Source: US FBI
An Indian national, residing in New York, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to staging armed robberies in furtherance of a visa fraud conspiracy.
Former Henry County Jail Corrections Officer Sentenced for Excessive Force on an Inmate
Source: US FBI
INDIANAPOLIS— Curtis Doughty, 28, of Muncie, has been sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.
According to court documents, Doughty was employed as a corrections officer in the Henry County Jail, as well as a member of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT). On February 13, 2024, Doughty participated in a scheduled search of an inmate housing pod in the jail. During the search, inmates were moved into a holding area in the recreation yard and ordered to sit on the floor facing the wall while officers searched the cells for contraband.
Doughty was one of two officers responsible for directing inmates to face the wall and remain seated. When inmate M.F. turned his head away from the wall, Doughty, without warning, shot his pepper ball gun at point blank range into the inmate’s spine. The pepper ball shot caused bodily injury to the inmate. Doughty then yelled to the other inmates in the holding area, “congratulations, you all inhale that now,” in reference to the pepper ball gas.
Shortly after the incident, other members of the SERT team reported it to a commander. The commander pulled Doughty from duty and sent him home, recognizing the egregious use of force. Prior to the incident, Doughty had received training on defensive tactics, physical tactics, Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT) training, jail physical and defensive tactics, and new jail officer training. Doughty had been trained on the “response to resistance ladder,” which states that inmates need to be “actively resistant” to justify use of the pepper ball gun. However, M.F. was not resisting and no force was necessary under this scenario.
“Corrections officers are empowered by the government to care for inmates. When a corrections officer takes the law into their own hands and uses excessive force to punish inmates, they endanger not only that inmate, but they create a greater incentive to resist rather than cooperate, and thereby endanger their colleagues as well,” said John E. Childress, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Today’s sentencing underscores our unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring accountability for all individuals, regardless of their occupation or authority.”
“Everyone, regardless of their status or circumstance, is entitled to dignity and no one should fear for their safety at the hands of those tasked with their care,” said FBI Indianapolis Acting Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans. “When correctional officers act with such disregard for those in their care, it is a betrayal of the oath they took to protect, not harm. The FBI will continue to work to ensure civil rights are protected inside every facility.”
The FBI investigated this case, with valuable assistance provided by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Matthew P. Brookman.
Acting U.S. Attorney Childress thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter A. Blackett and Carolyn A. Haney, who prosecuted this case.
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Georgian National Extradited from Moldova to Face Charges for Soliciting Hate Crimes and Planning Mass Casualty Attack in New York City
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Leader of White Supremacist Group ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Recruited Others to Bomb and Poison the Jewish Community and Racial Minorities Defendant Allegedly Planned Scheme to Distribute Poisoned Candy on New Year’s Eve
Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as Mishka, Michael, Commander Butcher, and Butcher, 21, of Tbilisi, was extradited to the United States from Moldova on May 22, and will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn today. Chkhikvishvili was arrested in Chișinău, Moldova, in July 2024 in connection with a four-count indictment returned in the Eastern District of New York charging him with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City.
According to court documents, Chkhikvishvili is a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as Maniacs Murder Cult, Maniacs: Cult of Killing, MKY, MMC and MKU, an international racially-motivated violent extremist group. As alleged in the indictment, Chkhikvishvili recruited people to commit violent acts in furtherance of MKY’s ideologies, including planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York City.
“This case is a stark reminder of the kind of terrorism we face today: online networks plotting unspeakable acts of violence against children, families, and the Jewish community in pursuit of a depraved, extremist ideology,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate hate-fueled violence, and we will pursue those who threaten innocent lives wherever they may be.”
“The defendant is accused of recruiting others to kill Jewish people, kill racial minorities, and of providing instructions on how to commit other lethal attacks — even targeting children around the holidays by poisoning candy,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “These allegations are despicable, and thanks to the work and partnership of the FBI and the authorities in Moldova, Michail Chkhikvishvili has been brought to the United States to face charges in our justice system.”
“As alleged, the defendant, a white supremacist, recruited others to participate in a violent campaign of hatred against racial minorities and the Jewish community and to engage in the mass killing of children and others in these communities using poison, suicide bombs, firearms, arson fires, and vehicle explosions. Today’s extradition is a giant step forward in holding the defendant accountable for his unspeakably reprehensible and vile efforts to spread fear, chaos, and hate,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “Protecting our homeland, city, district, and country from violent extremists will always be one of the top priorities of the Justice Department and my office.”
