Tag: crime

California man arrested for allegedly stealing millions in homeless funds

California officials have arrested Alexander Soofer, who allegedly used tens-of-millions of taxpayer dollars meant to house and feed the homeless to fund his lavish lifestyle, Fox News has learned. 

Soofer was the executive director of the charity Abundant Blessings, which received government funding for its work.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a news conference on Friday that Soofer has been charged with wire fraud, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“I want to tell you a little bit about his organization, Abundant Blessings. It was a South Los Angeles-based charity whose purpose is to help house and properly feed the estimated 72,000 homeless people living in the greater Los Angeles area. His organization received more than $23 million in taxpayer funds for the purpose of housing and feeding the homeless,” Essayli said.

“California was pushing this money out quickly. A lot of money went out the door, with, frankly, very little vetting, very little checks and balances. And, he’s one of the individuals that got it in this organization,” he added.

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Ex-DEA agent gets 5 years in prison for using badge to protect drug trafficking friends: “Little dark secret”

In two decades of kicking in doors for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Joseph Bongiovanni often took on the risks of being the “lead breacher,” meaning he was the first person into the room.

On Wednesday, he felt a familiar uncertainty awaiting sentencing for using his DEA badge to protect childhood friends who became prolific drug traffickers in Buffalo, New York.

“I never knew what was on the other side of that door — that fear is what I feel today,” Bongiovanni, 61, told a federal judge, pounding the defense table as his face reddened with emotion. “I’ve always been innocent. I loved that job.”

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo sentenced the disgraced lawman to five years in federal prison on a string of corruption counts. The punishment was significantly less than the 15 years prosecutors sought even after a jury acquitted Bongiovanni of the most serious charges he faced, including an allegation he pocketed $250,000 in bribes from the Mafia.

The judge said the sentence reflected the complexity of the mixed verdicts following two lengthy trials and the almost Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of Bongiovanni’s career, in which the lawman racked up enough front-page accolades to fill a trophy case.

Bongiovanni once hurtled into a burning apartment building to evacuate residents through billowing smoke. He locked up drug dealers, including the first ever prosecuted in the region for causing a fatal overdose.

“There are two completely polar opposite versions of the facts and polar opposite versions of the defendant,” Vilardo said, assuring prosecutors five years behind bars would pose a considerable hardship to someone who has never been to prison.

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Secretary Noem: Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey Have Released 490 Murderers, Rapists, and Drug Traffickers onto their Streets Rather than Turn Them Over to ICE

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax for an interview on Monday.

During their discussion Secretary Noem announced that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Tim Walz RELEASED 490 murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers onto the streets.

The Democrat leaders did this INSTEAD of handing them over to ICE. Who in their right mind would support this?

Secretary Kristi Noem: “We have a National Targeting Center that identifies those who’ve committed crimes. So they’ve done something in this country or in their home country that has been criminal charges against them, or they’ve been convicted. Many times, these individuals are in jails or prisons in some of our states already that we just want those local law enforcement officers to turn over to us.

“For example, one of the things we’ve asked Governor Walz for, and Mayor Frey, is to give us the criminals you have in jail. They’ve released 490 murderers, and rapists, and drug traffickers onto their streets, rather than just give them to us—and that’s what I don’t understand.”

That is TREASON! There is no other way to put it.

Angry Democrats support this!

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Minnesota leaders subpoenaed in US criminal probe over opposition to immigration crackdown

The US Justice Department (DOJ) on Jan 20 subpoenaed the offices of Minnesota’s governor and attorney-general, and mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul, as it weighed whether their public opposition to US President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities amounts to a crime.

One of the jury subpoenas, shared with the media by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, orders his office’s custodian of records to produce documents since the beginning of 2025 related to “cooperation or lack of cooperation with federal immigration authorities”.

The federal grand jury subpoenas were served on six offices of state and local Democrats, according to a Justice Department official, including those of Governor Tim Walz and Attorney-General Keith Ellison.

“Whether it is a public official, whether it is a law enforcement officer, no one is above the law in this state or in this country, and people will be held accountable,” US Attorney-General Pam Bondi said in a Fox News interview after arriving in Minnesota on Jan 16.

“Our men and women in law enforcement deserve to be safe, and that is what we’re going to do in Minnesota,” Ms Bondi added, without explicitly addressing the newly issued subpoenas.

