Category: MIL-OSI

Source: US FBI

An Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for possessing a green card he illegally obtained by concealing that he had been charged with a war crime in Croatia prior to immigrating to the United States.

According to court documents, Jugoslav Vidic, 56, of Parma Heights, in applying to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States, falsely stated that he had never been charged with breaking any law even though he knew he had been charged in Croatia with a war crime against the civilian population. Vidic also falsely stated that his only past military service was in the Yugoslav Army from 1988 to 1989, when, in fact, he fought with the Serb Army of Krajina and its predecessors during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995. As a result of these materially false statements, Vidic was approved for lawful permanent resident status and received a green card.

“Jugoslav Vidic lied about war crimes charged against him in an attempt to escape his past and live in the United States unlawfully,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Thanks to the dedication of prosecutors, law enforcement, and our international partners, Vidic will serve prison time in the United States followed by his removal. His sentence demonstrates that human rights violators will not be allowed to hide from their crimes in the United States.”

“Vidic committed serious human rights violations and was convicted of war crimes in Croatia as a result. Yet, he lied to U.S. immigration officials about his conviction and participation in a violent military force to claim refugee status and obtain a green card — becoming a permanent legal resident of our country — when he was not eligible to do so,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Those who run away from violent crimes they commit elsewhere in the world and then enter our country by brazenly lying about their past will be held to account, as yesterday’s sentence demonstrates. Vidic’s deceitful actions are detestable, and unfairly hurt people in need who legitimately seek refuge to flee real harms in their home countries.”

“Our communities here in Ohio and across the United States are not safe havens for war criminals to escape accountability in their home countries,” said Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “It is my hope that this sentencing provides some measure of solace to the victims’ families with the knowledge that despite the passage of time, the United States will seek justice.”

“Jugoslav Vidic intentionally circumvented the laws of the United States by lying on his green card application about his war crimes conviction in Croatia,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “This case should serve as a warning to others that the FBI will work with our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable those like Vidic who seek to violate U.S. law by fraud of any kind.”

“Jugoslav Vidic knowingly avoided the truth of his past to enjoy the freedoms and liberties of the United States for over two and a half decades,” said Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen of the FBI Cleveland Field Office. “Yesterday’s sentence underscores the work of the FBI and its local, state, federal, and international partners and sends a clear message that people in the United States who take part in war crimes, regardless of when or where they occurred, or by masking their involvement, will be identified, investigated, and prosecuted.”

Vidic admitted in his plea agreement that he was charged with a war crime in Croatia in 1994 and convicted in absentia in 1998. The Croatian court found that during an attack by ethnic Serb forces in Petrinja, Croatia, on Sept. 16, 1991, Vidic cut off the arm of civilian Stjepan Komes, who died afterward. Vidic further admitted that he knew about the Croatian charges when he immigrated to the United States as a refugee in 1999, applied to become a lawful permanent resident in 2000, and was interviewed by U.S. immigration officials and received his green card in 2005.

Vidic pleaded guilty to one count of possessing an alien registration receipt card knowing it had been procured through materially false statements. As part of the plea agreement, Vidic agreed to the entry of a judicial order of removal from the United States.

HSI and the FBI investigated the case with coordination provided by the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, including the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit. The Justice Department thanks the Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice and Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia, which were both instrumental in furthering the investigation.

Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Shepherd and Jerome J. Teresinski for the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance.

Members of the public who have information about human rights violators or immigration fraud in the United States are urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or through the FBI online tip form, or HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or through the ICE online tip form. All are staffed around the clock, and tips may be provided anonymously.

Source: US FBI

U.S. Army Private First Class Provided Tactical Guidance in Attempt to Help ISIS Attack and Murder U.S. Service Members in the Middle East

Source: US FBI

TOLEDO, Ohio – Sir Maejor Page, 35, of Toledo, has been sentenced to 42 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Helmick after a jury convicted him of wire fraud and money laundering for defrauding donors of more than $450,000 that they collectively gave to his nonprofit “Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta” (BLM of Greater Atlanta) based on Page’s false representations. He was also ordered to pay a $400 special assessment fee.

