Category: Legal Issues

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

A man who bought two firearms, and attempted to buy a third, for other people was sentenced on August 5, 2025, to more than one year in federal prison.

Jason Henry Tetter II, age 25, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 21, 2025 guilty plea to making a false statement during the attempted purchase of a firearm. 

Information from sentencing showed that, in 2024, Tetter bought two firearms for Daquavion Williams, who was a marijuana user and who could not buy the firearms himself because he was not 21 years old.  Tetter, a marijuana user himself, lied about his drug use and who the real purchaser of the firearms was on the forms accompanying the firearm purchases.  One of the firearms was for Williams, and the other was for Williams’s associate.  Both firearms were recovered by law enforcement.  Williams’s firearm was used to shoot a victim in the knee in Waterloo on August 10, 2024.  Five days later, Tetter attempted to buy another firearm for someone else involved in the shooting.  Williams was subsequently charged with firearm offenses and is currently pending sentencing.        

Tetter was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Tetter was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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.

Tetter was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Marion Police Department, and the Waterloo Police Department.  

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

The case file number is 24-CR-0103.

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Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Khyrie Brown, 25, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Judge Gerald J. Pappert to 36 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and full restitution, for his role in the armed robbery of a North Philadelphia dollar store.

Brown was charged by indictment in July 2024 with robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery) and pleaded guilty in March of this year.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, on November 6, 2023, at approximately 6:30 p.m., he and three other males entered a dollar store on the 2800 block of Ridge Avenue. One of the males approached the counter and pretended to purchase multiple items.

At that same time, one of the other males pulled out what appeared to be a black handgun, pointed it at the store clerk and told the clerk to open the safe. Two of the robbers jumped the counter, while the other two circled around the counter, where Brown then removed a cash drawer from the safe and carried it out of the store. All four males entered a waiting getaway vehicle and fled the scene with approximately $3,000 in coins and U.S. currency.

Responding Philadelphia police officers tracked the group to the area of 30^th and Gordon streets, where a police K9 located Brown hiding in an abandoned property on the 2300 block of North 30^th Street.

This case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

A prohibited person who possessed firearms was sentenced today to eleven years in federal prison.

Kyler Goettsch, age 28, of Cedar Rapids, received the sentence after a May 31, 2024, guilty plea to one count of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms.  At the plea hearing, Goettsch admitted that, in November 2023, he possessed two pistols after having been convicted of four felonies and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.  Evidence at the sentencing hearing showed that Goettsch was arrested after a brief standoff in which he failed to obey officers’ commands and officers had to draw their weapons. 

Goettsch was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Goettsch was sentenced to 132 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.   

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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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

The case file number is CR 24-16.

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Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Mexican national, illegally living in Nacogdoches, has been charged with a federal firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Antonio Hernandez-Perez, 47, was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in the Eastern District of Texas charging him with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

The indictment alleges that on January 30, 2025, Hernandez-Perez possessed a firearm while being an alien illegally in the United States.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

If convicted, Hernandez-Perez faces up to 15 years in federal prison and deportation.

This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; and the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Carter.

A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Beaumont man and woman have been charged with federal violations related to a June 2025 carjacking in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Jason Lee Smith, 28, and Joanna Kyle Glover, 33, were named in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in the Eastern District of Texas.

The indictment alleges that on June 28, 2025, Smith, armed with a firearm, and Glover forcefully took a vehicle from another person.  Smith and Glover were both charged with carjacking and Smith was also charged with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

If convicted, the defendants face up to 15 years in federal prison for the carjacking violation.  Smith also faces up to life in federal prison for the firearms charge.

This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Beaumont Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reynaldo P. Morin.

A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Silsbee convicted felon has been charged with carjacking and firearms violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Justin Keith Colley, 37, was named in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in the Eastern District of Texas charging him with carjacking, brandishing a firearm during a violent crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The indictment alleges that on June 20, 2025, Colley used a firearm to forcefully commit carjacking.  Further investigation revealed Colley had been previously convicted of a felony and prohibited from owning or possessing firearms.    

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

If convicted, Colley faces up to life in federal prison.

This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Silsbee Police Department, and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reynaldo P. Morin.

A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – John Caleb Allen, 26, of Bristol, Florida, who was previously arrested on July 24, 2025, has been indicted for two counts of attempted murder of a federal employee, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a federal law enforcement officer, two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of illegal possession of a machine gun, and one count of false statement to a federal firearm licensee in connection with a firearms purchase. The charges were announced today by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Court documents allege that, on July 24, 2025, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, with the assistance of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, were executing a federal search warrant at the subject’s residence when Allen opened fire on law enforcement. After firing multiple rounds at the agents, Allen was arrested without the agents discharging their weapons. Agents suffered minor, non-critical injuries as a result of the assault.

Allen is scheduled for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick August 8, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. at the Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.

If convicted, Allen faces a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A federal grand jury sitting in Jefferson City returned indictments against three individuals charging a range of federal offenses.

Arizona Woman Charged with Two Counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin and Cocaine

Joanna Fabian Rivera, 33, Arizona, was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine.   The indictment alleges that during a traffic stop on May 3, 2025, packages of cocaine and heroin were found within Rivera’s vehicle.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Iowa Man Charged with Child Exploitation Offenses

Alex Mills Zoll, 42, Cedar Rapids, Ia., was charged with three counts related to child exploitation offenses. The indictment alleges that between May 11, 2025 and June 1, 2025, Zoll enticed a minor to engage in sexual activity, attempted to produce child pornography, and transferred obscene material in interstate commerce.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Turner. It was investigated by Boone County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office, Callaway County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Columbia Man Indicted for Illegally Possessing Firearms

Aaron James Kipper, 34, Columbia, Mo. was charged with unlawfully possessing two firearms.  The indictment alleges that on June 27, 2025, Kipper, knowing he had previously been sentenced for a term exceeding one year on a felony, possessed a Taurus .357 revolver and a Jennings .22 caliber semi-automatic firearm. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who is convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecily L. Hicks. It was investigated by Boone County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The charges contained in these indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

Operation Take Back America

 

The Fabian Rivera and Kipper cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Project Safe Childhood

The Zoll case is 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.”