Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Miami Gardens man made his first appearance in federal court on Friday after a grand jury in Miami charged him with drug crimes, using and firing a gun as part of the drug crime, and illegal firearm possession by a prior felon relating to his prior felony conviction.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas man was sentenced today by United States District Judge Andrew P. Gordon to 150 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release for possessing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine with intent to sell from his apartment.
Source: United States Army
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VICENZA, Italy — Senior leaders from across U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) gathered for the SETAF-AF Senior Leader Forum, reinforcing the command’s commitment to readiness, regional partnerships and operational excellence at Caserma Ederle, Feb. 19.
Commanders, command sergeants major and key staff assembled at the semiannual forum to discuss current challenges, align strategic priorities and enhance coordination across the theater. Through a series of briefings, collaborative sessions and leadership discussions, participants examined ways to improve force posture while maintaining the agility required to support missions throughout Europe and Africa.
Ray Shisler, strategy integration planner for SETAF-AF’s G-5 directorate, said the forum serves as a critical touchpoint for leadership across the formation.
“This is a key opportunity for the [SETAF-AF] commanding general [U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Andrew C. Gainey] and command sergeant major [U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad B. Harness] to provide priorities, guidance and open dialogue with leaders across the force,” Shisler said. “It ensures everyone is moving in the same direction and clearly understands the commander’s intent.”
Shisler, who has served with SETAF-AF for a year and a half, said this session emphasized communication down to the lowest levels.
“This time, an unclassified portion was included so company commanders and first sergeants could hear directly from senior leaders,” he said. “It strengthens transparency and helps leaders at every echelon understand what is expected of them.”
During the forum, the SETAF-AF command team recognized excellence across the formation, presenting coins to 15 Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians. They also highlighted a military intelligence analyst recently recognized as one of the Army’s top military intelligence analysts of 2025.
The theme of this year’s forum, “Irreversible Momentum,” focused on sustaining progress during a period of transition and change within the command.
“We’re entering a season of leadership transitions and evolving mission requirements,” Shisler said. “The forum allows us to reflect on recent operations, anticipate future challenges and ensure we remain adaptable in a constantly changing environment.”
Command leaders emphasized operational readiness, leader development and the integration of multinational capabilities. Discussions underscored the importance of disciplined training, adaptable formations and clear communication to maintain a credible, capable force.
U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Shanett Robinson, chief medical noncommissioned officer enlisted advisor assigned to the SETAF-AF surgeon’s directorate, said the forum fosters unity of effort across organizations.
“It brings our organizations together from brigade elements to directorates, so we understand the same messaging and can synchronize our efforts,” Robinson said. “That unity of effort creates a one-team approach to mission command and execution.”
Robinson added that hearing directly from senior leadership clarifies priorities and strengthens cohesion across the formation.
“The senior leader forum levels the messaging,” she said. “Receiving guidance directly from the commanding general ensures we understand why we’re doing what we’re doing and how we move forward together as an organization.”
The SETAF-AF Senior Leader Forum demonstrates the command’s dedication to building strong leadership networks and ensuring forces remain ready, responsive and capable of executing missions whenever called upon.
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About SETAF-AF
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.
Follow SETAF-AF on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn & DVIDS
Source: United States Army
Hohenfels, Germany is no stranger to the U.S. Army in wintertime. What’s more surprising are the 70-ton Abrams Tanks trudging through miles of snow and muck like it’s nothing.
The global battlefield is changing, and the U.S. Army is innovating and adapting to respond to its challenges. Capt. Maxwell McVicar, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, is in the thick of what that looks like in the field.
“We’re executing missions against a simulated force that combines light infantry tactics, mechanized infantry, heavy use of field artillery that knows the terrain that we’re fighting through right now in a force-on-force exercise, to simulate how a potential conflict with a near peer enemy to the United States might progress in European terrain.”
Maneuvering all that steel and munitions through ice and mud is a significant challenge for cavalry units like McVicar’s. Not being aware of the terrain can cause vehicles to get stuck, which diverts valuable time and resources to recover them. When asked why terrain awareness was important, he said:
“For a million reasons, knowing the terrain allows you to know exactly how you can fight on that terrain…knowing the terrain allows you to know where the enemy is going to go, where you think you can go to counter that, and how you actually fight and win that battle on the ground that you’re staring at.”
