Independent coverage of crime, court cases, federal investigations, public corruption, trafficking cases, violent crime, cybercrime, civil rights matters, and law-enforcement developments. This archive brings source-based reporting, case updates, and public accountability stories into one place.
Federal authorities in El Paso have joined a nationwide Homeland Security Task Force aimed at disrupting violent criminal organizations. The initiative has led to 75 arrests and the first indictment of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación members under a foreign terrorist organization statute.
A federal grand jury indicted James Kenney, 45, and Kevin Leacy, 31, of West Sacramento on multiple drug trafficking charges and firearm offenses. The investigation, led by the FBI, uncovered sales of fentanyl and methamphetamine, as well as three firearms allegedly possessed by Leacy despite a prior felony conviction. Both men face federal sentencing requirements prison terms if found guilty, but the charges remain allegations and they are presumed innocent.
Seven individuals from Maryland were arrested this week after a federal grand jury indicted them for conspiring with an Annandale, Virginia-based doctor and others to distribute oxycodone and promethazine-codeine cough syrup. The indictment alleges a scheme involving fraudulent prescriptions and the distribution of thousands of pills and liquid narcotics across multiple states.
Federal prosecutors in Arizona charged 215 individuals in a weeklong enforcement surge, targeting illegal re-entry, illegal entry, human smuggling, and assault on a federal officer. The cases illustrate the scale of criminalization of immigration violations and the multi-agency coordination behind Operation Take Back America.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 97 border-related cases this week, including charges of drug importation, human smuggling, and illegal reentry. The filings reflect the heavy caseload of one of the nation's busiest federal districts, which shares a 140-mile border with Mexico and includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Darius Robertson, 32, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for leading a scheme to smuggle weapons, fentanyl, and cell phones into the D.C. Jail while he awaited trial for a separate homicide. The sentence will run consecutively to his pending voluntary manslaughter sentence, and several co-defendants have also pleaded guilty.
Christopher D. Nard was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking after a joint investigation by the Miller County Sheriff’s Office and FBI uncovered over a kilogram of pure methamphetamine, a loaded firearm, and cash at his Texarkana residence. Nard admitted to moving pound quantities of the drug weekly.
A federal jury convicted Kareem Hicks, a member of the 'Getting Money Brothers' drug trafficking organization, of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The multi-agency investigation resulted in significant drug and firearm seizures, and four co-defendants have pleaded guilty.
Patrick Brown of Detroit was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin between Detroit and New Castle, Pennsylvania, according to the FBI and federal prosecutors.
