Press Releases

A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging former National Security Advisor John Bolton, 76, of Bethesda, Maryland, with serious crimes related to the mishandling of classified information. 

An Ohio man was taken into custody and charged with assaulting a federal officer who was engaged in the performance of official duties.

Roger Ver, an early bitcoin investor known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to resolve federal tax charges brought against him. 

An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging Cambodian national Chen Zhi, also known as Vincent, 37, the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for directing Prince Group’s operation of forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia. 

A criminal complaint was unsealed today charging George Russell Isbell Jr., 69, of San Diego, with mailing a threatening communication. Isbell was arrested on Oct. 7 in San Diego.

Peter Bardunias, 59, of Clifton Park, New York, was charged today with attempting to entice a minor to engage in prohibited sexual activity. Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

Nicholas John Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, was sentenced today to 97 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to kill a United States Supreme Court Justice. The Department of Justice advocated for a sentence of at least 30 years to life.

A New Jersey man was sentenced to prison in connection with his involvement with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys.

Sergey Bachkovsky, of Greene, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine, to trafficking whale and bird parts in violation of the Lacey Act.

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced today that a federal court has entered a stipulated order resolving a case alleging that China-based toy maker Apitor Technology Co., Ltd. (Apitor) violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (COPPA) in connection with its programmable robotic toys.

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announces the filing of a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Iconic Hearts Holdings Inc. and its founder and CEO Hunter Rice for violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (COPPA) in connection with the social media messaging app known as Sendit.

The Justice Department announced today that it filed a lawsuit against Eddie Joe Hankins and the Housing Authority of the City of Bloomfield, Missouri, for sexually harassing a female housing applicant in violation of the Fair Housing Act. Hankins was the executive director of the Missouri Housing Authority from 2019 through 2022.