Page continued to collect donations to his purported social justice charity through the organization’s Facebook page even after its tax-exempt status was revoked for failure to submit IRS Form 990 for three consecutive years.  He regularly posted content to Facebook about social and racial issues to give his nonprofit the appearance of legitimacy, despite no longer being tax-exempt. He also used Facebook to message privately with users, and he falsely represented that their donations would be used to “fight for George Floyd” and the “movement.” As a result, approximately 18,000 people donated to the BLM of Greater Atlanta charity through its Facebook account, which Page administered.

Page used the donations to BLM for his own personal benefit. He purchased entertainment, hotel rooms, clothing, firearms, and a property that he intended to use as his personal residence. He attempted to conceal the purchase of the property by using the name “Hi Frequency Ohio” and asked the seller to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would have prevented the seller from listing Page as the actual buyer.

“Mr. Page took advantage of a cause meant to fight social injustices, using it instead to line his own pockets with thousands of dollars of donations,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “People donate their hard-earned money to support causes they believe in, and when a fraudster like Page comes along and tries to get away with a fake charity scheme, it hurts legitimate nonprofit organizations that rely on the generosity of others to advance their missions and make positive change in the world. This Office will hold accountable those who try to profit by scamming unsuspecting people out of their money like Page did here.”

“The FBI will aggressively investigate individuals, like Sir Maejor Page, who engage in fraudulent charity schemes at the expense of the American public,” said FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen.  “Page is a calculating criminal who willingly conspired to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars through the trusting public. Today’s sentence holds him accountable and demonstrates that the FBI will steadfastly pursue perpetrators who target American citizens.”

This case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gene Crawford and Rob Melching.

Source: US FBI

CLEVELAND – A jury convicted two men for conspiring to artificially inflate prices on a low-value stock being sold to investors. After a trial that proceeded in two stages for over four weeks, Paul Spivak, 65, of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, and Charles Scott, 70, of Alexandria, Virginia, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Spivak was also found guilty on two counts of wire fraud in the first stage of trial, and he then pled guilty to four other counts of wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and a separate count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Scott was then found guilty of a securities fraud conspiracy and one count of securities fraud in the second stage of trial.

According to court documents, trial testimony, and exhibits, Spivak was the majority owner and chief executive officer of U.S. Lighting Group, Inc. (USLG), a publicly traded Florida corporation based in Euclid, Ohio, that focused on the design and manufacture of commercial LED lights, aftermarket auto parts, and fiberglass recreational campers and boats. The company traded on OTC Markets under the ticker USLG and was considered a “penny” stock due to its lower market value. Penny stocks are more vulnerable to price manipulation because they draw less scrutiny and have lower trading volume than other stocks.

Between 2016 and 2019, Spivak and his co-conspirators manipulated USLG’s stock price to their financial benefit. He and his co-conspirators arranged to take USLG public through a reverse merger with a shell company. They sought to artificially inflate or “pump” up the price of USLG stock using call rooms and other manipulative practices. One co-conspirator who helped to take USLG public and inflate the stock price was Richard Mallion, who was previously convicted of securities fraud and banned for life from participating in the securities industry. Numerous investors throughout the country were pressured to purchase USLG stock while Mallion and other co-conspirators covertly arranged for sell orders to match with the buy orders that the call rooms generated.

While the stock price was artificially inflated, Spivak arranged for co-conspirators to act as unlicensed stockbrokers, cold-calling investors to sell them restricted shares of USLG stock. The brokers used aliases and represented the stock as offered at a steep discount relative to the apparent market price. Spivak arranged to pay those brokers large, undisclosed commissions, while concealing the true nature of USLG’s payments to those brokers by entering into fraudulent consulting agreements with them and requiring them to submit invoices that falsely described commission payments as payments for other services. 

Between 2016 and 2019, USLG took in approximately $6.9 million from numerous restricted stock investors—many of them elderly and located throughout the country—in increments between $4,000 and $1 million. During that time, the company made approximately 200 payments totaling $2 million in undisclosed commissions to those unlicensed stockbrokers.

