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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

This release was posted following the 43-day government shutdown during which the trial and verdict occurred.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After deliberating for approximately five hours, a federal jury on October 15, 2025, found Laven Davis guilty of fentanyl distribution resulting in serious bodily injury and death, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced.

Davis, 33, of Sharon, Pennsylvania, was tried before Senior United States District Judge Reggie B. Walton of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The evidence presented during the six-day jury trial established that, on or about November 28, 2022, Davis distributed fentanyl which resulted in the serious bodily injury and death of a 43-year-old Hermitage, Pennsylvania, woman. At the time, Davis was on Pennsylvania state parole following his release from prison a few months earlier. Davis has prior felony convictions for aggravated assault, aggravated harassment by a prisoner, terroristic threats, and unlawful possession of a firearm, each of which occurred through separate state prosecutions during the past eight years.

Judge Walton scheduled sentencing for January 16, 2026.

Assistant United States Attorneys V. Joseph Sonson and Craig W. Haller are prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
The Mercer County District Attorney’s Office, Mercer County Coroner’s Office, Hermitage Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Davis.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

CHEYENNE, WYOMING – Shu Ping Chen, 48, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison with no supervised release for filing a false tax return. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson imposed the sentence on October 28 in Cheyenne. Chen was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $293,270 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and $66,426 to the State of Wyoming, a $75,000 fine, and $35,000 towards the cost of prosecution.

According to court documents, Chen owned and operated China Buffet restaurant in Cheyenne where she was responsible for the restaurant’s day-to-day operations and financial reporting. From at least 2018, Chen knowingly provided false financial information to her Certified Public Accountant (CPA), fully aware that the CPA would use this information to prepare and file her tax returns. Specifically, for tax years 2018 through 2022, Chen willfully underreported the restaurant’s gross cash receipts by providing false figures to her CPA. The total underreported amount over the five-year period was $959,693.94, resulting in a tax loss of $293,270 to the IRS and $66,426 to the State of Wyoming.

On January 4, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) executed search warrants at both the restaurant and Chen’s residence. During the search, Chen was caught attempting to destroy business records.

Chen waived indictment and pleaded guilty to the charges on August 5, following the filing of an Information on July 11. The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation division.

“Tax fraud is a serious crime that undermines the integrity of our tax system and places an unfair burden on honest taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Darin Smith. “This sentence demonstrates the commitment of IRS-Criminal Investigation to holding individuals accountable for their actions and ensuring that everyone pays their fair share.”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

CINCINNATI – A local multi-kilogram drug trafficker – who was captured on camera in February 2024 shooting a rival fentanyl dealer repeatedly in the chest, after losing a bet over who sold more potent fentanyl – was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 216 months in prison.

According to court documents, Robert Lee Howard, 34, of Cincinnati, was primarily a multi-kilogram dealer of fentanyl, but also sold cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.

In June 2024, agents recorded the defendant advising he was waiting on 23 pounds of methamphetamine to come in the mail in five separate packages. Agents intercepted one of those packages and discovered it contained more than four kilograms of 96 percent pure crystal meth.

That same month, Howard’s car was shot up while he was driving around Cincinnati. The next day, he was recorded on calls offering to pay $10,000 total for “friends from Chicago” to come to Cincinnati and solve his “problem” by “putting [the rival fentanyl dealer] on a T-shirt.”

Agents then executed a search warrant at Howard’s primary residence in Price Hill – where four young children also lived – and arrested him. At Howard’s home, they discovered more than nine kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, an industrial size pill press, press parts and other supplies for making fake “ecstasy” pills with fentanyl, body armor, ammunition and AK-47 magazines. Howard had multiple firearms lying out on his bedroom floor amongst scattered vials of fentanyl, including a Mini Draco style rifle and two pistols with extended magazines.

Howard was charged by federal criminal complaint in June 2024 and pleaded guilty in July 2025.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Joseph O. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Detroit; West Chester Police Chief Brian Rebholz; Cincinnati Interim Police Chief Adam Hennie; Jorge Rosendo, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Pittsburgh Division; announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffery P. Hopkins. Assistant United States Attorney David P. Dornette is representing the United States in this case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DETROIT – Jibreel Pratt, 26, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced today to 9 years in federal prison after having pleaded guilty to two counts of concealing cryptocurrency donations he intended to make to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan.

