Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that on November 18, 2025, QUINCEY MCKINLEY, age 46 of Terrebonne Parish, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Dangerous Substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C), and Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8). Judge Africk scheduled sentencing for March 4, 2026.

According to court records, after the execution of multiple search warrants, large amounts of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, along with numerous firearms, were located in two residences maintained and used by MCKINLEY. MCKINLEY is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a prior felony conviction.

At sentencing, as to the drug charge, MCKINLEY faces up to twenty years imprisonment, up to a $1,000,000 fine, and at least three years of supervised release. As to the gun charge, he faces up to fifteen years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Both counts also carry a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stuart Theriot of the Narcotics Unit.

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 (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ROBERTO MUY, 35, a citizen of Ecuador last residing in Torrington, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 18 months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in February 2006, Muy was admitted to the U.S. using a fraudulent visitor visa under the alias of a Peruvian citizen.  In June 2012, he was convicted in Connecticut Superior Court in Torrington of sexual assault of a minor in the second degree, and was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration, suspended after 15 months, and 25 years of probation.  In June 2013, Muy was removed to Ecuador.

Muy illegally reentered the U.S. and, on November 9, 2024, was arrested by the Torrington Police Department and charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drug.  On March 18, 2025, he was sentenced in state court to two years of incarceration for violating his state probation related to his 2012 conviction, and a concurrent two days of incarceration for the 2024 motor vehicle offense.

Muy has been detained since his arrest.  He pleaded guilty to illegal reentry on August 18, 2025.

This matter was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary G. Vitale.

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. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Stacey Taylor, 42, of Plattsburgh, New York, appeared for an arraignment Monday after a federal grand jury in Albany returned an indictment on Oct. 2 charging her for her role in an international alien smuggling conspiracy that brought aliens primarily from India into the United States across the northern border. 

According to court records, U.S. Border Patrol agents interdicted the defendant’s vehicle near Churubusco, New York, in the early morning hours of Jan. 20. Upon encountering the defendant, U.S. Border Patrol located four foreign nationals inside her vehicle. Agents then determined the four men, three Indian nationals and one Canadian national, had just crossed the U.S.-Canadian border illegally, without inspection, in the freezing cold. When law enforcement later examined the defendant’s cellphone, they observed text messages that indicated that the defendant had been involved in multiple other smuggling ventures in the days prior. Since her January 2025 arrest, the defendant was subsequently stopped in a suspected alien smuggling venture in August 2025, and was implicated in alien smuggling as recently as September 2025.

According to the indictment, Taylor is charged with conspiring with others to engage in alien smuggling, and four counts of alien smuggling for profit, with three counts being second or subsequent offenses. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison per count of alien smuggling for profit, and additional time for second and subsequent offenses.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York made the announcement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Rouse’s Point and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol Champlain Station are investigating the case. HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington D.C. and CBP’s International Interdiction Task Force provided significant assistance.

The investigation is a result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been elevated and expanded by the Attorney General with a mandate to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations and eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating within the Americas that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, the Northern District of New York, the District of Vermont, and the Southern District of Florida. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 425 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 375 U.S. convictions; more than 325 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.

Trial Attorney Chelsea Schinnour of the Criminal Division’s HRSP and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting the case.

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 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 and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

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

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

RICHMOND, Va. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has recovered and cleared title to 420,740.422314 USDT, also known as “Tether,” and 1,249,996.15 BUSD, also known as “Binance USD,” representing cryptocurrency investment fraud proceeds and property involved in money laundering, using civil asset forfeiture.  Both USDT and BUSD are forms of cryptocurrency equivalent in value to the dollar. The United States is now in the process of returning that property to the victim.

According to court documents, the perpetrators of the fraud scheme contacted one victim by text message and the other victim through social media. These unsolicited contacts were purported to be accidental, but after the victims responded the perpetrators enticed the victims into continuing the communications and eventually convincing them to move to an encrypted chat application. The perpetrators then earned the victims’ trust before encouraging them to “invest” in cryptocurrency using a spoofed investment website. Although the website mimicked a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform, the spoofed site funneled the victims’ funds to the fraud perpetrators.

The site falsely represented that the victims’ “investments” were making sizeable gains.  When the victims attempted to make any significant withdrawals, however, the perpetrators coerced the victims to send more money, using tactics such as claiming the victims owed taxes and fees on their “profits.” Ultimately, the perpetrators never let the victims withdraw anything more than trivial amounts and stole the victims’ money. After receiving the victims’ funds, the perpetrators laundered the victims’ funds by conducting a series of complicated transactions and making quick exchanges of one type of cryptocurrency to another in an attempt to hide the funds.

Agents with the United States Secret Service seized 420,740.422314 USDT and 1,249,996.15 BUSD from three cryptocurrency wallets. The United States began a civil forfeiture action against the seized funds by publicly filing a civil forfeiture complaint in U.S. District Court.

Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; William Mancino, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division; and Meghan Dubea, Resident Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Raleigh Resident Office, made the announcement.

This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Hudson.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:25-cv-713.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Two Illinois brothers were indicted yesterday in a superseding indictment on charges related to a scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and private health care insurers and for participating in a money laundering conspiracy with the fraud proceeds.   

“These defendants are charged with a brazen scheme to steal nearly $300 million from vital health care programs by taking advantage of the fear and panic of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These charges make clear that the Criminal Division will never rest in its pursuit of those who try to exploit the most vulnerable members of our society, the elderly and the disabled, for their own personal gain.” 

“The defendants chose to enrich themselves and deprive the most vulnerable members of society from much needed assistance designed by the U.S. Government to provide critical relief efforts,” said , Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office. “Health care fraud affects everyone — it costs taxpayers millions of dollars, contributes to rising health insurance premiums, and depletes resources from our vital health care system. The FBI is committed to working with all our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to ensure that anyone who dares to exploit government programs intended to assist the American people will be held fully accountable under federal law.”

“Allegedly billing almost $300 million dollars to taxpayer-funded health care programs for services that were never provided is a staggering abuse of public resources,” said Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “These charges demonstrate HHS-OIG’s unwavering resolve to hold accountable those who exploit federal health care programs and betray the public trust.”

According to court documents, Minhaj Feroz Muhammad, 37, and Sufyan Feroze, 35, both of Naperville, owned and controlled, sometimes through straw owners, four clinical laboratories located in Illinois and California. Their scheme allegedly sought to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers by submitting fraudulent claims of over $293 million for COVID-19 laboratory testing services that were never provided, for which insurers paid at least approximately $65 million in reimbursements. 

Additionally, as alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendants participated in a money laundering conspiracy by transferring fraud proceeds between laboratories and other businesses controlled by the defendants, ultimately using the funds to purchase real estate, including luxury developments overseas, gold bars, luxury watches and luxury vehicles.

Each defendant has been charged with six counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Feroze has also been charged with one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property in excess of $10,000.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each health care fraud charge and 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge. If convicted, Feroze faces an additional 10 years in prison on the engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Kelly M. Warner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

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.

An indictment is merely an allegation. 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

MARQUETTE – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey announced that a federal jury convicted Kyle Lee Dean, (45, L’Anse, Michigan) of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Dean will be sentenced in 2026.

On January 20, 2024, Dean went to the victim’s house that is inside the L’Anse Reservation of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, got into a fist fight, and then stabbed the victim nearly a dozen times.  Based on the testimony at trial, but for the work of first responders and the doctors at Baraga County Memorial Hospital and Upper Peninsula Health System (UPHS) – Marquette, the victim would have died from his injuries.

“My office will work tirelessly to prosecute those people who commit violent crimes within Indian Country,” said U.S. Attorney VerHey. “We prioritize ensuring that our tribal communities are safe and will hold individuals like Dean accountable to ensure that safety.”

