Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, formerly employed as a ransomware negotiator, was sentenced today to 70 months for his role in conspiring with Blackcat/ALPHV (BlackCat) actors to extort multiple victims, as well as conspiring with other former cybersecurity professionals to attack additional victims in 2023. 

“Angelo Martino’s victims shared heartbreaking accounts of how their businesses were nearly destroyed, while the people they hired to help them instead betrayed them to ransomware gangs,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence accounts for the harm Martino caused and demonstrates that the Department of Justice can and will identify and prosecute cybercriminals to the fullest extent of the law.”

“He was hired to help victims in a moment of crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Instead, Martino betrayed them, fed their confidential negotiating positions to ransomware criminals, and helped squeeze them for more money. This case sends a clear message: we will pursue the hackers who deploy ransomware, the insiders who enable them, and the money they steal from American victims. Thanks to the outstanding work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, Martino is going to federal prison, and more than $10 million in criminal proceeds has been seized.”

“Angelo Martino sold out the very victims he was hired to represent, handing their confidential negotiating positions to BlackCat actors to drive up ransoms and enrich himself,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI Cyber Division. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that the FBI will pursue not just the criminals who deploy ransomware, but the insiders who enable them. Working with our partners, the FBI will find those who betray that trust and hold them accountable.”

According to court documents, Martino abused his role at a U.S.-based cyber incident response company and conspired with the operators of the BlackCat ransomware variant beginning in April 2023 to extort five different ransomware victims. Specifically, Martino was paid by BlackCat attackers to provide confidential information about the negotiating position and strategy of his employer’s clients and enable the ransomware actors to maximize the ransoms paid by the victims. 

Additionally, Martino conspired with former cybersecurity professionals Kevin Martin, age 36, of Texas, who was hired as Martino’s coworker after the conspiracy began, and Ryan Goldberg, age 41, of Georgia, who was employed by a separate incident response company, to successfully deploy BlackCat ransomware against additional victims located throughout the United States between April 2023 and November 2023. After successfully extorting one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the men split their share of the ransom three ways and laundered the funds through various means. 

Martino plead guilty on April 14 to a one-count information charging him with conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce through extortion. On May 1 Martin and Goldberg were sentenced to 48 months in prison by Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida.

To date, law enforcement has seized $10 million of assets from Martino, including digital currency, vehicles, a food truck, and a luxury fishing boat that Martino obtained through the scheme. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution to be ordered against Martino is set for Sept. 17.

Today’s announcement follows the Justice Department’s prior actions in December 2023 to disrupt BlackCat ransomware, during which the FBI developed a decryption tool that allowed FBI field offices across the country and law enforcement partners around the world to offer hundreds of victims the capability of restoring their systems, saving victims approximately $99 million in ransom payments. At that time, the FBI also seized several websites operated by the BlackCat ransomware actors. 

The FBI’s Miami field office is leading the investigation, with assistance provided by the U.S. Secret Service.

Trial Attorneys Christen Gallagher and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Haggerty and Quinshawna Landon for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mitchell Hyman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Denielle N. Croke for the Southern District of Florida are handling asset forfeiture and restitution.

Significant assistance in this investigation was provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Merrilyn Hoenemeyer for the Middle District of Florida and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx P. Calderón of the Southern District of Florida.

CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime and intellectual property (IP) crime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cyber and IP criminals and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds. 

This action is part of Operation Riptide, an ongoing FBI campaign targeting the criminal actors, infrastructure, and financial networks behind cybercrime, cyber-enabled crime, and fraud against the American people. Last year, Americans reported over $20 billion in losses to cybercrime, a 26 percent single-year increase. Operation Riptide is the FBI’s sustained enforcement response to that threat.

If you are a victim of ransomware, contact your local FBI field office or file a report at ic3.gov.

If you have information about ALPHV/BlackCat, their affiliates or activities, you may be eligible for a reward through Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards program or Rewards for Justice program. Information can also be submitted through the following Tor-based tip line (Tor browser required): he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Kelvin Leon, 27, a resident of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 22 months in prison in connection with possessing a machine gun that he fired out the window of his Southeast Washington apartment, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Sammy Monroe Ebarb, Jr., age 41, of Longtown, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for one count of Failure to Register as Sex Offender.On October 8, 2025, Ebarb pleaded guilty to the charge in federal district court.  According to investigators, Ebarb was convicted of First Degree Rape in the District Court of Latimer County, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2003, and was required to register as a sex offender, and that from November 2024 to February 2025, Ebarb failed to register and update his registration despite entering, leaving, or residing in Indian country, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan returned an indictment today charging three tax preparers with conspiring to defraud the United States and preparing false tax returns over a three-year period.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Jamar Harten, of Shelby Township, Tabitha Scott, of Davisburg, and Tyree Monroe Jr., of Detroit provided tax preparation services for Michigan-based clients at Harten’s tax preparation business, First Class Tax and Consulting. For the year 2022, Harten, Scott, and Monroe allegedly prepared or assisted in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns for clients.

