Category: Security

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Memphis Men Sentenced to Federal Imprisonment for Participation in 2021 Business Robbery

Source: US FBI

Memphis, TN – Three Memphis men have been sentenced to a total of over 30 years in federal prison after being convicted of a business robbery that occurred in the fall of 2021. Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., Interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentences today.

According to the information presented in court, Anthony Lewis, 36, Kyle Walker, 22, and Aramis Smith, 34, participated in an armed robbery in the early morning of November 10, 2021.  Walker and Lewis entered a gas station on Summer Avenue in Memphis, while Smith waited outside in the getaway car.  Walker and Lewis approached the lone clerk as she was stocking the shelves. Walker grabbed her and brandished a firearm as he made threats and pushed her to the registers.  Lewis moved to the doorway and stood as a lookout as Walker forced the clerk to empty the register.  The trio fled with approximately $100.  

Unbeknownst to the robbers, a good Samaritan saw the robbery in progress, called 911 and provided a description of the getaway vehicle.  Dispatchers relayed the robbery in progress call to Memphis Police Department officers; and undercover officers with the Violent Crime Unit (VCU) observed the suspect vehicle fleeing the scene.  VCU officers followed the suspect vehicle on I-240 as they coordinated additional units to arrive and make a traffic stop. When marked units were in place, officers attempted to stop the suspect vehicle with lights and sirens; but the vehicle fled.  Ultimately, the suspect vehicle wrecked on the off-ramp immediately before the Hernando DeSoto Bridge; and officers engaged in a brief foot pursuit with two of the suspects before they were all taken into custody.

All three men pled guilty to one count of business robbery. Walker and Lewis also pled guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence.   

Senior United States District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr. sentenced Walker to 125 months of imprisonment on August 31, 2023, and Smith to 120 months of imprisonment on February 21, 2024.  Lewis was sentenced to 147 months on May 1, 2025 by United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Judge Andre B. Mathis.  Additionally, on May 8, 2025, Judge Fowlkes sentenced Lewis to an additional 24 months in federal prison as a result of his Supervised Release Violation based on this case and a prior federal conviction.   There is no parole in the federal system.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Memphis Police Department investigated this case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Wagner and Lynn Crum prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.  Former Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Lewis also assisted in prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

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For more information, please contact the media relations team at USATNW.Media@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.

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Three Men Charged in Southern District of Indiana for Illegally Reentering the United States After Previous Deportation Following Criminal Convictions or Charges

Source: US FBI

Southern District of Indiana—Last week, three illegal aliens were arrested and charged federally with unlawfully reentering the United States after previously being deported following immigration proceedings. The charges follow an immigration and enforcement removal operation that took place in Evansville and Bloomington, Indiana between April 29 and May 1.

According to court documents, each of the three men are Mexican nationals who illegally returned to the United States and were found by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Southern District of Indiana. As outlined below, court documents allege that each man had previously been convicted of crimes they committed in the United States, or had charges pending against them, or both.

  • Martin Cortez-Lopez, 36, was arrested on April 29 in Bloomington. Cortez-Lopez had previously been convicted in Florida on charges of resisting an officer with violence, possession of a controlled substance, and disorderly intoxication in a public place causing a disturbance. He currently faces charges in Monroe County, Indiana, following two incidents, one resulting in charges of possession of cocaine and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and the other resulting in charges of possession of cocaine and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person. He has previously been removed from the United States on at least one occasion.
  • Jaime Ortiz-Guzman, 46, was arrested on May 1 in Bloomington. Ortiz-Guzman had previously been convicted in Indiana on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He currently faces charges in Monroe County, Indiana, for operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. He has previously been removed from the United States on at least one occasion.
  • Amin Reynosa-Diaz, 28, was arrested on April 29 in Evansville. Reynosa-Diaz had previously been convicted in Indiana of domestic battery. He currently faces charges in Hampton County, Virginia, for driving while intoxicated, and is wanted on multiple warrants for failing to appear in court. He has previously been removed from the United States on at least one occasion.

If convicted, each man faces up to between two and ten years in prison.

