Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Cumberland, Maryland woman has admitted to her role in a drug trafficking operation from Maryland to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced. Alyssa Ellen Hockenberry, 23, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Nicole Daedone, the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of OneTaste, Inc. (OneTaste), a sexual wellness education company founded in San Francisco, California, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Diane Gujarati in federal court in Brooklyn to nine years in prison for her role in a forced labor conspiracy. Also today, Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste’s former Head of Sales, was sentenced by Judge Gujarati to 78 months in prison for her role in the scheme. Daedone and Cherwitz were convicted by a federal jury in June 2025 of forced labor conspiracy following a five-week trial. The Court also imposed a $12 million forfeiture money judgment against Daedone, and awarded $887,877.64 in restitution to seven victims of Daedone and Cherwitz.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
PROVIDENCE, RI – A Pawtucket man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence to one count of possession of child pornography, including hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced United States Attorney Charles C. Calenda.
Source: United States Army
SCRANTON, Pa. — Jason Shradnick appreciates being recognized for the work he puts in at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania.
However, Shradnick doesn’t like to take individual credit when he receives awards.
Shradnick was among 12 individuals named as an Army Materiel Command Employee of the Quarter for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
“It’s a team effort. My job is pretty easy, and it’s because everybody who works at Scranton does their job well,” said Shradnick, SCAAP’s deputy commander’s representative. “I appreciate the recognition, and it’s an honor.
“I always feel like I’m just doing my job, that I don’t need recognition for that, but I do appreciate it,” he added. “I’m happy at Scranton. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The people and the mission are important.”
Shradnick, a 20-year Army Veteran, has been employed at SCAAP since 2011, and he’s held his current role for four years. Shradnick plays a key part in executing directives for the SCAAP’s daily operations. He integrates the plant’s complex activities and applies his expertise as a security strategist to ensure the continuous, secure operation of this vital defense production facility.
“Jason’s ability to align stakeholders, drive accountability, manage risk, and deliver measurable outcomes exemplifies a leadership style rooted in clarity, strategic foresight, and a relentless commitment to excellence. His approach not only accelerates progress but also builds trust, fosters collaboration, and ensures that complex initiatives translate into tangible results,” said Rich Hansen, SCAAP’s commander’s representative. “Jason communicates with purpose and empowers others to operate with confidence and precision.”
Shradnick sets a standard of excellence through proactive coordination, rigorous attention to detail, and alignment with Army priorities.
“Jason drove our preparation for the Army’s Real Property Accountability Assessment by coordinating weekly cross‑functional meetings, leading focused facility inspections, and working with the property specialist and contractor team to verify equipment and correct property records,” Hansen said. “Jason’s disciplined approach was the catalyst in SCAAP achieving the Army-mandated 60% audit readiness by the end of FY25, strengthening property completeness, supporting the Army’s material-downgrade objective, and safeguarding both mission readiness and organizational capability.”
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The mission of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division (NSD) is to protect and defend the United States against the full range of national security threats, consistent with the rule of law. Business organizations and their employees are at the forefront of protecting the national security of the United States by preventing the unlawful export of sensitive commodities, technologies, and services, as well as unlawful transactions with sanctioned countries and designated individuals and entities. Enforcing our export control and sanctions laws, and holding accountable those who violate them, is a top priority for NSD.
On March 10, 2026, the Department released its first-ever Department-wide corporate enforcement policy (CEP) for criminal matters, promoting uniformity, predictability, and fairness in how it pursues white-collar cases to protect the American people.
As the announcement explains, the “Department-wide CEP provides concrete benefits to incentivize companies to voluntarily disclose discovered misconduct, cooperate with our investigations, and timely and appropriately remediate the wrongdoing. For companies that do, absent certain limited aggravating circumstances, the Department will decline to prosecute the company. Incentivizing corporate self-disclosures — while still permitting prosecutions in appropriate circumstances — allows the Department to quickly pursue culpable individuals, secure justice for victims, and deter white-collar crime, all while not unduly burdening American businesses.”
Under the CEP, “disclosure must be made to the appropriate component of the Department,” CEP n.5, and all resolutions under the CEP “must be approved by the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the relevant Division.” CEP Background ¶ 4. The CEP also provides that a “[g]ood faith disclosure to one component where the matter is later brought to another appropriate component for investigation will also qualify” for declination. CEP n.5
As pertaining to national security laws, the Justice Manual (JM) assigns the “enforcement of all criminal laws affecting, involving or relating to the national security, and the responsibility for prosecuting criminal offenses, such as conspiracy, perjury and false statements, arising out of offenses related to national security . . . to the AAG of NSD.” JM § 9-90.010.
The scope of these matters, which includes violations of the U.S. government’s primary export control and sanctions regimes — the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. § 2778, the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), 50 U.S.C. § 4801 et seq., and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. – can be found at JM § 9-90.020.
While the conduct of business organizations and their employees has the greatest potential to implicate U.S. national security interests in the enforcement of export control and sanctions laws, the conduct of business organizations and their employees can also violate other U.S. national security laws, including laws prohibiting material support to and financing of foreign terrorist organizations, criminal violations in connection with the work of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (Team Telecom). Companies are encouraged to voluntarily self-disclose to NSD any potential criminal violations of U.S. law relating to matters conducted, handled, or supervised by the NSD AAG.