These tax returns allegedly contained fraudulent tax deductions and tax credits, which reduced the amount of taxable income reported by the clients and generated refunds the clients were not entitled to receive. According to the indictment, the clients did not provide Harten, Scott, and Monroe any information indicating they were eligible to claim the false deductions or credits. Harten and Scott allegedly provided prepared fraudulent tax returns for clients in 2021 and 2023 as well.

Harten, Scott and Monroe are each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and multiple counts of assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. If convicted, all three face up to five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as three years in prison for each count of helping to file false tax returns for clients.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Christopher P. O’Donnell and Joseph D. G. Castro of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Nevada man and a Canadian and British national were sentenced today to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and 136 months in prison and three years of supervised release, respectively, for participating in a scheme to defraud thousands of investors of tens of millions of dollars between 2018 and 2022. 

According to court documents, Neil Suresh Chandran, 54, a foreign national residing in Nevada and California, created companies that he falsely claimed were about to be purchased by a consortium of billionaires at extraordinary valuations. Chandran and others solicited more than $45 million from over 10,000 investors based on these false representations. 

Bryan Lee, 60, of Las Vegas, was the nominee owner and sole officer of ViMarket, a company controlled by Chandran, which received millions in investor funds. Lee knew the funds came from individual investors and knew that the representations made to those investors were false. Nonetheless, Chandran and Lee used investor funds for their own personal benefit, purchasing luxury cars and real estate. 

“Neil Chandran and Bryan Lee deceived thousands of investors, exploited their trust, and stole their money,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Those who deceive investors, lie, and steal will be investigated and prosecuted. These two fraudsters deserve the sentence imposed. Their victims suffered because of their greed.”

“Schemes to defraud individual investors like the one carried out by Bryan Lee and Neil Suresh Chandran are personal crimes that have devastating consequences to the victims’ lives that last long after the crime is committed, and the money is spent,” said U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods for the District of Nebraska. “It takes a particularly cold and calculating criminal to perpetrate these schemes and to continue to lie to victims to keep the scheme alive. Individuals who defraud victims in Nebraska and elsewhere will be held accountable under federal law.”

“Chandran and Lee treated investor funds as their own personal piggy bank, using the money to purchase multiple houses and dozens of luxury vehicles,” said Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Their sentences reflect the commitment of the agents and prosecutors who fought for justice for the thousands of investors whom the defendants swindled out of millions.”

In April 2026, Chandran pleaded guilty to mail fraud and Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. 

The FBI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Adam L.D. Stempel, Anna Forgie, and Tian Huang of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section; Chelsea Rooney and Adrienne Rosen of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Kleine for the District of Nebraska prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Tracy Hatton, 60, of the District of Columbia, a former administrative officer at McKinley Technology High School, pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with a scheme that caused a loss to the District of Columbia government of more than $40,000, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. The plea was unsealed today in U.S. District Court. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Nariah Demournay Jones, age 23, of Moore, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for one count of Burglary in the Second Degree in Indian Country.On March 18, 2026, Jones pleaded guilty to the charge in federal district court.  According to investigators, on April 2, 2024, Jones and two co-defendants, Demontrae Davion Rogers, 20, of Wewoka, Oklahoma, and Damarion Hiawatha Nichols, 21, of Moore, Oklahoma, forcibly entered a detached residential garage in Wewoka intending to commit a felony.  Once inside, Rogers and Nichols held four individuals at gunpoint and proceeded to strike one with their weapons, causing lacerations and abrasions to the victim.On April 1, 2026, Rogers was sentenced to 21 months in prison for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, to be served consecutively to 84 months in prison for one count of Use, Carry, and Brandish of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.  Rogers was also sentenced to 12 months in prison for Possession of a Firearm with an Obliterated Serial Number, to be served concurrently to the assault charge.On March 5, 2026, Nichols was sentenced to 46 months in prison for four counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country.

Source: United States Department of Justice

UTICA, NEW YORK – Jon Radway, of Pompey, New York, was sentenced today to 70 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Bryan DiGirolamo, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), made the announcement. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Maryland and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown over the State’s sanctuary policies that interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws.

“Federal immigration officers merely enforce the laws that our Nation’s elected representatives in Congress passed, reflecting the will of We the People,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “When sanctuary jurisdictions enact laws to shield illegal aliens from federal law enforcement, it is not merely federal law that is violated, but the voices of everyday American voters silenced. Today’s suit proves that this Department will never stand for such lawless action from blue state leaders.”

“The American people are ultimately the ones who suffer when states pass these irresponsible sanctuary policies,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “The Department of Justice will always defend the Constitution and the rule of law, and it does so today by challenging Maryland’s efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement.”

Not only are the sanctuary policies illegal under federal law, but, as alleged in the complaint, Maryland’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has already had negative operational consequences for federal immigration law enforcement, with facilities refusing to facilitate transferring illegal aliens to federal custody even when presented with a routine detainer.  The State’s and City’s intentional efforts to obstruct federal law enforcement put citizens at risk and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Acting Attorney General Blanche has instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal laws or impede lawful federal operations. Today’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of 20 other lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal policies designed to thwart federal law enforcement across the country, including in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a federal jury has convicted John Stanford Roth, age 58, of Glendale, Arizona, of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine and Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance – Fentanyl following a three-day trial in federal district court in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on July 8, 2026.