Source: United States Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Ericson Vasquez-Moran, 22, of Guatemala, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to depredation and injury to government property, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.
Source: United States Department of Justice
DENVER –The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Heath Posey, 39, formerly of Denver, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison, more than $6.2 million in restitution to victims and the IRS, a $10,000 fine, and three years of supervised release for his role in operating a multi-million-dollar fraudulent investment scheme.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Seattle – The leader of a wide-ranging drug distribution network that was uncovered when law enforcement focused on Seattle’s International District and nearby homeless encampments was sentenced to ten years in prison today, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Florida man pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for using fraudulent, unauthorized checks to steal money from victims’ bank accounts.
According to court documents, Eri Guzman Ortiz, 69, formerly of Miami-Dade County, created and deposited about $14 million in fraudulent checks into the bank accounts of sham companies in the United States. The fraudulent checks were used to steal victims’ money by transferring it from the victims’ bank accounts to the bank accounts of the sham companies without the victims’ authorization.
Guzman Ortiz’s client in Canada sent him lists of thousands of people and businesses who had purportedly made purchases from sham companies and had purportedly agreed for their bank accounts to be debited by the sham companies. Guzman Ortiz used these lists to create fraudulent checks and deposit them into bank accounts for sham companies, knowing that these people and businesses had not made purchases from the sham companies and had not authorized debits from their bank accounts.
Guzman Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group; and Special Agent in Charge Vincent R. Zehme of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) Chicago Region made the announcement.
USPIS and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Anna Forgie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida is handling forfeiture.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a Kenel, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to a Dating Partner. The sentencing took place on August 3, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice
DAYTON, Ohio – An illegal alien from Mexico pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to participating in a narcotics conspiracy that involved approximately a kilogram of fentanyl being brought to the Dayton area from Philadelphia. He separately pleaded to an immigration offense charging him with eluding inspection of immigration authorities.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Pensacola, Florida – Jovon “Playa Pat” Booker, 33, of Pensacola, Florida, was convicted by a jury in federal court on one count of discharging a handgun in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and a separate count of possessing firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Prior to the jury being selected in Pensacola, Booker pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five counts of money laundering through high end jewelry purchases.
Source: United States Department of Justice
A consumer law firm agreed to waive more than $90,000 in fees after an investigation by the Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) revealed that the firm filed a series of bankruptcy cases with false financial information.
On July 22, the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered an order memorializing the agreement between the USTP and the Semrad Law Firm, also known as DebtStoppers. The agreement follows an investigation by the USTP’s Chicago office that found Semrad failed to exercise due diligence before filing 31 cases on behalf of consumer debtors whose sworn bankruptcy documents contained financial information that was materially inconsistent with the debtors’ federal tax returns.
Bankruptcy law requires debtors’ attorneys to exercise independent diligence and care in ensuring that the information in their clients’ bankruptcy documents have evidentiary support. But Semrad failed to review the debtors’ tax returns or tax transcripts before filing these cases. If it had, the firm would have discovered that the debtors had claimed significantly higher earnings and higher withholdings to generate sizeable refunds from their tax returns.
“Semrad cannot justify its fees for its lax approach to preparing these 31 cases,” said Acting U.S. Trustee Adam Brief of Region 11, which includes the Northern District of Illinois. “The firm failed its clients and the courts by allowing the spread of false information. The USTP will continue to aggressively pursue consumer debtors’ attorneys who fail to fulfill their basic obligations.”
Under the agreement, Semrad must return more than $26,000 to the debtors and notify them that nothing more is due under their fee agreements, for a total value of more than $90,000. Additionally, two of the firm’s attorneys must complete at least three hours of continuing legal education on professional responsibility in bankruptcy.
The USTP’s mission is to promote the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system for the benefit of all stakeholders — debtors, creditors and the public. The USTP consists of 21 regions with 82 field offices nationwide and an Executive Office in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the USTP at www.justice.gov/ust.
Source: United States Navy
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Honorable Hung Cao, Acting Secretary of the Navy, delivered keynote remarks as the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) began its 2026-2027 academic year with two ceremonies, Aug. 3-4.
On Tuesday, Aug. 4, NWC held its annual Convocation ceremony, welcoming a total of 477 students to the academic year.
Cao, who addressed the Convocation audience virtually from Washington, D.C., called the war college “the leadership laboratory,” urging the enrolled military officers to embrace their roles as leaders, build relationships and stay loyal to their oath, their fellow service members and their allies.
“We’re coming in at a very particular time, with threats looming around the world, but our Navy and Marine Corps are doing the job and securing the pathways,” said Cao. “The strength of our military is not the equipment we have; it’s our Sailors and Marines. As leaders, our one call is to lead those young sailors and Marines the right way. The Naval War College is the leadership laboratory we need, because the first time you meet one another should not be on the battlefield— it should be in places like this where we’re able to share ideas and get to know each other.”
The total of 477 included 292 new students from all six branches of the U.S. armed forces and U.S. federal government agencies, as well as 81 U.S. students continuing into the fall courses after previous November and March enrollments, and another 104 international students from partner and allied nations.
NWC students work to earn Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) credit and either a diploma or a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies or Defense and Strategic Studies.
