Alleged Russian Ransomware Mastermind Extradited From South Korea To Maryland
A Russian national accused of running a global ransomware operation that extorted more than $16 million from victims worldwide has been extradited from South Korea to Maryland to face federal charges, authorities announced.
Evgenii Ptitsyn, 42, is charged with operating and administering the sale, distribution, and deployment of the notorious Phobos ransomware, which targeted over 1,000 public and private organizations globally, including schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure.
Ptitsyn made his first appearance in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland earlier this …
Sex Workers Robbed, Sexually Assaulted By Trio At Gunpoint In Jersey City: Prosecutor
Three men were arrested and charged on Friday, Sept. 20 with robbing and sexually assaulting two sex workers in Jersey City on Wednesday, Sept. 11, authorities said.
The two women agreed to meet three men, Mohamed Mohamed, 24, Abdalla Abdelsalam Elsayed, 20, and Mahmoud Hegazi, 18, all Jersey City residents, at an apartment on Bergen Avenue in exchange for sex for money, according to a criminal complaint.
After having sex with the men, one of the men pulled out a handgun, held it to one of the women and demanded money. The gun was held as she spoke on a phone call, forcing her to …
Essex County Correctional Officer Took Bribes To Smuggle Contraband To Inmates: Feds
A 36-year-old Jersey City resident and former Essex County correctional officer admitted on Wednesday, July 17, to accepting $14,000 in bribes to smuggle in tobacco and a cell phone to inmates, authorities said.
In January 2023, Efrin Wade, who worked at the jail for three years, began communicating with an individual whom he believed was seeking to smuggle in contraband to sell to other inmates, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.
The individual was actually an undercover FBI agent, Sellinger said. Wade agreed to smuggle in tobacco and cell phones, prohibited for inmates at the facil…
'Barbaric Attack': 2 Men Who Burned Victim During Springfield Home Invasion Sentenced
Two men found guilty of torturing and permanently disfiguring a Springfield man during a 2019 home invasion were sentenced to decades in prison on Thursday, June 27, authorities said.
Paul Gayle, 30, and Malik Erskine, 24, both of Springfield, were found guilty of multiple violent felonies in the "barbaric attack," Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni. Markendall Johnson, now 21, who was charged as a youthful offender because of his age on the day of the robbery, was also convicted in the case.
Gayle was sentenced to 35 to 40 years in state prison, and a judge gave …
Duo Extorts Thousands From Hudson Valley Business Owner Using Threats Of Libel, DA Says
Two Hudson Valley residents are accused of extorting a business owner out of thousands of dollars.
Orange County residents Ally Thueson, age 32, and Elizabeth Sloanhoffer, age 33, both of Montgomery, were arrested by the county’s White Collar Crime Task Force on Tuesday, June 4, on suspicion of grand larceny and coercion.
According to prosecutors, Thueson and Sloanhoffer threatened to post false statements about Thueson’s employer online unless they were paid $9,000. The employer reportedly paid the money to avoid harm to their business.
Both defendants were arraigned in the Village o…