Sgt. 1st Class Ashanti Darity of 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment detailed what he and his soldiers are learning about the environment they’re training in.
“We are learning a lot about how to maneuver tanks through heavily wooded brush and trees…I’m learning that tanks do not like mud.”
Darity outlined that the greatest challenge outside of the terrain is communication. The battlefield is constantly changing, therefore orders are changing to adapt. Darity attributes his unit’s success to his section sergeants. Communication is key, and plans change on a dime. “My Section Sergeants are really squared away. When we hit them with different challenges, they’re quick to change their mindset, get their crew all together, attack and engage.”
When asked for any further comment, Darity had this to say: “I definitely think that this is important training. I’ve been in the Army for 12 years, and I’ve never been in terrain like this, the cold, the snow, the wet terrain, if this is where our next fight is going to be, then I definitely want my platoon to be able to survive in this kind of environment.”
Capt. McVicars closed by saying: “It’s a changing battlefield. The trainers here, the OCs (observer/controllers) at Hohenfels Training Area have designed a scarily realistic experience of what it would be like in conflict with a modern enemy, with modern UAS (Unmanned Aircraft) systems, modern artillery systems, modern tank and IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) platforms, so being able to train that has been an incredible opportunity. It’s something that I really do recommend for any leader, from the most junior corporal, all the way up to troop commanders. It teaches you a lot about yourself, your formation, and what you can and can’t do with the elements at your disposal.”
Source: United States Navy
NORFOLK, Va. (Feb. 24, 2026) – Navy Reserve Sailors from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, U.S. 2nd Fleet, and U.S. 4th Fleet gathered at the Navy Warfare Development Center for exercise MAKO Challenge 2026, held from Feb. 19-22.
Source: United States Army
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NAIROBI, Kenya – Exercise Justified Accord 2026 (JA26), U.S. Africa Command’s largest annual, multinational exercise in East Africa, officially begins today across Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), JA26 integrates approximately 1,500 personnel from Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, the United States and several other nations to build readiness, deepen partnerships and strengthen regional security.
The exercise strengthens cooperation and advances regional security by enabling partner-led security operations against shared threats.
The exercise, running through March 13, 2026, serves as a premier innovation hub in East Africa. JA26 is designed to validate new technologies in austere environments while enabling partner-led security operations against shared counter-terrorism threats.
The exercise features a comprehensive suite of training events designed to test the full spectrum of military operations.
“The true strength of Justified Accord lies in our partners taking the lead, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jason Fernandez, the Justified Accord branch chief, SETAF-AF. “This exercise embodies the principle of burden sharing, creating a powerful, partner-led security network capable of shouldering the responsibility for a stable and prosperous East Africa.”
The two-week exercise features a training approach tailored to shared regional security needs.
In Kenya, activities focus on enhancing joint command and control, including a multinational live-fire exercise, a command post exercise integrating special operations and conventional forces, air-to-ground integration, and defensive cyber operations centered in Nairobi and Isiolo.
In Tanzania, the focus is readiness, global force projection, and joint readiness for crisis response. The exercise features a bilateral field training exercise on jungle warfare and counter-improvised explosive devices, alongside a medical readiness exercise to support local communities and increase U.S. medical readiness.
JA26 heavily leverages the National Guard Bureau’s state partnership program to deepen long-term military relationships.
The Massachusetts National Guard continues its decade-long partnership with Kenya, leading complex kinetic training, while the Nebraska National Guard builds upon its newly developed partnership with Tanzania, focusing on expeditionary medical and ground force readiness.
The training concludes with distinguished visitor days, showcasing the tangible return on investment of this multinational partnership and shared security cooperation.
During the JA26 distinguished visitor days, in coordination with the U.S. military and the U.S. Department of Commerce (U.S. Embassy Nairobi), selected U.S. and African vendors will set up technology expositions.
The industry day will directly connect commercial technological solutions with military and interagency end-users, fostering collaboration and aligning innovation with operational requirements focused on counter-terrorism, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and counter-UAS capabilities.
“A truly resilient joint force is powered by a thriving defense ecosystem,” added Fernandez. “What you will see is that ecosystem in action, a strategic partnership between our warfighters and commercial innovators from both the U.S. and our partners.”