From February through June of 2021, Spivak and Scott engaged with undercover agents and a confidential source, who together posed as co-conspirators arranging to artificially inflate or “pump” up the price of USLG. Spivak arranged for them to receive stock, to be sold at inflated prices, from Scott and another co-conspirator, who had also agreed to kick back proceeds to USLG.

Spivak and Scott arranged for Scott to sell free-trading USLG stock to undercover agents and to send approximately half of the proceeds of those sales back to USLG in exchange for additional restricted stock. Undercover agents, in turn, would sell USLG stock at inflated prices, and then use some of the profits to buy more free-trading shares from Scott, who would then kick back additional money to USLG to buy more restricted stock.

Six of the defendants’ co-conspirators previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other charges in this matter. Those co-conspirators included Mallion, Spivak’s wife, Olga Smirnova, and a number of the unlicensed stockbrokers. A seventh co-conspirator, Robert Louis Carver, also admitted to participating in this scheme as an unlicensed stockbroker using a stolen identity, all while he was a fugitive in a long-pending securities fraud matter in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case No. 8:11-CR-62).

“These men orchestrated an aggressive, fraudulent scheme to benefit their company, enrich themselves, and to add to their personal coffers at the expense of others. They not only withheld information, but also purposely engaged a team of affiliates that devised tactics to make it appear that USLG shares were a valuable and valid investment to people who thought they were investing in good faith,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “We will not tolerate those who think they can outsmart and manipulate the system through fraud and misrepresentation. This verdict helps protect our citizens and our business communities from these predatory methods and serves as a warning to others who are tempted to break federal securities laws because of greed.”

On April 21, 2025, Spivak was sentenced to 17 years and five months in prison and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine by U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese. Spivak was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment. Restitution is to be determined.

On Feb. 12, 2025, Scott was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay a $500,000 fine by U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese. Scott was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release after imprisonment. 

The case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliot Morrison, Megan Miller, and Stephanie Wojtasik for the Northern District of Ohio. 

Report investment, financial, and related violations at https://www.sec.gov/submit-tip-or-complaint.

Note: This page was updated Jan. 10, 2025, to reflect the rescheduled sentencing date for Spivak.

Note: This page was updated Jan. 16, 2025, to reflect the rescheduled sentencing date for Scott.

Note: This page was updated Feb. 12, 2025, with sentencing information for Scott.

Note: This page was updated April 22, 2025,with sentencing information for Spivak.

Source: US FBI

TOLEDO, Ohio – Amanda Hovanec, 37, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James R. Knepp, II, after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including distributing a controlled substance that resulted in the death of her husband. Amanda Hovanec was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,108,559.36.

According to court documents, Hovanec and her husband, Timothy, were married and had three children.  They moved several times for his job with the U.S. Department of State, which included an assignment in South Africa around 2018. While there, Hovanec developed a relationship with a South African citizen named Anthony Theodorou. Hovanec initiated divorce proceedings against her husband in 2020 after returning to the United States. In December 2021, she began to deny her husband visitation with their children despite a court order to permit it. After her husband filed several contempt motions against Hovanec for denying visitation, a judge ordered that the children be given visitation with their father in April 2022, and further ordered that the husband become the residential parent and legal custodian of their children for two months that summer, beginning in May.

The children went with their father for an April weekend visitation, as ordered, after which their father returned them to Hovanec’s Wapakoneta residence. Later, a missing persons investigation was opened when the husband failed to check out of an area hotel where he had been staying.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials discovered the husband’s abandoned car in Dayton, Ohio. It had been equipped with a dash camera.  Review of the camera’s video showed that the husband had returned the children to Hovanec’s residence around 7 p.m. on April 24, 2022. Video footage showed Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, waiting outside the residence next to the garage. Hovanec was then seen walking toward the driver’s side of the vehicle and heard telling the children, “I have a surprise for you inside.” The children entered the residence, followed by Green. Seconds later, the victim was heard saying, “What the heck are you doing?  Did you just assault me?” and then, “Get away from me  . . .  Get off of me.”  The victim and Hovanec came into the camera’s view, at which time video footage captured her pulling on her husband’s shirt as he tried to use his cellphone. She wrestled with him and eventually knocked the phone out of his hand. She then pulled on his back to bring him to the ground, holding him around the neck until his body went limp and he became unresponsive, lying on the driveway. Hovanec stood up, picked up her husband’s cellphone, removed his smart watch, and turned off his vehicle’s engine, at which point the dash camera stopped recording.

