Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Demetrius Alpha Omega Murray, 33, has been indicted in federal court in a six-count Indictment for interstate communication of threats to injure children.  John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the charges.

Murray appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick for his arraignment in federal court on December 4, 2025, in Tallahassee, Florida. Trial is set for February 2, 2026, before United States District Judge Robert Hinkle.

If convicted, Murray faces a maximum of five years imprisonment on each threat count.

The case was investigated by the Tallahassee Police Department, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric K Mountin.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. 

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: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Matthew Allen Kitchen, 39, of Youngstown, Florida, was sentenced to five years in prison for receipt of child pornography. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence today.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “The distribution of child sexual abuse material has the effect of re-victimizing the exploited children each and every time the image, video, or depiction is shared. I deeply appreciate the dedication of our state and federal law enforcement partners who tirelessly investigate these cases to keep our children safe from predators like this defendant, and my office remains committed to aggressively prosecuting these cases with the full force of the law.”

Court documents reflect that while conducting undercover activities law enforcement officers determined that child pornography was being disseminated over the internet via a peer-to-peer network. An internet protocol address assigned to the defendant’s residence in Youngstown, Florida, was identified. On March 13, 2024, a federal search warrant was executed. Law enforcement located the defendant’s laptop, which contained numerous files of child pornography.  

“This sentence reinforces our commitment to protecting our children from predators who exploit children on the internet,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas G. Ingegno. “Transmitting child sexual abuse material is abhorrent and a serious crime with lasting consequences for its victims. This outcome reflects the hard work of HSI investigators, our law enforcement partners, and prosecutors, and serves as a clear warning that anyone who targets children online will be held fully accountable.”

The defendant’s imprisonment will be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, meaning if he violates any of the conditions of his supervision, he will potentially face an additional period of incarceration. Additionally, the defendant was ordered to pay restitution to victims, and he will be required to register as a sex offender. 

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp prosecuted the case.

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 available 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: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Dominik Israel Lopez, 24, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced on November 24, 2025, by United States District Judge Krissa Lanham to 108 months of prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Lopez pleaded guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl, with death resulting.  
    
In March 2020, a man, was found deceased in his apartment in Gilbert, Arizona. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be fentanyl toxicity. Law enforcement investigators were able to learn that the victim had contacted Lopez using a messaging app called Whisper. The victim obtained four fentanyl pills from Lopez for $40. The victim used just one of those pills, overdosed, and died.

“At the end of every drug overdose death are countless victims,” said United States Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “There are the dead, taken too early, families who lose loved ones, and communities slowly being torn apart. This sentence shows that the Department of Justice will pursue harsh penalties for all drug dealers. I am proud to stand alongside the victim’s family and our law enforcement partners in holding this defendant accountable.”

“Drug traffickers who deal deadly drugs and destroy lives will face justice,” said DEA Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz. “The DEA, alongside our dedicated partners, remains steadfast in our mission to save lives and achieve a Fentanyl-Free America.”

“The Gilbert Police Department works in close partnership with law enforcement agencies in the ongoing fight against illegal drugs, including holding accountable those whose actions result in death through drug distribution,” said Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg. “We remain steadfast in our relentless pursuit of those who victimize our community.”

Fentanyl is a man-made opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose. Fake pills laced with fentanyl are often sold on social media. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose and poisoning is the leading cause of death for Americans 18-45 years of age.

Legitimate pharmaceutical pills cannot be bought on social media. The only safe medications are ones prescribed directly to you by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. For additional information and resources, including a Caregivers Fact Sheet, visit DEA.gov/onepill.

United States Drug Enforcement Administration and The Gilbert Police Department conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Brandon Brown and Jason Crowley, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:    24-CR-01093-PHX-KML
RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-170_Lopez

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Paul Campo, Former DEA Official, and Friend, Robert Sensi, Agreed to Launder Approximately $12,000,000 and Participate in Narcotics Trafficking for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a/k/a Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion or CJNG

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of production and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, First Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

The two-count Indictment named Anton Reed Sr., 33, as the sole defendant.

According to the Indictment, on or about July 8, 2022, Reed produced visual depictions of the sexual exploitation of a minor. The Indictment also charges Reed with possessing, from on or about December 10, 2022, until on or about September 8, 2025, videos and still images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, some of whom were prepubescent and under the age of 12 years.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $750,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Allegheny County Police Department, and Wilkinsburg Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment.

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 Attorneys’ 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.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Orlando, Florida, and a resident of Vienna, Virginia, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, First Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

The six-count Indictment named Trevaughn J. Yearwood, a/k/a Larry Wood, 28, of Florida, currently in custody in the Clearfield County Jail on unrelated state charges, and Amit Kumar Jain, a/k/a Buddy Patel, 46, of Virginia, as defendants.

According to the Indictment, which was unsealed following Jain’s arrest today in Virginia, Jain and Yearwood conspired to defraud senior citizens in Western Pennsylvania and throughout the United States in an elder fraud scheme in which conspirators used deceptive emails that led victims to give Yearwood, Jain, and their co-conspirators tens of thousands of dollars in cash or to make substantial deposits of cash into bitcoin ATMs. The Indictment alleges that, between January 2024 and August 2025, Jain and his co-conspirators operated fictitious entities through which Jain and others laundered approximately $26 million of victim funds through accounts held at a Vienna, Virginia, bank.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both for Jain, and up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both for Yearwood. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that BRETT GABRIEL, age 32, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, was sentenced on November 19, 2025 by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo.

