Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Baltimore, Maryland – Authorities arrested a Maryland father and son, today, in connection with a dog-fighting conspiracy. A federal grand jury indicted Theodore Lamont Stinson, 48, of Whiteford, and Theodore Lamont Stinson, Jr., 25, of Whiteford, for conspiracy to engage in an animal fighting venture; buying, selling, delivering, possessing, training, or transporting animals for participation in an animal fighting venture; use of postal service or other interstate instrumentality for promoting or furthering an animal fighting venture; and interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), today filed a complaint against the State of California over its voter list after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in California. Under California law, every registered voter is mailed a ballot. It is unlawful for aliens to vote in federal elections.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Baltimore, Maryland – A Baltimore man, who a Baltimore City jury recently convicted of a gang-related murder, received a federal-prison term, today, for drug-trafficking crimes. This prosecution is in connection with a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) drug investigation. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Jarvis Joyner, 35, to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after he pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Desmond Levon Brown, 30, of Orangeburg, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for animal crushing, which includes burning, under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT Act). This was the first PACT ACT case prosecuted in the District of South Carolina. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

Today, the Department of Justice filed two lawsuits against the Cities of St. Paul, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon, challenging their unconstitutional attempts to regulate federal law enforcement officers by prohibiting federal officers from wearing masks and requiring them to provide identification in the manner prescribed by Code of Ordinances of the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota §§ 268A–268B and P.C.C. §§ 23.30.030, 23.30.100.

Not only are these laws illegal attempts to regulate the Federal Government, but, as alleged in the complaints, the laws threaten the safety of federal officers who have faced an unprecedent wave of harassment, doxxing, and even violence. Threatening officers with prosecution for simply protecting their identities and their families also chills the enforcement of federal law and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations.

“Under the Supremacy Clause of our Nation’s Constitution, states and localities cannot regulate the Federal Government and its law enforcement officers,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “And they certainly cannot enact laws that place the safety of federal law enforcement at risk and undermine federal operations authorized by Congress. This Department of Justice will never tolerate the doxxing or harassment of federal officers, or any law like those in St. Paul and Portland that enables violent behavior against federal law enforcement officers and their families.”

“These St. Paul and Portland local laws are a direct regulation of federal law enforcement operations and threaten severe consequences for officers and public safety alike,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Federal Government, not state and local governments, gets to decide which equipment federal officers may or may not wear when performing their official duties.”

“Aside from being unconstitutional, laws like these impede federal law enforcement’s ability to keep Oregonians safe and endanger the brave men and women of federal law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford for the District of Oregon. “They live in our communities. Their kids go to school in our communities. They care about our communities. They are part of our communities. It is unfair and improper to vilify them for political purposes.”

Attorney General Blanche has instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal laws or impede lawful federal operations. Today’s lawsuits are the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal policies designed to thwart federal law enforcement across the country, including in New York, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Philadelphia, Denver, and Milwaukee. Through these filings, the Department reaffirms that federal law enforcement operations cannot be compromised by state or local measures that violate federal law.

Note: Read the lawsuit against St. Paul here and Portland here.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Note: view complaint here.

The Justice Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), today filed a complaint against the State of California over its voter list after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in California. Under California law, every registered voter is mailed a ballot. It is unlawful for aliens to vote in federal elections. 

“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system and violated laws that protect our nation’s representative system of government. The Department of Justice will continue working to uncover cases of voter fraud, hold fraudsters accountable, and restore trust in American elections.”

“It is unlawful for noncitizens to vote in federal elections,” said Secretary Markwayne Mullin of DHS. “The Department of Homeland Security and our federal partners reviewed publicly available California voter-registration files and compared relevant records with federal immigration data to identify alien registrants. This preliminary analysis has identified a significant number of individuals in California who are likely noncitizens and appear to be registered to vote; the analysis and review remain ongoing. This is completely unacceptable — as even one noncitizen vote cancels out the ballot of an American citizen and undermines our elections. DHS is committed to identifying unlawful voting, protecting the integrity of federal elections, and ensuring that only eligible American citizens elect America’s leaders.”

“The law is clear, aliens in the United States cannot vote in federal elections,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. “What our complaint alleges is that California is facilitating unlawful voting by knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote. This needs to stop.”

“California election officials were given an opportunity to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls and to sequester ballots returned from suspected ineligible voters. They refused,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “We are taking California to federal court to demand that the votes of American citizens not be diluted by noncitizens.”

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in coordination with federal partners, analyzed publicly available voter-registration records to identify potential indicators that aliens may have registered to vote, cast ballots, or received election-related mail. The Department of Justice has filed a complaint against the State of California alleging that these individuals, who are likely noncitizens, registered to vote and/or voted in a federal election. HSI and its federal partners used multiple data-enrichment and verification methods to assess whether the individuals identified were likely aliens.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Peter L. Roper, of San Diego, operated various La Jolla-based businesses that marketed and sold purported federal tax credits throughout the United States. Between 2010 through 2021, Roper and his businesses received nearly $19 million in income, on which he owed more than $6.7 million in federal income taxes. Roper and his businesses, however, did not report any of this income on tax returns or pay taxes to the IRS. Throughout this period, Roper used his businesses’ bank accounts to pay personal expenses and concealed assets by titling them in the names of others. Instead of paying taxes, Roper spent $187,432.34 on a 2015 McLaren 650S Spider and another $277,698.50 on a 2021 Aston Martin DBX, among other things.

Roper pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys John C. Gerardi and Charles A. O’Reilly of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Brooks for the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Danville man, who sexually exploited minor females using social media, and in some cases threatened the minors with the distribution of their nude images to their friends, family, and churches, was sentenced this week to 19 years in federal prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Jesus Diaz, 25, pled guilty in July 2026 to one count of making extortive threats to injure the reputation of another and four counts of enticement of a minor. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Department of Justice announced the results from Operation Show Me Justice. The operation was a high‑impact violent crime reduction enforcement surge in St. Louis and was led by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with other federal and local law enforcement partners.

Related: DOJ, ATF, Law Enforcement Partners Conclude Operation Show Me Justice