Category: MIL-OSI

Source: US FBI

WILLIAMSPORT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Walter Sitosky, age 67, of Houtzdale, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 120 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. Chief District Judge Matthew W. Brann after pleading guilty to attempted enticement of a minor charge. 

According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Sitosky arranged to pay for sexual services from a 13-year-old child. Sitosky was arrested as part of an undercover operation after travelling to an establishment in Centre County to meet the child on November 10, 2023.

The case was investigated by the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, Patton Township Police, the Centre County District Attorney’s Office, Williamsport Police, and the Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan V. Martin is prosecuting the case.

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

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Source: US FBI

CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted the owner of several Chicago-area convenience stores of scheming to defraud a low-income food program for women and children.

HASSAN ABDELLATIF, also known as “Eric,” 36, of Chicago, was convicted of all five counts against him, including two counts of wire fraud, one count of fraudulently obtaining government benefits, and two counts of willfully failing to file corporate tax returns. The jury returned its verdicts on Monday after a week-long trial in federal court in Chicago.  U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso set sentencing for Aug. 26, 2025.

Evidence at trial revealed that Abdellatif, who owned or operated El Milagro Mini Market, Supermercado El Grande, Star Mini Market, In & Out Grocery, and Harding Grocery, schemed with eight other store owners or workers to fraudulently redeem checks from the Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”) program, a federally funded initiative designed to provide a nutritious diet to moderate and low-income infants, children up to five years of age, and pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women. Over a period of several years, Abdellatif and the others knowingly allowed customers to provide their WIC checks as payment for ineligible items at the stores, often at inflated prices. Abdellatif and a co-defendant redeemed more than $6.5 million in WIC checks at two of the stores alone, before law enforcement searched those premises and shut down the fraud scheme.

The evidence established that ten stores involved in the scheme redeemed more than $19 million in WIC checks over an eight-year period.  All eight of Abdellatif’s co-defendants pleaded guilty prior to his trial.

The convictions were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Midwest Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kartik Raman, Rick Young, and Matthew Moyer.

Source: US FBI

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Porcupine, South Dakota, man convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. The sentencing took place on April 25, 2025.

McKenzie Big Crow, age 20, was sentenced to a total of 12 years in federal prison for Involuntary Manslaughter, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Big Crow was also ordered to pay $300 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

A federal grand jury indicted Big Crow in June 2024. In January 2025, he was found guilty following a federal jury trial.

On August 20, 2023, near Porcupine, Big Crow was illegally in possession of a Savage Arms Model 62, semiautomatic rifle. The barrel had been sawed off, and the defendant had taped components of an Airsoft rifle to the gun to make it appear like an AK-47. Big Crow claimed he put the rifle in a backpack and that the gun discharged when he bumped the bag against a door. The gunshot struck 19-year-old Ashton Provost in the chest, killing her and her unborn child within minutes. The gun was later found hidden under Big Crow’s bed. On the day of the shooting, Big Crow had drugs in his system including marijuana, cocaine, MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) and methamphetamine.

“We commend the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of South Dakota for its decision to pursue charges under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act — recognizing the value of every life lost as a result of this crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI Minneapolis. “This case highlights our shared commitment to justice for the most vulnerable and to holding violent offenders accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

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.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

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

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Source: US FBI

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man was sentenced to federal prison yesterday for breaking into a local pawn shop and stealing forty-seven firearms from the federal firearm licensee. 

Kory Dean Boyd, 39, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. 

According to court documents, on January 31, 2022, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) were notified of a burglary at a Southeast Portland pawn shop. Early that morning, shop owners discovered two large holes in a concrete block wall on the building’s exterior. The exposed room contained dozens of firearms, forty-seven of which were reported stolen, including pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns.

ATF agents reviewed exterior surveillance video from the pawn shop and observed two vehicles and five individuals present near the holes in the building during the late evening and early morning hours of January 29 and 30, 2022. Two individuals used a sledgehammer to make holes in the exterior wall while Boyd and others carried firearms and firearm cases to the vehicles.

