MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota State Trooper Jeremy Francis Plonski was charged today in a four-count indictment in U.S. District Court for the production and distribution of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

Plonski had been previously charged via federal complaint with one count of producing child pornography and had been ordered detained pending trial. Plonski faces a mandatory minimum of fifteen years and up to life in prison if convicted.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office has zero tolerance for public officials who violate federal laws—particularly those laws that protect vulnerable children from sexual abuse,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “Plonski took an oath to protect and serve our community. While donning his uniform, Plonski committed one of the most vile and predatory offenses imaginable. This is abhorrent—to Minnesota as a whole and to our law enforcement community in particular. I am proud of the swift and decisive action of law enforcement, who responded immediately and worked cooperatively to take Plonski into custody.”

“The conduct alleged in this case is horrifying and a gross betrayal of public trust,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. “Law enforcement officers are sworn to protect the most vulnerable among us — not exploit them. When someone in a position of authority commits such an egregious and despicable crime, the damage extends beyond the victim — it shakes the very foundation of our communities’ trust. The FBI and our partners will not hesitate to investigate and bring to justice anyone who preys on children, no matter their badge or title.”

“The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is committed to working with our federal, state and local partners to identify and hold accountable those who sexually abuse children,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “We will pursue anyone who wishes to harm children in our communities.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office thanks the FBI for their investigation and hard work, as well as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Shakopee Police Department.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office also thanks the Minnesota State Patrol for their work and assistance in safely apprehending the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Bobier is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Three individuals were sentenced yesterday for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL), out of tens of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Macovian Doston, 31, of Vienna, Georgia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date.

Shatara Hubbard, 36, of Warner Robins, Georgia, was sentenced to 6 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date.

Torella Wynn, 33, of Cordele, Georgia, was sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, from March 2020 through November 2022, Doston, Hubbard, Wynn and their co-conspirators caused more than 5,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims to be filed with the GaDOL, resulting in at least $30 million in stolen benefits.

To execute the scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators created fictitious employers and fabricated lists of purported employees using personally identifiable information (PII) from thousands of identity theft victims and filed fraudulent unemployment insurance claims on the GaDOL website. The conspirators obtained PII for use in the scheme from a variety of sources, including by paying an employee of an Atlanta-area health care and hospital network to unlawfully obtain patients’ PII from the hospital’s databases, and by purchasing PII from other sources over the internet. Using victims’ PII, Doston, Hubbard, Wynn and their co-conspirators caused the stolen UI funds to be disbursed via prepaid debit cards mailed to various locations.

“The defendants orchestrated a $30 million fraud by using stolen identities to obtain thousands of unemployment insurance payouts under false pretenses,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively combat complex frauds that waste public funds. I thank the prosecutors and our law enforcement partners for their diligence and dedication to seeking justice for the United States.” 

“Macovian Doston, Shatara Hubbard, and Torella Wynn engaged in a scheme to defraud the GaDOL by creating several fictitious employer accounts. After creating the fictitious accounts, the defendants submitted thousands of fraudulent UI claims to GaDOL to obtain UI benefits in the names of identity theft victims and other unwitting individuals who were not entitled to such benefits. The identity theft victims and unwitting participants were purported employees of several fictitious companies, which were created to execute this fraud scheme. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the UI system from those who exploit this benefit program,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the Southeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

“These sentences underline our dedication to holding people accountable who exploit federal relief programs for personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Ulrich of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “As proven in this case, our criminal investigators and the legal teams at the Department of Justice will diligently pursue anyone who attempts to commit fraud and exploit programs created to help legitimate people and businesses affected by the global pandemic.”   

“DHS OIG will continue to investigate the misuse of COVID pandemic funds and together with our law enforcement partners, hold fraudsters accountable.” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, PH.d.

The court previously sentenced four other co-conspirators that were charged in the Nov. 8, 2022 indictment. In Oct. 2024, Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 32, of Vienna, Georgia was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In Sept. 2024, Kenya Whitehead, 37, of Cordele, Georgia was sentenced to 28 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In Oct. 2024, A’Darrion Alexander, 29, of Warner Robins, Georgia was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In May 2024, Membrish Brown, 29, of Vienna, Georgia was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. 

DOL-OIG, IRS-CI, USPS-OIG, USPIS, USSS, HSI, and DHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Lyndie Freeman, Siji Moore, Matthew Kahn, and Andrew Jaco of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. 

Source: US FBI

DETROIT — Stephen Lewis Gentry, 35, of Clinton Township, Michigan, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for creating images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children, announced U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In addition to the 40-year sentence, United States District Court Judge Terrence G. Berg sentenced Gentry to a lifetime of supervised release upon his release from prison.

Gentry’s recent crimes came to light after the FBI learned that he was distributing images of child sexually abusive material that he created over a clandestine network. When the FBI searched Gentry’s house, they found evidence that Gentry had produced child sexually abusive material depicting numerous minor victims.

Gentry pleaded guilty on February 12, 2025, to sexual exploitation of children. At the time he was charged in this case, Gentry was already a registered sex offender, having three prior convictions relating to the sexual abuse or exploitation of children.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Alsaden, Tara Hindelang, and Christopher Rawsthorne.

Source: US FBI

DETROIT – A New York man pleaded guilty today to a federal crime for threatening Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. and Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to court documents, on October 21, 2023, AG Nessel posted to her X account a photograph of herself and her friend who had been murdered that day. Along with the photograph, AG Nessel described her friend’s faith and contributions to the community and expressed grief and shock about the murder. The next day, Kevin Delgado, 40, of Bayside, New York, posted a threatening reply to AG Nessel’s post. Delgado then pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce. Delgado admitted that he threatened her because of her religion and her perceived sexual orientation.

“The federal government is dedicated to protecting all Americans against threats of violence. Everyone person has equal dignity, and our office will tirelessly work to protect them. And public officials must be free to exercise their office without fear,” U.S. Attorney Gorgon said.

“Threatening public officials is both illegal and unacceptable. The hateful comments made by Mr. Delgado online were especially outrageous,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable those who make these dangerous and harmful threats against officials dedicated to serving and protecting our communities.”

Delgado will be sentenced by United States District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds on September 22, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lee Carlson.

Source: US FBI

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A federal jury convicted Dimitric Wilson, a Twin Cities resident originally from Detroit, with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute, and distributing fentanyl while on pretrial release, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

According to court documents and evidence at trial, law enforcement set out to discover a supplier of fentanyl in Wisconsin and Minnesota, including in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. After an extensive investigation, Dimitric Timopkin Wilson, 46, was identified and stopped by the Minnesota State Patrol as he traveled back to the Twin Cities from Detroit. When apprehended by law enforcement, Wilson and the other passenger gave inconsistent stories regarding their activities in Detroit. The State Patrol used a drug dog to sniff the car for narcotics. The drug dog alerted to the odor of drugs, resulting in a search of the vehicle. State troopers noticed an electrical panel that was altered. The officers opened the panel and located four separate vacuum-sealed packages hidden with a natural void accessible from the panel area.  The packages contained multiple sub-packages and were ultimately found to contain approximately a kilogram of fentanyl, a package containing heroin, cocaine and fentanyl, and another package containing crack cocaine. After being charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and given terms of release pending trial, Wilson was documented selling fentanyl to a government informant.

On May 15, 2025, a jury convicted Wilson of all three counts on which he was indicted. Wilson was previously sentenced to a state misdemeanor conviction for maintaining a drug house, a state felony conviction for carrying a concealed weapon, and a federal felony conviction for conspiring to distribute heroin.  Due to his prior federal conviction for conspiring to distribute heroin, Wilson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for the possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute conviction and a mandatory consecutive sentence of up to 10 years for his conviction for distributing fentanyl while on pretrial release.

“I laud the hard work of the agents and officers who exposed Wilson as a major fentanyl trafficker, running routes from Detroit to Minnesota,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.  “Wilson showed that he would not be stopped—despite a prior federal conviction, he peddled his poison to the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation.  Outrageously, after being released from custody, Wilson yet again trafficked in fentanyl, this time selling drugs to a government informant.  Wilson rightly faces serious federal time.  Wilson—and others who would bring deadly fentanyl to Minnesota and to our vulnerable Indian reservations—should be prepared to spend decades in federal prison.”

“Fentanyl continues to ravage communities across the country, fueling addiction, tragedy, and loss,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. “One of the FBI’s top priorities is to protect the American people, and that means holding accountable the individuals and networks responsible for pushing fentanyl into our communities. The FBI and our partners are committed to removing these drug traffickers from our neighborhoods and stopping the flow of fentanyl at its source.”

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Mille Lacs Tribal Police Department, the East Central Drug Task Force, the Sawyer County (Wisconsin) Sheriff’s Office, the Wisconsin State Patrol, and the Lac Courte Oreilles (Wisconsin) Tribal Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Campbell Warner and Allen A. Slaughter prosecuted the case.

Source: US FBI

BOSTON – A Mission Hill gang member with multiple prior convictions has pleaded guilty to three separate indictments charging him with a sweeping slate of federal charges – including trafficking firearms, defrauding a credit union of over $130,000 and stealing mail as part of a large-scale “card cracking” scheme that caused up to half a million dollars in losses.

Glenroy Miller, a/k/a “Trinny,” 28, of Boston, pleaded guilty on May 9, 2025 to three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; one count of unlawful possession of a machinegun; one count of trafficking in firearms; two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; one count of bank fraud and aiding and abetting; and one count of conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Aug. 7, 2025.

In September 2019, Miller was convicted in Suffolk Superior Court of possession of a firearm without a permit; carrying a firearm with ammunition; possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number; and resisting arrest. He was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison, followed by two years’ probation. In December 2019, shortly after beginning his state prison sentence, Miller conspired with long-time friend Nadaje Hendrix to defraud a credit union where Hendrix served as a loan officer and assistant branch manager at the time. Specifically, between December 2019 and August 2021, the two defrauded the credit union by obtaining loans in the names of other individuals, including Miller’s fellow inmates, as well as loans under stolen identities. In total, Miller and Hendrix defrauded the credit union of approximately $134,000. The two were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2024 in relation to this conduct. In October 2024, Hendrix was sentenced to eight months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in July 2024.

In the summer of 2023, upon his release from state prison, and prior to his January 2024 indictment, Miller conspired with other Mission Hill members to engage in a mail theft and “card cracking” scheme while on probation. According to court documents, card cracking involves the theft of checks – usually checks stolen from USPS collection boxes – which are chemically washed to remove the payee information. The checks are then rewritten in the names of others who have typically been recruited into the scheme via social media, deposited into their bank accounts and withdrawn or transferred as soon the funds are made available. According to the signed plea agreement, Miller is responsible for $250,000 – $550,000 in losses or attempted losses via checks that were stolen from the mail, washed and/or deposited into recruited accounts between June 2023 and February 2024. In August 2024, Miller was indicted by a federal grand jury along with eight other Mission Hill gang members and associates for their alleged roles in the card cracking scheme.

Additionally, during the summer of 2023, while on state probation, Miller sold six firearms to a cooperating witness on four separate occasions on Aug. 7, 2023 and Oct. 24, 2023. One of the sales included a firearm with a high-capacity magazine equipped with a machinegun conversion device. Additionally, Miller was aware that the cooperating witness was a convicted felon who was prohibited from purchasing or possessing the firearms.

The charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition each provide for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of unlawful possession of a machinegun provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of trafficking in firearms provides for a sentence up to 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. The charge of conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; James Crowley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Randy Maloney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Boston and Wellesley Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kriss Basil, Lucy Sun and Philip C. Cheng of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.