that Anastasia Lee Daneill Godfrey, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was attempting to transport two illegal aliens to San Antonio in the trunk of a sedan.

    Honduran national Walter Alonso Martinez-Chandias is charged with illegal re-entry. He has one prior removal—in June 2013 through Alexandria, Louisiana—and a lengthy criminal record that includes convictions in Birmingham, Alabama for drug trafficking and homicide, for which he was sentenced in 2018 to five years and 20 years in prison, respectively. In 2017, he was convicted in Birmingham for unlawful transport of firearms and sentenced to 81 months in prison. A criminal complaint alleges that when he was arrested on May 25, Martinez-Chandias refused to comply with Border Patrol agents’ commands and resisted attempts to be placed in custody and handcuffs by running and kicking.

    Luis Alberto Olivarez-Hernandez, of Mexico, was arrested May 27 near Eagle Pass for illegal re-entry. He has two prior removals, the last one being Feb. 25 through Laredo, five days after a felony conviction for unlawfully carrying a weapon in prohibited places. Additionally, Olivarez-Hernandez was convicted in 2010 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    Armando Vazquez-Ruiz, also a Mexican national, is charged with illegal re-entry after being found near Eagle Pass less than two weeks after his most recent removal. Vazquez-Ruiz had been convicted in Georgetown May 7 for assault causing bodily injury and was deported May 8 through Laredo.

    In Austin, Mexican national Basilio Luna-Luna was encountered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Travis County Jail May 24, where he was detained for what would be his seventh DWI, if convicted. Luna-Luna was previously removed from the U.S. in November 2014 and voluntarily returned to Mexico twice—once in 1998 and once in 2009.

    Juan Alberto Zarate-Salgado, also of Mexico, was encountered at the Travis County Jail as well and is charged with illegal re-entry. Zarate-Salgado has two prior removals and multiple convictions for assault of a family/household member and assault causing bodily injury to a family member.

    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.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Father and Son Indicted for Providing Material Support to Mexican Cartel Engaged in Terrorism

    Source: US FBI

    Defendants are alleged to have illegally imported tens of millions of dollars in crude oil

    BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Two family members with ties to South Texas have been charged with allegedly conspiring to materially support a Mexican cartel previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit money laundering and related smuggling charges, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. 

    The superseding indictment, returned May 22, alleges Maxwell Sterling Jensen, 25, Draper, Utah, and James Lael Jensen, 68, Sandy, Utah, conspired to provide material support to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in the form of U.S. currency. The Secretary of State designated CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization Feb. 20. 

    “This case underscores the more aggressive and innovative approach the Southern District of Texas is taking towards combatting the scourge of drug cartels,” said Ganjei. “This strategy focuses not just on the traffickers and trigger-pullers directly employed by the cartels, but also targeting their confederates and enablers. Whether you are handing the cartel a gun, providing a car or safehouse for smugglers, or putting money in the cartel’s pocket, you will be held to account.”

    The Jensens allegedly operated Arroyo Terminals, an enterprise based in Rio Hondo.

    Both are also charged with allegedly conspiring to conduct financial transactions to conceal and disguise the nature and source of the proceeds of illegally smuggled goods, crude oil. They also aided and abetted the fraudulent entry of approximately 2,881 shipments of the oil in violation of the Tariff Act, according to the charges.  

    “Cases like this highlight the often-dangerous relationships between alleged unscrupulous U.S. businesses and terrorist organizations,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) San Antonio. “Through strong collaborations and relentless investigative work, we and our partners exposed a possible large-scale operation that allegedly attempted to move millions in illicit crude oil and launder the proceeds. HSI remains committed to protecting our economy and holding offenders accountable.”

    “What began as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) drug trafficking investigation evolved into a multifaceted case involving an alleged complex criminal operation generating millions of dollars from crude oil – the largest funding source for Mexican drug cartels,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of DEA – Houston. “Given the charges have profound implications for both the United States and Mexico, we will continue to explore all leads and identify any believed to be involved. The collaboration with federal law enforcement, prosecutors, and state agencies proved critical to unraveling these alleged crimes and will continue until such operations are destroyed.”

    “It is a top priority of the FBI to eliminate foreign terrorist organizations by depriving them of the funding they need to operate and by seizing their most valued assets,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp of the San Antonio Field Office. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we will use every resource and capability at our disposal to ensure violent cartels and anyone who corruptly facilitates their operations are held accountable to the American people and unable to establish a foothold in our communities.”

    “Our commitment to taking down drug cartels and organized crime leverages IRS Criminal Investigation’s (CI) specialty in forensic accounting that identifies the alleged money trail and shuts down the flow of cash, just like we did in this case,” said acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan, of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office. “Some of our best special agents are using their law enforcement expertise to build unshakeable cases to ensure criminals are taken off the streets and their ill-gotten gains are returned to the American people.”

    At the time of the initial arrests, authorities seized four tank barges containing crude oil, three commercial tanker trucks, an Arroyo Terminal pickup truck and one personal vehicle. The Arroyo Terminal property in Rio Hondo, crude oil contained Arroyo Terminal storage tanks and additional real properties are also sought for forfeiture. The superseding indictment also contains notice that the United States will seek a $300 million money judgment upon conviction. 

    The conspiracies to provide material support and to commit money laundering both carry a possible prison term of up to 20 years. If convicted of aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods into the United States and doing so by means of false statements, both men could also face up to 10 and five years, respectively. James Jensen also faces one count of money laundering spending which carries an additional 10 years in prison, upon conviction.  

    With the exception of the money laundering charge which has the possibility of up to a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the property involved, the remaining counts carry a maximum $250,000 potential fine. 

    The investigation was a joint effort among many law enforcement partners to include FBI, ICE-HSI and DEA with substantial assistance of IRS CI along with Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service and Texas Department of Public Safety.

    Operation Liquid Death involved the combined efforts of DEA, FBI, ICE-HSI and IRS CI and others and 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 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.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) James Sturgis and Laura Garcia are prosecuting the case. AUSAs Mary Ellen Smyth and Tyler Foster are handling seizure and forfeiture matters.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Browning, Montana, Man Found Guilty of Attempted Strangulation and Assault Charges on Blackfeet Indian Reservation

    Source: US FBI

    GREAT FALLS – A Browning man who assaulted a woman on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was found guilty today, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

    Following a one-and-a-half-day trial, a federal jury found William Alvin Potts, 62, guilty of attempted strangulation and assault by striking, beating, or wounding. Potts faces 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for October 8, 2025. Potts will remain released on conditions pending further proceedings.

    The government alleged in court documents that on June 28, 2024, Potts physically assaulted Jane Doe. That morning a verbal argument escalated to name-calling. Potts then threw a chair to the side and grabbed Jane Doe by the neck. He pushed her backward while applying pressure to her throat and neck. Eventually he pushed her into the corner of the entry wall to the living room. Potts pushed her backward for approximately ten feet, at which point, their legs tangled, and Doe fell to the ground. Potts landed on top of Jane Doe and proceeded to physically strike her with his fists. A witness stopped the assault and physically pulled Potts off Jane Doe. Jane Doe experienced significant pain after the assault and sought treatment at the Browning Community Hospital. Doe suffered a spinal fracture and continues to experience pain.

    Potts was interviewed by law enforcement and admitted to pushing Doe. He said he pushed her to make her go down the hall and they then both fell. He denied striking her.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah Paisley prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.

    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.

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Canberra’s best burgers, as voted by you

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    Here are the results:

    There’s a new food van on the block, and it’s serving up delicious American-style burgers.

    The ‘Oklahoma smash’ beef burger and fried chicken burger have our mouths watering.

    The burger van is popping up at various locations and markets around Canberra, so keep an eye out on their social media channels for their next stop.

    Made with fresh local ingredients, this burger joint is a Canberra favourite.

    The menu has plenty of variety. Pick from their signature beef or chicken burgers or upgrade both to a deluxe with bacon. Plant-based eaters can enjoy the ‘BrodVeg’ made with a house-made veggie patty.

    Brodburgers are decent in size, so arrive hungry!

    This burger spot caters for villains of all sizes.

    If you’re after a regular size burger, go for their traditional chicken and beef options, or one of the vegetarian options including halloumi or veggie patties.

    If you’re feeling hungrier (or more evil) than usual, they have ‘super villain’ burger options. They also have a ‘small villain’ option for the kids.

    Northsiders are loving BZ Burger’s menu.

