NewzIntel.com

Category: Security Intelligence

  • MIL-OSI Security: DHS Statement on Safety and Enforcement During Tropical Storm Helene

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    During emergency events, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with its federal, state, local, and non-governmental partners to support the needs of the people in the areas that may be impacted.

    In such circumstances, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) remind the public that sites that provide emergency response and relief are considered protected areas. To the fullest extent possible, ICE and CBP do not conduct immigration enforcement activities at protected areas such as along evacuation routes, sites used for sheltering or the distribution of emergency supplies, food or water, or registration sites for disaster-related assistance or the reunification of families and loved ones.

    At the request of FEMA or local and state authorities, ICE and CBP may help conduct search and rescue, air traffic de-confliction and public safety missions. ICE and CBP provide emergency assistance to individuals regardless of their immigration status. DHS officials do not and will not pose as individuals providing emergency-related information as part of any enforcement activities.

    DHS is committed to ensuring that every individual who seeks shelter, aid, or other assistance as a result of a natural disaster or emergency event is able to do so regardless of their immigration status.

    DHS carries out its mission without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, ethnicity, disability or political associations, and in compliance with law and policy.

    For information about filing a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties about these matters, please visit our Make a Civil Rights Complaint page.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: RCMP Headquarters — A 41-year-old woman from Queens County PEI charged with sexual assault

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    A 41-year-old woman from Queens County, PEI, has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference on a person under the age of 16 in Queens County, PEI.

    On September 14, 2024, the PEI RCMP’s Major Crime Unit, began an investigation investigation into sexual offences against a youth. On September 24, 2024 an arrest and charges were laid. The accused has been charged with the following offences and will appear in Charlottetown Provincial Court on October 28, 2024.

    1. Sexual Assault
    2. Sexual Interference
    3. Invitation to sexual touching
    4. Permitting person under 19 to consume cannabis contrary to the Cannabis Control Act

    The accused was released on strict conditions before a Justice of the Peace.

    Police believe that this case is isolated to one victim and there is not a threat to the greater public.

    “The PEI RCMP are committed to a victim-centered approach when investigating sexual offences. Our priority is to ensure the dignity, privacy, and well-being of victims throughout the process. With this in mind, we will not be providing any further details that could lead to the identification of the victim, which includes the name of the accused,” Said Cpl Gavin Moore, Media Relations Officer for the PEI RCMP.

    If you have information that may assist the investigation please contact your local detachment or to remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

    The investigation is ongoing.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Tracy — Police make quick arrest following break, enter and theft

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Police quickly arrested a 27-year-old man from Upper Tracy, N.B., and stolen property was recovered following a break, enter and theft in Tracy, N.B.

    On September 22, 2024, at approximately 10:30 p.m., the Oromocto RCMP responded to a report of a break, enter and theft in progress at a camp on Peltoma Settlement Road in Tracy.

    When members arrived in the area, the property owner was able to provide video surveillance footage, and a suspect was immediately identified. A short time later, members located the suspect, a 27-year-old man, and arrested him in the same area without incident. The suspect’s vehicle was also captured on camera, and located parked in a nearby driveway with the stolen items, including a firearm, inside.

    As a result of the home owner’s quick action in calling police and providing detailed information, police were able to quickly locate and arrest the suspect and recover the stolen property.,” said Sgt. Stéphane Esculier with the Oromocto RCMP Detachment. “We understand that not all crimes can be reported while they are in progress, however, calling us as soon as possible and providing a detailed description of the events can make a big impact on the investigation.”

    The New Brunswick RCMP is committed to intelligence led policing, and this investigation is the latest in a series of police actions aimed at reducing property crimes in the province. The public plays a large role in helping achieve positive outcomes such as this one, and the Oromocto RCMP would like to thank the public for reporting crime and suspicious activity in their communities.

    Anyone with information about, or who suspects, illegal activity in their neighbourhood is asked to contact their local police. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips at www.crimenb.ca.

    The investigation is ongoing.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Founder and Former CEO of Artificial Intelligence Start-Up SKAEL Charged with Securities Fraud and Wire Fraud

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

    Defendant Allegedly Raised Over $40 Million While Misrepresenting Financial and Sales Information

    SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury indicted Baba Nadimpalli, the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of SKAEL, Inc. (SKAEL), with securities and wire fraud for defrauding investors and misleading them about the company’s revenue, annual recurring revenue (ARR), and other financial and sales information.

    According to an indictment filed Jan. 17, 2024 and unsealed Sept. 23, 2024, Nadimpalli, 41, a citizen of Australia who resided in San Francisco, Calif., founded SKAEL in 2016 and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2016 until July 2022.  SKAEL was a San Francisco-based, software-as-a-service (“Saas”) company that claimed to provide its corporate clients with artificial intelligence and automation software to assist customers with mundane, time-intensive tasks by building “Digital Employees,” which SKAEL claimed could connect databases, synthesize large amounts of information, provide information and insights, and perform tasks.  SKAEL earned revenue by charging implementation fees for the building of Digital Employees and subscription fees for the use of the Digital Employees once they were built.

    The indictment alleges that from January 2020 until about February 2022, SKAEL raised over $40 million in three rounds of financing. To induce prospective and existing investors to invest, Nadimpalli allegedly made false claims regarding SKAEL’s revenue and ARR (a measure of total revenue expected per year from committed customers with signed contracts, an important metric for investors), as well as customer and sales information.  For example, in or around 2021, Nadimpalli allegedly provided materially false information to investors in advance of their investments in SKAEL, including representing that SKAEL was receiving ARR from certain companies that did not subscribe to SKAEL’s software and services; overstating ARR from certain customers who were SKAEL customers; and representing that customers who had terminated their SKAEL subscriptions were current customers with ARR.

    The indictment further alleges that in or around February 2022, SKAEL raised approximately $30 million in a Series A preferred stock offering which valued SKAEL at approximately $230 million after closing. In connection with the stock offering, Nadimpalli allegedly directed the creation of an electronic data room for potential investors that contained (1) a spreadsheet that Nadimpalli maintained that contained materially false information about the company’s ARR and customers; (2) a materially false profit and loss statement; (3) a financial metrics spreadsheet that contained materially false subscription revenue and ARR amounts; and (4) an investor presentation that contained materially false information about the company’s ARR, revenue, and customer adoption.

    As described in the indictment, in furtherance of the scheme, Nadimpalli provided an investor and a financial employee false bank account information that included purported customer payments that had not actually been deposited.

    Nadimpalli is charged with three counts of securities fraud and seven counts of wire fraud.  If convicted of securities fraud, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $5,000,000.  If convicted of wire fraud, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

    An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp.

    The case is being handled by the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah Stern and Ilham Hosseini are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Mark DiCenzo. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI thank the San Francisco Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which announced today a parallel civil enforcement action against Nadimpalli in the Northern District of California.
     

