Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

           WASHINGTON – Richard Holmes, 35, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with a homicide that occurred in the early morning hours of August 26, 2025, in Southeast D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. 

           Holmes made his initial appearance on September 24, 2025, before Superior Court Magistrate Judge Heide Herrmann who found probable cause that Holmes committed the offense of first-degree murder while armed (felony murder) and ordered that he be held without bond pending a detention hearing scheduled for October 8, 2025.

           According to court documents, Holmes, shot and killed the victim, 31-year-old Franck Foute Mohdjiom, during an attempted robbery before fleeing the scene. Members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fugitive Unit assumed custody of Holmes while he was held at the D.C. Jail on an unrelated matter on September 23, 2025. 

           Joining in the announcement was Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

           This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Carson.

            These charges are 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

MINNEAPOLIS – John David Degelau, age 28, was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment followed by 10 years of supervised release for Possession of Child Pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.  Degelau, a then-youth ski coach, created child pornography by imposing the faces of children he coached onto the bodies of child pornography victims.

“A ski coach who used photos of children he coached to create child pornography is now headed to federal prison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.  “Today alone, three child predators were sentenced in federal court for absolutely abhorrent conduct.  This epidemic of abuse we are seeing in Minnesota is vile, it is devastating, and it must end.”

According to court documents, John Degelau was caught with over 18,000 files of child pornography.  Law enforcement discovered Degelau was a local ski coach working with children.  In reviewing Degelau’s devices, law enforcement found that he had created child pornography by using Adobe Photoshop.  Degelau used that application by morphing/photoshopping pictures of the children’s faces he coached onto sexually explicit images, to make it appear as though Degelau was performing sex acts on the children.  The investigation uncovered that Degelau’s devices also contained images of children swimming at a beach, apparently taken without their knowledge from a concealed position behind bushes or trees.

Degelau was sentenced today in U.S. District Court before District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell.  Judge Blackwell sentenced Degelau to 78 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.  Judge Blackwell ordered Degelau to pay a special assessment of more than $10,000 that will go to programs supporting victims of child pornography offenses and ordered Degelau to pay restitution to the victims of this crime.

“John Degelau will spend the next several years behind bars, a sentence that demonstrates the serious consequences for adults who abuse their position of trust,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr.  “Degelau used his access to children for the most sinister purpose: his own sexual gratification.  Children in our community should be safe in every location, including at the beach and on the ski hill, but especially in the company of a trusted adult.  The FBI appreciates our partnership with the Duluth Police on this important investigation.”

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Duluth Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Green prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

TOLEDO, Ohio – A Wood County man has been sentenced to prison for defrauding a computer technology support company of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Blake Underwood, 45, of Perrysburg, Ohio, was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary after pleading guilty in May to wire fraud. Underwood was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment. 

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Underwood was employed by Nemsys, LLC, a Toledo-based information technology company. After the Nemsys business owners relocated to Florida to focus their efforts on a second company, Underwood became the CEO and ran the business on behalf of the owners. Court documents show that Underwood devised a scheme to defraud the company from December 2019 until April 2023. Even though he was not permitted to do so, Underwood used Nemsys funds intended for the revitalization of a historic Toledo property to purchase building supplies for his personal home. In 2023, the owners examined why Nemsys was underperforming financially and discovered that Underwood was using company funds to pay his personal credit cards, purchase personal vehicles, golf club memberships, jewelry, and more.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI Toledo Field Office prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Melching for the Northern District of Ohio.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced on September 16, 2025, that TYREE RUDOLPH (“RUDOLPH”), age 22, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to one of three counts of an indictment charging him with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i).

U.S. District Judge Daryl J. Papillon will sentence RUDOLPH on December 16, 2025. RUDOLPH faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five (5) imprisonment up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. RUDOLPH also faces a period of supervised release of up to five (5) years, a fine up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.

According to court documents, in October 2023, the New Orleans Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated RUDOLPH due to his affiliation with known members of a New Orleans criminal organization known as “M3RE,” operating out of the Magnolia Housing Projects. During their investigation, detectives observed that RUDOLPH posted an advertisement for the sale of a Draco assault rifle for $800.00, referred to as a “drac” on social media.

On October 19, 2023, a search warrant was obtained for RUDOLPH’s residence. The following items were found inside of the residence: (1) one plastic bag containing 54.37 grams of fentanyl; (2) one plastic bag containing 21.20 grams of fentanyl; (3) $724.00 in U.S. currency; (4) thirty-four (34) counterfeit $100 bills; (5) a Glock Model 23 Gen4, .40 caliber handgun, with sixteen (16) live rounds of ammunition; (6) a Glock Model 19 Gen5, nine- millimeter caliber handgun, with twenty-five (25) live rounds of ammunition; (7) a Romarm/Cugir Draco, 7.62×39 caliber pistol, with twenty-nine (29) live rounds of ammunition; (8) a Glock switch machinegun conversion device; (9) various rounds of ammunition; and (10) various gun parts/accessories.

