All USAO Press Releases

A federal district judge in South Florida has sentenced an Orlando man to almost six years in prison for leading a scheme that defrauded California’s Employment Development Department of over $4 million in state and federal unemployment insurance benefit money. 

A federal district judge in Ft. Pierce sentenced a husband and wife to federal prison yesterday for working with a foreign drug trafficking organization to distribute methamphetamine, opioids, and other controlled drugs purchased by customers from an online pharmacy.      

On Jan. 14, Murray Todd Petersen, 73, of Fair Oaks, California, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, after a seven-day jury trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Today is my last day as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Since announcing my resignation, I have continued reflecting on my experiences over the past two years – ones made extraordinary by the attorneys, support professionals, and law enforcement partners who serve the Southern District of Florida. I am proud of the office’s many accomplishments and take this opportunity to share some of those.         

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida remains a leader in COVID-19 pandemic relief prosecutions, holding a range of actors accountable for these crimes. Over this summer alone, the district has charged 17 individuals with COVID-19 relief fraud cases, with scheme amounts totaling over $21 million. 

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, 76, a citizen of Mexico, was arraigned this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on 17 counts related to drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and money laundering. This fifth superseding indictment relates to El Mayo’s decades-long leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. El Mayo was previously charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, as well as murder conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, cocaine, heroin

Today, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe announced criminal charges against thirty-eight defendants in connection with alleged health care fraud schemes prosecuted in the Southern District of Florida. The charges filed in federal court are part of the Justice Department’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action. The charges stem from various schemes to defraud government and private health care benefit programs by submitting false claims for items and services that were not needed and, in many instances, never provided as well as a scheme to unlawfully distribute adulterated and

On June 20, Jimmy Sanchez, 36, of San Diego, Calif., and Tsvia Kol, 36, of Miami were charged in the execution-style murder of a victim at the Aladdin Hotel in Miami. The indictment charges both Sanchez and Kol with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and causing a death in the course of the drug trafficking conspiracy.

Melanie Harris, 59 of Riverside, California, was sentenced yesterday to 32 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to knowingly and intentionally transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce. Harris was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman during a hearing in Miami, Florida. 

On May 17, an Orange County, California, resident, Tenzin Orgil, 24, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for participating in a drug trafficking enterprise that included the sale of methamphetamine and fentanyl on the dark web, as well as the manufacture of ecstasy (also known as MDMA) and methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories

Seven members and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel have been sentenced to federal prison for their role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. The sentences come after the defendants had previously pleaded guilty in this matter.

Dillon Renee Polanco, Anthony William Lamar, a/k/a “Mojo,” and Rahsaan Rolando Robinson, a/k/a “Loso,” were recently sentenced to 130, 346, and 220 months in federal prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas.