Everyone has seen the Raul Castro news. But another case -- that of a Ft. Pierce AUSA -- is also making headlines. Here's your summary of the two cases:
Raúl Castro
Castro, 94, of along with five co-defendants — Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cardenas, and Luis Raúl Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez — for their alleged roles in the February 24, 1996 shoot-down of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters.
The charges include four counts of murder, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. The four men killed were Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, including three U.S. citizens.
Castro served as Cuba's defense minister at the time of the shoot-down. The indictment alleges he had authorized the use of deadly force against the Brothers to the Rescue.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges, saying: "For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in the United States for alleged acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens."
The indictment and DOJ press release are here.
Judge Seitz drew the case, but that's before she retired, so I'm assuming it will be reassigned.
News coverage: Reuters/CNBC | CBS News | NBC Miami | CNN
Former SDFLA Prosecutor Indicted
The other big indictment today is Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, 62, the former Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Fort Pierce division of the U.S. Attorney's office. She was indicted on four counts: two counts of theft of government property, destruction/alteration of records in a federal investigation, and concealment/removal of public records.
The government alleges that in late 2025, Lineberger compiled portions of an internal DOJ memorandum and transmitted messages from her government email to her personal Hotmail account with the subject line "chocolate cake recipe." She is also accused of accessing an email containing a Volume II Report in December 2025 and sharing it to her personal Gmail account with the file renamed "Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf."
The indictment notes that Judge Cannon had issued an order in January 2025 regarding the report that prohibited any distribution or disclosure outside DOJ. Lineberger allegedly transmitted it anyway.
Lineberger was in a supervisory role at the Fort Pierce office during the time of the investigation and prosecution of Trump, and while she was not on the special counsel team, the U.S. Attorney's Office played a supporting role to parts of Jack Smith's work, including before the special counsel was appointed and after the search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
She was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Judge Matthewman in West Palm Beach. The case is being prosecuted by AUSA Christie Utt from the Northern District of Florida, brought in as a special prosecutor to avoid conflicts.
The indictment is here.
News coverage: CNN
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