    From traditional beef and chicken burgers to wild turkey-maple glazed fried chicken, halloumi and prawn burgers – they’ve got something for all burger-lovers.

    With it’s vibing beer garden and American style-menu, Greasy’s is a local favourite.

    You can’t go past their classic ‘Greasy’ beef burger or the southern-fried chicken burger. They also have a vegan-burger option.

    Hot tip: on Tuesdays, you can get a free drink with any burger.

    You can find Grill’d venues on northside and southside.

    They have a range of burger fillings, buns and sauces to choose from including vegetarian and gluten-free options.

    This burger spot in Dickson has an extensive burger menu.

    Pick from traditional beef and chicken burgers to pulled meat or vegetarian options like their mushroom burger.

    They also have snack sized burgers as a lighter option, or for those feeling hungrier – a 1kg burger!

    Awesome chips and awesome burgers.

    Kingsley’s offer single and double fillet chicken burgers, as well as schnitzel and tender burgers.

    Seasonings include tandoori, Cajun and southern fry.

    This old school takeaway shop is so good, it’s been listed in the Good Food Guide.

    They have many burgers to choose from. Some menu highlights include their ‘Cheesy McCheese Face’ beef burger, chilli fish burger and the halloumi burger with pesto.

    Plus, they have a video game machine and pinball machine to keep you entertained while you wait for your food.

    Milky Lane’s burger menu is packed full of deliciousness and hip-hop flair.

    Burgers include ‘Big Poppa’, a towering stack of wagyu beef, maple-smoked bacon, American cheese, and truffle aioli, and ‘Lil Weezy’, which features southern fried chicken, mac & cheese patties, and creamy ranch dressing.

    Patty Smith’s menu is a celebration of bold flavours and Australian produce.

    Highlights include the ‘Kickin’ Chicken burger’ made with a chicken fillet, slaw, tomato, and their OG hot sauce, and the ‘Mac Daddy’ beef burger with gooey mac & cheese on top.

    Torrens Takeaway, Torrens

    This beloved takeaway shop in Torrens has an extensive burger menu.

    Pick from many variations of beef and chicken burgers or upgrade to a scotch fillet steak burger – yum.

    They also have veggie burgers and egg and bacon burgers.

    Located at Kingston shops, this retro-style burger joint is serving up deliciously stacked burgers.

    Take your pick of spiced, smashed or fried meats, loaded with brie or American cheese, or if you’re after a vego option check out their crumbed portobello burger.

    Read more like this:

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta: Forced Reset Triggers Remain Illegal Under California Law

    Source: US State of California

    Monday, June 2, 2025

    Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a new law enforcement bulletin affirming that “forced reset triggers” (FRTs) remain illegal under California law. At a minimum, FRTs are “multiburst trigger activators” under California Penal Code section 16930, and California Penal Code section 32900 prohibits the possession, sale, offering for sale, manufacture, importation, giving, or lending of such devices. On May 13, 2025, the United States Department of Justice executed a settlement agreement with several plaintiffs to address ongoing federal litigation that contested the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) classification of FRTs as machine guns under the National Firearms Act of 1934. This settlement provides that the U.S. DOJ will stop regulating FRTs as machine guns under federal law and allow individual owners to request the return of FRTs that were seized by or voluntarily surrendered to the ATF, consistent with instructions to be provided by ATF. However, the U.S. DOJ’s settlement does not alter the fact that FRTs remain illegal under California law. 
     
    “No matter who oversees the federal government, California will remain the steadfast beacon of progress on gun safety that it has long been,” said Attorney General Bonta. “It is a devastating fact that in our nation, children and teens are more likely to die by gun violence than any illness or accident. California’s commonsense gun-safety laws save lives, and the prohibition of forced reset triggers is no exception. As firearms become faster, more powerful, and more deadly, the threat of these weapons being used for gun violence only increases. My office will continue to promote and defend gun-safety laws and fight to keep our communities safe.”
     
    An FRT is a device used in semiautomatic firearms that forcibly resets the trigger through operation of the firing cycle, enabling a quicker reset than a conventional spring-based trigger. A firearm that features an FRT allows the user to shoot at a higher rate compared to a standard trigger. The California Department of Justice has concluded that an FRT, at the very least, fits the definition of a multiburst trigger activator as outlined in Penal Code section 16930. As a result, an FRT cannot be owned, sold, offered for sale, manufactured, imported, given away, or lent in California according to Penal Code section 32900. Despite the U.S. DOJ’s settlement, California residents who possessed FRTs that have been voluntarily surrendered to or confiscated by the ATF should refrain from requesting their return under the terms of the settlement, and California dealers should not offer FRTs for sale.
     
    Should you have any questions, please contact the Bureau of Firearms, Customer Support Center at (916) 210-2300 or via email at Firearms.Bureau@doj.ca.gov. 
     
    A copy of the bulletin can be found here. 
     
     

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Construction Manager Sentenced to Prison for Multimillion-Dollar Embezzlement and Tax Evasion

    Source: US FBI

    Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JOSE GARCIA was sentenced to 27 months in prison for committing two lengthy fraud crimes—a $4.5 million embezzlement crime and a $2.1 million tax evasion crime.  In the embezzlement scheme, GARCIA had a lucrative no-show job with a technology company from 2012 to 2019.  GARCIA did no work for the technology company, but GARCIA’s co-conspirator, a technology executive, approved millions in payments to GARCIA and GARCIA’s shell entities.  In the tax evasion scheme, GARCIA neither filed tax returns nor paid income taxes from 2011 through 2019.  GARCIA previously pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and tax evasion before U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho, who imposed today’s sentence.  Three other members of the embezzlement conspiracy have also pled guilty to date.

    “Jose Garcia engaged in a lengthy embezzlement scheme that involved a no-show job, fraudulent billings, and largescale cash kickbacks,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Garcia then doubled-down and sought to conceal his embezzlement activities by committing another crime – tax evasion.  In all, Garcia stole millions at the expense of hard-working, tax-paying Americans.  He then used the proceeds of his frauds to fund a lavish lifestyle.  For these brazen crimes, Garcia has been sentenced to prison.”

    According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, the Superseding Information to which GARCIA pled guilty, and statements made in public filings and in public court proceedings:

    The Embezzlement Scheme

    From approximately May 2010 through February 2019, GARCIA’s co-defendant, Mark Angarola, spearheaded a large fraud scheme to unlawfully enrich himself and his co-conspirators (the “Conspirators”) by submitting and causing to be submitted fraudulent invoices and expenses to an information technology (“IT”) services company (the “Contractor”), at which Angarola was employed in a senior position. In total, the embezzlement scheme caused a loss of more than $7 million.  GARCIA received the majority of the scheme’s fraud proceeds: $4,554,950.

    Angarola was a New York-based Global Account General Manager at the Contractor.  He was responsible for managing the Contractor’s relationship with a particular client, which was a subsidiary of a global financial institution (the “Client”).  The Contractor had a service contract with the Client, pursuant to which the Contractor provided IT support services to the Client at locations across the U.S.  The Contractor subcontracted certain of this work to a technology solutions company (the “Subcontractor”).  Pursuant to the agreement between the Contractor and the Subcontractor (the “Subcontract”), the Subcontractor provided certain IT support services directly to the Client in the place of the Contractor.  Angarola was responsible for oversight of the Subcontractor’s performance on the Subcontract, which included approving payment to the Subcontractor on invoices submitted for work purportedly performed and expenses purportedly incurred in the Subcontractor’s performance on the Subcontract.

    Angarola abused his position to fraudulently enrich himself, his family, and his friends.  For instance, he arranged for the Subcontractor to hire certain of his family members, friends, and subordinates, despite the fact that these individuals lacked apparent qualifications to perform deskside IT work.  He arranged for the Subcontractor to hire, among others, his wife (a homemaker); his former college roommate (a police sergeant); and his close friends, including GARCIA (a construction manager) and GARCIA’s wife (a schoolteacher).  Thereafter, various Conspirators falsely reported to the Subcontractor that they had performed work under the Subcontract and incurred business expenses.  The Subcontractor submitted invoices to the Contractor for the hours purportedly worked and business expenses purportedly incurred by several of the Conspirators, and Angarola, in turn, caused the Contractor to pay the Subcontractor on these fraudulent invoices.  The purported business expenses incurred by several Conspirators, and ultimately paid for by the Contractor at the direction of Angarola, included restaurant meals, hotel stays, transportation fees, a cruise, and gentlemen’s clubs.  In fact, the expenses were personal expenses and were not reimbursable under the Contractor’s policy.