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Seven People Charged with Over $40 Million in Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

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

    DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Ronald King, 51, formerly of Berlin, New Hampshire, and now residing in Bangor, Maine, Victor Roiter, 55, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Tina Wellman, 51, of Mayfield, New York, Adam Shorr, 55, of Dunedin, Florida, Robert O’Sullivan, 55, of Lake Sherwood, California, Bradley Edson, 66, of Mesa, Arizona, and John Gautereaux, 59, of Temecula, California were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to defrauding Medicare and Colorado Medicaid.

    According to the indictment, the defendants were involved together through a variety of corporate entities including as owners of Tesis Labs, LLC, a parent company that owned and operated genetic testing labs, including Claro Scientific Laboratories, Inc., based in Lafayette, Colorado, and 303 Diagnostics LLC, based in Aurora, Colorado. The indictment alleges that defendants King, Roiter, Wellman, and Shorr conspired to defraud Medicare and Colorado Medicaid through several means, including by paying kickbacks and bribes to purported marketing companies for referrals for fraudulent and medically unnecessary genetic testing. These referrals in turn led to more than $40 million in false and fraudulent claims paid by Medicare and Colorado Medicaid to the laboratories for the genetic testing claims.  The indictment alleges that all seven defendants participated in a conspiracy to offer and pay illegal bribes and kickbacks in connection with health care benefit programs, including Medicare, Colorado Medicaid, and private health insurance plans.  The defendants agreed to pay kickbacks and bribes to individuals and entities they identified as “marketers” to solicit patients, including elderly Medicare beneficiaries, to participate in unnecessary genetic testing and to obtain doctors’ signatures on testing order forms for these patients. Many of these kickback recipients used call centers to target elderly Medicare beneficiaries. Finally, the indictment alleges that defendants King, Roiter, and Wellman conspired to launder the proceeds of the first two conspiracies described above.

    Defendants King, Wellman, Shorr, O’Sullivan, Edson, and Gautereaux made initial appearances in Denver, Colorado, between August 26 and September 5, 2024, in front of Magistrate Judge Susan Prose.

    The charges contained in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty.

    The case is being investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Denver Field Division, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Anna Edgar.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: RM of De Salaberry — St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP respond to fatal two-vehicle collision

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    On September 24, 2024, at approximately 4:25 pm, St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP received a report of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Highway 23 and Provincial Road 200, located in the RM of De Salaberry.

    The investigation has determined that a vehicle, travelling northbound on Provincial Road 200, failed to stop at the intersection and was struck by a westbound SUV.

    The 43-year-old male driver of the westbound vehicle, from Mitchell, was not physically injured.

    Three of the four occupants in the northbound vehicle, a 32-year-old male, a 31-year-old male and a yet to be identified female, all from Winnipeg, were pronounced deceased on scene. A 32-year-old female passenger was transported to hospital with serious injuries where she remains in stable condition.

    St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP, along with a Forensic Collision Reconstructionist, continue to investigate.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: CISA Releases Anonymous Threat Response Guidance and Toolkit for K-12 Schools

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    New Resources Will Help K-12 Schools and Law Enforcement Entities Create Tailored Approaches to Addressing Anonymous Threats of Violence

    WASHINGTON – Today, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released the Anonymized Threat Response Guidance: A Toolkit for K-12 Schools, a new resource to help kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools and their law enforcement and community partners create tailored approaches to addressing anonymous threats of violence, including those received on social media. The toolkit outlines steps school leaders can take to assess and respond to anonymous threats, better prepare for and prevent future threats, and work in coordination with law enforcement and other local partners when these threats arise. It is co-sealed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which provided expert feedback on the toolkit’s key principles and strategies.

    Social media-based and other types of anonymous threats of violence against K-12 institutions are common. These threats can erode trust that schools are safe places, contribute to losses in learning and instruction time, overwhelm school and law enforcement resources and have lasting psychological impacts on school communities.

    “K-12 schools across the country are experiencing a scourge of anonymous threats of violence. School leaders need scalable solutions to navigate these ever-evolving and burdensome threats,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “The K-12 Anonymized Threat Response Guidance provides step-by-step approaches to help schools better assess and respond to these threats, as well as take action to mitigate future risks in coordination with their law enforcement and other community partners.”

    “Families, students and educators should not have to question whether they’re safe when they walk into a classroom,” said FBI Office of Partner Engagement Assistant Director, Robert Contee. “In the face of these ongoing school threats, the strategies the FBI and our partners at CISA put together will hopefully prepare our educators and administrators to maneuver through difficult challenges. The more parents, teachers and administrators know, the more likely we are to keep our kids safe. The FBI is dedicated to safeguarding schools and communities who are impacted by anonymous threats, but we also want to urge parents to talk with their children about the consequences that come with making these threats. We all need to work together.”

    The K-12 Anonymized Threat Response Guidance was developed to provide K-12 stakeholders with information to both protect school communities and limit the disruption and trauma that can be caused by anonymous threats of violence. By providing guidance to inform decision-making about the urgency and credibility of individual threats, school and public safety leaders may be able to more effectively balance the full range of risks faced by K-12 organizations.

    The toolkit emphasizes six key strategies for schools to consider when addressing anonymous threats:

    • Build awareness about reporting to detect threats early and deter future threats.
    • Develop a partnership structure that will help address threats. This includes school administrators, law enforcement personnel and mental health professionals.
    • Engage law enforcement to manage threat situations and decide when to scale response actions up or down.
    • Balance initial response steps to ensure the campus is safe. Most critically, treat each threat as credible, and from there, work with necessary partners to determine how to approach an immediate response.
    • When appropriate, tap into multidisciplinary threat assessment teams to support interventions and expedite response if the subject who made the threat becomes known.
    • Take steps throughout the school year to prepare for threats. Establish a response protocol and practice other types of emergency management activities, such as training exercises for staff.

    Today’s release also includes a supplemental reference guide that provides streamlined information for K-12 stakeholders to understand and utilize some of the best practices from the full toolkit. Both products were developed to support the diverse range of K-12 school settings across the United States and are based on current practices of K-12 organizations and law enforcement agencies.

    The new toolkit and guide were announced at CISA’s 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security, an annual event that brings together K-12 school leaders and practitioners to discuss and share actionable recommendations that enhance safe and supportive learning environments.

    To learn more and access the K-12 Anonymized Threat Response Guidance, please click here. 

    ###

    About CISA 

    As the nation’s cyber defense agency and national coordinator for critical infrastructure security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the digital and physical infrastructure Americans rely on every hour of every day.

    Visit CISA.gov for more information and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Shamattawa — Update 2- Shamattawa RCMP searching for missing child

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    It is with great sadness that we share the following information on the search for Johnson Redhead.

    Earlier this evening, at 7:45pm, searchers located 6-year-old Johnson deceased. His body was found in a marshy area, approximately 3.5km from the school where he was last seen.

