Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

LOS ANGELES – In the first affirmative lawsuit in support of gun owners, the Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) alleging a pattern and practice of infringing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens seeking concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on March 27, 2025, initiated the first-of-its-kind Second Amendment investigation because of numerous complaints of unreasonable delays in CCW permitting decisions by LASD. After analysis of data and documents spanning more than 8,000 CCW permits, the Division today filed suit seeking relief on behalf of law-abiding applicants.

“Citizens living in high-crime areas cannot afford to wait to protect themselves with firearms while Los Angeles County dithers,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “The right to bear arms is among the founding principles of our nation. It can and must be upheld.”

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit seeks to stop Los Angeles County’s egregious pattern and practice of delaying law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to bear arms.”

Shortly after Assistant Attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon was sworn in to lead the Civil Rights Division, numerous complaints received by the Division revealed inexplicable delays well beyond California statutory requirements and in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Almost two months after receiving notice of the Division’s investigation, LASD provided data and documents that revealed only two approvals from more than 8,000 applications, and that LASD set out interviews to approve licenses as far as two years after receiving the completed application. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California.

This investigation was conducted by attorneys at the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys within the Central District of California’s U.S. Attorney Office.

If you or someone you know has applied for a concealed carry permit in Los Angeles or any jurisdiction within the United States and have not received a reply or decision within four months after applying, please email Community.2ndAmendmentCA@usdoj.gov. The mailbox is actively monitored by attorneys assigned to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for her leadership role in two cases that resulted in more than $500,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans being issued under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and more than $3,000,000 in stolen Treasury checks.

Briauna Adams, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 11 years imprisonment based upon her guilty pleas to wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of government funds relating to a counterfeit check scheme and stolen United States Treasury checks.  The defendant also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering relating to a scheme to fraudulently obtain Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loans, guaranteed by the SBA under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

According to court documents, Adams rented a townhome in Raymore, Mo., using the name and personal identification information of another person. On July 27, 2024, Adams opened an individual investment account from the Raymore residence.  On Aug. 15, 2024, Adams deposited a Treasury check worth $1,445,443.69 in her name to the investment account. Fraud investigators with the investment account company determined the $1,445,443.69 Treasury check was fraudulent and reversed the deposit before suffering a financial loss.

On Nov. 14, 2024, a search warrant was executed on Adam’s rental townhome in Raymore.  Approximately 253 stolen Treasury checks were found in the residence.  The total value of the checks was approximately $700,000.

Finally, Adams conspired with others to prepare and file fraudulent PPP loan applications on their behalf.  Adams filed false PPP loan applications for numerous persons resulting in a loss of approximately $540,302, which she was ordered to pay back in a restitution judgment.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Sharon, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison for fentanyl and cocaine trafficking within 1,000 feet of an elementary school and next-door to a day care center, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

United States District Judge Robert J. Colville imposed the sentence on Larry Marrow, 37, also ordering Marrow to serve six years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to information presented to the Court, Marrow engaged in fentanyl and cocaine trafficking for several months in 2023, close to an elementary school and next-door to a day care center in Sharon. Marrow had four separate drug trafficking convictions and four separate gun convictions that occurred in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio prior to the instant drug trafficking crime.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.

Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Mercer County Drug Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Marrow.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, a federal jury in Memphis convicted Mervin Anderson, 40, of Memphis, Tennessee, of one count of possession of contraband in prison, including two homemade knives, or shanks. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Anderson was observed on video surveillance inside of the Detention Center in possession of two sharpened, handmade metal knives, commonly referred to as “shanks.” The defendant confronted another inmate while swinging the shanks at him. A corrections officer immediately responded to the cell block area and found the defendant still in possession of the shanks. When the shanks were taken from the defendant, he exclaimed, “God is on my side, I was about to kill that boy.”

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing will be set at a later date.

The defendant is currently awaiting trial in a pending case where he is charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. The pending case is currently set for trial on Nov. 3, 2025.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph C. Murphy for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement.

The U.S. Marshals Service and the Shelby County Division of Corrections are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Amanda J. Kotula and Cesar Rivera-Giraud of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in Memphis conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and their associates in Memphis.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Chinese national illegally residing in the U.S. was charged by criminal complaint yesterday with participating in an international drug trafficking conspiracy that used a virtual mailbox service (VMS), including one in Wasilla, Alaska, to traffic large quantities of methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. and then to other countries, specifically New Zealand.

