Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
TUCSON, Ariz. – On Aug. 19, 2026, Sonny Reyes Lozano, 38, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Rosemary Marquez to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Lozano previously pleaded guilty to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Maxim Larin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and attempting to violate the Arms Export Control Act in connection with his shipment of weapons parts and accessories to Kazakhstan. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Nina R. Morrison. When sentenced, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment. As part of his plea, the defendant agreed to forfeit $250,000 and dozens of weapons parts and accessories seized from his residence. Larin was arrested in Florida in August 2025.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana allowed the Forest Service’s Gold Butterfly Project on the Bitterroot National Forest to proceed. The project is in Ravalli County east of Corvallis in southwest Montana. The project authorizes almost 5,300 acres of commercial harvest, almost 2,100 acres of non-commercial treatments, prescribed burning, and replanting. Nearly 60% of the treatments are in the wildland-urban interface, and more than 90% are in a treatment area designated under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. Continuing over the course of several years, the project will reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire affecting nearby communities, provide timber products and related jobs, improve water quality, and restore forest habitats.
In late March, the district court ruled that the Forest Service complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Forest Management Act (NFMA), and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. The court identified a limited scope of discrepancies about how the project examined effects to grizzly bears and sent the project decision back to the Forest Service for additional explanation. After the Forest Service provided that explanation in early April, the court said the Forest Service fully explained its analysis and has always considered transient grizzly bears in the project area. The decision is subject to appeal in the Ninth Circuit.
“Responsible forest management produces much-needed timber, makes housing more affordable, prevents wildfires, and saves lives,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “We are combating efforts to weaponize procedural statutes against the responsible use of America’s vast natural resources. The court in this case properly remanded to the Forest Service in March to allow the agency to correct limited errors, which were quickly addressed. In last week’s decision, the court rightly deferred to the Forest Service’s analysis of environmental effects.”
In March 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order to expand American timber production. One of the purposes of the executive order is to save American lives and communities through forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects.
Senior Trial Attorney John Tustin of ENRD’s Natural Resources Section handled the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Used $70,000 of Fraudulent Proceeds as a Deposit for an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament
An Oregon man was sentenced to 42 months in prison for tax evasion, employment tax crimes, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to documents and statements made in court, Joel Matthew Caswell, 32, of Jacksonville, Oregon, had ownership or managing interests in three logging and construction businesses that collectively employed approximately 40 employees. Caswell exercised control over the business and financial affairs of at least two of these businesses and was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes from employees and then paying over those funds to the IRS. From 2018 through 2022, Caswell withheld employment taxes from his employees’ pay but willfully failed to pay over these taxes to the IRS. Caswell attempted to evade these and other taxes by directing customers to write checks to another company or to him personally, moving business funds and lying to IRS collection officers. In 2019, the IRS assessed the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against Caswell based on these unpaid payroll taxes.
Separately, between 2022 and 2024, Caswell executed multiple fraud schemes that involved submitting fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender and the Small Business Administration to secure loans. For example, Caswell submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications for all three of the logging and construction businesses. He transferred $70,000 of his fraud proceeds to be used as a deposit for an ultimate frisbee tournament. Caswell also used the personal identifying information of another person to obtain a residential mortgage.
On June 9, Caswell pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes, one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane ordered Caswell to serve five years of supervised release and to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the IRS.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management investigated the case.
Trial Attorney J. Parker Gochenour of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Brassel for the District of Oregon prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“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
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Gerard Reilly, Jr., age 59, of Kirkwood, New York, was sentenced August 5, 2026, to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison and 5 years supervised release for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of New York. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Acting United States Marshal Christopher J. Amoia made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ALBANY, NEW YORK – William Strack II, age 37, of Saranac Lake, New York, pleaded guilty August 4, 2026, to eight counts of sexual exploitation of children. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III; Anthony Patrone, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James; and Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Gerard Reilly, Jr., age 59, of Kirkwood, New York, was sentenced August 5, 2026, to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison and 5 years supervised release for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of New York. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Acting United States Marshal Christopher J. Amoia made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice
ALBANY, NEW YORK – William Strack II, age 37, of Saranac Lake, New York, pleaded guilty August 4, 2026, to eight counts of sexual exploitation of children. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III; Anthony Patrone, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James; and Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Note: See the indictment here.
A man was arrested this weekend in Canada at the request of the United States following his earlier indictment in Hawaii for sexual exploitation of a child.
According to court documents, Donald Steven Lang, 62, produced images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Lang allegedly produced the images between September 2024 and December 2024 aboard his 52-foot sailboat, the Ishi. Lang is an amateur sailor who is known to sail around the world and frequently harbored in Hawaii.
“Protecting children from sexual predators is a priority of the highest order,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “We will continue to pursue this alleged offender and work with our law enforcement partners to return him to the United States to face trial for the crimes he is charged with committing.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is unwavering in our commitment to protecting Hawaii’s children and bringing to justice anyone preying upon them,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii. “I commend the continued dedication and great work of FBI and our Canadian law enforcement partners for apprehending Mr. Lang quickly and safely so that he can face justice in U.S. District Court in Hawaii for his alleged crimes.”
“The FBI remains committed to identifying, investigating, and bringing offenders to justice who prey on some of the most vulnerable members of our communities,” said FBI Criminal Assistant Director Heith Janke. “Donald Lang has been accused by multiple victims of committing sexual abuse of a minor. Lang’s apprehension was the direct result of the collaboration of the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Pacific Region.”
Lang was previously indicted on separate charges of child sexual abuse in Idaho related to his involvement in the sexual assault of a minor between 2003 and 2007.
If convicted, Lang faces a minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. He also faces a penalty of between five years of supervised release and lifetime supervised release, along with a fine of up to $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine a sentence upon conviction after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
FBI Honolulu is investigating the case. Lang’s apprehension was the direct result of the cooperation of the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s Tofino General Duty, Island District GIS, Nanaimo Detachment, and Island District ERT. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in securing the apprehension.
Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Eucker for the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information regarding this case may contact the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office at (808) 426-2534, the FBI’s Toll-Free tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Anyone with information about this case may also contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or they can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
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
Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio, along with the Administrative and Presiding Judge and Director of Security, challenging a new rule that blocks federal officials from arresting aliens at or near the courthouse. Specifically, the complaint challenges the new Rule 2.10 that purports to shield aliens from being lawfully detained at or around the courthouse and to impose criminal and civil liability for violations.
Not only is the rule an illegal attempt to regulate the federal government, but, as alleged in the complaint, the rule threatens the safety and effectiveness of federal operations. As is true in all types of law enforcement, conducting an arrest at or near a courthouse often reduces the risk of flight and potential safety risks to the public, law enforcement officers, and subjects themselves due to the enhanced security screenings in place at courthouses. Franklin County Municipal Court’s rule runs counter to common sense and endangers the broader community by attempting to eliminate safe places for law enforcement officers to act.
“Today the Department sued yet another local entity that seeks to thwart the will of Congress by regulating when and where Federal law enforcement does its job, all in the name of protecting criminal aliens who violate our Nation’s laws,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. “No more. This Department of Justice will not sit idly by while state and local government seek to undermine federal immigration enforcement.”
“This type of rule obstructs federal law enforcement and facilitates evasion of federal law by dangerous criminal aliens, despite Congress’s direction that federal agents detain and remove them,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Throughout the country, and including in this courthouse specifically, federal agents have routinely and safely conducted arrests. The Department of Justice is committed to protecting that important federal prerogative.”
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 lawsuit is 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, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.