Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Federal charges were filed against a Bremen, Ohio, man who allegedly kidnapped a 12-year-old North Carolina girl after meeting the minor online. The defendant was discovered with the victim in Ohio when he crashed his car into a median.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa join federal, state, and local communities nationwide in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and celebrating victims’ rights, protections, and services.
Source: United States Department of Justice
The Justice Department moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by artificial intelligence company xAI, challenging a new Colorado law that prohibits so-called “algorithmic discrimination.” The Justice Department alleges that the Colorado law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by requiring AI companies to prevent unintentional disparate impact that their products could have based on protected characteristics like race and sex, and by exempting liability for certain forms of discrimination designed to advance “diversity.”
“Laws that require AI companies to infect their products with woke DEI ideology are illegal,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will not stand on the sidelines while states such as Colorado coerce our nation’s technological innovators into producing harmful products that advance a radical, far left worldview at odds with the Constitution.”
“America’s success in the AI race will depend on removing barriers to innovation and adoption across sectors,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Laws like Colorado’s that force AI models to produce false results or promote ideological bias threaten national and economic security and must be stopped.”
The statute, Colorado SB24-205, requires AI “developers” and “deployers” to satisfy certain disclosure, reporting, and prevention requirements when creating algorithm products designed for services like mortgage lending, student admissions, and job-candidate selection. But the statute has an explicit carveout for discriminatory algorithms designed to advance “diversity” or “redress historic discrimination.” AI company xAI filed a lawsuit challenging the statute on April 9.
You can view the lawsuit here.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Greenbelt, Maryland – A Washington, DC, man is headed to prison for robbing several United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carriers at gunpoint. After an eight-day trial, a federal jury convicted DeAngelo Lewis, 30, on numerous federal charges in connection with the 2022-armed robbery of seven mail carriers.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of two counts of Domestic Assault by an Habitual Offender. The sentencing took place on April 20, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
President Trump’s Day-One Executive Order Directed the Department to Prioritize Seeking and Implementing Death Sentences to Protect Public Safety
Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences—clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals. Among the actions taken are readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases. These steps are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.
“The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.”
On his first day in office, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to prioritize seeking death sentences in appropriate cases, promptly carrying out those sentences, and strengthening the death penalty. Since then, the Department has taken sustained action to implement that directive and reverse the Biden Justice Department’s efforts to erode the death penalty.
The Biden Justice Department, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, broke sharply from its longstanding approach to capital crimes and took extraordinary steps to weaken, delay, and dismantle the death penalty. In doing so, it caused untold harm to the public. Specifically, the Biden Justice Department:
Under the leadership of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department is committed to correcting these failures and restoring the lawful administration of the death penalty. The Department has rescinded the Biden-Garland moratorium on federal executions and has authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants. Acting Attorney General Blanche has already authorized seeking death sentences against nine of these defendants, including three MS-13 members, two of whom are illegal aliens, accused of murdering a federal witness.
Today, the Justice Department took the following steps to better achieve public safety and deliver justice to victims of the very worst crimes:
In the coming weeks, the Department plans to take the following additional steps:
Read the report here.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Department of Justice announced that it has filed a denaturalization action in the Southern District of New York against Hassan Sherjil Khan, a native of Pakistan. Starting in 2007 or 2008, Khan began communicating online with an 11-year-old girl (the Victim). Until 2013, Khan, knowing that Victim was barely in her teens, continually coerced and enticed her to send him sexually explicit images of herself and to engage in sexually explicit conduct via live video chats. Khan also traveled abroad to engage in sexual acts with the Victim when she was only fifteen.
But when Khan applied for naturalization in August 2012 — just four months after he had traveled to have sexual contact with Victim — he concealed his involvement in his sex crimes. As a result, he was able to procure U.S. citizenship in May 2013. After Khan naturalized, the Victim disclosed his crimes, and he was arrested in September 2015 and charged with coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual exploitation of a child outside of the United States, and receipt of child pornography.
“Naturalization and U.S. citizenship will not protect sexual predators from the consequences of their horrific acts,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “If you fail to disclose serious crimes while seeking naturalization, the government will discover your lies and revoke your ill-gotten U.S. citizenship.”
At the time of his arrest, Khan was working as a physician.
On Jan. 14, 2016, Khan pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and remains incarcerated.
The denaturalization complaint against Khan alleges that he illegally procured his naturalization because when he naturalized, he lacked good moral character required for naturalization because he had committed a crime involving moral turpitude and then had given false testimony about his crimes during his naturalization proceedings. The denaturalization complaint also alleges that Khan obtained his naturalization through willful misrepresentations or concealment of material facts.
The litigation is being jointly handled by Deputy Chief Hans H. Chen of the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation-Affirmative Litigation Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Waterman for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Khan’s sex crimes were investigated by the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The denaturalization claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability regarding Mr. Khan’s naturalization.
Note: This press release is based in part on the press release issued upon Khan’s criminal sentencing in June of 2016.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Memphis, TN – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will host the 30th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at nearly 4,200 locations nationwide.Twice a year, DEA joins forces with local law enforcement and community groups to host DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, giving the public a safe and anonymous way to dispose of expired and unused prescription medications. By getting rid of unnecessary medications in the home, families can help prevent prescription drug misuse and reduce the potential for accidental poisonings.“DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is one of the most…
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
MACON, Ga. – Three Macon offenders, two with prior felony convictions, have been held accountable at the federal level for their roles in an illegal firearms and drug trafficking network as part of a larger Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation in the community.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
SAN DIEGO – Neery Velazquez admitted in federal court today that while he was a healthcare worker at U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facilities in San Diego County, he submitted almost $250,000 in false travel claims for reimbursement. Velazquez, who worked for a government contractor, pleaded guilty to a single count of False Claim. He is scheduled to be sentenced before District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo on July 14, 2026.