WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following statement on Dec. 5, 2023, by spokesperson Matthew Miller: * * * Today, the State Department is announcing a reward offer under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) of up to $7 million for Russian national Artem Aleksandrovich Uss, for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction for conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in transnational organized crime. This announcement follow  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued the following news release: NEW YORK -- On Dec. 1, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City arrested a previously removed Salvadoran citizen convicted by the Nassau County District Court of forcibly touching a 14-year-old victim in a sexual manner. ERO New York City's Long Island suboffice arrested the 29-year-old unlawfully present noncitizen without incident in Garden Cit  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 -- The Federal Communications Commission issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced a new initiative to strengthen and formalize the cooperation between the Commission and its State partners on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity enforcement matters. As part of the work of the FCC's Privacy and Data Protection Task Force, the agency's Enforcement Bureau has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the Atto  more

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division issued the following news release: * * * Owner of Cross Island Fruits withholds information about pay practices * * * The owner of a Lynbrook grocery store believed they could ignore requests from the U.S. Department of Labor and a federal court in New York to cooperate with an investigation of their company's pay practices. When the U.S. Marshals Service arrested and took Joseph Rossi into custody on De  more

WEST POINT, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Military Academy issued the following news: By Jorge Garcia, West Point Public Affairs Multimedia Journalist During a critical hostage negotiation, a misspoken word can mean the difference between saving hostages or endangering their lives. Hence, West Point prepares cadets for a future that may involve critical life-threatening scenarios that require psychological finesse before the use of a firearm. Preparation for such events is conducted through  more

CAMDEN, New Jersey, Dec. 8 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Philip R. Sellinger, issued the following news release: A West New York financial advisor was found guilty on 11 counts of defrauding public health insurance plans out of more than $4 million and transacting in the criminal proceeds, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Kaival Patel, 54, of West New York, New Jersey, was convicted on Dec. 7, 2023, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and he  more

BROOKLYN, New York, Dec. 6 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, issued the following news release on Dec. 5, 2023: A two-count indictment was unsealed yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging Vladimir Jovancic, a Bosnian national, with obstructing justice and assisting escape for his role in helping Artem Uss flee from Italy to Russia following an Italian court ruling that Uss would be extradited to the United States. Uss had previously been   more

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JALEEL SHAKOOR, a/k/a "Midnight," was sentenced today to 30 years in prison in connection with the murder of Gerry Mazzella on June 3, 2021, in the Bronx, New York. SHAKOOR previously pled guilty to racketeering conspiracy and interstate transportation of   more

SYRACUSE, New York, Dec. 1 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Carla B. Freedman, issued the following news release: Adam Cook, age 33, of Clayton, New York pled guilty yesterday to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in connection with a federal drug trafficking crime, and manufacturing and transferring illegal "ghost gun" rifles, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New Y  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SINA MOAYEDI, the owner of a construction company, Montage, Inc., was sentenced today to 10 years in prison, stemming from his 25-year fraud on the United States Government. MOAYEDI pled guilty in April 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to commi  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release on Dec. 4, 2023: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of SETH MARKIN in connection with his participation in a scheme to trade in stock of Pandion Therapeutics ("Pandion") based on inside information that he misappropriated from his then-girlfriend, who was an attorney at a major law firm ass  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that AMIT BHARDWAJ, the former Chief Information Security Officer at Lumentum Holdings Inc. ("Lumentum"), was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods to 24 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to commit insider trading based on material, non-publi  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release on Dec. 7, 2023: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of GINA MESTRE, a former New York City Police Officer, in connection with her involvement in obstructing a federal investigation into the Shooting Boys gang and serving as an accessory after the fact to a murder committed by the gang's lea  more

BROOKLYN, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, issued the following news release: A three-count indictment was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn charging Raymond John Pirrello, Jr., also known as "Ray John," with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud relating to a scheme to defraud investors and prospective investors in securities offered by Late Stage Management, LLC through several sales off  more

BROOKLYN, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national also known as "Anatolii Legkodymov," "Gandalf" and "Tolik," pleaded guilty today in federal court in Brooklyn to operating a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds. The charges stem from Legkodymov's majority ownership of Bitzlato Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange that served  more

BROOKLYN, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: An indictment was unsealed earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Alexander Figliolia, Jr., and Kenneth Sutherland, the owners of Liberty Water & Sewer (Liberty Water), a Brooklyn-based plumbing company which they operate as a partnership, with tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Figliolia, Jr., and Sutherland wer  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release on Dec. 4, 2023: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart M. Goldberg, the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Matters of the Justice Department's Tax Division, and Jim Lee, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation ("IRS-CI"), announced today the filing of criminal charges again  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued the following news release on Dec. 4, 2023: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), and Robert Noble, Chief of the Yorktown Police Department, announced that PERRY FREEMAN was charged today with distributing fentanyl that resu  more

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration's New York Division issued the following news release: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Robert Noble, Chief of the Yorktown Police Department, announced that Perry Freeman was charged today with distributing fentanyl that resulted in the d  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 -- The White House Office of Management and Budget issued the following statement of administration policy on Dec. 6, 2023, on the Senate amendment to the National Security and Border Act (H.R. 815), which was introduced by Charles E. Schumer, D-New York: * * * The Administration strongly supports Senate passage of the substitute amendment to H.R. 815, the National Security and Border Act, 2024. H.R. 815 provides over $110 billion in funding for critical bipartisan national   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following news release: For the first time in recent history, the United States is hosting a major UN conference outside of United Nations in New York. From December 11-15, the Conference of the States Parties (COSP10) will convene in Atlanta the 190 states parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), as well as a variety of stakeholders from around the world including representatives from international organizations, civil   more

BUFFALO, New York, Dec. 7 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: An explosives detection canine who was trained at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) National Canine Training Center and who worked for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) Police Department until retiring this year is pictured in the free downloadable TSA 2024 monthly calendar that features its explosives  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia issued the following news release on Dec. 6, 2023: A New York man was found guilty in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes   more

KINGS POINT, New York, Dec. 9 -- The Maritime Administration's U.S. Merchant Marine Academy issued the following news release: The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) is pleased to announce that David M. Wulf, a skilled leader with extensive experience in the Federal government, has been selected as the next Deputy Superintendent of the Academy. Mr. Wulf will join Vice Admiral Joanna M. Nunan, Superintendent, in leading the Academy in its mission to educate and graduate leaders who w  more

KINGS POINT, New York, Dec. 1 -- The Maritime Administration's U.S. Merchant Marine Academy issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration announces a meeting of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Board of Visitors, on Monday, December 11, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Virtual meeting access information can be found; below, on the USMMA Board of Visitors web page, and USMMA social media channels. General information about the B  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 4 -- The U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Division issued the following news release: NEW YORK CITY - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Robert Noble, Chief of the Yorktown Police Department, announced that Perry Freeman was charged today with distributing f  more