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DHS: Minneapolis Holding 1,370 Criminal Illegals, Refuses to Turn Them Over for Deportation

Senior Trump administration officials and Fox News hosts sharply criticized Minnesota’s Democratic leadership during a Fox News segment addressing violent protests, alleged interference with federal immigration enforcement, and an ongoing Department of Justice investigation tied to recent unrest in Minneapolis.

During the discussion, Tricia McLaughlin condemned what she described as the left’s reaction to the protests and the treatment of worshipers whose First Amendment rights were violated.

“This is outright hysteria we are seeing from the left, and this should be the easiest thing in the world for Tim Walz and Mayor Frey to condemn. This shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat issue. These are worshipers who are practicing their First Amendment rights to worship, and yet those rights were trampled on by these protesters who trespassed and began intimidating these Christians worshiping,” McLaughlin said.

She added, “So I’m glad to see the Department of Justice is taking this incredibly seriously, and I hope we see mug shot soon.”

Dana Perino introduced video of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, noting, “Mayor Frey talked about protesters overall. He was on CNN on Sunday, watch.”

In the clip, Frey defended demonstrators and rejected claims of disorder.

“Invaded, under siege, occupied. You know, use whatever word or superlative that you want to attach. But the bottom line is, what is taking place is designed to intimidate. It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional. They’re peacefully protesting. They’re standing up for one another,” Frey said.

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Nigerian professor pleads guilty to stealing $1.4 million from Grand Rapids preschool nonprofit

A highly acclaimed Nigerian professor at Aquinas College is facing two decades in prison after she admitted to swindling more than $1 million from taxpayers and poor minority children in West Michigan.

Nkechy Ezeh, founder and CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, pleaded guilty last week to wire fraud and tax evasion in a scheme that forced the nonprofit to shut down after a dozen years preparing about 8,000 preschoolers for kindergarten in Kent County, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, WOOD reports.

Ezeh worked with ELNC bookkeeper Sharon Killebrew to create nearly $500,000 in fake invoices, as well as created fake daycare businesses to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars more, which Ezeh used for personal travel to Hawaii, Nigeria and Liberia, according to court documents cited by the news site.

The case comes amid sprawling investigations into fraud in government funded child care programs in Minnesota, Ohio and other states.

The investigations are motivated in part by a viral YouTube video last month that featured what appeared to be a largely vacant “Quality Learing [sic] Center” in Minneapolis that collected $4 million in recent years to provide child care services to the Somali community, Fox News reports.

The learning center is part of a broader scandal involving alleged social services fraud largely tied to the Somali community in the Twin Cities that U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said last month could exceed $1 billion once investigations into Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program are complete. Officials have followed some of the funds to the Somali terror group Al-Shabab, according to Fox.

Ezeh’s attorney, Mary Chartier, told MLive her client “is committed to taking full responsibility and accountability for her actions.

“She is deeply remorseful to anyone who has been negatively impacted,” Chartier said.

ELNC President Amy DeLeeuw offered a decidedly different perspective following Ezeh’s plea hearing in U.S. District Court on Jan. 14, noting in a statement the former CEO’s “failure to meaningfully articulate the nature and scope of her criminal misconduct.”

“Her theft of million of dollars intended for the most vulnerable of children was brazen, all encompassing and unconscionable,” DeLeeuw said.

“To date, Nkechy has made no effort to repay any of the millions of dollars she stole from ELNC,” the statement read. “I trust Nkechy’s demeanor at today’s hearing did not go unnoticed by Chief Judge Hala Jarbou. I and the board will have more to say in our victim impact statement and look forward to her sentencing hearing on May 13.”

Killebrew pleaded guilty earlier this year to engaging in conspiracy to defraud a federally funded program of $1,170,935 and tax evasion, and was sentenced to four years, six months in prison.

Ezeh agreed to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Early Head Start Programs and other organizations as part of her plea agreement, which also detailed $390,000 in back taxes, according to media reports.

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Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker Signs ‘Clean Slate’ Act to Seal Criminal Records of Non-Violent Offenders

What is it with Democrats and their absolute obsession with making life easier for criminals?

In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker has just signed what they are calling the ‘Clean Slate’ act, which seals the records of non-violent offenders. What this does is make it more difficult for potential employers, landlords, and just regular people to know if a person they are dealing with has a criminal past.

This is the same governor who has vowed to arrest and prosecute ICE agents.

CBS News reported:

Governor Pritzker signs Clean Slate Act

Illinois is giving residents an opportunity to clear their criminal records.

The Governor JB Pritzker signed the Clean Slate Act on Friday.

It will help an estimated 2.2 million Illinois residents get their records automatically sealed. Illinois becomes the 13th state to create an automatic records relief process for individuals with non-violent criminal convictions.

“The Clean Slate Act passed with bipartisan support and with my signature will offer the opportunity for Illinois to create an automatic process to seal the criminal records of those convicted of nonviolent crimes,” Pritzker said.

The governor said this act is “opening up opportunities for those reentering society to live productive, healthy, and stable lives.”

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Minneapolis Police ‘Victim Blame’ Nick Sortor After He is Robbed: Tell Him HE is the Problem and Needs to Leave the Area

The Gateway Pundit reported that independent journalist Nick Sortor was robbed of a $1,000 camera by an apparent Somali woman while filming in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Sunday. Police in Minneapolis responded by telling Sorter HE is the problem and needed to leave.

Sortor shared a video from the incident showing a masked woman ripping the camera out of his hand while he is behind the wheel of his vehicle.

A man then approached him, screaming, “That’s what the f*ck you wanted, right? That’s what the f*ck you wanted, right?”

Sorter jumped out of the car and chased the robber to a waiting vehicle, and they sped off with him holding onto the door handle. He shared that he was then dragged down the street after his hand got stuck in the car’s door handle.

Sortor spoke with the Minneapolis Police, who responded to the robbery by saying, “We have a ton of calls stacked that we have to answer. I don’t have a timeframe for you.”

“My point is, you guys need to not be in this area. I mean, I can’t tell you you have to leave, but if we’re getting calls of you guys harassing people…”

Sortor and his companion clarify that they are driving around, reporting on the situation, noting, “Driving around is not harassing anybody.”

“No one’s being harassed.”

The officer continued, “100% that’s fine, I’m just saying if it rises to that level, because they’re saying you guys are.”

Sortor cut in, “We’re journalists. Some people are trying to intimidate us out of here for doing our First Amendment freedom.”

The officer responded, “I know. But we don’t need this stuff to keep happening. The hostility obviously not going to go away.”

“We just want our stuff back,” Sortor stated.

The police then went through the process of a police report and the steps to an arrest, but added, “But you guys need to do us a favor and stay out of this area.”

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Five Severed Human Heads Discovered Hanging on Beach in Apparent Drug Cartel Warning

Five severed human heads were discovered hanging from ropes on a beach in Ecuador, according to police.

According to multiple reports, local authorities said the gruesome scene appeared to be linked to ongoing drug-related violence gripping the country.

Ecuadorian media outlets showed the heads suspended from wooden poles placed directly on the beach, CBS News reported.

A wooden sign that was positioned next to the remains contained a written message.

According to The Associated Press, the message was directed at individuals accused of extorting local fishermen.

Officers attributed the incident to a conflict between rival criminal groups operating in the region.

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Las Vegas man gets probation for killing girlfriend’s 1-year-old: ‘He had no voice’

A man convicted of killing his girlfriend’s one-year-old child will avoid prison time after prosecutors noted issues with evidence that could have resulted in a not-guilty verdict.

In 2024, a Clark County grand jury voted to indict Christian Rabino, 29, on first-degree murder and child abuse for the death of Kai Tesoro, who was 17 months old at the time of his death. Police identified Rabino as Kai’s mother’s boyfriend.

Last November, Rabino entered an Alford plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter, records said. Through an Alford plea, a defendant acknowledges prosecutors may have enough evidence to lead a jury to convict them, but at no time do they admit guilt.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to a sentence of probation. The voluntary manslaughter charge itself carries a sentence of 1-10 years, documents said, but the plea deal negated any prison time.

In court Tuesday, Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth, a former prosecutor who worked on child homicides, noted prosecutors’ issues heading toward trial and her disappointment with the terms of the deal.

“The state believed it had some evidentiary issues if we had gone to trial,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said in court. “In these cases, typically there are no eyewitnesses, and so you’re relying upon caregivers to give the most accurate information.”

Rinetti highlighted potential issues at trial, including concerns about witness statements to police and unexplained older injuries discovered during autopsy.

“This was a rare negotiation for me as well in this type of case,” Rinetti said. “I take these cases very, very seriously, but I also have to live with the facts of the case and what I can prove at trial.”

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