Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Miles Clark, 23, of Sussex County, was sentenced on August 27, 2026, to 12 years in prison for transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika imposed the sentence.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
According to court documents, Brandon Sartor, 33, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, between December 2024 and April 2025, used physical violence, threats, sexual assault, and the withholding of drugs to compel two women to engage in repeated commercial sex acts in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Sartor initially recruited each victim by falsely promising to help them make money. Sartor then compelled each victim to have sex with as many as 10 men each day in exchange for money he seized for his benefit. He also subjected each victim to violent physical beatings, including punching and hitting them, and threatened to harm or kill them or their families. Additionally, Sartor compelled one of the victims by giving and withholding drugs in such a way that caused her to fear experiencing opioid withdrawal sickness if she did not comply with his demands.
“Brandon Sartor used violence and fear to compel the two victims to have sex with dozens of men for his monetary gain,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “His use of violence and threats to terrorize and control vulnerable victims speaks to the depravity of his conduct and the need to hold him accountable for trafficking them. The Criminal Division will continue to stand up for these and other victims of human trafficking.”
“This defendant treated human beings as commodities — brutalizing and exploiting vulnerable women for his own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “That conduct is reprehensible. Those who traffic and profit from the suffering of others will be pursued relentlessly and held accountable.”
“The defendant forced these two women into sex trafficking through repeated violence and sexual abuse that no one deserves to be victimized with,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The dedicated work of the FBI, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and DOJ prosecutors ensured Sartor pled guilty and was brought to justice.”
Sartor is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of life in prison. He also faces a maximum penalty of lifetime supervised release and mandatory restitution to be paid to the victims. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
FBI Miami and the Anne Arundel County Police Department in Maryland are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwayne Williams for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Zachary “Zach” Alan Little, 36, was found with almost 4,000 child sexual abuse files. Many of the images and videos portrayed children between 7 and 10 years old. He was sentenced to ten years and five years of supervised release.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Francisco Javier Villanueva Castro, age 29, of Mexico, who is present in the United States without authorization, pleaded guilty before United States Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall.
Source: United States Navy
Imagine 90-degree August heat in Norfolk as civilian employees step aboard an aircraft carrier and begin climbing from the lower decks. The air carries a metallic smell, sweat quickly soaks through clothing, knees ache from steep ladders, and low overheads require constant ducking through narrow passageways. What was a challenging tour for Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) civilians offered a brief glimpse into what Sailors experience every day—and why seeing the warfighter’s environment firsthand matters.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on August 24, 2026.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty today to multiple charges including alien smuggling and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
“The defendants smuggled methamphetamine and aliens into the United States for financial gain, then doubled down to make more money by conspiring to export AK-47 style weapons and .50 caliber rifles to Mexico for CJNG, a terrorist organization that has destroyed lives and caused death in our great country,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendant’s conduct directly threatened the national security of the United States and the well-being of American citizens.”
“The Trump Administration’s designation of CJNG as foreign terrorist organization, along with 19 other cartels and transnational criminal organizations, gives us another powerful tool in our fight against those who place their profits over the lives and wellbeing of others,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “The conviction of Navarro Sanchez for providing support to a foreign terrorist organization is one of many to come as we continue to hit these FTOs where they are most vulnerable — their pocketbooks. I am very proud of our Assistant U.S. Attorneys and our law enforcement partners with the Homeland Security Task Force for their work in making this conviction possible.”
“This is but two more guilty pleas added in DEA’s long and sustained efforts against CJNG and its supporters,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert “Eric” Castañeda of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) El Paso Division. “Charges now carry more weight under CJNG’s designation as a foreign terrorist organization. Anyone seeking to profit from the deaths of Americans, no matter their level of involvement, will be brought to justice.”
According to court documents, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 40, of Mexico, conspired with others to provide material support to CJNG by trafficking firearms from the United States to Mexico, for the express purpose of delivering those firearms to members of the CJNG. Navarro Sanchez knew CJNG engaged in terrorist activities, including hostage taking, committing assassinations, and using explosives, firearms, and weapons in support of these activities. Navarro Sanchez also admitted that she contracted with alien smugglers to illegally bring individuals from Mexico into the United States. At least one of these individuals managed some of Navarro Sanchez’s stash houses in El Paso, Texas where Navarro Sanchez would warehouse firearms and narcotics.
In early August 2023, Navarro Sanchez negotiated a deal to purchase twenty AK-47 style weapons and two .50 caliber rifles from undercover agents. The firearms were intended to be placed in the possession of individuals who would unlawfully smuggle those firearms to Mexico where those firearms would then be used in furtherance of trafficking methamphetamine and other narcotics from Mexico into the United States. Coconspirator Gustavo Castro-Medina, 29, of Mexico, also acknowledged that these firearms were intended to be unlawfully exported from the United States into Mexico in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
Castro-Medina served as an intermediary to facilitate the interstate and foreign transfer of $3,000 in U.S. currency via wire to an undercover agent to purchase these firearms for subsequent unlawful transport. The $3,000 was a downpayment on the purchase price of $66,000 in U.S. currency. On Aug. 21, 2023, two co-conspirators of Navarro Sanchez and Castro-Medina arrived at a designated meeting point in El Paso to tender the remaining payment of $63,000 in cash and take possession of the firearms. Once the cash was exchanged, the undercover agents turned over possession of the firearms to the co-conspirators. These co-conspirators were then arrested by waiting agents.