    GARCIA was a central beneficiary of the embezzlement scheme and received the majority of the fraud proceeds.  These fraud proceeds were paid in part to GARCIA personally, and in part to his shell entities.  GARCIA did no work whatsoever for the Contractor or Subcontractor, but invoiced the Subcontractor, month after month, requesting payment for purported “Management Fees.” For instance, at different points in the scheme, GARCIA requested monthly payment of $36,000, $45,000, $51,000, or $60,000.  Angarola approved these payments to GARCIA on behalf of his employer, the Contractor. In return, GARCIA paid Angarola cash kickbacks exceeding $1 million.  GARCIA participated in the embezzlement scheme despite having fulltime, gainful employment elsewhere as a consultant and project manager in the construction industry.

    Financial records reveal that GARCIA spent fraud proceeds on, among other things, private school tuition, rent, luxury travel, luxury items, gym memberships, and sports memorabilia.  For instance, GARCIA paid for stays at luxury hotels such as the Ritz Carlton (in four different cities), the Waldorf Astoria, and the Plaza.  And GARCIA spent more than $50,000 on luxury items, including expensive purchases at Cartier, Hermes, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Burberry, Bianca Jewelers, a glass blower in Venice, and a violin shop specializing in Stradivarius models.

    Tax Evasion

    From 2011 through 2019, GARCIA also committed tax evasion, resulting in a tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) of approximately $2,116,605.  For this nine-year period, GARCIA neither filed tax returns nor paid income taxes. As such, GARCIA failed to report to the IRS the income he derived from the embezzlement scheme as well as the income he derived from other business interests and sources.   GARCIA used shell entities to conceal his receipt of income, including by creating such entities, diverting income to such entities, and using entity bank accounts to pay for his personal expenses.

    *                *                *

    In addition to his prison term, GARCIA, 53, of New York, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.  GARCIA was also ordered to forfeit $4,554,950 and pay restitution in the amount of $7,007,055.

    Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office; the IRS-Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office; and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, Northeast Regional Office.

    This matter is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, along with the Justice Department’s Tax Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Neff, Timothy V. Capozzi, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jorge Almonte of the Tax Division are in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust Declares its Monthly Common Shares Distribution of $0.070 per Share

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust (the “Trust”) has declared its regular monthly distribution of $0.070 per share on the Trust’s common shares (NYSE: XFLT), payable on July 1, 2025, to common shareholders of record as of June 16, 2025, as noted below. The amount of the distribution represents a 9.09% decrease from the previous month’s distribution amount of $0.077 per share.

    The Trust’s investment objective is to seek attractive total return with an emphasis on income generation across multiple stages of the credit cycle. Due to recent market volatility, the loan and CLO asset classes have experienced drastic interest rate spread compression, which has negatively impacted asset class yields. In the most recent quarter, market conditions were marked by heightened volatility stemming from tariff developments and ongoing trade tensions. With the new distribution amount of $0.070 per share, the Trust’s annualized distribution rate on market price was 14.51% and the annualized distribution rate on NAV is 13.86% as of market close on May 30, 2025.

    The following dates apply to the declaration:

         
    Ex-Dividend Date   June 16, 2025
       
    Record Date   June 16, 2025
       
    Payable Date   July 1, 2025
       
    Amount   $0.070 per common share
       
    Change from Previous Month   9.09% decrease
         

    Common share distributions may be paid from net investment income (regular interest and dividends), capital gains and/or a return of capital. The specific tax characteristics of the distributions will be reported to the Trust’s common shareholders on Form 1099 after the end of the 2025 calendar year. Shareholders should not assume that the source of a distribution from the Trust is net income or profit. For further information regarding the Trust’s distributions, please visit www.xainvestments.com.

    XFLT Q1 Webinar

    The Trust plans to host its Quarterly Webinar on June 4, 2025, at 12:00 pm (Eastern Time). Kevin Davis, Managing Director at XA Investments will moderate the Q&A style webinar with Kimberly Flynn, President at XA Investments, and Lauren Law, Senior Portfolio Manager at Octagon Credit Investors.

    TO JOIN VIA WEB: Please go to the Knowledge Bank section of xainvestments.com or click here to find the online registration link.

    TO USE YOUR TELEPHONE: After joining via web, if you prefer to use your phone for audio, you must select that option and call in using a number below, based on your current location.

    Dial: (312) 626-6799 or (646) 558-8656 or (267) 831-0333 or (213) 338-8477 or (720) 928-9299

    Webinar ID: 817 1030 7383

    REPLAY: A replay of the webinar will be available in the Knowledge Bank section of xainvestments.com.

    The Trust’s net investment income and capital gain can vary significantly over time; however, the Trust seeks to maintain more stable common share monthly distributions over time. The Trust’s investments in CLOs are subject to complex tax rules and the calculation of taxable income attributed to an investment in CLO subordinated notes can be dramatically different from the calculation of income for financial reporting purposes under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”), and, as a result, there may be significant differences between the Trust’s GAAP income and its taxable income. The Trust’s final taxable income for the current fiscal year will not be known until the Trust’s tax returns are filed.

    As a registered investment company, the Trust is subject to a 4% excise tax that is imposed if the Trust does not distribute to common shareholders by the end of any calendar year at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gain or loss) for the calendar year and (ii) 98.2% of its capital gain in excess of its capital loss (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for a one-year period generally ending on October 31 of the calendar year (unless an election is made to use the Trust’s fiscal year). In certain circumstances, the Trust may elect to retain income or capital gain to the extent that the Board of Trustees, in consultation with Trust management, determines it to be in the interest of shareholders to do so.

    The common share distributions paid by the Trust for any particular period may be more than the amount of net investment income from that period. As a result, all or a portion of a distribution may be a return of capital, which is in effect a partial return of the amount a common shareholder invested in the Trust, up to the amount of the common shareholder’s tax basis in their common shares, which would reduce such tax basis. Although a return of capital may not be taxable, it will generally increase the common shareholder’s potential gain, or reduce the common shareholder’s potential loss, on any subsequent sale or other disposition of common shares.

    The distribution shall be paid on the Payment Date unless the payment of such distribution is deferred by the Board of Trustees upon a determination that such deferral is required in order to comply with applicable law to ensure that the Trust remains solvent and able to pay its debts as they become due and continue as a going concern, or to comply with the applicable terms or financial covenants of the Trust’s senior securities.

    Future common share distributions will be made if and when declared by the Trust’s Board of Trustees, based on a consideration of a number of factors, including the Trust’s continued compliance with terms and financial covenants of its senior securities, the Trust’s net investment income, financial performance and available cash. There can be no assurance that the amount or timing of common share distributions in the future will be equal or similar to that described herein or that the Board of Trustees will not decide to suspend or discontinue the payment of common share distributions in the future.

    The investment objective of the Trust is to seek attractive total return with an emphasis on income generation across multiple stages of the credit cycle. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a dynamically managed portfolio of opportunities primarily within the private credit markets. Under normal market conditions, the Trust will invest at least 80% of its Managed Assets in floating rate credit instruments and other structured credit investments. There can be no assurance that the Trust will achieve its investment objective.

    The Trust’s common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “XFLT,” and the Trust’s 6.50% Series 2026 Term Preferred Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “XFLTPRA”.

    About XA Investments

    XA Investments LLC (“XAI”) serves as the Trust’s investment adviser. XAI is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in 2016. XAI serves as the investment adviser for two listed closed-end funds and an interval closed-end fund. The listed closed-end funds, the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust and XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund both trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the interval fund, Octagon XAI CLO Income Fund is available via direct subscription and through select broker/dealers and wealth management platforms.

    In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including development and market research, sales, marketing, fund management.

    XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. XAI provides individual investors with access to institutional-caliber alternative managers. For more information, please visit www.xainvestments.com.

    About XMS Capital Partners
    XMS Capital Partners, LLC, established in 2006, is a global, independent, financial services firm providing M&A, corporate advisory and asset management services to clients. It has offices in Chicago, Boston and London. For more information, please visit www.xmscapital.com.

    About Octagon Credit Investors
    Octagon Credit Investors, LLC (“Octagon”) serves as the Trust’s investment sub-adviser. Octagon is a 25+ year old, $32.1B below-investment grade corporate credit investment adviser focused on leveraged loan, high yield bond and structured credit (CLO debt and equity) investments. Through fundamental credit analysis and active portfolio management, Octagon’s investment team identifies attractive relative value opportunities across below-investment grade asset classes, sectors and issuers. Octagon’s investment philosophy and methodology encourage and rely upon dynamic internal communication to manage portfolio risk. Over its history, the firm has applied a disciplined, repeatable and scalable approach in its effort to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For more information, please visit www.octagoncredit.com.

