Category: Security

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Shelbra Long Sentenced for Fraudulently Causing the Award of Over $466,000 in Education Benefits

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Qingqin Xie, age 39, and a citizen of China, was ordered detained today after being arrested yesterday and charged with using interstate facilities of commerce to manage a business enterprise engaged in prostitution.

According to the criminal complaint, Xie owned and operated spas throughout the Capital Region that purported to offer massage services but also commercial sex.  Xie paid for internet-based advertisements, many of which were sexually explicit, to promote her businesses.  In October 2024, law enforcement searched Xie’s Moon Spa in East Greenbush, New York, and seized evidence of commercial sex acts taking place there.  Xie continued to open and operate similar spas, including by employing women to engage in sex acts with customers.

The charges in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated, “As alleged, Xie, who does not have lawful status in the United States, ran a prostitution business out of massage parlors and failed to stop even after law enforcement searched one of those parlors last year.  My Office will continue to work with our partners to ensure those who sexually exploit people for profit are held accountable.”

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Brandon Montanari Was One of Three Guards Who Assaulted an Inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Alexander MacFayden, age 60, and a citizen of Canada, was sentenced today to 188 months in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, for the attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As part of his guilty plea, MacFayden admitted that between May 2023 and August 25, 2023, he exchanged sexually explicit messages online with an individual in Albany whom he believed would allow him to engage in sexual contact with a 10-year-old relative.  MacFayden also admitted that on August 25, 2023, he traveled from Canada to Albany with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a 10-year-old girl.  MacFayden was arrested by law enforcement shortly after arriving at the location.

MacFayden will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III said, “Alexander MacFayden is a depraved person who wanted to have sex with a 10-year-old girl. He will now spend the next 15 years in federal prison. Every day, we are working with our law enforcement partners to lock up pedophiles who would seek to harm children in our communities.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated: “Mr. MacFayden traveled from Canada to Albany, where he intended to have sex with a 10-year-old girl. That trip just landed him in federal prison for the next 15 years. The FBI’s reach is vast, and we will use every resource at our disposal to keep our children safe from these sickening predators.”

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department, the Rotterdam Police Department, and the New York State Police.  Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph S. Hartunian and Allen J. Vickey prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Dusty Oliver, Jr., age 36, of Troy, New York, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for attempted enticement and coercion of a minor. Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Oliver admitted that he attempted to entice and coerce an individual, whom Oliver believed to be a 13-year-old girl, to perform sex acts. After responding to an advertisement on a social-networking site and communicating with someone whom Oliver believed was the child’s guardian, Oliver traveled on June 26, 2024, from Troy to a prearranged meeting location near Lake George, New York. He paid $240 to the individual he thought was the child’s guardian in order to have access to and perform sex acts on the child.

United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also imposed a 10-year term of post-imprisonment supervised release and ordered Oliver to forfeit the phone he used to commit the offense. Oliver is required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.

Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated: “Oliver’s sentence ensures he will spend a decade in federal prison for his vile actions. The messages that Mr. Oliver sent to an undercover officer to buy sex from a child would turn your stomach, and he traveled from Troy to Lake George to make his sick fantasies a reality. My Office is committed to making our communities safer by prosecuting pedophiles and working with our law enforcement partners in identifying child predators like Mr. Oliver.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated: “Mr. Oliver’s revolting intentions just landed him in federal prison for the next decade. Today’s sentence illustrates the FBI remains steadfast in our mission to protect our most vulnerable from dangerous predators, and we will continue to use every resource available to ensure these heinous individuals are brought to justice.”

This case was investigated by FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes FBI Special Agents and investigators from state and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carling Dunham prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former Utah State University Student Association Muslim Student Club President, Mubarak Sulaiman Ukashat, 38, of Kaysville, Utah, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment after he engaged in a $392,900 scheme that included COVID-fraud, identity theft, wire fraud, and state unemployment benefits fraud. On February 6, 2025, Ukashat pleaded guilty to failure to file currency and other monetary instruments reports.

In addition to his term of imprisonment, a U.S. District Court Judge sentenced Ukashat to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $392,827 in restitution. Ukashat has also agreed to $101,000 in forfeiture.

