Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PIERRE – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a St. Francis, South Dakota woman convicted of Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer.  The sentencing took place on October 20, 2025.

Jordan Fast Horse, age 24, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Fast Horse was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2024.  She pleaded guilty on July 23, 2025.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred in August of 2024, in the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.  On the day in question, Fast Horse was arrested by Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services Officers and charged with child abuse and transported by an officer to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Adult Correctional Facility.  While she was completing intake processing at the Adult Correctional Facility, Fast Horse kicked the leg of one corrections officer and slapped a second corrections officer across the face.

This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.

Fast Horse was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a man from Rapid City, South Dakota, convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet and Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on September 29, 2025.

Aaron Williams, Jr., 24, was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Williams was ordered to pay $570 in restitution and $200 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Williams was also ordered to forfeit his cell phone.

A federal grand jury indicted Williams for the charges in August 2024. He pleaded guilty on July 21, 2025.

During the 2024 Sturgis Bike Rally, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted an undercover anti-child exploitation operation. During the operation, Williams used his Reddit account and cell phone to send messages to a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, who was actually the undercover persona of an investigator with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. When Williams attempted to meet up with the girl to engage in sex acts, he was arrested. After Williams’ arrest, he called his father from jail, reported he had been arrested for child exploitation crimes, and requested that his dad get his “stuff” from Williams’ apartment. Shortly thereafter, Williams’ sister entered his apartment and removed several electronic devices. The devices were ultimately recovered by law enforcement. Analysis of Williams’ cell phone revealed hundreds of images of child pornography depicting infants, bestiality, and rape and bondage of children.

Williams was convicted in 2023 for Possession of Child Pornography, Viewing Child Pornography, and Distribution of Child Pornography, crimes committed during his military service in the United States Air Force. As a result of the previous conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender. On August 1, 2024, just days before his arrest, Williams had completed a term of federal supervised release.

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. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

Williams was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

 

MIAMI – United States Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones today announced the swearing-in of Maria Guzman as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Guzman joins the Narcotics Section, bringing more than three decades of trial experience in state and federal courts.

Guzman is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Miami School of Law. She began her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Houston, Texas, where she tried more than fifty misdemeanor and felony jury trials. After several years in private practice handling criminal and civil matters, she returned to public service in Miami as an Assistant State Attorney for Miami-Dade County. There, she prosecuted violent crime, robbery, and homicide cases, rising to Assistant Chief of the Robbery/Career Criminal Unit and Felony Division Chief. She tried approximately thirty homicide cases during her tenure.

Following her time in Miami, Guzman served for seventeen years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Middle District of Florida. She was lead trial counsel on hundreds of federal cases, including matters involving firearms, narcotics, RICO conspiracies, child exploitation, fraud, immigration, and international money laundering. Her years as an AFPD shaped her reputation as a skilled litigator, a demanding courtroom advocate, and a trusted trainer for young attorneys.

Most recently, Guzman served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Florida, prosecuting violent crime, narcotics trafficking, health care fraud, immigration offenses, overdose death cases, and OCDETF investigations. She served as the office’s Violent Crimes Coordinator, leading significant investigations and securing notable jury verdicts in complex robbery and firearms cases.

In announcing her appointment, U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones stated: “Maria is the kind of prosecutor who makes a district stronger the moment she walks through the door. She has tried more than 300 cases, served our justice system from every angle, and brings a depth of experience that is rare in any district. Our Narcotics Section gains a steady hand, a battle-tested trial lawyer, and a public servant committed to protecting our community.”

Guzman is fluent in English and Spanish and is admitted to practice in Florida and Texas.

She will begin her duties in the Narcotics Section immediately.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Douglas Lee Brown, also known as “Wiggles,” 56, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced on November 17, 2025, to one year and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 18, 2024, law enforcement officers arrested Brown on domestic battery and wanton endangerment warrants in Huntington and found he possessed a loaded Taurus model G2C 9mm pistol in his waistband. Officers determined the firearm was reported stolen.

Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Brown knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony conviction for burglary in Franklin County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court on November 15, 2012.

Brown has a long criminal history and was on a term of supervision as a result of the burglary conviction at the time of the current offense.

United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Huntington Police Department, and the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Courtney L. Finney prosecuted the case.

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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:24-cr-168.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a man from Rapid City, South Dakota, convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencing took place on October 1, 2025.

Tyler Schmidt, 31, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Schmidt was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2025 for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. He pleaded guilty on July 11, 2025.

Between October 2021 and November 2024, Schmidt and others were involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the Rapid City, SD, area. Schmidt routinely traveled to other states to purchase multiple pounds of methamphetamine at a time. Schmidt would then transport the methamphetamine into South Dakota and work with others to sell the methamphetamine in Rapid City. Law enforcement seized over eight pounds of methamphetamine during the investigation.

This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET). UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Rapid City Police Department, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the South Dakota National Guard Counter Drug Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Tarbay prosecuted the case.

Schmidt was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Kevin Noel Ochoa Venegas (a/k/a Kevin Noel Ochoa-Venegas, a/k/a Kevin Noel Banegas Banegas, a/k/a Kevin Noel Banegas, a/k/a Kevin Banegas, a/k/a Kevin Noel Banega), 32, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegal reentry of a removed alien. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This criminal alien has demonstrated a brazen disregard for our national immigration laws, as evidenced by his repeated deportations and illegal returns to our country.  He has also clearly shown he is a threat to our communities while unlawfully present here through his other criminal acts, including his commission of a sex offense. Thanks to the outstanding work of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners, this criminal alien sex offender has been removed from our streets. My office stands ready to aggressively prosecute offenders like this to fulfill the promise made by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America from the criminal aliens who mistakenly believe they can violate our national and state laws with impunity.”

Court documents reflect that on April 11, 2025, the defendant was arrested in Bay County, Florida, for driving without a valid license. Law enforcement determined that the defendant was a citizen of Honduras who was illegally present in the United States. An investigation revealed that the defendant was previously removed from the United States in 2016, and again in 2021 after he was convicted for a sex crime that required him to register sex offender. The defendant did not apply for or receive permission to reenter the United States since his last removal from the United States in 2021.

The defendant faces a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment, and up to three years of supervision upon his release. An ICE detainer has been lodged against the defendant, and he will begin deportation proceedings after he serves his term of federal prison.

The case involved a joint investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 5, 2025, at 3:00 pm at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, before United States District Judge Mark E. Walker.

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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Brian R. Cleland, age 72, pleaded guilty on November 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in the amount of approximately $46.4 million. Cleland is the third defendant to plead guilty in connection with this case, following the guilty pleas of Bruce Jin in January 2025 and Carlos A. Grijalva in May 2025. In April 2025, Cleland and Grijalva were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and other offenses, after charges were originally filed against all three defendants in August 2023.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, Cleland admitted that, from 2021 to early 2022, he, Grijalva, and Jin, along with other unnamed coconspirators, agreed to launder state unemployment compensation funds that they knew had been obtained through fraud. Cleland also admitted that he and the others entered into a series of agreements that made it appear as if they were operating legitimate businesses selling masks and other COVID19 personal protective equipment while knowing that funds obtained and laundered through their companies were derived from fraudulently obtained state unemployment compensation (“UC”) benefits.

Cleland also admitted to knowing that bank accounts of identity theft victims were unlawfully created and accessed across the United States and that fraudulent UC claims were generated and paid to these accounts. Cleland also admitted to knowing that this fraudulent activity was being conducted by fraudsters located in China. Through this pattern of financial activity, tens of millions of dollars of fraudulent UC payments were issued to accounts by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department and other state treasuries around the United States.

Cleland also admitted that he and Grijalva then provided the bank account information of these identity theft victims to payment processing companies to generate ACH payments to accounts controlled by him and Grijalva. This bank account information, including account numbers and routing numbers, was from an individual in China, known in the superseding indictment as “COCONSPIRATOR 2.”

Cleland admitted that he and Grijalva transferred over $46 million through this pattern of unlawful activity and that he and Grijalva discussed, on a number of occasions, that the supposed sale of COVID-19-related PPE would be their cover story for it. They also used code language to hide the true nature of their financial activity. For example, they used the term “call center” to refer to the people conducting the fraudulent activity from China and “product” to refer to the fraudulent commercial activity that they conducted with those overseas criminal actors.