On February 4, 2022, ATF agents searched Boyd’s residence and recovered eight firearms, including seven stolen from the pawn shop. Boyd was arrested without incident and admitted to his involvement in the burglary.

On February 8, 2022, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a two-count indictment charging Boyd with the theft of firearms and possessing firearms as a convicted felon.

On March 4, 2024, Boyd pleaded guilty to stealing firearms from a federal firearm licensee.

This case was investigated by ATF with assistance from the FBI, Portland Police Bureau, and Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Lewis S. Burkhart, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Source: US FBI

DETROIT – Tribar Technologies, Inc., a Southeast Michigan manufacturer, was sentenced today to pay a $200,000 criminal fine, pay $20,000 in restitution, serve five years of probation, and implement an environmental management system and compliance plan within the first six months of probation. Tribar pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act when it discharged insufficiently treated wastewater, a misdemeanor, Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck announced.

According to court documents, Tribar is a manufacturer of decorative trim assemblies and components serving the automotive and commercial vehicle markets in Southeast Michigan. The Tribar facility where the events in this case occurred – Plant 5 – is a chrome plating facility in Wixom, Michigan, that uses an electroplating process to apply chrome finishing to plastic automotive parts. The summer of 2022, Tribar held an Industrial Pretreatment Program Permit, authorizing discharges of treated wastewater from Plant 5 into the Wixom sanitary sewer system. Tribar’s permit included a notification requirement for batch discharges and prohibited Tribar from bypassing its own treatment system.

On July 23, 2022, Tribar Plant 5 accumulated approximately 15,000 gallons of untreated wastewater with high concentrations of hexavalent chromium. Tribar employees attempted to treat this wastewater, but by July 29, 2022, it still contained high levels of hexavalent chromium that required treatment before it could be released into Tribar’s wastewater treatment system. On the evening of July 29, 2022, a Tribar employee discharged a batch of approximately 10,000 gallons of insufficiently treated wastewater from a holding tank into Plant 5’s wastewater treatment system. The discharge activated approximately 460 alarm bells all of which were disabled, allowing the wastewater to be discharged into the Wixom sanitary sewer system. Tribar did not report this illegal discharge until August 1, 2022. 

“Tribar’s failure to adequately train and supervise its employees jeopardized the safety and quality of local water resources. This sentence recognizes the importance of strict adherence to regulatory standards and best practices intended to protect human health and the environment. Together with our partners we will continue to protect environmental resources in the Eastern District of Michigan,” said Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck.

“Tribar illegally discharged industrial wastewater, posing a risk to downstream waterways,” said Special Agent in Charge Allison Landsman of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. “The successful and cooperative effort by EPA, federal and state partners resulted in today’s sentencing, holding Tribar responsible for violating federal environmental law.”

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. 

Source: US FBI

MOBILE, AL – On April 29, 2025, United States District Court Judge William H. Steele sentenced Isaiah Lorenzo Bess, 28, to 33 months imprisonment for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl.

Documents filed with the court established that beginning in or around July 2023 and continuing to or about December 8, 2023, Bess conspired with others to distribute fentanyl pills throughout the Mobile area.

Bess was indicted for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and pled guilty to the charge.  United States District Court Judge William H. Steele sentenced Bess to 33 months in prison followed by a 5-year term of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S. Terrill prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

Source: US FBI

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man, who for more than a decade claimed to be a successful foreign exchange currency trader to solicit millions of dollars in investments, was sentenced to federal prison yesterday for wire fraud.

William Bennington, 53, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. 

According to court documents, from March 2012 until October 2022, Bennington knowingly and intentionally carried out a scheme to defraud victims out of more than $2 million. In order to solicit investments, Bennington claimed to be a wealthy foreign exchange currency trader that had written a proprietary trading algorithm, which he alleged was the source of his wealth.  

Over the course of the scheme, Bennington promised annual returns of up to 80 percent and repayment terms as short as six months. He also created a fake website and fabricated monthly statements falsely showing victims were earning significant returns. Instead of investing his victims’ money as promised, Bennington spent it on extravagant trips, a golf simulator, and personal expenses such as rent, vehicle leases and credit card payments. 