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About Justified Accord
Justified Accord increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance and crisis response, prepares regional partners for United Nations and African Union missions and builds readiness for the U.S. joint force. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), and hosted in Kenya and Tanzania, JA is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa, with approximately 1,500 participants.
For more imagery, video and news from Justified Accord visit the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).
About SETAF-AF
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.
Follow SETAF-AF on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn & DVIDS
Source: United States Army
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Staff Sgt. Alanis Lopez learned so much about a nearby aquarium from conversing with some Japanese students Feb. 22 that she immediately made the attraction her next must-see destination.
Lopez and a dozen other Camp Zama volunteers were at Zama City Hall Sunday for a language exchange in which they listened to and spoke with the group of students, all of them junior high- and high school-aged teens from Camp Zama’s neighboring city of Zama.
The students are all ambassadors in a program in which they regularly engage with students from Zama’s sister city of Smyrna, Tennessee. During the exchange, they recited to the Camp Zama volunteers the English-language scripts they had written for a video they will produce on an aquarium in Enoshima to share with their friends in Smyrna.
“I thought each one of their presentations was great,” Lopez, assigned to the 78th Signal Battalion, said. “In every exhibit that they explained, they also pointed out things that were interesting to them, so their personalities shone through in terms of the different animals and things that they identified throughout the aquarium.”
Students in Zama can be part of the ambassador program for three years. Their participation has in the past allowed them to host Smyrna students in Japan and likewise visit their friends in Tennessee.
The group all went to an aquarium in Enoshima the last time the Smyrna students came to Japan, but inclement weather on the day of their visit forced them to cut their trip short. The Zama students devised the video project to introduce to the Smyrna students the attraction they unfortunately couldn’t experience.
Hina Yamagishi, 17, a student at St. Cecilia High School, is in her last year in the ambassador program and got to visit Smyrna in 2024. After writing their scripts, the students wanted to recite them for an English-speaking audience who could give them constructive feedback on their pronunciation and grammar.
“It was my first time meeting the Americans, and when I spoke to them, I only knew their names and faces, so I was kind of nervous to speak in English,” Yamagishi said. “But as I was reading my script, I saw them nodding and smiling at me, so I was relieved that they created such a warm atmosphere. It helped me to be confident.”
Lopez heard about the volunteer opportunity through Camp Zama’s Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program, or BOSS. Though she only arrived in Japan three months ago, she said this was the fifth or sixth volunteer event in which she’s taken part.
“Volunteering is an opportunity to get engulfed here in the culture, to learn new things, and I feel like it accelerates those opportunities to interact, because you’re here to meet people and to have conversations with them,” Lopez said. “So the benefit for me is the exposure to the culture, as well as giving back to the community and giving support as much as you can.”
Lopez further encouraged those in overseas military environments to look for volunteer opportunities, saying it helps them to better get to know the community outside their installation.
“If you go to one volunteer event, you usually learn about everything else that’s ongoing, so it gives you things to look forward to,” she said. “Another incentive in volunteering is building friendships, building rapports and relationships, and making the most of your time here.”
The Zama students will visit an aquarium in Enoshima next month to film footage and take photos of the exhibit that they will use to produce their video.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Alexander Grupp, 33, of Lancaster, NY, who was convicted of receipt of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 180 months in prison and 10 years supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Today, Peter Williams, 39, an Australian national, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 87 months in prison for selling his employer’s trade secrets — sensitive and protected cyber-exploit components — to a Russian cyber-tools broker, announced the Department of Justice. In addition to the 87-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge AliKhan for the District of Columbia ordered Williams to serve three years of supervised release with special conditions, to forfeit a money judgment of $1.3 million, cryptocurrency and property to include a house, and luxury items such as watches and jewelry. The Court also set a restitution hearing for May 12, 2026.
“Williams exploited his senior role at a U.S. defense contractor to enrich himself at the expense of the United States and his employer,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The tools he compromised were intended to protect this Nation; instead, he auctioned them off to a Russian bidder. We are committed to ensuring that those who abuse their access to sensitive information and thereby harm our national security face severe consequences.”
