Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Orlando, Florida – Jonathan Yasko (46, Winter Springs) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed to 27 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Yasko pleaded guilty on May 22, 2025. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Jacksonville, Florida – Thomas B. Hoffman (46, Florahome) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jordan E. Pratt to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison for theft of federal funds. The court also ordered Hoffman to forfeit $155,706, the proceeds of the offense, and pay restitution to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska rejected an attempt to halt a project exploring federal oil and gas resources in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
In November 2025, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a permit application allowing ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. to conduct a one-year project involving seismic exploration and the drilling of multiple exploration wells in the National Petroleum Reserve. The plaintiffs sued, challenging the permit approval and seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the project. The court denied plaintiffs’ request, finding that they failed to raise even serious questions on the merits because BLM conducted a reasonably thorough analysis of the project’s impacts.
“Developing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential involves many challenges. Lawsuits like this shouldn’t be one of them,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “We stand ready to advance President Trump’s objective of unleashing American energy.”
Source: United States Airforce
The 374th Airlift Wing integrated with the U.S. Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to execute a joint forcible entry operation during exercise North Wind 26, a joint arctic field training designed to strengthen winter operational capabilities.
Source: United States Airforce
The under secretary’s visit was an in-depth immersion to how the Department of the Air Force enhances regional stability by working in concert across all warfighting domains.
Source: United States Airforce
In a powerful demonstration of leading from the front at every echelon, USAF generals have taken to the skies here to reaffirm that command at every level is backed by the same core competencies by every Airmen.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
CINCINNATI – A former teacher at a Catholic school who was fired 25 years ago for hands-on sex offenses to students was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 84 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A former General Services Administration (GSA) contracting officer’s representative pleaded guilty for his role in agreeing to accept bribes from construction companies.
Lennie Lamont Miller, 60, of Brandywine, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Christopher Brackins, 52, of Mt. Airy, Maryland, and James Tillman, 58, of Washington, DC, to direct GSA subcontracting work to construction companies owned by Brackins and Tillman. GSA is a federal agency that manages federal properties.
According to court filings, between 2018 and 2021, Miller solicited and received cash and other things of value in exchange for exercising his authority over the GSA contracting process to direct work to his co-conspirators’ companies. In total, Miller received more than $100,000 in cash and other things of value, including a sports car.
Miller pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to bribe a federal official and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count. A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing date has not been set.
Tillman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal public official and bribery in February 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2026. Brackins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal public official, wire fraud, and unlawful possession of a machine gun in April 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 6, 2026.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland made the announcement.
The FBI Baltimore Field Office, GSA Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.
Acting Chief Edward P. Sullivan and Trial Attorney Jonathan Jacobson of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Crespo of the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Blanca Hernandez Morales was sentenced to 35 years in prison by United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall for sex trafficking minors using force, fraud, and coercion, among other crimes. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge DeArcy Hall ordered Hernandez Morales to pay restitution of $179,300. Hernandez Morales was the final of four co-defendants who went to trial in October 2023 on various charges, including sex trafficking, to be sentenced. Her co-defendants and family members Roberto Cesar Cid Dominguez, Luz Cardona, and Jose Facundo Zarate Morales were each previously sentenced to 375 months, 325 months, and 300 months, respectively.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department announced today that the Housing Authority of the City of Bloomfield, Missouri, and its former executive director, Eddie Joe Hankins, have agreed to pay $35,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that Hankins sexually harassed a female housing applicant in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in September 2025, alleges that in 2021, Hankins subjected a female housing applicant to unwelcome sexual comments and touching without her consent, and offered to place her on the wait list for housing in exchange for sex. The lawsuit also alleges that the Housing Authority is vicariously liable for Hankins’ unlawful conduct.
“No one should have to endure harassment and discrimination, especially when seeking housing,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will hold housing providers accountable when they target and exploit vulnerable tenants.”
“This settlement contains very important protections for both the woman who alleged that she was asked for sex in exchange for a place to live and current or prospective housing authority tenants in the city of Bloomfield,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus for the Eastern District of Missouri. “Housing discrimination will not be tolerated in Missouri.”
“The Trump Administration will not permit housing providers to prey on vulnerable women and engage in immoral and illegal sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act,” said Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig W. Trainor of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “The Department is dedicated to vigorous fair housing enforcement and ensuring the right of everyone to feel safe and secure in their homes. This settlement reflects that commitment.”
Under the settlement agreement, the Defendants must pay $35,000 to the housing applicant. The settlement agreement permanently bars Hankins from managing residential rental properties and requires employees of the Housing Authority to complete Fair Housing Act training.
The case was referred to the Division after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment by another landlord or property manager or have suffered other forms of housing discrimination, call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 or submit a report online. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. This settlement is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative. The initiative, which the Department launched in October 2017, seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers and other people who have control over housing. Since launching the initiative, the department has filed 52 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered more than $17 million for victims of such harassment.