WASHINGTON, June 20 (TNSrep) -- The Government Accountability Office issued the following report: Here are excerpts: * * * Fast Facts Millions of Americans live less than a mile from an abandoned mine. These sites can pose health risks and create economic challenges for nearby communities. Since 2016, the Department of the Interior's Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program has received over $1 billion in funding to help affected communities. But program participants have only s  more

TAMPA, Florida, June 20 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued the following news release: U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington has sentenced Antonio McCray (22, Tampa) to 15 years in federal prison--the maximum sentence allowed by law--for possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense. McCray pleaded guilty on November 14, 2023. According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, McCray was a member of the  more

NORFOLK, Virginia, June 21 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia issued the following news release: A previously incarcerated Chesapeake man and a state prisoner were sentenced for their participation in a scheme to fraudulently obtain federal unemployment benefits related to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the federal government expanded and extended unemployment benefits for impacted workers. At that time, Raton J. Tharp, 37, was an inmate at Wal  more

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, June 21 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia issued the following news release on June 20, 2024: A Woodbridge man pled guilty today to distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. According to court documents, on April 23, 2022, Maurice Lamont Gordon, 37, sold counterfeit pressed pills containing fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of a 15-year-old victim. The victim and another individual walked to Gordon's apartment to purchas  more

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, June 21 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia issued the following news release on June 20, 2024: Alejandro Gallegos, also known as "Alex," "Rooster," "G" and "Primo," 41, of Hacienda Heights, California, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. Gallegos admitted to a major supplier role in a d  more