Today, August 17, 2026, the United States filed its opening brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in United States v. Abrego Garcia asking the appellate court to reverse the district court’s order dismissing the indictment and to reinstate the case against Abrego Garcia. As described in the United States’ brief, the decision to seek an indictment against Abrego Garcia for human smuggling was made by career prosecutors based on the evidence, the law, and their firm belief that there is…
Office of the Attorney General · USAO - Tennessee, Middle
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Jesus Lara del Toro, 22, of Venezuela, was sentenced to 216 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to one count of Hobbs Act Robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in connection with the armed robbery of the Joyeria El Ruby Jewelry Store. Lara del Toro pleaded guilty without a plea agreement.
As one of his first actions as Attorney General, Todd Blanche today finalized a federal regulation and launched a new process allowing eligible individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms to apply for restoration of their federal firearm rights.
Office of the Attorney General · Office of the Pardon Attorney
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), Naomi D. Gruchacz, announced that RODNEY GREER, a/k/a “Christian Marchand,” appeared for arraignment today in connection with a four-count Indictment charging…
SAN DIEGO – Five alleged members and associates of the “El Cajon Locos” criminal street gang have been indicted on federal racketeering charges in connection with drug and firearms trafficking and violent crimes. A sixth defendant has been charged with witness tampering and witness harassment. The defendants are charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which makes it a federal crime to participate in an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, including drug…
Colombian national Andrelio Castaño Rojas, 55, pled guilty to a seven-year money laundering conspiracy involving the purchase of consumer electronics using drug proceeds.
Criminal - Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section · Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Igor Vieira-Bastos, 30, of Brazil, pled guilty Wednesday, July 29, to one count of transporting aliens. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Richard J. Fortunato, Acting Chief Patrol Agent, U.S. Border Patrol made the announcement.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Pearish Pierre Pretty, 43, of Columbia, has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) · USAO - South Carolina
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould, announced that on Aug. 14, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two consolidated lawsuits seeking derivative U.S. citizenship and immigration‑related relief.
A man who illegally possessed cocaine was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison. Marcus Allen Thomas, age 37, from Asbury, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 18, 2026, guilty plea to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. In a plea agreement, Thomas admitted he possessed cocaine that he intended to distribute. On April 12, 2025, investigators searched Thomas’s home in Asbury. Investigators found approximately 6.14 pounds of marijuana and approximately 101.56…
Gainesville, Florida – Antrell Jermaine Hillard, 33, of Live Oak, Florida, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to steal postal keys, theft of postal keys, and postal robbery/assault.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) · USAO - Florida, Northern
MONROE / ALEXANDRIA – Defendants from West Monroe and Alexandria have been sentenced in separate cases involving drug trafficking and firearm offenses. On July 29, 2026, United States Chief District Judge Terry A. Doughty sentenced Eaan Lee Blake, 24, of West Monroe, to 10 years in federal prison after his conviction for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Marijuana. Blake had previously pled guilty to the charge. According to court documents, on February 16, 2025, a Portland, Arkansas, Police…
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) · USAO - Louisiana, Western
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns, LLC, Safire Rehabilitation of Southtowns, LLC, and Williamsville Suburban, LLC, have agreed to pay $9,000,000 to resolve allegations arising under the Federal False Claims Act and the New York False Claims Act regarding false claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. This action is part of the Trump Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Joseph Hoult, 39, Urbana, Illinois, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 10 months in federal prison for escaping from a community corrections facility. Hoult’s sentence will run consecutive to his remaining undischarged sentence. Hoult plead guilty to this charge on July 8, 2026. On December 20, 2013, Hoult was sentenced to federal prison by a judge in the Central…
MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Johnell L. Britt, 28, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to a total of 62 months in prison. Judge Conley sentenced Britt to 48 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and to 18 months in prison, to be served consecutively, for violating the terms of his supervised release. Britt pleaded guilty to the firearms charge on April 27…
Multiple defendants have been indicted by the August term of the federal Grand Jury in the Southern District of Georgia for firearms offenses and immigration violations.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) · USAO - Georgia, Southern
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – LUIS MORALES (“MORALES”), age 36, was sentenced on August 13, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to 66 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, along with a $300 special assessment fee, after previously pleading guilty to three counts of distributing more than five grams of actual methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) · USAO - Louisiana, Eastern
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – LUIS FELIPE POSAS-VILLAFRANCA (“POSAS-VILLAFRANCA”), age 27, a Honduran national, was indicted on August 13, 2026, for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(5)(A) and 924(a)(8), announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A previously convicted felon was sentenced to prison yesterday for distributing fentanyl, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Sadiq Mafia Devoe Jones, 24, of Asheville, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Jones’s 10-year sentence will run at the expiration of his federal probation sentence for violating his probation. “Shortly after Jones was released from federal prison he returned to a life of crime…
Daniel Keith McDougal, 37, of Florida, was convicted by a federal jury of passing a counterfeit U.S. Treasury check, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Sher Khang, 41, Wausau, Wisconsin, has been sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 5 years in federal prison for possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine intended for distribution. The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Khang pleaded guilty to this charge on May 27, 2026. On October 2, 2025, a confidential informant purchased 27 grams of…
BOSTON – The Mayor of Lawrence, Mass. was arrested and charged today with fraudulently obtaining over $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans and using the proceeds to fund his campaign account, pay personal taxes, and pay off over $880,000 in high-interest, hard-money mortgages that encumbered various properties he owned in Lawrence.