Latest news with #U.S.Attorney'sOffice
Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
California man selling Stan Lee signed memorabilia sentenced to prison for $1.2-million tax fraud
A Riverside County man was sentenced Thursday to more than a year in prison for tax fraud after selling memorabilia signed by comic book legend and Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, according to authorities. Mac Martin Anderson, a 59-year-old Corona resident, was sentenced to a year and one day in federal prison after allegedly getting more than $1.2 million in proceeds that he never reported to the IRS, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Anderson was also ordered to pay $482,833 in restitution. Anderson pleaded guilty in March to two counts of willfully subscribing to a false tax return, according to authorities. Between 2015 and 2028, Anderson had a personal relationship with Lee and sold Marvel items that had Lee's autograph to dealers, brokers and fans. Anderson got an income of about $1.236 million from selling the memorabilia between 2015 and 2018 and admitted that the tax that was due was about $482,833, according to the release. Lee helped spearhead Marvel Comics' transformation in the 1960s into a powerhouse brand. He helped introduce Spider-Man to Marvel in August 1962. He was later credited as associate producer on movies starring Marvel characters including Iron Man, X-Men and Captain America, in addition to Spider-Man.
International Business Times
2 days ago
- International Business Times
Linet Vartanians: Wife of Iranian Illegal Immigrant Threatened to Shoot ICE Agents When They Reached Her Home to Arrest Husband
The wife of an Iranian illegal immigrant allegedly threatened to shoot ICE agents in the head when they showed up at the couple's Arizona home to arrest her husband, Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, who had been ignoring a deportation order for over ten years. Linet Vartanians, 37, is accused of threatening federal agents that she had a loaded weapon and would open fire on anyone who tried to enter the couple's Tempe home, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. She also allegedly made direct threats to shoot the ICE officers in the head as they stood outside the home on Saturday. Arrested for Threatening ICE Agents Both Linet Vartanians and illegal immigrant husband, Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, 40, were federally indicted on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Eidivand has been under a deportation order since 2013 but has remained in the U.S. illegally. When ICE agents arrived at their home, they were met by Vartanians, who refused to let them in, demanded a warrant, and then contacted local police, the U.S. attorney said. A police dispatcher who spoke with Eidivand said that the undocumented immigrant admitted to having three firearms in the house. Federal agents came back the next day with a search warrant and found one loaded gun on the kitchen counter and another on a nightstand. The couple was arrested that same day. The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to arrest Iranian nationals as part of its broader mass deportation strategy, particularly in the aftermath of U.S. airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear facilities. Over the past week, ICE arrested 130 illegal Iranian immigrants across the U.S., including people suspected of terrorism, according to NewsNation. Big Suspects Arrested Among those arrested is an Iranian army sniper and a suspected terrorist linked to Hezbollah. Ribvar Karimi, who was an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021, was arrested in rural Alabama, where he had been living with his American wife. ICE agents tracked him on Sunday in the town of Locust Fork and found an identification card from the Islamic Republic of Iran Army in his possession, DHS claimed. Karimi legally arrived in the US in October during the Biden administration on a K-1 visa, which is issued to foreign nationals engaged to American citizens. Karimi married his fiancée, Morgan Gardener, in January of this year. However, he did not complete the necessary steps to adjust his immigration status, which rendered his stay in the U.S. illegal. Karimi's American wife maintains that he loves America and considers himself a proud immigrant. "This man loves America, the first purchase he made when he got here was an American Flag," Morgan Gardner told a local station. "If he was here on bad intentions, he wouldn't have done that, he wouldn't be willing to walk around with a flag, knowing he could get deported and sent back to a country where he could be killed for that." She is currently seven months pregnant with their first child and fears she may have to give birth without him by her side.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
FBI continues to track down plutonium allegedly sold by Hadley man
SPRINGFIELD — Federal investigators told a judge last week that they are continuing to assess what the customers who allegedly purchased small amounts of plutonium from a Hadley man did with the material. On April 22, a federal grand jury indicted Jacob Miller, 43, on charges of being a felon in possession of explosives and ammunition. Prosecutors said when investigators searched Miller's home, they found firearms, hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials, including plutonium taken from Soviet Union-era smoke detectors. Prosecutors said Miller ran an online business called Collect The Periodic Table. A website that appears to be connected with the enterprise lists a full periodic table for $140. A small amount of plutonium alone was listed for $500. The affidavit filed with the federal court in Springfield last week disclosed the FBI's ongoing investigation into the matter. Miller allegedly shipped out plutonium about 60 times between December 2020 and March 2025, FBI Special Agent Darrell Hunter said in the affidavit dated June 20. 'The defendant's distribution of Plutonium to a broad series of individuals, with no apparent vetting of these customers, poses a particular danger to public safety,' Hunter wrote. Miller, the affidavit said, shipped the material across the United States and out of the country. So far, only 10 of the customers gave the material they purchased from Miller to the FBI, Hunter said. 