Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into a now-jailed, self-styled cryptocurrency businessman by lying that he never witnessed the wannabe crypto mogul threaten and extort $25,000 from a party planner at his Bel Air mansion.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
PLANO, Texas – Two individuals were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.Jonathan Guerra, 30, of Irving, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on July 10, 2026.Laura LoeraFlores, 38, of Mexico, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison by Judge Jordan. According to information presented in court, Guerra and Loera-Flores were involved in a conspiracy with others to traffic more than five kilograms of cocaine from Mexico into the Eastern District of Texas and beyond. Loera-Flores played an integral role in the conspiracy and was responsible for driving her vehicle loaded with hidden drug proceeds from the United States into Mexico so that Mexican drug traffickers could receive the profits from the illegal drug trade. Loera-Flores was found with ten bundles totaling $198,902 in cash on one trip. She made multiple trips between Mexico and the United States during the conspiracy.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.The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Brooks.###
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announces the separate indictments of a Stockton man and a Modesto man that highlight the Office’s commitment to prosecuting felons who unlawfully possess firearms and to reducing gun violence in the Eastern District of California.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –RALPH PRICE (“PRICE”), age 28, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026 before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Suboxone, and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), 841(b)(1)(D), and 841(b)(1)(E); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i); and possession of a machinegun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2), announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Florida man pleaded guilty today to filing a false tax return filed on behalf of a trust he controlled.
According to court documents and statements made in court, McDonald Preval, of Miami, filed numerous false tax returns on behalf of himself and purported trusts he controlled. The trust tax returns reported that the trusts had earned significant income and made tax withholding payments to the IRS, purportedly entitling the trusts to large tax refunds. In fact, the trusts did not have the claimed income, and did not make payments in the amounts claimed on the returns, and therefore were not entitled to the refunds Preval claimed. He also filed tax returns for 2023 that did not include the income from his employment. The false tax returns Preval filed and caused to be filed on behalf of purported trusts and himself collectively sought tax refunds totaling more than $4.2 million.
Preval pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6 and faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. He also faces 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.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Melissa Siskind and Kavitha Bondada of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Tax Section, are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Source: United States Department of Justice
The Justice Department announced today that Ziheng “Tony” Fang was arrested on a federal charge of false information and hoaxes. Fang made an initial appearance on July 10, in federal court in San Jose, California.
According to the allegations in a criminal complaint and court documents filed on July 9, Fang, 30, of San Jose, California, wrote a hateful and threatening message placed in a plastic cover sheet taped to the bathroom wall of a men’s restroom on the campus of San Jose State University (SJSU). Fang is a graduate student at SJSU, pursuing his Master’s Degree in Data Science.
The message was discovered on Nov. 5, 2025, and began with “!WARNING! MASS BOMB NEXT WEEK,” among other statements, accompanied by multiple swastika symbols. A photograph of this message is below:
Photograph of the message discovered on Nov. 5, 2025
Fang’s fingerprint was found on this paper. A second message was also discovered on the wall of the same bathroom at the same time. It read “Kill all Jews, Muslims, Chinks, and Mexicans,” “Mass bombing 11/11 and 11/12 guess.”
As alleged in the complaint, since October 2024, SJSU Police Department personnel have recorded more than 20 instances of hateful and threatening messages written in men’s and gender-neutral restrooms around the SJSU campus. In many instances, these messages included threats specifying a particular date that an attack was allegedly intended to take place and/or weapons and methods that would be used such as bombs, knives, and shooting. The most recent hateful and threatening message was discovered on May 14.
Fang accessed buildings in the days leading up to the discovery of hateful and threatening messages in 16 of the 18 instances where key card access is required, according to the complaint. The next closest number of entries was from a SJSU staff member who worked with facilities and had a reason to be in each building. Surveillance footage also shows Fang entering and exiting the restrooms or restroom areas where some of the messages were written up to a day before their discovery.
According to the complaint, the SJSU President’s Office provided several email/text message alerts to notify students and staff before dates that attacks were allegedly set to take place. When alerts were issued, SJSU professors independently decided whether to cancel class or hold it virtually. University police and the college administration received multiple calls from people worried about coming onto campus because of the threats. Campus buildings on the dates specified in the messages were described as “ghost town,” as described in the complaint.
U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Special Agent in Charge Scott Schelble of the FBI San Francisco Field Office made the announcement.
Fang is currently in federal custody. Fang is next scheduled to appear in federal court on July 13 for identification of counsel before Chief Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Griswold for the Northern District of California is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trial Attorney Connor Cheadle of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI, with the assistance of the San Jose State University Police Department.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – TREMAINE MYLES (“MYLES”), age 34, a resident of Marrero, pled guilty on July 8, 2026, to a four-count indictment for violations of the Federal Gun Control Act, and theft of mail, announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – OBLAN ANTONIO CANALES-MARTINEZ (“CANALES-MARTINEZ”), age 51, a native of Honduras, was sentenced on July 9, 2026, after previously pleading guilty to illegal re-entry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
CHEYENNE, Wyo.—The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) program, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office today to highlight their coordinated efforts to combat drug trafficking, reduce overdose deaths, and hold criminals responsible for distributing dangerous drugs.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Baltimore, Maryland – An illegal alien, who is a citizen of Romania, received a federal-prison term, today, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Florin Serdaru, 29, to 39 months in prison for his role in a Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits fraud conspiracy.