These charges and arrests are the latest prosecutions of illegal aliens who were found in the Southern District of Indiana after unlawfully re-entering the United States after having been previously deported. Specifically, these prosecutions involve illegal aliens who were previously convicted of crimes they committed in the United States, or who are facing pending charges, or both, for offenses including rape, domestic violence resulting in serious bodily injury, child molestation, burglary, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The following investigative agencies collaborated to make this investigation and recent warrant execution possible:

  • Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
  • Homeland Security Investigations
  • U.S. Marshals Service

Acting U.S. Attorney Childress thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Haney, Meredith Wood, Todd S. Shellenbarger, and Matthew B. Miller, who are prosecuting these cases. 

These changes and arrests are 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).

An indictment or criminal complaint are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison

Source: US FBI

FORT WAYNE–Yesterday, Jakwan D. Braster, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after his guilty plea to maintaining a drug-involved premises, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

Braster was sentenced to a total of 100 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, Braster maintained a drug house in Fort Wayne from February through August 2020 for the purpose of distributing and manufacturing controlled substances.  In August 2020, he illegally possessed firearms despite his prior felony conviction for resisting law enforcement, and he possessed those firearms in order to facilitate and protect his drug trafficking at his drug house.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Indiana State Police, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, and the Fort Wayne Police Department.  Also assisting in this investigation were the Drug Enforcement Administration’s North Central Laboratory, the Indiana State Police Laboratory, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony W. Geller and Teresa L Ashcraft.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case was also 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.

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Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Participating in Violent Kidnappings in the Chicago Suburbs

Source: US FBI

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for conspiring to abduct several victims at gunpoint in the Chicago suburbs.

SEDGWICK WILLIAMS participated in kidnappings in Naperville, Ill., and Westchester, Ill., in the fall of 2019.  Williams and a co-conspirator also attempted a third kidnapping in South Holland, Ill., but they were unsuccessful and were arrested fleeing from the intended victim’s residence.

A federal jury last year convicted Williams, 48, of Chicago, and co-defendant TAI HON LA, 35, of Beach Park, Ill., of participating in the kidnapping conspiracy and other related charges.  On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso sentenced Williams to 50 years in federal prison.  La is scheduled to be sentenced on June 3, 2025.

Two other defendants pleaded guilty in the case.  IVAN AYERS, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to participating in the kidnapping conspiracy and is set to be sentenced on June 10, 2025.  JONATHAN VARGAS, 38, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to kidnapping the first victim in Naperville and is set to be sentenced on June 5, 2025.

Williams’s sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The case was investigated with assistance from the Naperville Police Department, Westchester Police Department, South Holland Police Department, Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office.

According to evidence presented at trial, the first kidnapping occurred in Naperville on Oct. 17, 2019.  The conspirators posed as law enforcement officers to handcuff and abduct a man at gunpoint outside of his electronics store, which they then burglarized.  The conspirators forced the victim into a car and transported him to Chicago, where they assaulted him and extorted his family.

The conspirators carried out the kidnapping in Westchester on Nov. 16, 2019.  Posing as federal agents, the conspirators handcuffed and abducted a man at gunpoint outside of his residence.  The conspirators forced the victim into his home, where they seized another victim and forced them both into the basement.  Two other victims later arrived at the residence and were also forced into the basement at gunpoint.  The conspirators stole cash and jewelry before fleeing.

The conspirators attempted the third kidnapping in South Holland on Dec. 11, 2019, but the intended victim was able to call 911 and the South Holland Police arrived before the conspirators could gain access to the house.

“Williams orchestrated a series of incredibly violent abductions and armed robberies throughout Chicago and the neighboring suburbs,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Jodrey and Kate McClelland argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Williams and his co-conspirators ruthlessly threatened, restrained, beat, robbed, kidnapped, terrorized, and tortured people for their own personal gain.”

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Farmers, Agents Convicted in Crop Insurance Program Fraud Scheme in Kentucky

Source: US FBI

Charging papers show the farmers were able to pull off such scams with help from employees at Clay’s Tobacco Warehouse, including Debra Muse, who worked at the warehouse. She also happened to be a crop insurance agent.

