Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Tallahassee, Florida – Israel Ramos Portillo, a/k/a “Juan Carlos”, 39, a citizen of Honduras who resided in Coffee Springs, Alabama, was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison after a jury previously found him guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Source: United States Navy
For the first time since 2014, the Navy will bring more than 90 Sailors to Omaha from June 15-21 to engage in a week-long series of performances, educational events and service projects in celebration of the Navy and Nation’s 250th anniversary.
Source: United States Navy
Brazilian Navy Lt. Fernando De Oliveira has been awarded the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Outstanding Academic Achievement Award for International Student for his NPS thesis research, a patent-pending breakthrough in 5G network security that could provide operators with a scalable, mission-tuned approach for secure tactical communications.
Source: United States Army
FORT POLK, La. — The Virginia Army National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team is testing its combat readiness during a Joint Readiness Training Center, or JRTC, rotation May 31 – July 1.
The rotation marks a historic milestone for the brigade and the Army National Guard. The 116th is the first Army National Guard brigade to conduct a JRTC rotation as a mobile brigade combat team, or MBCT, after officially transforming from an infantry brigade combat team to an MBCT in October 2025.
The training gives Soldiers and leaders an opportunity to validate new formations, equipment and tactics in a demanding, large-scale combat environment while preparing for future overseas deployments and domestic response missions.
“Unlike typical annual training, this rotation involves a large-scale combat operations simulation aimed at validating the readiness of brigade-sized units for global missions,” said Col. Arthur S. Moore, commander of the 116th. “This exercise is a key event in a multi-year training cycle and represents a generational opportunity, as many National Guard Soldiers may have this experience only once in their careers.”
About 3,000 Soldiers assigned to the 116th MBCT are participating in the JRTC rotation, along with units from 18 states and territories, three U.S. Army Reserve units and international partners, including members of the Finnish Defense Forces. Virginia and Finland are formally paired through the Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program.
“This premier training event allows the Soldiers and leaders of the 116th to operationalize the new formations and equipment to prepare for upcoming [outside the continental United States] deployments and support domestic missions,” said Brig. Gen. Rusty McGuire, the assistant adjutant general – Army strategic initiatives of the Virginia National Guard and the senior trainer for the JRTC rotation.
The MBCT concept is part of the U.S. Army’s continuous transformation effort to build units that are more agile and lethal. The formation incorporates three infantry battalions, adds a multipurpose company to each battalion and includes a multifunctional reconnaissance company at the brigade level.
The 116th became the first Army National Guard brigade to test and evaluate an approved task organization for an MBCT during its 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability, or XCTC, rotation in June 2025 at Fort Pickett, Virginia.
Since the XCTC rotation and formal transition to an MBCT, the brigade has prepared for JRTC by fielding and training on new Infantry Squad Vehicles and incorporating new unmanned aircraft systems and electronic warfare capabilities. The brigade has also worked with the Army Research Laboratory to integrate new technology designed to help Soldiers operate on the modern battlefield.
“Our partnership with the Army Research Laboratory is pivotal to the Virginia National Guard’s commitment to modernization and readiness,” McGuire said. “This collaboration ensures our Soldiers are at the forefront of innovation, equipped to counter emerging threats and prepared to excel in overseas deployments. It highlights the vital role our Guard members play in advancing the security of our nation.”
Moore said, “Our brigade is trained and ready to win the first battle alongside the active U.S. Army if our nation calls upon us.”
“JRTC provides the ultimate test of our systems against a world-class opposing force. This ensures that when our Soldiers go to war, they do so with the absolute best preparation,” Moore said.
Read more about the 116th MBCT and their transformation on the Virginia National Guard website.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Haji Najibullah, 50, of Afghanistan, also known as “Najibullah Naim,” also known as “Abu Tayeb,” also known as “Atiqullah,” also known as “Nesar Ahmad Mohammad,” was sentenced to 42 years in prison and five years of supervised release for terrorism charges based on his role in the hostage taking of an American journalist and two Afghan nationals in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008 and 2009, and his leadership of Taliban fighters who carried out attacks on U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers and other victims. On April 25, 2025, Najibullah pleaded guilty to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
“Those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American servicemembers and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians. Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families.”
“This former Taliban commander led fighters who committed acts of terrorism that resulted in the killing of U.S. servicemembers and engaged in hostage-taking, and now he will pay the price for his brutal crimes,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The men and women of the FBI will not forget when Americans are killed or taken hostage by terrorists. We will find you no matter where you are and work with our partners to bring you to justice.”
“Najibullah commanded Taliban fighters responsible for enforcing the Taliban’s ruthless reign of terror, including fighters who carried out the 2008 attack that killed three U.S. servicemembers and their interpreter,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “However incomplete, today’s sentence delivers long‑awaited accountability and a measure of justice to the families of the victims.”
“Haji Najibullah, a former Taliban commander, is a convicted terrorist whose conduct resulted in the brutal hostage taking of innocent civilians and the killing of U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “He caused unimaginable harm to the victims of his crimes and their loved ones. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that there will be dire consequences for those who aim to harm Americans and our brave military personnel through acts of terror. Our Office, and our dedicated partners in law enforcement, will continue to investigate, prosecute, and bring to justice terrorists around the world.”
As reflected in the charging instruments, court filings, and statements in the public record:
Starting in or around October 2001, as a result of the U.S. and NATO-led invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Taliban — a militant Islamist organization that provided safe harbor to some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, including Osama bin Laden —engaged in a deadly insurgency campaign aimed at killing U.S. servicemembers and their allies and terrorizing civilians. As part of that campaign of jihadist violence, the Taliban conducted numerous suicide bombings, targeted killings, assassinations, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, paramilitary ambushes, and hostage takings against military personnel and civilians.
Between in or around 2007 and 2009, Najibullah served as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, which borders Kabul. During that time, Taliban fighters under his command were prepared to and did carry out deadly attacks against American and NATO troops and their Afghan allies, using, among other things, (i) suicide bombers, (ii) automatic weapons, (iii) IEDs, and (iv) rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and other anti-tank weapons and explosives, including against U.S. military helicopters. Najibullah proudly spoke about the brutality of the attacks that he and his men were prepared to conduct, including by stating that his men were “ready to die” and “put on a belt and blow themselves up if we ask them.”
On or about June 26, 2008, Taliban fighters under Najibullah’s command ambushed and attacked a U.S. military convoy in the vicinity of Wardak Province, Afghanistan, with IEDs, RPGs, and automatic weapons, killing three U.S. Army servicemembers: Sergeants First Class Matthew L. Hilton and Joseph A. McKay and Sergeant Mark Palmateer, as well as their Afghan interpreter. Several other servicemembers were also injured in the attack. Najibullah later claimed responsibility for the attack, telling multiple individuals that his men carried out the attack and that it resulted in the deaths of U.S. servicemembers. A few months later, he and fighters under his command attacked and destroyed an Afghan National Police outpost using automatic weapons and rockets, reportedly killing three Afghan police officers.
Najibullah’s campaign of terror also was directed at civilians. On or about Nov. 10, 2008, Najibullah and other Taliban fighters kidnapped an American New York Times journalist (Hostage-1) and two Afghan nationals traveling with Hostage-1 at gunpoint in Afghanistan. For the next approximately seven months, Najibullah held the hostages captive in the Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan, under the constant watch of guards armed with machineguns. Najibullah and his co-conspirators forced the hostages to make ransom calls and proof of life videos, intended to extort ransom payments and the release of Taliban prisoners by the United States Government, and during which the hostages emotionally pleaded for their lives. In one such video, Najibullah forced Hostage-1 to say, with a machinegun pointed at his head, “If you don’t help me, I will die. Now, the key is in your hand. . . . If you do not meet their demands, you will be responsible for my killing, not the Taliban. Please help me, please have mercy on me. Do not shed my blood. Please, save me. I want to go home.” Eventually, the hostages were able to escape and return to their families.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD. He also thanked the New York and New Jersey Port Authority Police, the Department of Defense, and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division for their assistance with this investigation, as well as the Ukrainian authorities and the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division for their assistance in the arrest and transfer of the defendant.
This prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and David J. Robles are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Jennifer Burke of the Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
SAN DIEGO – San Diego Police Detective Sergeant William “Bill” Miles today received the first “Hometown Hero” Award in recognition of his extraordinary leadership, compassion, and tireless efforts to combat the fentanyl epidemic in San Diego County. The inaugural award was presented by U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon at a ceremony at the DEA San Diego headquarters today.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A U.S.-based technology company, Vercel Inc., agreed today to a enter a Stipulated Dismissal with the United States to resolve civil contempt proceedings related to Vercel’s failure to comply with a federal search warrant issued under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. According to court documents, Vercel Inc., failed to comply with its obligation to disclose information as required by a federal search warrant issued out of the District of Nebraska, until a federal magistrate judge made a preliminary finding that Vercel was in contempt of court.
“When a federal court issues a search warrant, it is not a suggestion, but a mandatory directive, essential to the pursuit of justice, that a recipient company must comply with,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division pursues technology companies who fail to uphold their lawfully mandated obligations. We are pleased Vercel has belatedly complied and accepted responsibility for the unnecessary costs incurred by the Government in this matter.”
