Fraud scheme preying on elderly nets eight-year sentence

By The Associated Press
May 6, 2021 | 7:19 PM

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for running a fake lottery scheme that scammed more than 100 elderly people out of more than $775,000.

Twenty-six-year-old Keno Romario Brow of Hyattsville was sentenced Thursday after being convicted in March of conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud.

Prosecutors say Brown and two coconspirators defrauded the victims by falsely telling them they had won a lottery or sweepstakes and demanding taxes or other fees before the victims could receive their prizes.

Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration

By Maryland Matters
August 22, 2026 | 8:26 PM

WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.

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