Category: Security

Posted on

Leader of Drug Trafficking Ring Connected to Aryan Prison Gangs Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Prison

Source: US FBI

Tacoma – A co-leader of a drug distribution ring selling fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and heroin throughout the Puget Sound region was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 17 and a half years in prison for his role in the conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Bryson Gill, 32, most recently of Buckeye, Arizona, attempted to evade law enforcement by moving the headquarters of his drug distribution ring to Arizona after the Shelton, Washington, stash house he and his co-conspirators operated was raided in December 2022. When law enforcement moved in on the multi-faceted drug conspiracy in March 2023, Gill was arrested in Arizona.

At today’s sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “The seriousness of these offenses cannot be understated. There are so many people out there that become addicted on these drugs or suffer overdoses and are no longer with us.”

“Make no mistake, Gill’s drug ring used violence and threats of violence as their stock in trade. Gill was heard on the wiretap plotting to kidnap another drug dealer and expressing a desire to murder a law enforcement officer,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. ““With the more than $1 million he laundered, Gill bragged that he was going to set up a compound with an airfield in Arizona to further his drug trafficking. This conviction and sentence successfully ended those plans.”

According to records filed in the case, this drug organization was one branch of three investigated for dealing substantial amounts of drugs in the Puget Sound region. Participants in the drug rings have ties to Aryan prison gangs in the Washington State Department of Correction.

In the fall of 2022, Gill was in touch with his right-hand man, Michael Slocumb, as the latter made multiple trips to Arizona to pick up and transport narcotics to a stash house in Shelton. Gill instructed Slocumb and other coconspirators about using two pill presses to manufacture fentanyl pills. When Gill’s home and the stash house property was searched on December 9, 2022, law enforcement seized more than 640,000 pills containing fentanyl, as well as a kilogram of fentanyl powder and 12 kilograms of methamphetamine, along with more than $81,000 in cash proceeds from drug trafficking.

The stash house property also contained 23 firearms, including a shotgun kept where the drugs were stored, and the pills manufactured.

During this conspiracy, law enforcement intercepted Gill and Slocumb discussing kidnapping another drug dealer who was also under investigation by federal authorities. Slocumb was surveilling the target’s apartment when law enforcement made a show of being in the vicinity to get Slocumb to leave and ward off any violence.

Following the stash house raid, Gill and Slocumb were heard on the wiretap discussing plans to move drug operations to Arizona. Gill discussed with his mother his plan to acquire property in Arizona in her name and talked with an incarcerated friend about coming to work for him as a pilot when the man got out of prison. Gill had said he planned to put in an airfield on the property in Arizona where the conspirators had relocated their drug trafficking organization.

Gill and Slocumb remained in Arizona until they were arrested in March 2023. When law enforcement searched the Arizona property Gill and Slocum had purchased, they seized approximately 70 illegally possessed firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

From May of 2021 until December 2022, Gill laundered at least $927,059 through bank accounts set up to appear to be for a dog training business. The money was used for things such as luxury cars, expensive jewelry, airline tickets and Seattle Seahawks tickets. Over $81,000 in cash seized from Gill and his conspirators at various locations was forfeited to the government.

In asking for a 17.5-year sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Gill played a leadership role in purchasing, processing, and distributing massive quantities of fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder, and methamphetamine. He directed his fellow co-conspirators to transport narcotics from Arizona to Washington, use pill presses to manufacture fake OxyCodone pills laced with fentanyl, and distribute large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl pills throughout the Western District of Washington. … (Washington State Department of Health) data shows the number of drug overdose deaths occurring annually in the state more than doubled from 2019 to 2023. “

Bryson Gill pleaded guilty on February 7, 2025.

Law enforcement made two dozen arrests on federal charges on March 22, 2023. The coordinated takedown involved ten swat teams and more than 350 law enforcement officers. On that day law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona. Earlier in the investigation law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (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 investigation was led by the FBI with critical investigative teamwork from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Washington State Department of Corrections and significant local assistance from the Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, led by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout this investigation the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: Washington State Patrol, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon, Max Shiner, and Jehiel Baer.

Posted on

Indian Citizen Charged in Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud Scheme

Source: US FBI

Owned lab in Everett, WA that billed Medicare $8.7 million for COVID tests that were never legitimately ordered or performed

Seattle – An Indian national indicted for health care fraud will make his initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Mohammed Asif, 34, was arrested on April 10, 2025, at Chicago O’Hare International Airport while attempting to board an international flight. Asif is charged with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with the operation of American Labworks LLC, a diagnostic testing laboratory in Everett, Washington. The indictment alleges that Asif conspired with others to bill Medicare for COVID-19 tests and other respiratory illness tests that had not been ordered or performed.

