Source: United States Marines
Fresh off the celebration of the Marine Corps’ own 250th anniversary last year, the service is now turning its attention to the future of expeditionary warfare as the United States prepares to mark its semi-quincentennial.
Source: United States Department of Justice
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The Environmental Crimes Bulletin is a monthly publication produced by the Environmental Crimes Section.
Leadership
Joseph Poux, Acting Chief
Contact
Email: Joseph.Poux@usdoj.gov
Phone: (202) 532-3062
On March 16, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Jose Carrillo’s 84-month sentence for conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture (18 U.S.C. § 371) and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)). Carrillo had pleaded guilty to both charges, and the United States had recommended a sentence at the top of the Guidelines range, which was 18-24 months’ incarceration. The district court varied upward to impose a sentence of 84 months of incarceration, which consisted of 60 months as to the conspiracy and 60 months on the firearms charge, 24 of which will run consecutively with the conspiracy sentence.
On appeal, Carrillo argued only that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with the government that the district court did not abuse its discretion in varying upward to achieve adequate deterrence and reflect the seriousness of the offense, based on (1) the “extreme cruelty” of Carrillo’s multi-year dogfighting venture, which involved torturing animals, maintaining a blood-stained dogfighting venue, and housing dogs in squalid conditions; and (2) Carrillo’s drug use and history of fatal drug distribution. The Court also agreed that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it heard, but failed to discuss, mitigating evidence of substance abuse and limited education. Finally, the Court agreed with the government that the district court reasonably determined that Carrillo was not similarly situated to a comparator based on the nature of the offense and Carrillo’s additional firearm conviction.
On March 4, 2026, prosecutors filed a complaint charging Raymond Nunez with hosting dog fights and illegally breeding, training, and exhibiting dogs for fighting. Nunez also is charged as a felon in possession of firearms (7 U.S.C. § 2156(b); 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)).
Between December 2025 and February 2026, Nunez illegally exhibited, bred, and trained dogs for dog fighting at his home in Hacienda Heights, California. He also possessed firearms, which he is not legally permitted to do following a felony conviction in Los Angeles Superior Court in 1991 for unlawful taking of a vehicle.
On March 3, 2026, agents executed a search warrant at Nunez’s home and seized, among other things: an AK-47-style assault rifle and a shotgun; 10 firearms in a safe in the master bedroom; an emaciated pit bull that was bleeding and chained to a cable in the yard; a second pit bull with scars in a bloody caged area; multiple dog treadmills; a rope with a scale for weighing dogs; and a skin stapler and syringes.
This case is part of the federal, state, and local Dog Fighting and Animal Abuse Task Force spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office launched in 2025.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation.
On March 26, 2026, prosecutors charged Amanda Leigh Fourez by information with Conspiracy to Create Animal Crush Videos and Distribution of Animal Crush Videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(3)). She was involved in Telegram groups dedicated to creating and distributing sexual torture videos of baby monkeys. Fourez and her co-conspirators used cryptocurrency to pay videographers in Southeast Asia to make crush videos. Fourez has admitted to sending thousands of dollars to video creators and commissioning between 50-100 videos.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.
On March 24, 2026, prosecutors charged Jessica Barron with wire fraud for producing and distributing fraudulent asbestos training certificates to untrained individuals (18 U.S.C. § 1343). Trial is scheduled to begin on June 8, 2026.
Between March 2021 and February 2022, Zamora set up an asbestos certification program, even though she was not an approved asbestos abatement training provider. She sold fake certifications to people without giving them any training, using a template from a legitimate training provider. She charged her customers between $150 and $500 and submitted the certifications for them to various state licensing agencies. In total, she provided approximately 150 fake certifications, collecting $35,000 as a result.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
On March 30, 2026, prosecutors filed a two-count information charging Sunseeker International (a company based in the United Kingdom) and Sunseeker USA Sales (a Delaware corporation). The companies are charged with violating the Lacey Act by using illegally harvested teak from Myanmar on their yachts in violation of UK law and selling and transporting those yachts from the UK to the United States (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(B)(i), 3373(d)(2)).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
On March 2, 2026, Francisco Javier Ravelo pleaded guilty to violating the animal crush statute for distributing approximately 40 videos between September 2024 and February 2025 (18 U.S.C. § 48(a)(3)). Sentencing is scheduled for May 21, 2026.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.
On March 4, 2026, Visionary Bowling Products (VBP) pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for illegally storing hazardous waste (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). Company owners John Wonders, Sr., and Jason Wonders entered into pretrial diversion.
VBP operated a 60,000 square-foot factory, where it manufactured bowling balls for around 20 years before ceasing operations in July 2019.
When the defendants abandoned the property in October 2019, they left behind a variety of chemicals and industrial materials. On October 21, 2021, a fire ignited and burned for around 12 hours, requiring multiple fire departments to respond. Officials evacuated nearby homes and businesses due to the potential hazard posed by the burning chemicals. The next day, a smaller fire rekindled but was quickly extinguished.
