Source: United States Department of Justice
CHEYENNE, Wyo. Kenneth Charles Trenholm, 36, of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson imposed the sentence in Cheyenne.
Source: United States Department of Justice
LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas man was sentenced today by United States District Chief Judge Andrew P. Gordon to 24 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release for unlawfully manufacturing and selling firearms and machinegun conversion devices and possession with the intent to sell methamphetamine. The government requested 57 months’ imprisonment.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Thomas Pauken II Sentenced to Federal Prison to be Followed by 36 Months of Supervised Release with No Overseas Travel
Thomas Weir Pauken II, 51, an American citizen who lived and worked in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), was sentenced today to two years in prison and 36 months of supervised release with no overseas travel for acting as an agent of a foreign government within the United States.
“Pauken exploited his U.S. citizenship and corresponding ability to travel to the U.S. without restriction in order to support Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operations, recruiting, and gathering of sensitive information from potential assets,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Pauken betrayed his country for money. The National Security Division is committed to holding accountable anyone who aids or abets Chinese espionage efforts.”
“Thomas Pauken knowingly assisted a foreign adversary in actively subverting the government of the United States for his own financial gain,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This was not an isolated act; Pauken continued his course of conduct to aid China for seven years. It is unconscionable that an American citizen would not only undermine the interests of the United States, but also facilitate others in doing so.”
“Thomas Pauken admitted to working at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security to attempt to infiltrate U.S. political circles while also providing new recruitment targets for his Chinese handlers,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “This case illustrates the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions, and it also demonstrates the FBI’s resolve to defend the homeland from threats to our national security. The sentencing provides a clear warning: anyone operating as an agent of a foreign government against the U.S. will be found by the FBI and held accountable.”
According to court documents, from at least 2019 until February 2026, Pauken worked at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the PRC, including a person he met in 2017 identified as “Cathy.” Cathy provided Pauken with taskings, including meeting with potential intelligence assets, providing them with devices such as a laptop and cellphone to communicate with Cathy, providing taskings for the assets on what information was required, and providing Cathy with reports from the assets.
Pauken received at least $100,000 for his work with Cathy. Cathy also paid for Pauken to travel several times between 2019 through 2025 from China to meet with individuals in the United States who could provide Pauken, and ultimately Cathy and the MSS, with information.
Pauken worked for two other people in China whom he met in 2017 and knew as “Richard” and “William.” They told Pauken that reports he wrote for them went to Japan, but Pauken believed they worked for the PRC government.
Pauken also sold reports to a group of Chinese individuals from Wuhan who sought information about technology and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Wuhan clients wanted Pauken to find an expert to help them engage in cyber espionage.
The FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office investigated the case with the assistance of the FBI Washington Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gavin R. Tisdale the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence & Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Hershel Andrew Green, III, 43, of the District of Columbia, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in connection with distributing videos and images of adult males engaged in sexually explicit activity with young male children, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Novum Pharmaceutical Research Services of Delaware, Inc. (“Novum”), a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $3,345,000 to resolve allegations that it improperly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) for which it was not eligible.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
NEW ORLEANS, LA – ROBERT HINES (“HINES”), age 47 of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, was sentenced on August 27, 2026, to 60 months of imprisonment by United States District Judge Barry Ashe for violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Greenbelt, Maryland – A Maryland man received a federal-prison term, today, stemming from a social-security disability benefits scam. U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby sentenced Andrew Langford, 50, of Ft. Washington, to eight months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud in connection with the scheme. U.S. Social Security Administration records show that from January 2014 through May 2021, Langford received more than $270,000 in disability benefits that he was not entitled to.
Source: United States Department of Justice
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal judge sentenced a Baltimore man, today, for his role in a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) operating in a Baltimore open-air drug market. U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced Damon Toogood, 47, to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Source: United States Department of Justice
MOBILE, AL – Timothy Chandler, 23, a United States Postal Service contract mail carrier, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock to a time served sentence, after spending over 30 days in jail, for delay and destruction of mail.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal judge in Memphis, Tennessee, today sentenced Courtney Trenell, 34, of Memphis, to 15 years in prison for aiding and abetting two bank robberies and joining a conspiracy to rob six banks. Eight men were indicted in this case, with Trenell and three co-defendants being convicted in jury trials and the others pleading guilty.
“This defendant took part in two separate bank robberies as part of a violent robbery crew,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The series of bank robberies committed by these eight defendants threatened the lives of hardworking Americans and terrorized bank employees and customers. Those who commit these dangerous robberies will be prosecuted, regardless of their role.”
“This is precisely the type of violent offender that threatens lives and public safety in Memphis,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee. “Armed bank robberies are brazen and disturbing acts of violence that terrorize our community and must be met with significant sentences such as this one. Trenell is a dangerous offender who has sown violence and greed and will now reap the full measure of consequences for his criminal conduct.”
“This sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to working with our partners to bring to justice those who resort to bank robbery for criminal profit,” said Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “We will continue to dedicate the necessary resources to pursue those who terrorize our communities and will not rest until offenders are held accountable for their actions.”
Evidence at trial proved that between April 2023 and December 2023, Trenell joined a conspiracy to rob banks throughout Memphis. Trenell drove a getaway car to aid co-defendants in orchestrating and escaping the robberies of Bank of Bartlett and First Horizon Bank branches, which are located across the street from one another, on Oct. 20, 2023. The defendants robbed each bank at the same time to confuse and evade law enforcement.
A jury convicted Trenell of two counts of aiding and abetting a bank robbery and one count of joining a conspiracy to rob banks after an eight-day trial in July 2025. Trenell’s trial co-defendants, Devins Hinds, 36, and Joshua Cribbs, 33, both of Memphis, were also found guilty of joining a conspiracy to rob banks in Memphis and robbing specific banks. Hinds was found guilty of additional firearm offenses as well. In a January 2026 trial, a separate jury found defendant Mario Patterson, 45, of Memphis, guilty of robbing three banks in the same conspiracy as Trenell and other defendants.
Last year, Hinds and Cribbs were sentenced to 194 months and 144 months in prison, respectively. Another co-defendant, Robert Haley, 45, pleaded guilty before trial and was sentenced to 204 months in prison in December 2025. Three additional defendants, Monterrio Trenell, Travis Drain, and Mario Patterson, await sentencing later this year.
The FBI and the Memphis Police Department investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Ashleigh Atasoy of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory A. Wagner and Tony Arvin for the Western District of Tennessee prosecuted the case.
This case is part of the Safe Streets Task Force’s efforts to prosecute violent crimes in Memphis, Tennessee, and surrounding areas. This case is also part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative to prosecute violent crimes in Memphis, Tennessee, and surrounding areas. The Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee have partnered, along with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, to confront violent crimes committed by gang members and associates through the enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources to prosecute the violent offenders and prevent further violence.