After first attempting to cover up her crimes, Hovanec later confessed to investigators that she injected her husband in the shoulder with “poison” that she understood would kill him within minutes. She also admitted to disposing of his car in Dayton, and burying his body in a wooded area not far from her home. Theodorou was in Ohio at the time of the incident.  He not only obtained the substance used to kill the victim, but also helped Hovanec bury her husband’s body. Green, who both Hovanec and Theodorou confirmed knew about the plan to murder the victim in advance, was charged as an accessory after the fact. She agreed to drive them and the victim’s body to the grave site, which was dug in advance of the murder.

The investigation determined that the victim was injected with M-99, also known as Etorphine, a Schedule I controlled substance approximately 1000 times more potent than morphine. It is used in veterinary medicine for zoo and wildlife anesthesia.  

According to court records, Hovanec considered killing her husband for at least a year before the murder and had considered alternate means to do so, including hiring a hitman, before settling on injecting him with M-99.

“Hovanec’s violent and intentional actions were cold-blooded, calculated, and cruel. Her extreme malevolence toward her husband and complete disregard for how his murder would affect their innocent children is incomprehensible and unforgiveable,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “We know that no amount of time served can bring back a family’s loved one. But our hope is that the victim’s family may find some sense of closure as they painstakingly work to heal from this unimaginable and horrific tragedy.”

Theodorou was sentenced to 18 years in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import, importation and distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death. He was also ordered to pay $2,108,559.36 in restitution, of which a part will be paid jointly and severally with Hovanec and Green. Anita Green was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to being an accessory to the crimes committed by Amanda Hovanec and Anthony Theodorou. 

This case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division, Lima Resident Agency, the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and the Lucas County Coroner’s Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alissa Sterling and Michelle Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio.

Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Columbus police officer pleaded guilty in federal court here today to crimes involving more than 10 kilograms of cocaine and money laundering.

Joel M. Mefford, 35, of London, Ohio, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, one count of possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one count of money laundering.

According to court documents, Mefford was a Columbus police officer assigned to investigate drug crimes. On three occasions between February and April 2020, Mefford worked with another officer to steal and traffic cocaine.

In February 2020, Mefford and the other officer were investigating a drug crime and unlawfully gained access to a detached garage belonging to the subject of the investigation. Without a warrant, they entered the garage and discovered two kilograms of cocaine in the rafters. They unlawfully seized one of the kilograms and left the other to be found during the execution of a search warrant the next morning. The other officer gave the stolen narcotics to another individual to sell.

Similarly, in February and March 2020, Mefford and the other officer were investigating drug-trafficking activity at houses on Ambleside Drive and Kilbourne Avenue in Columbus. On March 7, 2020, the officers took a bag containing multiple kilograms of cocaine from the house on Ambleside Drive and arrested an individual there. They then traveled to the house on Kilbourne Avenue and removed a kilogram of cocaine. That same day, Mefford turned in one kilogram of cocaine to evidence, and the officers stole the other kilograms to be sold.

In April 2020, Mefford and the other officer stole between 10 and 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Columbus police property room and replaced it with fake cocaine. Mefford transported the stolen cocaine in a police cruiser and the other officer later gave the drugs to another individual to sell. The drug proceeds were then given to the other officer, who provided Mefford his cut. Mefford personally received a total of approximately $130,000 from cocaine sales.

Mefford deposited more than $72,000 of the cash derived from the cocaine sales into his personal bank account.

Possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine is punishable by at least 10 years and up to life in prison. Possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine carries a potential penalty of five to 40 years in prison. Money laundering is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Congress sets the minimum and maximum statutory sentences. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court at a future hearing based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; and Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the plea entered today before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.

Assistant United States Attorneys Peter K. Glenn-Applegate and Elizabeth A. Geraghty are representing the United States in this case.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Southern Ohio Public Corruption Task Force, which includes special agents and officers from the FBI, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office and the Columbus Division of Police.

