Washington, DC - The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators. 

Los Angeles, California - A Pomona man was sentenced Thursday to 34 months in federal prison for stealing a military Humvee from the Army Reserve Center in Upland and then briefly leading police on a chase through a neighborhood.

Sacramento, California - A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday against John William Boland, 38, of Mammoth Lakes, charging him with five counts of bank robbery and two counts of attempted robbery, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Los Angeles, California - A Santa Ana man pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge for intentionally aiming a laser pointer’s beam at an in-flight Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, which blinded the crew for several seconds.

Stockton, California - Angel Jesus Sanchez-Manriquez, 22, of Stockton, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 11 years and three months in prison for sex trafficking of a child, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.  

Los Angeles, California - A New York City lawyer, who simultaneously represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and a ratepayer suing it in the wake of the department’s billing debacle, has agreed to plead guilty to a bribery charge for accepting an illegal payment of nearly $2.2 million for getting another attorney to purportedly represent his ratepayer client in a collusive lawsuit against LADWP, the Justice Department announced last week.