    We extend our deepest condolences to his family, the community of Shamattawa First Nation, and to everyone grieving his loss.

    The search for Johnson Redhead, 6, continues.

    RCMP Police Service Dog Phlex has arrived in the community with his handler and is involved in the search. Two drones are now in the community and being used and a helicopter will be en route as soon as the weather allows. In addition, more officers out of Thompson are also on their way to join the search.

    “This search has not stopped in intensity from the moment we received the report up to the present,” said Sergeant Mark Svaren, Shamattawa RCMP Detachment Commander. “Within minutes of the report, Shamattawa RCMP officers were engaged with the community in the search, and I cannot stress enough how community involvement has been strong and steady from the moment it was realized that Johnson was missing.”

    On September 18, 2024, at approximately 12:30 pm, Shamattawa RCMP received a report that a six-year-old boy was missing. Johnson Redhead had attended the local school and attended the breakfast program until 9:00 am, but did not arrive in class after the program ended.

    A large-scale search was immediately initiated by community members and RCMP. Searchers combed through wooded areas, trails, roads, sheds, and construction equipment looking for the child. RCMP officers obtained video footage from the school in an attempt to ascertain which direction Johnson went or the circumstances surrounding him leaving school property.

    ATVs and vehicles are being used to search as well as searchers covering areas on foot.

    The RCMP Search and Rescue Team as well as the Office of the Fire Commissioner, with several volunteers from Winnipeg Volunteer Search and Rescue (WinSar) are en route to the community via air to assist with the search. The Canadian Rangers have also been engaged and will attend the community to assist with the search.

    If you have information, please call Shamattawa RCMP at 204-565-2351, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Grand Falls-Windsor — Grand Falls-Windsor RCMP investigates break, enter and theft at Glen’s Ultramar in Bishop’s Falls, seeks public’s assistance identifying suspect

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Grand Falls-Windsor RCMP is investigating a break, enter and theft that occurred during the early morning hours of September 24, 2024, at Glen’s Ultramar and Convenience on Main Street in Bishop’s Falls.

    At approximately 3:45 a.m. on Monday, a lone suspect arrived on the parking lot of the business, operating what appears to be a moped motorbike. The suspect obtained a fire extinguisher from the outside property and used it to smash a window of the business. The suspect stole two boxes of Jack Link’s pepperoni product that were located inside the store, within reach of the broken window, and departed the property.

    The suspect was wearing a sweater with two colors, black or a darker color on the top portion and grey or a lighter color on the bottom portion. The suspect was wearing a helmet, possibly blue in color.

    The investigation is continuing. Residents are asked to check all available surveillance footage around the time of the crime for a matching vehicle or other suspicious activities.

    Anyone having information about this crime or the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Grand Falls-Windsor RCMP at 709-489-2121. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers: #SayItHere 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit www.nlcrimestoppers.com or use the P3Tips app.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: CNO, NAVSOUTH Strengthen Partnerships at Inter-American Naval Conference in Brazil

    Source: United States Navy

    RIO DE JANIERO – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet (USNAVSOUTH) Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, participated in the 31st Inter-American Naval Conference (IANC), Sep. 23-25, joining naval leaders from 18 countries from across the Western Hemisphere.

    IANC, hosted this year by Brazil, serves as a forum for partner nations to discuss maritime security challenges and promote hemispheric solidarity.

    “This conference has been crucial to strengthening our bonds of friendship, collaboration and partnership for more than half a century,” said Franchetti. “We are all united by our shared values, our shared geography, and our shared stake in the continued stability, security and prosperity of the Western Hemisphere and our world.”

    The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Naval challenges and strategies to ensure operational readiness in the face of new technologies and the expansion of the navies’ responsibilities: strategic planning, doctrine development, and professional training in the medium and long term.’

    Franchetti emphasized the importance of working together as part of a security and warfighting ecosystem to address shared challenges, as outlined in her recently released Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy, noting that every Navy and Coast Guard has a role to play as a vital link in the maritime chain.

    “In this increasingly turbulent and unpredictable world, security through partnership is essential because no single nation can handle our maritime challenges alone,” said Franchetti in her remarks. “It is critical that we, the global maritime community, work together to align our efforts in a way that can benefit us all. And you will have no stronger partner than the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps team.”

    As part of the visit, Adm. Marcos Sampaio Olsen, Commander of the Brazilian Navy, hosted the delegates aboard the multipurpose amphibious ship NDM Bahia (G40) for a celebratory dinner and performance by the Brazilian Marine Corps Symphonic Band.

    Franchetti also participated in bilateral meetings with her Head of Navy counterparts from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Colombia, and she had meaningful discussions with leaders from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Meanwhile Sardiello participated in bilateral engagements with The Netherlands, Panama, Peru and Urugay, and had meaningful discussions with leaders from the Dominican Republic and Paraguay.

    During their engagements Franchetti and Sardiello discussed the role of USNAVSOUTH in employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations in order to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships that foster regional security in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.

    “This conference promotes an important permanent, professional interaction among Heads of Navy on a regular basis so that we can find solutions to problems that no one nation can solve on their own,” said Sardiello. “The security environment has changed since 1959, and we are very focused on today’s challenges to the security and welfare in our region.”

    IANC was established in 1959 to strengthen the bonds of friendship, partnership, and collaboration among Western Hemisphere naval leaders through the exchange of ideas and knowledge. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Remarks by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti at the Inter-American Naval Conference

    Source: United States Navy

    Buenos días.  Good morning.  Hello, heads of Navy.  It is so wonderful to be here and an honor to be back here in beautiful Rio de Janeiro.

    Obrigada, Admiral Olsen and his team – your entire team – for hosting this extraordinary gathering, the 31st Inter-American Naval Conference.  This has been so crucial to strengthening our bonds of friendship, collaboration, and partnership for more than half a century.

    You know, it is really great to be here among friends who are all united by our shared values, our shared geography, and our shared stake in the continued stability, security, and prosperity of the Western Hemisphere and our world.

    This year’s theme could not be more relevant or more important to the United States, this hemisphere, and the global community.  I know that all of the navies represented here understand well that these are very turbulent times, and we’ve been talking about that through your presentations today.  We understand that the international system that has provided security and stability for over three-quarters of a century is under threat in every ocean.

    We’ve all scanned the horizon, and we see the forces that are making our world and our hemisphere more unstable and more dangerous.  We’ve all experienced the devastation of natural disasters, which have been intensified by a changing climate:  flooding, fires, droughts, cyclones, landslides, and rising seas.  And we’ve all witnessed the impact of illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing, and transnational crime – drugs, weapons, human trafficking – and the impact this has on our societies and on our populations.

    And as I take in this changing environment, I know that my Navy must take action to get ahead of the changing character of the work and the additional challenges we are all facing in ship construction, maintenance, challenges we’re facing in recruiting and maintaining our infrastructure, all while acknowledging – in my case – the industrial and budgetary constraints that complicate my Navy’s ability to get after these challenges.

