Tag: crime

Palisades Fire Fraud: Man Headed To Prison After Scamming $64K Out Of FEMA

An East Hollywood man is headed to federal prison for a year and a day after collecting more than $64,000 in wildfire disaster relief on a Pacific Palisades home he had no connection to whatsoever.

Delvonne Dashon Johnson, 32, was sentenced on July 31 in Los Angeles and ordered to repay $64,148 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He pleaded guilty last year to fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits – a charge that carries a statutory maximum of 30 years.

In February 2025, weeks after the Palisades Fire tore through the coastline, Johnson filed a FEMA claim listing a Pacific Palisades address as a home he owned. FEMA wired him $64,138 later that same month – except, he didn’t own the house. Someone else did, and she was living in it.

The fraud unraveled only when the actual homeowner tried to file her own claim. FEMA told her someone had already submitted one on her property’s behalf. When investigators interviewed her on April 2, 2025, she told them she had lived at the address since 2015, that it was her primary residence, that she was there when the fire hit, that she had never rented the place to anyone, and that she had never heard of Delvonne Johnson.

Johnson was not working alone – he was one of several people federal prosecutors swept up for running the same play on the same disaster. Deanniah Hogan, 32, of Compton, allegedly posed as a renter at a Palisades home and drew roughly $17,351. Zenalyn McIntre, 38, of Sherman Oaks, allegedly submitted a fabricated utility bill and a driver’s license listing a different address, and received about $25,229. Hedeshia Robertson, 36, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty after obtaining some $24,899. Another defendant allegedly claimed a nonexistent Altadena address as her destroyed primary residence and collected $23,441, plus two FEMA-booked hotel stays. Jaime Arturo Carrillo, 48, pleaded guilty after claiming property damage and utility disruption at a South Los Angeles address roughly 20 miles from either fire.

The pattern extends well beyond Los Angeles County. In June, a Honolulu man was sentenced to two years for conspiring to submit false FEMA claims tied to both the Lahaina fire and the Pacific Palisades fire, with a co-defendant posing as his Maui landlord before turning around and claiming to have lived in Pacific Palisades herself. The pair collected more than $60,000. He then filed fabricated flight records with the court and picked up an obstruction charge on top.

Victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires could qualify for a one-time $750 FEMA payment, up to $43,600 in other-needs assistance covering personal property, transportation and medical costs, and housing assistance for as long as 18 months. Homeowners were eligible for up to another $43,600 in repair money. Money that moves fast enough to help people who just lost everything moves fast enough to reach people who lost nothing.

The two fires ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, burned close to 60,000 acres, destroyed more than 16,000 structures, and killed 30 people.

For claiming a slice of the recovery money set aside for those people, Johnson drew 12 months and one day.

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Former FBI Agent Charged With Stealing Nearly $1 Million In Crypto, Asked ChatGPT How To Hide It

A supervising U.S. FBI agent who worked in intelligence at the national headquarters has been arrested and accused in a federal court filing of stealing more than $1 million in cryptocurrency.

The high-level special agent, identified as Patrick Steven Yarmoch, allegedly turned himself in to agency colleagues, reporting that he dug crypto keys from FBI systems to make as many as a dozen transfers to himself from accounts tied to foreign individuals he’d investigated, according to an August 1 account filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“During the afternoon of July 28, 2026, Yaroch contacted DOJ Employee 1 via Signal and requested to meet to discuss personal matters,” prosecutors said in the complaint.

“Upon meeting DOJ Employee 1 at FBI headquarters, Yaroch immediately started to break down as he told his story.”

Yarmoch — who held a “top secret” security clearance — had worked in counterintelligence, specifically with an investigative unit that focused on an unnamed “adversary nation,” according to the court filing, which noted he was suspended for a couple of days before being fired and arrested on July 31.

The resident of Ashburn, Virginia, had worked as a supervisory special agent at FBI headquarters in Washington, specifically in its counterintelligence and espionage division. He’d previously worked for years out of Boston, where he’d been in a national-security unit investigating the adversary nation referenced in the court filing.

In handling the digital assets, Yarmoch was said to use accounts with Kraken and also Suilend, the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem for the Sui blockchain, via a Slush wallet.

The FBI searches of his computer and phone records revealed some of his recent questions to AI apps, including, “If you had a bucket of money (around $1 million) and you wanted to leave the USA and become a resident or citizen of an EU country, what would you do?”

To which the app allegedly recommended Portugal as a favored destination.

