Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ROANOKE, Va. – A Blacksburg, Virginia man, who used peer-to-peer filesharing software to download more than 30,000 images and videos of child exploitation material, was sentenced yesterday to 50 months in federal prison. Rafael Bedia, 39, pled guilty in January 2026 to one count of possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ROANOKE, Va. – A Martinsville woman, who stole almost $30,000 in Social Security benefits intended for her deceased boyfriend, was ordered to repay the money she stole and sentenced to two years of supervised release. Jackie Cayton, 55, previously pled guilty to one felony count charging her with theft of government money.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Greenbelt, Maryland – A Maryland man received a federal-prison term, today, for the armed robbery of a Prince George’s County convenience store. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang sentenced Zebedee Alexander Johnson, 36, to 10 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, in connection with the crime.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Memphis, TN – A federal judge sentenced Juan Sanchez-Palacios, 32, an illegal alien from Mexico, to 60 months and one day in prison for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today. On November 12, 2025, Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers in Memphis performed a traffic stop for suspected DUI and encountered Sanchez-Palacios, the driver of the vehicle. After observing a strong odor of marijuana while…
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Jacksonville, Florida – Juan Jesus Mendoza (60, Mexico) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard to two years in federal prison for illegal reentry into the United States. Mendoza pleaded guilty on May 19, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice
An employee of a service provider working at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and a fellow South Bay resident have been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with possessing a bag containing approximately 11 kilograms (24.3 pounds) of fentanyl in an airport bathroom, where it was to be taken and transported on a Minnesota-bound flight, the Justice Department announced today.
Source: United States Department of Justice
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced today that the United States has filed a Complaint against MICHAEL SHABSELS, SIMAD HOLDINGS LLC, DAMIS HOLDINGS LLC, and 26 related entities (the “Shabsels Companies” and, collectively, the “Defendants”), alleging that the Defendants concealed their interrelationship from the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) in order to improperly obtain PPP funds.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, the Civil Rights Division is monitoring polling sites in South Carolina for the state’s primary runoff election to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.
“South Carolina is the next stop in our ongoing effort to ensure election transparency,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We appreciate the cooperation of the State of South Carolina, the County of Charleston, and the South Carolina United States Attorney’s Office in helping make this monitoring effort an exemplary one for promoting trust.”
The DOJ, through the Civil Rights Division, enforces federal voting laws which protect the voting rights of all eligible citizens. The DOJ regularly deploys staff to monitor compliance with federal civil rights laws in communities across the country. This special GOP runoff is occurring due to the late Senator Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death on July 11, 2026.
The DOJ is monitoring polls in Charleston County, South Carolina, with four Civil Rights Division attorneys, one South Carolina Assistant U.S. Attorney, and one staff employee with the South Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office. Thus far the DOJ has deployed over 80 monitors across seven states and over 200 polling locations this primary season. By comparison, during the 2022 midterms the DOJ sent monitors to nine states during the primary season.
This monitoring initiative is aimed at promoting transparency and an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors. The Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section enforces various federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Acts.
From now through the general election on Nov. 3, Civil Rights Division personnel will be available to receive questions and complaints from the public related to federal voting rights laws. If you have a question or complaint or would like to request election monitoring in a particular jurisdiction, please contact the Voting Section at VEM@usdoj.gov.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Orlando, Florida – Alex Justin Miller (26, Columbus, OH) has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with interstate transmission of a threat to injure. If convicted, Miller faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on August 24, 2026.