Category: United States of America

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

EVANSVILLE- Casey Lee Smith, 48, of Evansville, has been sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to two counts of distribution of sexually explicit material involving minors.

According to court documents, in January of 2022, the Evansville Police Department received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, stating that 16 files containing child sexual abuse material had been uploaded to the instant messaging application, Kik, by Casey Lee Smith. The video files included depictions of prepubescent minors and minors under the age of twelve years, as well as depictions of sadistic or masochistic conduct.

Investigators searched Smith’s cellphone and uncovered 95 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material that had been accessed and viewed by Smith, with some involving infants. Investigators also located the Kik application, which Smith did not disclose on his list of social media accounts when updating his sex offender registration information, required annually.  

Smith has been a registered sex offender since 2003 due to felony convictions for Child Exploitation and Possession of Child Pornography.

“This dangerous criminal used Kik to share the horrific abuse of the most vulnerable victims,” said Tom Wheeler, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Those who gather online to revel in the exploitation of children will be identified and prosecuted. I am grateful to the FBI and the Evansville Police Department for their work to ensure that this defendant will serve a significant prison sentence, where our children will be out of his reach.”

“The exploitation of children is among the most heinous crimes we investigate. Every file this defendant shared represented the ongoing abuse of a real child,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O’Malley. “He chose to traffic in the sexual abuse of children, and now he will spend years behind bars, unable to harm our communities. Let this serve as a warning: if you exploit children in any way, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will find you and ensure you face the full consequences of your actions.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Evansville Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young.

U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant United States Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.justice.gov/psc

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Source: Office of United States Attorneys

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Muriel Moore.

This case was brought as 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc. 

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Mauricio Flores (36, Davenport) with possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). If convicted, Flores faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Flores that the United States intends to forfeit a cellphone, which is alleged to have been used in furtherance of the offense.

According to court documents, Flores’s residence was the subject of a search warrant related to activity on a dark web site dedicated to CSAM. Investigators seized devices belonging to Flores and found files containing CSAM on a cellphone.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Muriel Moore.

This case was brought as 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

DAYTON, Ohio – A Franklin County man has been charged federally after he allegedly shot at deputies with the United States Marshals Service, FBI agents and task force officers from inside a Springfield hotel room when they attempted to execute an arrest warrant on him for murder charges. 

On Aug. 8, an arrest warrant was issued for Andre Jordan II, 34, of Reynoldsburg, for murder.

The Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST), a federal task force, adopted the fugitive investigation, which led officials to the Quality Inn in Springfield.

According to charging documents, on Aug. 14, SOFAST tracked Jordan to a room at the hotel and set up to apprehend him. Law enforcement announced their presence to Jordan, who then looked out the window of the room. Following additional announcements, Jordan allegedly fired a shot through the window toward the pool area in the vicinity of officers and then fired an additional round through the front door of the room toward positioned officers.

An affidavit details that officers withdrew to stairwells at the end of the hall for cover. Several occupants of the hotel room, including young children, then exited, after which Jordan allegedly fired several additional rounds.

The Springfield Police Division SWAT Team responded to the scene and hostage negotiators established communication with Jordan. After an hours-long standoff, Jordan surrendered without further incident and was taken into custody.

Jordan was transported to the Clark County jail on his local murder charge and will be transferred into federal custody. He will appear in U.S. District Court in Dayton today at 1:30pm.

Jordan is charged with assault of a federal officer with a deadly weapon, attempted murder of a federal agent, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; United States Marshal Michael D. Black; Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth McCormick and Rob Painter are representing the United States in this case.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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Source: Office of United States Attorneys

A Dallas man who distributed fentanyl that caused the death of a seventeen-year-old boy was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison, announced Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy E. Larson.  

Jesse Medina, 42, pled guilty in March 2025 to aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl that ultimately resulted in the teenager’s death.  On Monday, August 18, 2025, Medina was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge David Godbey.
 

According to plea documents and evidence presented in Court at sentencing, on January 30, 2024, co-defendant Connor Miller contacted Jesse Medina, also known as “Plug,” to purchase fentanyl.  Medina agreed to sell Miller the pills.  Miller and a seventeen-year-old boy then travelled to meet Medina at a location on Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas, Texas.  Once there, Medina sold Miller and the teenager four fentanyl pills in exchange for $40.  Miller and the teen travelled back to Miller’s residence, where they crushed up the fentanyl pills and used the fentanyl Medina had provided.  The seventeen-year-old died after using the fentanyl.  A review of the teen’s medical records revealed that he would not have died but for ingesting the fentanyl.    

Evidence presented in court revealed that Jesse Medina was arrested on January 31, 2024, with 25 pills of fentanyl on his person.  A few days after his arrest, Medina contacted a female known to Medina and told her that he sold a twenty-one-year-old four pills and that a seventeen-year-old who used those pills died.  Evidence also showed Medina told the unknown female that he told his lawyer, “I don’t have no sympathy for the seventeen-year-old at all . . . ‘Cause that’s his choice . . . [H]e’s old enough to know how dangerous these pills are . . . I don’t got no sympathy for that . . . [I]f I would have sold it to him . . . I would feel bad, but I don’t even feel bad at all, I’m cool, ‘cause I didn’t do nothing wrong.” 
 

Information presented in court also showed Medina had multiple prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance and that he had been sent to a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility and an Intermediate Sanctions Facility in 2010 and 2019 (respectively) while he was on probation.  In 2016, Medina was ordered to serve 42 months in the Texas Department of Corrections for an offense that occurred in Rockwall County, Texas.  After being released from prison, Medina was arrested in 2018 for possessing methamphetamine and ordered to serve a term of four years deferred probation in Dallas County.  A motion to revoke that probation was filed in 2021 and remains pending.  