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.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Reed of the Violent Crime Unit/Strike Force Unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A Texas pharmacy owner and three Texas pharmacists were sentenced today in Houston for unlawfully distributing more than half a million opioid pills and other commonly abused prescription drugs, including to individuals paid to pose as patients by black market drug traffickers.

“While I served as the Attorney General of Florida, addressing the opioid crisis was one of my top priorities and remains a top priority at the Department of Justice today,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The opioid crisis has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed countless American families. Our enforcement efforts aren’t limited to cartels and gangs: anyone in the medical profession who abuses their position of trust to deal deadly drugs will face severe consequences.”

“Billings and his co-conspirators brazenly operated a pill mill for years, selling dangerous narcotics to dealers through straw patients and fueling the opioid epidemic,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendants ignored their obligations as pharmacists to care for their patients and instead profited from the illicit sale of highly addictive drugs. The Criminal Division is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting the gatekeepers in the health care industry who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.”

“Pharmacies exist to heal the sick, not to fuel addiction and line the pockets of drug traffickers,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “These defendants betrayed their communities by turning a pharmacy into a pill mill, flooding our streets with over half a million opioid pills, and leaving a trail of addiction, abuse, and tragedy. DEA remains steadfast in its commitment to bring to justice those responsible for the country’s opioid crisis.”

Arthur Billings, 61, of Missouri City, a pharmacy owner and pharmacist, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison and a $2.6 million forfeiture order. On Aug. 26, 2022, Billings pleaded guilty to a four-year conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense hydrocodone and oxycodone and making false statements in an application for disability benefits. According to court documents, Billings was the owner, operator, and pharmacist-in-charge of Health Fit Pharmacy (Health Fit), a cash-only pill-mill pharmacy. In exchange for hundreds of dollars per prescription, Health Fit dispensed controlled substances to individuals sent by drug traffickers to pose as patients. The drug traffickers provided the funding for the pills then sold the drugs on the black market. The prescriptions used to obtain the drugs from Health Fit were often fraudulent, issued in the names of physicians whose identities were stolen. The pharmacy continued its illegal operation despite repeated warnings from the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Three of Billings’ co-conspirators, all of whom were Health Fit pharmacists in Houston, were also sentenced today.

Deanna Winfield-Gates, 56, was sentenced to six years in prison and a $60,000 forfeiture order. On Sept. 13, 2023, Winfield-Gates was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense hydrocodone and oxycodone. According to court documents, Winfield-Gates was a relief pharmacist at Health Fit who dispensed over a half million pills of addictive and dangerous drugs, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, among others, often in combination, knowing these controlled substances were likely to be diverted or abused.

Jeremy Branch, 38, was sentenced today to 22 months in prison and a $68,931.44 forfeiture order. On Aug. 29, 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense hydrocodone and oxycodone. According to court documents, Branch was the pharmacist-in-charge at Health Fit for much of 2017.

Frank Cooper, 55, was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a $5,000 forfeiture order. On Aug. 22, 2022, Cooper pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense hydrocodone and oxycodone. According to court documents, Cooper was a relief pharmacist at Health Fit during the conspiracy.

The DEA investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Drew Pennebaker of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case, with support from Paralegal Specialist Meghan Malinowski.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

TULSA, Okla. – An unsealed indictment shows that Victor Kensington Colbert, Jr., 60, owned and operated the nonprofit, 
Oklahoma Heartland Heroes Foundation (Heartland Heroes), in Bixby.

The indictment alleges that Colbert submitted at least five applications on behalf of Heartland Heroes seeking CARES 
Act funds. The CARES Act was signed into law in March 2020 and included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). These programs were established to support small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Of those applications, Colbert successfully obtained at least two PPP loans and one Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance, on behalf of Heartland Heroes, totaling approximately $217,000.

Colbert allegedly submitted false documentation showing that he has several employees with monthly payroll expenses exceeding $55,000. He further claimed that any funds he received would be used to retain workers and maintain payroll, pay mortgage interest or lease payments, utility payments, and other covered expenses. 

The Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve System is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Buscemi is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a 
court of law.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at Justice.gov/OPA/pr/justice-department-takes-action-against-covid-19-fraud.