According to court documents, BRETT GABRIEL used stolen identity information to purchase a firearm and to obtain fraudulent paycheck protection program loan proceeds administered by the federal government.

The defendant was sentenced to twenty-seven months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. The defendant was also ordered to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of three hundred dollars.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the United States Secret Service, and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Richard R. Pickens, II of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

BISMARCK –United States Attorney Nicholas W. Chase announced today, pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor sentenced Targa Badlands LLC, a company which does business in North Dakota, to: 1) three years of probation; 2) 500 hours of community services to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation; 3) payment of a $500,000 fine on a National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (“NESHAP”) Clean Air Act violation; and 4) $400.00 in special assessments. Targa Badlands LLC pleaded guilty to this offense on February 18, 2025. 

As stated in the criminal information and plea agreement, Targa Badlands LLC operates six natural gas compressor stations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.  Between 2018 and 2022, Targa Badlands LLC operated the Johnson Compressor Station, located in Dunn County, North Dakota, but failed to timely install continuous parameter monitoring systems on two Johnson Compressor Station engines when required to do so under NESHAP.  Continuous parameter monitoring systems monitor and collect data on temperature and pressure for engine operations to ensure the catalyst is being utilized properly, thus ensuring the engine not producing excess emissions.  Failure to timely install a required continuous parameter monitoring system can lead to increased hazardous air pollutants being released into the environment.

Additionally, as described in the plea agreement, on two prior occasions, in 2019 and 2021, Targa Badlands LLC had previously agreed to pay civil penalties to the United States—and entered into Consent Agreement and Final Order’s with the EPA—for separate NESHAP violations pertaining to natural gas compressor stations it operates on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Finally, as noted in the plea agreement, Targa Badlands LLC self-identified, self-reported, and corrected the failure to timely install continuous parameter monitoring systems at the Johnson Compressor Station and has since adopted an implemented policy and procedural best practices to improve its environmental permit review and implementation requirements.

“Today’s sentence underscores the importance of enforcing our environmental laws, which protect the land, water, and communities,” said US Attorney Chase.  “At the same time, we recognize that Targa Badlands LLC took responsibility for its actions and self-reported the violation.  Natural gas production is vital to our state’s economy, and it must be done responsibly.  This case demonstrates that we can support strong energy production while holding companies accountable when they fall short of their legal obligations.”

This case was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency – Criminal Investigation Division and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan J. O’Konek.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Tacoma – Two Lacey, Washington, men – both former members of the military – will appear in federal court in Tacoma today at 1:30 PM on a criminal complaint filed in June following a brutal assault on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Charles Ethan Fields, 27, and Levi Austin Frakes, 27, have been in custody in Thurston County since their arrest on June 2, 2025. The men are charged federally with robbery, assault, and theft of government property.

According to the criminal complaint, the men entered JBLM around 8PM on June 1, 2025. About an hour after that, a member of the Army discovered them in the Ranger compound. The men were masked and had Army property arrayed around them. When questioned, the men started fighting with the Army member and beat him on the head and torso with a hammer. The victim was able to gain control of the hammer, only to have one of the men pull a knife and brandish it at the victim. The men – later identified as Fields and Frakes, ran from the Ranger compound, and dropped some of the items they allegedly were trying to steal.

Investigators collected evidence at the scene of the thefts and assault and determined the men were trying to steal about $14,000 in government property.

The men were traced to an address in Lacey and law enforcement obtained a warrant to search the residence. Inside they found weapons and military property, including night vision devices, ballistic plates and plate carriers, and helmets; military munitions; and military explosives such as blasting caps, flashbangs, and smoke grenades. Some of the items are restricted and not allowed to be owned or stored in a private residence. Officers also recovered $24,000 in cash.

Assault and theft of government property are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Robbery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci L. Ellsworth. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Charlie N. Steans, 58, of Pensacola, Florida, and of Texas City, Texas, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine between Texas and Escambia County, Florida. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “I applaud the excellent collaborative work of our state and federal law enforcement partners to stop this individual from continuing to flood our streets with deadly drugs. My office will continue to deliver successful prosecutions and substantial prison sentences for drug traffickers, like this defendant, as part of the Homeland Security Task Force’s whole-of-government approach to eliminating and eradicating organized criminal enterprises that threaten the safety of our communities.”

Court documents reflect that Steans was caught at a Greyhound Bus Station in Houston, Texas, with approximately 10 kilograms of methamphetamine and one kilogram of cocaine hidden in his luggage in early 2023. He was able to bond out of a Texas state jail after being caught only to be arrested again in late-2024, this time on a Greyhound Bus in Mississippi heading toward Pensacola, Florida, with nearly 4 kilograms of cocaine in his possession. At that point, law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions connected Steans to being an interstate transporter of large amounts of drugs between Texas and Florida with the drugs destined for Pensacola. Steans was then taken into federal custody based on charges out of the Northern District of Florida.

“Our agents and law enforcement partners will continue to fight those trafficking poisons into our Florida communities,” said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter. “Whether by bus, tractor trailer, plane, or boat, we will find you and bring you to justice.”

The case involved a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Pensacola Police Department; the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; and the Florida Highway Patrol.  The case

was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Jessica S. Etherton.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) 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 United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, 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. HSTF comprises agents and officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.

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.