Month: May 2026

Federal officials announced charges Thursday against 15 people accused of orchestrating massive Medicaid fraud schemes in Minnesota, describing the investigation as one of the largest healthcare fraud crackdowns the state has ever seen. Officials did not publicly identify all defendants or detail every charge during the announcement, though they said one suspect, Muhammad Omar, remains at large.

Authorities noted the pace and scale of the investigation as “unprecedented,” with the DOJ stating it recently created a national fraud enforcement division that has already launched hundreds of fraud-related actions nationwide since April. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Minnesota investigation is only the beginning, warning that additional enforcement actions are expected across the country.

At a news conference in downtown Minneapolis, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined federal prosecutors and law enforcement leaders to reveal allegations involving roughly $90 million in taxpayer losses across seven state-run Medicaid programs. The programs were intended to support vulnerable groups, including children with autism, people with disabilities, homeless residents and low-income families. Kennedy said officials are determined to “protect vulnerable children and restore integrity to the American health care system.”

According to prosecutors, the defendants repeatedly billed the government for services that either were never delivered or were exaggerated, then used the proceeds to fund luxury lifestyles that included expensive homes, jewelry and high-end vehicles. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said disabled and vulnerable individuals were essentially exploited for profit, with suspects allegedly treating public assistance programs “as their personal piggy bank.”

One case involved a Medicaid program designed to help disabled adults live independently; prosecutors said one recipient who was supposed to receive constant care instead received no assistance and later died. Another investigation centered on Minnesota’s autism services program. Authorities allege two suspects paid kickbacks to families to bring children in for autism diagnoses regardless of medical necessity, then billed Medicaid for treatment services that were never provided. McDonald said spending tied to the autism program surged from about $600,000 several years ago to nearly $400 million today, which investigators believe was fueled heavily by fraud. Kennedy called that case “the largest autism fraud bust in American history.”

Federal officials also highlighted concerns over Minnesota’s housing stabilization program, originally created to help homeless residents secure long-term housing. Prosecutors said the program’s costs exploded from an estimated $2.5 million annually in 2020 to more than $104 million by 2024. McDonald claimed one related program eventually shut down after funds were depleted.

The announcement came the same day a federal judge sentenced Aimee Bock to more than 41 years in prison for her role in the massive ‘Feeding Our Future’ pandemic fraud scheme, which prosecutors said diverted hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In a narrowly divided 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Alabama’s effort to reinstate the death sentence of Joseph Clifton Smith, after deciding not to settle a broader dispute over how IQ scores should be evaluated in death penalty cases.

The 55-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of Durk Van Dam with a hammer during a robbery in Mobile County, Alabama. Prosecutors said Smith stole the victim’s boots, tools, and $140 before leaving his body in a wooded area.

A federal judge had overturned Smith’s death sentence in 2021, describing the matter as a “close case.” The judge also pointed to evidence of long-standing developmental and adaptive impairments, including childhood abuse, academic struggles, and a diagnosis in middle school that classified him as having mild intellectual disability. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld that ruling.

Alabam’s case centered on whether Smith is intellectually disabled, which would make him ineligible for execution under the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Atkins v. Virginia. Smith underwent five IQ tests over the years, with four scores landing in the low-to-mid 70s. Although Alabama argued none of the scores fell below 70, lower courts concluded that the margin of error on his lowest result — a 72 — could place his actual IQ under that threshold.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed Alabama’s appeal in an unsigned opinion, saying the case had been “improvidently granted,” meaning the justices decided they should not have agreed to hear it. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote separately to explain that the court was not the right venue to resolve the broader legal question about weighing multiple IQ scores because the issue had not been fully addressed in lower courts.

“There is no reason for this Court to leapfrog the experts, state courts and federal lower courts to provide conclusive guidance at this level of detail in the first instance,” Sotomayor wrote. “Thus, for the reasons given above, the Court is correct today to dismiss this case as improvidently granted.”