According to court documents, Zukai He, 42, entered the U.S. illegally in 2017 and was subject to an order of removal from September 2024. Court documents further allege that, while illegally living in the U.S., Zukai He allegedly stole personally identifiable information from a California resident to open an account at the Wasilla VMS. In January 2024, law enforcement officials obtained two parcels sent to the fraudulent VMS account that were ultimately destined for New Zealand and obtained federal search warrants to search the packages. Law enforcement officials found close to three kilograms of methamphetamine in the parcels. One parcel had drugs concealed inside a heat transfer stamping machine and the other had drugs concealed inside a 3D printer.

In May 2024, law enforcement officials further learned that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) seized four parcels mailed from post offices in Phoenix, Arizona, that were destined for New Zealand. Each parcel contained over one kilogram of methamphetamine. Law enforcement officials identified a fifth similar parcel mailed from Arizona destined for New Zealand. CBP intercepted the parcel and discovered over one kilogram of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement officials identified Zukai He as the individual allegedly mailing the parcels containing drugs. In total, law enforcement seized over 10 kilograms of methamphetamine that Zukai He allegedly tried to traffic through the mail.

On Sept. 8, 2025, law enforcement officials executed a federal search warrant on Zukai He’s residence in California. Federal authorities arrested Zukai He and seized 14 cell phones, two laptops, 25 point-of-sale systems, over six kilograms of a substance consistent with methamphetamine, over $13,000 in cash and various financial documents. The financial documents included information for nine suspected shell or front businesses registered in California, Colorado, Maryland and New York. The businesses were in either Zukai He’s name or under names of victims whose identities were allegedly stolen.

Zukai He is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Zukai He is in federal custody and will make his initial court appearance on a later date before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman of the District of Alaska, Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division Office and Special Agent in Charge David Reames of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle Field Division made the announcement.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service Anchorage Domicile and the DEA Seattle Field Division and Anchorage District Office are investigating the case with assistance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephan Collins and Alana Weber are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) 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 and drug trafficking. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

MIAMI – A Peruvian national was sentenced yesterday to 80 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $3,000,000 in restitution for his participation in transnational fraud schemes that victimized vulnerable consumers in the U.S.

According to court documents, David Cornejo Fernandez, 36, of Lima, Peru, facilitated fraudulent schemes that stole millions of dollars from thousands of Spanish-speaking victims across the U.S. Cornejo provided Internet-based telephone lines, caller-ID spoofing services, and recording capabilities to a network of fraudulent call centers in Peru. Relying on Cornejo’s services, those call centers defrauded and extorted thousands of Spanish-speaking victims by falsely threatening them with court proceedings, fines, and other consequences if they did not pay for English-language products. Cornejo was extradited from Peru in November 2024 to face charges related to the scheme and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in July.   

In pleading guilty, Cornejo admitted that he provided fraudulent call centers in Peru with the technology to impersonate federal agents, police officers, attorneys, court personnel, and other government officials to extort payments from victims. Cornejo provided telephone lines to his call center co-conspirators, which they used to place unsolicited, fraudulent and extortionate telephone calls to vulnerable U.S. victims. Cornejo also provided caller-ID spoofing software that allowed his co-conspirators to convincingly impersonate government officials and threaten victims with severe legal and financial consequences if they did not pay. Cornejo placed pre-recorded messages on his co-conspirators’ telephone lines that fraudulently convinced victims they had reached actual U.S. courts, police departments, and federal agencies. When victims reported that specific telephone numbers were fraudulent, Cornejo provided new telephone lines and numbers to his co-conspirators so they could continue the fraudulent scheme.

Cornejo and his co-conspirators ultimately caused more than $3 million in losses to more than 8,800 victims across the U.S.

With today’s sentencing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 13 defendants have now been convicted and sentenced in connection with transnational fraud schemes that defrauded and threatened Spanish-speaking U.S. consumers, claiming they would suffer legal consequences if they did not pay for English-language learning products they never requested. Collectively, these defendants were responsible for defrauding more than 30,000 U.S. consumers.

The 13 defendants include eight Peruvian call center owner-operators; four distribution center owner-operators who processed payments and distributed products in the U.S.; and now Cornejo, who facilitated the fraud schemes from Peru. Cornejo and many of these defendants shared strategies on how to impersonate the U.S. government and defraud Spanish-speaking residents of the U.S.

Cornejo is the ninth defendant to be extradited from Peru and sentenced in federal court for fraud related to Peruvian call centers involved in English language learning scams. In 2021 and 2022, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr., sentenced Henrry Milla, Carlos Espinoza, Jerson Renteria, Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano, Evelyng Milla, and Josmell Espinoza to sentences ranging from 88 months to 110 months in prison. In 2024, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams sentenced Jose Alejandro Zuñiga Cano to 98 months in prison.

USPIS and the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case.

Senior Trial Attorney and Transnational Criminal Litigation Coordinator Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Carolyn Rice of the Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda for the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Peruvian National Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance.

