A federal grand jury in Orlando returned an indictment, unsealed yesterday, charging three Florida men with crimes related to their respective roles in a tax refund fraud scheme. According to the indictment, from 2015 to 2018, Christopher Johnson, of Orlando, and Jasen Harvey, of Tampa, allegedly conspired to promote aContinue Reading
Two Puerto Rican men pleaded guilty today to federal charges of conspiracy to commit a hate crime and obstruction of justice, arising out of an assault with a dangerous weapon against a transgender woman because of her gender identity. According to court documents, on Feb. 24, 2020, at around 12:29 a.m.Continue Reading
In a Maryland courtroom, Jose Rafael Ortega-Ayala, also known as Impaciente, received a life sentence for his involvement in a series of criminal activities related to the notorious transnational criminal organization, La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Court documents revealed that on March 8, 2019, Ortega-Ayala, aged 30 and hailing from Greenbelt,Continue Reading
September 26 marks the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a groundbreaking civil rights law that requires equal opportunity for people with disabilities. It prohibits disability discrimination in programs conducted by federal agencies, programs receiving federal financial assistance, federal employment and federal contractors’ employment practices. It also requiresContinue Reading
A federal jury in Miami convicted a Florida nurse practitioner yesterday for her role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting more than $200 million in false and fraudulent claims for expensive genetic testing and medical equipment that the Medicare beneficiaries did not need. According to court documents andContinue Reading
Sergey Karpushkin, 46, of Miami, a resident of the United States and a citizen of Belarus, pleaded guilty today to engaging in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions and commit money laundering by conducting transactions for the purchase and acquisition of metal products valued at over $139 million from companiesContinue Reading
Two Florida businessmen, David Aaron and Russell Ultes, were sentenced today to 18 months and nine months in prison, respectively, for a scheme to evade over $1.1 million in income taxes. According to court documents and statements made in court, Aaron and Ultes were co-owners of Marlin Construction GroupContinue Reading
A Florida man was sentenced today to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing a child while traveling in Fiji. According to court documents, Jason R. Moore, 43, of Milton, sexually abused a child on multiple occasions during trips to Fiji in 2013 and 2016. In late 2022, Moore wasContinue Reading
A Maryland man was sentenced yesterday to 28 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, including murder, related to his participation in the La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. According to court documents, from at least August 2018 through July 2021, Brayan Alexander Torres, aka Spooky, 29, of Adelphi, was the “FirstContinue Reading
A Michigan man was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for assaulting and strangling his spouse at their off-base residence outside of U.S. Army Garrison Japan in Sagamihara, Japan. According to court documents, on July 19, 2021, Robert Hammock, 39, of Detroit, and his spouse got into anContinue Reading