Chkhikvishvili’s MKY adheres to a neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems “undesirables.” MKY members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos. MKY has members in the United States and abroad.
Since approximately September 2021, Chkhikvishvili has distributed a manifesto titled the “Hater’s Handbook” to MKY members and others. The Hater’s Handbook encourages people to commit acts of mass violence. In the Hater’s Handbook, Chkhikvishvili states that he has “murdered for the white race” and encourages and instructs others to commit acts of mass violence and “ethnic cleansing.” For example, the Hater’s Handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities. The Hater’s Handbook describes methods and strategies for committing mass “terror attacks,” including, for example, using vehicles to target “large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations and parades” and “pedestrian congested streets.” The Hater’s Handbook specifically encourages committing attacks within the United States.
In June 2022, Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn. As alleged, beginning at least as early as July 2022, Chkhikvishvili repeatedly encouraged others, primarily via the encryption-enabled mobile messaging platform Telegram, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence on behalf of MKY. This included conspiring to solicit violent acts with the leader of a separate violent extremist neo-Nazi group, and soliciting acts of mass violence in New York from an individual who claimed to be a prospective MKY recruit, but who, unbeknownst to Chkhikvishvili, was actually an undercover FBI employee (the UC).
In a September 2023 conversation, the UC messaged Chkhikvishvili asking whether there was an application process to join MKY. The defendant responded, “we ask people for brutal beating, arson/explosion or murder vids on camera.” Chkhikvishvili further stated that “[p]oisoning and arson are best options for murder,” and suggested also considering a larger “mass murder[]” within the United States. Chkhikvishvili advised the UC that the victims of these acts should be “low race targets.”
Beginning in approximately November 2023, Chkhikvishvili solicited the UC to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others. Chkhikvishvili provided detailed plans and materials such as bomb-making instructions and guidance on making Molotov cocktails to facilitate carrying out these crimes. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City to take place on New Year’s Eve. The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities.
In January, the scheme evolved and Chkhikvishvili specifically directed the UC to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison. Chkhikvishvili drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme and shared detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases with the UC. He also instructed the UC on methods of making ricin-based poisons in powder and liquid form, including by extracting ricin from castor beans. Chkhikvishvili sent materials linked to radical Islamist jihadist groups and designated foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS.
Chkhikvishvili wanted the planned attack to be a “bigger action than Breivik,” referring to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian neo‑Nazi who killed 77 people in a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011. Meanwhile, Chkhikvishvili told others of his plan and claimed to have previously committed other hate crimes while living in Brooklyn in 2022. Chkhikvishvili boasted to others that he was “glad I have murdered,” and that he would “murder more” but “make others murder first.”
Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence have resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world. In August 2024, an individual livestreamed himself stabbing approximately five people outside of a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey, wearing a tactical vest adorned in Nazi symbols. A manifesto attributed to the attacker included explicit references to Chkhikvishvili and to violent statements made by him. Before the attack, the attacker also distributed a link to the Hater’s Handbook, authored by Chkhikvishvili, and other violent propaganda.
If convicted, Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for solicitation of violent felonies (including hate crime acts and transporting an explosive with intent to kill or injure); five years in prison for conspiring to solicit violent felonies; 20 years in prison for distributing information pertaining to the making and use of explosive devices and ricin poison; and five years in prison for transmitting threatening communications.
The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the Department of State, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agents provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Chkhikvishvili from Moldova.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen H. Sise and Andrew D. Reich for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Paralegal Specialists Wayne Colon and Rebecca Roth. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has also provided assistance.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Director of Mobile Medical Diagnostics Company Agrees to Plead Guilty to Kickback Scheme
Source: US FBI
Scheme allegedly resulted in approximately $70.6 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare
BOSTON – A New York-based director of operations and sales for the Northeast region of a mobile medical diagnostics company has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to provide kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.
James Rausch, 57, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.