The Justice Department continues to investigate and bring charges in other similar matters involving threats against Spanish-speaking residents of the U.S.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its fraud enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-20055.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) has agreed to pay the United States $875,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and federal common law by failing to meet cybersecurity requirements in connection with certain Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contracts. GTRC contracts with government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), for research performed at its affiliate, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

“When contractors fail to follow the required cybersecurity standards in their DoD contracts, they leave sensitive government information vulnerable to malicious actors and cyber threats,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Together with DoD and other agency partners, the Department of Justice will continue to pursue and litigate violations of cybersecurity requirements to hold contractors accountable when they violate their cybersecurity commitments.”   

“Defense contractors’ adherence to their cybersecurity obligations is essential to safeguarding sensitive government information from malicious actors,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia. “Contractors who fail to implement required cybersecurity controls, provide false information to the government, and otherwise fail to fulfill their cybersecurity obligations will be held accountable.”’

“Failure to follow required cybersecurity requirements puts all of us at risk,” said Stacy Bostjanick, Chief Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity, Deputy Chief Information Officer for Cybersecurity, Office of the Chief Information Officer. “Those who knowingly provide deficient cybersecurity products or services, misrepresent their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or violate obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches must be held accountable. Enforcement efforts like this should serve as a reminder to industry to prioritize DoD cybersecurity compliance.”

“Deficiencies in cybersecurity controls pose a significant threat to our national security and jeopardize sensitive DoD programs that put our servicemembers at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason Sargenski of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office. “As force multipliers, we place a substantial amount of trust in our contractors, and those who ignore the rules will be held accountable.”

“AFOSI is committed to pursuing allegations related to the security of our information systems and neutralizing threats malicious actors pose when contractors fail to meet their contractual obligations,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrell Freeman of Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), Procurement Fraud Detachment 5.   

The settlement resolves a lawsuit against GTRC and Georgia Tech where the United States alleged that until December 2021, those entities failed to install, update or run anti-virus or anti-malware tools on desktops, laptops, servers and networks at Georgia Tech’s Astrolavos Lab while the lab conducted sensitive cyber-defense research for DoD. The United States also alleged that until at least February 2020, there was no system security plan in place for the Astrolavos Lab to set out the cybersecurity controls that GTRC’s contracts required.

Finally, the United States alleged that in December 2020 GTRC and Georgia Tech submitted a false summary level cybersecurity assessment score to DoD which supposedly applied campus-wide. That summary level score of 98 was allegedly false because (1) there was no campus-wide IT system at Georgia Tech and (2) the score was premised on a “fictitious” or “virtual” environment and did not apply to any actual covered contracting system at Georgia Tech that would process, store or transmit covered defense information. The United States alleged the submission of a cybersecurity assessment score was a condition of contract award for GTRC’s DoD contracts. The obligation to implement security controls specified in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 (NIST SP 800-171) to protect certain DoD information has applied to DoD contracts, subcontracts, and similar contractual instruments since 2017 and will continue under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program that DoD recently finalized. The CMMC program further bolsters the assessment requirements applicable to DoD contractors and subcontractors. 

The settlement announced today stems from a complaint filed by Christopher Craig and Kyle Koza, former members of Georgia Tech’s Cybersecurity Team, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private persons to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. The Act also permits the Government to intervene and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case as to certain allegations. The United States intervened in the qui tam suit and filed its complaint in August 2024. The settlement in this case provides for Craig and Koza to receive $201,250 as their share of the recovery.

The investigation, litigation, and resolution in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, DCIS, AFOSI, the Air Force Materiel Command Law Office Procurement Fraud Division, and DARPA. The matter was handled by Trial Attorney Joanna Persio of the Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melanie D. Hendry and Adam D. Nugent for the Northern District of Georgia.

The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Craig v. Georgia Tech Research Corporation et al., No. 1:22-cv-02698 (N.D. Ga.).

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that CARLOS RAMIREZ, a/k/a “Guerra,” was sentenced today to life in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy and two murders committed as a member of the Sunset Trinitarios, a violent street gang.  RAMIREZ was found guilty following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, who imposed today’s sentence.

​“As a member of the Sunset Trinitarios, Carlos Ramirez was an unapologetic killer and responsible for brutal violence that endangered the lives of far more people than the two teenagers whom he murdered in 2013 and 2014,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “After he was arrested and charged for these crimes, he was undeterred and attempted to stab to death the former leader of his own gang in a gruesome and vicious attack while incarcerated.  He will never walk the streets of New York again, and this Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bankrupt the cartels, dismantle the gangs, and remove from our streets all those who pursue death and violence as a way of life.”

