Attorney General James Announces Shutdown of Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma

 

Sackler Family’s Company Dissolved, Replaced by New Public Benefit Corporation Dedicated to Public Health and Ending Opioid Crisis

Under Strict Oversight, New Corporation Will Use Revenue to Fund Opioid Abatement Efforts

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma (Purdue) has shut down and ceased operations as part of a bankruptcy plan secured by Attorney General James, a bipartisan coalition of 54 other attorneys general, and other stakeholders. A new public benefit corporation, Knoa Pharma, LLC (Knoa Pharma), will begin operating in its place today and will be overseen by independent directors and trustees who have no association with Purdue. Knoa Pharma will be entirely owned by the Knoa Foundation, a newly established nonprofit. All members of the Sackler family, who fueled the opioid crisis through their ownership and operation of Purdue, are barred from selling opioids in the United States and will not have any involvement in the new company. Knoa Pharma will manufacture medications, including opioid products, safely and responsibly to address public health needs. It will be subject to strict oversight by an independent monitor and will be barred from lobbying and advertising its opioid products. After operating expenses, Knoa Pharma’s excess revenue will be dispersed to state, local, and tribal governments and to the Knoa Foundation in support of opioid abatement.

“Under the Sacklers’ control, Purdue developed, manufactured, and then misleadingly marketed its deadly opioids, destroying lives and communities across the country,” said Attorney General James. “This company that put profits over people for decades is now shut down forever. In its place, Knoa Pharma will provide resources to communities to combat the opioid crisis. While nothing will ever fully repair the damage done and lives lost to the opioid crisis, ending Purdue’s operations is an important step towards justice.”

The end of Purdue is part of a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family secured by Attorney General James and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general and other parties. In the first payment, Purdue will pay approximately $900 million and the Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion. The Sacklers will then pay $500 million in May of 2027, an additional $500 million in May of 2028, and $400 million in May of 2029. The settlement will deliver funding directly to communities across the country over the next 15 years to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs and ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue. On April 28, Purdue was sentenced in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on criminal charges for its role in fueling the opioid crisis.

Beginning today, Knoa Pharma will take over operations of Purdue’s assets. The company will be overseen by a board of trustees that includes leaders in public health, drug policy, and philanthropy, and a board of directors that includes experts in pharmaceuticals, corporate governance, and compliance. Knoa Pharma will be barred from marketing its opioid products, lobbying, and using opioid sales metrics for compensation by a court-ordered injunction. Former Montana Attorney General and Governor Steve Bullock will continue to serve as an independent monitor of the company, ensuring it complies with the court’s injunction.

Governor Hochul Highlights Improvements to Stop the Revolving Door of Emergency and Inpatient Care During ‘Mental Health Awareness Month’

Bold Investments and Improved Coordination are Connecting Individuals with Community Supports and Services After They Leave Emergency Care

Governor Issues Proclamation; Directs State Buildings and Landmarks Illuminated in Green on May 1 to Raise Awareness and Reduce Stigma

Governor Kathy Hochul today recognized May as Mental Health Awareness Month by highlighting the state’s robust efforts to connect individuals with expanded community-based mental health support to aid their recovery once they are discharged from psychiatric care at hospitals, emergency departments and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs. Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation highlighting programs funded by the roughly $2 billion invested into strengthening the state’s system of care since she launched her landmark mental health initiative in 2023.

“Our bold investments in mental health care are helping to stop the revolving door of care and ensuring that all New Yorkers can access the individualized, person-centered support they can rely on to recover safely within their community,” Governor Hochul said. “During Mental Health Awareness Month, we are highlighting the teams now helping New Yorkers living with mental illness to make these often life-changing connections, the work we are doing to help healthcare providers understand new admission and discharge regulations, and the support they can tap to avoid unnecessary emergency visits.”

New York was ranked first nationally in ‘The State of Mental Health in America,’ a report released by Mental Health America in September that was based on 17 indicators measuring the prevalence of mental illness and access to care. In February, the organization presented Governor Hochul with the 2026 Governor’s Leadership Award, recognizing the ‘significant and sustained investments’ that have strengthened mental health systems across the state’s continuum of care.