Local environmental officials later discovered hundreds of discarded and abandoned containers at the facility in various stages of deterioration. Testing by federal environmental officials confirmed that the defendants had illegally stored hazardous waste at the site.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted the investigation.
On March 4, 2026, Seafood Supply Company, L.P. (SSC), pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging the company with two felony violations of Lacey Act False Labeling (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2026.
SSC is a seafood wholesaler in Dallas, Texas. Between January 2020 and February 2022, the company sold Chilean salmon that it falsely labeled as more expensive salmon from Scotland, Norway, and Canada. The defendant used this fraudulent “country-of-origin” labeling scheme to generate illegal gains of approximately $200,000.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
On March 20, 2026, Paulo Perez-Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States and to distribute and sell unregistered pesticides (18 U.S.C. § 371). Sentencing is scheduled for August 28, 2026.
Between January 2019 and March 2024, Perez-Mendoza arranged for co-conspirators to transport illegal pesticides (Taktic and Bovitraz) from Mexico into the United States. These individuals distributed the chemicals throughout the country, including Florida, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington state. In March 2024, agents executed a search warrant at Perez-Mendoza’s residence. They found more than 200 bottles containing pesticide in a shed that one smuggler used to unload the pesticides he sold to the defendant.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigative Division conducted the investigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.
On March 2, 2026, a court sentenced Carlos Abundez to pay $74,330 into the Lacey Act Reward Fund for smuggling wildlife. Abundez pleaded guilty to smuggling 14 keel-billed toucans, which he had concealed inside the dashboard of his vehicle (18 U.S.C. § 545).
On June 25, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stopped Abundez at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. Upon further inspection, a CBP officer found a bound bird that was wrapped in cloth and duct taped under the car’s dashboard.
The officer did not know what the object was until it began to move and flutter. Agents then pried open the side panel of the dashboard and discovered 14 sedated juvenile keel-billed toucans hidden there. Some of the birds sustained injuries including broken tails and a broken leg. Border Veterinary Services treated the birds and then transferred them to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can be dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases.
Keel-billed toucans are native to the region stretching from southern Mexico through Ecuador, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Because of their threatened status, they are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Toucans are sold as pets for up to $5,000 per bird.
The toucans are recuperating at The Bronx Zoo in New York, though they can never be returned to the wild due to health conditions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Toucans at the Bronx Zoo.
On March 19, 2026, a court sentenced Katrina D. Favret to 40 months’ incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Favret pleaded guilty to conspiracy and creating and distributing animal crush videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(2), 48(a)(3)). Co-defendant Robert M. Craig previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to create and distribute animal crush videos (18 U.S.C. § 371).
The defendants were involved in online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys. The conspirators used encrypted chat applications to direct money to individuals in Indonesia willing to commit the requested acts of torture on camera.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Related Press Release: Office of Public Affairs | Tennessee Woman Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Create and Distribute Videos Depicting Monkey Torture and Mutilation | United States Department of Justice
On March 23, 2026, a court sentenced Ricardo Alonzo to 90 days’ incarceration followed by two years of supervised release. Alonzo also will pay $3,260 in restitution to the Lacey Act Reward Fund.
Alonzo pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act and smuggling for transporting 17 exotic birds into the United States from Mexico under the seat of his car (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(1)(A); 18 U.S.C. § 545).
On May 4, 2025, authorities intercepted Alonzo as he drove over the border from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Officers found four bags containing 10 burrowing parakeets, five yellow-crowned Amazon parrots, and two red-lored Amazon parrot chicks under the rear seat. The two red-lored Amazon parrot chicks did not survive; the remaining birds were transferred to a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Amazon parrots are native to Mexico, the West Indies, and northern South America, and burrowing parakeets are native to Chile and Argentina. All species of Amazon parrots, as well as burrowing parakeets, are listed on either Appendix I or Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can prove dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu-like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia, and death in humans and other birds, including those housed on poultry farms.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.
Related Press Release: Southern District of California | San Diego Man Sentenced to Three Months for Smuggling 17 Protected Parrots and Parakeets | United States Department of Justice
On March 23, 2026, a court sentenced Michael Kandis to complete a one-year term of probation. Kandis must also allow wildlife agents to inspect his business, the Ohio Valley Reptile House, and abandon any animals he possesses in violation of any state or federal wildlife law. Kandis pleaded guilty to a Lacey Act trafficking offense (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(2)).
Kandis is a reptile dealer in Wheeling, West Virginia. Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) conservation officers became acquainted with Kandis through a long-term investigation in which they operated in a covert capacity at various reptile shows throughout the Midwest.
