News

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a two-count indictment charging Dazhan McCallister, age 20, of Akron with illegal possession of a machinegun and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.

A Maple Heights mail carrier was arrested this morning and charged on a federal criminal complaint in the Northern District of Ohio. U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely announced that De’Andrian L. Rice, age 27, of Maple Heights, was charged with delay or destruction of mail or newspapers.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman, Toledo Police Chief George Kral and ATF Special Agent in Charge Roland Herndon announced today that Operation Red-Zone will be active in the city of Toledo over the Halloween weekend beginning Friday, October 30, and running through Monday morning, November 2, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a nine-count indictment charging David C. Johnson, age 33, of Euclid with four counts of robbery, four counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a 20-count indictment charging John Lee Watkins, age 31, of Stow; Valerie Marie Masongsong, age 29, of Henderson, Nevada and Terrell Tomlin, age 32, of Ogden, Utah with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a 10-count indictment charging Michael J. Zacharias, age 53, with sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking of an adult and minor by force, fraud, or coercion. The defendant was arrested on August 18, 2020, and has remained in federal custody since that time.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that the Department of Justice has made up to $500,000 available in grant funding to support the operations of a Real Time Crime Center in the city of Cleveland. The Real Time Crime Center provides police with rapid intelligence and instant information to help identify emerging crime patterns.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a two-count indictment charging Marlin Black, age 28, of Youngstown with illegal possession of a machine gun and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.

During a visit with law enforcement in Memphis today, Attorney General William P. Barr and U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced updates on Operation Legend, which was expanded to Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Toledo has returned a five-count indictment charging Jesus Alejandro Degollado, 29, of Fostoria with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and as a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that Clayton Hall, 40, and Gregory D. Franklin, II, 43, both of Cleveland, were sentenced by Judge Donald C. Nugent to 30 years imprisonment each.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) Ava R. Dustin and Megan R. Miller have been appointed as District Election Officers (DEO) to lead the District’s efforts in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 3, 2020, general election.