Among this work was a concerted effort by the state to ensure New Yorkers receiving behavioral health treatment at hospitals, emergency rooms and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs were properly screened on admission and then provide them connections to services upon discharge. New regulations promulgated by the state Office of Mental Health and Department of Health standardized admission and discharge criteria, requiring facilities to schedule follow-up appointments, screen for suicide risk and coordinate details with care managers before a patient leaves psychiatric care.

In advance of the regulations taking effect in August, OMH created the Office of Hospital Care and Community Transitions to partner with hospitals to help them find gaps in service, share information within the mental health care system, and build stronger relationships among providers. Since being established last year, this new unit has met with 95 article 28 and article 31 hospitals – nearly all the facilities in the state – and partnered with the Health Department to issue comprehensive guidance in January to help them navigate the new admission and discharge regulations.

Under Governor Hochul’s mental health initiative, the state has invested more than $47 million to establish Critical Time Intervention teams, which provide care management services and support to individuals who are at high risk of being readmitted for emergency treatment after discharge. Teams partner with hospitals and collaborate in aftercare planning to support high-needs individuals transitioning from inpatient care back to the community.

There are now more than 30 teams operational statewide, with others under development. These teams are successfully linking individuals who are at high risk of requiring emergency care to needed services. In the first month of receiving CTI services, 83 percent of adults are linked to outpatient mental health services and 73 percent are linked to primary care services after hospitalization.

OMH has also expanded Intensive and Sustained Engagement teams, which use a voluntary, peer-led engagement approach to provide support services for individuals with complex needs who have difficulty connecting with traditional forms of mental health care. There are now five teams providing services in the New York City area, as well as Westchester, Orange, Sullivan, Rockland, Putnam, Monroe, Nassau, and Suffolk counties, with a sixth expected to come online this summer to serve Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer counties.

In addition, the state is now expanding the hospital-based Peer Bridgers program, which uses individuals with lived experience to engage patients receiving behavioral health treatment to help them successfully manage crucial transitions in care and become included within the community of their choosing. OMH now supports peer bridgers at Article 28 hospitals in Rochester, Utica and in Queens, while also providing technical assistance to support this initiative.

In conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month, OMH also posted the latest installment of Recovery Stories, a continuing video series featuring New Yorkers describing in their own words their experiences with mental health issues and their journey to recovery, and a message to New Yorkers from Commissioner Sullivan. Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation outlining some of the many initiatives underway to strengthen the state’s mental health care system and ensure all New Yorkers have access to support.

In addition, Governor Hochul directed that 15 state buildings and landmarks be illuminated in green – the color that has come to symbolize mental health awareness — at dusk tonight, Friday, May 1. This includes:

• 1WTC
• Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge
• Kosciuszko Bridge
• The H. Carl McCall SUNY Building
• State Education Building
• Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
• Empire State Plaza
• State Fairgrounds – Main Gate & Expo Center
• Niagara Falls
• The “Franklin D. Roosevelt” Mid-Hudson Bridge
• Grand Central Terminal - Pershing Square Viaduct
• Albany International Airport Gateway
• Fairport Lift Bridge over the Erie Canal
• Moynihan Train Hall
• Roosevelt Island Lighthouse

 

REMARKS AS PREPARED: MAYOR MAMDANI DELIVERS REMARKS AT AFRICAN AMERICAN CLERGY AND ELECTED OFFICIALS (AACEO) GATHERING

 

Good morning. Happy Friday. Thank you, Reverend Doctor Waterman, for welcoming us at Antioch — and for the wisdom and grace you have shared with your congregation and with Bed-Stuy for more than a decade. Thank you, Dr. Bailey, for bringing us together. 

  

It is lovely to be back at AACEO with you. I have been here before as an Assembly Member, as a candidate for office, and I am so proud to be here today as your mayor. I know that my mayoralty is at times described in the language of firsts. And yet while it may be true, I do so with the humility that it is only possible because of the many other firsts that came before. When I think of those, I think of a great New Yorker — Mayor David Dinkins. Thirty-seven years ago this fall, our city stood on the precipice of history. 

  

New York City was on the verge of electing its first Black mayor. I know that David Dinkins is a hero for many of you. He is for me too. And in moments where it feels lonely being the Democratic Socialist Mayor of the greatest city in the world, I draw comfort from the knowledge that in this, I followed him. But we know Mayor Dinkins’ election was hardly inevitable. Vast forces were organizing to stop his progress — to foster suspicion and division, to undermine the coalitions powering his rise. In that moment, three men — Reverend Doctor Gardener Taylor, Al Vann, and Reverend Herbert Daughtry — came together to bring the city together. 