    XAI does not provide tax advice; please consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax.

    Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of the Trust carefully before investing. For more information on the Trust, please visit the Trust’s webpage at www.xainvestments.com.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction.

    NOT FDIC INSURED        NO BANK GUARANTEE    MAY LOSE VALUE
             

    Paralel Distributors, LLC – Distributor

    Media Contact:

    Kimberly Flynn, President
    XA Investments LLC
    Phone: 888-903-3358
    Email: KFlynn@XAInvestments.com
    www.xainvestments.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Romanian Citizen Pleads Guilty to ‘Swatting’ Numerous Members of Congress, Churches, and Former U.S. President

    Source: US State of California

    Leader of Online Swatting Ring Admits to Targeting over 75 Public Officials, Four Religious Institutions, and Multiple Journalists in Nationwide Bomb Threat Spree

    Thomasz Szabo, also known as Plank, Jonah, and Cypher, 26, of Romania, pleaded guilty today to being the leader of a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims across the United States with “swatting” and bomb threats. Szabo and his co-conspirators falsely reported ongoing violent emergencies at government buildings, houses of worship, and private residences, including the homes of senior government officials.

    “This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation’s security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This case reflects our continued focus on protecting the American people and working with international partners to stop these threats at their source.”

    “Today, Szabo pleaded guilty to a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims with swatting and bomb threats, including to government buildings, houses of worship and homes of government officials,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Swatting endangers lives and will not be tolerated by the FBI. We are fully committed to working with our partners to bring to justice those criminals hiding behind keyboards and threatening violence.”

    “This defendant’s targeted and ruthless behavior put countless people in danger, including law enforcement, public officials, and ordinary citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Swatting attacks, that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there, drain precious resources and can result in major injury or even death. Anyone who hijacks police resources for senseless crimes like these will have to answer for their actions.”  

    According to court documents, Szabo was the founder and leader of an online community that, starting in late 2020, engaged in a pattern of bomb threats and “swatting” — that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there.

    As leader of the group, Szabo made false reports to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass-shooting at New York City synagogues, and a threat in January 2021 to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill the President-elect. Szabo publicized his “swatting” activity to his followers and encouraged them to engage in similar behavior.

    Beginning on Dec. 24, 2023, and continuing through early January 2024, subordinate members of Szabo’s group perpetrated a spree of swatting and bomb threats that included, as its victims, at least 25 Members of Congress or family members of Members of Congress; at least six then-current or former senior U.S. Executive Branch officials, including multiple cabinet-level officials; at least 13 then-current or former senior federal law enforcement officials, including the heads of multiple federal law enforcement agencies; multiple members of the federal judiciary; at least 27 then-current or former state government officials or family members of such officials; at least four religious institutions; and multiple members of the media.

    During that time period, one of those subordinates bragged to Szabo: “I did 25+ swattings today,” and “creating massive havoc in [A]merica. $500,000+ in taxpayers wasted in just two days.”

    Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of threats involving explosives, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024.

    The U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office and Criminal Investigative Division, the FBI’s Washington and Minneapolis Field Offices, and the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Szabo’s arrest and extradition and assisted with securing evidence from abroad, including through mutual legal assistance requests. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Secret Service’s Bucharest Resident Office, Miami Field Office, Syracuse Resident Office, Springfield Resident Office; the FBI’s Legat Office in Bucharest; and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Washington, the District of South Dakota, the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Illinois, and the Northern District of New York. The Romanian authorities’ assistance was critical to the successful investigation of the case and extradition of Szabo.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe for the District of Columbia is prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Citizen Who Trained and Fought for ISIS Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Defendant engaged in at least one battle with U.S.-led coalition forces.

              WASHINGTON — Lirim Sylejmani, 49, a Kosovo-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 10 years in prison in connection with undergoing military training with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and then engaging in at least one battle with U.S.-led coalition forces.

              The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Head of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division Sue Bai, and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Courtland Rae of the Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division.

              Sylejmani, aka Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi, pleaded guilty on December 12, 2024, to receiving military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization. In addition to the prison term, Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered Sylejmani to serve a lifetime of supervised release.

              “This defendant will spend a decade in prison thinking about the betrayal to this country,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Anyone thinking that ISIS is the answer to their questions, best think again. We will go to any lengths to root out subversive individuals who want to overthrow the government and harm its citizens.”

              According to court documents, from November 2015 through February 2019, Sylejmani received military training from ISIS in Syria. Sylejmani was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2019 and spoke to a number of media outlets about his time with ISIS.

              In November 2015, Sylejmani, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Kosovo, traveled to Syria with his family to join ISIS. After entering Syria, Sylejmani completed his ISIS intake process. He adopted the name Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi and trained to be a soldier with other ISIS recruits.  Sylejmani’ s military training included instruction on how to assemble and fire an AK-47 rifle, as well as how to use a PK Machine gun, M-16 rifle and grenades.

              Upon completion of the 21-day military training, ISIS assigned Sylejmani to a battalion in Mosul, Iraq, and issued him an AK-47, four AK-47 magazines, a belt to hold the magazines and two grenades. Sylejmani pledged “bayat” (allegiance) to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, and to the ISIS organization, in front of an Iraqi ISIS member. In May 2016, the defendant reported for ribat (guard) duty on the front line of the Manbij offensive. The defendant brought his gun belt, AK-47 and magazines to his ribat assignment. During a battle with Coalition Forces he was hit with shrapnel in his legs. After receiving these injuries, he eventually was reassigned to a new battalion in the fall of 2017. Sylejmani also received payments from ISIS for his services. Between November 2017 and February 2019, Sylejmani moved his family southeast to Baghouz, Syria, as the territorial Caliphate of ISIS collapsed.

              On February 27, 2019, Sylejmani and his family were captured by Coalition Forces. Sylejmani was jailed by the SDF in Syria at the Dashisha prison. He was transferred to United States law enforcement personnel on September 15, 2020, to face criminal charges in the District of Columbia.

              This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

              This case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S Attorney Brenda J. Johnson, Assistant United States Attorneys Steven Wasserman and Kimberly Paschall of the National Security Section, and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

    20cr106

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Realtor admits to $770,000 real estate fraud scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    McALLEN, Texas – A 44-year-old Mission resident has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Mario Alberto Rodriguez admitted he participated in a scheme that used false warranty deeds to mislead lenders and real estate clients.

    Rodriguez would defraud homebuyers and short-term lenders by selling a lot with proposed townhome construction without filing the warranty deed. This left no record of the sale and allowed him to sell the same property multiple times. Rodriguez would then instruct co-conspirators to take out new loans on the previously sold properties in order to use the cash for other purposes.

    Rodriguez defrauded victims out of more than $770,000 as a result of the scheme. Construction was never completed and victims were unable to take possession of the properties.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane will impose sentencing Aug. 12. At that time, Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

    He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.

    FBI, Texas Department of Insurance, McAllen Police Department, and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda McColgan prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Men Sentenced for Methamphetamine Trafficking

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Two men were sentenced in federal court for transporting 8 kilograms of methamphetamine from Dallas, Tx., to the Joplin, Mo., area.

    Juan Alvarado-Alvarado, 45, a Mexican national, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 192 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Alvarado-Alvarado pleaded guilty on Sept. 23, 2024. Alvarado-Alvarado has two prior felony convictions for illegal reentry into the United States after removal.

    Jesus Sanchez, 34, Joplin, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 132 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Sanchez pleaded guilty on Nov. 21, 2024.

    Alvarado-Alvarado and Sanchez were charged in an indictment returned on June 6, 2022, for possessing, with intent to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

    On May 25, 2022, during a traffic stop, deputies with the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office seized approximately 8 kilograms of methamphetamine from Alvarado-Alvarado and Sanchez. Later that day, during a post-Miranda interview, Sanchez admitted that he and Alvarado-Alvarado had traveled to Dallas, Tx., to purchase the methamphetamine.

    This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Schlegl. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Ozark Drug Enforcement Team, and the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office.

    Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Raleigh County Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BECKLEY, W.Va. – Ross Jay Bailey, 50, of Cool Ridge, pleaded guilty today to theft of government money. Bailey obtained a $2 million loan through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for his business and instead converted at least $1.4 million of the proceeds for his personal enrichment.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, on or about June 30, 2020, Bailey obtained an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) of $150,000 on behalf of his business, R&R Delivery Service Inc. The CARES Act authorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide EIDL program loans of up to $2 million to eligible small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Bailey successfully applied to increase the loan amount in August 2021 to $500,000 and in February 2022 to the $2 million maximum. Bailey certified that he would use all loans proceeds solely as working capital to alleviate economic injury caused by the pandemic.

    As part of his guilty plea, Bailey admitted that he transferred at least $1.4 million of the EIDL proceeds from his business’s bank account to his personal bank account from on or about March 1, 2022, through on or about May 31, 2022. Bailey further admitted that he converted these funds into purchases of stock and cryptocurrency for his personal enrichment.

    Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced on October 10, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Bailey also owes at least $1,518,013.58 in restitution, with a final amount to be determined by the Court.

    Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General (NASA OIG), the United States Secret Service, the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) and the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office (WVSAO) Public Integrity and Fraud Unit (PIFU).

    NASA OIG is an active member of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force. The PRAC was established to promote transparency and facilitate coordinated oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The PRAC’s 20 member Inspectors General identify major risks that cross program and agency boundaries to detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the more than $5 trillion in COVID-19 spending, including spending via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. This case was also supported by the PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence, which applies the latest advances in analytic and forensic technologies to help OIGs and law enforcement pursue data-driven pandemic relief fraud investigations.

    United States Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is prosecuting the case.

    Bailey’s brother, Ryan Keith Bailey, 47, of Beaver, pleaded guilty on May 7, 2025 to theft of government money. Ryan Keith Bailey obtained $2,166,517.40 in loans through the CARES Act for his business and instead converted nearly all of the proceeds for his personal use. Ryan Keith Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced on September 12, 2025.

    Mark William Bailey, 52, of Beckley and a cousin of Ross Jay Bailey and Ryan Keith Bailey, pleaded guilty on September 8, 2023, to theft of government monies, admitting he stole approximately $451,237.51 in SBA loans he obtained through the CARES Act. On October 25, 2024, Mark William Bailey was sentenced to five years of federal probation, including one year on home detention, and paid $451,237.51 in restitution and an additional $451,237.98 as a civil penalty to settle False Claims Act allegations.

    Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 5:24-cr-105.

    ###

     

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Grand Jury Returns Indictments for Illegal Re-Entry Via Texas National Defense Area, 138 New NDA Violators Arrested in the Western District, Convictions for the Month Exceed 340

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    EL PASO, Texas – A federal grand jury in El Paso returned indictments last week for defendants alleged to have illegally re-entered the United States through the Texas National Defense Area (NDA). The NDA was established April 30, 2025, along the U.S.-Mexico border from area bordering New Mexico, through El Paso County, to an area near Fort Hancock.

    Among those indicted is Mexican national Leonel Sotelo-Santillan, who was arrested after allegedly entering the NDA illegally on May 2. Sotelo-Santillan was first charged in a criminal complaint on May 8. He is a convicted felon with two 2015 convictions for domestic abuse battery and theft in Louisiana, as well as a felony conviction in June 2024 for illegal re-entry. He has two prior removals, the last one being Dec. 28, 2024.

    Another Mexican felon, Rafael Cabrera-Barron, is a thrice-deported felon and was convicted in 2007 for sexual assault of a child in Weld County, Colorado. His most recent removal from the U.S. to Mexico was April 25 through El Paso.

    Ramon Benigno Mancinas-Rodriguez, also a Mexican national, has been removed from the U.S. eight times—the last one being Nov. 5, 2024—and has been granted three voluntary returns. His criminal history includes three illegal entry misdemeanors, a conviction for assault on a federal officer, and one illegal re-entry felony conviction in November 2023.

    Some of the indicted defendants, like Cuban national Aldanay Caridad Carricarte-Grillo, Guatemalan national Carlos Tomas-Cristostimo, and Salvadoran national Juan Carlos Lopz-Uriasan, have one prior removal in their immigration history.

    The 16 defendants are each indicted for one Title 8 United States Code (USC) 1326 felony charge and one 50 USC 797 misdemeanor charge. If convicted, these individuals can face terms of imprisonment for up to 20 years if previously convicted of an aggravated felony, up to ten years if previously convicted of a felony and otherwise and up to two years in federal prison.

    Additionally, 138 new NDA-related immigration cases were added to the federal district’s docket and over 220 defendants pleaded guilty throughout the week, raising May’s total of NDA-related convictions in the Western District of Texas to more than 340.

    Title 50 USC 797 is among the federal statutes that establish criminal penalties for unlawful intrusions into areas designated as National Defense Areas. It refers to the willful violation of defense property security regulation, which, pursuant to lawful authority, was approved by the Secretary of Defense—or a military commander designated by the Secretary of Defense—for the protection or security of Department of Defense property.

    U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

    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: Coast Guard terminates 10 vessel voyages, including 8 illegal passenger-for-hire operations in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

    Source: United States Coast Guard

     

    06/02/2025 03:35 PM EDT

    Coast Guard Sector San Juan, Customs and Border Protection and Puerto Rico Police units and personnel terminated the voyage of 10 vessels with marine safety deficiencies, eight of which were conducting illegal passenger-for-hire operations, Saturday and Sunday, in Fajardo. “Over the past year, Coast Guard enforcement efforts resulted in voyage terminations for 30 illegal passenger-for-hire operations,” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Sector San Juan chief of response. “We value the joint collaboration between Coast Guard Station San Juan, Sector San Juan Marine Investigators, Coast Guard Miami Marine Investigators, Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action in this effort to ensure vessels are operating legally in a commercial capacity and in compliance with federal marine safety regulations.” Vessels El Lindo, Hibiki, The Ivy, Mama Juana, Ohana 2, Master Blaster, Avante and Serenity were found conducting illegal passenger-for-hire operations, two of which were found operating in violation of previous federal Captain of the Port (COTP) Orders. Vessels Tobias and Four Points were only cited for their respective marine safety deficiencies. 

    For more breaking news follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Romanian Citizen Pleads Guilty to ‘Swatting’ Numerous Members of Congress, Churches, and Former U.S. President

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    Leader of Online Swatting Ring Admits to Targeting over 75 Public Officials, Four Religious Institutions, and Multiple Journalists in Nationwide Bomb Threat Spree

    Thomasz Szabo, also known as Plank, Jonah, and Cypher, 26, of Romania, pleaded guilty today to being the leader of a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims across the United States with “swatting” and bomb threats. Szabo and his co-conspirators falsely reported ongoing violent emergencies at government buildings, houses of worship, and private residences, including the homes of senior government officials.

    “This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation’s security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This case reflects our continued focus on protecting the American people and working with international partners to stop these threats at their source.”

    “Today, Szabo pleaded guilty to a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims with swatting and bomb threats, including to government buildings, houses of worship and homes of government officials,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Swatting endangers lives and will not be tolerated by the FBI. We are fully committed to working with our partners to bring to justice those criminals hiding behind keyboards and threatening violence.”

    “This defendant’s targeted and ruthless behavior put countless people in danger, including law enforcement, public officials, and ordinary citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Swatting attacks, that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there, drain precious resources and can result in major injury or even death. Anyone who hijacks police resources for senseless crimes like these will have to answer for their actions.”  

    According to court documents, Szabo was the founder and leader of an online community that, starting in late 2020, engaged in a pattern of bomb threats and “swatting” — that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there.

    As leader of the group, Szabo made false reports to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass-shooting at New York City synagogues, and a threat in January 2021 to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill the President-elect. Szabo publicized his “swatting” activity to his followers and encouraged them to engage in similar behavior.

    Beginning on Dec. 24, 2023, and continuing through early January 2024, subordinate members of Szabo’s group perpetrated a spree of swatting and bomb threats that included, as its victims, at least 25 Members of Congress or family members of Members of Congress; at least six then-current or former senior U.S. Executive Branch officials, including multiple cabinet-level officials; at least 13 then-current or former senior federal law enforcement officials, including the heads of multiple federal law enforcement agencies; multiple members of the federal judiciary; at least 27 then-current or former state government officials or family members of such officials; at least four religious institutions; and multiple members of the media.

    During that time period, one of those subordinates bragged to Szabo: “I did 25+ swattings today,” and “creating massive havoc in [A]merica. $500,000+ in taxpayers wasted in just two days.”

    Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of threats involving explosives, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024.

    The U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office and Criminal Investigative Division, the FBI’s Washington and Minneapolis Field Offices, and the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Szabo’s arrest and extradition and assisted with securing evidence from abroad, including through mutual legal assistance requests. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Secret Service’s Bucharest Resident Office, Miami Field Office, Syracuse Resident Office, Springfield Resident Office; the FBI’s Legat Office in Bucharest; and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Washington, the District of South Dakota, the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Illinois, and the Northern District of New York. The Romanian authorities’ assistance was critical to the successful investigation of the case and extradition of Szabo.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe for the District of Columbia is prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Lendmark Financial Services Debuts Centreville Branch in Northern Virginia, Marking its 13th Portfolio Opening in 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CENTREVILLE, Va., June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark), a leading provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, continues to expand its Virginia footprint, opening a new branch in Centreville.

    The branch is located at 5953 Centreville Crest Lane and is expected to serve hundreds of customers, retailers, and auto dealerships in its first year. Luis Santos, who serves as the branch manager, will be responsible for the administration of all daily operations. These include building personal relationships with customers and integrating into the community to ensure area residents receive a superior level of individualized loan services that meet their unique financial needs.

    “Nestled in the heart of Northern Virginia, Centreville offers a scenic blend of rolling landscapes and suburban charm, just minutes from Washington D.C., and a family-friendly atmosphere makes this the perfect location for Lendmark to expand,” said Dan Quann, Vice President of Branch Operations at Lendmark. “This new branch in Centreville is going to create new job opportunities to further enhance the community and provide access to loans for those facing planned and unplanned financial needs.”

    In addition to serving consumers directly, Lendmark provides financing solutions for thousands of retailers and independent auto dealerships, allowing these businesses’ customers to obtain Lendmark financing. Local businesses that are interested in partnering with Lendmark to provide financing solutions for their customers should visit the branch or call 571-686-5141.

    Lendmark’s ‘Climb to Cure’ is its signature cause-related initiative. The company has committed to raising $10 million by 2025 to mark its 10-year anniversary partnering with CURE Childhood Cancer. So far, Lendmark’s employees, partners and customers have raised $8.83 million to support CURE, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to funding targeted pediatric cancer research that is utilized nationwide.

    Lendmark customers can participate by donating $1 when closing their loan. Lendmark matches the donation.

    About Lendmark Financial Services
    Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark) provides personal and household credit and loan solutions to consumers. Founded in 1996, Lendmark strives to be the lender, employer, and partner of choice by offering stability and helping consumers meet both planned and unplanned life events through affordable loan offerings. Today, Lendmark operates more than 520 branches in 22 states across the country, providing personalized services to customers and retail business partners with every transaction. Lendmark is headquartered in Lawrenceville, Ga. For more information, visit www.lendmarkfinancial.com.

    Media Contact
    Jeff Hamilton
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
    jhamilton@lendmarkfinancial.com
    678-625-3128

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: State Highway 1, Clarence closed

    Source: New Zealand Police

    State Highway 1, Clarence is currently closed near Clarence Valley Road due to a vehicle fire.

    The fire was reported at around 6:20am.

    No injuries have been reported.

    Detours are in place and motorists are advised to expect delays.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WA launches police use-of-force database

    Source: Washington State News

    SEATTLE — The Attorney General’s Office announced today the launch of the Washington State Data Exchange for Public Safety (WADEPS), which is ready to collect use-of-force data from the state’s law enforcement agencies in an effort to improve transparency, trust and evidence-based policymaking.

    The exchange is a publicly available, cloud-based platform to help the public see and analyze police use-of-force data. The database, established with robust bipartisan support from the Legislature in 2021, was developed through significant collaboration with law enforcement, community leaders, and criminal justice researchers.

    State law requires law enforcement agencies in the state to report incidents involving specific types of force, such as when an officer uses a firearm, Taser, pepper spray, canine, or strikes a person with a weapon or their body. Agencies must report information about the officer and person involved in these use-of-force incidents, such as their age, gender, race and ethnicity.

    Law enforcement agencies have through September 2 to begin reporting data. Going forward, agencies must submit use-of-force data monthly. Information about the outcome of an investigation of an incident will be updated within 30 days of when the investigation is complete. WADEPS does not collect personally identifiable information about community members who interact with police.

    “A single location with clear, standardized and contextual information will help the public better understand the use of force in Washington,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a letter sent to law enforcement agencies today. “Law enforcement and policymakers will have common tools to better analyze force and make informed decisions about policing policies and practices.”

    WADEPS is operated by Washington State University under a grant agreement with the Attorney General’s Office. A key feature of the system is its ability to put use of force in context. The public will be able to examine whether rates of force differ across different types of incidents, such as police response to an assault, traffic incident, or mental health 911 call.

    “The launch of the Washington State Data Exchange for Public Safety marks a critical step forward in ensuring transparency, accountability, and data-driven decision-making in our justice system,” said Sen. T’wina Nobles, D-Tacoma, sponsor of the original legislation. “This collaborative effort between law enforcement, community leaders, and researchers will help build trust and improve public safety outcomes for all Washingtonians. I’m so proud to have championed this work and look forward to seeing its impact.”

    State Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, sponsored the bill’s companion legislation in the House prior to being appointed to the Senate in 2022.

    “When we understand the cause of an issue, we can fix it,” Lovick said. “This new data exchange represents Washington state’s commitment to trust, transparency, and accountability. When to use force is one of the most difficult decisions a peace officer must face and we must all work together to ensure that people are safe, and feel safe, in our communities.”

    Several law enforcement agencies were early participants in the program. Fife Police Chief Pete Fisher said his department was excited about “WADEPS’ mission to enhance transparency, accountability and real-time analysis of police use of force incidents.”

    “Use of force and force outcomes are extremely complex, impacted and influenced by myriad variables that vary significantly between jurisdictions — such as differences in location (e.g., city versus county), crime rates, and numerous other factors. These frequently changing factors make meaningful analysis extremely difficult,” Fisher said. “I have a great deal of confidence that WADEPS can be a mechanism to help police and community members better understand police use of force. If employed properly, it will provide the insight needed to allow police to tailor policy, training, and response for better outcomes. At the same time, it offers a way to demonstrate to stakeholders and the public that the vast majority of police use of force encounters are lawful and reasonable.”

    -30-

    Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

    Media Contact:

    Email: press@atg.wa.gov

    Phone: (360) 753-2727

    General contacts: Click here

    Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ensuring New Yorkers Keep Cool during Extreme Heat

    Source: US State of New York

    n Global Heat Action Day, Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted new and enhanced resources available to protect New York communities from extreme heat this summer. Measures will help New Yorkers access affordable cooling at home and at cooling centers, provide additional support for cool and resilient buildings, help keep kids cool at schools, and offer new tools and expanded funding for communities to prepare for and adapt to extreme heat and mitigate urban heat islands. The New York State Department of Health also launched its interactive New York State Heat Risk and Illness Dashboard that will allow the public and county health care officials to determine the forecasted level of heat-related health risks in their areas and raise awareness about the dangers of heat exposure.

    “Scorching summer temperatures and increasing extreme weather events threaten the lives and well-being of New Yorkers across the state,” Governor Hochul said. “That’s why I’m directing State agencies to take action and ensure all New Yorkers can afford and access relief from the full spectrum of heat risks.”

    Heat waves and other extreme heat events are likely to happen again this summer and New York State agencies are working to implement initiatives recommended by the State’s Extreme Heat Action Plan to help New Yorkers prepare for heat’s negative health and environmental impacts. A range of new and enhanced resources are available for individuals, local governments, and community-based organizations, including:

    • New support for cooling at home: With the new Essential Plan Cooling program, NY State of Health will provide eligible Essential Plan members a free air conditioner to help keep their homes cool. This will complement assistance available in 2025 through the HEAP Cooling program which served more than 23,000 households in 2024.
    • Better access to cooling centers: New resources are available to help connect New Yorkers with safe spaces for cooling. The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) will continue to coordinate with local health departments and emergency managers to update the Cooling Center Finder throughout summer 2025. DOH offers new resources to provide information about best practices for setting up cooling centers and how these locations could serve as clean air centers. Round 8 of the Climate Smart Communities grant program is now open, making $22 million available to fund GHG mitigation and climate adaptation projects, including establishing cooling centers.
    • Additional support for cool buildings: Funding available through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) supports weatherization and clean and efficient heating and cooling that can improve extreme heat resilience at homes, community anchor institutions, schools, and more. The Office of General Services’ new “Decarbonization and Climate Resiliency Design Guide” was released for new and majorly renovated State building projects to assess and reduce climate risk (including extreme heat and Urban Heat Islands) through proactive design.
    • New investments in cool schools: The Education Law newly requires public school districts and BOCES to develop an extreme heat policy, which establishes certain temperature thresholds. NYSERDA offers additional funding to install clean cooling and heating at schools, for example through funding as part of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act.
    • Enhanced tools and funding for cool communities: Preliminary extreme heat exposure maps and DOH’s Heat Vulnerability Index help communities understand exposure and vulnerabilities. Programs such as Climate Smart Communities fund communities in planning, designing, and implementation solutions. New and expanded funding supports nature-based solutions such as urban forests, urban farms, and community gardens to cool neighborhoods and mitigate heat islands. Governor Hochul’s New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming (NY SWIMS) initiative expanded outdoor swimming through the Connect Kids to Swimming Instruction Transportation grant program and advanced capital projects for swimming facilities in underserved communities through the NY SWIMS Round One competitive grant program.