Muse helped the farmers get fake paperwork to show they had purchased their quality tobacco from Clay’s. “More importantly,” said Whittington, “when the farmers would take their tobacco to the warehouse to have it graded, they would need a NoG rating or a not salable rating. Muse would provide that documentation.” Whittington said the warehouse would reuse the same bad bales of tobacco when the crop graders would come by, rotating out the tickets used to label them.

Whittington said Muse’s case was the first related to this investigation to reach the courts. She admitted to urging and assisting farmers to file false tobacco insurance claims and was sentenced in September 2018 to five years in prison.

It was another three years before Roger Wilson, the owner of Clay’s Tobacco Warehouse, was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for his part. The longest sentence in the case went to Michael McNew, who was sentenced to 86 months. By misusing his role as a crop insurance adjuster, and at a different period as a crop insurance agent, McNew admitted to causing losses in excess of $23 million.

The Aftermath

“The individuals who participated in this scheme caused the United States government and insurance carriers to sustain over $40 million in losses,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason Williams of the USDA-OIG. “The outstanding work of the USDA-OIG agents, USDA staff, and our FBI partners who investigated this case along with the prosecutors of the U.S. attorney’s office made it possible to bring these fraudsters to justice. Farmers in this industry deserve an honest marketplace that is free from fraud due to false claims.”

In addition, the RMA, which is part of the USDA, changed its nationwide policy on NoG-graded tobacco based on this case. If the tobacco is graded “unsalable,” the farmer is required to destroy the crop with an insurance adjuster as a witness. This shift is designed to prevent farmers from reusing damaged crops in future insurance claims. The USDA is also assessing related program vulnerabilities in an effort to curb future fraud attempts.

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Coordinated Global Operation Disrupted BEC Schemes

Source: US FBI

Operation Eagle Sweep, which was funded and coordinated by the FBI, serves as a model for international cooperation against specific threats that endanger the financial well-being of each member country’s residents.

The cases were investigated by the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Districts of Central California, Northern New York, Puerto Rico, Southern Texas, and the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch have investigations ongoing, some of which have resulted in arrests in Nigeria. The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division provided assistance. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is handling state prosecutions.

Additionally, the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, South African Police Service, Toronto Police Service, Cambodian National Police, Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police Force, Victoria Police, Tasmania Police, Queensland Police, Northern Territory Police, South Australia Police, Western Australia Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Cyber Security Centre, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, National Police Agency of Japan, the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, and the Microsoft Corporation’s Digital Crimes Unit provided valuable assistance.

Note: An indictment and criminal complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Russian Government Employees Charged in Hacking Campaigns

Source: US FBI

The Department of Justice unsealed indictments against three Russians alleged to be responsible for a long-running and persistent campaign to target and infiltrate the networks of critical infrastructure in the United States and worldwide.

The charges allege Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov were part of a Russian intelligence operational unit that security experts dubbed “Dragonfly,” “Berserk Bear,” “Energetic Bear,” and “Crouching Yeti.” The unit is part of an entity called Center 16 in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)—a successor agency to the Soviet KGB.

The alleged operation occurred in two phases. The first involved deploying a custom malware implant known to cybersecurity experts as Havex, which infected a significant number of organizations in the global energy sector. The second phase included targeted compromises of energy sector entities and individuals and engineers who worked with industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Collectively, these intrusions could have had a devastating impact on energy delivery worldwide.

The first phase stretched between at least 2012 and 2014 and resulted in Havex being downloaded onto more than 17,000 unique devices in the United States and other nations. An FBI intelligence analyst who worked on the case said the group had used a combination of techniques to deploy Havex, including sweeping efforts to cast a wide net across the global energy sector, but also well-researched and targeted techniques to reach specific companies and individuals.

Among the more alarming techniques used with Havex was the conspiracy’s compromise of a company that manufactures equipment and software used by ICS/SCADA systems. These are the control and safety mechanisms that exist within energy production facilities and other operational environments. For safety reasons, these are typically closed systems. But because the group had gained access into the systems of a company that provides a component of these systems, they were able to hide their malware within software updates offered by the company—a technique known as a supply chain attack.

