News and reports from the Department of Justice.

A former Sapulpa police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court for lying to law enforcement about a theft he committed while on-duty, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

A former correctional officer at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for his role in the assault of an inmate and his participation in a multi-year conspiracy to cover-up the abuse.

Former prisoner transport officer, Dewayne Dudley, 56, pleaded guilty in federal court in the Northern District of Oklahoma to violating a male detainee’s civil rights by sexually assaulting and kidnapping him

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing today of an indictment charging RIKESH THAPA with operating a scheme to defraud a start-up technology company (the “Victim Company”) of over $1 million worth of United States currency, cryptocurrency, and utility tokens.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that TARA KEWALIS, 50, of Beacon Falls, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to embezzling from a Waterbury credit union where she was employed.

U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Johan Holder (26, Clewiston) to 40 years, Sylvanis Brice (31, Clewiston) to 40 years, and Uriah Waggerby (25, Clewiston) to 18 years in federal prison, respectively, for their roles in an attempted robbery that resulted in the killing of a victim on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in Clewiston.

Four people have been charged for their roles in a kickback conspiracy involving COVID-19 testing that defrauded federal health insurance programs, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

An Irvine man has been sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for – while on supervised release for committing a prior federal felony – engaging in pimping and shooting a firearm at women on the streets of San Bernardino, the Justice Department announced today.

An Atlantic City, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 66 months in prison for escaping from federal custody and engaging in a scheme to defraud women over telephone dating services, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

U.S. District Judge William H. Jung has sentenced Dr. Steven Chun (59, Sarasota) for conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes. Chun was sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $278,900, the proceeds of his offenses.

A Worcester man has been arrested and charged in connection with transferring obscene material to a 14-year-old minor.

SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant Evan Daniel Montvel-Cohen, age 55 from Tamuning, Guam, was sentenced to 82 months imprisonment by the District Court of Guam

A Revere man pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing cocaine and fentanyl as well as receiving a firearm while under indictment for felony charges.

A federal grand jury has returned a six-count indictment against Joseph Harding, 35, of Williston, Florida. The indictment was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

A Raleigh woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to steal customer account information. Davia Delores Lockley, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced in March of next year.