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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging two Florida men—Jean Paul Lacruz Romero (30, St. Cloud) and Jordan David Coursey (38, Haverhill)—with one count of wire fraud. If convicted, Romero and Coursey each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit money that is alleged to be traceable as proceeds of the offense—$305,231.34, from Coursey and $479,818.66 from Romero. 

According to the indictment and evidence presented in court, between October 10, 2021, and July 27, 2023, Romero and Coursey knowingly devised a scheme to defraud their employer, Constellation Productions, Inc. Constellation is an aviation and production company in Marion County, Florida. It was part of their scheme that the two pilots personally paid the costs to fuel Constellation aircraft. They then created false invoices with material misrepresentations that overstated the fueling costs and electronically submitted them by email to Constellation for reimbursement. Romero and Coursey fraudulently obtained a total of $785,050 from this overbilling scheme. 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington has sentenced Yitzchak Reuven Baum (37, Tampa) to 10 years in federal prison for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, attempted transfer of obscene material, receipt and access with intent to view child sex abuse material (CSAM). Baum pleaded guilty on July 21, 2025.

According to court documents, between August and October 2023, Baum attempted to coerce or entice an individual, whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, to engage in sexual activity. Baum also sent obscene material to the purported minor during the conversations. In March 2024, following the execution of a search warrant, law enforcement located numerous conversations on social media sites in which Baum had requested and received CSAM.

This case was investigated by the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Derry.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Zephyr Aviation LLC, located in Mineral, Virginia, and its owners Frederick Credno Jr. and Frederick W. Credno III have agreed to pay $3,901,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting inflated invoices for aviation contracts to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“Companies that do business with the government are expected to charge the United States accurately for the goods and services they provide,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department will continue to pursue those who knowingly overcharge the government at the expense of the American taxpayers.”

“With this settlement, we are sending a clear message that committing fraud in federal contracts will be met with significant sanctions against those defrauding the American taxpayer,” said Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG). “I commend our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice’s Civil Fraud Section for tirelessly pursuing this investigation to hold these individuals accountable.”

“This settlement showcases CBP OPR’s ongoing commitment to accountability and integrity,” said Acting Assistant Commissioner Robert B. Danley of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility. “Today’s settlement reaffirms our duty to protect taxpayers and hold accountable those who take advantage of our government programs.”

This settlement resolves allegations pertaining to contracts with DHS under which Zephyr chartered flights to transport persons in the custody of CBP between 2022 and 2025. In connection with these contracts, Zephyr subcontracted with various aircraft operators to fly the required flights, and Zephyr submitted invoices to CBP purportedly based on the required flight times. The United States alleged that Zephyr and its owners routinely submitted invoices to DHS that requested payment for flight hours that exceeded the actual flight times of the aircraft operators.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort among the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and DHS Office of Inspector General. The matter was handled by Trial Attorney Daniel W. Kastner of the Fraud Section.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Angel Jackson (45, Astatula) to one year and one day in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Jackson pleaded guilty on February 10, 2025.

According to court documents, Jackson and others conspired to create and execute a mortgage fraud scheme targeting financial institutions. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers obtained mortgage loans from financial institutions, Jackson created fictitious and fraudulent paystubs that falsely indicated that the borrowers worked at particular companies for certain periods of time and earned income that they did not. Further, Jackson altered legitimate Social Security benefit letters to reflect exaggerated monthly disability income. She also altered bank statements to show falsely inflated account balances.

This case was investigated by Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A man who distributed, received, and possessed child pornography was sentenced today to more than 17 years in federal prison.

Jacob Samuel Yang, age 37, from Tama, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 22, 2025 guilty plea to distribution and possession of child pornography.

Evidence in a plea agreement and at sentencing showed that between September 2019 and February 2025, in Tama, Iowa, Yang downloaded child pornography and stored it on a cellular telephone and laptop computer.  He also distributed child pornography to multiple people in March 2024.  In addition, Yang solicited sex from several children via messaging applications.

Yang was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Yang was sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to make $15,000 in restitution to victims in this case.  He must also serve a 5‑year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Yang 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 Attorney Devra T. Hake and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the Tama Police Department, and the Marshalltown Police Department.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 25-CR-24.

Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A man who possessed a stolen firearm as a prohibited person was sentenced November 13, 2025, to more than four years in federal prison.

Jammonttay Coleman, 36, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 7, 2025, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that on August 25, 2024, Coleman possessed a stolen 9mm pistol with a large capacity magazine.  That day, law enforcement in Fort Dodge stopped a vehicle driven by Coleman for speeding through a construction zone.  During the traffic stop, law enforcement smelled marijuana coming from Coleman’s vehicle.  After first refusing to exit his vehicle, Coleman ultimately complied.  When he opened his door, a bag of marijuana fell from the vehicle.  Law enforcement then searched the vehicle and located the stolen 9mm pistol.  This firearm had been reported stolen in July 2024 during a fight in Otho, Iowa, where defendant was observed by others taking the firearm after it had been discarded by the owner.  Coleman admitted to officers to taking the firearm and possessing it as a felon, as well as being a user of marijuana.  As a felon and user of a controlled substance, he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.  At the time of his illegal possession of the firearm, Coleman was on parole for felony burglary and assault while participating in a felony in Sac County, Iowa.

Coleman was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Coleman was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Coleman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick T. Greenwood and was investigated by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Dodge Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 24-3039.  Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, today announced that on October 1, 2025, DIANA MILLER-LLOYD, also known as “Diana Rabin” and “Diana Lloyd,” 44, of Jacksonville, Florida, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court to aiding in the preparation of false tax returns.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Miller-Lloyd formerly resided in Middlefield and operated Lloyd Forenzique & Accounting Services Corporation, a tax return preparation business in Connecticut.  She established the business in 2017 in Windsor, and subsequently moved it to Branford in 2019 and to Guilford in 2021.  Before 2017, Miller-Lloyd provided tax preparation services under the business name Lloyd Forensic & Accounting Services.  Miller-Lloyd routinely obtained substantial federal tax refunds for her clients, many of whom had annual incomes exceeding $500,000, by disregarding information provided by the clients and their employers, and by fabricating and improperly deducting charitable contributions and business expenses, including advertising, repairs and maintenance, travel, meals, utilities, insurance, and legal services.

As a result of these fraudulent deductions, for the 2016 through 2021 tax years, Miller-Lloyd attempted to obtain for her clients at least $1,062,293 in either fraudulent refunds or fraudulent reductions on owed tax payments.  The IRS detected apparent fraudulent activity on several of the filed returns before refund monies were paid, resulting in an actual loss to the government of $472,913.

In addition, Miller-Lloyd at times used the professional credentials of another person, who was a certified public accountant, to defend filed returns when audited by the IRS.

Miller-Lloyd pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent income tax returns, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of three years on each count.  She is released on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for February 23.

Miller-Lloyd has agreed to pay to the IRS restitution of $472,913.

This investigation has been conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury has found Giovanni Isai Ramirez Reyes (38, Orlando) guilty of arson of a building or property resulting in injury. Ramirez Reyes faces a minimum penalty of 7 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 12, 2026. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Ramirez Reyes ignited two marine flares and threw them into a crowd of fans during a Major League Soccer match on February 24, 2024, at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. The flares caused damage to the stadium and a burn injury to a four-year-old child. Immediately after he threw the flares, Ramirez Reyes retreated to another section of the stadium, where he attempted to disguise himself by removing his hat and jacket, and watched the flares burn. He then fled the stadium. He was subsequently identified using stadium surveillance footage.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Orlando Police Department, and the Orlando Fire Department. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Del Mastro.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

HOUSTON – A 50-year-old resident of Sedgwick County, Kansas, has pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

In July 2019, Summer Heather Worden alleged her estranged spouse had guessed the password and illegally accessed her bank account while the spouse was deployed to the International Space Station.  

However, Worden had actually opened the account in April 2018. Both parties had accessed it until January 2019 when Worden changed the credentials.  

The investigation revealed Worden had granted her spouse access to her bank records from at least 2015, including her login credentials. 

U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett accepted the plea Nov. 13. He will impose sentencing Feb. 12, 2026. At that time, Worden faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. 

Worden was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing. 

NASA-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard D. Hanes and Brandon Fyffe prosecuted the case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

This release was issued following the 43-day government shutdown during which the pleas occurred.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Two former Chief Executive Officers and a former facility manager for Primary Health Network (PHN) have pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of agreeing to defraud their former employer, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced.

Drew Pierce, 58, of West Middlesex, Pennsylvania; Jack Laeng, 72, of Lake Milton, Ohio; and Mark Marriott, 58, of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, with Marriott also pleading guilty to willfully filing a false tax return. Laeng’s plea occurred on September 25, 2025, Marriott’s on October 6, 2025, and Pierce’s on October 31, 2025.

In connection with the guilty pleas, the Court was advised that PHN was a non-profit organization in Sharon, Pennsylvania, that provided medical services to patients in underserved parts of Pennsylvania, regardless of their ability to pay. From approximately July 2015 through January 2019, Pierce served as CEO of PHN, Laeng as former CEO, and Marriott as the company’s facilities manager. The three defendants and others agreed to insert a company called TopCoat, which they owned, between PHN and third parties, with TopCoat paying the third party for providing a service for PHN, then billing PHN a higher amount so that TopCoat could profit. Marriott caused fraudulent invoices to be issued from TopCoat to PHN, purporting that TopCoat had done work when it in fact had not. Pierce, Laeng, Marriott, and others split the profits—the difference between what PHN paid TopCoat and what TopCoat paid the third parties—among themselves, including by issuing checks from the TopCoat bank account to themselves or other entities they controlled. On one deal alone in 2017, TopCoat received more than $200,000 additional from PHN than what it paid the true vendor on a project.

Pierce, Laeng, and others also agreed to defraud PHN through a separate scheme in which the conspirators caused PHN to enter into contracts with a third party in exchange for the third party paying 50% of the fees received to an entity controlled by Pierce, Laeng, and their co-conspirator. In all, Pierce, Laeng and their co-conspirator received more than $1.7 million in kickback payments from the third party between 2013 and 2020, the proceeds of which they split among themselves.

Judge Ranjan scheduled sentencings for March 9, 2026, for Pierce; March 16, 2026, for Laeng; and March 17, 2026, for Marriott. The law provides for a total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain from the offense, or both on the offense of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and up to a 10 year sentence of imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount involved in the offense on the offense, or both on the money laundering conspiracy offense. Marriott faces a potential additional three years of imprisonment and fine of up to $250,000 for the tax offense.

Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.

Assistant United States Attorney William B. Guappone is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Pierce, Laeng, and Marriott.