  

AACEO was created not only to help get David Dinkins elected — but out of a shared belief in New York City. A belief that we are stronger united. A belief in a city that can fulfill its potential. A belief in government’s ability to deliver not for itself, but for working people. Over the 37 years since, our city has changed. Neighborhoods look different. Sports teams play in new stadiums. Coffee costs more. Over just the last 20 of those 37 years, we have watched as more than 200,000 Black New Yorkers have been forced to leave our city — because they can no longer afford life in the city they helped build. And yet, no matter how much has changed, AACEO has remained — a rock for those searching for wisdom, a resource to those it serves, a place where belief not only has a home but where belief expands what is deemed possible. 

  

When I think of your work, I think of what Mayor Dinkins said to the people of this city in 1989 after winning that election. “You,” he said, “voted for your hopes and not your fears.” Hope over fear. It takes belief to make that choice — because make no mistake, it is a choice, and a difficult one at that. I am in a room full of people who make that choice every day. Each morning, often long before the sun has broken the horizon, you wake up and decide to dedicate your energy to organizing and uplifting others. What is that choice if not an expression of hope? When you visit the hospital to hold the hand of a mother weeping for her child stolen by gun violence, when you accompany a frightened immigrant to 26 Federal Plaza, when you counsel a family that can hardly afford the costs of today, let alone those that will come tomorrow — what is that choice if not an expression of hope, an expression of belief in New York City? 

  

Standing before you today, I think of a hymn that echoes so often across our city on Sunday mornings: “I want to walk worthy, my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps Lord, and I’ll do Your blessed will. The world is ever changing, but You are still the same; if You order my steps, I’ll praise Your name.” 

  

Just like all of you, I want to walk worthy. Not just worthy of those who voted for me, those who believe in my politics, those who feel at home in the movement we have built. I want to walk worthy of those who feel alone in a world and a city that is ever changing. Those left behind and betrayed by government. Those who hear gunshots outside their windows and those who cannot afford the bus fare or the rent. I want to walk worthy of every New Yorker — and I know that I cannot do so alone. 

  

It is only by coming together, by believing together, that we can build a city worthy of those who call it home. Since taking office four months ago today, City Hall has sought to do exactly that. We have placed working people at the heart of our work. On day eight of our administration, we secured a historic $1.2 billion-dollar partnership with Governor Hochul to make 3K universal and deliver free childcare for two-year-olds for the first time in our city’s history. Too many families have been forced to reckon with impossible choices as they wonder how they will be able to afford the most joyful moment in their lives — the arrival of a child. When we expanded childcare access, we began in places like Brownsville — because we want these resources to reach those who need it most. We have fought for those New Yorkers to be able to stay in their homes with the creation of a new Office of Deed Theft Prevention — because the promise of dignity and stability that a home accords should not be so easily broken. 

  

Black New Yorkers have had to work so hard to build generational wealth. We will not sit idly by and watch as it is stolen. We have fought for the New Yorkers targeted by the tax lien sale, so often forced out of this city by a predatory system that publishes the names of homeowners behind on their bills and prompts debt collectors to arrive at their doors. We have made the decision to pause the tax lien sale for six months because there are far better and more equitable paths towards stability. 

  

We have strived to use the power that government holds to improve the city that New Yorkers live in. We have paved more than 130,000 potholes, taken down thousands of feet of scaffolding, and will replace more than 6,700 catch basins. And we have worked to keep New Yorkers safe in our city — because you cannot walk worthy if you cannot walk safely. Since taking office, murders have hit record lows. We have taken more than 1,000 guns off our streets. The NYPD and our crisis management system have worked together to put us on pace for the lowest levels of shootings in our history. And yet I know that too many in this room are in mourning — that too many of your congregations sit heavy with grief, that too many of your communities have holes in the shape of young lives cruelly robbed by the scourge of gun violence. 

  

The progress we have achieved is only a reminder of how much more there is to be done — and how the crises of gun violence and mental health demand renewed ambition and commitment. We intend to deliver that with our new Office of Community Safety — and we intend to deliver it by working with each of you. And as we witness federal attacks on the right to the franchise, as those with great power seek to undo the progress won by the titans of the Civil Rights Movement, who marched in the rain, who marched alone, who marched even when set upon by fire hoses and those wielding billy clubs, we will chart a different course. We will ensure that our city remains a place where every New Yorker has a voice — where democracy is strengthened and expanded, not weakened and eroded. I will close with this. 