“FBI Detroit works tirelessly to investigate violent crimes committed on Indian Reservations. The conviction of Kyle Dean for his brutal and malicious attack within the L’Anse Reservation of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community sends a clear message that the FBI will be relentless in pursuing those who bring harm to tribal communities and securing justice for their victims,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “I am grateful for the partnership and dedicated investigative work from the members of our FBI Marquette Resident Agency, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Police, the Village of L’Anse Police, and the Michigan State Police. We also recognize the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan for securing this important conviction.”

The FBI, Michigan State Police, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Police, and Village of L’Anse Police investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hanna Rutkowski and Theodore Greeley are prosecuting it.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Ismael Osbaldo Pedro Tomas (23, Guatemala) with attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Pedro Tomas faces a minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. 

According to the indictment, between July 22 and August 11, 2025, Pedro Tomas attempted to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce an individual whom he believed had not yet attained the age of 18 years to engage in prostitution and sexual activity.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

MARQUETTE – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey announced that Dalton Wayne Braun, 36, of Kingsford, was sentenced to 360 months in prison followed by 120 months of supervised release for the sexual exploitation of a child. During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker noted that the case involved “truly egregious facts.”

Braun admitted when pleading guilty that he had recorded a video of himself sexually abusing a minor child in July 2024.  Braun also admitted that he then distributed that video over the internet.

U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said, “Dalton Braun repeatedly abused a small child, who was not even old enough to voice the abuse he was suffering.  No one should tolerate such abuse and my office certainly will not.  I commend my staff and our law enforcement partners for their diligence.”

“Crimes committed against children are some of the most unforgivable and those who commit them deserve severe and lasting consequences,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The maximum sentence imposed on Dalton Braun demonstrates the gravity of his depraved actions and the severe impact it had on children across the United States. I am grateful for the dedicated efforts of FBI Detroit’s Marquette Resident Agency, FBI Milwaukee’s Green Bay Resident Agency, the Michigan State Police, the Kingsford Department of Public Safety, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan for protecting the most vulnerable members in our communities by stopping Mr. Braun before he could commit another heinous offense.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led by the Marquette Resident Agency, Michigan State Police, Kingsford Department of Public Safety, and Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. Information obtained as part of this investigation has thus far led to six additional child victims being recovered from abusive situations; five additional federal indictments; and two state or local arrests.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/PSC.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Tulare, California man was sentenced on December 2, 2025, to life in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at trial, Brian Joaquin Alvarado, 40, was the leader of an extensive drug trafficking organization that sold large amounts of methamphetamine in the Des Moines area and transported firearms to California. Alvarado, who was serving a prison sentence in California, organized and coordinated shipments of methamphetamine and firearms with the assistance of at least five co-defendants, including his then 18-year-old son. In July 2025, following a two-day trial, a jury convicted Brian Joaquin Alvarado of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

The co-defendants were sentenced as follows:

•    Brian Crimson Alvarado, 20, was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, on November 5, 2025;
•    Jose Martine Alejo Galan, 29, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, on February 27, 2025;
•    Linda Roseanne Gonzalez Gayton, 37, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, on August 28, 2025;
•    Gregory Paul Shiner, 25, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, on November 21, 2025; and
•    Kassianne Kay Timm, 30, was sentenced to a time-served sentence, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, on December 18, 2024.

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 Iowa Department of Public Safety – Division of Narcotics Enforcement and United States Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jon Holscher.

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 Kyle, South Dakota, man convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter.  The sentencing took place on December 1, 2025.

Kevin Hunter, 33, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Hunter was indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter by a federal grand jury in July 2024.  He pleaded guilty on September 2, 2025.

On May 15, 2024, near Kyle, South Dakota, Hunter drove his pickup while under the influence of alcohol, reaching speeds over 80 miles per hour.  He crossed into the oncoming lane and struck a van, killing the passenger inside.  Instead of calling 911 or seeking help, Hunter immediately fled the scene and then lied to investigators about his whereabouts that night.  In sentencing him to the top of his Sentencing Guidelines range, Judge Theeler noted that Hunter had a history of previous DUI convictions, concluding such a sentence was necessary to protect the public.   

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

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.

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