Source: United States Navy
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) returned to its homeport of San Diego following a nine-month mission to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations (AOO), Dec. 19.
Source: United States Navy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan, alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, announced their intent to construct a new class of American-designed battleships that will be the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed. The future USS Defiant (BBG 1) will be the first Trump class battleship and will be an unambiguous statement of American commitment to maritime superiority with capability to distribute more firepower across the fleet than any other class of ship, for any Navy, in history.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, challenging their unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal law enforcement officers through the so-called “Illinois Bivens Act” and “Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act.”
Not only are the laws illegal attempts to regulate and discriminate against the federal government through novel causes of action, but, as alleged in the complaint, the laws threaten the safety of federal officers who have faced an unprecedented wave of harassment, doxxing, and even violence. Threatening officers with ruinous liability and even punitive damages for executing federal law and for simply protecting their identities and their families also chills the enforcement of federal law and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations. The danger is acute.
“The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like Illinois’ that threaten massive punitive liability and compromise the safety of our officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“Unfortunately, Illinois politicians prefer to attack law enforcement with lawsuits and punitive damages rather than support ICE’s Criminal Alien Program, which prioritizes the safe removal of dangerous criminal aliens like murderers, child rapists, and other serious offenders,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft for the Southern District of Illinois. “Courthouse arrests are only necessary in the first place because Illinois refuses to honor federal detainers at the jails and prisons, instead preferring to release criminals back into our communities.”
On her first day in office, Attorney General Bondi instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal laws or impede lawful federal operations. Today’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal policies designed to thwart federal law enforcement across the country, including in New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, California.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Two members of the Neighborhood Bloods street gang, which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey, were convicted of multiple charges stemming from the January 16, 2017, murder of three Jersey City residents, including a twenty-five-year-old pregnant woman.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
EMILY RODRIGUEZ, also known as “Emy,” 30, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 87 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in a violent carjacking and stalking.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Levancie Carr, 43, a three-time convicted felon from the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to eight years in prison in connection with his role in a large open-air narcotics market that operated in the Trinidad neighborhood of the city, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Ma Le Jones, 37, of Lockport, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, and $1,000,000.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Sean S. Buckley, Attorney for the United States, Acting under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, announced today that ARLASA DAVIS was sentenced to twenty-four months in prison for her role in a sprawling fraud and bribery scheme that generated over $66 million in unauthorized transactions under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”)—colloquially known as food stamps.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Lamor Runell Bolden, 27, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail theft, was sentenced to serve two years’ probation to include six months home detention by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Houssam El-Atat, 44, of Montreal, Canada, was extradited from Spain, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.