    We see advancements in battlefield innovation; like we were just talking about, the profound implications for the changing character of war.  We see cheaper, more accessible technology is pushing asymmetric capabilities at a lower cost to state and nonstate actors alike.

    Over the past two years, as we’ve all seen, the Ukrainian navy has used a combination of missiles, robotic service vessels, and agile digital capabilities to deny the Russian navy the use of the western Black Sea and to threaten Russia’s supply lines to its occupying forces in Crimea. And Houthi forces, equipped by Iran and emboldened by Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel nearly a year ago, have repeatedly targeted innocent merchant shipping along a key maritime chokepoint and created (vast/mass effects ?) through a mix of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones against the United States Navy and all of the partner navies that are serving in that part of the world today.

    We’ve all learned a lot about the future of war at sea, including the role – as we were just talking about – of robotic platforms, of proliferated weapons, and disaggregated forces in gaining and exploiting the sea.

    In this increasingly turbulent and unpredictable world, security through partnership is critical because no one navy, no single nation can handle all of these challenges alone, and because all of our safety, security, and prosperity are tied to the seas. And as I’ve seen in the briefings we’ve had here already this week, all of our navies are right there on the front lines – right there on the maritime front lines every single day with more tasks than resources that we often have available.

    So I think it’s really important that we, the global maritime community, work together to align our efforts in a way that can benefit us all.  And we need to do this thoughtfully, deliberately, and collectively.

    So whether you are charged by your nation with countering drug trafficking, human smuggling, illicit weapons transfers, IUU fishing, piracy, policing your territorial waters, delivering humanitarian aid and assistance to people in need, assisting mariners at sea, escorting cargo transports/tankers, or you’re deploying your forces all around the world, I believe that each nation here is the vital link in the chain of our maritime security network.

    You will have no stronger partner in this endeavor than the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps team, who will work with you tirelessly to find common ground and common cause to address our common challenges.  And you will have no more committed teammate than me, because I strongly believe that friendship is strength; and that allies and partners collectively, we are each other’s true strategic weapon.  Together, we can collaborate and build a unifying framework where there is no south, no north, no east, no west, but really just a coalition of countries who participate in and engage on matters of common interest to promote continued stability in this hemisphere and beyond.

    As I look ahead, I really see us doing this as part of what I call a warfighting ecosystem.  It’s a concept that I introduced last week when I talked about my Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy.  It’s my overarching strategic guidance that will make my Navy more ready for potential conflict across all time horizons, across the spectrum of operations both today and in the future.

    As the Chief of Naval Operations, I’m compelled to do more and to do more faster to ensure that our Navy is more ready despite all these challenges, despite the changing security environment, the changing character of war, and our own industrial base challenges.  I can’t stand still as we work to secure the long-term investments we need for our Navy to grow our work.

    My Navigation Plan will raise America’s Navy’s baseline level of readiness and put more players on the field.  Players are things like platforms that are ready with their requisite capabilities, weapons, and sustainment; and the people that are ready with the right mindset, the right tools, skills, training, and the relationships.

    We will be doing that by, first, implementing Project 33, seven key areas that my Navy needs to accelerate.  And they’re areas where I will put my personal time, my personal attention, and my resources, and really put my thumb on the scale to urgently move the needle.  It is a reference to my place as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations in a continuum of naval leaders past, present, and future.

    Second, by expanding my Navy’s contribution to the warfighting ecosystem.  Where every country has a seat at the table and a role to play no matter the size of their forces or the extent of their capabilities, we can come together to counter our share of the challenges.

    So I’ll talk to you just a little bit about this ecosystem.  I think it’s probably better explained as a global security ecosystem.  We saw a little preview of this as we were just talking about – in the presentation on Orion (ph).  It’s another version of an ecosystem.  It’s where participants can plug in and contribute their capabilities, their information, their logistics, their people, their maritime domain awareness; and create compounding, outsized effects in service of an open, safe, and stable maritime domain.  It is a system in which the layered capabilities of each of our navies, coast guards, marine corps, marine maritime police forces, and interagency partners enable and then are enabled by each other.

    And in this area of operations, in the Western Hemisphere and its adjacent seas – an area that is critical to global security and stability – I believe there are some key opportunities where we can collaborate and cooperate to expand our collective contribution to this ecosystem.  And this is a great place to have these conversations, at this kind of conference.

    So let me just highlight a few of them today.

    I think the first opportunity is about building interoperability and accelerating our naval integration to work more seamlessly together.  In order to support our mutual requirements, we can work together coherently, effectively, and efficiently to achieve our tactical, then our operational, and then our strategic objectives.  We can do this through education, exchanges, through our officers and our enlisted leaders, whether it’s in the United States – maybe at the Naval Academy, the War College, Navy Postgraduate School – or in the many programs that you offer to us and to each other across the hemisphere.  Through these exchanges, we can plant the seeds to grow our long-term relationships, create long-term shared understanding, and develop approaches to address the common challenges we face.

    And we can build that interoperability through exercises.  We’re coming off a great year of many, many exercises.  And earlier this year we conducted the 29th Rim of the Pacific exercise with 29 nations, 25,000 people from across the Pacific Ocean, Europe and all around.

    In August, our Navy supported the 10th Southern Seas deployment, and the third with the Aircraft Carrier Strike Group George Washington, conducting at-sea operations and building our collective operational planning capability.  One of the ways we did that this year was through the deployment’s first-ever embarked international staff made up of 29 maritime officers from your navies and your coast guards.  And I want to thank you for that support.  Together, our staffs briefed, planned, and executed 35 bilateral and multinational exercises, further strengthening our interoperability and our enduring partnerships.

    In August, as well, our navies conducted the latest iteration of Continuing Promise, 2024, growing our collective capability to provide health and veterinary care, execute professional military exchanges, conduct construction projects, and enhance our collective disaster relief preparedness and ability to cooperate in the face of a crisis.

    Two weeks ago, our navies wrapped up – and thank you to all of you for participating in a highly successful UNITAS, the most recent in the longest-running multinational maritime exercise in the entire world.  It was at a meeting like this, at the first Inter-American Naval Conference in 1959, that UNITAS which conceptualized, agreed upon, and brought to life.

    This year, for the first time ever, our navies conducted that exercise at the operational level, executing full maritime operation center processes to synchronize efforts across all domains, including cyber.  And as you may have seen better resourced in my NAVPLAN, I talk a little bit about the importance of a maritime operation center.  Resourcing our MOCs is a critical part of my plan and a critical part of integrating with each of you, linking our commanders to the wide range of sensors and platforms that are distributed across the seas.

    You know, if you step back and you think about everything that has happened in our world since that Inter-American Naval Conference back in 1959, each of us here has remained committed to our UNITAS exercise, knowing well it is part of our maritime heritage.  It is part of our critical, sharing partnership.  And so, as the United States look forward to hosting UNITAS in 2025 in Mayport and participating in future exercises, I know we will continue to build our collective interoperability.