“Peter Williams stole a U.S. defense contractor’s trade secrets about highly sensitive cyber capabilities and sold them to a broker whose clients include the Russian government, putting our national security and countless potential victims at risk,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The FBI and our partners remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting America’s critical technologies, and we will ensure any who attempt to profit at our nation’s expense face the full weight of the criminal justice system. Let this be a clear warning to all who consider placing greed over country: If you betray your position of trust and sell sensitive American technology to our foreign adversaries, the FBI will not rest until you’re brought to justice.”
“Williams took trade secrets comprised of national security software and sold them for up to $4 million in crypto currency. These incredibly powerful tools would have allowed Russia to access millions of digital devices,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia. “By betraying a position of trust and selling sensitive American technology, Williams’ crime is not only one of theft, it is a crime of national security. Our nation’s defense capabilities are not commodities to be auctioned off. People like Williams who endanger our national security will be met with swift and decisive consequences.”
On Oct. 29, 2025, Williams pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to two counts of theft of trade secrets. As part of his plea agreement, Williams admitted that he stole eight cyber-exploit components over a three-year period from the U.S. defense contractor where he worked. This national-security focused software was meant to be sold exclusively to the U.S. government and select allies. Williams admitted that he sold the trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, which he used to buy valuable items, such as luxury vacations, jewelry, watches, clothing, and properties.
To effectuate these sales, Williams entered into multiple written contracts with the Russian broker, which involved payment for the initial sale of the components, and additional periodic payments for follow-on support. Williams transferred the eight components and trade secrets to the Russian broker through encrypted means. This cyber-tools broker publicly advertises itself as a reseller of cyber exploits to various customers, including the Russian government. Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State took separate actions to disrupt a Russian cyber-tools broker and its operators.
Williams admitted that his actions cost the government contractor a financial loss of $35 million dollars. Williams’ conduct also had significant impact on the government contractor’s customers, to include U.S. government and allied government customers. In issuing her sentence today District Court Judge AliKhan stated, “Theft of trade secrets from a company that sells national security-focused cyber and intelligence software to the U.S. government and allied governments necessarily implicates national security, and Mr. Williams indeed acknowledges that his actions caused harm to the intelligence communities, both in the U.S. and Australia.”
This case was investigated by the FBI Baltimore Field Office. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Jason McCullough for the District of Columbia, Trial Attorney Prava Palacharla for the National Security Division’s (NSD) National Security Cyber Section, and Trial Attorney Nicholas Hunter for NSD’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Substantial assistance was also provided by U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford for the District of Oregon prior to his current appointment, and by paralegal Mariela Andrade.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Defendant Concealed Millions of Dollars in Foreign Bank Accounts Before Renouncing U.S. Citizenship
An indictment was unsealed today in the Western District of Texas charging a Cayman national who renounced his U.S. citizenship with tax evasion, filing false returns and willfully failing to file tax forms disclosing foreign assets.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Justin Ryan Schmidt previously resided in Austin, Texas, where he managed a hedge fund focusing on cryptocurrency investments. Between 2020 and March 2022, Schmidt allegedly earned a total of more than $6 million from his hedge fund but did not report any of this income on his 2020, 2021 or 2022 tax returns. In fact, the indictment alleges, in each of those years, Schmidt falsely reported total income of $5,000 or less, while he held millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts. Even though he was required by law to report these foreign bank accounts to the IRS, Schmidt is charged with willfully failing to do so.
In November 2021, Schmidt became a British citizen, subsequently renouncing his U.S. citizenship in March 2022. Individuals who expatriate from the United States are required to report certain information to the IRS about their net worth, income, assets, and liabilities as of the date of their expatriation. The indictment alleges that Schmidt willfully filed a false expatriation statement reporting that his net worth was $25,000 at the time of expatriation, when in fact it exceeded $2 million.
According to court documents, in 2023, Schmidt paid approximately $5.8 million to purchase real property in Snowmass Village, Colorado, and sold the property a few months later for approximately $9 million. The indictment alleges that Schmidt did not report the gains from this sale on his 2023 income tax return and evaded payment of taxes by submitting false documents to prevent taxes from being withheld on the sale of the property.
Schmidt faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion, three years in prison for each count of filing false tax forms and five years in prison for each count of willfully failing to file forms disclosing foreign bank accounts.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel Michael C. Boteler and Trial Attorney Michael Jones of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.