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Police & Fire
3-Year-Old Girl Shot, Killed In DMV: Metropolitan Police ID Person Of Interest 3-Year-Old Girl Shot, Killed In DMV: Metropolitan Police ID Person Of Interest
3-Year-Old Girl Shot, Killed In DMV: Metropolitan Police ID Person Of Interest The manhunt is on. Charles Rucker has been named a person of interest in the shooting death of 3-year-old Honesty Cheadle, the Metropolitan Police Department announced. Cheadle was sitting in a parked car with family when she was struck by gunfire around 3:03 a.m. on Saturday, July 5, in the 1000 block of 14th Street SE, according to police. Detectives say Rucker is wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting, which turned fatal two days later when the girl died.  He is pictured in a newly released wanted homicide poster, and MPD is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for i…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
UMass Intern Killed In DC Shooting: $40K Reward Offered As Hunt For Gunman Intensifies UMass Intern Killed In DC Shooting: $40K Reward Offered As Hunt For Gunman Intensifies
UMass Intern Killed In DC Shooting: $40K Reward Offered As Hunt For Gunman Intensifies The hunt is still on for the person who gunned down a Massachusetts college student interning on Capitol Hill — and now there’s $40,000 on the table for anyone who can help bring his killer to justice. On Tuesday, July 8, the FBI’s Washington Field Office added $15,000 to the existing $25,000 reward already being offered by the Metropolitan Police Department for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects behind the shooting death of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts. The new reward comes more than a week after Tarpinian-Jachym was fatally s…

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by Zak Failla
News
PA Man Looking For Underage 'Playmate' For 'Ongoing Adventure' Convicted In Virginia: DOJ PA Man Looking For Underage 'Playmate' For 'Ongoing Adventure' Convicted In Virginia: DOJ
PA Man Looking For Underage 'Playmate' For 'Ongoing Adventure' Convicted In Virginia: DOJ A Pennsylvania man is facing life in prison after sending disturbing messages to an undercover officer soliciting a minor in Virginia for sex, authorities announced. Keith Allen Pinkard, 67, of Middletown, faces harsh penalties after pleading guilty this week to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor following a sting operation.  According to court documents, in May, Pinkard sent a private message to another user on social media, unaware that the user was, in fact, an undercover FBI special agent. During that exchange, prosecutors say that Pinkard stated he was seeking "a new pl…

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by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Man Used Authority To Sexually Abuse Teen Ward At DC Juvenile Center: Feds Maryland Man Used Authority To Sexually Abuse Teen Ward At DC Juvenile Center: Feds
Maryland Man Used Authority To Sexually Abuse Teen Ward At DC Juvenile Center: Feds A Maryland man who was trusted to supervise minors in DC has been convicted of sexually abusing a 17-year-old who was in his custody, authorities announced. Kelvin Powell, 63, of Temple Hills, was found guilty of abusing the minor who was in the custody of the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, according to the US Attorney's Office. It took a jury just one day to find him guilty on all charges in DC Superior Court following an eight-day trial. "(Powell) used his position of authority to repeatedly sexually abuse a minor who was in his care and more than four decades young…

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by Zak Failla
News
FBI Announces Site Of New Headquarters In DC FBI Announces Site Of New Headquarters In DC
FBI Announces Site Of New Headquarters In DC After nearly two decades of stalled plans and shifting priorities, the FBI has finally found a new home. The agency just announced that its new headquarters will be located at the Ronald Reagan Building complex at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, DC. The decision ends years of discussion over building a new suburban campus — a costly proposal now shelved in favor of repurposing an existing federal site. The move will save taxpayers billions in construction costs and eliminate more than $300 million in deferred maintenance on the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building, according to the Gene…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
IRS Scam Busted: $93M COVID Fraud Tied To Attempted Hit On Alleged Mastermind IRS Scam Busted: $93M COVID Fraud Tied To Attempted Hit On Alleged Mastermind
IRS Scam Busted: $93M COVID Fraud Tied To Attempted Hit On Alleged Mastermind It started with a fake business. It ended with a shootout in broad daylight. Four people are facing federal charges in what prosecutors call the largest COVID-19 tax credit fraud scheme ever identified.  This $93 million operation allegedly involved fake companies, kickbacks, and a botched attempt to silence the ringleader. The sprawling indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles, details an alleged conspiracy to defraud the IRS by submitting false claims for Coronavirus Response Credits.  These federal tax refunds were designed to help small businesses cover sick and family leave wage…

