Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Yuanjun Tang, 67, a naturalized citizen of the United States and resident of Queens, New York, was charged by criminal complaint with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and making materially false statements to the FBI. Tang was arrested today in Flushing, Queens, and will be presented this afternoon.

According to court documents, Tang is a former PRC citizen who was imprisoned in the PRC for his activities as a dissident opposing the one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the PRC’s sole ruling party. In or about 2002, Tang defected to Taiwan; he was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States and has since resided in New York City, where he has regularly participated in events with fellow PRC dissidents and leads a nonprofit dedicated to promoting democracy in China.

Between at least in or about 2018 and in or about June 2023, Tang acted in the United States as an agent of the PRC by completing tasks at the direction of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is the PRC’s principal civilian intelligence agency. The MSS is responsible for, among other things, the PRC’s foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, espionage and political security functions.

Specifically, through a particular email account, encrypted chats, text messages and audio and video calls, Tang regularly received instructions from and reported to an MSS intelligence officer regarding individuals and groups viewed by the PRC as potentially adverse to the PRC’s interests, including prominent U.S.-based Chinese democracy activists and dissidents. He also traveled at least three times for face-to-face meetings with MSS intelligence officers and helped the MSS infiltrate a group chat on an encrypted messaging application used by numerous PRC dissidents and pro-democracy activists to communicate about pro-democracy issues and express criticism of the PRC government. Law enforcement recovered instructions Tang received from the MSS and photographs, videos and documents that he collected or created for transmission to the MSS from numerous electronic devices and accounts belonging to Tang.

Tang also made materially false statements to the FBI. He falsely claimed that he was no longer able to access an email account through which he had communicated with his MSS handler through draft emails.

Tang is charged with one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; one count of acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York and Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint 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

Oleg Chistyakov, also known as Olegs Čitsjakovs, 55, of Latvia, made his initial appearance in a federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, today after being extradited from Latvia. Chistyakov is the third defendant in this case to face charges in connection with a years-long conspiracy to sell sophisticated avionics equipment to Russian companies, after Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine and despite heightened additional U.S. economic countermeasures levied against Russia.

According to court documents, Chistyakov allegedly conspired with U.S. citizens Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 61, of Kansas, and Douglas Edward Robertson, 56, of  Kansas, to facilitate the sale, repair and shipment of U.S.-origin avionics equipment to customers in Russia and in other countries that operate Russian-built aircraft, including the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB). Buyanovksy and Robertson were charged and arrested in March 2023 and have both pleaded guilty. Buyanovsky is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14 and Robertson is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3.

As alleged, Chistyakov, while operating from Latvia and often through his Emirati company RosAero FZC, worked with Buyanovsky and Robertson through their U.S. company, KanRus Trading Company Inc. (KanRus), to circumvent U.S export laws by purchasing avionics equipment from U.S. companies for customers in Russia. Chistyakov allegedly acted as a broker for KanRus by soliciting quotes, negotiating prices and terms of delivery and facilitating payments between KanRus and customers in Russia. As alleged, Chistyakov and his conspirators attempted to conceal their illegal activities by creating false invoices, transshipping items through third-party countries, such as Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using bank accounts in third-party countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the UAE, and exporting items to intermediary companies which then reexported the items to the ultimate end destinations. 

Many of the entities and individuals involved in Chistyakov’s alleged scheme were added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List in December 2023, which imposes specific license requirements on transactions made by all listed individuals and entities.

Chistyakov is charged with conspiracy, Export Control Reform Act violations, smuggling and money laundering violations. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Commerce Department, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI National Security Branch and U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher for the District of Kansas made the announcement. 

The FBI and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Ryan Huschka for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Latvian authorities to secure the extradition of Chistyakov to the United States. 

The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced that it will conduct an organizational assessment of the Charlottesville, Virginia, Police Department through its Collaborative Reform Initiative. Over the next year, the Charlottesville Police Department will work with the COPS Office Collaborative Reform Initiative team to focus on:

• Community Policing/Problem Solving;
• Crime Analysis/Crime Prevention;
• Employee Wellness, Training, Development and Retention;
• Resource Analysis/Strategic Planning; and
• Accountability, Oversight and Evaluation.

“The overall goals of the Organizational Assessment program include building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, enhancing officer safety and wellness and improving fairness and effectiveness in an agency’s operations,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “Any department that actively commits to pursuing those goals is taking a step in the right direction.”

“This is a comprehensive assessment that includes data and document review, direct observations of the agency’s activities and practices, interviews, focus groups and more,” said COPS Office Director Hugh T. Clements, Jr. “At the same time the work is taking place, the public will receive regular updates, as transparency is a critical part of this process.”

Regular updates on the team’s work with the Charlottesville Police Department will be provided at cops.usdoj.gov/active-oa-site-charlottesville-va-police-department as part of the transparency and public accountability of this new Organizational Assessment effort.

The Collaborative Reform Initiative encompasses three programs offering expert services to state, local, territorial and Tribal law enforcement agencies: the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center, Critical Response and Organizational Assessment programs (complete details of these programs can be found at cops.usdoj.gov/collaborativereform). Managed out of the COPS Office, this continuum of services is designed to build trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve; improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness; enhance officer safety and wellness; build agencies’ capacity for organizational learning and self-improvement; and promote community policing practices nationwide.

The Organizational Assessment program provides the most intensive form of technical assistance on the continuum, involving in-depth assessments and long-term assistance on systemic issues that can challenge community trust and confidence. A continual assessment and implementation process ensures that time and resources are used to focus on identifying areas for improvement, reinforcing agency strengths and assisting with the implementation of improvements expeditiously. At the same time, the process provides transparency and accountability with routine public reporting. Each engagement will be supported by a multidisciplinary assessment team composed of subject matter experts with diverse experience and perspectives, including in law enforcement, community engagement, research and evaluation, program management and organizational reform.

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Justice Department responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Justice Department agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served. The COPS Office has been appropriated more than $20 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, territorial and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 138,000 officers.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted seven defendants today of federal civil rights offenses arising out of their blockade of a reproductive health care clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Aug. 27, 2020. The defendants were each convicted of a felony conspiracy against rights and a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act offense. Two defendants were convicted of a second FACE Act offense arising out of a blockade of a reproductive health care clinic in Saginaw, Michigan.  

“These defendants orchestrated an unlawful clinic blockade and physically obstructed patients seeking access to their doctors, without regard to the serious medical needs of the women they blocked from accessing reproductive health care,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “These defendants intentionally broke the law. One woman’s fetus experienced fatal abnormalities and the defendants’ coordinated campaign of physical obstruction posed a grave and real threat to her health and fertility. Make no mistake: every American enjoys the right to obtain and provide reproductive health services free from physical obstruction, and the Justice Department will continue to hold accountable those that oppress the free exercise of that right. We thank the jury for the time, attention, and careful consideration of the facts of this case.”

“My office is committed to protecting all of the legal rights of our district’s citizens, including the right to access reproductive health care,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “The defendants convicted today sought to interfere with that right by physically blocking the doors of clinics providing such services.  These defendants are entitled to their views, but they are not entitled to prevent others from exercising the rights secured to them by the laws of the United States. This case is about the rule of law, and today’s verdict is a victory for that principle.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Calvin Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Caroline Davis, Joel Curry, Justin Phillips, Eva Edl and Eva Zastrow engaged in a conspiracy to prevent clinic employees from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services, a civil right secured by the FACE Act. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants participated in the “Michigan Holiness Revival Tour,” a camping tour organized by Calvin Zastrow with the express purpose of blockading a reproductive health clinic during the second week of the tour.  

During the blockade, the defendants sat or stood in front of the entrances to the clinic so that patients and employees could not enter. Evidence at trial further proved that the defendants blocked a patient, S.S., from entering. The evidence showed that S.S. and her husband had made an appointment at the clinic after learning that their fetus suffered fatal abnormalities, and that attempting to continue carrying the pregnancy carried serious risks to S.S.’s health and fertility. The defendants blocked S.S. from obtaining reproductive health care.  

The evidence further proved that Calvin and Eva Zastrow followed a clinic employee around the building in order to prevent her from entering an emergency exit, and that Gallagher and Edl attempted to stall the Sterling Heights Police Department in order to prolong the blockade. Evidence at trial further proved that the defendants violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction to interfere with the clinic’s employees and patients because the clinic was providing, and patients were seeking, reproductive health services.  

According to evidence presented at trial, Edl and Idoni physically obstructed access to a second clinic, in Saginaw, Michigan, on April 16, 2021. The evidence proved that Edl obstructed access by sitting in front of one entrance with a doorstop wedged under the door such that the door could not be opened from the inside, while Idoni used a bicycle lock to chain herself in front of a second door. The evidence proved that Edl and Idoni violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction to interfere with the clinic’s employees and patients because the clinic was providing, and patients were seeking, reproductive health services.

A sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.

The FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Bay City Resident Agency investigated the case.  

Trial Attorney Laura-Kate Bernstein of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frances Carlson and Sunita Doddamani for the Eastern District of Michigan are prosecuting the case.

Anyone who has information about incidents of violence, threats and obstruction that target a patient or provider of reproductive health services, or damage and destruction of reproductive health care facilities, should report that information to the FBI at www.tips.fbi.gov. For more information about clinic violence, and the Justice Department’s efforts to enforce FACE Act violations, visit www.justice.gov/crt/national-task-force-violence-against-reproductive-health-care-providers.