Month: April 2022

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Security News: Perpetrator of Multiple Carjackings, Kidnappings, and Robberies Pleads Guilty

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Miami, Florida – A 28-year-old Sunrise, Florida, man has pled guilty to federal carjacking, kidnapping, bank robbery, and firearms offenses.

Court filings reveal that from January 1, 2021, through January 29, 2021, defendant Tevin Shane Souffranc committed multiple violent crimes throughout Broward and Collier Counties.  During his crime spree, Souffranc kidnapped a woman and forcefully struck her in the face three times with his gun, chipping two of her teeth and causing lacerations on her face; stole a vehicle at gunpoint and attempted another woman on a different occasion; robbed two banks; and attempted to rob two other banks.  At the time of his arrest, Souffranc was in possession of the firearm that he used in the crimes.

Souffranc pled guilty to one count of carjacking, one count of kidnapping, two counts of bank robbery, one count of attempted bank robbery, and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  Souffranc is scheduled for sentencing at 11:00 am on June 15, before U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman, who sits in Fort Lauderdale.  He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.  

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from Broward Sheriff’s Office, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Hollywood Police Department, Collier County Police Department, Boca Raton Police Department, and Sunrise Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys Ajay Alexander and Brooke Latta are prosecuting this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Annika Miranda is handling asset forfeiture.

This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-60069.

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Defense News in Brief: USS Alaska Takes Trophy 5th Time in Decade

Source: United States Navy

This is the fifth time in ten years that USS Alaska has been selected for this honor, which recognizes outstanding support to the USSTRATCOM mission of strategic deterrence.

Both the Blue and Gold crews were recognized as the ballistic-missile submarine winners. The award consists of four categories which include: intercontinental ballistic missile squadron, ballistic missile submarine, strategic bomber squadron, and global operations squadron.

Cmdr. Bill Dull, commanding officer of USS Alaska’s Blue Crew said he is proud of the hard work both crews exhibited throughout the past year.

“It is a tremendous honor to earn the 2021 USSTRATCOM Omaha trophy,” said Dull. “Earning this award is the direct result of the hard work and effort by both crews of Alaska working together to execute the number one mission in the Department of Defense. I could not be more proud of the Alaska family.”

Cmdr. Justin Hardy, the Gold Crew’s commanding officer, said the award is validation of the crews’ continued hard work.

“This award is a testament to the hard work and perseverance the crew of the Alaska has shown throughout the year and continues to demonstrate every day,” said Hardy. “It is humbling and inspiring to be part of such a dedicated team.”

The award recipients were announced in a message from Adm. Charles Richard, commander of USSTRATCOM. The award will be presented to Alaska at a later date.

“Today’s strategic threat environment requires that we have a combat-ready force on watch 24/7,” said Adm. Charles Richard, commander of USSTRATCOM. “These Omaha Trophy award winners stood out for their continued excellence anytime, anywhere, making our global mission successful. I congratulate all units nominated for their exceptional meritorious service. Each of you demonstrate an unrivaled commitment to strategic deterrence. Bravo Zulu!”

The Omaha Trophy was originally created by the Strategic Air Command Consultation Committee (SCC) in 1971. At the time, a single trophy was presented annually as a token of appreciation to the command’s best wing. The SCC – an advisory group comprised of business leaders in the Omaha area – became the Strategic Command Consultation Committee after the activation of USSTRATCOM in 1992.

Alaska is one of six SSBNs homeported at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga. She is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to be named for the Territory of Alaska or the State of Alaska.

For more news from Commander, Submarine Group 10, visit https://www.facebook.com/submarinegroupten/ and https://twitter.com/SUBGRU10.

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Defense News in Brief: Naval Information Forces leaders address Sea-Air-Space Expo

Source: United States Navy

Rear Adm. John Okon, director, Warfare Integration Directorate, N2N6I, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, opened the IW speaker’s pavilion April 4.

“First, Vice Adm. Trussler is firmly focused on delivering the most consequential capability for the high-end fight to the fleet,” said Okon. “Information is the most consequential capability in the high-end fight, from the bottom of the ocean to the stars.”

Okon emphasized that Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach’s number one priority as the IW community lead is Live-Virtual-Constructive training. “We need to have instantiations of training on the underclass to the most classified networks so we can do reps and sets with our Sailors and civilians,” said Okon. “And we have to get there fast.”

Capt. Nicole Nigro, commander, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic followed up the IW pavilion with a discussion of NIWC Atlantic mission and priorities.

“We are bringing that new capability out to the warfighter,” said Nigro. “We bridge the gap between industry and program offices to get those new capabilities, new technologies out to the Fleet.”

Ms. Tami North, director, NAVIFOR West, spoke on the second day of SAS, leading a discussion at the IW pavilion on defining information warfare capabilities, including the systems, hardware, software and Sailors.

“Information warfare is the key to all other warfare areas,” said North. “It is absolutely essential to the kill chains of every single warfare area, and it is essential at all levels of war.”

North emphasized that Navy IW is focused on countering adversaries while at the same time enhancing the Navy’s effectiveness. The Navy IW community does this through the integrated employment of the Navy’s information capabilities, intended to degrade, deny, deceive or destroy an adversary’s information environment and enhance the friendly operations in the Fleet.

The Navy Information Warfare pavilion also had Sailors from the several IW community career fields on hand to speak to attendees at SAS.

SAS provides a platform for the professional development of Department of the Navy personnel on the latest developments in naval warfare and an opportunity for Navy engagement with representatives from a broad cross-section of government, industry, academia, and the international community.

The SAS schedule was designed to focus on readiness and innovation, with panels covering topics such as acquisition, cyber, strategic sealift, leadership, shipbuilding, and manpower. SAS showcased leaders from across the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, other governmental agencies and industry.

NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our leadership of the IW Enterprise, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready IW forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.

For more information on NAVIFOR, visit the command Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavalInformationForces/ or the public web page at https://www.navifor.usff.navy.mil.

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Security News: Lackawanna County Man Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison For Role In Methamphetamine And Heroin Trafficking Conspiracy

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Rudolph Ford, age 33, formerly of Olyphant, Lackawanna County, was sentenced on April 7, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to seven years’ imprisonment for his role in a methamphetamine and heroin trafficking conspiracy.

According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Ford previously pleaded guilty and admitted to participating in a conspiracy to distribute between 350 and 500 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 20 to 40 grams of heroin in the Lackawanna County area in 2018.   Ford was one of five individuals indicted by a grand jury in December 2018 for methamphetamine trafficking in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Schuylkill Counties

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Pennsylvania State Police, the Kingston Police Department, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.  Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.

Previously, Amanda Boyle, age 37, of Sweet Valley, Luzerne County, was sentenced by Judge Mariani to nine years in prison for her role in this same drug trafficking conspiracy.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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Security News: Jury Convicts University of Kansas Researcher for Hiding Ties to Chinese Government

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former University of Kansas (KU) professor was today convicted by a federal jury on three counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements after he deliberately concealed that he was also employed by a government-affiliated university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), while working on U.S. government funded research at KU.

Feng Tao, aka Franklin Tao, 50, of Lawrence, Kansas, worked as a full-time professor at KU. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2018, Tao accepted a position with Fuzhou University in China that designated him as a Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor. The position’s guidelines required him to be a full-time employee of Fuzhou University.

The Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) required faculty to file annual reports to notify of any outside employment that did or could impact duties as a conflict of interest. Tao didn’t seek permission from KU before entering the agreement with Fuzhou University, didn’t notify KU about the employment, and lied to conceal the employment. In December 2018, the defendant moved to China to work full-time at Fuzhou University, while falsely telling KU administrators that he was in Europe.

As a KU faculty member, Tao conducted research under contracts between the KU and two U.S. government agencies, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Tao caused KU to submit to DOE and NSF hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursement requests for expenditures associated with the grants. Tao repeatedly certified electronic documents indicating he read and understood the federal government and KU’s policies and that he had made all necessary disclosures.

Tao faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 for wire fraud, and up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each of the program fraud counts.

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Controls Section (CES) are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by Deputy Chief Benjamin Hawk of CES.