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Source: US FBI

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati man was sentenced in federal court here today to 162 months in prison for sex trafficking a missing teen girl.

As part of his conviction, Payton Jamar Brown, 26, was ordered to pay nearly $58,000 in restitution to the minor victim and forfeit his home on Niagara Street in Cincinnati. Proceeds of the sale of his forfeited home will be paid to Brown’s victim as restitution.

According to court documents, from June until October 2022 and again in February 2023, Brown sex trafficked the teenaged girl.

Brown met the victim online and began a relationship with her. The victim began to reside with Brown, who created prostitution advertisements of her. Brown would transport the victim to hotels for prostitution dates that he had arranged. Brown arranged at least 40 prostitution dates in this timeframe and collected the proceeds from the victim.

In October 2022, Colerain police officers responded to Brown’s residence and recovered the victim, who was subsequently taken to a juvenile facility in another state.

In February 2023, the juvenile escaped the facility and messaged Brown on Instagram to pick her up. Brown drove interstate to pick up the victim and her friend and bring them to his residence. Brown again created a prostitution advertisement of the victim and arranged sexual encounters with other men for money.

Throughout his time with the victim, Brown would regularly engage in sex acts with the minor and record those acts with a cell phone. He would then sell the photos and videos to others online.

Brown was arrested by the FBI in February 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Colerain Township Police Chief Edwin C. Cordie III; and members of the Regional Electronics and Computer Investigations (RECI) task force announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle J. Healey is representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal jury has convicted two members of the Third World Mob gang with conspiring to traffic more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Third World Mob is a violent criminal organization in Columbus.

After an 8-day trial before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., jurors deliberated for less than six hours before finding Klegewerges Abate, 35, and Abubakarr Savage, 34, both of Columbus, guilty on all counts.

Abate, who is also known as “Bells,” “Robell” and “Sosa,” was convicted of conspiring to traffic at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, firearms offenses, and wire fraud related to illegally obtaining COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Savage was charged with and convicted of conspiring to distribute at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Savage is also known as “Sav” and “Savdripp.”

According to court documents and trial testimony, Third World Mob members brought hundreds of pounds of marijuana into Ohio from other states like California and Georgia to sell in central Ohio. They used U-Haul trucks and rental cars to move the drugs.  Coconspirators used rental houses or houses leased or owned in other individuals’ names as “stash houses” or “trap houses” to facilitate the drug trafficking and to store significant amounts of cash from the drug proceeds.

For example, in August 2019, Abate and others possessed a suitcase with approximately $940,000 in cash in it in a house on Phlox Avenue in Blacklick.

During a November 2022 search of a residence on Chapel Stone Road in Blacklick, law enforcement officials found Abate and two of his co-conspirators, along with more than 700 kilograms of marijuana and three firearms.

Third World Mob leaders and members used violence and the threat of violence to maintain authority over their drug trafficking.

Surveillance video presented at trial showed Abate, a convicted felon, shooting a man at a restaurant in Columbus. Jurors also heard testimony about numerous shootings, a pistol-whipping, and other acts of intimidation.

Abate was also convicted of wire fraud for falsely applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, fraudulently claiming that he had been a self-employed landscaper during the time he trafficked drugs.

In total, seven members of the Third World Mob have been charged federally since 2021. Fellow member Menelik Solomon pleaded guilty in November 2023 and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. Coconspirator Teddy Asefa entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and wire fraud just prior to trial. Another defendant stood trial with Abate and Savage and was acquitted of the single obstruction of justice charge against him.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Detroit; and Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin announced the verdict. U.S. Attorney Parker recognized the assistance from the Columbus, Whitehall and Tucson, Arizona, police departments and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth A. Geraghty and S. Courter Shimeall represented the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

             WASHINGTON — An Ohio man was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to his alleged conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

             David Valentine, 46, of Wilmington, Ohio, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with a felony charge of civil disorder. In addition to the felony, Valentine is charged with misdemeanor offenses of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful, knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds.

             Valentine was arrested on Aug. 22, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he made his initial appearance in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

             According to court documents, Valentine was identified within the restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol building at around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, near a line of police officers and bike-rack barricades preventing rioters from advancing toward the U.S. Capitol building. At about 1:40 p.m., rioters carried and passed a large metal-framed “Trump 2020” sign toward the police line.

             It is alleged that when the sign reached the police line, Valentine joined the rioters who pushed the sign against the police officers. It is alleged that Valentine reached for the sign with his right hand and pushed the sign. The rioters used the large sign as a battering ram against the officers who were holding the line and attempted to breach the bike-rack barricades while the officers were attacked with the large sign.

             Later, Valentine was identified on the West Plaza of Capitol grounds and was seen entering a lower part of the Inaugural stage within the West Plaza. Valentine then allegedly climbed into an area that appeared to be under construction and seemed to cut some wires with a folding knife.

             At about 2:30 p.m., members of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) retreated to an area inside the archway of the U.S. Capitol building’s Lower West Terrace Doors, referred to as the Tunnel. The Tunnel was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th.  There, rioters massed in front of the Tunnel and attacked police officers, pushing in a collective effort to overwhelm the police officers guarding this entrance to the building. Valentine was present outside the Tunnel.

             At approximately 5:00 p.m., rioters collectively pushed against the police officers in the Tunnel, and Valentine allegedly joined the group, placing his hand against the back of the rioter in front of him before being repelled by a chemical irritant.

             This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

             The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Cincinnati and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

             In the 43 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

             Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

             A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 324 months in prison for crimes related to sexually exploiting and sextorting more than 25 known victims in at least four states.

Lorenzo A. Winfield, 23, persistently and aggressively sought out and collected nude files of high school classmates and minor females he met online.

“Acts of sextortion are serious and have no place in our society. As we heard in court today from more than a dozen victims, this conduct creates significant harm,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Today’s sentencing reflects that we will hold such perpetrators accountable for their damaging actions.”

According to court documents, from at least 2016 until 2021, Winfield used extortion tactics to solicit and collect explicit photos of underage girls at his Columbus high school, the Arts and College Preparatory Academy (ACPA), where he was known as the “ACPA Hacker”.

Winfield would contact students at ACPA and demand nude images and videos of them.  He would also hack into victims’ social media accounts and use the photos he obtained in their private accounts against them as leverage for more content.  Winfield would threaten the victims, letting them know he had nude content depicting them or other students and that he would distribute those images and videos unless the victims complied with his demands. On numerous occasions, Winfield followed through on these threats, distributing sexually explicit photos of his victims to others to prove he was serious with his threats in a bid to contain more content. In addition, Winfield told the victims to send him sexually explicit images or videos in order to regain control of their own social media accounts.

Winfield used several social media accounts of his own to engage in the exploitation and extortion of the victims. His accounts were active across platforms such as Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Skype and Google Hangouts.

Winfield was separately investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office for extorting and exploiting at least four victims in Fairfax and Prince William counties in Virginia.

For example, one identified victim was approximately 11 years old at the time Winfield first contacted her online. During their communications, Winfield obtained nude images of her and videos of her masturbating. Winfield used this content as leverage and eventually sent nude photos of the victim to students at a Virginia middle school to prove he was serious about his sextortion of her. Eventually, as the victim got older, Winfield also sent the images to students at her high school, promising the victim that if she got her friends to help her out by sending him nude images, that he would stop. Winfield threatened to harm the family of the Virginia minor if she did not comply with his requests for sexually explicit photos and videos and continued to exploit and extort her until his arrest.

Similarly, Winfield exploited at least one victim in College Station, Texas. The investigation revealed that the Texas victim sent approximately 50 pictures and videos to Winfield. Winfield demanded explicit images and videos of her daily. On one occasion, when the victim did not comply with Winfield’s demands, Winfield sent images of the victim’s nude breasts and vagina to the victim’s brother and friend. 

The defendant pleaded guilty in December 2023 to sexually exploiting minors, possessing child pornography, and communicating interstate with the intent to extort.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson. U.S. Attorney Parker and Special Agent in Charge Iatarola commended the cooperative investigation in this case with FBI divisions and state and local law enforcement agencies in Ohio, Virginia and Texas. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.

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