In addition, Castro-Medina also admitted that he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol in November 2020 driving a Nissan Sentra in Sierra Blanca, Texas. During a secondary inspection of the vehicle, Border Patrol Agents found several tape-wrapped bundles covered in transmission fluid located beneath a non-factory trap door. The bundle tested positive for the properties of crystal methamphetamine. The total weight of the methamphetamine was 36.36 kilograms.
Navarro Sanchez, Castro-Medina, and their co-conspirators were indicted in April 2025. The Government of Mexico, pursuant to its National Security Law, subsequently transferred Navarro Sanchez and Castro-Medina to the United States.
Navarro Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking, one count of conspiracy to bring aliens, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Navarro Sanchez faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Castro-Medina pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Castro-Medina faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, DEA, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, assisted by the U.S. Border Patrol, investigated the case. ATF Legal Attachés in Mexico City and Mexico’s Fiscalía General de la República Organized Crime Unit (FGR-FEMDO) provided substantial assistance. HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. and CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force also provided assistance with the investigation. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.
Trial Attorney Marie Zisa of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian Hanna and Gregory McDonald for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
The investigation and superseding indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including HSI and Customs and Border Protection U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 482 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 433 U.S. convictions; and more than 369 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Said Nassor, 46, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in connection with a scheme to bill D.C. Medicaid for mental health services that were never provided or were grossly inflated, causing a loss to Medicaid exceeding $250,000, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today its finding that the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Services (GW Med) intentionally discriminated based on race in granting and denying admission to its 2024 and 2025 incoming classes. GW Med’s discriminatory conduct violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which banned race discrimination in higher education.
“GW Med’s admissions practices reveal an intent to prioritize racial diversity over merit, which is unlawful and poses legitimate public health consequences for the patients its future doctors will serve,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The law is simple — admissions officers can no longer discriminate based on race in the name of diversity.”
The Department’s investigation found that after SFFA, George Washington University issued university-wide admissions guidance stating that no preference or favorable assessment could be given based on racial or ethnic identity “that is self-reported and collected on the check-box data sections” of application forms. Under this direction, GW Med used other sources to discover an applicant’s race. GW Med’s application included essay questions that were designed to elicit information about an applicant’s race or ethnicity. And admissions officers used this information to select applicants for interviews. As a result of GW Med’s admissions practices, black applicants had a significantly higher probability of being selected for an interview, and received disproportionately higher interview scores, than comparable Asian applicants.
With respect to standardized test scores, GW Med’s admitted black students scored significantly lower on the MCAT than white or Asian applicants in 2024 and 2025. GW Med regularly denied admission to white and Asian applicants in favor of lower credentialed black and Hispanic applicants.
Medical schools receive substantial federal financial assistance and are subject to federal non-discrimination laws. The Department will continue to investigate their compliance with Title VI and SFFA’s prohibition on race-conscious admissions. Where a violation has been found, the Department is engaging in settlement negotiations to ensure the school’s admissions practices are brought into compliance. If those efforts fail, the Department will file suit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Mexican national pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl for importation into the United States, and conspiracy to distribute listed chemicals for the unlawful importation of a controlled substance.
“For years, Ojeda Elenes manufactured and imported enormous quantities of fentanyl often using precursor chemicals obtained from China, which contributed to the opioid epidemic poisoning our communities,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case sends a clear message: no matter where they operate, those who manufacture and then traffic deadly drugs into our country will be relentlessly pursued, prosecuted, and brought to justice. To protect the American people, the Criminal Division will continue to use every available tool to dismantle the transnational criminal organizations responsible for this devastation that has occurred in our country.”
“Ojeda Elenes architected the poisoning of Americans by manufacturing fentanyl on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Associate Chief of Operations Brian Clark, of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Pacific Southwest Region 5. “He obtained precursor chemicals from China, produced fentanyl in a Mexican lab, and fueled addiction from coast to coast, harming our communities. The DEA and HSTF partners will continue to strike at the heart of drug trafficking networks that threaten the safety and wellbeing of the American people.”
“Fentanyl manufacturers like Ojeda Elenes leave death and devastation in communities across the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Lucia Cabral-DeArmas of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston. “This guilty plea sends a clear message to those who manufacture and traffic fentanyl into the United States, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you to justice. HSI remains committed to dismantling the transnational criminal organizations responsible for importing this deadly drug into our country.”
According to court documents, Hernan Geovani Ojeda Elenes, 48, of Culiacan, Mexico, manufactured large amounts of fentanyl that he then imported into the United States over a course of several years. The documents allege that from at least 2019 to 2024, Ojeda Elenes, worked with his father and co-defendant, Hernan Domingo Ojeda Lopez, and others, to operate a drug trafficking organization based in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Ojeda Elenes admitted that he procured large amounts of fentanyl precursor chemicals, such as 4-Piperidone and N-Phenylpiperidin-4-amine, by purchasing them from Chinese companies and shipping them to his lab in Mexico. Ojeda Elenes used these chemicals to manufacture fentanyl which he and others subsequently imported into the United States for further distribution and sale. Over the course of the conspiracy, Ojeda Elenes was ultimately responsible for the creation and distribution of several metric tons of fentanyl.
The plea was accepted by District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Ojada Elenes faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
DEA and HSI are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance to Ojeda Elenes’ January 2026 transfer from Mexico to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s National Security law. The Department of Justice thanks the Government of Mexico for its assistance in securing Ojeda Elenes’ presence in the United States for prosecution.
Trial Attorneys Erik Cervantes and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.
The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and related transnational criminal organizations.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.