News

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 148 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – Oladapo Olagbemi, a longtime certified public accountant, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he filed thousands of false income tax returns on behalf of clients that resulted in more than $5 million in improper deductions and credits. Olagbemi, who managed San Diego-based D.A.O. Accounting, Consulting, and Taxation, pleaded guilty to four counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns. Shortly before tax day, April 15, 2026, he signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to multiple schemes between tax years 2019 and 2023 to help clients get

SAN DIEGO – A Homeland Security Task Force federal drug investigation of a supposed retail store in Otay Mesa has resulted in the discovery of a sophisticated cross-border tunnel and charges against four people for conspiring to distribute more than a ton of cocaine estimated to be worth $45 million. The subterranean passageway, stretching from Tijuana, Mexico to the purported retail store near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry known as “Buy 4 Less,” is estimated to be about 1,933 feet long, 55 feet deep and 4.5-feet in height, with reinforced walls, rail and ventilation systems and electricity.

SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Richard Russell was sentenced in federal court today to 12 years in prison for fatally shooting a 36-year-old unarmed man who was struck four times from behind as he tried to run away from authorities. Russell was convicted by a federal jury in March following a two-week trial and less than seven hours of deliberation. The jury found that the defendant violated the civil rights of the victim, Nicholas Bils, by fatally shooting him in the back as he ran away. 

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 119 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – Ricardo “Ricky” Orizaba-Zendejas, a Mexican national unlawfully present in the United States, was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison for drug and firearms offenses tied to a violent trafficking organization based in Yakima, Washington. According to evidence presented at trial in February, Orizaba served as a trusted lieutenant, drug dealer, and enforcer for the organization, which sourced narcotics from Mexico and transported them through Southern California ports of entry through California to Yakima. 

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today charging Brandon McGibbon, a San Diego Police Officer, with five counts of child sexual abuse offenses involving three minor victims. According to court records, between October 25 and November 6, 2025, McGibbon engaged in the attempted receipt and production of child pornography and the attempted enticement and coercion of the minors to engage in obscene matter and sexual conduct. 

SAN DIEGO –Troy Clinton Van Sickle of Temecula appeared in federal court today to face charges that he stole more than $1.5 million from an elderly woman he claimed to be romantically interested in, and that he obstructed federal law enforcement efforts to investigate the alleged fraud scheme. According to the indictment and court records, Van Sickle – a 10-time convicted felon who worked as a janitor at a San Diego County preschool – targeted a wealthy divorced woman and cultivated what appeared to be a romantic relationship in order to gain access to her finances. Prosecutors allege that Van

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 114 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – Sydney Johnson of Santee and Brandon Marion of Temecula appeared in federal court today to face charges that they illegally imported 27 protected parrots and parakeets in a modified spare tire in the trunk of a car. Both species of birds - including 11 orange-fronted parakeets (Eupsittula canicularis) and 16 white-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona albifrons) - are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 108 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – Brandon Ivan Padilla of San Marcos pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he committed three carjackings and robbed a business, all while menacing his victims with a firearm. Padilla admitted that on November 21, 2024, he pointed a gun at a clerk at American Smoke Shop in Escondido and demanded cash. The clerk gave Padilla $320. Padilla also admitted that he demanded a smoke shop customer’s car keys and cash while holding the gun inches from the customer’s ear. The customer handed over the keys; Padilla drove away in the person’s vehicle.