  

Here today, I feel a great sense of responsibility — the same that I know you feel each day. It is not just the responsibility of leadership. It is not just the responsibility of fulfilling the trust that New Yorkers have placed in each of us. It is the responsibility of walking worthy of those who look to us for guidance, and it is the responsibility of walking worthy of the great New Yorkers who came before — and the visions they held for our city. 

  

One of those men was Reverend Doctor Gardner Taylor. In moments where the path ahead feels daunting, or the obstacles impossible to overcome, I think of a sermon he gave. He said: “One day, the things that plague us will be no more and we shall walk in the glorious freedom of the Sons of God. I look for that day — when sickness and sorrow and pain will be felt and feared no more. I look for that day when men’s dislikes will be behind them. I look for that day when all of God’s children will walk together.” 

  

Let us look for and deliver that day, together. Let us make it easier to believe, together. Let us walk together, my friends — and let us walk worthy of this city we are so fortunate to serve. Thank you. 

  

Developers Land Financing for ‘The 360’ at 350 Grand Concourse in Mott Haven, The Bronx

 

Developers have secured $130 million in construction financing for The 360, a planned 13-story residential building at 350 Grand Concourse in Mott Haven, The Bronx. Designed by S9 Architecture and developed in a joint venture between Shorewood Real Estate Group and Bogopa Enterprises, the 320,000-square-foot structure will yield 304 rental units. The project will also contain community facility space and 47,892 square feet of ground-floor retail that is pre-leased to Food Bazaar. Seventy-six of the residential units will be dedicated to affordable housing for households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. The property is located between East 140th and 144th Streets.

Renderings of The 360 depict a sprawling, bulky massing with stepped setbacks topped with landscaped terraces beginning on the tenth floor. The building will feature a distinctive façade design with a two-story grid of fluted, gold-hued paneling that diminishes in thickness on the upper levels. The rest of the exterior will be clad in dark gray paneling surrounding a grid of recessed rectangular windows.

The ground floor will utilize floor-to-ceiling glass for the grocery store frontage, and a parking garage entrance is shown directly adjacent to the north of the retail space. The residential entrance will sit at the northwest corner, and a landscaped roof deck will cap the structure.

The property was formerly occupied by a gas station, as seen in the above Google Street View image from before its demolition.

PCCP provided the loan in a deal arranged by JLL Capital Markets, with managing director Lauren Kaufman and senior director Nicco Lupo handling the transaction. Additional incentives for the upcoming project include the FRESH certification, which provides zoning incentives for projects with qualifying grocery stores, as well as the brownfield cleanup program, which may offer tax credits and technical oversight for developers.

Residential amenities will include coworking spaces, a fitness center, and a rooftop lounge. A full list has yet to be disclosed.

The nearest subways from the ground-up development are the 2, 4 and 5 trains at the 149th Street–Grand Concourse station to the north.

360 Grand Concourse’s anticipated completion date is slated for 2028.

Permits Filed for 1965 Clinton Avenue in East Tremont, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a nine-story residential building at 1965 Clinton Avenue in East Tremont, The Bronx. Located between East Tremont Avenue and East 178th Street, the lot is closest to the West Farms Square–East Tremont Avenue subway station, served by the 2 and 5 trains. Franc Gjini of Paramount Homes Management is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 85-foot-tall development will yield 32,839 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 53 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 619 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar but no accessory parking.

Jakov Saric of Node Architecture, Engineering, Consulting, PC is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits were filed this month for the two-story structure on the site. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

VCJC News & Notes 5/1/2026

Van Cortlandt Jewish Center

News and Notes

Here's this week's edition of the VCJC News and Notes email. We hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Reminders

1. Shabbos schedule
   
   
   Shabbos information is, as always, available on our website, both in the information sidebar and the events calendar.
   Here are the times you need:  
   Shabbos Candles Friday 5/1/26 @ 7:34 pm
   Shabbos Ends Saturday 5/2/26 @ 8:38 pm

   If you require an aliyah or would like to lead services, read from the torah or haftorah please speak to one of the gabbaim.

