News and reports from the Department of Justice.

News Release: Jacksonville, Florida - Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Damien Deshaun Dennis (43, Jacksonville) to 12 years in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Dennis was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims he defrauded. Dennis was arrested by the United States Secret Service Jacksonville Field Office on April 11, 2022, and ordered detained pending the outcome of his case. He had pleaded guilty on July 12, 2022.

News Release: A Webster City man who ordered a pound ice methamphetamine from a man he met in state prison was sentenced Nov. 29, 2022, to more than 15 years in federal prison.

News Release: Seattle - A former Bellevue, Washington, resident who relocated to Miami, was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of 26 counts related to his multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. The jury deliberated about 11 hours before returning the verdicts following...

News Release: BECKLEY, W.Va. - Lakeshia Nicole Simon, 23, of Beckley, was sentenced today to five years of federal probation for making false statements in acquisition of firearms. Simon admitted to a straw purchasing role in a conspiracy to traffic over 140 firearms from the Beckley area to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

News Release: MINNEAPOLIS - A North Dakota man has been charged in a criminal complaint with threatening to murder a United States official, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

News Release: BANGOR, Maine: A former Portland man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges stemmed from an August 2021 standoff with the Brewer Police Department.

News Release: Jacksonville, Florida - U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Darnell Donya Rice, Jr. (28, Jacksonville) to five years in federal prison for possession and transfer of a device designed for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun and making a false written statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer during the acquisition of a firearm. Rice had pleaded guilty on Aug. 22, 2022.

News Release: GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Lorenzo Joshua Johnson, Jr., 41, of Gainesville, Florida, was sentenced to 27.25 years in federal prison after he was convicted at trial of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon on April 8, 2022. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

News Release: MIAMI - Frankie David Vargas II of Miami has been sentenced to 27 years in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles for a two-day crime spree that involved carjacking, robbery, and a firearm.

News Release: SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio man was sentenced Wednesday to 44 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud.

News Release: Davenport, IA - Gerald Brian Hoard, age 49 of Burlington, Iowa, was sentenced today to time-served following his plea of guilty to Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor. Hoard went into custody on March 15, 2022. Hoard will serve three years of supervised release including one year at a residential re-entry center.

News Release: WASHINGTON - A Florida man pleaded guilty today to assaulting a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

News Release: WHEELNG, WEST VIRGINIA - Civil rights experts will share their knowledge at a special event to be held next week in Wheeling.

News Release: On World AIDS Day 2022, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to protecting the rights of people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) more than 30 years ago, the department has worked vigorously to protect and advance the rights of the more than one million Americans living with HIV and AIDS.

News Release: SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Richard Turner, 60, of Placerville, charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced.