MIAMI, Florida, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, issued the following news release on Nov. 13, 2024: A Miami man pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme. According to court documents, John Christopher Polit, 43, a former banker, laundered the bribe proceeds paid for the benefit of his father, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, the former Comptroller General of Ecuador, throug  more

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 14 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued the following news release on Nov. 13, 2024: U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced George Pherai-Bogeajis (35, Orlando) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. The court also ordered Pherai-Bogeajis to forfeit four vehicles and four firearms used in the offense,   more

MIAMI, Florida, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, issued the following news release: On Nov. 7, Joseph Christopher Copeland, 57, was sentenced to 264 months in federal prison, to be followed by ten years' supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, for possessing with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Copeland imported 8.9929 kilograms of fentanyl from Mexico to his residence in Sebring, Fla., using a veh  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release on Nov. 13, 2024: A Miami man pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme. According to court documents, John Christopher Polit, 43, a former banker, laundered the bribe proceeds paid for the benefit of his father, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, the former Comptroller General of Ecuador, through the U.S. financial system and into various inv  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release on Nov. 13, 2024: An Idaho man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for hacking into the computer servers of 19 victims across the United States, stealing personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to more than 132,000 people, and attempting to extort a Florida orthodontist for payment in Bitcoin by threatening to disclose stolen patient records and other PII. According to court documents, in   more

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida, Nov. 12 -- The U.S. Central Command issued the following news release: TAMPA, Fla. Today, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes against an Iranian-backed militia group's weapons storage and logistics headquarters facility. These strikes were in response to a rocket attack on U.S. personnel at Patrol Base Shaddadi. There was no damage to U.S. facilities and no injuries to U.S. or partner forces during the attack. These strikes will degrade the  more

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida, Nov. 13 -- The U.S. Central Command issued the following news release: TAMPA, Fla. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces executed a series of precise airstrikes on multiple Houthi weapons storage facilities situated within Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, Nov. 9-10. These facilities housed a variety of advanced conventional weapons used by the Iran-backed Houthis to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international water  more