    Implementation of the Extreme Heat Action Plan

    New York State also marks significant progress on the first year of implementation of the Extreme Heat Action Plan (EHAP) with the first readiness update now available. In June 2024, Governor Hochul, the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the EHAP Work Group released the plan with nearly 50 actions by State agencies to address extreme heat impacts across four tracks (local planning and capacity building, community preparedness and workers’ safety, resilient buildings and access to cooling, and advancing ecosystem-based adaptations). DEC is coordinating the implementation of the plan in partnership with NYSERDA and the members of the Work Group, including the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) and the State Department of Health (DOH).

    During the first year implementing the plan, State agencies made significant progress in developing new resources that help communities address impacts of extreme heat. The full update on implementation progress is available here.

    Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “Extreme heat driven by our changing climate is contributing to serious public health consequences and threats to New Yorkers, particularly New Yorkers in communities of color and communities historically overburdened by pollution. DEC and our agency partners released the Extreme Heat Action Plan last year under Governor Hochul’s directive and applaud the significant programs and efforts underway to protect lives and advance efforts to ensure our communities are better prepared to respond to severe weather.”

    New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “On Global Heat Action Day, New York State is strengthening its commitment to providing access to reliable, efficient, and affordable cooling solutions in communities across the state. The resources announced today show tremendous progress in implementing the Extreme Heat Action Plan, assuring all New Yorkers – including the most vulnerable – that relief will be available during the hottest months of the year.”

    Staying Safe During Extreme Heat

    The dangers of extreme heat can affect everyone, regardless of age, physical shape, or existing health conditions. The body works extra hard to maintain a normal temperature during extreme heat and, without taking proper measures, this can lead to heat-related illness or even death.

    Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray said, “Extreme heat can be deadly, so it’s important that New Yorkers take it seriously. Governor Hochul has made addressing extreme heat a priority as multiple days of high temperatures are becoming more common here in New York. Our state agencies have worked together to make resources available for communities and residents, including free air conditioners to help those eligible keep their homes cool and a comprehensive online tool to assist individuals looking for cooling centers. I urge everyone to prepare now for the extreme temperatures coming our way this summer.”

    State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “As extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe due to climate change, it’s critical that we equip New Yorkers with the tools and resources they need to stay safe and healthy. These new initiatives will not only expand access to cooling centers and protect vulnerable populations, but also help build healthier, more resilient communities. We’re proud to work alongside Governor Hochul and our state partners to ensure that every New Yorker, especially those most at risk, can find relief from extreme heat.”

    Information about what the public can do during hot weather and how to locate cooling centers can be found on DOH’s Extreme Heat website.

    The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) can also provide an air conditioning unit to income-eligible households that include someone with a documented medical condition exacerbated by extreme heat, or households with young children or older adults. Applications will continue to be accepted until funding runs out. For more information, visit the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance website or contact your local office for the aging at 1-800-342-9871.

    Groups most at risk are:

    • People who work outdoors or indoors without air conditioning
    • Adults aged 60 years and older
    • Infants, children, and those who are pregnant
    • People with chronic health conditions
    • Those with physical and cognitive disabilities
    • Those with no access to air conditioning
    • Individuals who live alone or are unhoused
    • Athletes
    • Pets and service animals
    • People living in cities because asphalt and concrete store heat longer and release heat more slowly at night. This produces higher nighttime temperatures and is known as the “urban heat island effect.”

    Another important heat safety tip is to never leave children or pets unsupervised in hot cars. There is a real and severe danger when leaving children or pets unsupervised in a car even when temperatures don’t “feel” hot. At 60 degrees outside, after just one hour a closed car can get as hot as 105 degrees.

    Supporting Local Extreme Heat Action

    New York State continues to make investments in programs to help mitigate extreme heat and other climate impacts. Currently, $22 million is available through the Climate Smart Communities grant program to fund climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, including for projects that help communities plan for and adapt to extreme heat. The deadline for applications is July 31, 2025. More information is available on DEC’s website.

    New York State’s Climate Agenda

    New York State’s climate agenda calls for an affordable and just transition to a clean energy economy that creates family-sustaining jobs, promotes economic growth through green investments, and directs a minimum of 35 percent of the benefits to disadvantaged communities. New York is advancing a suite of efforts to achieve an emissions-free economy by 2050, including in the energy, buildings, transportation, and waste sectors.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Barnwell County man arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* chargesRead More

    Source: US State of South Carolina

    (COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Steven Jeffrey Lynch, 62, of Blackville, S.C., on three charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.

     

    Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Lynch. Investigators state Lynch possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

     

    Lynch was arrested on May 28, 2025. He is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.

     

    This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

     

    Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

     

     

     

    * Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. “Pornography” can imply the child was a consenting participant.  Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Statement On Trump Justice Department No Longer Cooperating With ABA Vetting & Rating Process Of Judicial Nominees

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    May 30, 2025

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Trump-Bondi Justice Department overturning decades of precedent by no longer cooperating with the American Bar Association (ABA) process for vetting and rating of judicial nominees:

    “This is a seismic change in the judicial nominations process—an unjustified and blatantly political move by the Trump Administration. This decision overturns a practice that has been in place fornearly 70 years under Republican and Democratic Administrations alike in order to provide cover for unqualified and extreme nominees who would crumble under a nonpartisan review by their peers.

    “This decision will ultimately ease the confirmation process for Trump nominees who have demonstrated bias against protected classes, don’t have the judicial temperament to rule fairly from the bench, or don’t have the requisite experience to be confirmed to lifetime appointments as federal court judges, negatively impacting generations of Americans.”

    The ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has been conducting independent peer evaluations of the professional qualifications of judicial nominees since the Eisenhower Administration. The purpose of the rating is to evaluate the professional competence, integrity, and judicial temperament of each nominee. Notably, during the first Trump Administration, 10 judicial nominees were found “Not Qualified” by the ABA—the reasons ranged from lack of temperament to lack of experience—while all 235 confirmed lifetime judges during the Biden Administration had at least a “Qualified” rating, if not a “Well Qualified” rating.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Timberlea — RCMP charges a man following armed and barricaded incident

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment has charged a man following an armed and barricaded incident that occurred in Timberlea.

    Shortly after midnight on June 1, RCMP officers responded to a disturbance at a residence on Lakehigh Cres.

    Investigators learned that a man armed with a knife had gained entry into the home through the front door and threatened to harm himself. When a female occupant, who was known to the man, asked him to leave, he refused and barricaded himself inside.

    After approximately three hours of communicating with the RCMP Crisis Negotiation Team, the man exited the home and was safely arrested.

    The 33-year-old woman and three children who were inside the home at the time of the incident were unharmed.

    The man has been charged with two counts of Failure to Comply with a Probation Order and Mischief. He was remanded in custody yesterday and is scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial court today.

    File #: 25-76875

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Lendmark Financial Services Continues Wisconsin Expansion with Beaver Dam Branch, Marking its 11th Portfolio Opening in 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BEAVER DAM, Wis., June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark), a leading provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, continues to expand its Wisconsin footprint, opening a new branch in Beaver Dam.

    The branch, located at 1659 N. Spring Street, Suite 103, is expected to serve hundreds of customers, retailers, and auto dealerships in its first year. Branch Manager Michelle Lischka will oversee the daily operations, focusing on building strong personal relationships with customers and becoming an active part of the community. The goal is to ensure that local residents receive exceptional, personalized loan services tailored to their specific financial needs.