According to court records, in February 2023, Pratt initiated a conversation with a Confidential Human Source (CHS) who Pratt believed was an ISIS member who could facilitate overseas travel to join ISIS. Over the next several months, Pratt communicated his desire to travel overseas to join ISIS and recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS’s leader. Pratt also provided ideas, information, documents and handwritten notes on a variety of subjects, including how ISIS could use drones and remote-controlled cars to deliver explosives, how ISIS could organize intelligence operations, and how ISIS could improve its air defense systems. And, in March and May 2023, Pratt sent cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) to the CHS, intending that the money would be used to help pay for the travel of other individuals who were purportedly traveling to join ISIS and/or to help fund an individual who Pratt believed would commit an act of violence in support of ISIS. Pratt concealed the nature and source of his Bitcoin transfers by using a privacy focused VPN and an app that encrypted private keys and transaction data.

“Over these last years, our office has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the FBI to protect Americans from hardened ISIS supporters in our midst. Mr. Pratt is the latest traitor who—in his own words—operated ‘in the shadows.’ And we will continue to stand guard because he may not be the last,” said U.S. Attorney Gorgon.  

“Today’s sentencing of Jibreel Pratt is a testament to the hard work of FBI Detroit’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in keeping Michigan safe from homegrown violent extremists,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “It should send a strong message to anyone seeking to support foreign terrorist organizations, via financial means or otherwise, that the FBI will not stand idly by and allow this activity to occur within the United States. FBI Detroit remains committed to protecting the American people and will work relentlessly to disrupt any plot that threatens the security of our nation.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Salzenstein and Jennifer Burke, Trial Attorney, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Noel Daniel Simonca (48, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to using his cellphone and the internet to attempt to entice a minor child to engage in sexual activity. Simonca faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Simonca was arrested by FBI agents on January 19, 2025, and has been in custody since that time. 

According to court documents, on December 10, 2024, an undercover FBI agent (UC) in Jacksonville was conducting an online undercover operation to identify adults who were seeking to make contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. Posing as the parent of an 11-year-old child, UC posted a short message in a public chat room on a particular online social messaging app. A short time later, an individual using the app name “mdesase” contacted UC using a private text messaging feature of the app. User “mdesase” confirmed that he would “love to see [the 11-year-old child],” and indicated that he had a preference for children aged “8-13.” On December 11, 2024, UC and “mdesase,” who was subsequently identified as Simonca, discussed meeting to have a “play date” and to “trade [daughters].”

During further online text conversations between UC and Simonca, they discussed meeting in person. On December 26, 2024, Simonca texted UC and described in detail the sexual activity that he intended to engage in with UC’s 11-year-old “child.” Simonca and UC ultimately agreed to meet at a location in Jacksonville Beach so that Simonca could meet the “child” and take photos of “her.”

During text communications between Simonca and UC in January 2025, they discussed the planned photo shoot with the “child,” including the time and location of this meeting. For example, on January 10, 2025, Simonca stated that he was “available to help” teach the “child” about sex. On January 19, 2025, Simonca drove from his residence to the place where he had planned to meet the UC and the “child,” and was arrested by FBI agents.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Defendant admitted to fraudulently posing as nurse at more than 40 Maryland facilities

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

WASHINGTON – Marvin Benjamin Martin, 32, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 140 months in prison in connection with a scheme to distribute dipentylone, an illegal psychostimulant known as “boot,” which was imported from China, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Martin pleaded guilty before Judge Beryl A. Howell on July 11, 2025, one business day before the scheduled jury trial, to attempted possession with intent to distribute N,N Dimethylpentylone hydrochloride. In addition to the prison term, Judge Howell ordered Martin to serve three years of supervised release.

Joining in the announcement were Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck of Homeland Security Investigations, Special Agent in Charge Christopher C. Goumenis of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to court documents, in early 2024, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington D.C. High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area group (HIDTA) was conducting an ongoing investigation into illegal shipments of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals originating in China.

In February 2024, officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a package at the International Mail Facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).The package, addressed to “Martin Hall” on 58^th Street SE. had been mailed from China, and contained 10 kilos of boot.

HSI agents swapped out the boot in the package for sham materials and added a GPS tracking device.