Regardless of how the Havex malware was deployed, the analyst said it could be tailored for a variety of uses, including gathering credentials and scanning for human-machine interfaces. “That means the ways a human may interface with the system to tell it what to do,” he said. “If that interface is connected to a network, you have the potential for a remote actor to send instructions to a critical network.” In 2014, the group ceased using Havex after it was publicly exposed, and they began evolving the operation.

The second phase involved targeted intrusions of energy sector companies, including an intrusion in 2017 of the business network of a nuclear power plant in Kansas. This business network was not directly connected to any ICS/SCADA devices. An FBI special agent who investigated the case said they found no evidence that the hackers took any sensitive data of intelligence value, and it appeared the goal was simply to gain and maintain access. “Meaning that, at a later date, they could have used this access to affect or damage the energy grid or other critical operations within the United States,” the agent explained.

The Kansas intrusion in 2017 was part of a multipronged attack. “When we peeled away at the onion, we found this was a much larger campaign targeting the global energy sector to the tune of about 500 companies worldwide,” said the agent. “We believe they targeted nearly 3,300 people through a months-long spearphishing campaign.” As part of this phase, the group is also accused of breaching the network of a U.S. construction company. Access to that network allowed the group to send legitimate looking emails with the resume of an individual claiming to have industry-specific skills. The resume contained malicious code that victims could inadvertently download when they reviewed the document.

The group had also compromised multiple websites, including those of industry publications read by engineers in the energy sector. Those sites became what cybersecurity experts call watering holes, where the site itself is seeded with malicious code that visitors can inadvertently download.

Investigators came to understand the group’s efforts in 2017 were a continuation of activity stretching back to their use of Havex years before, demonstrating Russia’s concerted efforts over many years to gain access to U.S. critical infrastructure. This group is still in operation, and it continues to evolve.

The analyst said some of the most disturbing elements in this case were signs that, as the group’s efforts evolved, they sought ways to re-access these systems without leaving detectable evidence. “Essentially, they wanted to steal the keys to the door, so they no longer needed to stick something in the doorjamb or leave something else behind,” he said. “It’s a stealthier way to maintain long-term access and a clear indication that the intent was to have that access available if they needed it in the future.”

All of this highlights why law enforcement action is so important. By naming these individuals, we limit their ability to travel outside of Russia, limit their future usefulness to their intelligence service employer, and limit future employment options with law-abiding private sector entities. All of this may also cause other Russian citizens with cyber skills to choose a more respectable employment path that does not limit their future opportunities. It also puts more attention and pressure in the international community on nation-states and the cybercriminals they sponsor, since exposing Russia’s activity against the energy sectors and critical infrastructure of countries worldwide shows Russia’s willingness and intent to engage in disruptive, destabilizing, and often counter-normative activity, even in peacetime.

This case is also a reminder that cybersecurity must be a priority for every organization—even those who don’t work with sensitive materials or on critical infrastructure. “In this case and so many others, victim companies that provide an easier entry point can provide criminals a way into higher-level, more critical targets,” the agent said. “Cybersecurity is quite simply at the heart of our national security.”

The Department of Justice also indicted an employee of a research entity within the Russian Ministry of Defense on charges that he infiltrated and compromised critical safety equipment within an energy facility in an identified foreign country and, as part of the same conspiracy, attempted to do the same to the equipment of similar facilities in the United States.

Evgeny Gladkikh is accused of using the Triton malware to gain control of the systems used to ensure the safe operation of a foreign natural gas refinery. The conspirators designed the malware to, among other things, disable safety controls on physical equipment without alerting employees monitoring that equipment. The malware caused the safety system to briefly shut down on two occasions and had the potential to cause an explosion or the release of a toxic gas by affecting the plant’s sulphur recovery efforts and burner management mechanisms.

Gladkikh’s later, similar intrusion attempts targeting a U.S. company that operated similar plants in the United States were unsuccessful.

An FBI Cyber Division special agent who worked on the case said the FBI has several important goals related to this announcement. The first is to help the American public better understand the ongoing threat from cyber actors supported by Russia. Disabling the safety controls at a power plant could not only shut off power—it could also cause physical damage to the plant, the release of toxic chemicals, or physical injury or death.