“Medicare provides critical funding for senior citizens’ health care needs, which makes this type of fraud all the more reprehensible,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “This case stands as an example of how federal law enforcement is working diligently to protect those critical tax dollars from fraud schemes.”

According to the indictment and an earlier-filed criminal complaint, the Washington Secretary of State has American Labworks being formed in October 2021 and dissolved in March 2025. Washington Department of Health records indicate that its license as a Medical Test Site expired in December 2023. Asif is listed in filings with the state and with Medicare as the owner and director of American Labworks.

Claims data from April 2024 to December 2024 show that American Labworks billed Medicare more than $8.7 million for laboratory testing services, including for COVID-19 testing. Medicare paid out over $1.1 million to the lab.

Between June 2024 and March 2025, Medicare received more than 200 complaints from enrollees and others about American Labworks. Many of these complainants reported that Medicare was billed for testing that was never received. For example, one Medicare enrollee noted that Medicare paid American Labworks $545 for COVID-19 tests in August 2023 and March 2024. But the beneficiary had never had any COVID-19 tests on those dates. Multiple Medicare beneficiaries said they too had seen bills for tests that never occurred. Physicians who had allegedly ordered the tests said they had not sent patients to American Labworks, and many patients said they had never heard of the referring physician listed in the records.

In some instances, the billing records indicated a beneficiary’s testing date of service occurred after other records indicated the beneficiary was dead. And in other instances, the physician who allegedly referred the patient for testing was dead at the time of the date of service.

Financial records indicate Mohammed Asif received multiple checks and made withdrawals from the American Labworks bank account, which he controlled. In May 2024, he withdrew $260,000 from the American Labworks checking account. Soon after that Asif, who had been in the U.S. on a student visa, retuned to India. He came back to the U.S. in March 2025 as investigators were unraveling the fraud. Prosecutors and special agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) moved quickly to draft the criminal complaint and take Asif into custody. A grand jury then returned the indictment of Asif on April 23.

Asif is alleged to have conspired with other people to accomplish the fraud. Those coconspirators are not named in the criminal complaint or indictment. The government’s investigation is ongoing.

“By all appearances, there is nothing legitimate about Mr. Asif’s company.” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “Mr. Asif, along with his co-conspirators, used this apparently illegitimate company to fraudulently bill Medicare almost $9 million for tests that were never done. When we receive allegations such as these, the FBI and our partners will aggressively investigate potential fraud against the US taxpayer.”

“Through this scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for laboratory testing services never furnished, the defendant diverted taxpayer money that was meant to pay for legitimate medical services,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Robb Breeden of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who exploit federal health care programs for their own personal gain.”

Health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud are punishable by up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Kopczynski.

Posted on

Detroit Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children

Source: US FBI

DETROIT – A Farmington, Michigan man was sentenced this week to 15 years in prison for sexually exploiting multiple children, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced today.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Evan Mercer, 31, of Farmington, Michigan, was sentenced by United States District Judge Terrence G. Berg. Mercer pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children after he chatted with multiple minors online and recorded images of them nude and in sexually explicit positions. The youngest victim appears to have been just seven years old. Mercer contacted her in September 2023 and recorded a video of her exposing herself to a web camera. He solicited nude images from at least two other minors. Mercer’s crimes came to light after a witness came forward to law enforcement after discovering the videos Mercer had produced. Authorities located and Mercer’s electronic devices, finding the evidence of his crimes.

“This defendant solicited multiple children online and exploited their youth, naivete, and vulnerability to create sexual exploitative images of his victims. We are thankful to the brave witness who came forward to alert authorities of his crimes, and to the law enforcement who collected that evidence and ensured this offender was brought to justice,” U.S. Attorney Gorgon said.

“Evan Mercer’s sentencing underscores the FBI’s steadfast commitment to seeking justice for victims of child exploitation and to protecting our most vulnerable population,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “Mr. Mercer’s inexcusable actions against minors, as well as any other offenders, will not be tolerated. I commend the dedicated efforts of our Oakland County Resident Agency members, and our law enforcement partners at the Ferndale Police Department. I also want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, whose contributions were vital in concluding this case. We remain fully committed to collaborating with our community and law enforcement allies to identify, investigate, and bring to justice those who pose a threat to our children.”

