Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New England, and Stamford Police Chief Timothy Shaw today announced that RICK MARRO, 44, most recently residing in Stamford, has been charged by indictment with child exploitation offenses.

As alleged in the indictment and other court documents, law enforcement began investigating Marro in August 2023 after a 16-year-old male victim reported that he had been sexually exploited by Marro.  The victim reported that he met Marro on a dating application, and they then began communicating on Snapchat in April 2023.  The victim indicated that they met in person at Marro’s house on multiple occasions, and two of the encounters were sexual in nature.  The victim reported that Marro gave him “poppers,” that Marro was “into” asphyxiation, and, on one occasion, Marro strangled him and he passed out “for a minute or two.”  A law enforcement review of the victim’s Snapchat account showed that Marro sent him videos that Marro had recorded of them engaged in sexual activity.  He also sent the victim a video depicting Marro choking him.

It is further alleged that law enforcement subsequently seized and searched Marro’s cell phone.  During the examination of Marro’s phone, law enforcement located the same videos that he recorded and sent the victim showing them engaged in sexual activity.  Investigators also located text messages that Marro had sent to another individual in which Marro stated that he “choked [the victim] all the way to unconscious today by accident.”

Marro was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on January 18, 2024.  On October 15, 2025, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Marro with production of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years; receipt and distribution of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; and possession of child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Marro was arraigned on November 6, 2025, and pleaded not guilty.  He has been detained since his arrest, and a trial in this matter is scheduled for August 2026.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Stamford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The criminal justice mission of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia was undeterred during the recent federal government shutdown, with the office securing 25 guilty pleas, nine grand jury indictments, and 31 sentencings during that time, United States Attorney Moore Capito said.

“The Assistant United States Attorneys and the staff in this office did not skip a beat,” Capito said. “They were coming to work without being paid and ensured that justice was done and that the people of West Virginia were safe.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office continued to prosecute criminal cases during the shutdown. More than a dozen criminal cases were brought under Operation Take Back America and involve drug trafficking, firearms, and immigration crimes. Other cases were brought under the Project Safe Childhood initiative and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

Criminal cases that proceeded during the shutdown include:

• On  November 6, 2025, Timothy Ray Gravley, 42, of Logan County, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl and his brother Jessie Joe Gravley II, 43, of Logan County, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and quantities of fentanyl and heroin.
• Michael David Barker, 48, of Foster, was sentenced on November 10, 2025, to two years and nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,448,571.85 in restitution for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Barker admitted to a scheme to defraud the Boone County Schools system by more than $3.4 million while employed as the maintenance director.
• Gregory Neal Hager, 40, of Madison, pleaded guilty on October 7, 2025, to possession of child pornography.
• Paul Charles Clement, 43, of Hillsboro, pleaded guilty on October 28, 2025, to failure to register as a sex offender, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), after relocating from Virginia to West Virginia.
• Dennis Eugene West, 57, of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, pleaded guilty on October 9, 2025, as an individual and on behalf of his trucking business Gadsden, Gaillard and West LLC, each for negligent discharge of pollutants into United States waters. West was hauling alkyl dimethylamine in a tractor trailer on August 24, 2022, when he crashed onthe West Virginia Turnpike while crossing Skitter Creek Bridge in Fayette County. The crash spilled the pollutants onto the bridge and into Paint Creek.
• Three Mexican citizens living illegally in West Virginia pleaded guilty to immigration crimes: Alfredo Galaviz-Galaviz, also known as “Alfredo Galaviz”, 28, Bruno Lisandro Pastrano Lopez, 39, and Lazaro Morales-Lauro, 52. They and a fourth Mexican citizen who pleaded guilty earlier to an immigration crime, Federico Montalvo Salas, 22, were sentenced to time served and transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) administrative custody for removal proceedings.
• Timothy Lane Crowder, 44, of Huntington, was sentenced on November 3, 2025, to five months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $24,525.33 in restitution for unlawful receipt of gratuities. Crowder admitted to receiving approximately $24,525.33 from disability benefits awarded to veterans while he was a salaried employee of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Press releases for hearings that occurred during the shutdown are also being posted on the website as they become available.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 94 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On November 17, Yuvitza ORDONEZ-MARTINEZ and Alexa GARCIA-VALENZUELA, both United States citizens, were arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, ORDONEZ-MARTINEZ and GARCIA-VALENZUELA, arrived in a vehicle at the Interstate 8 Border Patrol Checkpoint in Pine Valley, California. At pre-primary inspection, a K9 Border Patrol Agent alerted that the vehicle’s occupants may have been involved in alien or controlled substances smuggling. Following Border Patrol Agent’s search of the vehicle, agents discovered 23 bundles of white crystalline substance (weighting 71.80 kilograms total).
• On November 18, Viviana SERRANO, a United States citizen, was arrested for bringing an illegal alien to the United States for the purpose of financial gain. According to a complaint, SERRANO applied for admission into the United States from Mexico via the Tecate, California Port of entry as the sole visible occupant of her vehicle. Upon inspection of the vehicle, Customs and Border Protection Officers discovered one adult male and one minor male concealed within the trunk of the vehicle. Both male occupants were citizens of Mexico without legal authorization to lawfully enter the United States. SERRANO admitted to knowledge of the smuggling attempt and stated she was going to receive $2,000 USD for her smuggling services.
• On November 19, Abraham Francisco LOPEZ Guitimea was arrested and charged with attempting to bring in illegal aliens for financial gain. According to a complaint, the San Diego U.S. Border Patrol Marine Unit was conducting a pro-active patrol, when they observed a suspicious vessel. After intercepting the suspicious vessel, U.S. Border Patrol Agents conducted an immigration inspection on the vessel’s driver and 16 passengers, who were later identified as non-U.S. citizens. LOPEZ admitted to being captain of the vessel and stated that he was going to earn $1,000 USD per individual successfully smuggled into the United States. The other individuals were arrested and charged with various immigration related offenses.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On November 18, Ahumada Alcaraz, a Mexican national who was previously deported 16 times, was convicted by a jury of Attempted Reentry of Removed Alien. Alcaraz first administrative deportation was from August 27, 2008.
• On November 19, Mikah Alexandria DOTY, who was convicted of knowingly transporting aliens without legal status within the United States, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months in custody.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and 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

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a Texas man of fraud for orchestrating a cryptocurrency scheme that bilked nearly 1,000 investors out of at least $14 million.

ROBERT DUNLAP, 54, of Houston, Texas, was convicted of two counts of mail fraud on Monday after a week-long trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt set sentencing for Feb. 17, 2026.

From 2018 to 2023, Dunlap worked with others to market and sell a purported digital asset called “Meta-1 Coin” through a “Meta-1 Coin Trust.”  Dunlap made numerous false and misleading statements to potential and actual investors, including claims that the Meta-1 Coin was backed by as much as $1 billion in art and $44 billion in gold.  Dunlap falsely claimed that an accounting firm had audited the gold and certified its value.  The purported art collection was alleged to have included works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and other acclaimed artists. Dunlap used automated trading bots to cause the market price and trading volume of the Meta-1 Coin to be inflated on the “Meta Exchange,” which was a website created by Dunlap.

Dunlap created numerous legal, insurance, and other documents to conceal the fact that he did not possess the gold or art.  His fraud scheme caused nearly 1,000 investors to lose at least $14 million.

The conviction was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paige Nutini and Jared Hasten.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man was sentenced on November 20, 2025, to 21 and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and felon in possession of a firearm.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Jeremiah Kenneth McGregor, 23, robbed four Des Moines area Git-N-Go convenience store locations while armed with a firearm on October 5, 2024, October 7, 2024, October 10, 2024, and October 12, 2024, and attempted to rob a fifth Git-N-Go on October 6, 2024. In each robbery, McGregor entered the Git-N-Go, brandished and threatened a Git-N-Go employee with a firearm, and demanded cash.  On October 13, 2024, McGregor, who was in possession of a loaded firearm, ran from the officers during a traffic stop and was subsequently arrested. 