During their investigation, the IDNR officers conducted several wildlife transactions involving Kandis. In October 2019, Kandis purchased 47 snakes from undercover officers, 25 of which were bullsnakes, for a total price of $1,415. The sale was conducted in Noblesville, Indiana. Bullsnakes are a native species in Indiana, and it is illegal to sell them under Indiana law. Kandis later transported the snakes from Indiana to West Virginia to sell.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and IDNR conducted the investigation.
On March 30, 2026, a court sentenced Natalie Fehse to complete a five-year term of probation, to include 10 months of home detention, and to pay a $5,000 fine. Fehse pleaded guilty to knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. § 6928).
Fehse worked as the general manager at GoTec Plus Sun, LLC, located in Williamson, Kentucky. GoTec applied coatings and adhesives to metal automotive parts and generated hazardous waste when the manufacturing equipment was cleaned of overspray. The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection inspected the facility in June 2024 and discovered 249 drums and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored without a permit throughout the facility.
On November 5, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seized records and samples from the facility pursuant to a search warrant. Fehse confessed that the hazardous waste had accumulated since the summer of 2020 due to staffing shortages and corporate financial constraints caused by the COVID pandemic.
The U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
An indictment was unsealed today in the Western District of Texas charging Jafar Tafakori, 57, an Iranian national, for his role in coordinating the smuggling of illegal aliens into the United States. Tafakori was arrested in Colombia at the request of the United States.
According to the indictment, from at least Dec. 1, 2022, through on or about May 15, 2024, Tafakori illegally brought large numbers of aliens, primarily Iranian nationals, into the United States. In exchange for payment, Tafakori coordinated with others to provide shelter, transportation, and occasionally airline tickets for the aliens to travel through South and Central America and Mexico. Tafakori charged some aliens as much as $30,000 for his services. Once at the U.S./Mexico border, the aliens were directed to illegally enter the United States.
“Securing our borders and stopping alien smuggling is a top priority for the Department of Justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This defendant allegedly transported many illegal aliens into the United States, exploiting our nation’s immigration laws and depriving our immigration officials the ability to vet and review the individuals entering our communities. Thanks to the hard work of our prosecutors and investigative partners, this individual was arrested in Colombia and will be brought to justice in the United States for his crimes.”
“Jafar Tafakori allegedly smuggled Iranian nationals illegally into the United States for 18 months,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Based on this indictment, Colombian authorities acted fast and arrested Tafakori, and when he is extradited, he will face justice in the United States. Those who endanger our communities by participating in human smuggling across our borders will be apprehended regardless of if they live in the United States or abroad.”
“Tafakori’s actions demonstrate the inherent dangers of an open-border policy,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “The enemy was at the gate, and the gate was left wide open. Tafakori’s indictment and arrest, which was facilitated by members of the Homeland Security Task Force, reinforce this administration’s commitment to securing our borders, protecting Americans, and diligently prosecuting those who took advantage of derelict open-border policies.”
“Homeland Security Investigations remains steadfast in its pursuit of transnational criminal organizations that endanger national security by smuggling illegal aliens from regions associated with criminal activity,” said acting Special Agent in Charge John A. Pasciucco, HSI San Antonio. “HSI’s ongoing investigations focus on identifying, disrupting, and dismantling these networks to ensure those who threaten the safety of our communities are brought to justice. Our commitment to protecting the homeland is unwavering, and we will continue to use all available resources to prevent individuals with dangerous intentions from exploiting our borders.”
“The arrest of this Iranian national involved in smuggling large numbers of individuals — primarily fellow Iranian citizens — into the United States underscores the global reach and threat of human smuggling networks,” said Assistant Director Ricardo Mayoral of HSI International Operations. “This outcome, made possible through close coordination between HSI San Antonio, HSI Bogotá, and our Colombian partners, reflects HSI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our borders and disrupting transnational criminal activity.”
Tafakori is charged with one count of conspiracy to bring an alien to the United States and five counts of bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count. If convicted of three or more counts of illegally bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain, Tafakori faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of fifteen years.
Colombian authorities issued a warrant and arrested Takafori on April 23 in Pereira, Colombia, pursuant to a request from the United States.
HSI San Antonio conducted the investigation along with assistance from the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, HSI Bogotá, and United States Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector Intelligence Unit. Significant assistance was provided by HSI Bogota’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit from the Colombian National Police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (TCIU-DIJIN) and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office.
Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions section, on detail from the Office of International Affairs, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian Rosales for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Office of International Affairs, and Interpol Washington provided significant assistance in this matter. The Justice Department thanks its Colombian law enforcement partners for their expeditious enforcement operation.
The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant United States Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 455 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 400 U.S. convictions; and more than 350 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes these organizations commit, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
An indictment 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
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Federal charges were filed against a Bremen, Ohio, man who allegedly kidnapped a 12-year-old North Carolina girl after meeting the minor online. The defendant was discovered with the victim in Ohio when he crashed his car into a median.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa join federal, state, and local communities nationwide in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and celebrating victims’ rights, protections, and services.