The Russian Ministry of Defense entity behind Triton has a more than century-long history of developing cutting-edge weapons, both cyber and physical. “We’ve seen ransomware attacks and other malware that can shut down a facility,” the agent said. “The potential impact here is more dangerous. This could actually allow an actor to trick a plant’s operators into thinking that the plant is functioning normally, while the actor leverages access to a plant’s system for destructive effect, with consequences for human life and safety at both the plant and the areas it serves.”

The second key goal is to raise greater awareness in the energy sector of the risks of cyberattacks. “We are seeing malware being developed specifically for this industry,” the agent said. The Triton malware was created to target the industrial control systems in these plants, which are specifically designed to support their safe operation. “The industry needs to take the risks seriously.”

“Downtime is a really worrying thing for these facilities,” the agent explained. It is a common reason companies resist addressing a growing cyber threat. The time and resources required is not an easy thing for any business or organization to absorb—and for an energy company or critical service provider, it’s even harder.

The final goal is to continue to impose consequences on cyber criminals and the nation-states that support this activity. “Our intention is to discourage the actors who have conducted or are considering similar cyberattacks,” the agent said. “If they ever wanted to participate in the international community—through work, travel, or otherwise—those opportunities will disappear.”

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FBI Continues Outreach and Recruiting at HBCUs

Source: US FBI

Panel participants discuss the FBI’s Civil Rights Cold Case Initiative at the Beacon regional event.

The Beacon Project embodies an understanding that recruiting efforts alone can’t address that gap; greater trust and creating strong and consistent connections are essential elements of drawing a more diverse pool of applicants into the FBI. And greater diversity isn’t a goal in and of itself, but something that is key to the FBI’s current and continued success. “The FBI’s intentional efforts to diversify are crucial to creating an inclusive workforce and to being increasingly effective and efficient in our investigations and keeping the American public safe,” said FBI Chief Diversity Officer Scott McMillion.

There have been some encouraging signs in recent years as special agent applicants have grown increasingly diverse. The Jackson Field Office event brings a more local focus to that work. By bringing together the heads of FBI field offices in Birmingham, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Jackson, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, and New Orleans with executives from colleges and universities in those same regions, relationship-building and engagement can continue in shared cities, towns, and neighborhoods.

The FBI’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion plans to work closely with the Office of Public Affairs’ Community Relations Unit to plan other regionally focused Beacon events. This summer, the FBI will be hosting additional HBCU presidents as well as the leaders of other minority-serving institutions in Washington, D.C., to continue building these relationships.

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CEO’s Theft Leads to Closure of Credit Union

Source: US FBI

After the audit, the credit union reached out to the FBI. Through bank records, agents quickly pieced together what Shaw had done.

Luckily for the credit union members, insurance reimbursed them, so they didn’t lose their own money. But the loss to the small Beaver, Pennsylvania, credit union, founded in 1964, was so large, it had to permanently close.

“This credit union no longer exists because of her actions,” said Special Agent Samantha Bell, who investigated the case out of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office.

Through financial records, investigators learned Shaw used the credit cards to go on trips, eat out at restaurants, buy clothes, and start a pig farm.

“She bought some land and spent a lot of money into outfitting that land for her use,” said Bell. “She bought ATVs, four-wheelers, four sheds, pigs. At one point, she had a horse and some really big rabbits. A lot of money went into funding that effort.”

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FBI Miami Marks One-Year Anniversary of Agents’ Deaths

Source: US FBI

They find solace in hard work—the office is as busy as ever—and leaning on each other. Special Agent Heather McPherson, who served with Alfin and Schwartzenberger on the dive team, said immediately after their deaths, she only found comfort in spending time with others on the dive team, who knew them as well as she did.

“Our first dive job after the event happened, the lack of their presence was definitely known. But everybody being together and continuing on together really helps the healing process,” she said.

As for Alfin and Schwartzenberger’s teammates on their violent crimes against children squad, they are also leaning on each other and into the work.

“We lost coworkers, we lost friends, but what the families lost is irreplaceable,” said Supervisory Special Agent Christina Bedford. “We try to remember them, with the ceremonies that we did this week, to show the families that we’ll never forget. There’s just nothing we can say or do to bring them back. We can only hope to carry on their legacy moving forward.”