BALTIMORE, MD—A registered sex offender from Baltimore County has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child sexual abuse material, federal authorities announced this week. Steven Christopher Kelban, 50, of Catonsville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett to a decade in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release. This is Kelban’s third conviction related […]
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and the federalization of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department to combat what he described as rampant crime and homelessness in the nation’s capital. The move, which Trump called a “historic action to rescue our nation’s capital,” has sparked controversy, with […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Florida man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to destroy power substations in the Baltimore area. Brandon Clint Russell, 30, of Orlando, was given the sentence by Senior U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, who also ordered a lifetime of supervised release. Russell’s co-conspirator, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 37, of Catonsville, Maryland, was previously […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Virginia man pleaded guilty this week to federal swatting and cyberstalking charges, admitting his role in an online group that coordinated false emergency calls designed to draw armed law enforcement responses to targeted locations. Evan Strauss, 27, of Moneta, Virginia, entered his plea in federal court in Baltimore, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney for the District […]
GREENBELT, MD—Three alleged members of the notorious La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang have been charged with racketeering conspiracy, including murder and drug trafficking, following their initial appearance in the District of Maryland on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. According to court documents, Maxwell Ariel Quijano-Casco, 24, of El Salvador; Daniel Isaias Villanueva-Bautista, 19, of El Salvador; and Josue Mauricio Lainez, […]
WASHINGTON, DC—The FBI is issuing a public warning about a significant increase in “ramp-and-dump” stock manipulation schemes targeting U.S. investors through social media platforms and messaging applications. The agency reports a 300% surge in victim complaints related to this type of fraud in 2025 compared to last year. These sophisticated schemes often lure investors into what appear to be legitimate […]
BALTIMORE, MD—A Bel Air, Maryland, man was sentenced to federal prison this week for his role in a $29 million embezzlement and kickback scheme that defrauded his employer, a Harford County manufacturer. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Eugene Andrew DiNoto, 54, to concurrent terms of 70 months for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and engaging in an illegal […]
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 […]