WASHINGTON, DC—The Justice Department on Monday announced criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 medical professionals, in a nationwide health care fraud takedown involving more than $14.6 billion in alleged schemes. The 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, described by officials as an “unprecedented effort,” spanned 50 federal districts and involved 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices. Authorities seized more than […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore man pleaded guilty Monday to distributing 80 kilograms of cocaine following a wiretap investigation, federal authorities announced. Travis Sentell Howell, 46, of Baltimore, admitted to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that was investigated by the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) beginning in fall 2022. According to his guilty plea, investigators obtained court-authorized wiretaps on […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore man pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally operating a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during an NFL Wild Card game in January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced. Alexis Perez Suarez, 43, of Baltimore, admitted to knowingly and willfully violating national defense airspace. Magistrate Judge Charles D. Austin sentenced Suarez to one year of […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore man pleaded guilty Monday to a charge stemming from a 2016 murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of a woman mistaken for her neighbor, a federal witness. Matthew Hightower, 43, faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Hightower admitted to using a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime that resulted in […]
GREENBELT, MD—A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracting officer and three corporate executives have pleaded guilty in a decadelong bribery scheme involving more than $550 million in federal contracts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced this week. Two companies involved in the scheme also admitted criminal liability and entered into deferred prosecution agreements. Roderick Watson, […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore County man has been indicted on federal bribery charges, accused of paying more than $10,000 to a former Baltimore City finance official to extinguish his financial obligations to the city, including unpaid water bills. James Carroll Erny Jr., 54, of Glen Arm, Maryland, was charged with one count of bribery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Rosedale woman has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering, admitting to trafficking thousands of oxycodone pills, and laundering millions of dollars, federal authorities announced Wednesday. Terry Allen, 57, entered her plea in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. According to her plea agreement, Allen led a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed […]
BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a 20-year-old Salvadoran national and validated MS-13 gang member in Frederick, Maryland, on May 27, marking his fifth apprehension after four previous deportations, ICE officials said. Moises Alberto Figueroa-Bonilla, who is illegally present in the U.S., was taken into custody at his residence, according to ICE. The agency described Figueroa as a threat […]