Investigators also located travel plans for Yarmoch and his family to go to Portugal next month, and located the power of attorney forms for Portugal.

“Yaroch stated he was not planning to funnel money into Portugal,” the complaint said.

“Yaroch told FBI WF Agents that his family had a trip planned to Portugal in September 2026 to meet friends. Yaroch realized he might not be able to attend the trip but stated he hoped his wife and child would still go on the trip.”

Later searches included whether Americans need a visa when connecting through Turkey and help drafting a follow-up email about a job opportunity and life in Greece.

He was also said to take recent trips to Germany, and Grenada that he hadn’t reported internally, in violation of FBI rules.

Yarmoch was placed in detention in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Arson Suspect Identified and Arrested in Spokane Wildfires that Torched Hundreds of Homes – Man Previously Gunned Down HIS OWN FATHER

A ‘climate change’ narrative pushed by the left following the latest wildfires affecting the United States has imploded following news that an arson suspect has been arrested. And his past is absolutely harrowing.

As The Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, The Old Trails Fire in Spokane County, Washington, ignited on Saturday across parts of Spokane, Washington.

The fires rapidly expanded under strong winds, prompting widespread Level 3 “Go Now” evacuations that forced 64,000 residents to flee their homes.

By evening, multiple homes had been burned, with videos posted to social media showing the devastation. 700 homes in total burned to the ground.

Early coverage, including CNN’s live updates, used “climate crisis” language, and the Associated Press described the fires as erupting “across a parched landscape” amid severe drought and low snowpack.

Climate activists and social media accounts ran with the climate crisis narrative.

But in news that should shock absolutely no one, the corporate media got it all wrong. On August 3, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 37-year-old man named Aaron F. Farinacci on suspicion of first-degree arson.

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Home invasions became most common crypto wrench attack in H1 2026: CertiK

Crypto home invasions rose to 20 in H1 2026 from one a year earlier, while France accounted for 33 of 52 verified wrench attacks, according to CertiK.

Home invasions became the most common form of crypto wrench attacks during the first half of 2026, rising to 20 publicly reported incidents from just one a year earlier, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. 

On Thursday, CertiK said it verified 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first half of 2026, up 33.3% from 39 incidents during the same period in 2025. Kidnappings rose to 16 from 12, while robberies declined from five incidents to one. 

CertiK said the recorded financial exposure linked to the attacks reached about $124.1 million, up from $10.5 million a year earlier. The figure is not limited to confirmed thefts and may include ransom demands, victim transfers, frozen or recovered assets and failed ransom demands. 

The increase in home invasions suggests criminals are increasingly bypassing digital safeguards by physically coercing crypto holders and their families.

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UK government launches legal action to stop the release of data showing crimes committed by migrants

The Labour government is heading to court to block the publication of migrant crime statistics.

Following a year-long battle at the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), it was ruled that the Ministry of Justice must provide the Centre for Migration Control with the most comprehensive dataset on migrant crime in British history.

The Labour government is now trying to stop the public from learning the truth.

The Daily Telegraph has run this story: ‘David Lammy fighting to ‘cover up’ foreigners’ crimes’.

The Centre for Migration Control today announces a campaign to fight back against this cover-up. The public deserves to know the truth; the country requires that this information be published.

Help the Centre for Migration Control fight back against the Labour government by supporting our Crowdfunder: End the Migrant Crime Cover-Up.

Background

For the last year, the Centre for Migration Control (“CMC”) has been locked in a battle at the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) – a non-department government body tasked with upholding public access to government data – with the Ministry of Justice.

In June 2025 the CMC requested via the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FoI”) that the Ministry of Justice produce statistics on the total number of convictions between 2018 and 2024 ( broken down by nationality) for detailed offences within the following headline offence categories: “violence against the person,” “sexual offences,” “drug offences,” “criminal damage and arson,” “possession of weapons,” “theft offences” and “robbery.”

This information would have been the single biggest release of migrant crime statistics in British history and, for the first time, told us how many migrants are convicted every year of murder, rape, arson, the importation and supply of class A drugs, the sale of weapons, along with hundreds of other offences.

Unlike other European nations – including Denmark, Germany, and Sweden – the British government does not publish this information. This is despite the information being readily available on the Police National Computer.

The Ministry of Justice refused this FoI request and, on 10 July 2025, the CMC requested that the ICO make a ruling on whether it was appropriate for the data to be withheld.

