Message from U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes
As we move through 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting the public, upholding the rule of law, and strengthening partnerships across federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The first months of this year have brought significant enforcement actions and meaningful progress in several priority areas, including violent crime reduction, transnational crime enforcement, government agency fraud, national security, and exploitation of our most vulnerable community members.
One of the most pressing public safety challenges facing communities nationwide and in Maryland continues to be the threat posed by transnational criminal organizations involved in violent gang activity, narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses, and money laundering. Throughout Maryland, our Office continues to work closely with our federal agencies, state prosecutors, and state and local police departments to address violent crime and dismantle criminal organizations impacting our communities. Coordinated enforcement initiatives have targeted narcotics trafficking organizations, illegal firearms possession, repeat violent offenders, and gang-related activity contributing to crime in our neighborhoods.
The Office also remains focused on financial crimes and government program fraud. Prosecutors and investigators are pursuing cases involving fraudulent billing schemes, pandemic-related fraud, identity theft, and misuse of government programs affecting Maryland taxpayers. These efforts seek to protect public resources and preserve confidence in essential institutions.
Likewise, in 2026, protecting Maryland residents and institutions from national security threats remains central to our Office’s mission. Given Maryland’s unique concentration of federal agencies, defense contractors, research institutions, and military installations, safeguarding national security remains a critical priority.
Our work also continues to focus on protecting our most vulnerable victims, including our children and the elderly. This Office remains committed to pursuing offenders aggressively while supporting victims and survivors throughout the judicial process.
The work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not possible without the dedication of our Assistant United States Attorneys, professional staff, federal agents, and our many law enforcement and community partners across Maryland. I look forward to our continued efforts as we progress through 2026.
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Maryland U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Foreign Operators and Technical Superintendent of M/V Dali Related to Key Bridge Disaster
Photo By Nicholas Rodgers, Department of Justice
In the early hours of a late-March morning, several vehicles finish crossing a major State of Maryland bridge. Less than a minute later, a 900-foot container vessel, traveling the Patapsco River below, struck the bridge, which totally destroyed the structure and changed lives forever.
On March 26, 2024, the Motor Vessel Dali, registered in Singapore, toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge, tragically killing six construction workers. The disaster not only destroyed lives, but also halted commerce and deeply impacted Marylanders.
Now after a lengthy investigation, federal law enforcement is seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the tragedy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently hosted a press conference with the Environment and Natural Resources Division; FBI Baltimore Field Office; Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Environmental Protection Agency – Criminal Investigation Division to announce the charges.
Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, an Indian national who worked for both companies as the Technical Superintendent for the Dali, are charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements. The two Synergy corporations are also charged with misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and Refuse Act for the discharge of pollutants into the Patapsco River, including shipping containers and their contents, oil, and the bridge itself.
According to the indictment, the Dali lost power twice in a four-minute span, as it navigated out to sea from the Port of Baltimore, causing it to crash into the Key Bridge. Allegedly, the Dali crashed due to the defendants’ unlawful practices.
Hundreds Arrested In Joint Federal-State Targeted Baltimore Criminal Enforcement Operation
At the beginning of the year, dozens of local violent criminals engaged in illegal activities as if it was business as usual. But little did they know, behind the scenes, prosecutors within the U.S. Attorney’s Office were collaborating with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to ensure these individuals are brought to justice.
In late January 2026, during an 11-day stretch, law enforcement arrested more than 200 violent fugitives and individuals affiliated with organized criminal activity throughout the Baltimore area.
The State’s Attorney for Baltimore City; U.S. Marshal for the District of Maryland; FBI – Baltimore Field Office; Drug Enforcement Administration – Washington Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations – Maryland; U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Washington Division; Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor; and Baltimore Police Department partnered to bring federal and state charges against numerous individuals.
Through this operation, authorities carried out various law enforcement actions, including executing search-and-seizure warrants, in connection with efforts to fight violent crime and drug-trafficking in Baltimore City.
This multi-jurisdictional law-enforcement effort resulted in several federal indictments in connection with drug trafficking and firearm offenses. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also sought charges against more than a dozen others for unrelated drug and firearm offenses, along with a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act Conspiracy in connection with MS-13 affiliated crimes.
U.S. Attorney's Office Landing Hefty Sentences for Child Sexual Exploitation Violators
 No matter where child sexual abuse occurs, if there’s local ties, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland is committed to holding violators accountable.
In February 2026, the Office secured hefty sentences, including for life, against individuals who sexually abused minors.
Fode Sitafa Mara, 41, of Takoma Park, Maryland, received a federal life sentence for forcibly sexually assaulting two minor girls in Burkina Faso, in 2022 and 2023. Mara, a U.S. citizen, was an employee at the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at the time of his offenses. In October 2025, after a two-week trial, a federal jury convicted Mara of the charges after he took advantage of minor victims living in abject poverty.
Chase William Mulligan, 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, received a 50-year federal-prison term, for coercing at least 108 girls — ranging from ages 5-17 — to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves. The charges are in connection with a scheme in which he met young girls through social media and internet chat rooms and eventually “sextorted” them. He convinced minors living in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Philippines, Australia, and United Kingdom to produce and send him sexually explicit images. Mulligan pled guilty to the charges in May 2025.
Ryan Christopher Hall, 51, of Woodstock, Maryland, a former Harford County Sheriff’s Office detective, received a 36-year federal-prison term for sexually exploiting a child and possessing child sexual abuse material. According to court documents, before May 2017, Hall, who served as a detective for almost 30 years, sexually abused two minor children for at least three years. Hall pled guilty to these charges in December 2025.
Additionally, Anika Bywater, 29, formerly of Gonzalez, Texas, received a 25-year federal-prison sentence for conspiracy to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. According to court documents, and information provided at the sentencing hearing, while living in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, Bywater and another person created two separate videos of themselves sexually abusing a young child. In December 2025, Bywater pled guilty to these charges.
These cases are part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
Law Enforcement Remains Committed to Enforcing Immigration Laws Despite Attempted Assaults
 Despite multiple dangerous encounters with illegal aliens during traffic stops, law enforcement officials remain focused on enforcing immigration laws.
Following these incidents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted three illegal aliens for assaulting and resisting law enforcement in the District of Maryland.
Santos Alvarenga-Rodriguez, 47, is charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers in Howard County, Maryland. According to court documents, law enforcement gave Alvarenga-Rodriguez verbal commands to exit his vehicle, but he refused, leading to a physical altercation that caused injuries to officers.
On February 27, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ajmel A. Quereshi sentenced Cristian Rivas-Bonilla, 27, a Salvadorian citizen, to time served for an incident stemming from officers’ attempt to execute a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge. Rivas-Bonilla received the sentence after he pled guilty to resisting, opposing, impeding, and interfering with federal law enforcement officers. In November 2025, when law enforcement traveled to Camp Springs, Maryland, to find Rivas-Bonilla, he tried to evade HSI agents, taking them on a high-speed car chase.
Additionally, on April 27, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Austin sentenced Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, 30, to time served — totaling 103 days — after he pled guilty to using his van to ram government vehicles while attempting to escape immigration officers.
The Office also recently prosecuted several other individuals unlawfully present in the United States in connection with the Department of Justice’s Operation Take Back America.
Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the DOJ to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), while protecting 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 and Project Safe Neighborhood.
Several Honored for Excellence in Service
Hometown Hero Award recipient, Detective Sergeant James “Jaime” Bradley (center), with U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason D. Medinger at the 2026 USAO Awards.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently honored 19 staff members, eight law enforcement officers, and one civilian, for their contributions to upholding the Office’s mission.
On May 7, the Office hosted its annual awards ceremony at the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse where U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes also introduced 19 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys, 10 Special Assistant United States Attorneys, and 17 other staff who joined the office since the beginning of 2025.
Hayes announced the Employee of the Year, Awards for Excellence, Hometown Hero, and more.
U.S. Attorney's Office Highlights Several Prosecutions in Connection With Fight Against Elder Fraud
 Did you know between 2024 and 2025, older adults lost more than $2 billion to targeted fraud schemes, including investment, tech support, and romance scams?
Financial scams and abuse targeting older people unfortunately happen more than one might think.
One of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s key priorities is combatting elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Elder abuse is an intentional or negligent act by any person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to an older adult.
On April 20, U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Levin joined federal, state, and community partners to help kick off PROTECT Week. U.S. Attorney Hayes spoke to attendees about how the U.S. Attorney’s Office is attacking this worldwide problem and the importance of reporting potential incidents.
PROTECT Week is an annual initiative anchored around World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. During PROTECT Week, partners hosted free webinars, on-site workshops, and shred events to raise awareness about how to spot and combat elder abuse.
A Day in the Life:
Violent & Organized Crime Section
 From investigating criminal activity, to trying cases, to providing community outreach, to working with victims and their families – there’s never a dull moment for the staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is playing a major role in the continued sharp declines in violent crime statewide.
USAO-MD leverages its force multiplier, state-funded Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys (SAUSA), to help with the fight against violent crime.
Want to know what a SAUSA in the Violent & Organized Crime Section does?
Watch A Day in the Life: Violent and Organized Crime Section, featuring SAUSA Kathleen Godwin, to find out!
U.S. Attorney Joins C4 and Bryan Nehman Show
 U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes appeared on the C4 and Bryan Nehman Show on WBAL News Radio earlier this spring.
The U.S. Attorney discussed the Office’s role in teaming with its law enforcement partners to address priorities such as combatting violent crime, drug trafficking, child sex exploitation, and national security threats.
She also talked about the Office’s role in taking down MS-13 cliques.
We're Hiring!
 Do you want to work for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland?
We're looking to hire a Criminal AUSA!
Apply today – the posting closes on June 9!
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