    I think our second opportunity is continuing to deepen our cooperation with maritime law enforcement and by aligning our authorities to help counter transnational organized crime.  Everyone today, as – (inaudible) – just talked about, is challenged.  And I think by synchronizing our efforts with our authorities, we can accelerate our progress against the forces that are working hard to destabilize our region.

    We’ve seen success in this with the Joint Interagency Task Force South, where the United States, alongside many allies and partners, as well as interagency partners, has been able to interdict vessels carrying drugs and other contraband.  And right now, as part of Campaign Martillo, our navies are working together to deny transnational criminal organizations the ability to use regional sea lines of communication for the movement of these illicit goods.

    And then, finally, I’ll pick up where I left off in our previous discussion.  I think the third opportunity is to enhance our collaboration on robotic and autonomous systems to help especially improve our maritime domain awareness.  As I said earlier, we can use these technologies to do things that are dirty.  We can free up our sailors to do the things that only they can do.

    So whether it’s tasks that are dirty – I think about, many of you who have been at sea, cleaning a bilge.  That would be great to have technology to do that and not our sailors.

    To do the things that are dangerous.  Many of us have worked with technologies to defuse mines and destroy mines.  Where else can we have autonomous robotic technology do the things that are dangerous?

    And things that are dull.  This is going on a patrol for weeks on end and maybe never even seeing one of the things that we’re looking for.  But can we do that through a robotic and autonomous platform on the sea, above the sea, under the sea, and then free up our people to go and see what is that anomalous behavior that an autonomous platform has detected in a pattern of life?

    Again, we can free up our people to use their talents and use their creativity for the things that only they can do.  And I think that we could partner together to leverage our respective innovation bases and invest in some of those advanced technologies and prototypes to ensure that our – we have this advantage today and we have it in the future.

    Integrating robotic autonomous systems into our daily business of operations is a key part of my Navigation Plan.  I think it is an area of great opportunity.  And I’m going to invest my time and resources to help, again, raise that baseline level of integration and the baseline level of readiness of our fleet by expanding, extending, and bolstering the reach and resilience, as well as potentially the lethality, of our conventionally manned fleet by integrating unmanned technologies.

    We’re already seeing the positive effects of these systems across our force and with allies and partners through the Fleet Experimentation series – or called FLEX series – that’s been sponsored by NAVSOUTH for the last several years.  In fact, today, in the Hybrid Fleet Campaign Event in Key West, Florida, there are sailors in companies from across our navies.  They are working together to operationalize new capabilities, to enhance maritime domain awareness, and to detect and monitor illicit trafficking – again, working towards a more stable future for our hemisphere.

    So, fellow leaders, this week we have an opportunity to discuss our shared challenges and chart our course to increase the resilience of our forces, to strengthen security, and promote prosperity as partners, building on our already very sound foundation.  Each of you here has an important role and provides valued expertise in this ecosystem that I believe is critical to tackling our common values.  Together, we can ensure the security and stability of our region while working to ensure that our shared values, our cultures, and our way of life can be shared by generations to come.

    So I thank you all very much for the opportunity and the honor to be with you today, and I hope we can do this next year at Mayport for UNITAS.  I also invite you to come to our International Seapower Symposium, which will be next October in Newport, Rhode Island, and then help me celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.  I know that’s young for some of the other navies here, but 250 for us.  We’ll be celebrating that birthday also in October, in Philadelphia.  And I look forward to seeing you at those events if I don’t see you before.  Thanks very much.  Again, it’s an honor to be with all of you today.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Billings Man Admits Arranging for Commercial Sex with Minor Girl in Undercover Investigation

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

    BILLINGS — A Billings man accused of texting with undercover law enforcement to arrange for sex with a minor girl and showing up at an agreed-upon location admitted to a racketeering crime today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    The defendant, Christopher Lynn Cliburn, 60, pleaded guilty to use of facility in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering as charged in a superseding information. Cliburn faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided. A sentencing date will be set before U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Cliburn was detained pending further proceedings.

    In court documents, the government alleged that on Nov. 16, 2023, law enforcement placed an ad on a website depicting a fictious 14-year-old girl. The ad suggested that the “girl” was willing to engage in sexual conduct for money. On Nov. 19, 2023, a phone number, later connected to Cliburn, responded to the ad. Cliburn and an undercover officer then engaged in a series of text communications in which the parties discussed meeting for commercial sex, potential sexual acts that the “girl” would perform and how much money Cliburn had. On Nov. 20, 2023, Cliburn indicated he was at the agreed-upon location in Billings and confirmed his presence by sending law enforcement a photograph.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI conducted the investigation.

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

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Browning Man Admits Assaulting Woman with Belt on Blackfeet Indian Reservation

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

    GREAT FALLS — A Browning man accused of beating and then using a belt to assault a woman on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation admitted to an assault charge today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    The defendant, Briar Joseph Crawford, 29, pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon. Crawford faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

    Chief U.S District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for Jan. 29, 2025. Crawford was detained pending further proceedings.

    The government alleged in court documents that on Aug. 6, 2023, Crawford went to Twin Lakes go fishing with the victim, identified as Jane Doe. They got into an argument, and Crawford began to severely beat Doe over several hours as they traveled from Twin Lakes to the East Glacier Cut Across Road. At one point, Crawford removed his belt, wrapped it around Doe’s neck, grabbed it and lifted her weight off the ground until she blacked out. Doe suffered numerous injuries from the prolonged assault.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services conducted the investigation.

    XXX

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Oakhill — Lunenburg District RCMP charge a man with multiple offences, including impaired operation and assault

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Lunenburg District RCMP has charged a man with multiple offences after he struck several vehicles attempting to flee police. There were no injuries reported from this incident.

    On September 23 at approximately 12:15 p.m., officers responded to a report of a suspected impaired driver who was observed hitting a parked tractor in Mader’s Cove.

    Officers located the vehicle, a beige Lincoln Town Car, in Blockhouse, and attempted a traffic stop but the driver refused to stop for police and fled the area.

    At approximately 12:50 p.m., officers again located the vehicle, now pulled over on the side of Hwy. 103 near Oakhill. Officers took steps to prevent the driver from attempting to flee again and putting the public at risk. The driver struck and damaged two of the police cars involved, and continued to resist arrest after exiting his vehicle. He was safely arrested and later refused to provide a breath sample.

    Adam Vanderzwaag, 40, of Conquerall Mills, has been charged with the following:

    • Impaired Operation of a Conveyance
    • Flight from Police
    • Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance
    • Assault Peace Officer With a Weapon (2 counts)
    • Resist Arrest
    • Obstruct Justice
    • Failure or Refusal to Comply with Demand
    • Disarming a Peace Officer

    Vanderzwaag appeared at Bridgewater Provincial Court on September 24. His next court appearance is scheduled for October 23.

    Highway 103 was closed between Exits 12 and 11 following this incident, but was reopened after approximately one hour.

    Police appreciated calls from the public that assisted in identifying and locating this vehicle. Road safety is a shared responsibility. If you suspect an impaired driver, it’s an emergency; call 911.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: North Port Man Sentenced to 70 Years in Federal Prison for Producing and Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Videos

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

    Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber today sentenced Raul Colon-Ocasio (32, North Port) to 70 years in federal prison for production and possession of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Colon-Ocasio was also sentenced to a term of supervised release for life and ordered to register as a sex offender. A federal jury found Colon-Ocasio guilty on June 5, 2024.

    According to court documents, between December 2021 and May 5, 2022, Colon-Ocasio used two minors to produce numerous videos of sexual abuse. 

    In 2022, a parent of Minor Victim 1 reported her daughter missing to law enforcement in Charlotte County. While investigating, law enforcement uncovered communications on social media between Colon-Ocasio and the child that were sexual in nature. In October 2022, an FBI Task Force Officer assumed the social media account of Minor Victim 1 and began communicating with Colon-Ocasio. On October 18, 2022, instead of Colon-Ocasio meeting Minor Victim 1, he encountered law enforcement. Colon-Ocasio’s cellphone was seized. Subsequent to a search warrant for his cellphone, law enforcement located sexually explicit videos that Colon-Ocasio had produced of Minor Victim 1.

    Additionally, law enforcement located numerous videos that Colon-Ocasio had produced of another child engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Subsequent to further investigation, Minor Victim 2 was located by law enforcement. 

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with includes the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office that assisted with this investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

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

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Men Sentenced to Prison for Armed Robbery of a Check-Cashing Business

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

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Two men have been sentenced to prison for the armed robbery of a check-cashing business in Chantilly.

    According to court documents, on Nov. 18, 2023, Antonio Chester Lewis, 49, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Al Gibran Taylor, 42, of Reston, entered the store intending to rob it of its cash. Lewis had entered the store previously to survey it. Lewis was armed with a .223/5.56 mm caliber semi-automatic rifle, which he pointed at customers and ordered them to put their hands in the air. Taylor attempted to open a cashier booth, which contained the store’s register and safe. When Taylor found the booth locked, Lewis identified the store’s cashier, grabbed her by the neck, and brought her to the cashier booth. The cashier opened the booth, and Taylor removed a large amount of cash from the store’s safe.

    Lewis was arrested on March 26. That day, law enforcement conducted a search of Lewis’ residence and recovered the rifle used during the robbery as well as a privately made firearm with no serial number, a shotgun, and ammunition. On April 4, law enforcement also searched Lewis’ vehicle and recovered a handgun and additional ammunition.

    On June 13, Lewis pled guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. Lewis was sentenced on Sept. 3 to 15 years and eight months in prison.

    On June 21, Taylor pled guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Taylor was sentenced today to 25 years in prison.

    Both Lewis and Taylor have multiple prior convictions. On Aug. 9, 1994, Lewis was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. On May 30, 1997, he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine while armed. On Oct. 20, 2005, Lewis was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base. As a previously convicted felon, Lewis cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition.

    Taylor previously was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 21, 2006, of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence during which the firearm was discharged. On June 30, 2006, Taylor was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia of possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.

    Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; David E. Geist, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division; and Kevin Davis, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after Taylor was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

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

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Cases No. 1:24-cr-139 and 1:24-cr-130.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Independence Man Sentenced for Fentanyl Trafficking, Illegal Firearm

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

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and for illegally possessing a firearm.

    Wiser Key, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

    On March 27, 2024, Key pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

    Key admitted that he engaged in drug transactions with an undercover law enforcement officer. In one transaction, for example, the undercover officer paid Key $8,500 in exchange for 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone tablets, which contained fentanyl. In another transaction, an undercover officer paid Key $6,000 in exchange for 750 counterfeit oxycodone pills, which contained fentanyl.

    On April 30, 2021, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Key’s residence. Officers found multiple plastic bags that contained tablets, approximately 8 kilograms of suspected THC wax, approximately 39 grams of suspected cocaine, multiple bags of suspected marijuana, an FN handgun, a loaded Glock .40-caliber handgun, a loaded Springfield 9mm handgun, a loaded Sig Sauer .40-caliber handgun, a Harrington and Richardson 20-gauge shotgun, and $24,676 in cash.

    According to court documents, Key distributed at least 120,000 counterfeit pills, which contained fentanyl, during the conspiracy. He and a co-defendant purchased 4,000 to 5,000 pills at a time from sources in Mexico.

    Key is the first defendant to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Nilolas Albright, 30, of Cameron, Mo., and Demasjiay Cruse, 25, of St. Joseph, Mo., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and await sentencing.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen A. Brackett, Stephanie C. Bradshaw and John C. Constance. It was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the FBI; IRS-Criminal Investigation; the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department; the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department; the Buchanan County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department; and the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Champaign, Illinois, Woman Sentenced to 324 Months in Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

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

    URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Illinois, woman, Malaia A. Turner, 36, was sentenced on September 23, 2024, to 324 months in prison, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.

    At the sentencing hearing, the government presented evidence that Turner was a leader in a conspiracy responsible for obtaining large quantities of ice methamphetamine and other drugs from suppliers in California, Texas, and Illinois and transporting those drugs to the Central District of Illinois. After hearing that evidence, U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce concluded Turner was a leader of the conspiracy and faced heightened penalties due to her leadership role.

    Turner was convicted following a four-day jury trial in May 2024. She has been in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since her arrest in August 2022.

    At sentencing, Turner faced statutory penalties of ten years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $10 million, and not less than a five-year term of supervised release upon her release from custody.

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office; Illinois State Police East Central Illinois Task Force; and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel E. Ritzer and Timothy J. Sullivan represented the government in the prosecution.

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

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Fayette County Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Crime

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

    BECKLEY, W.Va. – John Gray, 39, of Oak Hill, pleaded guilty today to distribution of a quantity of methamphetamine.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 28, 2023, Gray sold approximately 2 pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Oak Hill. Gray admitted to the transaction and further admitted to selling approximately 848 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Oak Hill on May 1, 2023.

    Gray also admitted to selling 3 grams of fentanyl on May 3, 2024, and another 3 grams of fentanyl on May 6, 2024, each time to a confidential informant in Oak Hill. During a March 1, 2024, interview with law enforcement officers, Gray admitted that he had been distributing approximately 3 grams of fentanyl three times per week from April 2023 until his arrest in March 2024.

    Gray is scheduled to be sentenced on January 24, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

    United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Central Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

    United States Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell is prosecuting the case.

