On January 15, 2025, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, 36, a Nigerian national, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded over 400 elderly and vulnerable victims across the United States. Court documents revealed that Ogbata was partContinue Reading
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has published a final rule outlining the framework for phased enforcement of REAL ID requirements by federal agencies. Beginning May 7, 2025, only state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards that meet REAL ID Act security standards will be accepted for official purposes, including boarding commercialContinue Reading
On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, Judge Richard A. Howard sentenced 62-year-old James Darryl Batson, a habitual felony offender, to 30 years in prison after he was convicted of multiple crimes stemming from a series of burglaries in 2023. Batson’s conviction was the result of his involvement in the burglary andContinue Reading
On January 12, 2025, Kevin Paul McMains, 44, of Milton, Florida, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of theft of government money and two counts of making false statements to federal agencies. U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks imposed the sentence forContinue Reading
On December 10, 2024, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Florida, was sentenced to 180 months (15 years) in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks handed down the sentence after Kolessa pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethylContinue Reading
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, has charged five members of an organized crime ring responsible for more than 200 thefts across Florida. The group targeted retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Ulta Beauty, Burlington, Target, and other similar stores, causing atContinue Reading
After a week-long trial, a Volusia County jury found 22-year-old McKenzy Nazien guilty of First-Degree Murder (Firearm) and Attempted First-Degree Murder (Firearm) on January 10, 2025. The charges stem from a deadly gunfight on September 1, 2022, outside a Port Orange apartment complex. Nazien, then 19, was involved in anContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian entered a final judgment on January 8, 2025, forfeiting more than $20 million in foreign bribery and money laundering proceeds to the United States. The funds, totaling approximately $21.2 million, were seized as part of a civil forfeiture case filed by the Justice Department inContinue Reading
On Thursday, January 9, 2025, a judge sentenced Alexander Evans, 34, of Fort Myers, to 35 years in prison for his involvement in the fatal shooting outside a Naples nightclub in 2022. Evans pleaded no contest to charges of second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,Continue Reading
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron, 34, of Guatemala, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, firearms trafficking, dealing in firearms without a license, and possessing firearms as an illegal alien. Sune-Giron faces up to 15 years in federal prison for the conspiracy and possession offenses andContinue Reading