Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that MARK ANGAROLA was sentenced to 38 months in prison for committing two extensive fraud crimes—an $8.3 million embezzlement scheme and a $668,000 tax evasion scheme. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A pair of individuals responsible for distributing the fatal dose of fentanyl that killed an 18-year-old high school student in 2023 were sentenced today in federal court.Bessy Jimenez Mejia, 27, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, was sentenced today to 180 months in federal prison. Jimenez Mejia previously admitted to being the source of supply for the fentanyl that ultimately killed Cayden Foster in 2023.Liam Conaway, 24, also of Harrisonburg, was sentenced today to 240 months in federal prison. Conaway previously admitted to obtaining the deadly fentanyl from Jimenez Mejia and providing it to Foster.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that it has secured a settlement agreement with Tekshapers Inc., (Tekshapers), a Michigan company that provides IT recruitment and staffing services, to address allegations that the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it advertised employment opportunities favoring temporary employment-based visa holders over U.S. workers.      

“Recruitment companies cannot place unlawful restrictions based on citizenship status,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “U.S. workers are highly skilled and deserve equal access to all jobs.”

This settlement is the fourth since the Department re-launched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative to enforce the law against companies that illegally discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of those with employment visas. Under the settlement, Tekshapers will pay civil penalties to the United States and financially compensate a U.S. citizen applicant who was not given fair consideration for employment. Tekshapers also has agreed to undergo training, revise its employment policies, and agreed not to limit positions based on citizenship status without a lawful reason.

The public can call IER’s free hotline at 1-800-255-7688 for workers or at 1-800-255-8155 for employers (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired) for informal assistance between 9am and 5pm Eastern Time, Monday – Friday; sign up for a live webinar or watch an on-demand presentation; email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit www.justice.gov/ier. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Dr. Mark Malone and Advanced Pain Care, of Austin, agreed to pay the United States and the State of Texas $13,625,000 to resolve allegations they submitted false claims for urine drug testing to federal and state healthcare programs. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that Magdaleno Mendoza was sentenced to 71 months in prison for his role in the large-scale cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme known as IcomTech and for reentering the United States illegally after having been deported. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A foreign national and a leader of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) was sentenced today to 140 months in prison and three years of supervised release for an international money laundering offense.

“Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa epitomizes the arrogance of the cartels – laundering millions in drug profits, stockpiling cash and ghost guns, kidnapping military officials, and believing he could live in luxury and anonymity on American soil,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “He was wrong. Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: DEA is dismantling CJNG piece by piece – the financiers, the lieutenants, the safe houses, and the pipelines that sustain these narco-terrorists. We are targeting their money, their leadership, and their infrastructure, and we will not stop until these organizations are eliminated, and American lives are no longer threatened by their greed.”

“Cristian Gutierrez-Ochoa laundered money for one of the most violent and prolific cartels in Mexico and funded his lavish lifestyle — including luxury homes, cars, watches and jewelry — with its drug trafficking proceeds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Cartels like the CJNG traffic substantial quantities of illegal drugs into the United States, profiting from their distribution at the expense of people’s lives and the safety of our communities. Gutierrez-Ochoa’s sentence demonstrates the Criminal Division’s commitment to disrupting and dismantling dangerous drug trafficking organizations, including CJNG, and keeping our country safe.”

According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa, 28, of Michoacán, Mexico, worked with other CJNG operatives in Mexico and the United States to launder millions in U.S. currency of CJNG drug proceeds, including to purchase a luxurious residential property in Riverside, California. Gutierrez-Ochoa lived in that residence under a fictitious identity for at least a year with the daughter of the CJNG leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho. The residence was purchased under the name of a Mexican company owned and controlled by the CJNG. Gutierrez-Ochoa admitted to keeping over $2.2 million of drug proceeds in bulk cash at the residence and possessing two untraceable firearms in furtherance of the underlying money laundering offense. Gutierrez-Ochoa also used CJNG drug proceeds to purchase items of value, including jewelry, watches and vehicles.

Gutierrez-Ochoa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder CJNG’s drug proceeds. As part of his plea agreement, Gutierrez-Ochoa agreed to forfeit the residence and the seized bulk cash, jewelry, watches, vehicles and other items of value.

Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly entered the United States illegally in part to avoid arrest in Mexico. Specifically, in late 2021, Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly kidnapped two members of the Mexican Navy to force the Mexican authorities to release El Mencho’s wife from custody.

The DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit Los Angeles investigated the case. The Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance.

Trial Attorneys Kaitlin Sahni, Lernik Begian and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) prosecuted the case. Trial Attorneys Stephanie Williamson and Chelsea Rooney of MNF assisted with the forfeiture proceedings.

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 and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Homeland Security Task Force and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Susan Walker, 31, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a fine of $5,000,000. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Eddie Franceschini, 34, of Buffalo, NY, with eight counts of production of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Registered sex offender Scott Lee Dye, 47, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced today to 270 months imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release for attempted coercion and enticement after he used multiple messaging applications — including WhatsApp and Kik — to attempt to meet and have sexual intercourse with individuals he believed to be minors.

Dye pleaded guilty to the charge on June 16, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He was also ordered to lifetime supervised release and to continue to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, in October 2022, law enforcement learned that Dye was engaging in sexual communications with a minor after the minor’s parents reported the communications to the school, who in turn notified the police. Around the same time, local law enforcement in New Jersey notified Maryland law enforcement that Dye had been communicating with an individual Dye believed to be a 13-year-old girl, but was actually law enforcement. Dye’s communications with the purported minor included graphic descriptions of the sexual acts he wanted to perform with the minor. Dye’s accounts and devices were searched and found to contain images and videos of child sexual abuse material.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security with substantial assistance from the Maryland State Police and Evesham Police Department in New Jersey. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Angelica Carrasco of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Aubin for the District of Maryland.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.