'The FBI's investigation into this matter, including the extent to which the defendant distributed Plutonium and what the defendant's customers did with the Plutonium, is continuing,' Hunter wrote. Reached for comment, a spokeswoman for the FBI referred questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A spokesperson at the U.S. Attorney's Office did not reply to a request for comment. John Gilbert, a senior science fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, while the small amounts allegedly sold by Miller is nowhere near the amount needed for a nuclear bomb, plutonium is deadly if handled incorrectly. If its powder is breathed in — even in small amounts — it causes 'extremely, extremely bad respiratory distress,' he said. Gilbert said it is unlikely the material prosecutors said came from smoke detectors was plutonium, as the Soviets 'needed all the plutonium they could get.' Rather, another radioactive element — americium — is good for use in smoke detectors, and it is not as dangerous, he said. The FBI said in its affidavit it is gathering the materials it obtained from Miller's customers 'for radiological testing.' Federal prosecutors filed the affidavit as part of their response to Miller's defense attorney, who requested Judge Katherine Robertson reconsider her order detaining Miller until his trial. Miller was detained after prosecutors said Miller moved materials from his home after the court said he could only reenter the home to retrieve personal care items, clothing and his cat. Miller's attorney, Charles Dolan, asked Robertson in a motion on June 13 to release his client 'under whatever conditions the Court may deem appropriate.' Miller, Dolan wrote, has been held since April 10 at a detention facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and has been unable to take his medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD as his prescriptions are prohibited at the facility. His mental health has deteriorated as a result, Dolan wrote. Dolan did not return a request for comment. In response to the motion, prosecutors said Miller had a history of violating probation conditions, and they are continuing to investigate him for possession of child sex abuse images. Miller was previously convicted for possessing child pornography and explosives in separate cases in Hampshire Superior Court. Prosecutors also shared with the court a series of handwritten documents — including what prosecutors said appeared to a poem titled 'Bits and Pieces.' The 'defendant appears to have engaged in dangerous musings about blowing up friends and family in Hadley, among other subjects,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Breslow wrote in a memorandum. At a hearing Wednesday, Robertson decided that Miller would remain detained, according to the clerk's notes of the proceedings. Springfield brewery, cannabis store team up to offer downtown concert Springfield debates stricter laws to stop drug dealing near parks, schools following shutdown of trafficking operation Alliance for Digital Equity pushes for internet access for underserved on namesake day Judge: Case for Pittsfield woman suing car repo company can move to trial Read the original article on MassLive.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Grand jury indicts Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova on smuggling charges
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard scientist, in connection with attempting to smuggle clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples into the United States. Petrova, 31, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 25 on one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of false statement, and one count of smuggling goods into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. She was previously only charged with smuggling in May. U.S. Customs and Border Protection canceled Petrova's visa in February after she failed to declare scientific samples when she returned to Boston from France. CBP agents then turned her over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the intent of deporting her back to Russia, where she had fled after protesting Russia's war in Ukraine. The researcher's attorneys argue that CBP's actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and her detention illegal. Petrova, who was held in custody for nearly four months before her release earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charge and has sued the Trump administration for wrongfully detaining her. The two new charges come after Petrova's lawyers urged a federal judge last week to dismiss the initial criminal complaint, Reuters reported. Prosecutors secured the indictment after Magistrate Judge Judith Dein ordered Petrova's pre-trial release at a June 12 hearing in Boston. If convicted of the smuggling charge, Petrova faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. She also faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charges of concealment of material fact and false statements. She's in ICE detention. From 1,500 miles away, his piano lulls her to sleep. Why was Kseniia Petrova detained? On February 16, Petrova arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston on a flight from Paris, according to charging documents. She was then stopped by CBP agents after a law enforcement canine allegedly alerted its handler to her checked duffle bag, which was flagged for inspection. "Per protocol, the bag was removed from the carousel and brought to an agricultural secondary inspection area for further screening," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release. "There, an officer inspected the contents of the bag and allegedly discovered undeclared biological items, including a foam box containing clawed frog embryos in microcentrifuges, as well as embryonic samples in paraffin well stages and on mounted dyed slides." Petrova, who works at Harvard Medical School, has said her supervisor asked her to bring back samples of frog embryos from the Institut Curie in Paris for experiments. But prosecutors said the embryos constituted biological material that should have been declared to CBP at the port of first arrival. Prosecutors alleged that when she was approached by law enforcement, Petrova initially denied carrying any biological material in her checked baggage and later claimed to be unsure she was required to declare the embryos when entering the United States. Charging documents further alleged that one of Petrova's colleagues had texted her, saying that she was required to declare the biological material and to make sure to get permission to bring the samples back. In court documents, Petrova's lawyers have argued that since the samples were not alive, she didn't believe they needed to be declared. In the past, a similar violation might have led to a fine, USA TODAY previously reported. International students, researchers targeted in federal immigration crackdown On May 28, federal district Judge Christina Reiss of Vermont found that Petrova's detention was unlawful. Reiss had granted her release from ICE custody, but she remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service for the criminal charge. Petrova is among several international students and researchers ensnared in the Trump administration's widening immigration crackdown. Supporters of Petrova have said that the administration's actions have targeted international students and academics for visa revocations and detention. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell on May 12 filed an affidavit supporting Petrova, saying the administration's high-profile detention of international students threatens the state's economy and the country's global leadership in scientific innovation. "The Trump administration's actions targeting international students and academics sends a chilling message to talented students and academics around the world," Campell wrote in the affidavit, adding "that they risk detention, deportation and an end to their academic career in the United States at the whims of the federal government." Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas and Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY; Reuters
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Boulder, Colorado, attack suspect charged with federal hate crimes
A man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of people in Boulder, Colorado, who gathered in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 hate crime counts, prosecutors said on June 25. The indictment comes after a federal judge ruled last week that there was enough evidence to move forward with a hate crime case against Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45. The indictment, which was unsealed on June 25, accuses Soliman of attacking members of "Run for Their Lives," a group advocating for the release of the hostages held in Gaza since the assault on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The incident occurred on June 1 as the group gathered at a pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder for a weekly demonstration. Authorities said Soliman targeted the group with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower, injuring more than a dozen people. The 12 hate crime counts against Soliman include nine counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 249, willfully causing injury to a person because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado. It also includes three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), using fire or an explosive to commit a felony. Soliman had previously been charged with a federal hate crime offense, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. State prosecutors have also charged Soliman with 118 criminal counts, including attempted murder and other offenses. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he's found guilty of the federal hate crime charges against him. Boulder attack: How a father of 5 morphed into a terror suspect with Boulder's Jews in his crosshairs What happened in the attack in Boulder? Boulder dispatch received several calls to the outdoor Pearl Street Mall at around 1:26 p.m. local time on June 1, police said. Initial reports indicated that there was a man with a weapon, and people were being set on fire near the Boulder County Courthouse. Soliman had carried a backpack weed sprayer that contained a flammable liquid and a black plastic container that held at least 18 glass bottles and jars filled with flammable liquid, several of which had "red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks," according to the indictment. The indictment states that he then allegedly approached the Run for Their Lives group and threw two ignited Molotov cocktails while shouting "Free Palestine!" Authorities said 15 people between the ages of 25 and 88 were injured with burns. Soliman was taken into custody following the attack. Authorities closed off several blocks in downtown Boulder surrounding the county courthouse as multiple teams processed the crime scene and investigated a subject vehicle. The indictment said a handwritten document was recovered from the vehicle driven by Soliman. According to the indictment, the document stated, "Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land," and also described Israel as a "cancer entity." The indictment further alleges that Soliman told law enforcement during an interview that he viewed "anyone supporting the exist [sic] of Israel on our land" to be "Zionist." He allegedly said he "decide[d] to take [his] revenge from these people' and "search[ed] the internet looking for any Zionist event," according to the indictment. Soliman also said he learned of the Run for Their Lives group through online searches for 'Zionist' events and that he was able to identify the group after seeing the flags and signs they carried outside the county courthouse, the indictment states. The Associated Press reported that during the June 18 hearing, Soliman's defense attorney had urged the judge not to allow the hate crime case to proceed because the alleged attack was not a hate crime. The attorney said the attack was motivated by opposition to the political movement of Zionism, according to AP. One year later: Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate incidents spike since Oct. 7 attacks Who is Mohamed Soliman? Soliman entered the United States in August 2022 on a B-2 tourist visa that expired over two years ago, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. An affidavit said he was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado three years ago. Soliman, who has a valid Colorado driver's license and no prior criminal history, told investigators that he planned the attack for a year and "was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack," according to the affidavit. He hoped to use a gun and had taken shooting classes, but his immigration status prevented him from purchasing a firearm, the affidavit said. Uber confirmed that Soliman had worked as a driver starting in spring 2023, though the company did not specify whether he worked driving passengers or for Uber Eats, or both. The company terminated Soliman's account following the attack but noted that he had "no concerning feedback while driving on the Uber platform." According to the affidavit, he lived at a home in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children. Soliman's wife and children, ages 4 to 18, were detained by immigration agents on June 3, and the Trump administration said they would be subjected to expedited deportation. But a federal judge in Denver blocked the move on June 4, saying the family is entitled to due process. By then, the family had been transferred to a detention facility in Texas, where the case is expected to be heard. Contributing: Susan Miller, Jorge L. Ortiz, Christopher Cann, Michael Loria, and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY
