Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

WASHINGTON – An indictment was unsealed on Wednesday in Houston charging a Texas man with offenses related to the alleged operation of illegal and unsafe trucking companies.

According to court documents, Shaquan Jelks, 48, of Houston, managed and controlled multiple commercial trucking companies after being ordered not to do so by a federal court and by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”), the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that commercial trucks and their drivers are equipped to operate safely on public roads and highways. The indictment against Jelks alleges that he repeatedly lied to and obstructed the FMCSA, including after a driver for his companies was killed in a single-vehicle crash in February 2022. The indictment also alleges that Jelks relied on fraud to finance his illegal trucking companies, including by diverting to his trucking companies money fraudulently obtained from the Paycheck Protection Program.

“Individuals who impair, impede, or obstruct the lawful functions of the FMCSA make our roads and highways less safe,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Transportation and our law enforcement partners to protect drivers on our roads and highways.”

“Motorists have a right to expect that the commercial trucks on their roadways—which weigh tens of thousands of pounds or more—are safely maintained and operated,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas. “By prosecuting those that undermine this expectation of safety, DOJ and DOT are simultaneously keeping our roadways safe and maintaining public confidence.”

“Keeping our highways safe is essential to protecting our families, our economy, and our way of life,” said Joseph Harris, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s Southern Region. “People have every right to expect that trucking companies follow the highest safety standards when using our public roads. Today’s announcement shows our continued commitment to holding commercial operators accountable—especially those who put profits ahead of public safety by disregarding key DOT regulations.”

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Ethan Carroll and Lindsey Marcus of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Day of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and 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

On June 13, 2025, the Justice Department secured the denaturalization of a convicted collector and distributor of child sexual abuse material.

While still a citizen of the United Kingdom, Elliott Duke enlisted in the U.S. Army. In 2012, while serving in Germany, Duke began receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material via email and the internet.

In November 13, 2012, Duke applied for citizenship under a provision that permits U.S. servicemembers to obtain U.S. citizenship. When asked on his naturalization application if he had “ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested,” Duke listed only a speeding ticket. On January 18, 2013, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer interviewed Duke, and Duke, once more, orally testified that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. On January 18, 2013, Duke took the Oath of Allegiance and was granted U.S. citizenship.

On May 14, 2013, police officers in Louisiana arrested Duke and charged him with receipt and distribution of child pornography. During a police interview and in his plea agreement, Duke confessed to downloading, possessing, and distributing child pornography via his email account and the internet on dates both before and after his naturalization. Law enforcement officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) later found 168 videos and 187 still images on Duke’s computer depicting minor boys and girls engaged in the lascivious display of sexual activity and bestiality. On January 23, 2014, Duke was convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography.

On February 19, 2025, the Justice Department filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana seeking Duke’s denaturalization based on his crimes and his failure to disclose them during his naturalization process. On June 13, 2025, the Honorable James D. Cain, Jr, United States District Judge, entered an order revoking Duke’s U.S. citizenship.

“The laws intended to facilitate citizenship for brave men and women who join our nation’s armed forces will not shield individuals who have fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship by concealing their crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate. “If you commit serious crimes before you become a U.S. citizen and then lie about them during your naturalization process, the Justice Department will discover the truth and come after you.”

The case was investigated as part of Operation Prison Lookout, an ongoing national initiative involving the Justice Department and ICE to identify and prosecute sex offenders who have fraudulently obtained United States citizenship. This case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Hans H. Chen of the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, General Litigation and Appeals Section, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from HSI, ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Smitherman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced today that Gabriel Hurtado-Cariaco, 30, a citizen of Venezuela residing illegally in Bellevue, Nebraska, was charged on June 19, 2025, by criminal complaint with one count of attempted murder of a federal officer.

Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation possessed an active immigration-related warrant for Hurtado-Cariaco’s arrest and encountered him in Sarpy County near his residence while he was driving. The agents initiated a traffic stop with lights and sirens. Hurtado-Cariaco pulled over and exited his vehicle with his arms raised. The agents gave instructive commands to Hurtado-Cariaco and attempted to place him in hand cuffs.

According to the complaint, Hurtado-Cariaco, a suspected member of Tren de Aragua, began to fight with one Special Agent where both landed on the ground. Hurtado-Cariaco was able to throw the agent off him launching the agent through the air resulting in the agent forcefully striking their head and elbow on the pavement injuring them. A second Special Agent engaged with Hurtado-Cariaco to subdue and detain him. Hurtado-Cariaco resisted with both landing on the ground. While both agents tried to control Hurtado-Cariaco while on the ground, he maneuvered behind the injured agent and placed that agent in a chokehold. Hurtado-Cariaco ignored commands from the other agent and continued to choke the agent on the ground. The second agent placed Hurtado-Cariaco in a chokehold to stop the assault. Hurtado-Cariaco released his chokehold on the agent and then used his leverage, broke away from the second agent, and ran. The agents pursued Hurtado-Cariaco by foot, locating him at his apartment in Bellevue and arrested without further incident.

After the arrest, the injured agent was transported to the hospital for treatment.

“Deadly violence against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated by this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We have charged this illegal alien with attempted murder.”

“The arrest and prosecution of this vicious Tren de Aragua gang member underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting our law enforcement officers in the line of duty,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Violent attacks from terrorists against those who serve our communities will be met with swift and decisive justice.”

“Violence against federal law enforcement officers in the line of duty will not be tolerated in Nebraska,” said U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods.  “Federal law enforcement officers are tasked with enforcing the laws of the United States and they must be able to do so safely. These federal agents maintained their professionalism while being met with potentially fatal violence. Despite sustaining injuries, the agents did not give up and made a successful arrest.”