According to the Indictment, public court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:

From 2010 to 2024, members of the Sunset Trinitarios, a violent drug trafficking organization and street gang founded in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York, committed a terrifying number of violent crimes, including multiple murders and attempted murders and numerous gunpoint robberies all across the metropolitan area.  RAMIREZ was one of the members of the Sunset Trinitarios during this period, and he rose to multiple positions of leadership within the gang, both out on the street and when he was incarcerated in the custody of state and federal detention facilities in New York City.  As a “devil soldier messenger” of the Sunset Trinitarios, which came to celebrate the murder of innocent victims and their purported delivery to the devil, RAMIREZ obtained two identical tattoos memorializing the two murders he committed on behalf of the gang.

On October 23, 2013, RAMIREZ participated in the murder of Michael Beltre, who was seventeen years old.  Beltre was shot multiple times on the street in the Bronx after RAMIREZ struck him and held him for another gang member to shoot.

On November 2, 2014, RAMIREZ murdered Jordanny Correa, who was nineteen years old.  RAMIREZ shot Correa multiple times at point-blank range inside an apartment in the Bronx.  

On February 28, 2023, RAMIREZ attempted to murder a former leader of the Sunset Trinitarios inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.  RAMIREZ committed this attack because he believed that this former leader had previously supplied information to law enforcement.  With the help of others, RAMIREZ slashed and stabbed the victim with a knife, causing severe injuries to the victim’s face and the rest of his body in multiple locations.

10 others of RAMIREZ’s co-conspirators and fellow members of the Sunset Trinitarios previously pled guilty and have received sentences that have ranged from multiple years through life in prison.

*                *                *

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the New York City Department of Correction.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas John Wright, Brandon D. Harper, and Timothy Ly are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the United States filed a denaturalization action in the Middle District of Florida against Vladimir Volgaev, a native of Ukraine, who, according to the Department of Justice’s Complaint, concealed and misrepresented his involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle over a thousand firearms components out of the United States and ship them to foreign markets.

Starting in 2011, and continuing for two years after his naturalization, Volgaev engaged in the clandestine purchase, packaging and smuggling of firearm components to individuals in Ukraine and Italy. Also, beginning in 2013, Volgaev underreported his assets and income on applications for federal housing benefits, resulting in his improper receipt of those benefits. A federal court convicted him for these crimes in 2020. Volgaev misrepresented and concealed his crimes throughout his application for naturalization in 2014-15. He naturalized as a U.S. citizen on Jan. 11, 2016.

“This case sends a clear message,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The United States provided Volgaev with safety, housing, and citizenship, and he returned those gains with malice, including by defrauding one of the federal agencies that provided him benefits. We will not reward this kind of behavior by allowing such an individual to retain U.S. citizenship that should not have been granted in the first place.”

This is the eleventh denaturalization action that the Department has filed since Jan. 20.

This case was investigated by the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Felix Romero. The litigation is being handled by Trial Attorney Christopher Lyerla and reviewed by John Inkeles of the Office of Immigration Litigation, General Litigation and Appeals Section, Affirmative Litigation Unit.

The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Civil Rights Division today filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department due to their pattern or practice of infringing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens seeking concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits. This lawsuit is the first affirmative lawsuit in support of gun owners filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. On March 27, 2025, the Division initiated the first-of-its-kind Second Amendment investigation due to numerous complaints of unreasonable delays in CCW permitting decisions by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. After analysis of data and documents spanning over 8,000 CCW permit applications, the Division today filed suit seeking relief on behalf of law-abiding applicants.

“The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it. This Department of Justice will continue to fight for the Second Amendment.”

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit seeks to stop Los Angeles County’s egregious pattern and practice of delaying law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to bear arms.”

“Citizens living in high-crime areas cannot afford to wait to protect themselves with firearms while Los Angeles County dithers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “The right to bear arms is among the founding principles of our nation. It can and must be upheld.”

Shortly after Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon was sworn in to lead the Civil Rights Division, numerous complaints received by the Division revealed inexplicable delays well beyond California statutory requirements and in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. Almost two months after receiving notice of the Division’s investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided data and documents that revealed only two approvals from over 8,000 applications, and that the Sheriff’s Department set out interviews to approve licenses as far as two years after receiving the completed application. The lawsuit is filed within the Federal Central District of California.

This investigation was conducted by attorneys at the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys within the Central District of California’s U.S. Attorney Office.

If you or someone you know has applied for a concealed carry permit in Los Angeles or any jurisdiction within the United States and have not received a reply or decision within four months after applying, please email Community.2ndAmendmentCA@usdoj.gov. The mailbox is actively monitored by attorneys assigned to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.