On October 17, 2023, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a five-count indictment charging Bennington with wire fraud. Later, on April 4, 2024, Bennington pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

This case was investigated by the FBI, and was prosecuted by Robert Trisotto, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Source: US FBI

MOBILE, AL – Michael Edward Terrell, age 46, was sentenced today to 135 months in prison after entering a guilty plea to a count of Attempted Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography.  Terrell entered his guilty plea on January 30, 2025.

According to court documents, between August 22, 2017, and September 5, 2017, an FBI Online Convert Employee identified Terrell as a person who was distributing child pornography online. FBI executed a search warrant at his home, seized his electronic devices, and found child pornography on his devices.

On December 3, 2019, an ALEA SBI Special Agent was notified that Terrell was soliciting child pornography on Twitter.  ALEA obtained the contents of the Twitter account and confirmed that Terrell, using an explicit username, was engaging in conversations with other Twitter users in which he would request that they send him “hard core” images of child pornography.

At sentencing, Judge Steele imposed the 135-month sentence of incarceration and a 15-year term of supervised release upon his future release. During his term of imprisonment, Terrell will be subject to sex offender treatment, substance abuse testing and treatment, and mental health treatment.  Terrell will be required to register as a sex offender and is to have no contact with minors.  Terrell was ordered to pay $30,500 in restitution to the victims of his offenses and $5,100 in special assessments.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kacey Chappelear prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

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

Source: US FBI

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man who served as the head men’s basketball coach at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, was sentenced to federal prison today for persuading a child to send him sexually explicit images.

Nathan Ezell Bowie, 38, was sentenced to 162 months in federal prison and 20 years’ supervised release. 

According to court documents, in November 2021, Bowie conducted a basketball camp at an Oregon high school. Bowie asked students at the camp to connect with him online, and the victim sent Bowie a message asking for basketball drills. Bowie continued communicating with the minor, eventually persuading the victim to send sexually explicit images. In January 2022, another coach learned of the communications and alerted law enforcement. 

On March 15, 2022, Bowie was charged by criminal complaint with sexually exploiting a child, coercion and enticement, and receipt of child pornography. 

On May 15, 2024, Bowie pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor.

This case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and FBI Portland’s Eugene Resident Agency. It was prosecuted by Jeffrey S. Sweet, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

The FBI CETF conducts sexual exploitation investigations, many of them undercover, in coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. CETF is committed to locating and arresting those who prey on children as well as recovering and assisting victims of sex trafficking and child exploitation.

Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. It is important to remember child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document the victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, re-victimize and re-traumatize the child victims each time their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: US FBI

MIAMI – A Florida man was sentenced yesterday in the Southern District of Florida to 13 months’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine for his role in an insider trading scheme that netted over $1.6 million in profits. He was also ordered to pay over $200,000 in restitution and over $1.6 million in forfeiture.

According to court documents, from November 2018 to April 2023, Stephen George, 54, of Parkland, was a member of the Finance Department and held roles including controller and vice president at a consumer-packaged goods company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida (Company A). The company was the maker of a fitness drink whose securities were publicly traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market. At Company A, George received material non-public information (MNPI) regarding the company’s financial performance.

On his final day at Company A on April 7, 2023, George created a consolidated income statement showing its financial performance for the first quarter of 2023, which George knew contained MNPI. The income statement showed that the company’s first quarter results had greatly exceeded expectations. George then emailed the document to himself using two personal email accounts.

On April 10, 2023, the first trading day after his last day of employment, and continuing through May 8, 2023, George purchased Company A securities based on MNPI – specifically, 20,000 shares of common stock and 300 call option contracts. On May 9, 2023, after the market close, Company A publicly reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for the first quarter of 2023, including an all-time quarterly record in revenue. After the public announcement, its stock price increased significantly. During the next trading day, George sold all 20,000 shares of common stock and 300 call option contracts, resulting in over $1.6 million in personal profits.

In February 2025, George pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eli S. Rubin and Elizabeth Young for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Matthew F. Sullivan and Matt Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida handled asset forfeiture.

You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-cr-60011.

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