Hurtado-Cariaco appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Ryan C. Carson on June 20, 2025. Magistrate Judge Carson ordered Hurtado-Cariaco detained. A criminal complaint is a charging document that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The maximum possible penalty if convicted is not more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years.  Hurtado-Cariaco was arrested on June 18, 2025, in Sarpy County, Nebraska.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Read the complaint.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, a Mexican national and the co-founder of the armed, violent, and prolific Los Cuinis drug cartel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy. 

According to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, 49, of Michoacan, Mexico, was one of the top leaders — alongside his brothers, Gerardo Gonzalez-Valencia and Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia — of Los Cuinis, a major Mexican drug cartel responsible for trafficking multiple tons of cocaine from South America, through Mexico, into the United States. Los Cuinis financed the founding and growth of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries, and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.

In February 2025, President Trump designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization. According to court documents, the top leader of CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” is the brother-in-law of the Gonzalez-Valencia brothers. Closely allied, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the most violent and prolific transnational criminal organizations in the world, responsible for sending staggering amounts of drugs into the United States and inflicting extreme violence to further that objective.

Also today, as part of the Department of Justice’s focus on dismantling CJNG, another Mexican national, Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, also known as “El Guacho,” a high-ranking CJNG member and El Mencho’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty to one count of international money laundering conspiracy.

“Today, the Criminal Division dealt two more devastating blows to CJNG and Los Cuinis through the sentencing of Jose Gonzalez-Valencia and the conviction of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These men and the cartels they led are responsible for immeasurable death and destruction in the United States and Mexico. The Justice Department will continue to dismantle CJNG, Los Cuinis and all other transnational criminal organizations that flood our streets with dangerous drugs and engage in extreme violence to control their operations.”

“CJNG is one of the most powerful, influential, and ruthless criminal organizations to threaten our public safety and national security. Each leader and associate of CJNG who faces justice within the United States brings us one step closer to dismantling this terrorist organization,” said Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Robert Murphy. “DEA will continue to use all available resources to disrupt CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations and systematically destroy their network.”

From at least 2006 to 2016, according to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed and coordinated numerous multi-ton shipments of cocaine destined for the United States using air, land, sea, and underwater methods. In 2007 the U.S. Coast Guard seized one shipment from a semi-submersible vessel that was transporting at least 4,000 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for further distribution into the United States.

As one of Los Cuinis’ top leaders, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed acts of extreme violence in furtherance of drug trafficking activities, including the murder of an individual who allegedly stole a shipment of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine from Los Cuinis, according to court documents. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia personally carried firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and supplied weapons and ammunition to the CJNG.

In 2015, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia went into hiding in Bolivia — a country that did not extradite anyone to the United States from 2001 to 2023, despite an existing extradition treaty — and resided there for over two years under a fictitious identity. In 2017, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia was arrested in Brazil while on vacation and was subsequently extradited to the United States. Brazil’s extradition treaty required that the U.S. Government not recommend more than a 30-year sentence.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Gutierrez-Ochoa admitted that he was a member of CJNG who was connected to CJNG’s top leadership. He also admitted that from at least 2023 until his arrest in 2024, he and other CJNG operatives used sophisticated money laundering methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds. For example, Gutierrez-Ochoa and others completed two wire transfers totaling $1.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds to purchase a luxury residence in Riverside, California, titled in the name of a Mexican entity owned and controlled by CJNG. When Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in November 2024, he was living at that property under a fictitious identity and possessed two untraceable and illegal firearms, approximately $2.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds, and numerous luxury items purchased with CJNG’s drug proceeds, including jewelry, watches, and vehicles.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Today’s sentencing of Gonzalez-Valencia and conviction of Gutierrez-Ochoa follow several recent strikes into CJNG’s most inner circle.

El Mencho’s older brother, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, and Erick Valencia Salazar, an alleged co-founder of CJNG and El Mencho’s close advisor, were among the 29 wanted cartel leaders taken into U.S. custody on Feb. 27, 2025.

Shortly after, on March 7, 2025, El Mencho’s son, Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, was sentenced to a term of life in prison plus 30 years to run consecutively and ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in drug trafficking proceeds. Before his arrest, Oseguera-Gonzalez was CJNG’s second-in-command and led CJNG for nearly seven years. He is responsible for trafficking more than 50 metric tons of cocaine and supervising drug labs that produced more than 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine in Mexico. In 2013, he was one of the first contributors to the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, pledging to “do it big” and build an empire from counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl. As the evidence at trial showed, he also committed heinous acts of violence. According to statements made in court and trial testimony, Oseguera-Gonzalez ordered the murder of more than 100 people, some of whom he murdered himself.

The DEA and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section have been systematically dismantling the leadership of the CJNG and Los Cuinis at the highest level. To date, the ongoing investigation has led to indictments of approximately 30 high-value CJNG and Los Cuinis command-and-control targets, including seven Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs), the top drug trafficking command-and-control leaders. As of June 2025, 12 defendants have been convicted, including two at trial.

A number of indicted leaders of CJNG and Los Cuinis remain fugitives, including El Mencho, whose capture reward was recently increased to $15 million under the State Department’s Narcotic Rewards Program. Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia, another top leader of Los Cuinis and El Mencho’s brother-in-law, was arrested in 2015 by Mexican authorities pursuant to the U.S. indictment but since then has been fighting extradition to the United States.

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division investigated the cases. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance with obtaining foreign evidence and securing Jose Gonzalez-Valencia’s extradition to the United States.

Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian, Gwen Stamper, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the cases.

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 Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.