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by Joe Lombardi
Politics
FBI Picks New Headquarters Location — And It's Not In Maryland Or Virginia FBI Picks New Headquarters Location — And It's Not In Maryland Or Virginia
FBI Picks New Headquarters Location — And It's Not In Maryland Or Virginia Maryland and Virginia just got ghosted. After years of public debate and political wrangling over where to build a massive new FBI campus — with locations in Maryland and Virginia as the top contenders — the Trump administration has decided to keep the bureau’s headquarters right in Washington, DC, officials announced Tuesday, July 1. Under the Biden administration in 2023, officials chose a site in Greenbelt, though that plan never came to fruition. The FBI and the US General Services Administration (GSA) confirmed the new location will be the Ronald Reagan Building complex in downtown DC…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
9 People Caught In North Korean Spy Plot That Conned US Companies To Fund Weapons Program: DOJ 9 People Caught In North Korean Spy Plot That Conned US Companies To Fund Weapons Program: DOJ
9 People Caught In North Korean Spy Plot That Conned US Companies To Fund Weapons Program: DOJ A New Jersey man and eight foreign nationals from China and Taiwan have been charged in Boston in what federal officials call a major scheme to secretly funnel money to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program. Zhenxing “Danny” Wang of New Jersey was arrested and accused of helping North Korean IT workers pose as Americans to get remote jobs with American companies, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.  The workers allegedly used stolen identities to land jobs at major businesses, including a defense contractor. Authorities say this scam helped generate at least $5 million …

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by Josh Lanier
News
Scam Targets Airlines As Hacking Group Expands Operations, FBI Warns Scam Targets Airlines As Hacking Group Expands Operations, FBI Warns
Scam Targets Airlines As Hacking Group Expands Operations, FBI Warns A cybercriminal group known for extorting people and companies across the world is now targeting the airline industry. The FBI has issued a warning about Scattered Spider, a hacking group that has  expanded its operations to include major US airlines and their vendors.  The group is known for using convincing impersonation tactics to access corporate networks, often bypassing multi-factor authentication by tricking IT staff into adding unauthorized devices. Scattered Spider impersonates employees or contractors to deceive help desks. "These techniques frequently involve methods …

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by Chris Spiker
News
Firefighter Killings: Suspect Found Dead After 'Ambush' Shooting On Idaho First Responders Firefighter Killings: Suspect Found Dead After 'Ambush' Shooting On Idaho First Responders
Firefighter Killings: Suspect Found Dead After 'Ambush' Shooting On Idaho First Responders An armed suspect was found dead following what police described as an ambush shooting that killed two firefighters and injured a third in northern Idaho. The attack unfolded around 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, June 29, when fire crews responded to a brushfire near the 24-acre Canfield Mountain Park in Coeur d’Alene. After intentionally starting the fire to lure first responders, a gunman armed with a “sporting rifle” opened fire, shooting and killing two firefighters and injuring a third, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. The injured firefighter was listed in stab…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Maryland Doctor Who Ran 45-State Pill Mill In DC Learns Prison Fate Maryland Doctor Who Ran 45-State Pill Mill In DC Learns Prison Fate
Maryland Doctor Who Ran 45-State Pill Mill In DC Learns Prison Fate A Maryland physician will spend nearly two decades behind bars for handing out addictive opioids to patients he barely examined — in what federal officials say was a massive pill mill operation that spanned the entire country. Ndubuisi Joseph Okafor, 65, of Upper Marlboro, was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of illegally prescribing powerful drugs like oxycodone and promethazine with codeine to people using fake names — and collecting cash for each visit. The sentencing was announced by US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and follows Okafor’s March 21 conv…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Man Freed After Child’s Body Dumped In Lot; Prosecutors Opposed Bond: Officials Maryland Man Freed After Child’s Body Dumped In Lot; Prosecutors Opposed Bond: Officials
Maryland Man Freed After Child’s Body Dumped In Lot; Prosecutors Opposed Bond: Officials A Maryland man accused of helping cover up the killing of a 3-year-old girl is back in court — this time for allegedly lying to a judge about having a PhD. Cedric Antoine Britten, 44, of North East, is now being held at the Cecil County Detention Center on $100,000 cash bond, after prosecutors returned to court last week seeking to revoke his release in the high-profile death of 3-year-old Nola Dinkens. Britten had been released on a $75,000 bond and home detention on June 12, over the objections of the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office, which warned he posed a danger to the community …

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by Zak Failla