MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

NEWARK, N.J. – A Monmouth County man was charged with aiming the beam of a laser at an aircraft, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.

James M. Pedone, 27, of Colts Neck, New Jersey, was charged by complaint with knowingly aiming the beam of a laser at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.  Pedone had an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court on February 13, 2025.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On or about December 12, 2024, Pedone pointed the beam of a laser on three separate occasions, striking an aircraft operated by federal law enforcement personnel in or near the vicinity of Colts Neck, New Jersey, erroneously believing the aircraft to be a drone.

Knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special jurisdiction of the United States carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.

Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna credited special agents and Joint Terrorism Task Force Officers of the FBI Newark Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark, as well as the Colts Neck Police Department, under the direction of Chief Daniel DeVito, with the investigation leading to the charge.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent D. Romano of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s National Security Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Defense counsel: Michael Thomas, Esq. 

Source: US FBI

CAMDEN, N.J. – An Atlantic County, New Jersey, man today admitted to the procurement, casting, and tabulation of fraudulent mail-in ballots submitted in connection with the general election held on November 8, 2022, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.

Craig Callaway, 64, a former member and President of the City Council of Atlantic City and a political organizer who assisted campaigns for elected offices in New Jersey, pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb in Camden federal court to an Information charging him with depriving, defrauding, and attempting to deprive and defraud the residents of the State of New Jersey of a fair and impartially conducted election process by the fraudulent procurement, casting, and tabulation of ballots.

“The defendant admitted to depriving New Jersey residents of a fair election by participating in a scheme to cast ballots for voters who did not vote in the election.  Along with our law enforcement partners, we are committed to prosecuting those who criminally seek to undermine impartially conducted elections.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Beginning in or about October 2022, approximately one month before the general election held on November 8, 2022 (the “2022 General Election”), Callaway and others who were working at Callaway’s direction approached numerous individuals in Atlantic City, promising to pay them between approximately $30 and $50 to act as purported authorized messengers for voters who supposedly wished to vote by mail.

After receiving Vote-By-Mail Applications from Callaway or his subordinates, these purported messengers entered the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office carrying anywhere from one to four completed Vote-By-Mail Applications.  Inside the County Clerk’s Office, as instructed by Callaway or his subordinates, these individuals provided County Clerk’s Office personnel proof of identification and signed the Vote-By-Mail Applications in the authorized messenger portion of the application before handing those signed applications to office personnel.  Further, as instructed by Callaway or his subordinates, these purported messengers waited while Clerk’s Office personnel processed the applications and, if the applications were approved, provided to the purported messengers mail-in ballots for the voters listed on the applications.

Under New Jersey law, a messenger was required to deliver any mail-in ballots they received directly to the voter who requested the ballots, and certify that they would do so. However, after receiving mail-in ballots, these purported messengers left the County Clerk’s Office and handed the ballots to Callaway or his subordinates, instead of delivering the ballots to the voters.

Many of the mail-in ballots collected by Callaway or his subordinates were ultimately cast in the names of voters who have confirmed that they did not vote in the 2022 General Election—either in-person or by submitting a mail-in ballot—and that they did not authorize Callaway, his subordinates, or anyone else, to cast ballots for them in the 2022 General Election.  Many of these mail-in ballots were counted towards the 2022 General Election.

Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly; the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency’s Public Corruption Task Force, including the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William Reynolds; the Atlantic City Police Department, under the direction of Chief James A. Sarkos; and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Colonel Patrick J. Callahan; as well as special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone; the Department of Agriculture – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins; and the postal inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, with the investigation leading to today’s complaint. 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric A. Boden, Attorney-in-Charge of the Trenton Branch Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney James H. Graham of the Special Prosecutions Division.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2025.

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Defense counsel: Megan J. Davies, Haddonfield, New Jersey

Source: US FBI

RENO – A Nevada man was sentenced today to 65 years in prison, to be followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexually exploiting multiple minors and advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he coerced these minors into producing. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2018 and 2021, James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks, “sextorted” multiple minors online, via Omegle, Snapchat, Tiktok, and Mega, by threatening these minors into producing CSAM and then posting the CSAM on dark web forums. During this period, Burns was the most prolific creator of illegal content on these forums. He victimized over 100 children, many of whom have yet to be identified. Burns’s offenses came to the attention of law enforcement when the mother of one of his victims saw threats on the victim’s phone and reported what she saw to the police.