“This case was investigated by special agents of the FBI Oakland County Resident Agency and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Diane Princ, Nhan Ho, and Tara Hindelang.  

Posted on

Former Algona Meatpacking Plant Worker Convicted in Pandemic Benefits Fraud Conspiracy

Source: US FBI

A former Algona, Iowa, meatpacking plant worker who obtained fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans and recruited others into the scheme was convicted by a jury on May 8, 2025, after a four-day trial in federal court in Sioux City.

Yovany Ciero, age 48, from Mason City, Iowa, formerly of Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, was convicted of three counts of wire fraud, 23 counts of money laundering, one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from a specified unlawful activity, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  The verdict was returned following about three and a half hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that Ciero is a former Sergeant in the Cuban military who crossed the Mexican border nearly twenty years ago after his request for a visa to enter the United States was denied.  In 2020, Ciero was working at an Algona meatpacking plant when the COVID-19 pandemic began.  Beginning in July 2020, Ciero, and over one hundred other immigrants from Cuba, obtained fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on the false and fraudulent pretenses that they were self-employed businesspeople who earned approximately $100,000 in gross income in 2019 when they actually worked at the meatpacking plant or elsewhere in 2019.         

Ciero was one of six “bundlers” in the fraudulent PPP loan scheme.  Ciero’s role was to recruit individuals into the scheme, obtain their personal identifying information for the fraudulent loan applications, and then pass that information to others who submitted the fraudulent loan applications to lenders who were participating in the PPP.  The evidence established that over $4 million in fraudulent loan PPP applications were submitted, and the government lost over $2.4 million as a result.

Once the individuals received their fraudulent PPP loan funds, typically $20,000 each, Ciero served as a “funnel” in a money laundering conspiracy.  Ciero collected fees that the organizers of the scheme charged the applicants, typically $3,000 per $20,000 fraudulent loan.

Ciero also obtained two fraudulent PPP loans for himself and his paramour.  Ciero used most of this PPP loan money to purchase a semi-truck.  Ciero is the sixth former Iowa meatpacking plant worker convicted in the PPP scheme.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Ciero remains free on bond pending sentencing.  Ciero faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, over $10,000,000 in fines, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy L. Vavricek and Daniel A. Chatham and was investigated by the Small Business Administration – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Storm Lake Police Department.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 24-CR-3013.

Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

Posted on

T. White: Dallas Field Office

Source: US FBI

Prior to joining the FBI, I served as a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Capitol Police for 10 years. I worked as a K9 handler and K9 sergeant before becoming an FBI agent. Since joining the FBI, I have primarily worked organized crime.

What drew you to the FBI?

My introduction into law enforcement came at an early age after hearing various stories from my father about his days working as a military police officer. I grew up wanting to be a doctor, however, and went to college to pursue that career. But I found myself more interested in forensic science and took a few graduate courses to further explore that field. Those courses piqued my interest in the FBI, and even though I wasn’t initially selected to be an agent, I was motivated to work even harder to gain relevant experience and reapply. It took me nearly eight years, but I was determined. I contacted the recruiter at my local field office, resubmitted my application, completed the selection process, and was given a class date to begin new agent training at the FBI Academy in Quantico.

Share the thing you’re most proud of from your FBI career.

Given the diverse backgrounds within the Bureau, it never occurred to me that I could be the first anything in the FBI. 

Posted on

Amy Kaskel: Albuquerque Field Office

Source: US FBI

I joined the FBI in 1999 and have worked national security and counterintelligence investigations in the New York and Los Angeles offices and at FBI Headquarters. I have also managed human intelligence operations and witness security programs and served as a team leader in the inspection division. In March 2020, I was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Albuquerque Field Office.

What drew you to the FBI?  

While working as a customs inspector at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, I met the FBI special agent assigned to the airport. One day he suggested I apply, but I thought all FBI agents were men who had been attorneys, accountants, law enforcement, or military. He explained the FBI was looking for smart, inquisitive people with varied backgrounds and life experiences. 

I was drawn to the FBI because of the many opportunities, unique travel, interesting training, fascinating overseas assignments, challenging collateral duties, the opportunity to protect the United States, and no more polyester uniform! Now, 23 years later, I am a different person because of the opportunities presented to me in my career and am glad I was encouraged to apply to the FBI.