   Kiddush this week sponsored by Benzi Panush in honor of the birth and bris of his great nephew

   
   

   Come join us for services and stay to enjoy the kiddush and the company.

   
   

2. About our new kiddushim
   Reminder that kiddush now takes place in the ballroom. There is a greater variety of food, which can be enjoyed while seated at covered tables. Our aim is to offer a more enjoyable and meaningful experience, and to encourage conversation and interaction among attendees. This is an evolving effort. It has received very positive reviews so far; we’d love to have your opinion as well. Please join us for services and kiddush, and let us know what you think!

   
   

3. What works for you?
   Please Help Us Plan for Events
   We have created a survey, Van Cortlandt Jewish Center Community Event Planning Survey, to help us set the direction for our activities.  We’d really appreciate your taking a few minutes to fill it in. Here’s the link: SURVEY
   
   

4. The VCJC Chavurah
   The VCJC Chavurah will be meeting every Tuesday Night at 7:30PM.  All are welcome to join us as we continue to learn Tractate Berachot together.

   No cost to attend and no prior experience is needed.

   If you are interested in learning torah with a group of fellow members of your community, but want more details, contact the VCJC office at 718-884-6105 or info@vcjewishcenter.org, or speak to Stuart Harris or Matthew Hartstein after davening on Shabbat morning.
   
   

5. Shabbos parsha

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Parashat Emor 5786 / פָּרָשַׁת אֱמוֹר

   2 May 2026 / 15 Iyyar 5786

   Parashat Emor is the 31st weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.

   Torah Portion: Leviticus 21:1-24:23

   Emor (“Say”) opens with laws regulating priestly behavior, working in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), and consuming sacrifices and priestly food. It describes the biblical holidays of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, and ends with a story about a blasphemer and his punishment. [1]

   
   

6. Lag B’Omer is May 5

   
   

   One reason given for the holiday is as the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Modern Jewish tradition links the holiday to the Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Roman Empire (132-135 CE). In Israel, it is celebrated as a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit.
   

7. Mazal Tov!
   

   The VCJC wishes a heartfelt Mazal Tov to Benzi Panush and the entire Panush family on the birth of a grand nephew.
   

8. VCJC is now active on social media - follow us!
   We have launched both a Facebook page and an Instagram page.  Both have a nice amount of content already and we are planning both regular posts and a greater variety going forward.  Please take a look and follow us!

   
   

9. You can do it! Give VCJC a boost!  Leave a (positive) review for us on Google
   -->You can do this!  We know you can! YES, YOU!

   The VCJC is working to build and grow for its next century in Van Cortlandt Village.  If you have had a good experience with us or recognize our value to the community, please consider telling the world about it.  Go to our Google Business Profile and leave a review.  Thanks!  

Please help with information about buildings

As part of rebuilding the membership and congregation, the Board of Trustees would like your help. There are a lot of either new or renovated buildings being put up in our catchment area. We would like to seek the cooperation of the owners / developers of those properties in publicizing these opportunities to live near an orthodox synagogue.  If you are aware of any of these buildings, please provide what information you can about them.  This could include the address, any contact information that might be posted, and any information about the building itself (size, type, etc.). Additionally, if you are aware of vacancies in existing buildings or of houses for sale, please let us know about that as well.

Our mailing address is:
Van Cortlandt Jewish Center
3880 Sedgwick Ave

Bronx, NY 10463 

Leading Dark Web Marketplace Creator and Operator Extradited from Colombia to the United States

 

A German national living in Colombia was extradited to the United States on charges that he owned and operated “The Versus Project,” an online dark web marketplace that enabled its over 380,000 registered users to buy and sell illegal goods.

The Versus Project, also known as Versus, was a leading dark web marketplace that enabled users to buy and sell illegal goods, including heroin and other illicit drugs, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit currency, malware, and hacking tools. Versus operated from about November 2019 through about May 2022. During that time, Versus had over 380,000 registered users, offered over 32,000 product listings and facilitated over 300,000 completed orders, resulting in millions of dollars’ worth of transactions.

