Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
MARIO RAMIRO ARAGON-RUANO, also known as Mario Ramiro Aragon and Jose Juana-Zapata, 43, a citizen of Guatemala, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to unlawful reentry of a removed alien.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A San Fernando Valley woman was sentenced today to 180 months in federal prison for her long-running drug dealing activities, including selling ketamine that contributed to at least two deaths, including the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry in October 2023.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
DENVER – The United States Attorney for the District of Colorado announces that Ikponmwosa Erhinmwinrose, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Nyerhovwo Presley Agbure, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, each sentenced in connection to a fraud ring that stole millions in government funds and victimized thousands of people nationwide. Erhinmwinrose will spend 17 years in federal prison after a federal jury in Denver convicted him on six counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Agbure will spend 57 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Two other codefendants await sentencing.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – MICHAEL FEAST, (“FEAST”), age 31, was sentenced on March 31, 2026, by United States District Judge Brandon S. Long, after previously pleading guilty to Counts Two and Three of a three-count indictment, announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle. Count Two charged FEAST with distribution of a quantity of cocaine base, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C). Count Three charged FEAST with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i).
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Catalina Corona pleaded guilty to wire fraud after stealing nearly $10 million from her employers, an elderly married couple from Long Island, New York. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis. When sentenced, Corona faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, as well as restitution and fines.
Source: United States Spaceforce
April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and Tinker Air Force Base is committed to raising awareness, supporting survivors, and fostering a culture of dignity and respect. This month serves as a focused time for the Tinker community to reinforce its commitment to eliminating sexual assault. While April is recognized as SAAPM, the effort to combat sexual assault is a year-round commitment.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Guatemalan national charged in connection with the Dec. 9, 2021 mass casualty event in Chiapas, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to human smuggling charges related to the crash of a tractor-trailer packed with at least 160 illegal aliens — many of them Guatemalan nationals — which resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people, including unaccompanied children, and injured over 100 more.
According to the factual summary entered into the record and court documents, Daniel Zavala Ramos, also known as “Dany ZR,” 42, of Guatemala, acknowledged that he conspired with other smugglers to transport undocumented aliens, both adults and unaccompanied minors, from Guatemala though Mexico to the United States. Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators recruited Guatemalan aliens, collected payment and arranged for the aliens to travel by foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor-trailers. Daniel Zavala Ramos was extradited from Guatemala in 2025 to face charges.
The factual summary further provided that aliens paid Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators to be smuggled to the United States. In some cases, Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators provided scripted language for unaccompanied minors to use if apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities. During the conspiracy, on Dec. 9, 2021, Zavala Ramos and his co-conspirators arranged for the aliens they were smuggling to the United States to be loaded into a tractor trailer that was to transport the aliens through Mexico. The tractor trailer ultimately crashed north of the Guatemala/Mexico border near Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas, Mexico, resulting in the death of 56 people. Over 100 other illegal aliens were injured, some very seriously.
Zavala Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an undocumented alien to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury and resulting in death. Zavala Ramos will be sentenced on July 7 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
HSI’s Counter Proliferation Investigations Group in Washington D.C. investigated the case in partnership with HSI Guatemala and HSI Mexico. Valuable assistance was provided by HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit; HSI Houston; HSI Laredo; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s International Interdiction Task Force; U.S. Border Patrol; Liberty County Constable, Precinct 6; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division; and the Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions of the defendants. Guatemalan prosecutors from the Office of Public Ministry and Mexican prosecutors from the Republic of Mexico’s Federal Prosecutions Office, with the support of law enforcement officials from both countries, were also instrumental in furthering the investigation.
Senior Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Lou Castillo and Jennifer Day for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from HRSP Latin American Specialist/Historian Joanna Crandall.
The investigation and charges are supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant United States Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 450 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 395 U.S. convictions; more than 345 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
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 Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) and Project Safe Neighborhood.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Nevada woman was sentenced yesterday to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud the United States by fraudulently claiming nearly $100 million in COVID-19 related employment tax credits.
The Department of Justice announced this case and two others in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud at a press conference in Washington today.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, Candies Goode-McCoy, formerly of Las Vegas, conspired with others to file tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit, credits which Congress created to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. From approximately June 2022 through September 2023, McCoy filed more than 1,200 tax returns for her own businesses and those of others, which falsely claimed these credits and sought refunds totaling more than $98 million.
