Month: September 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice

A former U.S. government employee was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for drugging and sexually abusing numerous women in multiple countries, including photographing and video recording more than two dozen nude and partially nude women without their consent while they were unconscious or incapable of consenting.

According to court documents, Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, was employed by the U.S. government. His last assignment was in Mexico City. There, he drugged and sexually assaulted several women in his U.S. government-leased housing. Additionally, between 2006 and 2020, in Mexico City and elsewhere, Raymond drugged and then photographed or video recorded 28 victims while they were nude or partially nude, and also admitted to drugging two others. Many of the recordings show Raymond touching and manipulating the victims’ bodies while they were unconscious and incapable of consent. Raymond deleted or attempted to delete explicit photographs and videos depicting the victims after learning about the criminal investigation. 

“Brian Raymond sexually exploited dozens of women over the course of 14 years, including while he served abroad as a U.S. government employee,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to prosecuting sexual abuse in violation of federal law — no matter where those violations occur or who commits them. We are grateful for the valuable partnership we have with the Mexican government and will continue to work with our domestic and international partners to pursue justice for victims of sexual exploitation.”

“When this predator was a government employee, he lured unsuspecting women to his government-leased housing and drugged them,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “After drugging these women, he stripped, sexually abused, and photographed them. Today’s sentence ensures that the defendant will be properly marked as a sex offender for life, and he will spend a substantial portion of the rest of his life behind bars.”

“This case demonstrates the strong commitment of the Diplomatic Security Service to work with our law enforcement partners here and abroad to investigate public servants in positions of trust who commit sexual assault anywhere in the world,” said Director Carlos F. Matus of the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). “It is a good example of how DSS’s global presence enables our agency to serve as a bridge between U.S. and foreign law enforcement counterparts to assist in bringing those who commit such heinous crimes to justice.” 

“For 14 years, Raymond exploited his trusted position as a U.S. government representative to lure women into his confidence,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office. “He then drugged and sexually assaulted them and took explicit photos and videos of them without their consent. The FBI thanks the brave women who shared information that furthered this investigation. We recognize our domestic and foreign law enforcement partners who helped bring Raymond to justice for his reprehensible crimes.”

In November 2023, Raymond pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse, one count of abusive sexual contact, one count of coercion and enticement, and one count of transporting obscene material. As part of the plea agreement, Raymond admitted to drugging and then engaging in nonconsensual sexual acts with four women and nonconsensual sexual contact with six women. Raymond further admitted to drugging and then creating obscene material depicting 28 women without their knowledge or permission, and drugging another two women.

Raymond was ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to pay $260,000 in restitution to the victims. After his release from prison, Raymond will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The DSS Office of Special Investigations, the DSS Computer Investigations and Forensics Division, and the FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and National Security Division provided valuable assistance. The FBI’s Legal Attaché office in Mexico City also provided especially valuable assistance.

The Justice Department gratefully acknowledges the government of Mexico, including the Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), the Fiscalía General de Justicia de la Ciudad de México, and the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), for its extraordinary efforts, support, and cooperation during the investigation.

Trial Attorneys Angela Buckner and Katharine Wagner of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Mayer-Dempsey for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case. Trial Attorneys Clayton O’Connor and Elizabeth Nielsen and Paralegal Specialist Vanessa Douglas of HRSP; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Hooks, Jolie Zimmerman, and Janani Iyengar for the District of Columbia; Victim Specialists Yvonne Bryant and Tonya Jones for the District of Columbia’s Victim Witness Unit; and Assistant U.S. Attorney April Russo for the Eastern District of Virginia also provided valuable assistance.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Lewiston, Maine, man was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for threatening a Black family who lived in his apartment complex.

Charles Allen Barnes, 47, previously pleaded guilty to one count of threatening communications in interstate commerce. In connection with his plea, Barnes admitted to sending a Facebook voice message in which he stated that he was outside a neighbor’s residence and would kill anyone who emerged. In the message, Barnes repeatedly used racial slurs to refer to the victims.

“Violent and racially motivated threats have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant, a self-described racist skinhead, used social media to terrorize his innocent neighbors because they are Black. This sentence cannot undo the fear and trauma his hateful actions caused but should make clear that online threats come with real-world penalties. The Justice Department is steadfast in enforcing our federal civil rights laws to ensure all communities, including communities of color, are protected from hate-fueled threats of violence.”

“The hate-fueled threat and his subsequent possession of a weapon nearby instilled fear in this family in the one place we all should feel safest,” said U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee for the District of Maine. “Hate of any kind will not be tolerated in Maine, and we will continue to pursue justice for victims of racial harassment, threats, and violence.”

“Charles Barnes’ abhorrent behavior and racist threats put his neighbors through a horrific experience,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Division. “People of all races and faiths deserve to feel safe in their communities. It is our hope that today’s sentence helps the victims in this case heal, while making it clear to others that violence, especially borne from hate, will not be tolerated.”