Source: United States Department of Justice
The Justice Department moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by artificial intelligence company xAI, challenging a new Colorado law that prohibits so-called “algorithmic discrimination.” The Justice Department alleges that the Colorado law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by requiring AI companies to prevent unintentional disparate impact that their products could have based on protected characteristics like race and sex, and by exempting liability for certain forms of discrimination designed to advance “diversity.”
“Laws that require AI companies to infect their products with woke DEI ideology are illegal,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will not stand on the sidelines while states such as Colorado coerce our nation’s technological innovators into producing harmful products that advance a radical, far left worldview at odds with the Constitution.”
“America’s success in the AI race will depend on removing barriers to innovation and adoption across sectors,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Laws like Colorado’s that force AI models to produce false results or promote ideological bias threaten national and economic security and must be stopped.”
The statute, Colorado SB24-205, requires AI “developers” and “deployers” to satisfy certain disclosure, reporting, and prevention requirements when creating algorithm products designed for services like mortgage lending, student admissions, and job-candidate selection. But the statute has an explicit carveout for discriminatory algorithms designed to advance “diversity” or “redress historic discrimination.” AI company xAI filed a lawsuit challenging the statute on April 9.
You can view the lawsuit here.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Greenbelt, Maryland – A Washington, DC, man is headed to prison for robbing several United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carriers at gunpoint. After an eight-day trial, a federal jury convicted DeAngelo Lewis, 30, on numerous federal charges in connection with the 2022-armed robbery of seven mail carriers.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of two counts of Domestic Assault by an Habitual Offender. The sentencing took place on April 20, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
President Trump’s Day-One Executive Order Directed the Department to Prioritize Seeking and Implementing Death Sentences to Protect Public Safety
Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences—clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals. Among the actions taken are readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases. These steps are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.
“The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.”
On his first day in office, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to prioritize seeking death sentences in appropriate cases, promptly carrying out those sentences, and strengthening the death penalty. Since then, the Department has taken sustained action to implement that directive and reverse the Biden Justice Department’s efforts to erode the death penalty.
The Biden Justice Department, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, broke sharply from its longstanding approach to capital crimes and took extraordinary steps to weaken, delay, and dismantle the death penalty. In doing so, it caused untold harm to the public. Specifically, the Biden Justice Department:
Under the leadership of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department is committed to correcting these failures and restoring the lawful administration of the death penalty. The Department has rescinded the Biden-Garland moratorium on federal executions and has authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants. Acting Attorney General Blanche has already authorized seeking death sentences against nine of these defendants, including three MS-13 members, two of whom are illegal aliens, accused of murdering a federal witness.
Today, the Justice Department took the following steps to better achieve public safety and deliver justice to victims of the very worst crimes:
In the coming weeks, the Department plans to take the following additional steps:
Read the report here.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Department of Justice announced that it has filed a denaturalization action in the Southern District of New York against Hassan Sherjil Khan, a native of Pakistan. Starting in 2007 or 2008, Khan began communicating online with an 11-year-old girl (the Victim). Until 2013, Khan, knowing that Victim was barely in her teens, continually coerced and enticed her to send him sexually explicit images of herself and to engage in sexually explicit conduct via live video chats. Khan also traveled abroad to engage in sexual acts with the Victim when she was only fifteen.
But when Khan applied for naturalization in August 2012 — just four months after he had traveled to have sexual contact with Victim — he concealed his involvement in his sex crimes. As a result, he was able to procure U.S. citizenship in May 2013. After Khan naturalized, the Victim disclosed his crimes, and he was arrested in September 2015 and charged with coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual exploitation of a child outside of the United States, and receipt of child pornography.
“Naturalization and U.S. citizenship will not protect sexual predators from the consequences of their horrific acts,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “If you fail to disclose serious crimes while seeking naturalization, the government will discover your lies and revoke your ill-gotten U.S. citizenship.”
At the time of his arrest, Khan was working as a physician.
On Jan. 14, 2016, Khan pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and remains incarcerated.
The denaturalization complaint against Khan alleges that he illegally procured his naturalization because when he naturalized, he lacked good moral character required for naturalization because he had committed a crime involving moral turpitude and then had given false testimony about his crimes during his naturalization proceedings. The denaturalization complaint also alleges that Khan obtained his naturalization through willful misrepresentations or concealment of material facts.
The litigation is being jointly handled by Deputy Chief Hans H. Chen of the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation-Affirmative Litigation Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Waterman for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Khan’s sex crimes were investigated by the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The denaturalization claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability regarding Mr. Khan’s naturalization.
Note: This press release is based in part on the press release issued upon Khan’s criminal sentencing in June of 2016.