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Thomas argued the court was effectively rewarding Smith’s attempts to prove he lacked the intellectual capacity to face execution. Alito criticized the majority for leaving unresolved what he called a major legal issue in death penalty cases. “Instead, the Court shies away from its obligation to provide workable rules for capital cases,” Alito wrote. “In doing so, the Court disservices its own death penalty jurisprudence, States’ criminal-justice systems, lower courts and victims of horrific murders.”

Smith’s attorney, Kacey Keeton, said the ruling means her client will be removed from death row and resentenced in state court. “Joseph Smith has spent decades on death row while courts examined whether the Constitution protects him. Today, it does,” Keeton said.

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Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and five others have been indicted in the United States over the 1996 downing of two civilian aircrafts operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, an attack that killed four Cuban Americans.

The charges, announced Wednesday by the Justice Department, accuse the 94-year-old former Cuban president and longtime defense chief of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, murder, and destruction of aircraft. Castro, the younger brother of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, served as Cuba’s president from 2008 to 2018 and remained head of the Communist Party until 2021.

The indictment was unveiled in Miami during a press conference held at Freedom Tower, a landmark closely tied to the Cuban American community. The announcement came on May 20, recognized by many Cubans as Cuban Independence Day, and drew cheers from attendees.

The case centers on the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown of two small Cessna planes flying missions for Brothers to the Rescue, an organization founded by Cuban exile pilot José Basulto. The group searched for Cubans attempting to flee the island by raft between Cuba and Florida. According to U.S. officials and international investigators, the aircraft were destroyed by a Cuban MiG-29 fighter jet while flying in international airspace. The four victims — Armando Alejandre, Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña and Pablo Morales — included three U.S. citizens and one legal permanent resident. The incident triggered widespread international condemnation at the time. Then-President Bill Clinton denounced the attack “in the strongest possible terms,” while Congress responded by tightening sanctions on Cuba.

Investigations by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded that Cuban authorities failed to follow standard interception procedures before opening fire. Cuba has long denied wrongdoing, insisting the planes had entered Cuban airspace and accusing the group of provocative actions, including leaflet drops over the island.

Whether Castro will ever face trial remains uncertain because Cuba does not extradite its citizens to the United States. Still, the indictment represents another escalation in tensions between Washington and Havana under the administration of Donald Trump. In recent months, the White House has increased pressure on Cuba through sanctions and threats aimed at forcing political and economic reforms. The administration also moved to cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island after the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, contributing to worsening fuel shortages and widespread blackouts across Cuba.

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Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 attack have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the Trump administration’s newly created $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” arguing the program could financially benefit rioters involved in the assault.

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges filed the case in Washington, D.C., claiming the fund is unlawful and unconstitutional. The officers say the program amounts to a taxpayer-backed payout system that could reward people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The Justice Department announced the fund earlier this week as part of a settlement tied to a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization over leaked tax records. Under the agreement, the administration dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for creation of the compensation fund.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the program would establish a process for individuals who believe they were unfairly targeted by the government to seek compensation. A five-member commission selected by Blanche will decide who receives payments, though officials have not released details about eligibility requirements or payout limits. Blanche stated that Jan. 6 defendants would be permitted to apply but stressed that approval would not be automatic. Still, Dunn and Hodges argue the fund was clearly designed with Capitol rioters and groups such as the Proud Boys in mind.

Their lawsuit claims the fund sends a dangerous message that people who committed violence in Trump’s name are now being rewarded instead of punished. The officers also argue the program increases risks to their safety, noting they have faced ongoing harassment and death threats since publicly speaking about the attack and their injuries. The complaint further alleges the fund violates constitutional protections, including the 14th Amendment’s restriction against using federal money to support insurrection or rebellion.

Attorney Brendan Ballou, a former federal prosecutor who handled Jan. 6 cases and now represents the officers through the Public Integrity Project, called the fund “a corrupt sham” and warned it could help finance extremist groups and political violence.

More than 140 officers were injured during the Capitol attack, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the building in an effort to block certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Roughly 1,500 people were later charged in connection with the riot, though many received pardons after Trump returned to office.

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