Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DURANGO – The United States Attorney for the District of Colorado announces that Lyndreth Hemp Wall, 59, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, was convicted of sexually assaulting five victims, including a child. A federal jury convicted Wall on 15 counts of Sexual Abuse in Indian Country and Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country.

According to the facts established at trial, Wall held himself out as a traditional Native American healer, sometimes referred to as a “medicine man.” Wall was elected to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council in 2020 and is a former school board member in Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1. Over the course of at least the past dozen years, Wall sexually exploited multiple women on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation under the guise of spiritual treatment. Wall created an elaborate ruse by using traditional elements of Ute healing to trick his victims into believing his actions were part of a healing ceremony. During his “ceremonies,” Wall isolated victims alone and touched them sexually for his own gratification. Wall told multiple victims that, if they told anyone about his sexual touching, the healing would not work.

Over the course of trial, the jury heard from the five women who alleged that Wall had committed sexual abuse in Towaoc, Colorado. The jury returned guilty verdicts for abuse of all five women charged in the indictment. The jury also heard from a sixth woman who alleged Wall had sexually assaulted her in Alamosa and Lone Tree in 2020 and 2021 under a rule of evidence that permits evidence of other sexual assaults.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. In addition to this case, Wall faces two separate allegations of sexual assault in Colorado state court. The charges in those pending cases are only allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Anyone who has information about other possible victims is asked to call the FBI Denver office at (303) 629-7171.

United States District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher presided over the trial.

The FBI Office in Durango, Colorado, handled the investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Towaoc, Colorado. Assistant United States Attorneys R. Josh Player and Jeffrey K. Graves handled the prosecution.

Case Number: 1:24-cr-00003-GPG-JMC

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a woman from Box Elder, South Dakota, for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.  The sentencing took place on October 28, 2025.

Jenna Holzer, 41, was sentenced to 30 years, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Holzer was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in November 2024.  She pleaded guilty on August 7, 2025.

Holzer joined a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 2022.  During her involvement, she worked with others to obtain methamphetamine from California, typically through the mail, for redistribution in Western South Dakota.  A United States Postal Inspector identified multiple packages sent from California to addresses known to be associated to Holzer.  On October 16, 2024, investigators performed a traffic stop on Holzer’s vehicle. Troopers discovered an ounce of methamphetamine and approximately $3,365 in Holzer’s possession during that stop.  Investigators determined Holzer was involved in trafficking approximately 100 pounds of methamphetamine during her involvement in the conspiracy.

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 (TCOs), 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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), and the Drug Enforcement Administration. UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Rapid City Police Department, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the South Dakota National Guard. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Hodges and Paige Petersen prosecuted the case.

Holzer was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.  The sentencing took place on November 4, 2025.

Abel Moran, age 42, was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Moran was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2025.  He pleaded guilty on August 21, 2025.

Moran was convicted of Sexual Contact in September 2005.  As a result of his conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender and update his registration within three business days of relocation or change in employment or student status.  In September 2024, Moran updated his sex offender registration to reflect that he was residing at a residence in Rapid City, SD.  In December 2024, Moran relocated to a different residence in Rapid City, but did not thereafter update his sex offender registration. On June 10, 2025, Moran was arrested in Rapid City.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Unit prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by U.S. Marshalls Service and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Zachrison prosecuted the case.

Moran was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Davenport man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Rodolfo Tellez Gutierrez, Jr., 23, threw a gun out of the window of a vehicle during a traffic stop. Review of Gutierrez’s phone revealed messages with the purchaser of the recovered firearm.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Gutierrez will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Scott County Sherriff’s Office.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet.  The sentencing took place on October 24, 2025.

James Fast Horse, 47, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, and $95 in restitution to the South Dakota Internet Crimes Investigation Fund.

Fast Horse was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023.  He pleaded guilty on July 28, 2025.

Fast Horse was arrested following an undercover anti-sex trafficking operation conducted during the Sturgis Bike Rally.  Over the course of multiple days, Fast Horse used Facebook Messenger and his cell phone to communicate with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old female.  The female was actually the online undercover persona of a federal law enforcement officer.  During Fast Horse’s communications, he described various sex acts he intended to engage in with the girl and sent her multiple images of his private anatomy.  Fast Horse asked her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.  On the night of his arrest, Fast Horse drove for more than an hour to meet the girl for sex. After he stopped at a local business to purchase sexual lubricant, he arrived at the designated meetup location and was arrested by law enforcement agents.

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

This case was investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota DCI  Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

Fast Horse was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney Kurt Wall announced that a federal grand jury recently returned a five-count indictment charging Jesus Lopez, age 45, Zaira Lopez-Oliva, age 24, Kirsis Castellanos-Kirington, age 30, with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking, and coercing and enticing another to travel interstate for prostitution. Each defendant is a Honduran national that is present in the United States without authorization. They appeared for their arraignments and pled not guilty to the pending charges.

According to the criminal complaint that preceded the indictment, between May 2023 and continuing through October 9, 2025, the defendants used WhatsApp to send photographs of scantily clad women of various nationalities, advertising that they were available for commercial sex acts. They are also alleged to have transported young women from the New Orleans Airport back to the Middle District of Louisiana in furtherance of the sex trafficking operation. The defendants also created a “menu” advertisement on social media to solicit customers for commercial sex acts with those females. The females were allegedly threatened and feared harm if they left the apartments where the commercial sex acts took place. 

If convicted of the sex trafficking charges, each defendant faces a minimum of fifteen years and up to life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. They are also subject to removal or deportation from the United States upon completing any sentences imposed.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—Homeland Security Investigations, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner, who also serves as Deputy Criminal Chief, Assistant United States Attorney Stephen R. Vick, Jr., and Special Assistant United States Attorney Allen Ross. 

