News Releases

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Houston man has admitted to running a fraudulent investment scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

From July through November 2017, Samuel Ayala-Ibarra operated JASTBITME, a Houston-based company that…

INDIANAPOLIS - Cory Todd Cox, 38, of Noblesville, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, after pleading guilty to two counts of receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material.…

MIAMI - The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Special Investigations Unit, the City of Miami Police Department, Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, Aventura, Doral, Hialeah, Wilson Manors, North Miami Beach, Hollywood, Sunny…

CLEVELAND – A popular former podcaster was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for orchestrating a real estate Ponzi scheme that took in over $7.3 million from at least 63 victims from across the United States, involving a wide range of…

STATEMENT FROM SAIC PATRICK J. FREANEY

This murder-for-hire scheme arose from — of all things — a feud on social media. An innocent woman was killed because of a perceived slight. The Secret Service stands ready to support…

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A Federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging a Chinese national for allegedly participating in an imposter scam and trying to defraud a Belleville senior out of more than $70,000.

Zhigang Lian, 42…

CROWN POINT, Ind. – A Lake County, Indiana, man has been charged with multiple counts of possessing child sexual abuse material, following an investigation led by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the U.S. Secret…

MEMPHIS - The U.S. Secret Service, U.S Department of Agriculture Special Investigations Unit, the Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigative Division, the Tennessee Department…

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was arrested Thursday night in San Antonio on criminal charges related to his alleged threat against the President of the United States.

According to court documents, Robert Herrera, 52, commented on a San…

WASHINGTON – As we approach the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt of President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Secret Service remembers Corey Comperatore, who was tragically killed, as well as David Dutch and James…

CHICAGO — A drug and firearm investigation centered on the South Side of Chicago has resulted in federal criminal charges against seven individuals.

A superseding indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago…

STATEMENT FROM SAIC OF NEW YORK PATRICK J. FREANEY

The guilty plea in this blatant scheme is a testament to the excellent investigation carried out by the members of the New Haven Resident Office, their law enforcement…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A British man, Scott West, 40, of Manchester, United Kingdom, was sentenced on June 23, 2025, to 42 years in prison following his convictions for three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

At the sentencing…

United States Files Civil Forfeiture Complaint Against $225 Million in Funds Involved in Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud Money LaunderingWASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture complaint in U.S. District Court for the…

MIAMI — Ernesto Ortega Padgett, a Nicaraguan national who was previously residing in Miami, Florida and was deported from the United States in January 2020, made his initial appearance in a federal court in Miami on June 16. Ortega, a fugitive…