According to court documents, Patrick Schmitz, 37, of Taganga, Colombia, was a cofounder of Versus and handled the day-to-day management, such as responding to user tickets for assistance with issues on the platform, reviewing vendor applications, and resolving disputes between vendors and customers. Over time, Schmitz recruited and supervised staff who worked on Versus and reported to him. Schmitz also promoted Versus on the dark web, recruited vendors, and developed strategies to monetize Versus. Schmitz received a portion of the profits generated and his virtual currency wallets transacted in cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars.

“This extradition demonstrates the strength of the Justice Department’s international partnerships, and our ability to identify dark web criminals running platforms engaging in such widespread and varied illegal conduct,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Versus Project allowed thousands of criminals to endanger the American people with heroin, illegal drugs, and tools for fraud and hacking. Although Versus hid on the dark web, this announcement demonstrates that Versus was not beyond the reach of the Justice Department and its international partners. Illegal online criminal marketplaces, no matter where they are located, will be targeted and brought down.”

“The indictment makes clear that law enforcement will shine a bright light on criminal conduct on the dark web,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer for the District of New Jersey. “We will investigate and prosecute those who seek to use the anonymity of the dark web to profit from the sale of illegal goods. No matter how many monikers a user hides behind or where in the world they are, we will use all legal means to find them and bring them to justice.”

“HSI Newark’s unwavering efforts led to the identification, arrest, and extradition of a key international cybercriminal, significantly disrupting a major illicit online marketplace,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Field Office. “This action underscores the dedication of HSI and our partners to combating cyber-enabled crime and ensuring individuals who exploit the internet for illegal activities are held accountable.”

Versus was modeled after an e-commerce website. Users could choose a username and password to create a free account to access Versus. Users could then search for products by keyword or scroll through listings by category. The categories of products on Versus included “drugs,” “fraud,” “digital items,” “services,” and “software & malware.”

Versus required its users to transact in digital currencies, including Bitcoin and Monero, and did not allow for transactions in fiat currencies. Versus and its users were therefore able to bypass traditional financial systems, which collect information about their customers and maintain anti-money laundering and fraud programs. Versus generated revenue through multiple methods, including by keeping a percentage of each completed transaction as a commission and vendors were required to pay penalties if they were found to have violated Versus’ rules.

In June 2024, Schmitz was arrested in Colombia pursuant to a U.S. provisional arrest request. On April 29, Schmitz was extradited to the United States was arraigned, and was ordered detained pending trial.

Schmitz is charged with one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison; one count of narcotics conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison; one count of conspiracy to import controlled substances, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; one count of distribution of controlled substances by means of the internet, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; one count of use of a communications facility, which carries a maximum penalty of 4 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to unlawfully transfer an identification document, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison; and one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.

The investigation was led by HSI Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy. Valuable support was provided by the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeff Berkebile, and the IRS- Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan. The Justice Department’s Office of the Judicial Attache in Bogota, Colombia, and the Policía Nacional de Colombia provided valuable assistance concerning Schmitz’s provisional arrest and extradition. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the United States Marshals Service also provided valuable assistance in securing Schmitz’s arrest and extradition.

Trial Attorneys Jorge Gonzalez and Stefanie Schwartz of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the Cybercrime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting this case.

This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This is also the latest in the Justice Department’s ongoing JCODE efforts (Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement) to address the growing number of illicit vendors operating on the darknet providing large quantities of harmful substances to thousands of people across the United States. The Justice Department established the FBI-led JCODE team to lead and coordinate government efforts to detect, disrupt and dismantle major criminal enterprises reliant on the darknet for trafficking opioids and other illicit narcotics, along with identifying and dismantling their supply chains.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for Murder

 

Bryan Rafael Gomez is wanted in the Dominican Republic for murder and has been arrested in the U.S. for assault and battery

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the following statement after an activist judge appointed by Joe Biden released a violent criminal illegal alien who is wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic.

On January 24, 2023, the Coordination of the Courts of Instruction of the National District of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a criminal arrest warrant for Bryan Rafael Gomez for homicide.

Bryan Rafael Gomez

On April 4, 2026, the Worcester Police Department arrested Gomez, a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic, for assault and battery. The detainer was honored, and after he was released on $500 bail, ICE arrested Gomez.

On April 28, 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose–who was appointed in the final days of the Biden administration–ordered Gomez’s release.

“Bryan Rafael Gomez is a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with an international warrant for homicide,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “An activist judge appointed by Joe Biden released this wanted murderer back into American communities. This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.”

Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona. He was then released by the Biden administration.