Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Marina del Rey woman who worked as a longtime signature collector for ballot initiatives has been charged with paying individuals – including homeless people living in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles – to register to vote, the Justice Department announced today.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Rashim Johnson, 30, a previously convicted felon residing in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today in connection with his possession of a Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol with a 31 round capacity magazine, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and the Inspector in Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), Ketty Larco-Ward, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging JAIME CASTLE, former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Obagi Cosmeceuticals LLC (“Obagi”) with conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and false statements to auditors and improperly influencing an audit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A California woman who worked as a longtime signature collector for ballot initiatives has been charged with paying individuals – including homeless people living in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles – to register to vote.
“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence.”
Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, of Marina del Rey, California, 64, also known as “Anika,” is charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote, a federal charge that carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
Armstrong has agreed to plead guilty to the charge and is scheduled to make her initial appearance this morning in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. She is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks.
According to her plea agreement, for approximately 20 years, Armstrong periodically worked as a “petition circulator.” In that role, she was paid by individuals and entities – known as “coordinators” – to collect voter signatures on official petitions that qualify initiatives, referendums, and recalls for California state ballots. Armstrong drove around the Los Angeles area to find registered voters to sign the petitions.
After gathering enough signatures, Armstrong returned the petitions to her coordinators, who then paid her a set amount for each registered voter’s signature. The amount she was paid varied depending on the specific ballot initiative. Because her coordinators only paid for signatures attributable to registered voters, Armstrong endeavored to ensure the people who signed her petitions were registered voters.
Armstrong occasionally solicited petitioned signatures in Skid Row, an area of downtown Los Angeles notorious for its homelessness problem. Skid Row was a convenient place for Armstrong to collect signatures because of its high concentration of people in a relatively small area who were willing to sign petitions in exchange for payment. Armstrong regularly paid and offered to pay individuals cash, usually in amounts between $2 and $3, to induce them to sign her petitions.
Many of Skid Row’s homeless population were not registered to vote. To ensure she maximized her pay from her coordinators, starting no later than 2025, Armstrong began offering payment to individuals not only to sign her petitions, but also to complete a voter registration form. Before going to Skid Row, Armstrong gathered a stack of voter registration forms from the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.
Some homeless people did not have an address to put on the forms. On several occasions, Armstrong provided a homeless individual with her own former address in Los Angeles so they had something to write on the registration form. These registration forms simultaneously registered an individual to vote in California elections and in federal elections.
Because California automatically sends a vote-by-mail ballot to every registered voter, this also meant ballots in some homeless individuals’ names could have the potential to be sent to Armstrong’s former residence where the homeless individual did not live or collect mail.
On Jan. 30, as part of her ongoing scheme, Armstrong knowingly and willfully paid another person to register to vote. She paid the person for the purpose of causing that person to register to vote in federal elections.
The FBI and investigators with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California investigated this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Wheat and Nandor Kiss for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BOSTON – A Cherry Hill, N.J., man previously arrested on state charges for armed home invasion in April 2025, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly sexually exploiting a minor in Massachusetts, as well as travelling across state lines to engage in illicit sexually conduct with the minor victim.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A San Diego County man was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with assaulting a Jewish man near a synagogue in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, which was hosting an event to promote the purchase of real estate in Israel – an event protested by several pro-Palestinian groups.
“The defendant’s conduct, if proven, is a serious violation of the law – every American deserves to live without fear of violence based on who he is or how he worships,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously prosecuting such crimes of hate and violence.”
Zaid Gitesatani, 28, of Carlsbad, California, is charged with one count of hate crime. He is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on May 5, a real estate agency known as “My Home in Israel” advertised an event scheduled for June 23, 2024, at the Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles’ Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The event was to promote land for sale in Israel.
Several pro-Palestinian groups then planned for and advertised a protest to take place at this event. One of those groups advertised a protest to “stand against settler expansion.” Gitesatani traveled to Los Angeles to attend this protest.
On the afternoon of the real estate event and protest, a Jewish man identified in the indictment as “Victim A” was walking his dog near the Adas Torah Synagogue when Gitesatani approached him from behind and punched him in the jaw, resulting in pain, redness, and swelling. After assaulting the victim, Gitesatani walked away and retreated into the crowd.
On the same day he assaulted Victim A, Gitesatani posted to his personal Instagram account a screenshot of his assault, a message that read, “Whooped the Zios today and we took their flag,” and two images of himself displaying his bruised knuckles following the assault.
In the two days following his assault on Victim A, Gitesatani had an exchange via Instagram with another user regarding the June 23, 2024, assault. Gitesatani wrote, “I whopped 2 zios,” “whooped,” “I swung good on them,” “It was satisfying,” and “I [sic] hand it [sic] numb from punching him so hard.”
Gitesatani also posted on Instagram a still image of his assault on Victim A with the caption, “The Chosen People sometimes need a good smack to wake up.”
If convicted, Gitesatani faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A U.S. District Court Judge would determine any sentence after considering the Sentencing Guidelines and other information.
The FBI is investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Alexander for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Erica O’Connell of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting this case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones announced today that Sean M. Lewis has been sworn in as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Lewis will serve in the Office’s newly created Civil Rights Section within the Criminal Division, under the leadership of Joe diGenova, and will be based in the Fort Pierce office.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Orlando, Florida – Jose Manuel Gonzalez Roman (31, Orlando) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza to seven years in federal prison for distributing counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. Gonzalez Roman pleaded guilty on February 4, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Orlando, Florida – Victor Raul Cordero Arocho (39, Melbourne) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed to 15 years in federal prison for distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine as well as possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Cordero Arocho pleaded guilty on January 29, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Part of settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that as a part of the settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, the Attorney General established “The Anti-Weaponization Fund” to provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.
The plaintiffs in the case, President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, LLC, filed suit against the Treasury and IRS in Southern District of Florida federal court following the leak of their tax returns. Per the settlement, plaintiffs will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind. They have agreed, in exchange for the creation of this fund, to drop their pending lawsuit with prejudice, and also withdraw two administrative claims including for damages resulting from the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax.
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
“The use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any Administration,” said Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter.
The Fund will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants. Submission of a claim is voluntary. There are no partisan requirements to file a claim. Any money left when the Fund ceases operations will revert to the Federal Government.
The Fund will receive $1.776 billion and will come from the judgment fund, which is a perpetual appropriation allowing DOJ to settle and pay cases. On a quarterly basis, the Fund shall send a report to the Attorney General outlining who has received relief and what form of relief was awarded.
At the Attorney General’s direction, the Fund can be audited. The Fund must take steps to protect private information and avoid fraud. The Fund shall cease processing claims no later than December 15, 2028.
There is legal precedent for such a Fund, most notably the “Keepseagle” case where the Obama Administration created a $760 million fund to redress various claims alleging racism against the federal government over a period of decades.
In Keepseagle, hundreds of millions of dollars remaining in the fund were distributed to non-profits and NGOs that never made claims, whereas any money remaining in The Anti-Weaponization Fund will revert to the federal government. The Obama DOJ settled by putting $680 million from the judgment fund into a bank account for a single claims administrator to dole out. In Keepseagle the remaining money—which ended up being over $300 million—was distributed to the entities that had not even submitted claims.
The Fund will consist of a Commission of five members appointed by the Attorney General. One Member will be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership. The President can remove any member, but a replacement must be chosen the same way as the replaced member was selected.