On March 7, 2024, HIDTA, comprised of HSI, the Metropolitan Police Department, and officers from various other agencies, delivered the package to the front steps of the residence on 58^th Street around 11:27 a.m. The officers watched as Martin retrieved the package, took it back to his vehicle, and drove off.

About an hour later, Martin discarded the empty package while keeping what he believed to be real drugs. At 12:37 p.m., investigators found Martin driving in a nearby residential neighborhood in Maryland and attempted to detain him. Martin sped off and crashed into a minivan and fence before evading officers.

Agents subsequently found Martin at a home in Lanham, Maryland, and attempted to block him in with their vehicles. Martin accelerated his car towards the agents, striking the front side of an agent’s vehicle at high speed. About two hours later, agents again found Martin at the Lanham residence, this time in his undamaged car, a Mercedes sedan. Officers positioned their vehicles to block the street and Martin again drove his car towards the agents at a high speed. He swerved onto a sidewalk and hit a tree while accelerating past agents’ vehicles, once again evading capture.

On April 10, 2024, Martin was arrested in Annapolis, Maryland. From his multiple phones, agents recovered evidence showing that he had been selling boot and other narcotics, for years leading up to his arrest. The investigation also showed that Martin paid about $40,000 to $50,000 for the box of 10 kilograms of boot and would sell it for anywhere between $125 to $200 an ounce. From his phones, agents also found DOJ press release links of other boot trafficking convictions that Martin shared with other individuals, showing knowledge of his criminal conduct.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Washington D.C. High Intensity Drug Traffiking Area group (HIDTA), the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Annapolis Police Department.

The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Iris McCranie and Anthony Scarpelli of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking section (VCNT) of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Luke Andrew Hemond, 64, of Hickory, N.C., to 121 months in prison for possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, Judge Bell ordered Hemond to serve a lifetime under court supervision.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, Hemond was on probation for a prior conviction of attempted sexual assault while armed in Arizona. On March 20, 2024, North Carolina probation officers and law enforcement conducted a search of Hemond’s residence to ensure compliance with his probation conditions and sex offender registry laws. During the search, law enforcement located an SD card in Hemond’s bedroom that contained images depicting the sexual assault of minors. After finding the SD card, court records show that law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant, seizing all electronic devices from the residence. A forensic review of the devices revealed that Hemond possessed thousands of images depicting children that were nude, children being sexually abused, and at least one image of child bondage.

On May 27, 2025, Hemond pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography that involved a prepubescent minor and a minor who had not attained 12 years of age. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction’s Division of Community Supervision, the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, the Hickory Police Department and the Long View Police Department Office for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Spaugh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Teresa Brady (70, Jacksonville) and Ruby George (82, Jacksonville) have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, aiding and abetting wire fraud, and aiding and abetting mail fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Brady also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Brady and George have also agreed to forfeit the traceable to proceeds of the offense, which cumulatively total at least $2.6 million.

According to the plea agreements, Brady and George were the President and Executive Vice President of Duval Teachers United (DTU), a labor union that represents Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) teachers, paraprofessionals, and office personnel. DTU has approximately 6,500 members and represents approximately 80% of eligible DCPS employees. DTU’s annual revenue is approximately $5 million, which is comprised of funds paid by dues-paying members.

Between 2013 and 2022, Brady and George engaged in a conspiracy to steal more than $1.2 million apiece from the DTU by selling leave time to DTU that they had not accrued or earned back. They hid their scheme by providing false information to a DTU’s auditor and by signing each other’s checks when distributing the unaccrued and unearned leave money, hiding those payments from the DTU Secretary/Treasurer. Brady and George also withheld this unearned compensation from the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC), responsible for public labor unions in Florida, in required annual financial statement filings, some of which were mailed to PERC. Brady then used the fraud proceeds and engaged in at least one monetary transaction of more than $10,000 to pay personal credit card debt.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Milliron.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury has found Shane Valmont (45, Tampa) guilty of distributing over 50 grams of methamphetamine. Valmont faces a minimum prison term of 10 years, up to life. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 18, 2025. 

According to evidence presented at trial, on December 27, 2022, Valmont sold approximately 112 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant working with the Clearwater Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Clearwater Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Guzman and Muriel Moore.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.