Burns was also ordered to pay $82,655.92 in restitution and $21,000 in assessments under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act.

On March 5, a federal jury convicted Burns of eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, and one count each of advertising, receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography. At the time of these offenses, Burns was already a registered sex offender, and the jury also convicted Burns of committing certain specified felony offenses while required to register as a sex offender.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Miller of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Las Vegas made the announcement.

The FBI-led Northern Nevada Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is comprised of detectives and investigators from the Sparks Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and HSI, investigated the case. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, HSI Chicago Field Office, and local law enforcement around the country provided substantial assistance.

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Source: US FBI

A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and current Nye County, Nevada, justice of the peace for her alleged scheme to defraud donors to a charity to memorialize police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

According to the indictment, Michele Fiore, 53, of Pahrump, Nevada, a then-Las Vegas city councilwoman, solicited donations to build a statue honoring Las Vegas police officers who were killed in the line of duty. Fiore allegedly promised donors that “100% of the contributions” would be used towards the creation of this statue. As alleged, Fiore did not use any of the tens of thousands of dollars in charitable donations for the statue of the fallen officer and instead converted the money to her personal use. The donations were used to pay her political fundraising bills and rent and were transferred to family members, including to pay for her daughter’s wedding. 

Fiore is charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Las Vegas Field Office is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Dahoud Askar and Alexander Gottfried of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas business owner was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison for submitting over $700,000 in false invoices to a hospital, causing the hospital to mail checks to the defendant for products not provided to the hospital.

According to court documents, beginning in 2020 and continuing through June 14, 2022, Roland Sagun Torres devised a scheme to defraud a hospital located in Nevada. As part of the fraudulent scheme, Torres used the names of at least 100 patients and doctors at the hospital to submit false invoices from his business for products that he did not provide to the hospital. In total, Torres’s submission of these false invoices caused the hospital to mail checks to Torres’s company in the amount of $712,000 for products he never provided.

On November 3, 2023, Torres pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. In addition to imprisonment, United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro sentenced Torres to three years of supervised release and ordered Torres to pay $712,000 in restitution.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Edward Veronda prosecuted the case.

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Source: US FBI

RENO – A Reno resident was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge Anne R. Traum to 36 months in prison to be followed by lifetime supervised release for possessing over 600 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, between December 11, 2022 and February 14, 2023, Carl Baker (78) possessed and accessed computers and hard drives that contained CSAM. He admitted that he possessed more than 600 images of minors younger than 12 years of age.

In January 2024, Baker pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. In addition to imprisonment, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Baker must register as a sex offender and keep the registration current.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

The FBI and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Penelope Brady and former Assistant United States Attorney Richard Casper prosecuted the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

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Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – A federal grand jury indicted the Chief Executive Officer of Silver State Health Services, LLC, for allegedly stealing federal grant funding intended for the health care center to provide services to indigent persons.

According to allegations contained in the indictment, David Ryan Linden, 35, was the Chief Executive Officer of Silver State Health Services, LLC, a not-for-profit limited liability corporation in Las Vegas. On behalf of Silver State Health Services, LLC, Linden applied for federal grant money from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. As part of the grant application, Linden represented that $735,200 of the budgeted costs would be used to meet projected personnel costs for the health center. In February 2019, Silver State Health Services, LLC was awarded $735,200 in grant funding.

As alleged, on June 10, 2019, Silver State Health Services, LLC withdrew in excess of $357,000 from the grant and deposited the funds into a bank account belonging to Silver State Health Services, LLC. Then, on June 16, 2019, Linden became a signatory on a bank account belonging to a company named Freedom Infusions, LLC, which was not affiliated with the grant or Silver State Health Services, LLC. Further alleged, on June 24, 2019, Linden transferred $340,000 of federal grant funds from the Silver State Health Services, LLC bank account to the bank account for Freedom Infusions. The $340,000 was allegedly used for the benefit of others.

A jury trial has been scheduled to begin on August 27, 2024, before United States District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey. If convicted, Linden faces the maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Steven Myhre and Justin Washburne are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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