MIL Security Engine-1

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Raymond Lewis Spain, age 66, of Okemah, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.The Indictment alleged that beginning in or about March 2020, and continuing until in or about March 2024, Spain knowingly engaged in a sexual act with a victim who had attained the age of 12 years, but had not attained the age of 16 years, and who was at least four years younger than the defendant.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

LAS VEGAS – A Mexican national was sentenced today by United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for illegally reentering the United States after being removed on three prior occasions from the country.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division announced the following actions from across the country to hold individuals accountable for schemes that attempted or succeeded in defrauding the American taxpayers.

“Our message is clear: Steal from the American taxpayer, and you will answer to federal prosecutors,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “With our partners nationwide, we are holding criminals accountable and protecting taxpayer money. We will leave no stone unturned in our war against fraud.”

Notably, on April 22^nd, the Justice Department announced the availability of $300 million in funding to prevent and prosecute fraud and other crimes nationwide. This grant program will strengthen investigative and prosecutorial capacity, expand intergovernmental coordination, and enhance the ability of jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute fraud and other crimes.

Friday, April 24

A New York man was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to launder the proceeds of a $24.4 million pharmacy fraud scheme. The defendant laundered the proceeds of the scheme through various trading companies, which gave the appearance of legitimate business, facilitated the kickbacks and bribes, and distributed profits among the pharmacies’ owners.

A West Virginia man was sentenced to five years of federal probation after admitting that he obtained a $2 million loan through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for his business and instead converted at least $1.4 million of the proceeds for his personal enrichment.

Thursday, April 23

The Criminal Division, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, and their law enforcement partners announced a series of coordinated actions by the Scam Center Strike Force against overseas criminal organizations that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars. These actions include charges against two Chinese nationals and $700 million in restrained cryptocurrency.

A Missouri man pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme to fraudulently obtain two Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loans totaling $92,233.32, guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A Missouri woman was sentenced to 41 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining $2.3 million in funds intended to feed hungry Missouri children.

Wednesday, April 22

A Washington woman was arraigned in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma for multiple counts of wire fraud and SNAP benefit fraud, resulting in more than $600,000 loss to federal nutrition program. A man in Maryland pleaded guilty to bank fraud after admitting to fraudulently obtaining $160,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and attempting to obstruct justice. He faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for bank fraud.

Five New Orleans men were indicted for violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the Federal Gun Control Act, and committing bank fraud.

A D.C. woman was sentenced to 11 months in prison for her role in a years-long conspiracy to steal more than $393,340 from her nonprofit employer by making unauthorized personal purchases on the organization’s corporate credit card.

A Tacoma woman was arraigned for multiple counts of wire fraud and SNAP benefit fraud,  resulting in more than $600,000 in loss to the federal nutrition program.

A Missouri medical doctor was arrested on an indictment that accuses him of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid and providing prescription drugs to friends, people suffering from substance use disorders and those with whom he had sexual relationships.

A Florida woman was indicted by a federal grand jury charging her with two counts of wire fraud involving Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program funds.

Tuesday, April 21

A resident of Erie, Pennsylvania was indicted by a federal grand jury in Erie on charges of wire fraud and theft of government property, accepting bribes to approve more than $500,000 in fraudulent unemployment compensation claims. 

Monday, April 20

Five Romanian nationals have been charged for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to steal nearly $1 million worth of food assistance benefits from low-income families and individuals in Ohio and California. A Florida woman who orchestrated a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $465,489 in COVID-19 relief funding was sentenced to 18 months’ incarceration in Newark federal court.

A Cayman national who renounced his U.S. citizenship pleaded guilty to evading payment of more than $1.5 million of federal income tax liabilities. His sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, as well as restitution and monetary penalties.

A New York man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for defrauding the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) of approximately $1.1 million in loans awarded under the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

A Dominican national unlawfully residing in Brockton, Mass., has been arrested and charged with healthcare benefit fraud and aggravated identity theft.

A Jefferson Parish resident was sentenced to 70 months in prison for obtaining over $350,000 in funds through numerous Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans using falsified tax forms, and also fraudulently obtained Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds in the names of numerous purported renters.

A Florida man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in a $33 million health care fraud and kickback scheme in Newark, New Jersey.

Friday, April 17

A Kauai man was sentenced to 14 months in prison following his guilty plea for making a false statement to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for $1.4 million in funds.

A Detroit surgeon was sentenced to 12 months in prison for his involvement in a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for psychotherapy services.

Six St. Louis area residents were indicted for their involvement in a $8.3 million pandemic fraud scheme, and three were arrested.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Updated April 24, 2026

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Three men have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to a public official at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) in exchange for his official actions in connection with affordable housing development agreements worth more than $11,000,000. Hawaii (Big Island) attorney, Gary Charles Zamber, 56, of Keaau, Hawaii, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Former Big Island businessman, Rajesh Pankaj Budhabhatti, 65, of Morro Bay, California, was sentenced to 90 months in prison. Former Big Island attorney, Paul Joseph Sulla, 79, of Hilo, Hawaii, was sentenced to 60 months in prison.

On June 4, 2025, a jury in the District of Hawaii convicted Sulla, Zamber, and Budhabhatti on all counts of a superseding indictment. The three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and nine counts of honest services wire fraud for their roles in a scheme to bribe Alan Scott Rudo, a Housing Specialist at the OHCD. Sulla was also convicted of money laundering.

“This wasn’t just corruption – it was a calculated betrayal of the very community the defendants were supposed to serve,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Instead of building homes for struggling families looking for an onramp to a better life, the defendants built a scheme to enrich themselves, paying millions in bribes and kickbacks while pretending to help those in need. That kind of greed doesn’t just break the law – it erodes trust, damages institutions, robs honest businesses of opportunities and harms American citizens. The Criminal Division is committed to pursuing those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.”

“Driven by greed, the defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of the Hawaiian community, diverting millions in much needed affordable housing resources intended to benefit Hawaii County’s poor and disadvantaged into the defendants’ own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii. “Public corruption undermines faith in our institutions and will not be tolerated.  We pledge to hold accountable those who seek to victimize the people of Hawaii by compromising our public officials and institutions for their own greed and personal gain.”

“This sentencing marks another step toward accountability for those who pollute the integrity of our government institutions with bribes and kickbacks,” said Special Agent in Charge David Porter of the FBI Honolulu Field Office. “The defendants’ criminal schemes amounted to more than bribery and fraud — they stole opportunities from Big Island families and our community as a whole. The FBI, alongside our partners, will never stop working to pursue those who undermine the public’s trust and weaken the foundations of our community through corruption and deceit.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Sulla, Zamber, and Budhabhatti conspired to pay bribes and kickbacks to Rudo in exchange for Rudo’s agreement to use his official position to ensure that Hawaii County approved three affordable housing agreements (AHAs) benefitting the defendants’ development companies, Luna Loa Developments LLC, West View Developments, LLC and Plumeria at Waikoloa LLC. Although the defendants promised in the AHAs to build affordable housing for the citizens of Hawaii County, their development companies never built a single unit. Through the AHAs, the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $11,000,000 worth of land and excess affordable housing credits (AHCs). From that amount, the defendants paid or attempted to pay Rudo approximately $1,931,778 in bribes and kickbacks.

Sulla was sentenced on April 23. Zamber and Budhabhatti were sentenced on Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, respectively. Rudo, who pleaded guilty and testified at trial, will be sentenced at a later date. Zamber’s and Sulla’s law licenses are currently suspended, prohibiting them from practicing law in Hawaii.

The FBI Honolulu Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mohammad Khatib and Margaret Nammar for the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you for all for the opportunity to be here. And thank you to the entire Environmental and Natural Resources Division staff for bringing together key stakeholders to collaborate on and discuss an important priority of President Trump’s Administration.

We are here today to join forces to implement a set of federal initiatives that protect three fundamental ideas:

First, that we, American citizens, deserve to be protected from transnational criminal organizations that threaten and exploit our borders and our citizens;

Second, that the American timber industry – the industry that builds our homes, schools, hospitals, and military installations that defend our families and friends – should not be stifled by foreign supply chains;

And lastly, that we should embrace our country’s network of timber resources, which should not be paralyzed by a burdensome regulatory framework.

Illegal logging is the most profitable natural resource crime on the planet. It is also the third most profitable transnational crime. Ending illegal timber shipments from entering our country protects Americans from unfair competition and blocks unlawful revenue streams from transnational criminal organizations.

These criminal organizations exploit the complex innerworkings of the global supply chain to conceal their unlawful activities.

Preventing these bad actors like China – the world’s large importer of illegal timber – from profiting off of illegal logging means that we are simultaneously thwarting their efforts to finance violent conflicts, drug and wildlife trafficking, and illegal mining.

The United States has some of the most abundant timber resources on earth. Yet, we have allowed ourselves to rely on imports to support our timber needs.

We must take action to stymie the United States’ continued reliance on foreign timber. We have been ceding influence to foreign producers, who exploit the complexity of the global supply chain and then benefit from their illicit activities. 

At the same time, our country has been hamstrung by the regulatory framework in this industry, which, in turn, causes years-long delay in timber sales.

The wood that frames our homes, builds our schools and hospitals, and constructs military installations are either compelled to rely on shady foreign importers or stifled by burdensome regulatory schemes.

But this is why we are here today. To collaborate on how we fix this problem. Timber is the backbone of national security and American society.

I now leave it to the experts in the room. I trust that we will have productive discussions today, and look forward to working with you all.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you all for attending this important event to share the United States’ efforts to combat illegal cross-border trade of timber and wood products. This is a priority of the Trump Administration, vital to our nation’s national and economic security and that of our global trading partners. 

I want to start by expressing my sincere thanks to the members of the Timber Interdiction Membership Board and Enforcement Resources Working Group — better known as the TIMBER Working Group — for your continued work to combat illegal timber trafficking and for organizing this event.

