Source: United States Department of Justice

Today, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) announces new dates for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) training for April through July.  As part of its responsibility to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, OIP offers numerous training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities. 

These courses are designed to offer training opportunities for personnel from all stages of the FOIA workforce, from new hires to the experienced FOIA professionals or FOIA managers.  OIP will continue to offer virtual training sessions that will be taught in real-time by OIP instructors.  As we move into the Spring of Fiscal Year 2025, we are pleased to announce these virtual training courses, which are also listed on OIP’s Training page.

The courses and dates scheduled for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2025 are:

Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act
April 8, 2025

Processing a Request from Start to Finish 
April 16, 2025

Procedural Requirements, and Fee and Fee Waivers Training
May 6, 2025

Litigation Training
May 14, 2025

Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service Training
May 21, 2025

Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training
June 4, 2025

Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training
June 19, 2025

Privacy Considerations Training
July 10, 2025

Continuing FOIA Education Training
July 15, 2025

Training courses are open to all federal government employees.  Descriptions of each course and registration links are available on the Training page of OIP’s site.  OIP manages all training registration through WebEx.  Registration will open one month prior to the date of the training.  Once the registration period begins, you may register by providing your name and email address on WebEx for that course.  Each attendee must register separately using their own government email address.  Please note that these training sessions are open to government personnel and contractors only.  Once you are registered, you will be sent a confirmation email from WebEx.

OIP is also always available to provide individualized training sessions to any interested agency, which can be tailored to fit training needs.

For questions or more information regarding any of OIP’s training opportunities, please contact OIP’s Training Coordinator at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal jury in Central Islip, New York, convicted Hallandale Beach, Florida resident Phillip Priolo, 61, of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of mail fraud.

In November 2021, Priolo was charged with operating a mass mailing fraud scheme that tricked thousands of victims, many of whom were elderly, into providing the defendants with money by falsely promising prizes. Evidence presented at trial showed that, from March 2015 to December 2016, Priolo and his co-conspirators mailed millions of prize notices that falsely represented that the victims had been specifically chosen to receive a large cash prize and would receive the prize if they paid a fee. Victims who paid the requested fee, however, did not receive the promised cash prize. Although the notices appeared to be personalized correspondence, they were merely mass-produced, boilerplate documents that were bulk mailed to recipients whose names and addresses were on mailing lists.

“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch is committed to pursuing criminals who prey upon our elder citizens through fraudulent schemes like fake prize scams,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “I thank the Postal Inspection Service for their partnership in this matter and for conducting a thorough and successful investigation.”

“Here, the defendant targeted and defrauded older individuals, the most vulnerable of populations, through a mass-mailing scheme,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is deeply committed to protecting older Americans from fraudulent schemes. This conviction underscores the Postal Inspection Service’s and the Department of Justice’s dedication and determination to keep susceptible communities safe from financial exploitation and bring criminals to justice.”

Priolo will be scheduled for sentencing later this year, in Central Islip before U.S. District Judge Nusrat Jahan Choudhury of the Eastern District of New York. The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conviction. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The trial resulted from a multi-year investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Charles Dunn, Ann Entwistle, and Jason Feldman of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.

The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seeks to halt the widespread losses seniors suffer from fraud schemes. The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

More information about the Department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, defendant Quanzhong An, 58, of Roslyn Heights, New York, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for acting as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), for his participation in a scheme to cause the coerced repatriation of a U.S. resident (the U.S. Resident) to the PRC as part of the PRC government’s international extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt.” In addition to the term of imprisonment, An was ordered to pay a financial penalty of approximately $5 million, including approximately $1.3 million in restitution to the U.S. Resident and his family, as well as a $50,000 fine. An pleaded guilty in May 2024 and was charged in October 2022.

As set forth in the government’s sentencing memoranda and other court filings, An was a leading member of an international campaign to threaten, harass, and intimidate the U.S. Resident and his family members, with the goal of coercing the U.S. Resident to repatriate to the PRC. An participated in the multi-year scheme to elevate his status within the PRC government as a means of furthering his own economic interests.

An’s involvement in the repatriation scheme began in 2017, when he attempted to locate the U.S. Resident by visiting the home of the U.S. Resident’s adult son, without notice or invitation. The following year, An sent his daughter, as well as two PRC government officials, to the home of the U.S. Resident’s son. An subsequently met with the U.S. Resident’s son on numerous occasions, during which time An served as a mouthpiece for the PRC by conveying threatening messages on behalf of the PRC government. For example, An said he did not want to pronounce “ruthless words” from the PRC government but stated that PRC officials would “keep pestering [the U.S. Resident’s son], [and] make [his] daily life uncomfortable” if the son was unable to convince his father to repatriate to the PRC. An’s harassment continued unabated from 2017 until his arrest in 2022. An’s conduct intimidated individuals living in the United States and their loved ones in the PRC – just as it was intended to do – for the benefit of the PRC government.

At sentencing, Judge Matsumoto considered that An participated in additional criminal conduct. Specifically, he perpetrated a bank fraud and money laundering scheme to defraud U.S. financial institutions so that he could enjoy continued access to U.S.-based bank accounts. As part of this scheme, he moved millions of dollars from the PRC into the United States, deliberately deceiving U.S. financial institutions regarding the source and purpose of the funds.

The FBI has created a website for victims to report efforts by foreign governments to stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the United States. If you believe that you are or have been a victim of transnational repression, please visit the FBI’s website.

Supervisory Official Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York, and Acting Assistant Director in Charge Leslie R. Backshies of the FBI New York Field Office made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Solomon, Meredith A. Arfa, and Antoinette N. Rangel for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. Claire S. Kedeshian of the Eastern District of New York’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters and Madeline O’Connor and Daniel Saavedra of the Eastern District of New York’s Financial Litigation Program are assisting with restitution matters. 

Source: United States Department of Justice

Earlier today, a high-ranking leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, was arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him, along with a dozen other high-ranking MS-13 leaders, with directing the transnational criminal organization’s unlawful activities in the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, and elsewhere over the past two decades.

Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, also known as Veterano de Tribus, 47, of Ahuachapán, El Salvador, and Veracruz, Mexico, had been a fugitive for nearly three years and was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List last month. He was arrested on March 18 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, California. Roman-Bardales had been located and arrested by Mexican authorities in Veracruz on March 17, and after it was determined that he was an El Salvadoran citizen with no valid status in Mexico, he was expelled from Mexico.

“MS-13 is a terrorist organization and this case reflects the Department of Justice’s ironclad commitment to putting terrorists behind bars,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Members of MS-13 and similar groups should live in fear knowing that we will hunt them down, prosecute them, and deliver swift American justice for their heinous crimes.”

“The prosecution in the Eastern District of New York of this international fugitive, who is one of the most senior leaders of the MS-13 in the world, is another momentous step in the dismantling of this evil criminal enterprise, whose bloodshed and reign of terror traverses all boundaries,” stated U.S. Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York. “Thanks to the relentless and brave work of U.S. law enforcement, he will soon face reckoning in a courtroom on Long Island where his transnational criminal organization has impacted so many communities.”

As set forth in court filings, Roman-Bardales and his co-defendants are part of MS-13’s command and control structure, consisting of the Ranfla Nacional, Ranfla en Las Calles, and Ranfla en Los Penales. They exercise significant leadership roles in the organization’s operations in El Salvador, Mexico, the United States, and throughout the world. Roman-Bardales was himself a founding member of the Ranfla en las Calles, and oversaw the “Western Zone” of MS-13 in El Salvador. In the related case of United States v. Henriquez, et al., a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York previously indicted 14 members of the Ranfla Nacional, who functioned as MS-13’s “Board of Directors.” Formal extradition requests have been submitted by the United States and remain pending for 11 of those defendants who either are or were in custody in El Salvador.

As further alleged, the defendants have engaged in a litany of violent terrorist activities aimed at influencing the policies of the government of El Salvador (GOES) and at obtaining benefits and concessions from GOES; targeting GOES law enforcement and military officials; employing terrorist tactics such as the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and grenades; operating military-style training camps for firearms and explosives; using public displays of violence to intimidate civilian populations; using violence to obtain and control territory; and manipulating the electoral process in El Salvador.

