Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A drug trafficker was sentenced this week to more than 11 years in federal prison for distributing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and other narcotics on behalf of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, a foreign terrorist and drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico and the United States.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Yan Lin, 41, of California, made an initial appearance today in Cincinnati on charges of conspiracy to launder tens of millions of dollars derived from drug trafficking proceeds.
According to the indictment unsealed today, between March 2022 and October 2024, Mexico-based drug traffickers hired Lin to return tens of millions of dollars in profits from the sale of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine in cities throughout the United States to Mexico. Lin arranged for his co-conspirators to deliver bulk cash to others who bought electronics that were shipped to co-conspirators in Hong Kong, China, and elsewhere. After confirmation of receipt of the bulk cash, Mexico-based drug traffickers would receive their payment in Mexico, minus a commission, via a “mirror transaction.” One ledger, which recorded just a portion of Lin’s money contracts in 2024, totaled approximately $27.4 million in bulk cash delivered across the United States.
“As alleged in the indictment, the defendant laundered tens of millions of dollars in drug proceeds from the United States through China, enabling a continuous flow of dangerous drugs into our country from Mexico,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Dismantling Chinese money laundering networks that support drug trafficking organizations is critical to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations. The Criminal Division will relentlessly pursue the illicit financial networks that fuel and profit from these dangerous organizations.”
“Without money launderers, drug cartels are stuck with dirty money they can’t use,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for the Southern District of Ohio. “These profiteers help facilitate the distribution of deadly drugs into our communities and will be held accountable as if they trafficked the drugs themselves.”
“By targeting those who facilitate the movement of illicit proceeds, we are attacking the lifeblood of drug trafficking operations and protecting Americans,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Stentz of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit Field Office. “HSI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks who illegally use our nation’s financial infrastructure to funnel drugs into our communities.”
“Laundering drug trafficking money helps the cartels reap enormous profits while Americans are harmed by their dangerous drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromartie of the FBI Cincinnati Field Office. “Money laundering is a serious crime that the FBI and our partners will continue to investigate as we work to disrupt the flow of drugs and dismantle the dangerous cartels
Yan Lin is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and concealment money laundering. If convicted, Lin faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
This case is being investigated by the HSI Cincinnati Office, IRS Criminal Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, including the New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Tulsa and Atlanta offices, FBI Cincinnati, and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Regional Enforcement Narcotics Unit. DEA’s Special Operations Division also aided the investigation.
Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Mingda Hang, and Trial Attorney Elizabeth Rabe of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Dornette for the Southern District of Ohio, are prosecuting the case.
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
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Stephen Todd Greene, 55, of West Columbia, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, producing child sexual abuse material, and coercion/enticement of a minor and aiding/abetting.
Source: United States Spaceforce
Grand Forks Air Force Base’s 319th Reconnaissance Wing, with support from the 184th Wing, will lead ACC’s Point Defense Task Force – a larger C-sUAS effort in support of the DAF’s initiative to develop and evaluate advanced technologies to defend installations from sUAS threats.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint charging Ivel Sanchez Rivera (52, Hialeah) with conspiracy and interference with commerce by robbery and use and brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted, Sanchez Rivera faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy offense and a consecutive 7 years in federal prison for the firearm offense.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Massachusetts man was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service in connection with his involvement with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against animals.
Garrett Fitzgerald, of Scituate, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to conspiring to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos.”
According to court documents, Fitzgerald conspired with Ronald Bedra, Robert Berndt, and others to direct and send money to individuals in Indonesia, via encrypted chat, to create videos depicting violent torture of baby and adult monkeys. The conspirators then distributed the sadistic videos to each other and online. Berndt was sentenced last month to 38 months in prison. Bedra was previously sentenced to 54 months in prison.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for the Southern District of Ohio, Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromartie of FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office, and Assistant Director Doug Ault, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement made the announcement.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Mark Romley and Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Pakiz for the Southern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Jacksonville, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Matthew Christopher Yates (31, Hastings) to 15 years in federal prison for attempting to entice and use a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video of her own sexual abuse. Yates was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. Yates pleaded guilty on August 27, 2025. At the time of his arrest on March 11, 2022, Yates was employed as an eighth-grade teacher at a school in St. Augustine.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – A New Jersey man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his involvement in a scheme to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. The scheme involved the dispatchment of skilled information technology (IT) workers who, using stolen identities of U.S. persons, posed as domestic workers to obtain remote IT jobs with U.S. companies, including several Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Duane Watts, 46, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence is in connection with Watts’ participation in an unemployment insurance (UI) fraud scheme involving the use of the personal identifying information of multiple victims, including vulnerable victims, to cause financial losses of more than $167,000. The victims were vulnerable because of their mental status or cognitive impairment.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Charlottesville, Va. – Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci announced today that the Western District of Virginia collected $10,621,656.97 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2025. Of this amount, $9,151,869.51 was collected in criminal actions and $1,469,787.46 was collected in civil actions.Additionally, the Western District of Virginia worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $60,245,937.67 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $10,076.28 was collected in criminal actions and $60,235,861.39 was collected in civil actions.