On 22 June 2026, over 12 months after the initial FoI request, the ICO ruled unambiguously that the Ministry of Justicemust “disclose the requested information” to the CMC.

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Mexican Town Set Ablaze After Military Arrests Terrorist Cartel Leader

Members of the United Cartels set fire to a town in the Mexican state of Michoacan following a military raid where authorities arrested one of the top leaders of the terrorist organization. That leader had previously been a top official within the Michoacan state police forces and still held sway over local law enforcement.

The riotous acts of destruction took place over the weekend in the town of Los Reyes and nearby communities, when cartel gunmen set up numerous blockades and torched vehicles and buildings in response to a military raid targeting their leader, Alfonoso “Poncho La Quiringa” Fernandez Magallanes. Fernandez is a known drug lord wanted by the U.S. Department of Justice, which offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

The raid took place on Saturday afternoon, when Mexican military and federal police forces arrested Fernandez and several of his close allies with Carteles Unidos. Soon after the arrest, his gunmen set up blockades, torched vehicles and buildings throughout Los Reyes and surrounding communities in an attempt to pressure Mexico’s government into releasing the man known as La Quiringa. While the tactic had worked in the past, this time, Mexico’s federal government did not budge.

Soon after, Mexico’s top security official, Omar Garcia Harfuch, announced Fernandez’s capture. On Sunday, his staff released additional information about the wanted drug lord and his organization. According to authorities, La Quiringa has been one of the leaders behind the hiring of Colombian terrorists and guerrilla fighters, as well as the use of drones to drop explosives on their rivals and military forces.

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Murders In The US Set To Hit 126-Year-Low Following Illegal Immigrant Deportations: DHS

Crime rates have fallen to “historic lows” across the United States, with homicides this year on track to register the lowest level in at least 126 years, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In the first half of 2026, homicides were down 18 percent compared to the first half of last year, DHS said in a July 31 statement. Carjacking crimes tumbled 47 percent during this period, motor vehicle thefts fell 20 percent, robberies dropped 17 percent, and residential burglaries declined 13 percent.

The numbers come from a July 2026 report from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) that assessed crime stats across various U.S. cities.

Compared to the first half of 2022, the second year of the Biden administration, homicides in the first half of 2026, the second year of the current Trump administration, were down by 51 percent, according to the CCJ report.

For violent crimes, 2 percent fewer aggravated assaults and 6 percent fewer gun assaults were reported in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year. However, domestic violence incidents were up 8 percent, and sexual assaults by 3 percent for this period.

When compared to the first half of 2019, the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic onset, homicides, aggravated assault, gun assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, robbery, and carjacking crimes were all lower in the first six months of 2026, the report said.

In its statement, DHS gave examples of some of the illegal immigrants with criminal histories who have been deported from the United States: A Salvadoran national with convictions for homicide and assault, a Costa Rican with convictions for property crimes and burglary, a Honduran Tren de Aragua gang member convicted for robbery, and a Vietnamese national convicted for armed carjacking.

“President [Donald] Trump promised to make America safe again, and he has done just that,” Lauren Bis, assistant secretary at the DHS’s Office of Public Affairs, said in the statement.

“Crime has fallen to record lows under the Trump Administration.”

“It’s no surprise that this drop in crime coincides with deportations of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. It is common sense. When you remove criminals from the country, crime rates fall,” Bis said.

In the first year of the current Trump administration, almost three million illegal immigrants had left the United States, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a Jan. 20 DHS statement.

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James Talarico Nods in Agreement as Crazed Woman Says Karmelo Anthony’s Conviction is a “F*cking Tragedy” – Agrees That She’s Faced More Trauma in America Than as a Navy Vet in Middle East

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico held a town hall focusing on Black voter outreach in DeSoto, Texas, last month, where he was caught on camera nodding in agreement with a woman who claimed Karmelo Anthony’s murder conviction was a “f*cking tragedy.”

Talarico further agreed with and validated the woman’s claim that she has “more trauma” living in the US than she had while serving with the Navy in Bahrain, Kuwait, Afghanistan.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison in June after a jury convicted him of murdering then-16-year-old track and football star Austin Metcalf in a brutal stabbing during a championship track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, last April.

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Trafalgar Square Gets Diversity Barriers…

London’s most iconic public space has been turned into a fortified zone. 

Heavy steel and concrete barriers now ring Trafalgar Square, hemming in Nelson’s Column and the open plaza that once defined the heart of the capital. Critics are calling them exactly what they are: diversity barriers. The temporary metal structures clearly exist for one purpose only—to stop vehicles being driven into crowds.