According to the charging documents, from approximately March 2015 through September 2020, Rausch conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It is alleged that Rausch and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks, some in cash and others by check, based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered. Rausch and his co-conspirators allegedly created purported rental and administrative service agreements that, on paper, made it appear as if the doctors’ practices were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space as well as for administrative costs associated with processing each order – based on fair market value, not based on the volume or value of referrals. It is alleged that these agreements were shams that hid the true nature of the payment arrangement for each test.
It is alleged that the scheme as a whole resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $70.6 million to Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $27.2 million to the TCD company for the fraudulent claims.
The charge of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $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; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; Kelly M. Lawson, Acting Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Taunton Man Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for $1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
Source: US FBI
BOSTON – A Taunton man, formerly of Brockton, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for orchestrating a scheme to defraud various health insurance companies of over $1 million in false reimbursement claims for bogus medical expenses purportedly incurred during international travel.
Henry Ezeonyido, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three of supervised release. Ezeonyido was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution and to forfeit $396,998 in criminal proceeds. In February 2025, Ezeonyido pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.
Ezeonyido was arrested and charged in July 2024 along with co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler and Ariel Lambert. Ezeonyido was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. All four of Ezeonyido’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were subsequently sentenced to probation.
From approximately October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims – on his own behalf and on behalf of at least seven other individuals, including Ashe, Atherton, Cobbler and Lambert – to five different health insurance companies for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while traveling overseas. Many of the claims included fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds and hit and run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered requiring their hospitalization abroad. In nearly all instances, the individuals were actually in the United States at the time of the purported international medical events. Some of the individuals on whose behalf Ezeonyido submitted claims were knowing and willful participants in the scheme, while others either had no knowledge of the claims submitted on their behalf or were manipulated into providing their health insurance information, which Ezeonyido then used to submit fraudulent claims, later demanding a cut of the proceeds.
Ezeonyido submitted fabricated documents to the victim health insurance companies in support of the fraudulent claims, including fabricated medical records purporting to show the medical care received, fabricated bank records purporting to show payment to the international treatment facilities and, where the claim related to a fake traumatic injury, fabricated police reports describing the circumstances of the alleged event. In many instances, the details of the claims – including the purported dates of service, country where the alleged medical event occurred, and nature and circumstances of the alleged injuries – and the fabricated records submitted in support of the claims were nearly identical to one another.
As a result of these fraudulent claims, the victim health insurance companies were billed over $1 million for services that were never provided, resulting in payments totaling approximately $655,313. Upon receiving these payments from their health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert and others, paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators, including Atherton, who acted as an intermediary, bringing others into the scheme in exchange for a cut of their paid claims. In total, Ezeonyido retained approximately $396,998 in fraud proceeds.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division; and Anthony DiPaolo, Insurance Fraud Bureau Executive Director made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie A. Wright of the Health Care Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
Portland Woman Arrested for Interstate Threats and Harassment
Source: US FBI
PORTLAND, Maine: A Portland woman was arrested yesterday on a criminal complaint charging her with making threatening interstate communications and anonymous telecommunications harassment.
According to court records, Alice Jones, 40, made threatening telephone calls to a Supervisory United States Border Patrol Agent and others.
“The FBI takes all threats against law enforcement extremely seriously and we will work with our partners to bring those who set out to undermine their safety to justice,” said Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “What Alice Jones is accused of is not only an attack on these individuals, but the entire criminal justice system.”
The FBI investigated the case.
Criminal complaints are merely allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Murray Man Sentenced for Distribution of Child Pornography
Source: US FBI
United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Michael Scott, 60, of Murray, Nebraska, was sentenced on May 8, 2025, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, for Distribution of Child Pornography. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Scott to 300 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Scott’s release from prison, he will begin a 10-year term of supervised release. Scott was also ordered to pay $69,000 in restitution.
The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) received a cybertip from Discord reporting a user had uploaded two files depicting alleged child pornography. An Investigator with NSP was able to view the images and confirm they were child pornography.
The Investigator confirmed the phone number from the cybertip belonged to Scott at his address in Murray. A search warrant was executed for the Discord account from the cybertip. A review of the contents found the distribution of additional child pornography. There were at least seven images of child pornography uploaded to the Discord account, at least one of which was included in the cybertip.