Further, these defendants authorized and directed violence in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere as part of a concerted effort to expand MS-13’s influence and territorial control. As the leaders of the MS-13 transnational criminal organization, these defendants were an integral part of the leadership chain responsible for supervising MS-13 cliques in the United States that engaged in extreme violence, including countless murders, attempted murders, assaults, and related offenses. For example, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has prosecuted hundreds of MS-13 leaders, members and associates for carrying out more than 80 murders in the Eastern District of New York between 2009 and the present.

Several of these defendants, including Roman-Bardales, coordinated MS-13’s expansion into Mexico (the Mexico Program), at the direction of the Ranfla Nacional, which was a coordinated effort to maintain MS-13’s continuity of operations in response to law enforcement pressure previously exerted by the United States and GOES. Additionally, Roman-Bardales and the Mexico Program forged alliances with Mexican cartels, and engaged in narcotics trafficking, immigrant smuggling, extortion, kidnappings, and weapons trafficking. As alleged in the indictment, the MS-13’s Mexico Program murdered some migrants bound for the United States, including suspected members of the rival 18th Street gang and MS-13 members attempting to flee MS-13 in El Salvador without permission. Drug trafficking was an important part of MS-13’s moneymaking operation, especially in Mexico, and the defendants used MS-13’s large membership in the United States to generate financial support for MS-13’s terrorist activities in El Salvador.

Roman-Bardales is charged with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorism conspiracy and alien smuggling conspiracy. Today’s proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack. Roman-Bardales was ordered detained pending trial in the Eastern District of New York. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison or the possibility of the death penalty.

This case was brought by Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was created to combat MS-13 and is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including the Eastern District of New York; the Eastern District of Texas; the Southern District of New York; the District of Massachusetts; the District of New Jersey; the Northern District of Ohio; the District of Utah; the Southern District of Florida; the Eastern District of Virginia; the Southern District of California; the District of Nevada; the District of Alaska; and the District of Columbia, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI; HSI; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. Bureau of Prisons; and the U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of Inspector General have been essential law enforcement partners and spearheaded JTFV’s investigations.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America and an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The FBI’s San Diego Field Office is investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the Suffolk County Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego. The Justice Department thanks its Mexican law enforcement partners.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justina L. Geraci, Paul G. Scotti, and Megan E. Farrell for the Eastern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Kerryanne Ucci and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello.

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

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released two technical assistance documents focused on educating the public about unlawful discrimination related to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) in the workplace.

DEI is a broad term that is not defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race and sex. Under Title VII, DEI initiatives, policies, programs, or practices may be unlawful if they involve an employer or other covered entity taking an employment action motivated—in whole or in part—by an employee’s or applicant’s race, sex, or another protected characteristic.

In the past five years, DEI policies, programs, and practices have become increasingly prevalent in many of our nation’s largest and most prominent businesses, universities, and cultural institutions. The widespread adoption of DEI, however, does not change longstanding legal prohibitions against the use of race, sex, and other protected characteristics in employment.

To help educate the public about how well-established civil rights rules apply to employment policies, programs, and practices—including those labeled or framed as “DEI”—the EEOC and the DOJ today released a joint one-page technical assistance document, “What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work.” The EEOC also released a longer question-and-answer technical assistance document, “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work.” Both documents are based on Title VII, existing EEOC policy guidance and technical assistance documents and Supreme Court precedent.

“Far too many employers defend certain types of race or sex preferences as good, provided they are motivated by business interests in ‘diversity, equity, or inclusion.’ But no matter an employer’s motive, there is no ‘good,’ or even acceptable, race or sex discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. “In the words of Justice Clarence Thomas in his concurrence in Students for Fair Admissions, ‘two discriminatory wrongs cannot make a right.’”

Lucas emphasized, “While the public may be confused about what rules apply to DEI, the law itself is clear. And there are some serious implications for some very popular types of DEI programs. These technical assistance documents will help employees know their rights and help employers take action to avoid unlawful DEI-related discrimination.”

“The Department of Justice is committed to ending illegal DEI initiatives, policies, and programs,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The technical assistance document provides clear information for employees on how to act should they experience unlawful discrimination based on DEI practices.”