“Tough sentences are necessary for those defendants responsible for the tragic deaths resulting from fentanyl trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson.  “This Office will continue to advocate for the most severe sentences for those who, like the defendant, have a cavalier attitude toward the deadly consequences of their actions. While a lengthy prison sentence for this offender and others like him will never restore the loss suffered by the victim’s family, we will continue to prosecute those who flood our community with this poison to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Unfortunately, this guilty verdict will not bring our victim back or take away the suffering his family and friends have endured.  What it does do; however, is affirm that justice prevails and drug dealers and enablers, like Mr. Medina, will be held accountable for their reckless actions,” said DEA Dallas Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph B. Tucker.  “DEA will always aggressively investigate the illicit distribution of deadly drugs in our communities.  The memories of those lives lost to drugs will not be in vain.”

Co-defendants Connor Miller and Tecose Dchaz Martin have also pled guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl, the use of which resulted in death.  Miller and Martin are pending sentencing.
 

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division and the Richardson Police Department conducted the investigation of this case with the Hickory Creek Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the Mesquite Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Section.  Special assistance was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team.   The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George Leal.

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A North Charleston organized crime ring has been successfully prosecuted and sentenced. Eighteen defendants received a total of 144 years in federal prison.

The case arose from a long-term wiretap investigation conducted by the Low Country Violent Crime Task Force. The investigation targeted a violent street gang and their associates operating in a North Charleston neighborhood. Fredrick McCray, leader of the street gang, directed drug distribution operations and armed his gang members with fully automatic machine guns to protect their territory from rival gangs and drug traffickers. Cornelius Walker was one of the gang’s primary enforcers and acted as McCray’s right-hand man. Tyrone Cox served as the organization’s primary drug supplier. The gang used an abandoned community center as a central hub for narcotics distribution.

In total, the investigation resulted in the seizure of 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, 700 grams of marijuana, 500 grams of crack cocaine, 26 firearms – including four fully automatic machineguns – and $70,000 in cash.

• Fredrick Wendell McCray, 44, of North Charleston was sentenced to 30 years for conspiring to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, 500 or more grams of methamphetamine, and heroin, possession with intent to distribute 28 or more grams of crack cocaine, unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
• Tyrone Cox, 44, of North Charleston, was sentenced to 25 years for conspiring to distribute 5 or more kilograms of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 28 or more grams of crack cocaine, unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of ammunition by a felon.
• Cornelius Walker, 21, of North Charleston, was sentenced to 15 years for conspiring to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a machinegun in furtherance of drug trafficking, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Quinton Antonio McClain, 35, of Mount Pleasant, was sentenced to 12.5 years for conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Warren Lamar Forrest, 33, of Charleston, was sentenced to 12 years in a separate indictment for felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
• Angel Joaquin Flores, 34, of California, was sentenced to 10 years for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and marijuana and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Kevin William Dukes, 39, of North Charleston, was sentenced to 10 years for conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Kendrick Smalls, 35, of North Charleston, was sentenced to seven years for conspiring to distribute cocaine, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a machinegun, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Kenneth Roger Brown, 35, of North Charleston, was sentenced to six years for conspiring to distribute cocaine and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.  
• Earl Allen, 24, of Charleston, was sentenced to five years for conspiring to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Santerio Bernard Maurice Smith, 30, of Charleston, was sentenced to four and a half years in a separate indictment for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a machinegun.
• Da’Shawn Marquis Richards, 26, of North Charleston, was sentenced to four years in a separate indictment for possession of a firearm by a felon.
• Terrell Kurt Myers, 43, of North Charleston, was sentenced to two years for conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Demetric Gantt, 46, of North Charleston, was sentenced to one and half years for conspiring to distribute 28 or more grams of crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 28 or more grams of crack cocaine, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Clayton Thomas, 22, of North Charleston, was sentenced to three months in a separate indictment for knowingly make a false statement when purchasing a firearm.
• Tyrone Wilson, 63, of North Charleston, was sentenced to time served for conspiring to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine, unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of ammunition by a felon.
• LaJustin Williams, 43, of North Charleston, was sentenced to time served for conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, possession with intent to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.
• Tyrone Peterson, 63 of North Charleston, was sentenced to time served for conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine and marijuana, possession with intent to distribute 50o or more grams of methamphetamine, and unlawful use of a telephone to commit a felony drug violation.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. 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 at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Lowcountry Violent Crime Task Force, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, North Charleston Police Department, Charleston Police Department, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Summerville Police Department, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Charleston County Aviation Authority. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Lietzow and Nick Bianchi are prosecuting the case.

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Source: Office of United States Attorneys

WACO, Texas – A Mexican national was found guilty in a federal bench trial in Waco on Monday. Hugo Moreno-Mendez, 41, was sentenced to time served for one count of willful failure to register and one count of failure to provide DNA.

According to court documents, Moreno-Mendez was convicted of a state crime for unlawful installation of a tracking device on Sept. 26, 2024, and was sentenced to 180 days of confinement. He was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 13, and charged with willful failure to register. Moreno-Mendez refused to comply with immigration officers and the standard procedures of submitting fingerprints and a DNA sample, adding the second count for failure to provide DNA. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest in March and will now be processed for removal.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

ICE investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Smith-Burris prosecuted the case.

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).

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