PHOENIX, Arizona, June 17 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Gary Restaino, issued the following news release on June 16, 2023: U.S. Attorney Gary M. Restaino, HSI SAC Scott Brown, IRS-CI SAC Al Childress, DEA SAC Cheri Oz, and United States Postal Inspection Service Acting Inspector in Charge Greg Torbenson yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) memorializing a Darknet Marketplace and Digital Currency Crimes Task Force (DNMDCC Task Force). Since 2017, these federa  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 15 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management's Arizona State Office issued the following news release: The Bureau of Land Management's Lower Sonoran Field Office has released for public comment a draft resource management plan amendment and related environmental assessment for the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Maricopa and Pinal counties. The purpose of the amendment is to establish management guidance for recreational target shooting within  more

DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, Arizona, June 15 -- The U.S. Air Force Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (355th Fighter Wing) issued the following news: By Staff Sgt. Abbey Rieves, 355th Wing Public Affairs Simple day-to-day functions such as using cellular data or driving directions on a cell phone cannot operate without satellites orbiting in space. In fact, for the past seven decades space exploration has existed. As technologies advanced, space curiosity has shifted to warfare strategy, chartering the spa  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- The Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management issued the following news: The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) and its Navajo Nation Public Affairs team led a fourth Uranium 101 workshop with Kayenta Township, Arizona, May 16, 2023. The Community Outreach Network includes federal agencies and Navajo Nation departments and programs who share a goal to educate and inform Navajo communities about the risks that uranium mines pose and how to   more

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, June 17 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers, issued the following news release: Todd Anderson, age 60, and Carolyn Anderson, age 58, of Flagstaff, Arizona, have each been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of opium poppy and morphine. According to court documents, from June 2019, through August 2020, the Andersons packaged and shipped hundreds of pounds of poppy straw (dried opium poppy  more

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, June 17 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Alexander M.M. Uballez, issued the following news release on June 15, 2023: On Thursday, Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Francisco B. Burrola, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso, announced the unsealing of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on May 24, 2023, and the arrest of, six alleged human smugglers in a c  more

OMAHA, Nebraska, June 16 (TNSper) -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service issued the following news release on June 15, 2023: Today National Park Service (NPS) Regional Director Bert Frost announced the selection of Megan Parde as the new site manager of First Ladies National Historic Site in Ohio. Parde is currently the Interpretation Program Manager at Tonto National Monument in Roosevelt, Arizona. She will assume her new role at First Ladies in July. "I am pleased to   more

PRESCOTT, Arizona, June 14 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest Service unit - Prescott National Forest - issued the following news release: The Prescott National Forest is seeking nominees to fill 6 vacancies on the 15-member Yavapai Resource Advisory Committee (RAC). RACs are chartered under the Secure Rural Schools & Community Self Determination Act, which was recently extended until 2023. This extension authorizes "Title II" payments for protection, restoration and enhancem  more

TUCSON, Arizona, June 13 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection issued the following news release: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Area Port of Nogales seized 242 pounds of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Endangered Species Act (ESA)-protected Totoaba swim bladders with an estimated value of $2,700,000.00. On April 13, 2023, CBP officers working at the Mariposa trade facil  more

TUCSON, Arizona, June 14 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona issued the following news release: Manuel Ochoa-Vasquez, 39, of Paso Hondo, Mexico, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge John C. Hinderaker to a term of 96 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for his management role in a criminal conspiracy to harbor and transport thousands of undocumented non-citizens. Ochoa-Vasquez pleaded guilty on December 15, 2022, to Conspira  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 16 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona issued the following news release: Sarah Caitlin Burnette, 23, of the Salt River-Pima Maricopa Indian Community, was sentenced on June 12, 2023, by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 180 months in prison. Burnette previously pleaded guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter. On February 27, 2021, Burnette's 18-month-old baby boy died of acute fentanyl toxicity after ingesting the drug. On October 19, 2  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 15 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona issued the following news release: Erika LaRae Williams, 51, of Phoenix, Arizona, pleaded guilty on May 22, 2023, to Making a Material False Statement During the Purchase of a Firearm. Williams purchased a Taurus G3 pistol from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) on September 3, 2020, for her son, Essa Williams, five months after his release from the Arizona Department of Corrections. During the purchase, Wil  more

SEATTLE, Washington, June 13 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Nick Brown, issued the following news release on June 12, 2023: A 57-year-old Paradise Valley, Arizona man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nine years in prison and a $1 million fine for an eight-year tax fraud scheme that resulted in more than $50 million in illegal tax refunds, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Charles St. George Kirkland pleaded guilty in January 2023 to three  more