Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Pensacola, Florida – Joshua Dean Hardy, 27, of Century, Florida, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for two counts of possession of an unregistered National Firearms Act weapon without a serial number and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Defendants Caused a Combined Tax Loss of Over $38 Million and Facilitated Employment of Undocumented Aliens
Two Honduran nationals were sentenced Tuesday to 204 months and 51 months in prison for their roles in operating a years-long off-the-books cash payroll scheme that facilitated the employment of undocumented aliens working illegally in the United States and caused a loss to the United States of more than $38 million.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2015 to 2022, Iris Villafranca and Osman Donaldo Zapata, both Honduran nationals, conspired together and with others to create a series of shell companies to run an unlicensed check cashing and cash courier service business. These shell companies cashed approximately $89 million in checks from subcontractors in the construction industry, charging them a percentage of the dollar amount of the checks they cashed as a fee for this service. Through this scheme, construction contractors and subcontractors paid their workers in cash without withholding and paying required payroll taxes, allowing them to operate without regard to the workers’ legal authority to work in the United States. The defendants also caused the filing of false tax documents with the IRS to conceal the off-the-books payroll scheme.
In addition, the defendants defrauded workers’ compensation insurance companies by leasing their certificates of insurance to contractors and by providing false and fraudulent information to the insurers about, among other things, the number of workers covered by the insurance and the amount workers were paid.
Villafranca and Zapata both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Villafranca also pleaded guilty to four counts of filing false individual income tax returns based on her 2019 through 2022 tax returns, which did not report all the income she earned from the scheme and rental income she earned from real estate she owned.
Villafranca was sentenced to 204 months and Zapata was sentenced to 51 months. Villafranca was ordered to pay more than $38 million in restitution to the United States and forfeit $89 million of criminal proceeds from the scheme and Zapata was ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution to the United States. Francisco Alvarez, who conspired with Villafranca, Zapata and others, was previously sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in restitution.
A fourth member of the conspiracy is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations. ICE ERO Miami (Orlando sub-office), Florida Highway Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, US Marshals Service, State Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have assisted in arrest operations.
Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorney Kavitha Bondada of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Hu of the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support 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 Criminal Division
SAN DIEGO – Two boat captains whose ill-fated maritime smuggling attempt resulted in the deaths of four migrants, including two children, pleaded guilty in federal court today. Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna admitted to their participation in a wide-ranging conspiracy that involved coordinating with individuals in Mexico to smuggle aliens into the United States using maritime vessels.
Source: United States Army
WASHINGTON — Joint Interagency Task Force 401 and Joint Task Force-National Capital Region recently coordinated a training exercise at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as part of a synchronized effort to advance counter-drone capabilities in the National Capital Region.
Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) are undergoing special training on the Bumblebee V1 counter-UAS system as part of a broader effort to strengthen layered defenses protecting key Department of War infrastructure in the homeland. The training focuses on equipping Soldiers with the ability to detect, track, identify and defeat drones with minimal risk to surrounding personnel and facilities.
“We want to train our warfighters in the National Capital Region on how best to employ low cost, low collateral kinetic effectors,” said Lt. Col. Alex Morse, JIATF-401 acquisition lead. “The training at Ft. Belvoir adds to the layered defense systems that are set up here in the NCR.”
The Bumblebee system is a small drone that is being operationally assessed for dual use as a reconnaissance asset and a counter-UAS platform that allows operators to identify and intercept hostile drones using a controlled, low-collateral approach.
“Bumblebee’s improved air-to-air capability will enhance our layered defenses by enabling warfighters to follow drones back to their launch point to identify the operator, or by destroying them in the air with minimal risk to people or property on the ground.” said Lt. Col. Adam Scher, JIATF-401 spokesperson.
JIATF-401 is focused on creating a layered defense against the threat of drones by integrating systems and rapidly increasing capabilities. By synchronizing efforts with JTF-NCR, JIATF-401 is leading a whole-of-government approach to protect the homeland through innovation and interoperability. The addition of Bumblebee systems represents a deliberate step in expanding the tools available for our warfighters to use against the persistent threat of UAS.
“Countering drones is both a battlefield and a homeland defense imperative. We have to work together, share information, and leverage the entire joint force along with interagency and law enforcement partners to keep pace with this threat,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401.
“We will not be limited to library-based radio frequency defeat systems as we protect against drone threats,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Ross, director of JIATF-401. “We must be proactive with a layered defense, including kinetic defeat options at every War Department base or facility.”
As unmanned threats evolve, success will depend not only on acquiring top-tier technology, but also on ensuring our warfighters are properly trained and have the necessary permissions to effectively employ c-UAS technology in defense of the homeland.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Task Enforcement Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Farhana Islam, and Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Michael Alfonso, announced the arrests of KAREEM ANTOINE TURNER and ALEXANDER DARAVINA on narcotics and firearms charges for operating a fentanyl manufacturing facility in a Brooklyn residential apartment building.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Naquel Matao Henderson, 28, a three-time convicted felon residing in the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 56 months in federal prison in connection with a street robbery in Northeast when he crashed a scooter into a car stopped at a traffic light, demanded money from the victim motorist for a new pair of pants, grabbed the motorist’s satchel from around her neck, and then fled from police.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – A Londonderry, N.H. man was arrested today for allegedly cyberstalking a Massachusetts victim through social media, text messages and various online platforms. Among numerous other things, the defendant allegedly posted sexually provocative statements, including a post that indicated the victim wanted to be sexually assaulted. The defendant also allegedly directed others on social media to produce, post and repost sexually explicit material of the victim.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
SAN DIEGO – David Anthony Burge and Kyrsten Renee Bospflug pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that for two years, they stole mail from multiple post offices, apartment complexes and business complexes all over San Diego County – converting other peoples’ checks, credit cards and personal information into more than $150,000 in nefarious profit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today, Kevaughn Wellington and Ky-Mani Straker, each former United States Postal Service (USPS) employees, were sentenced by United States District Judge Diane Gujarati to prison for their participation in a fraudulent scheme through which they sold, for their own financial gain, United States Treasury checks issued by the United States Department of the Treasury. Wellington and others stole the Treasury checks from the USPS mail facility located at John F. Kennedy International Airport (the JFK Mail Facility), where the defendants were previously employed.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Florida nursing assistant was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in which hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries were sent thousands of orthotic braces they did not need. Cruz was also ordered to pay $3,712,345.70 in restitution and $724,871 in forfeiture.