In addition to DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), the TIMBER Working Group includes the Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, and Interior, each of which you will hear from today. This team is designed to develop complex timber investigations, eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that hinder them, and serve as a resource to enhance our investigative and prosecutorial capacity as well as that of our foreign partners.

I also thank our non-member interagency partners for being here today and my staff from ENRD for supporting the logistics for this event. It takes a lot of work to organize these events, and it is truly appreciated.

ENRD continues to uphold its long-standing commitment to enforcing the nation’s environmental laws and defending the responsible use of her natural resources. Today’s event is designed to provide an overview of what the federal government is doing to combat one of the most pervasive and lucrative forms of transnational crime. We also want industry, NGOs, and the public to know who to reach out to with tips, compliance questions, and enforcement ideas.

The United States was the first country to criminalize the transnational trafficking of plants and plant products, including timber, when the Lacey Act was amended in 2008. This amendment came about thanks to universal support from industry, NGOs, civil society, and the government to address what everyone agreed was a problem, even if for different reasons.

Since 2008, we have seen other countries follow the lead of the United States in adopting similar statutory frameworks. This includes Australia, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom among others. However, the United States continues to be the leader in prosecutions of timber trafficking cases.

A key guiding principle of this Administration is to make the United States “stronger, safer, and more prosperous.” And that is how ENRD is approaching the problem of timber trafficking.

During his first term, President Trump was the first president to prioritize combatting wildlife trafficking, including both flora and fauna, along with drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.

Just last year, President Trump emphasized that the domestic wood products industry is “essential to the national security, economic strength, and industrial resilience of the United States.” (EO 14223, Mar. 1, 2025). Unlawful imports of protected timber species undermine domestic industry and reward law-breaking.

As with many crimes, timber trafficking is all about money. Illegal logging was the third most profitable form of transnational crime with an estimated annual value of $52-157 billion USD. The only more profitable crimes were counterfeiting and drug trafficking. The U.S. Forest Service estimates the U.S. forest products industry loses $500 million USD annually to trafficking through lost export opportunities and depressed wood prices.

The United States is one of the largest producers of timber and wood products. On the flip side, we are also one of the largest consumers of these products. The only way we can end the illegal timber trade is to cut off the demand for illegal wood products. This is done through effective and collaborative enforcement efforts.

Timber trafficking is not a victimless crime. Unlawful profits are funding terrorist organizations and drug cartels, driving government corruption, and undermining law and order.

These crimes also put law-abiding companies at an unfair competitive disadvantage as their competitors cheat and undersell them. In the Quintana case sentenced in 2024, where the husband and wife defendants avoided an estimated $42 million USD in duties for importing unlawful Chinese plywood, it was a competitor complaint that kicked off the investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations. These crimes deprive companies who operate legally of business opportunities and the economic resources to expand their businesses and provide good paying jobs in the United States.

ENRD remains committed to prosecuting these crimes. There are three tangible actions I want to highlight:

First, ENRD has recently posted detail positions for two intelligence analysts within our Environmental Crimes Section that will support timber trafficking investigations as well as other trafficking crimes. We’re excited to have dedicated analytical resources for this important work. I want to thank our partners at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative which is funding one of these positions.

Second, ENRD is a member of the DOJ Trade Fraud Task Force announced last year, that will provide access to additional resources. You will hear from Cody Herche the head of the task force today.

And lastly, ENRD has resumed its trade enforcement programming, supported by the State Department, to help our foreign counterparts investigate and prosecute cases where there is a nexus to the tools the United States. In June, we are concluding an initial workshop series in Indonesia that includes government officials and independent forest monitors. We are resuming our programming with Vietnam and India next month. These efforts will provide greater capacity to work together to tackle timber trafficking.

In order to make the United States, “stronger, safer, and more prosperous,” this global problem requires a global solution. We rely on the work of the NGOs who support open-source data platforms and publish investigative reports to drive results. This work has also helped educate industry and support their due care efforts. We also value information from industry, including confidential tips, to identify bad actors and bring them to justice.

I hope today’s event demonstrates the dedication of DOJ to prosecute these crimes and work with you to ensure the legal trade of timber and wood products. When we get together again in 2028 to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the Lacey Act amendments, I trust we will also celebrate many victories against illegal timber trade and an economy that is “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson (second from left) of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division gives remarks at the TIMBER Working Group roundtable.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

DAYTON, Ohio – James Thomas Hurt, 25, of Dayton, was arrested by federal agents and charged with a firearms crime in connection with a shooting at the RTA bus hub in downtown Dayton in September 2025. Hurt appeared in federal court here this afternoon. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 70 months in prison for laundering millions of dollars generated by an elaborate social engineering scheme orchestrated by a multi-state criminal enterprise that stole more than $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the proceeds to support the criminal enterprise’s fantastically extravagant lifestyles.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

VALDOSTA, Ga. – A South Georgia resident was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for attempting to sextort an Ohio teenager he met over Snapchat, threatening her for explicit images.Cenobio Olguin, Jr., 24, of Lenox, Georgia, was sentenced to serve fifteen years in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release by Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Sands on April 23. Olguin, Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of attempted production of child pornography on Jan. 27. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 134 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).