Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

WASHINGTON – Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced it has filed a federal lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia for failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request. This brings the Justice Department’s nationwide total to 24 states and the District of Columbia.

“This Department of Justice has now sued 24 states for failing to provide voter roll data and will continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Accurate voter rolls are the foundation of election integrity, and any state that fails to meet this basic obligation of transparency can expect to see us in court.”

“Accurate voter rolls are essential to ensuring that American citizens’ votes count only once, and only with other eligible voters,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to safeguarding fair and free elections, and will hold states accountable when they refuse to respect our federal elections laws.”

“When states attempt to hide information they are required to disclose, they undermine public trust and violate the law,” said Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This office will enforce the law to ensure the public and federal authorities receive the information they are entitled to.”

According to the lawsuits, the Attorney General is uniquely charged by Congress with the enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which were designed by Congress to ensure that states have proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs. The Attorney General also has the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) at her disposal to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Anita D. Miller, 42, of Jamestown, NY, who was convicted of theft of mail by a postal employee and delay of mail by a postal employee, was sentenced to serve three years’ probation and 100 community service by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Following his extradition from Mexico to the United States, Roberto Najera Gutierrez, also known as “Kunfu Panda” and “La Gallina,” pleaded not guilty in the Northern District of Georgia to a federal charge of conspiring to manufacture and distribute cocaine that he knew would be imported into the United States.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and our brave DEA agents, the cartels are no longer free to import poison into our communities,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We appreciate the work of our Office of International Affairs which secured the extradition of this alleged narco-terrorist and our attorneys in the Northern District of Georgia will ensure he’s met with swift justice in the United States.”

“As a senior member of the brutal Sinaloa Cartel, Najera Gutierrez is allegedly responsible for distributing massive amounts of cocaine from South America and through Mexico that were intended to poison communities in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia. “This federal indictment, as well as the recent arraignment in Atlanta of alleged Sinaloa Cartel trafficker Zhi Dong Zhang, demonstrates the global reach of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and underscores that narco-terrorists abroad will ultimately face justice in American courtrooms.”

“This indictment is part of a multi-agency collaboration dedicated to dismantling transnational criminal organizations responsible for drug trafficking and violence,” said Special Agent in Charge Jae W. Chung of the DEA Atlanta Division. “Through sustained cooperation, we are holding cartel leaders accountable and reducing the harm they cause to our communities.”

“IRS-CI is proud to stand alongside our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks responsible for trafficking massive amounts of cocaine and other illegal drugs into the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Atlanta Field Office.

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the indictment, and other information presented in court: In 2013, DEA agents began an investigation of drug traffickers working with the Sinaloa Cartel to transport cocaine from South America to Mexico for importation into the United States, including into the Northern District of Georgia. The Sinaloa Cartel is a transnational criminal group based in Mexico. On Feb. 20, 2025, the Sinaloa Cartel was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

As part of the investigation, agents identified Roberto Najera Gutierrez as a then-high-ranking member of the cartel who allegedly led and coordinated the transportation of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine by boat from Colombia and Ecuador to Honduras and Guatemala. Once the drugs were in Central America, they were smuggled across the Guatemalan border into Mexico. Najera Gutierrez allegedly distributed that cocaine to other high-level drug traffickers in Mexico who imported the cocaine into Atlanta, Chicago, and the states of Florida, New York, and California. Najera Gutierrez also allegedly coordinated the collection and remission of drug proceeds through bank accounts.

Roberto Najera Gutierrez, 48, of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico, is in federal custody. The recently unsealed indictment against Najera Gutierrez was returned in March 2018. In October 2023, Najera Gutierrez was served with a warrant pursuant to the U.S. request for his extradition. On Jan. 8, 2026, he was extradited from Mexico and surrendered to the United States.       

This case is being investigated by the DEA and IRS-CI. The U.S. Marshals Service assisted in transporting Najera Gutierrez from Mexico to appear before the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Georgia.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laurel Milam and Jonell L. Lucca for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

The Justice Department Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations assisted in the investigation, and the Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and Jan. 8 extradition from Mexico of Najera Gutierrez.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

These prosecutions are also 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 U.S. 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. The Atlanta Wilhelm HSTF comprises agents and officers from ATF, CGIS, DEA, FBI, ICE-HSI, IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, DSS, USMS, USPIS, and USSS, as well as numerous state and local agencies, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $6.8 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, announced today. That amount is the highest in a single year in the history of the False Claims Act. This year, whistleblowers filed 1,297 qui tam lawsuits, the highest number in a single year, and the government opened 401 investigations, including matters announced as Administration policy objectives. Settlements and judgments since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the civil False Claims Act, now total more than $85 billion.

“Stopping rampant fraud is a top priority, and this record-breaking year proves the False Claims Act remains one of the government’s most powerful weapons against fraud,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We will continue to aggressively deploy it to protect taxpayer dollars and hold all fraudsters accountable.”

“The achievements announced today reflect exemplary work by the Department’s dedicated employees to investigate and litigate cases involving fraud against the government and to ensure that America’s taxpayer dollars are used for their intended purpose,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The False Claims Act and its whistleblower provisions are crucial tools for ensuring that public funds are spent properly and in the public interest.”

“The False Claims Act is at its best when it protects taxpayers and the Americans who rely on government programs,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brenna Jenny of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department’s False Claims Act enforcement is guided by a simple principle: the statute is a powerful tool, and it should be used responsibly. The record-breaking recoveries announced today show our commitment to holding bad actors accountable, safeguarding taxpayer dollars, and protecting vulnerable populations.”

The False Claims Act imposes treble damages and penalties on those who knowingly and falsely claim money from the United States or knowingly fail to pay money owed to the United States. The False Claims Act thus safeguards government programs and operations that provide access to medical care, support our military and first responders, protect American businesses and workers, help build and repair infrastructure, offer disaster and other emergency relief, and provide many other critical services and benefits. The resolutions in fiscal year 2025 also reflect the Department’s focus on key enforcement areas, including combating fraud in the federal health care system and in the government’s procurement, loan, and grant programs and redressing the improper avoidance of tariffs and customs duties that are owed.

Health care fraud remained a leading source of False Claims Act settlements and judgments. Of the more than $6.8 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments reported by the Department of Justice this past fiscal year, over $5.7 billion related to matters that involved the health care industry. These recoveries restore funds to federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, the health care program for service members and their families. But just as important, in many cases, enforcement of the False Claims Act also protects patients from medically unnecessary or potentially harmful conduct. As in years past, the Act was used to pursue matters involving a wide array of health care providers, goods, and services. Most notably, the Department continued and expanded its success in three major areas: Managed Care, Prescription Drugs, and Medically Unnecessary Care. The amounts included in the $5.7 billion reflect recoveries arising only from federal losses, but in many of these cases, the department was instrumental in recovering additional amounts for state Medicaid programs.  

The Department also continued its pursuit of fraud matters involving the purchase of goods and services by the government. Fraud on the military squanders government funds, can deprive servicemembers of critical resources and potentially put them at risk, and creates potential national security risks. The Department also continued to advance cases holding government contractors and grantees accountable when they knowingly violate applicable cybersecurity requirements.  It likewise continued to invest resources in recovering hundreds of millions of dollars lost to fraud in pandemic programs.

Finally, the Department directed resources to combatting fraud that evades tariffs and customs duties, launching a cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force to enhance efforts to prevent trade fraud that deprives the government of vital revenues, threatens critical domestic industries, undermines consumer confidence, and weakens national security. These matters focus on those who attempt to misrepresent the type of goods imported or an item’s country of origin or disguise items to evade duties.

In furtherance of its efforts to recover funds for the public fisc, the Department remained committed to incentivizing and rewarding entities and individuals that self-disclose misconduct, demonstrably cooperate in the course of an investigation, and take effective remedial measures. Several settlements over the last year acknowledged such cooperative measures and reflected credits afforded to the defendants in the form of reduced penalties or damage multiples in connection with the resolution, including several of the matters discussed in the attached Fact Sheet. These cooperative measures can include self-disclosures, assistance with the determination of government losses, disclosures of internal investigations and facts not known to the government, and remedial measures such as implementing compliance program enhancements or terminating or separating culpable employees.

In 1986, through the leadership of Senator Charles Grassley, Congress strengthened the False Claims Act by increasing incentives for whistleblowers to file lawsuits alleging false claims on behalf of the government. These whistleblower, or qui tam, actions comprise a significant percentage of the False Claims Act cases that are filed. Qui tam cases may be pursued by the government or the whistleblower, and this past year, significant recoveries were obtained by both. When a qui tam action is successful, the whistleblower, also known as the relator, typically receives a portion of the recovery ranging between 15% and 30%. The 1,297 qui tam suits filed in fiscal year 2025 breaks the prior record set in 2024 of 980 such cases. This past year, the Justice Department reported settlements and judgments exceeding $5.3 billion in these and earlier-filed qui tam suits.

On behalf of the Civil Division, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jenny expressed appreciation for the many public servants over the past year who supported the department’s enforcement efforts. “The results of the past fiscal year are the product of a talented team of civil servants who pursue righteous FCA cases and return funds to American taxpayers.  These hard-working individuals tackle the most complex civil fraud matters and serve at offices across the country, including the Fraud Section of the Civil Division, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the agency Offices of Inspector General and Offices of General Counsel, and many other federal and state agencies that contribute to this important work.”

Except where indicated, the government’s claims in the matters described in the attached Fact Sheet are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. The numbers contained in this press release may differ slightly from the original press releases due to accrued interest.

View the statistics sheet here.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Darrell Hinkle, 37, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 21 years in prison for the April 2023 murder of Dajuan Blakney in front of an apartment complex in Southeast Washington, DC, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.