    “Centrally located between Madison, Milwaukee and the Fox Valley, Beaver Dam combines easy city access with its unique blend of natural beauty. The residents of this community now will have greater access to loans that help meet their planned and unplanned financial needs,” said Mike McIntire, Vice President of Branch Operations at Lendmark. “Beaver Dam is a bustling town, and our new branch brings Lendmark’s top-notch customer service and consumer loan solutions to this economy.”

    In addition to serving consumers directly, Lendmark provides financing solutions for thousands of retailers and independent auto dealerships, allowing these businesses’ customers to obtain Lendmark financing. Local businesses that are interested in partnering with Lendmark to provide financing solutions for their customers should visit the branch or call 920-557-3264.

    Lendmark’s ‘Climb to Cure’ is its signature cause-related initiative. The company has committed to raising $10 million by 2025 to mark its 10-year anniversary partnering with CURE Childhood Cancer. So far, Lendmark’s employees, partners and customers have raised $8.83 million to support CURE, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to funding targeted pediatric cancer research that is utilized nationwide.

    About Lendmark Financial Services
    Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark) provides personal and household credit and loan solutions to consumers. Founded in 1996, Lendmark strives to be the lender, employer, and partner of choice by offering stability and helping consumers meet both planned and unplanned life events through affordable loan offerings. Today, Lendmark operates more than 520 branches in 22 states across the country, providing personalized services to customers and retail business partners with every transaction. Lendmark is headquartered in Lawrenceville, Ga. For more information, visit www.lendmarkfinancial.com.

    Media Contact
    Jeff Hamilton
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
    jhamilton@lendmarkfinancial.com
    678-625-3128

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: President Donald J. Trump Appoints Joseph H. Thompson Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MINNEAPOLIS – Joseph H. Thompson, who has served as a federal prosecutor for sixteen years, has been appointed by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota.

    “I am honored and humbled to be asked to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota,” said Mr. Thompson. “I look forward to continuing our office’s work combatting violent crime, the scourge of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, and the shocking and unacceptable levels of fraud in our state government programs.”

    Mr. Thompson has served as a federal prosecutor for more than sixteen years, first in the Northern District of Illinois and since 2014 in the District of Minnesota. In that time, Mr. Thompson has  investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases, many of which involve matters of national and international significance. Most recently, Mr. Thompson has served as the Chief of the Fraud & Public Corruption section. In this role, Mr. Thompson has overseen an unprecedented effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute fraud against state and federal government programs, including as the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future investigation, which has been recognized by the Department of Justice as the largest Covid-19 fraud in the United States.

    From 2023 to 2024, Mr. Thompson served on the Special Counsel team investigating the mishandling of classified documents found at the Penn-Biden Center in Washington, DC, and the personal residence of President Joseph R. Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.

    Mr. Thompson previously served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago from 2009 to 2014, where he prosecuted street gangs, drug cartels, corrupt politicians, and domestic terrorists.

    Mr. Thompson has tried more than twenty jury trials in every major area of federal prosecution. Mr. Thompson has briefed and argued more than a dozen cases before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.   

    Mr. Thompson has received numerous awards and accolades for his work as a federal prosecutor, including the 2024 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work as the lead prosecutor on one of the largest elder fraud cases in the country.

    For more than a decade, Mr. Thompson taught law school, including an advanced criminal law course at the University of Minnesota Law school. Mr. Thompson has also taught trial advocacy to new AUSAs from around the country at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center in South Carolina.

    Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Mr. Thompson worked in private practice in Chicago. He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and for the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau.

    Mr. Thompson was born and raised in Minnesota. He earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Gustavus Adolphus College, and his law degree, with distinction, from Stanford Law School. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: PCP Dealer Sentenced to 60 Months in Federal Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

                WASHINGTON – Kenneth Dawson, 47, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison for repeatedly distributing large quantities of liquid PCP and fentanyl to confidential informants and undercover officers in broad daylight on a busy city street in the Anacostia neighborhood.

                The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro,  Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

                Dawson pleaded guilty on Feb. 28, 2025, to one count of distribution of fentanyl and one count of distribution of 100 grams or more of a liquid mixture containing PCP.

                According to court documents, on seven occasions between June 2024 and November 2024, Dawson distributed mixtures containing liquid PCP or fentanyl to confidential informants or an undercover officer near the intersection of 16th Street SE and Marion Barry Avenue SE.

                On June 27, 2024, Dawson sold 102 grams of liquid PCP in exchange for $800, and $100 worth of powdered fentanyl, to a confidential informant. Dawson made similar and larger sales to confidential informants and undercover officers on six other dates through November 2024, including the sale of 97 fentanyl pills. The transactions were recorded by law enforcement.

                On Dec.13, 2024, law enforcement arrested Dawson at his residence in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and executed a federal search warrant at the location. Inside Dawson’s bedroom, agents found additional liquid PCP and PCP paraphernalia, and a loaded large-capacity firearm magazine. Dawson is prohibited under federal law from owning ammunition.

                This case was jointly investigated by the DEA Washington Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Strong and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren R. Randell.

    24cr559

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: South Carolina Duo Plead Guilty To Conspiracy To Commit Cyberstalking For Scheme That Resulted In A Victim’s Death

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Trysten Anthony Cullon, 26, of South Carolina, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan C. Rodriguez and pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking for a scheme targeting a vulnerable victim and his immediate family members using extortive and threatening text messages, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Previously, on April 10, 2025, Jade Ashlynn Stone, 25, of South Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking.

    James C. Barnacle, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division joins U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making today’s announcement.

    According to the indictment, filed plea documents, and the court hearings, from September 5 to September 8, 2024, the defendants conspired to engage in a cyberstalking conspiracy that targeted a victim identified in court documents as C.T. C.T. had an intellectual disability and was classified as Educable Mentally Disabled. Because of his disability, C.T. was extensively supported by his immediate family and did not live on his own. C.T. was also employed at a fast-food restaurant chain in Charlotte.

    As Cullon and Stone admitted in court, they used a stolen phone to send C.T.’s family members multiple harassing and intimidating text messages demanding money and threatened to provide derogatory and embarrassing information to C.T.’s employer unless they were paid, including salacious claims that C.T. was a pervert, that he harassed girls, and that he paid girls for sexual pictures. As a result of the substantial emotional distress caused by the extortive and threatening text messages sent by the defendants, C.T. died by suicide.

    Cullon and Stone pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Cullon and Stone are both in custody. A sentencing date has not been set.

    In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the FBI for the investigation of this case and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for its substantial assistance.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Two Florida Men Plead Guilty to Crimes Related to a Scheme to Prepare False Tax Returns for Clients

    Source: US State of Vermont

    Two Florida men pleaded guilty last week just before jury selection began for their June 2 trial. The two pled before Magistrate Judge David Baker to tax crimes related to a scheme to prepare false tax returns for clients. Specifically, Franklin Carter Jr., of Sanford, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and not filing tax returns, and Jonathan Carrillo, of St. Cloud pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. The plea must be accepted by a U.S. district court judge.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2016 to 2020 Carter and Carrillo owned and operated Neighborhood Advance Tax (NAT), a return preparation business with a dozen offices throughout Florida. Carter, Carrillo and their co-conspirators fraudulently inflated client tax refunds by fabricating deductions on their returns. They also held periodic training sessions at which they taught other NAT employees how to prepare fraudulent tax returns.

    In 2021, Carter, Carrillo and the co-conspirators started another tax return preparation business. The new business, Taxmates, operated out of the same offices that NAT had previously used. As with NAT, Carter, Carrillo and the others used Taxmates to prepare false tax returns for clients. Many of those returns included false deductions. As before, Carter, Carrillo and their co-conspirators also taught franchise owners and employees how to prepare false returns for clients.

    In addition, Carter did not file personal tax returns for 2019 through 2021, despite being legally required to do so.

    In total, both men caused a tax loss to the IRS exceeding $12 million.

    Several of their co-conspirators have pleaded guilty. Diandre Mentor, Abryle de la Cruz and Emmanuel Almonor pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States as part of the same scheme. Adon Hemley pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and helping others file false returns. Isaiah Hayes pleaded guilty to helping others file false returns.

    Carter and Carrillo will be sentenced at a later date. Both face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge. Carter faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison for each failure to file a tax return charge and Carillo faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each charge of assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. Both men also face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Interim U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

    IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

    Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Testerman for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –