Security News in Brief: Maryland Man Who Threatened Maryland Congressman Sentenced to Federal Prison

Source: United States Department of Justice News

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Sidhartha Kumar Mathur, age 35, of West Friendship, Maryland to two years’ probation including eight weekends in the federal bureau of prisons and six months of home detention with electronic monitoring for making false statements to federal agents, relating to the death threats he sent to a Member of Congress representing Maryland. Judge Bennett also ordered Mathur to preform 100 hours of community service.

Security News in Brief: Former Michigan Police Officer Sentenced to Three Years for Using Unreasonable Excessive Force During an Arrest

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former Hamtramck, Michigan, Police Department officer was sentenced today in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan for using unjustified and unreasonable excessive force during an arrest of a civilian and violating that civilian’s civil rights. As a result of the assault, the victim, identified in court documents only as D.M., suffered broken facial bones and lacerations requiring stitches, among other injuries.

Security News in Brief: Justice Department Sues Texas Over Senate Bill 8

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced today that the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to prevent the State of Texas from enforcing Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which went into effect on Sept. 1 and effectively bans most abortions in the state. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that SB8 is invalid under the Supremacy Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment, is preempted by federal law, and violates the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity.

Security News in Brief: Pittsburgh man offers guilty plea to bank fraud, fabricating letter from former Secretary of State in his favor

Source: United States Department of Justice News

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in federal court today to crimes related to stealing customers’ information and money from the banks at which he was employed. The defendant also submitted a fake letter to the Court purportedly from former Secretary of State and retired four-star general Colin Powell in support of a lenient sentence for the defendant.

Security News in Brief: South Korean National Pleads Guilty to Federal Criminal Charge for Poaching Wild Succulent Plants for Illegal Exportation to Asia

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A South Korean national who was extradited from South Africa pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for attempting to illegally export to Asia live Dudleya succulent plants worth more than $600,000 that he and his co-schemers had pulled out of the ground at remote state parks in Northern California.