Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
PAUL R. STEED, 59, of Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 63 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for fraud and tax offenses stemming from his theft of more than $28 million from his former employer Mars, Inc.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Wasilla man was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and will serve the rest of his life on court mandated supervision following release from federal custody for distributing carfentanil to two people, resulting in the near fatal overdose of an adult victim and the fatal overdose of a minor victim.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Kyrgyz national Sergei Zharnovnikov was sentenced to 39 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to export American-made firearms. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez. The defendant illegally exported firearms and ammunition worth over $1.5 million from the United States to Russia, by way of Kyrgyzstan. Zharnovnikov does not have lawful permanent resident status and faces deportation upon sentencing.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
MARIA HIGGINS, 36, of Manchester, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to 34 months of imprisonment and two years of supervised release for offenses stemming from two embezzlement schemes and related tax evasion.
Source: United States Department of Justice
A Charlotte, North Carolina, man was sentenced today to 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a federal civil rights violation after he threatened eight individuals with force because of their race, color, religion and national origin. Maurice Hopkins, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with federally protected activities on Aug. 19, 2025.
According to filed court documents and the sentencing hearing, on June 8, 2024, Hopkins threatened eight individuals with a firearm inside a pizza restaurant in Charlotte. When Hopkins first encountered the victims, who were a group of friends getting pizza at the time, he asked if they were American. Hopkins then proceeded to harass the victims calling them terrorists, demanding they speak English, telling them to go back to their country, and making other statements because of the victims’ race, color, religion, and national origin. Court records show that Hopkins made multiple threats, telling the victims, “If you say one more thing I’m going to punch you in the face,” and threatened to “Shoot the place up,” and “kill all of them.” Hopkins then left the restaurant and returned minutes later, walking through the doorway with a loaded AR-15 style rifle. The victims immediately fled through the door in the rear of the restaurant.
With his guilty plea, Hopkins admitted that he threatened the eight individuals with force because of their race, color, religion and national origin and because they were enjoying the goods, services and facilities of the restaurant.
“This defendant targeted people enjoying a simple night out and threatened them with violence because of their race and national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This was an outrageous act motivated by nothing other than racial bigotry. Today’s sentence makes clear: if you threaten people with violence because of who they are — or where they come from — you will be met with the full force of federal law.”
“You ought to be able to get pizza with your friends without being harassed due to your race or national origin and certainly without being threatened with an AR-15,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina. “Incidents like this should never happen, but when they do, my office will act swiftly to bring justice.”
Hopkins remains in federal custody and will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller for the Western District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Chloe Neely of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, school consultant Richard Bernstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with his agreement with others to steer federal funds to school vendors in exchange for a share of the vendors’ profits. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. When sentenced, Bernstein faces up to five years’ imprisonment.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Jason Cisneros, 34, Denver, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence after a crime spree in Denver in March 2025.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Thierno Barry, 23, of Queens, New York, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to the March 2025 swatting of a random Northwest residence and a subsequent carjacking of an elderly couple the same day at Union Station, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
HARRISON ELBA, 35, formerly of Glastonbury, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 108 months of imprisonment, seven years of supervised release, and a $5,000 fine for possessing with intent to distribute dimethylpentylone, commonly known as “bath salts.”
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney David I. Courcelle announced today that FEDERICO MENDEZ-FRANCISCO a/k/a “JORGE SANTOS ARROYO,” a/k/a “JORGE A. GORDILLO,” a/k/a “FEDERICO MENDEZ,” a/k/a “FREDERICO MENDEZ,” a/k/a “FEDERICO MENDEZ FRANCISCO,” (“MENDEZ-FRANCISCO”), age 40, a native of Guatemala, pled guilty to re-entry of a previously removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1326(a) and 1326(b)(1).