Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: US FBI

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Stephen Christopher Young, 58, of Gainesville, Florida, was sentenced to 121 months imprisonment for receipt/attempted receipt of child pornography. The sentence was announced by Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

“Crimes against children are unacceptable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Spaven. “Those who seek to view and maintain child pornography facilitate the abuse of children by those who produce and profit from this illegal content. We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to ensure that we aggressively prosecute these offenders.”

In March 2024, investigators executed a federal search warrant at Young’s residence and discovered Young had been exchanging child pornography with others using various applications intended to avoid detection by using end-to-end encryption.

Young’s prison sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $20,500 in restitution. Young will also be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to all sex offender conditions.

“It’s crucial to prioritize the protection of children from sexual abuse,” said Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott.

The case was investigated by Internet Crime Against Children Task Force Gainesville Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith Steer and Adam Hapner prosecuted the case.

“This case is another example of the FBI’s relentless commitment to protecting children by removing predators from our community,” said Jason Carley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville. “Let this be a lesson to others who prey on vulnerable kids; the FBI and our partners will never stop working to identify, pursue, and hold child predators accountable.”

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 and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Source: US FBI

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis today sentenced Taylor Ryan Hill (27, Jacksonville) to 30 months in federal prison for mailing threatening communications. The court also ordered Hill to serve the sentence consecutive to a state prison sentence imposed in 2021 for first degree murder (two counts), attempted murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Hill pleaded guilty in this latest case on December 3, 2024.

According to court documents, Hill was an inmate serving his state sentence at Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green. On February 12, 2024, Hill mailed a threatening letter to the Assistant State Attorney in Clay County who had prosecuted Hill for his underlying murder convictions. The letter threatened to have that prosecutor, as well as the judge who sentenced him, killed. The letter was signed “Taylor Ryan Hill” and was mailed in an envelope with a return address of Taylor Hill, his inmate number, and an address at Hardee Correctional.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Lasry and Michael J. Coolican.

Source: US FBI

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Davonta McCrorey (25, Baltimore) has pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting federal correctional officers. McCrorey faces up to eight years’ imprisonment on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set. 

According to court records, in March 2024, McCrorey was an inmate at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County. On March 16, 2024, McCrorey aggressively charged out of his cell and struck two federal correctional officers in the face multiple times, causing injuries. McCrorey then resisted other correctional officers who attempted to restrain him by verbally threatening them with violence and biting one of them on the hand.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.

Source: US FBI

Ocala, Florida – United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Thomas Allen Ebersole (32, Dunnellon) to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity. Ebersole is also required to register as a sex offender. He entered a guilty plea on January 6, 2025.  

According to court records, in December 2023, Ebersole met and communicated with a 16-year-old girl through online video games. On December 28, 2023, Ebersole drove from his home in Marion County to Ohio, where the minor lived. He then drove the victim back to his Florida home to engage in sexual activity with her. After the victim’s family reported her missing, law enforcement identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address the victim had used to play video games while at Ebersole’s home. Law enforcement located and removed the victim from Ebersole’s home on January 3, 2024. The victim told law enforcement that she never left Ebersole’s home during the week she had been missing. She also admitted that Ebersole had engaged in sexual intercourse with her multiple times, which was subsequently confirmed through DNA testing.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lima (Ohio) Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: US FBI

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Larry E. Denson, Jr. (31, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving COVID relief fraud through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).  Denson faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and payment of restitution to the United State government. Denson has also agreed to forfeit $18,190, the proceeds of the charged criminal offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in April 2021, Denson submitted a PPP loan application to a lender authorized by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to lend funds for approved PPP loan applications. The PPP loan application falsely claimed that Denson operated his own janitorial services business with a gross income of $87,312. Throughout the loan application, Denson made false statements regarding his purported payroll and operating expenses. In support of his PPP loan application, Denson submitted a fraudulent IRS form that contained false statements about expenses and income for his purported business. Upon reliance of the false statements in his PPP loan application and supporting documentation, Denson received a PPP loan for $18,190. 

After receiving the PPP loan proceeds into his bank account, Denson began making withdrawals and spending the funds on personal expenses, including meals at restaurants, retail purchases, and cash withdrawals. In July 2022, Denson filed a PPP Loan Forgiveness Application, falsely stating that he had spent the $18,190 on payroll. Relying on his false statements, the SBA forgave the entire loan amount.

This case was investigated by Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David B. Mesrobian.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Source: US FBI

More Than 200 Offenders Arrested Nationwide, Including Three in the District of Columbia

Source: US FBI

WASHINGTON –  Isjalon Jermiah Armstead, 22, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison in connection with a June 2023 shootout in a residential neighborhood in Southeast.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Armstead, aka “Smaut,” was a member of the Push Dat Shit street crew. He pleaded guilty Jan. 30, 2025, to discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. In addition to the 120-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amy B. Jackson ordered Armstead to serve four years of supervised release.

According to court documents, on June 5, 2023, Armstead was in possession of a half-pound of marijuana and intended to sell it. About 3:15 p.m., Armstead — who was seated in the front passenger seat of a 2005 Nissan Altima near the intersection of Third and Atlantic Streets, SE — engaged in a gun battle with the driver of another car. During the shootout, Armstead fired a .300 caliber AR-Pistol from the passenger seat before the Altima he was riding in became disabled and crashed through a fence and stopped in a grassy area next to an apartment building on Atlantic Street.   

Armstead, who suffered bullet wounds to his wrist and chest during the shootout, and the driver of the vehicle both fled on foot through a wooded area between Atlantic Street and Valley Avenue, stopping to discard the AR-Pistol in a trash receptacle. Responding MPD officers apprehended Armstead about 3:18 p.m. at the intersection of Fourth Street and Valley Avenue, SE, retraced Armstead’s steps, and found the AR-Pistol which was later determined to have Armstead’s DNA on it.

According to court documents, PDS maintained gang territory in the 3300 – 3500 blocks of Wheeler Road, SE, and operated an open-air drug market outside a market. In August 2018, PDS allied with a neighboring street gang known as Jugg Gang. The combined gang also conspired to carry firearms – including machine guns – to protect themselves, their drugs, their cash, and their territory from rival crews with whom they had “beefs.”

This sentence is part of an ongoing joint investigation which has resulted in 26 convictions and the seizure of two vehicles, 35 firearms, four machine guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, approximately 60 pounds of marijuana, 41 grams of cocaine base, dozens of oxycodone pills, and approximately $500,000 in cash.

The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Cross Border Task Force, the ATF’s Washington Field Division, and the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James B. Nelson.

23cr379

Source: US FBI

Defendant traveled to ‘meet n play’ with an undercover officer’s purported 10-year-old boy