    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 No. 5:24-cr-31.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Pittsburgh Resident Sentenced to 108 Months in Prison for Receipt of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

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

    PITTSBURGH, PA – A former resident of the Western District of Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 108 months of imprisonment, followed by ten years of supervised release on his federal felony conviction pertaining to his receipt of material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

    United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy imposed the sentence on Shawn Michael Hoffman, age 41, following his guilty plea to this violation of federal law. In imposing the sentence, Judge Hardy emphasized the extremely serious nature of this federal offense and the harm the defendant caused to the minor victim.

    The one-count Information named Shawn Michael Hoffman, age 41, formerly of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the sole defendant.

    According to the information presented to the court, in September 2019, Hoffman initiated online communications and solicited sexually explicit visual depictions of the minor. Hoffman also received visual depictions of the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct using the internet and cellular phone.

    Assistant United States Attorney Nicole A. Stockey is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.

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

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Repeat Offender Imprisoned for Having Over 6,000 Child Pornography Images

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

    McALLEN, Texas – A 43-year-old McAllen resident has been sent back to prison for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

    Rene Javier Sarmienta pleaded guilty March 20, 2023.

    U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now ordered Sarmienta to serve 120 months in federal prison. In handing down the prison term, the court noted it was unfortunate Sarmienta relapsed and needs therapy. Sarmienta was further ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of 12 victims and will serve five years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. The court also noted his previous conviction of possessing child pornography in 2002 and that he would be spending another significant amount of his life in prison.

    The investigation began when law enforcement discovered Sarmienta had been purchasing child pornography using a PayPal account. He also failed to report having several social media accounts to local authorities as required due to status as a sex offender.

    A forensic examination of Sarmienta’s cell phone revealed 6,300 images of child pornography. Several of the images included prepubescent minors and sadomasochistic conduct.

    He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

    The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the McAllen Police Department.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys M. Alexis Garcia and Tyler Foster prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Thompson — Update – Thompson RCMP respond to shooting

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    RCMP have identified one of the suspects involved in the shooting and are asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.

    Tyrell Malique Porter, 21, from the Waterloo, Ontario area is described as 5’6′ tall and 132 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

    Porter is wanted on a warrant for multiple firearms offences and is considered armed and dangerous.

    Police believe that the female suspect also involved in the incident is still in the company of Porter.

    If you have information, please call Thompson RCMP at 204-677-6909 Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

    On September 15, 2024, at approximately 10:15 pm, Thompson RCMP received a report of a two-vehicle motor vehicle collision that occurred on Perch Avenue in Thompson. While en route to the call, police were informed that a possible gun shot was heard.

    When officers arrived on scene, a 47-year-old male was found injured. Officers immediately provided emergency care. The male was transported to local hospital, where he was treated and has since been released.

    Investigation determined that the male had been driving a pickup truck that was in a collision with a SUV. The SUV followed the victim to a residence and a male suspect exited the SUV, produced a firearm, and shot at the victim. A neighbouring residence was also struck by projectiles from the firearm, but nobody inside was physically injured.

    After the shooting, the SUV fled the scene and was located soon after by police on Pike Crescent. The male suspect and a female suspect were seen by witnesses going into the residence. The residence was surrounded, and three individuals were taken into custody. However, none of the three individuals were determined to have been involved in the incident and were released. The two suspects were not located inside the residence.

    Thompson RCMP continue to look for the two suspects involved in the shooting. At this time, police do not have confirmed descriptions to provide.

    If you have information, please call Thompson RCMP at 204-677-6909, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Looking back and moving forward: Marking 20 Years of NATO – Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partnership

    Source: NATO

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for stronger, more strategic and results-orientated partnerships with countries in the Gulf region during an event in the margins of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (25 September 2024). Hosted by the Crown Prince of Kuwait, his Highness Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah, the event celebrated 20 years of NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). It brought together NATO’s four ICI partners (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) as well as Saudi Arabia, Oman and the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

    Mr. Stoltenberg thanked the Crown Prince for hosting the anniversary event and reaffirmed the importance of the NATO-ICI partnership as a platform for cooperation, highlighting its evolution and achievements. The Secretary General underlined areas of close cooperation between NATO and the ICI partners – including cyber defence, security sector reform, climate change, energy security, maritime security, and the protection of critical infrastructure. “During these two decades, our cooperation has grown from strength to strength”, he said, praising the Gulf partners’ contributions and participation.

    Mr. Stoltenberg emphasized that, when faced with “a deeply deteriorated security environment, we see more than ever that our security is not regional, but global”, closer cooperation with partners in the Gulf and wider Middle East region is a necessary step. He outlined the decisions taken by Allies at the Washington Summit in July 2024 to increase NATO’s engagement in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel. Referring to Javier Colomina’s appointment as the new Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, the Secretary General stated that it is “the first time the Alliance has a dedicated focal point for this work”. He also referred to the upcoming​opening of the NATO Liaison Office in Jordan, the broadened scope of the training mission in Iraq, the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Regional Centre in Kuwait and the Hub for the South in Naples, which provide “an even stronger basis on which to take our partnerships forward”, said the Secretary General.

    The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) was launched in 2004 and provides a partnership forum to practical cooperation and political dialogue between NATO and partner countries in the Gulf region. Four countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have joined the initiative, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

    The NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Regional Centre in Kuwait (NIRC) opened in 2017 and helps strengthen political dialogue, education and training, and public diplomacy. The centre was inaugurated in 2017 by Secretary General Stoltenberg, marking NATO’s first such presence in the Gulf region.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Dauphin — Dauphin RCMP make large seizure after traffic stop

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    On September 22, 2024, at approximately 6:45 pm, Dauphin RCMP conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Mountain Avenue in Dauphin as part of an ongoing investigation. When the officer attempted to stop the vehicle by activating the lights and sirens on the police vehicle, the suspect vehicle fled at a high rate of speed.

    The suspect vehicle ran a red light on Main Street and struck another vehicle, and then spun and struck a 26-year-old male pedestrian. The suspect vehicle then continued and struck a parked vehicle. At this time, the driver and passenger fled on foot. The passenger was taken into custody a short while later.

    An RCMP drone operator and Police Service Dog Marook were engaged to track the driver, and located him after a track that led them across the Vermillion River.

    A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of a loaded shotgun, a large sum of Canadian currency, and a substance believed to be cocaine.

    An RCMP Forensic Collision Reconstructionist attended the scene where the vehicle and the pedestrian were struck to assist with that part of the investigation.

    The pedestrian was transported to local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and the driver of the vehicle that was struck was not physically injured.

    Samuel Flatfoot, 26, of Dauphin, was the driver and is charged with charged with Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Flight from Peace Officer, Resists/Obstructs Peace Officer, and Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking.

    Marcus George, 22, of Swan River, was the passenger. He is charged with Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Resist/Obstructs Peace Officer x2, and Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking.

    Both have been remanded.