According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Barnes harbored longstanding racist views, espoused white supremacist rhetoric online and had described himself to an acquaintance as a racist skinhead. After hearing this and other evidence, the court enhanced the sentence based on its finding that Barnes intentionally selected his victims because of race. The court also heard that, several hours after Barnes sent the threatening message, police officers found him sitting outside of his apartment located in the same complex, armed with a large knife. Based on this evidence, the court imposed an additional sentencing enhancement.

The FBI Boston Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the Maine Attorney General’s Office and Lewiston Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Sawyer for the District of Maine and Trial Attorney Alec Ward of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, returned an indictment today charging a Louisiana doctor for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $32.7 million by submitting claims for medically unnecessary definitive urine drug testing services.

According to court documents, Michael W. Dole, MD, 59, of Alexandria, owned and operated a pain management practice located in Alexandria, which had an in-house drug testing laboratory. From in or around January 2010 through July 2023, Dole allegedly billed Medicare over $32.7 million for definitive testing of routinely over 22 classes of drugs in urine specimens from nearly all his patients, despite a lack of documentation of use or suspicion of use of those drugs by the patients. It is alleged that Medicare subsequently reimbursed Dole over $11.7 million for the medically unnecessary urine drug testing claims, and Dole used the proceeds of the fraud on personal expenses.

Dole is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and five counts of health care fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown for the Western District of Louisiana; Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil of the FBI New Orleans Field Office made the announcement.

HHS-OIG and the FBI New Orleans Field Office are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Samantha E. Usher and Kelly Z. Walters of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Hendricks County (the County), Indiana, to settle allegations that the County violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by twice unlawfully denying zoning approval to Al Hussnain Inc., an Islamic educational organization, seeking to develop a religious seminary, school and residential housing in Hendricks County.    

“Animus directed towards the Muslim community masked under the guise of an ordinary zoning restrictions violates the law and runs contrary to the principles of fairness and tolerance that are core in our democracy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “Federal law prohibits local governments from making zoning decisions about housing or religious land use on the basis of the religion of the developer or those whom they perceive might live at or worship at the development. The Justice Department will use its authority to stop discriminatory anti-Islamic conduct and hold local governments accountable.”      

“Discrimination on the basis of religion has no place in the Crossroads of America,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana. “This office will steadfastly defend the right of all persons to enjoy housing free from discrimination. This complaint and consent decree demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that people of all faiths are not discriminated against by unlawful local government actions.”

The proposed consent decree, which was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and must still be approved by the court, resolves a lawsuit the United States also filed today. The complaint alleges that the County, facing significant community animus and opposition, denied Al Hussnain’s rezoning applications to develop a mixed-use community containing a residential neighborhood, community center, K-12 religious school, Islamic seminary and dormitories for seminary students at two different locations in the County, citing concerns that lacked a legitimate basis.

The complaint further alleges that Hendricks County repeatedly departed from its own zoning ordinances as well as the county’s processes and procedures for reviewing zoning applications and treated Al Hussnain’s application worse than similar applications brought by non-Muslim developers. The complaint alleges that the County engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination and denied rights to a group of persons because of religion in violation of the FHA and imposed a substantial burden on the Islamic organization’s religious exercise, treated the organization on less than equal terms with nonreligious assemblies or institutions and discriminated against the organization on the basis of religion in violation of RLUIPA.  

The consent decree requires Hendricks County to pay monetary damages of $295,000 to Al Hussnain, Inc., a civil penalty of $5,000 to the United States, adopt Fair Housing and Religious Land Use policies, train its officials and employees on the requirements of RLUIPA and the FHA, and establish a procedure for receiving and resolving RLUIPA and FHA complaints.

The FHA prohibits discrimination by direct providers of housing, such as landlords and real estate companies as well as other entities, such as municipalities, banks or other lending institutions and homeowners’ insurance companies whose discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons because of race or color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability. More information about the FHA can be found here.

RLUIPA is a federal law that protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. In June 2018, the Justice Department announced its Place to Worship Initiative, which focuses on RLUIPA’s provisions that protect the rights of houses of worship and other religious institutions to worship on their land. 

Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Unit at USAINS-CivilRights@usdoj.gov or the Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (800) 896-7743, or through the complaint portal on the Place to Worship Initiative website.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Note: View the affidavit here.

The Justice Department today announced a court-authorized law enforcement operation that disrupted a botnet consisting of more than 200,000 consumer devices in the United States and worldwide. As described in court documents unsealed in the Western District of Pennsylvania, the botnet devices were infected by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored hackers working for Integrity Technology Group, a company based in Beijing, and known to the private sector as “Flax Typhoon.”

The botnet malware infected numerous types of consumer devices, including small-office/home-office (SOHO) routers, internet protocol (IP) cameras, digital video recorders (DVRs), and network-attached storage (NAS) devices. The malware connected these thousands of infected devices into a botnet, controlled by Integrity Technology Group, which was used to conduct malicious cyber activity disguised as routine internet traffic from the infected consumer devices. The court-authorized operation took control of the hackers’ computer infrastructure and, among other steps, sent disabling commands through that infrastructure to the malware on the infected devices. During the course of the operation, there was an attempt to interfere with the FBI’s remediation efforts through a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack targeting the operational infrastructure that the FBI was utilizing to effectuate the court’s orders. That attack was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the FBI’s disruption of the botnet.

“The Justice Department is zeroing in on the Chinese government backed hacking groups that target the devices of innocent Americans and pose a serious threat to our national security,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As we did earlier this year, the Justice Department has again destroyed a botnet used by PRC-backed hackers to infiltrate consumer devices here in the United States and around the world. We will continue to aggressively counter the threat that China’s state- sponsored hacking groups pose to the American people.”

“Our takedown of this state-sponsored botnet reflects the Department’s all-tools approach to disrupting cyber criminals. This network, managed by a PRC government contractor, hijacked hundreds of thousands of private routers, cameras, and other consumer devices to create a malicious system for the PRC to exploit,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Today should serve as a warning to cybercriminals preying on Americans – if you continue to come for us, we will come for you.”

“This dynamic operation demonstrates, once again, the Justice Department’s resolve in countering the threats posed by PRC state-sponsored hackers,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division. “For the second time this year, we have disrupted a botnet used by PRC proxies to conceal their efforts to hack into networks in the U.S. and around the world to steal information and hold our infrastructure at risk. Our message to these hackers is clear: if you build it, we will bust it.”

“The disruption of this worldwide botnet is part of the FBI’s commitment to using technical operations to help protect victims, expose publicly the scope of these criminal hacking campaigns, and to use the adversary’s tools against them to remove malicious infrastructure from the virtual battlefield,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “The FBI’s unique legal authorities allowed it to lead an international operation with partners that collectively disconnected this botnet from its China-based hackers at Integrity Technology Group.”

“The targeted hacking of hundreds of thousands of innocent victims in the United States and around the world shows the breadth and aggressiveness of PRC state-sponsored hackers,” said U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “This court-authorized operation disrupted a sophisticated botnet designed to steal sensitive information and launch disruptive cyber attacks. We will continue to work with our partners inside and outside government, using every tool at our disposal, to defend and maintain global cybersecurity.”

“The FBI’s investigation revealed that a publicly-traded, China-based company is openly selling its customers the ability to hack into and control thousands of consumer devices worldwide. This operation sends a clear message to the PRC that the United States will not tolerate this shameless criminal conduct,” said Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego Field Office.

According to the court documents, the botnet was developed and controlled by Integrity Technology Group, a publicly-traded company headquartered in Beijing. The company built an online application allowing its customers to log in and control specified infected victim devices, including with a menu of malicious cyber commands using a tool called “vulnerability-arsenal.” The online application was prominently labelled “KRLab,” one of the main public brands used by Integrity Technology Group.

The FBI assesses that Integrity Technology Group, in addition to developing and controlling the botnet, is responsible for computer intrusion activities attributed to China-based hackers known by the private sector as “Flax Typhoon.” Microsoft Threat Intelligence described Flax Typhoon as nation-state actors based out of China, active since 2021, who have targeted government agencies and education, critical manufacturing, and information technology organizations in Taiwan, and elsewhere. The FBI’s investigation has corroborated Microsoft’s conclusions, finding that Flax Typhoon has successfully attacked multiple U.S. and foreign corporations, universities, government agencies, telecommunications providers, and media organizations.

A cybersecurity advisory describing Integrity Technology Group tactics, techniques and procedures was also published today by the FBI, the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command’s Cyber National Mission Force, and partner agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. 

The government’s malware disabling commands, which interacted with the malware’s native functionality, were extensively tested prior to the operation. As expected, the operation did not affect the legitimate functions of, or collect content information from, the infected devices. The FBI is providing notice to U.S. owners of devices that were affected by this court-authorized operation. The FBI is contacting those victims through their internet service provider, who will provide notice to their customers.

The FBI’s San Diego Field Office and Cyber Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the National Security Cyber Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division led the domestic disruption effort. Assistance was also provided by the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. These efforts would not have been successful without the collaboration of partners, including French authorities, and Lumen Technologies’ threat intelligence group, Black Lotus Labs, which first identified and described this botnet, which it named Raptor Train, in July 2023.

If you believe you have a compromised computer or device, please visit the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or report online to CISA. You may also contact your local FBI field office directly.

The FBI continues to investigate Integrity Technology Group’s and Flax Typhoon’s computer intrusion activities.