During a search of Scott’s residence, Investigators recovered 14 electronic devices. During a review of Scott’s cellphone, Investigators found a total of 19,807 photos of child pornography and 5,126 videos of child pornography. Among the other devices, Investigators found 200 additional photos of child pornography. Investigators also found a conversation on Discord where Scott sent at least one image of child pornography to another user on January 9, 2024. Investigators also located at least four files of child pornography that were uploaded to Discord on January 17, 2024.
In a consensual interview at the residence, Scott confirmed the Discord account and username, phone number and email address all belonged to him. Scott admitted to using his cell phone for viewing and trading child pornography.
This case was brought as 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 United States Attorney’s 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.
This case was investigated by the Omaha FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Nebraska State Patrol.
Man Sentenced for Crimes Committed on the Santee Sioux Nation Indian Reservation
Source: US FBI
United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Mongecka (aka “Monga”) Eastman, 24, originally of South Dakota, was sentenced on May 15, 2025, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for assault resulting in serious bodily injury and sexual abuse without consent. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Eastman to 120 months’ imprisonment on the assault case, to run concurrent with the 120-month sentence imposed by Judge Buescher in the sexual abuse case. There is no parole in the federal system. After Eastman’s release from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release on the assault case to run concurrent with a 10-year term of supervised release on the sexual abuse case.
In February 2021, Eastman subjected a minor female to a sexual act without her consent. Eastman entered the minor female’s bedroom in Santee, Nebraska, while she was changing her clothes. Eastman then forced himself on the minor victim, twisting her arm to the point of pain and pinning her to a bed before sexually assaulting her. The minor victim later disclosed the sexual assault to a trusted adult, who notified law enforcement.
In September 2023, Eastman seriously assaulted an adult male victim in multiple rural locations on the Santee Sioux Nation Indian Reservation, using a minor to assist him in committing the offense. Eastman and the minor hit and kicked the victim, and Eastman repeatedly slammed the victim onto the hood of a vehicle, leaving dents in the metal. The victim sustained serious bodily injuries from the assault which required emergency medical care and hospitalization, including injuries to his liver and nose, a concussion, and a subdural hemorrhage.
These cases were prosecuted in federal court because the offenses are felonies which occurred on the Santee Sioux Nation Indian Reservation in Nebraska.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Omaha Men Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud
Source: US FBI
United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Calvin J. Carter, 22, and Malik M. Washington, 28, both of Omaha, Nebraska, were sentenced on May 15, 2025, in federal court in Omaha for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Carter and Washington to 18 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Carter and Washington are released from prison, they each will begin a 3-year term of supervised release. Chief Judge Rossiter also ordered both to pay restitution in the amount of $180,315.54.
From April 2021 through December 2022, Carter and Washington recruited and obtained bank account information from individuals that owned personal bank accounts at various financial institutions in the District of Nebraska and elsewhere. Through investigative techniques, law enforcement learned that Carter and Washington created counterfeit checks making it appear as though the checks were legitimately issued by businesses to those individuals. They then presented the counterfeit checks to financial institutions, falsely represented the checks to be legitimate. Carter and Washington would then withdraw cash from bank accounts into which the counterfeit checks were deposited.
During the duration of this conspiracy, Carter and Washington caused, and attempted to cause, counterfeit checks to be deposited into bank accounts at various financial institutions resulting in the loss of $180,315.54.
This case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Cedar Rapids Man Involved in Two Shootings Sentenced to a Decade in Federal Prison
Source: US FBI
A man who shot at a woman and child, and later pointed a gun at someone who shot back at him, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison.
David Rafael Walker, age 38, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 11, 2024 jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Evidence at trial and the sentencing hearing showed that on December 14, 2021, in Cedar Rapids, Walker shot at a woman and a child because he was mad that she went to lunch with another man. Three days later, Walker was driving a car in Cedar Rapids and noticed that he was being followed by another car. He stopped his car in the middle of the street, opened his car door, and pointed a gun at the other car. A person in the other car shot at him. This shooting was captured on doorbell cameras in the area. Walker has felony convictions for attempting to elude, manufacturing or delivering heroin, and other drug offenses.
Walker was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Walker was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Walker is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devra Hake, Emily Nydle, and Dan Tvedt, and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force. The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the Marion Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 23-CR-65.
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