Footage circulating this week shows the bright yellow and concrete-style anti-ram units lining the approaches to the square. Tourists and locals navigate filter gaps between the devices while Nelson looks down on a landscape redesigned for a threat the authorities refuse to name.

These are not temporary crowd-control fences for a one-off event. They form part of a growing pattern across Britain.

Just days earlier, similar devices appeared at a family beach event in Nottingham’s Market Square. Fifteen Husson H-Stop units blocked the entrances there, designed to tip a three-and-a-half-tonne truck travelling at 30 mph.

Councillors described them as an “additional safety measure” following advice from a multi-agency group that included counter-terrorism officers. Organiser James Mellors admitted they “don’t look very pretty” but insisted the high-footfall area required them.

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There’s a Real Problem in Seattle, and With Its Clueless Mayor, It’s Hard to See Resolution

There’s been a real mess brewing in the city of Seattle, and things have just about reached a fever pitch.

Criminal activity has reached an all-time high within the city, thanks to an inept Mayor, Katie Wilson, who can’t seem to figure out how to benefit her police department more. But then came a terrifying act – a mass shooting during the Bite of Seattle food event – on Sunday evening that has managed to leave three dead and a toddler wounded.

The police have acted quickly enough to apprehend a suspect, but they are still investigating the matter. But the shooting has led to a series of questions, namely surrounding then police chief Shon Barnes.

Apparently Barnes had been traveling at the time of the shooting, as he had just taken a trip from Chicago and was visiting the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives in Dallas. 

Of course, officers are allowed to visit events such as this, but apparently Barnes took criticism of his out of town visit the wrong way.

During a press conference earlier this week, Barnes actually got into a confrontation with a reporter who kept pressing him about his being out of town, insisting he was dedicated to his city. It’s clear the pressure had gotten to him, and he simply needed to contain himself before he did something he regretted.

Now, I don’t personally know the history of Barnes, though it sounds like it might have been a bit troubled. But rather than work with him to try and put the pieces together on what happened and, more importantly, trying to keep it from occurring again, Mayor Wilson instead decided to give him a choice – resign or be fired. 

Which is a horrible decision. It’s true that the shooting was a tragedy, and the press conference did not do Barnes any favors. But to come to such a drastic decision and leave the city with even more questions? It just shows how absolutely flawed Wilson’s leadership is.

Barnes chose to resign, with Wilson saying, “I’ll say this decision was not solely due to the events of Sunday. Multiple factors figured into this decision and into the conversation that the Chief and I had.”

But a different resolution couldn’t have been made? Suspension? An investigation into the matter? It sounds like Wilson’s just trying to save face with her voter base, rather than standing behind the police and trying to right the wrongs.

Again, I can’t speak on Barnes’ record, I just can’t help but think Wilson doesn’t “get it” when it comes to doing what’s right for the city. And I’m not the only one who thinks this.

City Council President Joy Hollingsworth and council members Bob Kettle, Dan Strauss and Debora Juarez made a joint statement following the resignation. “Having cycled through four police chiefs in just two and a half years, our priority must be stability, not further disruption. The people of Seattle deserve reliable leadership, especially as we close out a busy summer of public events.”

That says everything you need to know right there. Four police chiefs in less than three years. That means Wilson has butted heads with every single one of them, potentially wiping out any plans to give them the support they deserve.

What’s more, a letter penned by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the Seattle NAACP noted that Barnes “should not be made a scapegoat for the complex challenges of public safety.”

So you’ve got a troubled police chief who didn’t even get a chance to validate himself for his actions and a mayor who can’t see eye to eye with, well, anyone in law enforcement. It’s a real mess, and the people of Seattle deserve far better.

There is light at the end of the tunnel here, and that’s with Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, who has stepped into the role of interim chief. It sounds like he’s good with Seattle police as a whole, with Kent Loux, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, noting he’s a “good pick.”

Now we just need Wilson to settle down and actually work with the police to make things good again. Between not addressing the shooting for several hours (which, surprise, she blamed the police for when it was clearly her fault) and dismissing a police chief before he even had a chance to figure out a proper resolution, I have zero faith in her at the moment. All we can hope is that she’ll work with Sayles and actually move forward in giving the police the support they need.

Because, otherwise, we’ll be looking at number five in a long line of police officials that Wilson can’t stand, and we have no idea who she’ll pick next.

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