After that, Cleland and Grijalva, using a number of different bank accounts, transferred over $30 million to companies controlled by Bruce Jin, as well as transferring additional funds to an individual known as “COCONSPIRATOR 1” in the superseding indictment. Cleland admitted that he and Grijalva made transfers to Jin knowing that Jin would, in turn, transfer at least a portion of these funds to parties located in China.

Cleland also admitted that he and Grijalva each made an estimated $2.2 million dollars in personal profit from the scheme. Together, their profit represents approximately 10% of the funds that they were responsible for transferring.

Cleland agreed to certain property forfeitures as part of his plea agreement, including approximately $46.4 million in US currency, as well as the contents of several bank accounts and real properties located in Hawaii and California that were purchased using funds traceable to the charged offenses. One of these properties, located in California, was purchased in the name of one of Grijalva’s family members.

All three named defendants are now scheduled to be sentenced in 2026. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ravi Romel Sharma and K. Wesley Mishoe and Trial Attorney Patrick B. Gushue of the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering & Asset Recovery Section, Bank Integrity Unit, are prosecuting the case. 

The U.S. Attorney General previously established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments is 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PIERRE – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a man from Eagle Butte, South Dakota, convicted of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. The sentencing took place on September 30, 2025.

Jody Jeremy Dupris, a/k/a Jeremy Jody Dupris, age 45, was sentenced to six years and four months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Dupris was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. He pleaded guilty on June 26, 2025.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of May 2024 in Eagle Butte, SD, within the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. Dupris went to the victim’s residence and demanded to be let in. After the victim allowed him into the residence, Dupris stabbed the victim in his right shoulder with a box-cutter/utility knife, causing a deep laceration and bleeding. The victim was able to get away and seek medical care after Dupris passed out. When law enforcement officers entered the victim’s residence, they found Dupris lying on the floor with the weapon nearby.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Venhuizen prosecuted the case.

Dupris was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Octavius Durdley, 47, of Archer, Florida, was sentenced to six years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release after a jury found him guilty of failing to register as a sexual offender under the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Keeping our communities safe from the disgusting sexual predators who seek to exploit and victimize our children remains one of the top priorities of my office. I appreciate the excellent work by our federal law enforcement partners to investigate this offender, and remain committed to aggressively prosecuting these offenses to ensure our children can grow up safe from the threats posed by criminals like this defendant.”

According to court records and trial testimony, the defendant, who was designated as a sex offender following a 2010 conviction for receipt and possession of child pornography, purposefully did not complete the required registration upon his release from prison in December 2024. This is the defendant’s second conviction for failing to register as a sex offender in the Northern District of Florida. The defendant was also sentenced to an additional year and two months in prison for violating the conditions of his supervised release, for a total of seven years and two months to be served.

Acting United States Marshal Greg Leljedal remarked: “If you are a convicted sex offender and fail to register, the U.S. Marshals will track you down and bring you to justice. Octavius Durdley attempted to evade the law and will now be behind bars for the next 7 years.”

This conviction was the result of an investigation by the United States Marshals Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner.

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 for the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Malcolm Terrell Louis, 39, of Pensacola, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and two counts of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This successful prosecution is the result of the outstanding investigative work by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners who are committed to ending the flow of drugs and violence plaguing our communities. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute these repeat offenders as we fulfill the promise made by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America from violent drug traffickers and career criminals who have terrorized our streets for far too long.”

Court documents reflect that in December of 2024, law enforcement located an unattended, parked vehicle that was left running at a housing complex in Pensacola. Law enforcement could see multiple bags of narcotics and a firearm in the vehicle. The defendant’s fingerprints were located on the vehicle and on one of the bags containing methamphetamine and cocaine. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant at a residence in Pensacola. The defendant was present at the residence, and was found to be in possession of narcotics, including methamphetamine and cocaine, and firearms. The defendant is a multi-time convicted felon.

The defendant faces up to life imprisonment. 

The case involved a joint investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica S. Etherton.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 8, 2026, at 10:00am at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.

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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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