“A private company withheld evidence in a federal investigation, and that poor choice landed them in federal court in Nebraska,” said U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods for the District of Nebraska. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not stand for failure to comply with judicially authorized search warrants. We will protect our federal investigations to the fullest extent of the law. We are grateful to our partners at the Criminal Division who helped us recover this critical evidence.”
“While leading a high priority investigation with national and international impact, FBI Omaha and our partners served a lawfully predicated federal search warrant on Vercel Inc.,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office. “Vercel Inc.’s failure to comply with a lawful court order forced investigators and prosecutors to divert valuable time and resources away from primary investigative matters. To fulfill our mission of protecting the American People and upholding the Constitution with the speed and agility the public expects of us, we rely on companies promptly and completely providing evidence in response to lawful court orders. We will continue working with our Department of Justice partners to aggressively pursue accountability for organizations that fail to uphold their legal responsibilities.”
On Aug. 11, 2025, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryan Carson issued a search warrant requiring Vercel to disclose the contents of a specified user account in its possession, custody, and control. Three days after Vercel received the search warrant, but prior to Vercel taking any action to execute the warrant, the user deleted the account. Although the deleted information was still located in Vercel’s servers in a deletion queue, Vercel did not recover that information and only provided the Government with some records associated with the account. Vercel failed to meet its obligations to produce the entire contents of the account, believing and representing to the court that the records had been deleted.
On Feb. 2 upon motion from the government and following a hearing as to why Vercel should not be held in civil contempt for failure to comply with the warrant, Magistrate Judge Carson issued an order finding that the Government had established a prima facia case of civil contempt and certified the case to a U.S. District Judge for further proceedings. Only after this finding, on Feb. 5 did Vercel fully comply with the warrant by turning over files it previously believed it did not possess and previously could not locate.
As part of the Stipulated Dismissal, Vercel admitted that at the time it received the search warrant, Vercel’s legal process response tools were inadequate in two ways, which together caused their failure to timely comply with the warrant. First, the tools were not designed in a way that permitted members of Vercel’s Trust and Safety team to locate, preserve, and produce certain content. Second, they were not designed in a way that permitted members of Vercel’s Trust and Safety team to locate, preserve, and produce content that resided in a deletion queue. Vercel has since updated its legal process response tools and procedures to enable the preservation and production of certain content associated with customer accounts, including content that is held in a deletion queue. Vercel has also agreed to pay the Government for the costs it incurred in litigating this matter.
FBI’s Omaha Field Office sought and obtained the original search warrant issued to Vercel as part of an ongoing investigation. Vercel is not and never was a target of the underlying criminal investigation. The warrant was served under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows law enforcement to use a search warrant to compel providers to disclose the contents of specified user records.
Senior Counsel Michael J. Christin of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean P. Lynch and Daniel D. Packard for the District of Nebraska are litigating the case.
CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime and intellectual property (IP) crime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cyber and IP criminals, and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
PHOENIX, Ariz. – During the week of enforcement operations from May 30, 2026, through June 5, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 271 individuals. Specifically, the United States filed 137 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 113 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States filed 16 cases against 20 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona. Federal prosecutors also charged one defendant for assaulting an ICE agent.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A California man was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business, and money laundering.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Jason Noah Feinman, of Calabasas, California, operated a Costa Rica-based business that, among other things, operated a website used by unlicensed and illegal gambling businesses to facilitate their gambling activities. The website enabled customers of the gambling businesses to place bets through websites the defendant maintained, which is illegal under state and federal law.
Feinman then laundered the cash he derived from his business by exchanging it for checks made out to him or one of his businesses. For example, between May 18, 2018, and January 2, 2024, Feinman gave one of his customers more than $1.5 million in cash; in exchange he received 18 checks payable to him or his businesses for an equivalent amount. Overall, Feinman exchanged between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in cash for checks.
Between 2018 and 2022, Feinman also evaded taxes on income he earned through his illegal gambling business. Despite earning approximately $1.8 million in income in 2020, Feinman reported no taxable income to the IRS on his 2020 tax return and paid no tax for the year. In total, Feinman evaded taxes on approximately $4.2 million in income.
Feinman pleaded guilty to one count each of tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business, and money laundering.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys John C. Gerardi and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Jose Saez, Jr., a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino church located in Brentwood, New York, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack to 210 months in prison for sexual exploitation of a child. Saez communicated with minor victims over the internet, coerced them into creating and sending him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, and coerced a minor to engage in sexual acts with the defendant at a public park on Long Island. Saez pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2025.