After completing his term of imprisonment, McGregor will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. McGregor was also ordered to pay $1,346 in restitution. The district court also ordered this federal sentence to run consecutive to a December 2024 state sentence imposed after a parole revocation.

McGregor’s co-defendant, Donault Seandrea Logan, 23, of Des Moines, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6, 2026.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Des Moines Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that ALTON TUMBLIN (“TUMBLIN”), age 44, of New Orleans, was sentenced on November 19, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Jane Milazzo to 175 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, along with a $400 mandatory special assessment fee, after previously pleading guilty to three counts of distributing fifty (50) grams or more of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A), and one count of distributing a quantity of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C).

According to court documents, TUMBLIN distributed over 50 grams of methamphetamine during controlled purchases to undercover agents on three separate occasions, including August 7, 2023, August 9, 2023, and August 16, 2023. Also, on August 7, 2023, TUMBLIN distributed a quantity of fentanyl to an undercover agent.

This case was part of Operation Big Easy.  Operation Big Easy was a National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) enforcement initiative of collected firearm casings for the time period of August 1, 2023 to January 31, 2023 that produced data points of high-density shootings and homicides in seven areas of New Orleans related to individuals engaged in criminal activity.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police. This case is being prosecuted by Rachal Cassagne of the Narcotics Unit.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Micheal Jason Brooks (37, Citra) has pleaded guilty plea to one count of receipt of a bribe by a public official and one count of providing contraband to a federal prisoner. Brooks faces up to 15 years in federal prison for the bribery offense and up to 6 months’ imprisonment for the contraband offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court records, on June 12, 2024, Brooks was employed by the United States Department of Justice, United States Bureau of Prisons, as a correctional officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County. He knowingly and corruptly sought, and agreed to receive and accept, a bribe of $3,000 in return for smuggling 177.1 grams of loose tobacco into the federal prison for an inmate. Federal inmates are prohibited from obtaining and possessing tobacco in prison as it is contraband. Brooks provided the tobacco to the inmate on June 12, 2024. 

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Defendant was a member of a drug trafficking organization known as “La Culebra”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Trendell Walker Sentenced for Killing a 15-Year-Old Victim During a Gang-Related Drive-by Shooting in 2007

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey today announced that Samuel Alexander Kuhl, 33, of Kalamazoo was sentenced to 420 months in prison for the sexual exploitation and coercion and enticement of a minor. During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Beckering noted that Kuhl’s conduct reflects a “pattern of angry, defiant, vindictive behavior” and an overall “disregard for the rule of law.” 

Kuhl first contacted the victim in this case, a fourteen-year-old girl, via Facebook. He engaged in an illegal sexual relationship with her for approximately 18 months. During this time, Kuhl abused the victim physically, emotionally, and psychologically. During his time with the girl, Kuhl repeatedly tried to engage the victim in group sexual activity; when she refused, he threatened her and her family with a gun. Kuhl also convinced the victim to provide him with child pornography. In June, a jury convicted Kuhl of two federal offenses charged as a result of this activity.

U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said, “Sam Kuhl devoted his adult life to crime, and part of his criminal lifestyle included tracking down adolescent girls to sexually exploit.  My office will never tolerate child exploitation and when it happens, we will bring the people involved to justice. Kuhl earned the sentence he received yesterday.” 

“Heinous and predatory acts against any child deserve severe punishment and serious consequences,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The actions of this predator included physical, emotional, and psychological abuse and manipulation of a teenager, and I am sincerely grateful for the work of my team at the FBI Kalamazoo Resident Agency, alongside the Wyoming Police Department, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and the Michigan State Police for bringing this violator to justice. Their tireless work throughout this investigation and trial, along with that of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan, clearly demonstrates our joint commitment to doing everything possible to keep our children safe in Michigan.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Wyoming Police Department investigated this case. Also supporting the investigation were Indiana State Police, Michigan State Police, and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/PSC.