In total, the IRS paid out approximately $33 million as a result of the scheme. Personally, Goode-McCoy received over $1.3 million in fraudulent refunds. She also received approximately $800,000 from clients for filing fraudulent returns. McCoy used the proceeds to pay for vacations, luxury cars and other luxury goods, and to gamble at casinos.
Goode-McCoy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims. In addition to the term of imprisonment, McCoy was ordered to pay the IRS $26,022,188 in restitution.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada joined in the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.
Trial Attorney John C. Gerardi of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez of the District of Nevada prosecuted the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Kash Patel, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today an eight-count indictment charging EMIR BALAT and IBRAHIM KAYUMI in connection with their alleged terrorist attack in Manhattan on March 7, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims over an 11-month span to California’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) for expensive prescription drugs that were medically unnecessary and, in many instances, not provided to the purported recipients.
The Department of Justice announced this case and two others in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud at a press conference in Washington today.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
“The defendant was a repeat fraudster who caused Medi-Cal, a program designed to help those in need, to be billed nearly $270 million for expensive and medically unnecessary medications,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He and his co-schemers stole over $178 million through false and fraudulent claims for these medications, lining their own pockets with public funds. The Criminal Division will aggressively prosecute those who defraud Medicaid and exploit taxpayer-funded benefit programs.”
“This defendant used a public health program as his personal piggy bank,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. “This guilty plea should send a message that this administration — consistent with the President’s war on fraud — will not turn a blind eye while criminals fleece taxpayers.”
“Schemes that bill Medicaid for costly drugs that patients never needed or received threaten the integrity of the program,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “This plea shows our firm resolve, alongside our law enforcement partners, to exposing such fraud operations, ensuring those responsible are held accountable, and safeguarding taxpayer-funded health care programs.”
According to court documents, Paul Randall, 66, of Orange, along with pharmacist and pharmacy owner Kyrollos Mekail, 37, of Moreno Valley, and nurse practitioner Patricia Anderson, 58, of West Hills, exploited Medi-Cal’s suspension of its requirement that health care providers obtain prior authorization before providing certain medications at the beginning of 2022. Medi-Cal temporarily suspended the requirement as part of a transition to a new payment system. Using a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy, which Mekail owned, Randall and his co-schemers billed Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for purportedly dispensing high-reimbursement drugs containing cheap, generic ingredients that were manufactured in unique dosages, combinations or package quantities and were not included in the applicable maximum price lists that cap Medi-Cal reimbursements.
In furtherance of the scheme, Randall paid illegal kickbacks to patient marketers in exchange for Medi-Cal beneficiary information and thereafter paid illegal kickbacks to Anderson to sign pre-filled prescriptions for 19 high-reimbursement, non-contracted, generic drugs. Anderson never met the patients, reviewed their medical records or otherwise determined that the medications were medically necessary before signing the prescriptions. The medications, which included pain creams and Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter, were billed for thousands of dollars each, including approximately $13,424 for one prescription of meloxicam 5 mg, a generic drug that typically costs between $5 and $25 for a 30-day supply in larger dosages.
Randall received a portion of Monte Vista’s reimbursements from Medi-Cal, at times equaling approximately 40% of Monte Vista’s profit from the false and fraudulent claims. Randall admitted in his plea agreement that he caused at least $269,120,829 in false and fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal from May 2022 to April 2023, of which Medi-Cal paid at least approximately $178,746,556. Randall also admitted that he committed the offense while on release in another criminal case.
Randall and others laundered their illicit proceeds by transferring the money to a third party to pay kickbacks to Anderson in an attempt to conceal the crime from law enforcement.
In his plea agreement, Randall agreed to forfeit property obtained from the fraud, including bank account balances exceeding $17 million, three vehicles, seven real properties, and sports memorabilia. To date, the government has seized approximately $126.5 million in assets that Randall and his co-schemers accumulated from the scheme, including $111 million in bank funds and securities, nine luxury vehicles totaling approximately $1 million, nine luxury real properties totaling approximately $13.5 million, and more than $1 million worth of sports memorabilia.
Randall pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Relatedly, in August 2024, Mekail pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and awaits sentencing. In April 2025, Anderson pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and also awaits sentencing.
The FBI, HHS-OIG, and the California Department of Justice are investigating the case.
Assistant Chief Niall M. O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger A. Hsieh for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Dochterman for the Central District of California’s Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this 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 eight strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 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.