Justice Department backs Michigan private schools in virus challenge
KALAMAZOO, Mich. โ The U.S. Justice Department said Friday itโs on the side of Michigan faith-based schools that are challenging the stateโs ban on in-person classes in high schools. The department's Civil Rights Division filed an argument in favor of three Catholic high schools and the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools. โThe state has failed to make any provision for consideration of the religious need of plaintiffs for in-person religious education which they sincerely believe cannot be done remotely,โ the Justice Department said. A three-week ban on in-person classes at high schools and colleges was extended this week through Dec. 20. Indoor restaurant dining is also prohibited, along with high school sports, group fitness classes and trips to theaters and casinos.
Rhode Island businessmen charged for stimulus fraud amid coronavirus pandemic
WASHINGTON โ The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that two men from Rhode Island have been charged with fraudulently seeking SBA Paycheck Protection Loans amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Two businessmen -- David A. Staveley, aka Kurt D. Sanborn, 52, and David Butziger, 51 -- from Warwick, Rhode Island have been charged for conspiring to unlawfully obtain forgivable loans under the CARES Act for non-existent businesses. The charges follow after Staveley allegedly requested more than $438,500 in loans for dozens of employees at three restaurants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, officials said. โTens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs and have had their lives thrown into chaos because of the coronavirus pandemic. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Lawrence Atkinson of the Criminal Divisionโs Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker for the District of Rhode Island.
Feds: New Jersey man scouted US for potential Hezbollah attacks
Alexei Saab, a 42-year-old Lebanon native and naturalized US citizen, was charged in an indictment Thursday with nine offenses, which include providing material support to Hezbollah, the US Justice Department said. Hezbollah had given him extensive training in Lebanon, and made him a member of its wing that plans terror attacks outside of Lebanon, the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), the Justice Department says. While he was in Lebanon in 2003, a Hezbollah handler asked him to prepare a detailed guide to New York City. During an investigation, the FBI found photographs of these locations in Saab's electronic devices, the Justice Department says. US counterterrorism officials have not publicly released estimates of how many Hezbollah members are suspected of being in the country.
Law enforcement seize enough fentanyl to kill 14M people
The alleged drug trafficking ring is an example of fentanyl coming to the US from China, said US Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia. At least one suspect ordered fentanyl from a vendor in Shanghai that was successfully mailed through US Postal Service to Newport News, Virginia, according to the indictment. The alleged suspects range in age from 19 to 63 years old. More than 120 law enforcement officers from 30 law enforcement agencies in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas executed the three-day targeted arrest operation dubbed Operation Cookout. The suspects attempted to thwart law enforcement surveillance using Facebook, and encrypted communications apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp, according to the indictment.