Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Baltimore, Maryland – A former office manager learned her fate in federal court in connection with an embezzlement scheme.U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced Tammy Barcus, 57, of Berlin, Maryland, to 48 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax evasion.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Jacksonville, Florida – Jonathan Simeon Gholston (35, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive kickbacks in return for the referral of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries for the provision of HIV prophylactic medications. He faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal court last week issued a temporary restraining order against K&M Pets LLC which owns a pet store in Saginaw, Michigan, that sells and offers encounters with exotic animals. The order was issued based on claims that K&M Pets had repeatedly refused to allow Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials access to inspect its facilities, animals, and records in violation of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
“This case shows that there are consequences for dealers and exhibitors who violate the obligations of their license and attempt to evade the Animal Welfare Act requirements that protect the health and safety of the animals in their care,” said Deputy Principal Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Animal Welfare Act exists to protect these animals, and the Department of Justice will vigorously enforce this law and hold to account those who violate it.”
“This action demonstrates the shared commitment of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use all available tools to ensure the effective and expeditious enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act,” said General Counsel Tyler Clarkson of the USDA.
The Department of Justice filed a complaint for injunctive relief in the Eastern District of Michigan on Feb. 24 — followed by a motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction three days later — alleging that K&M Pets engaged in a pattern and practice of attempting to avoid its AWA obligations. According to the complaint, the pet store operated by K&M Pets sells dogs and exotic animals, and has evaded federal oversight by denying inspectors from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) access to its facilities, animals, and records. During the latest attempted inspection in January, the APHIS inspector — who was ultimately unable to conduct an inspection — observed concerning conditions in the public areas of the pet store facility, including animals in enclosures without water or shelter and a sloth that was exposed to harsh drafts of negative-22-degree Michigan winter weather.
USDA referred this matter to the Department of Justice based on concerns of potential conditions animals faced by in facilities operated by K&M Pets. The temporary restraining order will help USDA assess the health and well-being of animals in K&M Pets’ possession. This lawsuit follows Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s “Prioritization of Animal Welfare Enforcement” memorandum and furthers the Department of Justice’s goal of combatting animal cruelty.
USDA’s APHIS is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Kamela A. Caschette, Christian H. Carrara, and Bonnie M. Ballard of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Wildlife and Marine Resources Section are handling this case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Orlando, Florida – A federal jury has found James Bernard Grover (Deltona, 63) guilty of coercing and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Grover faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 28, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke, Va. man, who used the Kik social media app to send three videos containing child sexual exploitation material to an undercover FBI officer, was sentenced yesterday to 40 months in federal prison.Christopher Allan Johnson, 55, pled guilty in December 2025 to one count of possessing child sexual exploitation materials involving a prepubescent minor.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Thomas Galiano III, 26, of Colorado Springs, and Hailee Anne Helton, 26, of Colorado Springs were separately sentenced after each pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with an intent to distribute a substance containing fentanyl. Galiano III was sentenced to 144 months. Helton was sentenced to 168 months.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Francisco Javier Ravelo, 36, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty today to distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys, in violation of the federal Animal Crushing statute. Ravelo was charged in October 2025.
According to court documents, Ravelo created some and administered some online chat groups dedicated to the distribution and discussion of sexual and violent videos depicting monkeys being mutilated and burned, including baby and adult monkeys. Ravelo personally distributed more than 40 of these obscene crush videos.
“In his first term, President Donald J. Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law to end animal crushing,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “If you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you.”
“Our team worked diligently to ensure Ravelo was held accountable for his egregious crimes and to prevent further harm,” said acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Wright of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “We are grateful for the collaboration that brought this case to resolution and Ravelo to justice.”
Ravelo faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
HSI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Emily R. Stone of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke E. Latta for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal jury in Miami convicted Victor Rafael Arcia Albeja, also known as “Vitico,” 32, of Miami, on Feb. 20 for his role in a violent human smuggling scheme that kidnapped and extorted Cuban migrants, holding them captive and threatening brutal harm to force payments from their families.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the Roger Knox Remission Fund distributed more than $12.4 million in funds forfeited to the United States from Roger Knox and his co-conspirators to over 8,000 victims. An additional $3.1 million turned over to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to the securities fraud scheme was also distributed to the victims.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the Roger Knox Remission Fund has begun distributing more than $12.4 million in funds forfeited to the United States from Roger Knox and his co-conspirators to over 8,000 victims. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also distributed an additional $3.1 million related to the securities fraud scheme to these victims.
Knox, with others, operated the Swiss-based asset management firm Silverton, which was later renamed Wintercap. Through the business, Knox facilitated pump-and-dump schemes by selling massive quantities of microcap securities on behalf of undisclosed control groups who secretly owned the stock through nominee entities formally owned by third parties. The shares were generally held by the nominees in blocks of less than 5% of the issuer’s total outstanding shares in order to evade the disclosure obligations and sale limitations in the federal securities laws. To generate investor demand for the shares, the undisclosed control groups simultaneously orchestrated promotional campaigns to artificially inflate the price and trading volume of the shares. Knox then funneled the proceeds of the pump-and-dump schemes — totaling over $137 million between 2016 and 2018—to co-conspirators in the United States and around the world through a complex money transfer system that disguised the source and nature of the funds.
In January 2020, Knox pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to charges that he engaged with others in a massive global securities fraud scheme. In October 2023, Knox was sentenced to 36 months in prison, and in January 2024, he was ordered to pay over $58 million in restitution to more than 8,000 victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case.
The Department of Justice, through the Asset Forfeiture Program, works diligently to compensate victims of crime. Since 2000, the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF), which oversees the Asset Forfeiture Program’s victim compensation program, has successfully used its specialized expertise to return more than $12 billion in forfeited assets to victims of crime. MNF Attorney Advisor Brittany R. Van Camp with the section’s Program Management and Training Unit is leading the compensation process.