All voluntary self-disclosures concerning potential criminal violations of U.S. national security laws should be sent, with the company name in the subject line, to NSD’s email inbox for voluntary self‑disclosures: NSD.VSD@usdoj.gov.
Source: United States Navy
SPLIT, Croatia – The world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) anchored in the Port of Split, Croatia, March 28, following an Adriatic Sea transit from Souda Bay, Greece, where the ship conducted a working port to resupply, refuel, and conduct repairs, March 23-26.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Pensacola, Florida – Austin James McCastler II, 36, was sentenced on two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and marijuana, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, attempted prevention of the government’s authority to take property during an authorized search and seizure, assault with a deadly weapon of a Special Agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, Italian national Manfred Gruber pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit export control violations. Gruber illegally exported ammunition worth over $540,000 from the United States to Kyrgyzstan, via companies that the defendant and his co-conspirator controlled in Italy. After reaching Kyrgyzstan, most of this ammunition was subsequently reexported to Russia. Today’s proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl for the Eastern District of New York. In January 2026, Sergei Zharnovnikov, a Kyrgyzstan-based co-conspirator of the defendant, was sentenced to 39 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to violating the Export Control Reform Act.
“Gruber’s crimes helped sustain a bloody war that has claimed countless lives,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “NSD is committed to holding accountable those illegally funneling weapons and ammunition to Russia’s war machine.”
“Manfred Gruber put many lives at risk by illegally supplying Russia with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of American-made, military-grade ammunition to advance its war in Ukraine,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the serious consequences of violating U.S. export controls and the FBI’s commitment to holding accountable those who illegally fuel our foreign adversaries’ war efforts. We will continue working with our partners across law enforcement and the private sector to safeguard our national security by keeping American-made military supplies out of the hands of hostile nation-states.”
“The defendant used multiple companies to hide his scheme to send military‑grade ammunition to Kyrgyzstan, before it was reexported to Russia to support its war effort,” stated United States Attorney Joseph Nocella for the Eastern District of New York. “I commend our partners at the FBI and the Department of Commerce for uncovering this deadly scheme and swiftly bringing Gruber to justice.”
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment, in concert with our partners, to aggressively enforce America’s export control laws,” said Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters.
As set forth in court filings, Gruber is Director of Sales for Italian Company-1, a large wholesale distributor of firearms and ammunition. Gruber served as a key member of an international ammunition procurement network for Russia during its war against Ukraine, purchasing ammunition from the United States and reexporting it to Kyrgyzstan in violation of DOC licenses issued to Italian Company-1, which required that the ammunition stay in Italy. Gruber did not apply for, obtain, or possess a license to export or reexport ammunition to Kyrgyzstan.
For example, U.S. Company-1, headquartered in Nebraska, had a license to lawfully export ammunition to Italian Company-1, but the ammunition could not be reexported out of Italy. In violation of the license, Gruber, using a cutout company, Italian Company‑2, reexported U.S. Company-1 ammunition to Zharnovnikov, an arms dealer from Kyrgyzstan who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate export controls by sending U.S.-made firearms and ammunition to Russia. A contract found on Zharnovnikov’s phone indicated that he had contracted with a Russian company for ammunition manufactured by U.S. Company-1.
In addition, U.S. Company-2, headquartered in Tennessee, had a license to lawfully export ammunition to Italian Company‑1, but the ammunition could not be reexported out of Italy. Gruber exported the ammunition from U.S. Company-2 to Italy, and then reexported the U.S. Company-2 ammunition from Italy to Kyrgyzstan.
Gruber was aware that U.S. law prohibited the reexport of U.S. ammunition without further licenses, which he did not obtain. To help the unlawful export scheme succeed, the defendant took steps to disguise the true destination of the ammunition. In encrypted messages on or about September 23, 2023, Gruber exchanged the following messages with an unapprehended co-conspirator:
Co-Conspirator:
Approximately 100,000 [U.S. Company-1 bullets]
What delivery time do we have?
***
Gruber:
🤣🤣🤣they give me an answer in a few days… you have to give them everything at once? I ask because of the possible destination…. They caught the Slovenian [U.S. Company-1] distributor who had triangulated with Russia… FBI International
Co-Conspirator:
No, this request is from an Armenian customer.
We can even split up the shipment
Gruber:
I’d say that would be better, so it goes unnoticed. 😉
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Ellen H. Sise, Tara B. McGrath, and Adam Amir for the Eastern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution, along with Trial Attorney Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, with assistance from Litigation Analysts Rebecca Roth and Matthew Jennings.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Baltimore, Maryland – Today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland unsealed an indictment, charging a treasurer who works for several political candidates and organizations, in connection with an embezzlement scheme. James Appel, 58, of Annapolis, Maryland, is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment alleges that, in 2024, Appel stole approximately $100,000 from a Maryland State Delegate’s campaign accounts and embezzled an additional $100,000 from an Anne Arundel County community organization.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – An Amherst, Mass. man has been sentenced in federal court in Springfield, Mass. for possessing more than 100,000 files of sexual abuse material (CSAM). The defendant possessed disturbing images of violent acts including a female being shot in the head, a cat in a blender and a dog being beaten to death.