Posted on

Melissa Vanek: Anchorage Field Office

Source: US FBI

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in integrative biology and then competing as a professional track and field athlete, I was recruited by the FBI for an intelligence analyst position in the San Francisco Field Office. I worked criminal matters for more than three years before I entered the FBI Academy. I returned to the San Francisco Field Office and spent 12 years as a special agent in the Santa Rosa Resident Agency, working everything from Ponzi schemes to armored car robberies to wine heists to disaster fraud. I am currently coordinating several programs for the Anchorage Field Office.

Who made a difference in your career? How?

After 15 years with the FBI, the excitement of being a special agent began to diminish, as I found myself taking my job for granted.

One day, a colleague handed me a letter that changed everything. The letter was dated April 21, 1972, and it was addressed to a woman named Jane who had expressed interest in becoming an FBI special agent.

Jane was informed that only men could be employed as special agents, because, as the letter stated: “Due to the diverse situations with which special agents are confronted, many of which are combat in nature, we must employ in that capacity men who are fully qualified and on whom we can rely to discharge effectively under any contingency the full range of duties for which they are responsible.” The letter was signed John Edgar Hoover, Director.

This letter awakened in me the realization that the professional opportunities I had been afforded were only possible because of those who refused to accept that women were incapable of performing the duties of an FBI special agent. I reflected on how many women, like Jane, received those rejection letters. Instead of conceding defeat, they worked to prove that women undoubtedly belonged among the ranks of FBI special agents. It was not lost on me that in the same year this letter was written, the first two female special agents were accepted into the FBI Academy. I often ponder the impact of Jane’s letter on my career and the careers of all female agents who have contributed to the FBI.

This letter was a catalyst for me to become a special agent recruiter for the FBI, and I now devote myself to recruiting a diverse range of qualified candidates into the most prestigious law enforcement agency in the world.

As we now celebrate 50 years of female special agents, Jane’s letter is displayed at my workspace as a reminder of the debt I owe her and so many others for paving the way for not only me, but all past, current, and future female special agents.

Posted on

Kimberly Vagos Blackwood: Boston Field Office

Source: US FBI

Born in 1972, the first year women were permitted to be FBI special agents, I started my FBI career as a file clerk in 1996 and became an agent in early 2001. I have worked cases in a number of areas, but have focused on complex financial crimes, health care fraud, and other white-collar investigations.

What is the best career or life advice you’ve been given?

In the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, we were all working extremely long hours and not getting a lot of sleep. A few weeks in, I knew I needed to get some exercise, so I snuck out for a quick run. I was feeling guilty and hoping that no one would see me. In the elevator on my way outside, I bumped into a very senior agent. I apologized profusely for sneaking out for a run. 

Posted on

FBI Honors Fallen During 2022 Police Week Events

Source: US FBI

As the nation recognizes Police Week, FBI Director Christopher Wray expressed his gratitude to law enforcement officers nationwide and voiced his concern over the growing dangers faced by those who work to keep our communities safe.

On Monday, the FBI released its annual statistics on law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Those numbers show 129 officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2021. Seventy-three of those deaths were felonious.

“Each and every story is heartbreaking,” Wray said in a video address. “A 30-year Florida deputy murdered one shift shy of retirement. An officer ambushed on his first day on the job, leaving behind a wife and an infant son. A combat veteran and his police dog killed while serving together.”

Police Week is observed every May and provides an opportunity for law enforcement officers to gather for fellowship events and honor those they lost.

Posted on

Former FBI Director Airs Warning About Elder Fraud

Source: US FBI

The Websters are among millions of older Americans targeted each year in elder fraud schemes like bogus lottery and romance scams. Fraudsters string along victims with promises of love or riches in exchange for cash advances or assistance moving illegal funds. Losses from these types of scams reach into the hundreds of millions each year and are increasing as the U.S. population ages.

The Websters’ case was featured on fbi.gov in 2019 and garnered national attention. The couple hopes the new public service announcement (PSA) will remind older people, their families, and caregivers that they need to maintain their guard against sophisticated schemes.

“Since we have become involved with this issue, we’ve heard sad stories of millions of dollars stolen, lives threatened, and even suicides,” Lynda Webster said. “My husband has been targeted for years. And when one scammer threatened our lives we knew we had to act.”

The PSA includes archival images of Webster as a Navy officer in World War II and Korea and later as a federal judge and head of the country’s premier intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The scammer who targeted the Websters didn’t know this background, just that Judge Webster was older and might therefore be susceptible to cons that prey on traits like trustworthiness, loneliness, and a yearning for more financial security.