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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney Kurt Wall announced that U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Mitchell Robinson, age 35, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 180 months in federal prison following his convictions possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and tramadol; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The Court further sentenced Robinson to serve five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered the firearms involved be forfeited. 

According to admissions made during his plea, on May 11, 2022, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office deputies executed a “knock” search warrant at Robinson’s residence. In the kitchen, deputies found 2.17 grams of fentanyl, 218.3 grams of methamphetamine, 22.89 grams of methamphetamine, 56 suboxone 8mg/2mg prescription strips, manitol (narcotics cutting agent), 390 suspected tramadol pills inside the house, a digital scale, a Glock, model 17, 9mm handgun modified to be fully automatic, a Glock style 9mm handgun with no serial number, Glock style 30 round magazine, 9mm ammunition, and 4.01 pounds of suspected marijuana. In the attic, deputies found 884.1 grams of methamphetamine, 439.7 grams of methamphetamine, 194.46 grams of fentanyl, 3.12 pounds of suspected marijuana, 55.59 grams of heroin, and $25,960.00 in U.S. Currency. Robinson knowingly possessed all seized items in his home with the intent to distribute those narcotics to others.

Robinson was previously convicted of simple burglary on September 8, 2010, in East Baton Rouge Parish and burglary of a dwelling and aggravated burglary on January 5, 2011, in Ascension Parish.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy S. Johnson. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Defendant Gave Instructions for the Sexual Abuse of a Child Over a Social Media App

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

United States Attorney Kurt Wall announced that U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Edward Shaffett, age 33, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 100 months in federal prison following his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The Court further sentenced Shaffett to serve three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered the firearm involved be forfeited. 

According to admissions made during his plea, on July 22, 2022, Baton Rouge Police officers encountered a stolen 2013 Ford Explorer near 7200 Winbourne Avenue in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle initially fled. When the vehicle came to a stop, four people fled from the vehicle, with one being Shaffett who was holding a Noreen Firearms, .223 caliber, AR15. When apprehended, Shaffett was wearing a black ski-mask/balaclava and black gloves.

Officers located the firearm along the path through which Shaffett fled. An extended AR15 magazine was located under the driver’s seat of the Ford Explorer. Video camera footage from a police unit depicts Shaffett fleeing from the Ford Explorer with an object in his hands consistent with the AR15.

Shaffett was previously convicted of possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and attempted illegal felon in possession of a firearm on April 20, 2021, in the 19th Judicial District, and sentenced to three years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Baton Rouge Police Department, was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy S. Johnson. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage doctor and her husband pleaded guilty today to executing a $12.5 million health care fraud scheme and evading over $4 million in taxes on the profits of their decades-long scheme.

According to court documents, Dr. Claribel Tan, 61, and her husband, Daniel Tan, 70, operated a rheumatology medical clinic in Anchorage. Dr. Tan specialized in the treatment of autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis, and prescribed injectable medications to treat those conditions. Mr. Tan performed office and management work for the clinic. As part of their scheme, the Tans deceived their patients about the medications Dr. Tan administered by injection in the office, and fraudulently billed health insurance plans for reimbursement of medications that the Tans did not purchase.

Beginning in 2009, Dr. Tan routinely and surreptitiously underdosed patients, injected them with free samples or a different medication than prescribed, injected them with expired medication, and/or injected them with medications purchased by other patients. The Tans then knowingly billed insurance plans as if Dr. Tan had provided each patient a full and proper injection. Specifically, the Tans claimed to have administered 4,829 units of the medications to patients, and billed the insurance plans for that amount, despite only purchasing 369 units of medication.

Mr. Tan helped execute the scheme in part by creating and submitting fraudulent insurance claims and ordering insufficient medication for the clinic. The Tans also made false statements about the length of Dr. Tan’s office visits with her patients and submitted fraudulent claims to insurance plans for services that Dr. Tan never provided. The Tans’ fraud scheme created significant health risks to the patients and caused a loss of approximately $12,522,446 to more than 10 insurance plans.

The Tans also created false tax records to conceal the health care fraud scheme. The Tans knew that the clinic had not purchased the quantity of medications that they billed insurance plans for, and they fraudulently overstated the clinic’s expenses on the clinic’s tax returns for 2014, 2015, and 2017, allowing them to falsely underreport the clinic’s income. From 2018 to 2021, the Tans willfully failed to file tax returns for the clinic. The Tans’ tax fraud scheme caused a loss of approximately $4,249,509 to the IRS.

In 2024 and 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office seized approximately $10,471,106 in health care fraud proceeds from the Tans. As part of their plea agreements, the Tans agreed to forfeit those funds to the U.S. and agreed to pay an additional $6,300,849 towards their expected restitution judgment. The Tans further agreed to pay the U.S. an additional $1,855,144 to settle civil claims under the False Claims Act arising from the health care fraud scheme. Dr. Tan has also surrendered her medical license.

Dr. Tan and Mr. Tan will be sentenced on a later date.  They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for health care fraud and five years in prison for tax fraud. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

More information about the case is available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/united-states-v-tan-et-al. Victims may provide the court with a written Victim Impact Statement or may also provide a statement in person at sentencing. For more information, please contact usaak.victimwitness@usdoj.gov at least one week prior to sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman of the District of Alaska, Special Agent in Charge John Helsing, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Western Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke of the IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Field Office made the announcement.

DCIS Western Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Division, FBI Anchorage Field Office, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General Criminal Investigations Division, Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations and State of Alaska Division of Insurance Investigation Unit investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Dominick Giovanniello of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Beausang and William Reed of the District of Alaska are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackie Traini of the District of Alaska led the civil fraud investigation.

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