Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho — leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group — were charged with a 15-count indictment for soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Humber and Allison were arrested on Friday by law enforcement officials.

“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to attacking America’s critical infrastructure, targeting a hit list of our country’s public officials, and carrying out deadly hate crimes — all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today’s arrests are a warning that committing hate-fueled crimes in the darkest corners of the internet will not hide you, and soliciting terrorist attacks from behind a screen will not protect you. The United States Department of Justice will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”

“We allege that the leaders of Terrorgram charged today are a threat to public safety and the rule of law,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Using the Telegram platform, they advanced their heinous white supremacist ideology, solicited hate crimes, and provided guidance and instructions for terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure and assassinations of government officials. Today’s action reaffirms that the Department of Justice will not tolerate this alleged abhorrent conduct. It has no place in America or anywhere else. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify, apprehend, and hold accountable anyone who engages in such activity, no matter where they are located.”

“These defendants are alleged to be the leaders of Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group that our investigation found is responsible for soliciting hate crimes and the murder of government officials and providing support to terrorists,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Whether motivated by racial bias or antagonism toward government and societal norms, such behavior will not be tolerated. Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and working with our partners we are committed to investigating and holding accountable those who break the laws and assist violent actors in lethal plots.”

“Hate crimes fueled by bigotry and white supremacy, and amplified by the weaponization of digital messaging platforms, are on the rise and have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This indictment charges the leaders of a transnational terrorist group with several civil rights violations, including soliciting others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against Black, immigrant, LGBT, and Jewish people. Make no mistake, as hate groups turn to online platforms, the federal government is adapting and responding to protect vulnerable communities. The Justice Department is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and we will resolutely strive to bring to justice those who seek to threaten, undermine, or extinguish it.”

“As alleged, Humber and Allison, the leaders of Terrorgram, conspired to provide material support and solicited attacks on federal officials and critical government infrastructure, including federal buildings and energy facilities,” said Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division. “Today’s charges demonstrate the Justice Department’s resolve to bring every available tool to bear in countering threats of violent extremists and protecting Americans.”

“The defendants solicited murders and hate crimes based on the race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity of others,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. “They also doxed and solicited the murder of federal officials, conspired to provide material support to terrorists, and distributed information about explosives that they intended to be used in committing crimes of violence. My office will continue to work tirelessly with our partners in law enforcement and in the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute those who commit such violations of federal criminal law. I would like to thank the FBI and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and National Security Division for their partnership in support of the common mission to keep our people and public officials safe from hate-fueled crimes of violence.”

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, Humber and Allison are the leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group that operates on the digital messaging platform Telegram, where it promotes white supremacist accelerationism: an ideology centered on the belief that the white race is superior; that society is irreparably corrupt and cannot be saved by political action; and that violence and terrorism are necessary to ignite a race war and accelerate the collapse of the government and the rise of a white ethnostate. 

The indictment alleges that Humber and Allison, as leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, contributed to and disseminated several Terrorgram videos and publications that provide specific advice for carrying out crimes, celebrate white supremacist attacks, and provide a hit list of “high-value targets” for assassination. The hit list included U.S. federal, state, and local officials, as well as leaders of private companies and non-governmental organizations, many of whom were targeted because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Humber and Allison are alleged to have operated Terrorgram channels and group chats, where they solicited Terrorgram users to commit attacks in order to achieve Terrorgram’s goals of accelerationism and white supremacy and provided instructions and guidance to equip Terrorgram users to carry out those attacks. These attacks include but are not limited to:

• Bias-motivated attacks against those deemed by Terrorgram to be enemies of the white race;
• Terrorist attacks on government infrastructure, such as government buildings and energy facilities, which Terrorgram believes will ignite a race war and help accelerate the collapse of government and society; and
• Attacks on “high-value targets” — like politicians and government officials — whose murders Terrorgram believes would sow chaos and further accelerate the government’s downfall.

They also incited Terrorgram users to commit attacks in furtherance of white supremacist accelerationism, including the following individuals who were allegedly inspired or guided by Humber, Allison, and other members of the Terrorgram Collective to carry out attacks or were planning to do so when they were arrested by law enforcement:

• An individual who shot three people (killing two) outside of an LGBT bar in Slovakia;
• An individual who planned an attack on energy facilities in New Jersey; and
• An individual who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey.

The indictment charges Humber and Allison with a total of 15 counts, including one count of conspiracy, four counts of soliciting hate crimes, three counts of soliciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, two counts of distributing bombmaking instructions, and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

If convicted of all charges, Humber and Allison each face a maximum penalty of 220 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Sacramento Field Office and FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Boise Resident Agency, investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and a variety of foreign and domestic law enforcement agencies.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California are prosecuting the case.

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

View the indictment here.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department sued the State of Maine today for unnecessarily segregating children with behavioral health disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and a state-operated juvenile detention facility in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. The department previously notified Maine of its findings of civil rights violations in a June 2022 letter to Maine. The letter identified steps that Maine should take to remedy the violations.

“The State of Maine has an obligation to protect its residents, including children with behavioral health disabilities, and such children should not be confined to facilities away from their families and community resources,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can get the services they need to remain at home with their families and loved ones, in their communities.”