According to court documents and admissions made at Ukashat’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, between June 2020 and July 2020, Mr. Ukashat fraudulently received approximately $333,900 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL Loans) and wire transferred the funds into his USUSA Muslim Student Club Account. In doing so, Ukashsat submitted four fraudulent EIDL applications to the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA). He used the names of four people to whom he had no connection and directed the proceeds to be sent to the USUSA Muslim Students Club bank account at America First Credit Union, over which Ukashat had custody and control. Ukashat then used wire transfers to move the EIDL proceeds into another America First Credit Union account, over which he had ownership and control and held jointly with a relative before spending the funds on unauthorized personal expenses. Additionally, Ukashat fraudulently obtained $58,927 in state unemployment insurance benefits for which he did not qualify.

As a result of Ukashat’s fraudulent behavior, he intercepted and spent the EIDL-Loan money on a $45,900 GMC Yukon; $27,000 in electronics; $21,000 to pay off a car loan; $20,000 in debt payments; $10,000 in earnest money to buy a house; and $5,200 for college expenses. Ukashat also transferred over $100,000 outside of the Unites States to foreign countries such as Nigeria and Dubai.

Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation. (IRS-CI).

Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Bouton and Mark Y. Hirata of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

HOUSTON – A 25-year-old Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine conspiracy and for possessing machine guns in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Kendal Alejandro Monzon Jr. was a member of Partidos Revolucionarios Mexicanos (PRM) and pleaded guilty April 18.

U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge has now ordered Monzon to serve 480 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence about Monzon’s role in multi-kilogram drug seizures, including heroin and fentanyl at the Laredo port of entry, cocaine in Brownsville, heroin in Livingston and cash proceeds in Brownsville and Atlanta, Georgia. The court also noted seizures in Houston; Chicago, Illinois; and St. Louis, Missouri, all tied to the drug trafficking organization PRM. 

“The defendant was a key player in a nationwide drug trafficking operation, but now he’ll be spending the next four decades in federal prison. A similarly lengthy sentence awaits others that seek to make a quick buck by smuggling drugs into our country,” said Ganjei. “The message this sentence sends is clear:  don’t spread your poison in our communities, because if you do, the Southern District of Texas will make sure that you pay the price.”

“Monzon, who is part of a violent prison gang, was using our southern Texas border to smuggle a significant amount of dangerous drugs throughout the country more than a decade ago,” said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan C. Pullen. “The Houston Division DEA agents halted his drug trafficking activities, which impacted the thriving operations of PRM within the U.S. Today’s hefty sentence serves as a reminder of the punishment that awaits those who bring poison to our country.”

On Nov. 24, 2020, law enforcement attempted a traffic stop on Monzon after observing traffic violations near his home. He fled at speeds up to 90 mph through residential areas, ran multiple red lights and stop signs, and eventually crashed into a law enforcement vehicle. Authorities discovered 15 plastic-wrapped cylinders inside a plastic tub in the vehicle and ultimately seized approximately 17,234 grams of methamphetamine.

The investigation led to other similar seizures linked to Monzon, some also including cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, large amounts of cash, several sealed prescription bottles of Promethazine with Codeine and various weapons as well as ledgers listing methamphetamine prices and weights.

Authorities later executed a search warrant at Monzon’s residence and recovered 47 kilograms of methamphetamine, 114.7 grams of heroin, 39.9 kilograms of marijuana and 13.7 kilograms of Promethazine with Codeine.

They also seized more than 20 firearms, one of which had been stolen from a member of law enforcement. Several of the weapons had silencers attached, and some had been altered to be fully automatic.

Monzon has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

DEA conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Laurence Goldman and Christine Lu prosecuted the case.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury today returned a three-count indictment charging a former Culver City government employee who worked in an after-school recreation program with producing sexually explicit photographs of a 7-year-old girl enrolled in the after-school recreation program.

Stephen Michael Martinez, 44, of the Sawtelle neighborhood of Los Angeles, is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Martinez has been in federal custody since July 23 and is being jailed without bond. His arraignment is scheduled for August 29 in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

According to the indictment and court documents previously filed in this case, Martinez was employed by the Culver City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department as an after-school care employee for the Culver City Afterschool Recreation Program. He was employed by this program as a caretaker of young children from June 2020 to June 2025.

On July 14, law enforcement learned that Martinez, while working at the Culver City Afterschool Recreation Program, coerced a 7-year-old girl in his care into producing photos depicting the girl engaging in sexually explicit conduct. 

Police arrested Martinez on July 16 and booked him on suspicion of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a minor. Martinez was transferred to federal custody one week later.

An indictment contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted on all counts, Martinez would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Culver City Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher M. Mills of the Domestic Security and Immigration Crimes Section and Kelsey A. Stimson of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Used female couriers to transport pills in luggage from source in Arizona to Seattle and Baltimore airports