“Those who enroll in the U.S. Naval War College can expect a rigorous curriculum that will challenge them and, ultimately, forge them into strategists and warfighters who can be successful in any conflict, any time and any place,” said NWC President Rear Adm. Darryl Walker. “Many of the greatest military leaders our nation has seen in the last century and a half have been students or faculty here at the war college. We know there are many future commanders and flag officers among the students in the audience at convocation every year. It’s a proven fact.”
Each year, nearly 500 in-resident students graduate, with 60 percent being selected for command of ships, squadrons and other military units. In the U.S., the college has also produced three Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 15 Chiefs of Naval Operations and 13 other service branch heads.
Additionally, the college welcomes between 100 and 150 foreign officers to the U.S. from around the world each year to study strategy, warfare, decision making, and operational art. Since creating a program for international officers in 1956, the NWC has more than 5,500 international alumni from 145 countries worldwide. Approximately 10 percent of the alumni from the college’s international programs have gone on to become heads of their country’s respective navy.
The day before Convocation, NWC’s annual Cloister ceremony welcomed more than 300 faculty members from the college’s in-resident and distance education programs to celebrate faculty accomplishments and prepare for the academic year ahead.
During the event, the faculty was formally introduced to the war college’s new provost – the institution’s top academic officer – retired U.S. Navy Capt. Michael O’Hara, Ph.D. O’Hara previously served as the dean of the college’s Center for Naval Warfare Studies (CNWS).
“As a military and civilian faculty team, we teach in rigorous ways to prepare officers to be critical thinkers,” O’Hara told the assembled faculty during Cloister. “We challenge them through readings, case studies, and seminar discussions to take estimates of situations, to express intent, to consider alternate points of view and counterarguments. We immerse them in practical problems to plan and integrate joint all-domain operations from seabed to space. We wargame them and pit them against thinking opponents who sharpen their abilities to think at the operational-level of war and at the strategic-level, too.”
Also during Cloister, faculty members were recognized and presented awards for superior achievements in teaching and research related to their specific disciplines.
Among those recognized were Dr. Michael Poznansky, from CNWS’ Strategic and Operational Research Department (SORD) and Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute (CIPI), and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Marc Blankenbicker from CNWS’ War Gaming Department, who received the Civilian and Military Faculty Awards for Excellence in Research, respectively, for distinguishing themselves by formulating critical questions, investigating key data resources, and synthesizing and sharing innovative ideas.
Dr. Leigh Ann Perry of the College of Leadership and Ethics (CLE) and U.S. Navy Cmdr. Daniel Post of the Strategy & Policy Department received the Civilian and Military Faculty Awards for Excellence in Service, respectively, for providing excellent service to NWC and the greater community.
Prof. William Murray of SORD and the Halsey Bravo Research Group and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matthew Rohlfing of the Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS) received the Civilian and Military Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching, respectively for providing a superb academic environment and educational experience for their students.
Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas Mangold, Dr. Michael Martin, Dr. Robert Tomlinson, Dr. Mary Thompson-Jones and Dr. Donald Marrin were awarded status as emeritus professors, honorary titles that are carried into retirement and denote distinguished accomplishment during their careers as faculty.
Established in 1884, NWC informs today’s decision-makers and educates tomorrow’s leaders by providing educational experiences and learning opportunities that develop their ability to hedge aggressively, innovate continuously, fight distributively, delegate confidently, and command with clarity within complex battlespaces.
Source: United States Navy
WASHINGTON — Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao today announced the establishment of the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems (DRPM RAS), a strategic restructuring to tightly integrate the development, requirements, and acquisition of RAS capabilities across the Department of the Navy (DON).
DRPM RAS leverages the successful and proven DRPM model first established for submarines. This marks a decisive step toward correcting years of fragmented requirements, resourcing, and acquisition practices that dispersed accountability, complicated industry engagement, and slowed delivery to the warfighter. The organization is designed to operate in concert with the Department of War’s DRPM for unmanned offensive and defensive systems (UxS).
Christopher Miller will serve as the acting DRPM RAS, reporting directly to William Toti, performing the duties of the Under Secretary of the Navy. Miller will concurrently serve as acting Portfolio Acquisition Executive RAS, mirroring the DRPM Submarine model.
“We are at an inflection point in naval warfare, and the Department has been approaching robotic and autonomous systems through arcane processes that do not deliver capabilities at the speed our Sailors and Marines need,” said Toti. “Secretary Cao has directed us to replace that model with clear accountability, faster decisions, and a relentless focus on the warfighter.”
The DON is also reviewing the potential relocation of DRPM RAS staff out of Washington, D.C. and closer to Fleet warfighters. The review is assessing whether such a relocation would strengthen collaboration with operational forces and ensure Fleet feedback remains closely connected to capability development and fielding.
“To remain the most lethal and technologically advanced maritime force in the world, we must both improve and accelerate how we partner with industry to develop and deliver the next generation of warfighting capabilities,” said Miller. “Success depends on ensuring operational requirements drive rapid development so we’re delivering the right solutions to the warfighter.”
The establishment of DRPM RAS marks a significant step in the DON’s effort to modernize acquisition governance and strengthen maritime deterrence.