“Families across Maine must be able to access to local community-based services for their children with behavioral health disabilities,” said U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee for the District of Maine. “The alleged violations identified by the Justice Department must be remedied so that these children and their families can obtain services in their own communities, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

The ADA and the Olmstead decision require state and local governments to ensure the services they provide for children with disabilities are available in the most integrated setting appropriate to each child’s needs. These services can include assistance with daily activities, behavior management and individual or family counseling. Community-based behavioral health services also include crisis services that can help prevent a child from being institutionalized during a mental health crisis. Absent these services, Maine children with disabilities enter emergency rooms, come into contact with law enforcement and remain in institutions when they could remain with their families if Maine provided them sufficient community-based services.

The lawsuit alleges that Maine administers its system in a way that limits behavioral health services in the community. As a result, Maine children must enter in- and out-of-state facilities, or even the state-operated juvenile detention facility, Long Creek Youth Development Center, to receive behavioral health services. Others are at serious risk of entering these facilities, as their families struggle to keep them home despite the lack of necessary services.

The Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section investigated this case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.

For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov/topics/community-integration/.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt.

The letter of findings can be viewed here.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee met last week to discuss the efforts, challenges, and successes in reducing violent crime — as well as how the Department can further the steady, continued decline in violent crime in 2024. The Steering Committee is chaired by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Marshall Miller and composed of leadership and representatives from across the Department.

After PADAG Miller called the meeting to order, the Committee was briefed on the latest violent-crime statistics. Preliminary data from 88 cities showed that violent crime has continued to decline considerably in 2024, including a 16.9% decline in murder, a 7.5% decrease in rape, a 3.4% decrease in aggravated assault, and a 5.2% decline in robbery.

The Committee received updates from U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger for the District of Minnesota on the various initiatives employed by members of the U.S. Attorney community to crack down in violent crime during the summer months, when violent crime historically surges. These initiatives, employed by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country, included such efforts as: increased outreach and intervention activities; weekly, data-driven coordination with local law enforcement to identify shooters and other drivers of violent crime for federal prosecution; surges in federal firearms prosecutions; increased focus on prosecution for possession or use of machinegun conversion devices, which convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machineguns; launch and implementation of carjacking task forces; and partnerships with the Department’s Criminal Division to bring prosecutions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Early data showed successful outcomes from initiatives that included, for example, further year-over-year reductions in homicides in Detroit and a zeroing out of carjackings in the Eastern District of Texas during the summer months of 2024. 

The Committee was briefed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service on their efforts and successes in combating violent crime over the summer through Operation Overdrive and Operation North Star, respectively, and from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regarding the Department’s convening with the additive manufacturing industry on how to reduce the availability and use of unlawful machinegun conversion devices, which was held Friday and included remarks from the Deputy Attorney General.

The Committee also heard from the Department’s grantmaking components regarding grants and additional resources to combat violent crime. The Office of Justice Programs discussed its use of grants, training, and technical assistance to assist state, local, and Tribal justice agencies in addressing their communities’ specific public safety needs. After previewing plans to observe the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Violence against Women Act, the Office of Violence Against Women briefed the Committee on its work at the intersection of firearms and domestic violence and on an important resource for prosecutors, the Framework for Prosecutors to Strengthen Our National Response to Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Involving Adult Victims. The Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services discussed additional grants and resources available for combatting violent crime, including the award of grants to local law enforcement to hire career law enforcement officers.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Miller discussed a new directive from the Deputy Attorney General on combating machinegun conversion devices. He also indicated that the Steering Committee’s work would be reported to Department leadership, including developments from the Department’s violent crime reduction initiatives and recommendations regarding additional policy and enforcement strategies.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal jury convicted four pharmacy owners yesterday for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Raef Hamaed, of Maricopa County, Arizona; Kindy Ghussin, of Greene County, Ohio; Ali Abdelrazzaq, of Macomb County, Michigan; and Tarek Fakhuri, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, all licensed pharmacists, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for prescription medications that they did not dispense at pharmacies they owned in Michigan and Ohio. The defendants collectively caused over $13 million of loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. Abdelrazzaq was also convicted of two counts of health care fraud and Fakhuri was convicted of one count of health care fraud. Sentencing hearings will be set at a later date. 

Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count, and Abdelrazzaq and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each health care fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement. 

The FBI Detroit Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Claire Sobczak, Kelly M. Warner, and S. Babu Kaza 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An Indiana man was sentenced today to 17 and a half years in prison for possessing and creating images of child sexual abuse. 

According to court documents, Timothy J. Carpenter, 36, of Portage, came to the attention of law enforcement around July 2022 after he used peer-to-peer software to knowingly receive and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the internet through his cellular device.

During the investigation, Indiana State Police (ISP) recovered Carpenter’s cellular phone, which contained hundreds of images and dozens of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. During an interview with ISP investigators, Carpenter admitted that he used his phone to access CSAM. Further analysis of Carpenter’s phone revealed that Carpenter also created multiple videos depicting a prepubescent child fully nude in a shower. These videos show Carpenter concealing a camera in multiple locations near the shower to capture video of the child’s genitals and pubic region.

In addition to the prison sentence, Carpenter will also be required to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student and to pay restitution totaling $76,000 to his victims.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana; and Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago Division made the announcement.

HSI investigated this case with the assistance of the ISP, Lake County Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit, and Porter County Prosecutor’s Office.

Trial Attorney Eduardo A. Palomo of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Morgan for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.