Alleged Tren de Aragua Leaders Indicted With Multiple Charges Including RICO

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that two alleged leaders of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a series of crimes in Colorado.  These defendants are facing several charges including a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy.

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with South Carolina to Ensure Adults’ Access to Community-Based Mental Health Services

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that it secured a settlement agreement with the State of South Carolina to resolve the department’s findings and complaint alleging that South Carolina violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. by unnecessarily segregating adults with serious mental illnesses in institutional settings, called Community Residential Care Facilities.

“The Department and South Carolina are working together to ensure that people with serious mental illnesses can be served in the community when they want to be,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “This is a great day for the people of South Carolina and demonstrates the substantial work that can happen when the federal government and states work together.”

As part of the agreement, South Carolina will ensure that it provides community-based mental health services to enable people with serious mental illness to live in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. South Carolina will expand capacity in intensive mental health, housing, and peer support services; ensure mobile crisis response is available in all areas of the state; and identify people who are living in or referred to the Care Facilities, providing them with case management and connections with community-based mental health services, consistent with their individual needs and informed choices.

Yesterday, the parties filed a stipulation in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina to dismiss the Department’s complaint while South Carolina implements the settlement agreement. The Department recognizes South Carolina for its commitment to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt.

Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at civilrights.justice.gov/

Tren De Aragua Members and Leaders Indicted in Multi-Million Dollar ATM Jackpotting Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska has returned two indictments charging 54 individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as “ATM jackpotting.” 

Founder Of Private Equity Firm Charged With Defrauding Investors Out Of Millions

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging JAY LUCAS, the founder and managing partner of Lucas Brand Equity LLC (“LBE”), a private equity fund based in Manhattan, with securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.  

Eleven TdA Members Indicted in New Mexico on RICO Conspiracy and Violent Acts

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Federal prosecutors in New Mexico have indicted 11 alleged members and leaders of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua on racketeering charges, accusing them of kidnapping, brutally interrogating, and strangling a victim in an Albuquerque apartment, before burying his body in a remote desert grave.

Leader Of Tren De Aragua Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Racketeering, Terrorism, Drug Importation, And Firearms Offenses

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Louis A. D’Ambrosio, Co-Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), Jacob Warren, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Office of the FBI, Douglas Williams, and Special Agent in Charge of the Andean Division of the DEA, Eugene L. Crouch, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging HECTOR RUSTHENFORD GUERRERO FLORES, a/k/a “Niño Guerrero,” a/k/a “El Cejón,” a/k/a “El Innombrable,”[1] in connection with GUERRERO FLORES’s leadership role in Tren de Aragua (“TdA” or the “Enterprise”), a transnational criminal organization operating throughout North America, South America, and Europe, which has also been designated as a foreign terrorist organization.  

Security News: Tren De Aragua Members and Leaders Indicted in Multi-Million Dollar ATM Jackpotting Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska has returned two indictments charging 54 individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as “ATM jackpotting.” 

Security News: Leader Of Tren De Aragua Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Racketeering, Terrorism, Drug Importation, And Firearms Offenses

Source: United States Department of Justice

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Louis A. D’Ambrosio, Co-Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), Jacob Warren, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Office of the FBI, Douglas Williams, and Special Agent in Charge of the Andean Division of the DEA, Eugene L. Crouch, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging HECTOR RUSTHENFORD GUERRERO FLORES, a/k/a “Niño Guerrero,” a/k/a “El Cejón,” a/k/a “El Innombrable,”[1] in connection with GUERRERO FLORES’s leadership role in Tren de Aragua (“TdA” or the “Enterprise”), a transnational criminal organization operating throughout North America, South America, and Europe, which has also been designated as a foreign terrorist organization.  

Tennessee Man Sentenced for Aiding Memphis Police Department Officer in Destroying Evidence Related to On-Duty Fatal Shooting

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Joshua M. Rogers, 33, of Tennessee was sentenced yesterday to 56 months in prison for his role in destroying evidence related to a police officer’s fatal shooting of a man identified by the initials R.H.

Documents filed in connection with the defendant’s plea established that Rogers’ co-defendant, Patric J. Ferguson, was on duty as an officer with the Memphis Police Department when Ferguson kidnapped and fatally shot R.H. on Jan. 5, 2021.  The defendant aided Ferguson in covering up the fatal shooting.  The defendant assisted Ferguson as he purchased chains, padlocks, and cinderblocks from a store and affixed them around the victim’s body. Once the victim’s body was weighed down by the items, the defendant and Ferguson drove to the Wolf River in Memphis, where they disposed of the victim’s body.

Ferguson was sentenced to 38 years in prison on Dec. 1.  

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Nashville Field Office and the Memphis Police Department investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Hartridge for the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorneys Tenette Smith and Sarah Armstrong of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.