Charlotte man sentenced to 10 years for threatening postal workers
A 39-year-old Charlotte man was sentenced to prison after assaulting two U.S. Postal Service mail carriers in 2023 because he thought a worker stole an item from his package, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
PAST COVERAGE: Charlotte man accused of attacking postal workers
On June 1, 2023, Dujuan Marquise McNeil used his vehicle to block a mail truck and use his guns to threaten a postal worker was inside, prosecutors said.
On that same day, McNeil went to a local post office to complain about the alleged theft and clerks there said he would kill the carrier responsible for it.
Detectives learned McNeil had multiple prior criminal convictions, including possession of a firearm by a felon, discharge of a weapon into occupied property, and domestic violence protective order violation, and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
On June 14, 2023, federal agents seized multiple firearms from McNeil's home while executing a search warrant.
They found:
Three 9mm semi-automatic pistols, one with an extended magazine
A Polymer 80 9mm semi-automatic pistol (ghost gun) with an extended magazine
An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle
Ammunition magazines and nearly 300 rounds.
On Oct. 30, 2024, McNeil pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
'My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those that threaten or harm our postal workers,' said Ferguson in a news release. 'Postal workers are hard-working Americans that are vital to our way of life and essential to our system of commerce.'
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.
VIDEO: Charlotte postal workers robbed in crime spree that started in Greensboro, police say
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New details emerge in Officer Krystal Rivera's mistaken fatal shooting by her partner as man charged in connection with case is ordered detained
Moments before her death Thursday night, Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera and her partner were rushing after a person they'd just attempted to stop on suspicion of having a weapon when that suspect ran into an apartment building located at 8210 S. Drexel Blvd., prosecutors said Sunday. Inside one of the building's apartments, Assistant State's Attorney Joell Bisceliga said Rivera and her partner found Adrian Rucker, 25, standing behind a sofa with an AR-style pistol. The person they'd originally been chasing jumped over a couch and went down a hallway inside the apartment, Bisceglia said, while Rucker allegedly pointed the gun at Rivera's partner, who was standing in the doorway. Rivera's partner fired, Bisceglia said, but mistakenly hit Rivera as she pursued the original suspect. She died of a single gunshot wound to the back, the first Chicago police officer to die on-duty this year. Authorities on Saturday charged Rucker with armed violence, use of a firearm without a firearm owner's identification card, possession of a fake ID and drug possession. Cook County Judge Shauna Boliker on Sunday ordered Rucker, a Freeport resident with six previously issued arrest warrants, held pending trial. Rucker; a 26-year-old woman from Freeport; and the original suspect the officers had been chasing all got out of the apartment moments after the shooting, Bisceglia said. Rucker and the woman were both arrested about 20 minutes later, in the gated yard of a building at 8215 S. Maryland Ave. Rucker appeared in court wearing a blue button-up shirt with his hands cuffed behind his back while family members of Rivera sat huddled together in one of the first rows in Courtroom 100, marked 'police officers only.' Dozens of other uniformed beat officers, sergeants and department members crowded into the rows behind them. Bisceglia said he appeared pointing the rifle both on Rivera's partner's body-worn camera and on the apartment's internal surveillance camera, and that the officer who accidentally shot Rivera identified him in a photo array as the person who had pointed the rifle at him. The first suspect 'made good on his escape,' Bisceglia said. A Police Department representative declined to comment on whether that person had since been arrested, only saying that detectives continued to investigate the case. Officers searching the apartment found three guns, several magazines and several rounds of ammunition in the apartment, court records show. Those weapons included an AR-style pistol with an empty 60-round drum magazine, a Glock handgun and a black and tan AR-style pistol, Bisceglia said. Police also found a scale and numerous containers of suspected crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana, Bisceglia said. An open safe in the apartment held suspected heroin, she said, and about 20 fake ID cards that showed Rucker's picture from different states, including California and Ohio, were found in a kitchen cabinet. Authorities had previously issued six arrest warrants for Rucker. According to police sources, those warrants are for criminal damage to property, theft under $500, and two alleged instances of domestic battery, all out of Stephenson County in northwestern Illinois. He also had a warrant for aggravated identity theft out of northwest suburban Rolling Meadows and another for possession of fake identification out of Winnebago County, court records show. The woman had one active warrant, according to police sources. According to Cook County Court records, Rucker was first arrested in April 2024 for alleged aggravated identity theft in Rolling Meadows. He was released pending trial, records show, but failed to appear for a June court date and Judge Ellen Beth Mandeltort issued an arrest warrant in July 2024. Assistant Public Defender Joseph Stachler pointed out that the court had not yet received the body-worn camera footage or surveillance tape that anchored much of the state's attorney's proffer, and asked that Rucker be released pending trial to live with his mother and two brothers. Boliker ordered him held, citing his past criminal convictions for domestic violence, disorderly conduct and battery as well as past failures to appear for court. Rucker's next appearance is set for Thursday. The woman who was arrested with Rucker has not been charged with anything related to Rivera's death, but appeared in Cook County bond court Saturday regarding her arrest warrant out of Stephenson County, court records show. Her next court date is scheduled for Thursday. Rivera's death brought a wave of support messages from city leaders last week. Funeral information for her had not been released Sunday. ____
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Chinese hackers and user lapses turn smartphones into a ‘mobile security crisis'
Foreign hackers have increasingly identified smartphones, other mobile devices, and the apps they use as a weak link in US cyberdefenses. Groups linked to China's military and intelligence service have targeted the smartphones of prominent Americans and burrowed deep into telecommunication networks, according to national security and tech experts. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It shows how vulnerable mobile devices and apps are and the risk that security failures could expose sensitive information or leave American interests open to cyberattack, those experts say. Advertisement 'The world is in a mobile security crisis right now,' said Rocky Cole, a former cybersecurity specialist at the National Security Agency and Google and now chief operations officer at iVerify. 'No one is watching the phones.' US authorities warned in December of a sprawling Chinese hacking campaign designed to gain access to the texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. 'They were able to listen in on phone calls in real-time and able to read text messages,' said Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the senior Democrat on the Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, created to study the geopolitical threat from China. Advertisement Chinese hackers also sought access to phones used by Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance during the 2024 campaign. The Chinese government has denied allegations of cyberespionage, and accused the U.S. of mounting its own cyberoperations. It says America cites national security as an excuse to issue sanctions against Chinese organizations and keep Chinese technology companies from the global market. 'The U.S. has long been using all kinds of despicable methods to steal other countries' secrets,' Lin Jian, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said at a recent press conference in response to questions about a CIA push to recruit Chinese informants. US intelligence officials have said China poses a significant, persistent threat to US economic and political interests, and it has harnessed the tools of digital conflict: online propaganda and disinformation, artificial intelligence and cyber surveillance and espionage designed to deliver a significant advantage in any military conflict. Mobile networks are a top concern. The U.S. and many of its closest allies have banned Chinese telecom companies from their networks. Other countries, including Germany, are phasing out Chinese involvement because of security concerns. But Chinese tech firms remain a big part of the systems in many nations, giving state-controlled companies a global footprint they could exploit for cyberattacks, experts say. Chinese telecom firms still maintain some routing and cloud storage systems in the U.S. — a growing concern to lawmakers. 'The American people deserve to know if Beijing is quietly using state-owned firms to infiltrate our critical infrastructure,' US Representative John Moolenaar, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the China committee, which in April issued subpoenas to Chinese telecom companies seeking information about their US operations. Advertisement Mobile devices can buy stocks, launch drones, and run power plants. Their proliferation has often outpaced their security. The phones of top government officials are especially valuable, containing sensitive government information, passwords, and an insider's glimpse into policy discussions and decision-making. The White House said last week that someone impersonating Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, reached out to governors, senators, and business leaders with texts and phone calls. It's unclear how the person obtained Wiles's connections, but they apparently gained access to the contacts in her personal cellphone, The Wall Street Journal reported. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles's number, the newspaper reported. While most smartphones and tablets come with robust security, apps and connected devices often lack these protections or the regular software updates needed to stay ahead of new threats. That makes every fitness tracker, baby monitor or smart appliance another potential foothold for hackers looking to penetrate networks, retrieve information, or infect systems with malware. Federal officials launched a program this year creating a 'cyber trust mark' for connected devices that meet federal security standards. But consumers and officials shouldn't lower their guard, said Snehal Antani, former chief technology officer for the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command. 'They're finding backdoors in Barbie dolls,' said Antani, now CEO of a cybersecurity firm, referring to concerns from researchers who successfully hacked the microphone of a digitally connected version of the toy. It doesn't matter how secure a mobile device is if the user doesn't follow basic security precautions, especially if their device contains classified or sensitive information, experts say. Advertisement Mike Waltz, who departed as Trump's national security adviser, inadvertently added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief to a Signal chat used to discuss military plans with other top officials. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols set up in his office so he could use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, the AP has reported. Hegseth has rejected assertions that he shared classified information on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging app not approved for the use of communicating classified information. China and other nations will try to take advantage of such lapses, and national security officials must take steps to prevent them from recurring, said Michael Williams, a national security expert at Syracuse University. 'They all have access to a variety of secure communications platforms,' Williams said. 'We just can't share things willy-nilly.'
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Progressive states that care not for laws or the border are the ones tearing us apart
The whole nation has been watching the anti-ICE 'protests' playing out on television, and I cannot help but be struck by the multiplicity of ironies. Once upon a time — and not so long ago — immigration enforcement actions took place at worksites, in Los Angeles and many other locations, with such regularity that no one would have paused to bat an eye. Now they are the cause of riots and assaults on federal officers and property, while state and local governments slow-walk law enforcement responses for something as fundamental as protecting the safety of those officers. It is as if these levels of government have a detached notion of 'federalism' that runs only one way: they can levy demands on the federal government, usually involving massive amounts of money and other assistance, while recognizing no obligations in return. What we are seeing, although it has become all too pervasive in progressive hot spots, is not normal. It is the confluence of permissive policies toward crime and violence in blue-run cities and states, with the flooding of the border that took place over the entire length of the Biden administration. During those four years, anywhere from 10 to 14 million aliens entered the country either illegally or under transparently bogus programs designed to facilitate their entry, and all of them apparently believe they have a right to be here — even as they wave foreign flags while tossing Molotov cocktails or setting cars on fire. I have heard a number of politicians and journalists decry the wearing of masks by federal officers (who very reasonably fear being doxxed, putting their families at risk), but I have yet to hear one of them ask why the rioters who shut down traffic, vandalize property and fling bottles, bicycles and other objects at the officers, are also masked. It goes unremarked because the reason is clear: they do not want to be identified and held responsible for their mayhem. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters The difference in reasoning and motivation between the officers and the protesters could not be any more stark. But as we watch lawless rioters go unchecked while federal efforts are stymied by the courts at every turn, some of us may be wondering whether the Constitution has in fact morphed into a suicide pact, given the imbalance that has become apparent in the three branches of government. The judiciary, once described as the 'weakest' branch, has come to wield entirely too much power when a select few district court judges can throw so much sludge into the wheels of government that they grind to a halt. The conclusion that I, and I suspect most Americans, draw from what we are seeing and hearing is that this administration is not only on the right track where immigration enforcement is concerned, but that time is indeed of the essence, and the stakes are incredibly high, if we are to heal from the deliberate rending of the social fabric that has taken place. Dan Cadman is a Center for Immigration Studies fellow and a retired INS/ICE official with 30 years of government experience.