    The investigation continues.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Colombia: ICITAP Conducts Training Exclusively for Judicial Experts in ¨Communication of the Expert During the Criminal Proceeding”

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    On July 2, the ICITAP-Colombia mission provided an update on its assistance to the criminal justice system. With funding and support from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), ICITAP sponsored the participation of nineteen officials from the Colombian National Police (CNP) the Attorney General´s Office (AGO) and the National Institute of Legal Medicine (LM). During the training, participants prepared their expert report collaborating along with the prosecutor, to prepare for their testimony as experts during a mock hearing exercise of an oral trial. During the preparation stage, participants increased their communication skills utilizing logical reasoning and how to prepare demonstrative evidence by means of illustrations, drawings, and flowcharts to present the results of their expert opinions. During the mock oral hearing in front of a judge, participants experienced the interrogation phase, cross-examination, redirect and clarifications, from which they received feedback from judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and their colleagues. All participants were recorded during their hearing and at the end, they were presented with their recorded video for constructive feedback from their peers, attorneys, and the judge. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexico: ICITAP Holds Closing Ceremony for Forensic Leadership Workshop

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    On July 9, the ICITAP-Mexico virtually held the closing ceremony for the 4th yearly iteration of the Forensic Leadership and Management Workshop. In attendance was the ICITAP Director, who gave final remarks as well as ICITAP’s Senior Forensic Advisor Elizabeth Marso and ICITAP-Mexico’s Law Enforcement Assistance Attaché. This year there were approximately 40 participants including lab directors, quality managers, liaisons, and technical leaders in forensics from Mexico, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Honduras, and Guatemala. The objective of the course is for participants to enhance problem-solving skills of forensic scientists in leadership roles for those having leadership positions in forensic laboratories. The workshop was held virtually once a week for 12 sessions on topics such as leadership, ethics, communication, motivation, intergenerational and intercultural conflict, improving processes, decision making and risk management. In order to maintain the culture of quality within the laboratories it is important that leadership stays up to date on their skills and abilities which in turn promotes sustainability of forensic services in Mexico, Central America and Colombia.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Pakistan: ICITAP Delivers Lecture at National Police Academy of New Police Officers, Undergoing Assistant Superintendents of Police Training

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    On July 29, ICITAP-Pakistan’s Mission Advisor conducted a four-hour guest lecture in money laundering for new police officers undergoing training to become Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP). While this training occurred in Islamabad, the eighteen officers who attended are highly educated men and women from many different regions of Pakistan. These officers had previously passed a rigorous, highly competitive civil service examination that qualified them as Police Services of Pakistan (PSPs). As each of them advance in their careers, they will assume executive management ranks within the police of Pakistan.  As a result of this lecture, which was well received by the attendees and NPA administrators, ICITAP was offered the full use of the National Police Academy and was petitioned to conduct multiple, full five-day versions of this training to seasoned field officers, as future in-service training. In Pakistan, ICITAP works with the support of and in coordination with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Uzbekistan: ICITAP Commences Development of Counter Terrorism Investigators and Managers Courses with Law Enforcement Academy of Uzbekistan

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    On July 22, ICITAP commenced its training development engagement with the Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) of Uzbekistan jointly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office of the British Government. This engagement will facilitate the long-term sustainability of counter-terrorism related teachings across agencies and institutions within Uzbekistan. The joint training development team consisting of individuals from the US, UK, and the LEA will work together for a three-week period reviewing existing materials, course structures, accreditation opportunities and incorporating human rights teachings to support an enhanced ability to investigate and manage counter-terrorism investigations and prosecutions. During the engagement the team will visit the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in Indonesia to engage with staff and representatives from the National Police Academy. They will have the opportunity to observe a course designed to support the development of female law enforcers in the field of counter-terrorism surveillance techniques. The visit to JCLEC will enable the team to witness how counter-terrorism related training is being delivered effectively within Southeast Asia and serve as a point of reference for course structure and content. At the conclusion of this initial period of development the training team will structure counter-terrorism courses for delivery to academics, prosecutors, and frontline enforcement assets. Following agreement across the team on content and structure CT-DOJ/ICITAP will work with institutions in the US and UK to seek accreditation opportunities. This process will assist with long-term capacitation in country and encourage enhanced intelligence-sharing practices due to the developed abilities to handle intelligence and information accordingly. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Leessa Augustine, Former Sewerage & Water Board Special Agent and New Orleans Police Officer, Indicted for Multiple Fraud Schemes

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

    NEW ORLEANS – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that LEESSA AUGUSTINE (“AUGUSTINE”), age 46, was indicted on September 20, 2024 for her involvement in multiple fraud schemes while employed as a Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (“S&WB”) Senior Special Agent, a position tasked with investigating the alleged misconduct of other Sewerage & Water Board employees.

    In one alleged scheme, AUGUSTINE, who was also a New Orleans Police Department reserve officer, billed a police detail customer for hours not actually worked.  It is alleged that during some of the times AUGUSTINE was supposed to be working the police detail for the Downtown Development District, she used her S&WB-issued computer to conduct a second fraud scheme, that involved obtaining a mortgage loan and federally funded assistance for low-income homebuyers.  In that home-purchase scheme, AUGUSTINE allegedly created fake documents, including a fake W-2 form, fake pay stubs, and fake bank statements.  In a third alleged scheme, AUGUSTINE obtained federally funded unemployment benefits by concealing her Senior Special Agent income. Finally, in a fourth alleged scheme, AUGUSTINE obtained federally funded emergency rental assistance from the City of New Orleans, by submitting a fake lease and a termination letter from a fictitious employer.  At various times during the schemes, AUGUSTINE allegedly provided her S&WB-issued cellphone number as a contact number for three different persons she impersonated.

    AUGUSTINE is charged with four counts of Wire Fraud (one count per each fraud scheme).  AUGUSTINE is also charged with two counts of Aggravated Identity Theft for allegedly misusing two persons’ identities.  Finally, AUGUSTINE is charged with making False Statements for allegedly lying to investigators.

    The wire fraud charge related to the police detail is punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment. The other three wire fraud charges are each punishable by up to 30 years’ imprisonment due to enhanced penalties for fraud related to emergency benefits and fraud affecting a financial institution.  Each aggravated identity theft charge is punishable by two years’ imprisonment.  The false statement charge is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.  Each count may include a fine of up to $250,000, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and the payment of a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

    U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

    U.S. Attorney Evans thanked the New Orleans Office of Inspector General and the New Orleans Police Department for their valuable assistance in this case.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Inspector General – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Inspector General – U.S. Department of Labor, and the Office of Inspector General – U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Misconduct not proven against Met Special Constable.

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A Misconduct Hearing has found that a Met Special Constable had not breached the standards of professional behaviour in regards to discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy.

    MSC Ben Smith, attached to the South East Command Unit, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, 7 February, charged with sexual assault. At that hearing the case was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

    This followed a report of a sexual assault alleged to have taken place off duty in April 2017 and reported to the Met in 2022.

    On Friday, 20 September, following a Misconduct Hearing, the panel found that MSC Smith had not breached the standards of professional behaviour in regards to discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy.

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