Northern District of Alabama
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Albertville Man Indicted on Heroin Distribution and Gun ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted an Albertville man on heroin distribution and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.
A three-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MICHAEL DILLEN MOORE, 60, with possessing with intent to distribute heroin in Marshall County on April 8, 2016. The indictment also charges Moore with possessing a firearm, a Reck .22-caliber derringer, in furtherance of the drug-trafficking offense, and as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. According to the indictment, Moore was convicted in Marshall County Circuit Court in 1983 for the felony offenses of third-degree burglary and second-degree forgery.
“Where there are illegal narcotics, there are illegal firearms,” Town said. “There’s no such thing as a non-violent drug dealer, and those who possess either guns or drugs illegally will find themselves in federal court.”
The maximum penalty for possession with intent to distribute heroin is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The prison penalty for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense is a minimum of five years. The maximum prison penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a gun is 10 years.
ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Becher Sr. is prosecuting.
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Mountain Brook Man Pleads Guilty to Cyberstalking Former Girlfriend and Associate of HersRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Mountain Brook man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to cyberstalking, including threatening to kill, a former girlfriend and a second woman associated with the woman he had dated, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
STEPHEN PARKS LEWIS, 32, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to two counts of cyberstalking. His sentencing is scheduled May 30.
“Using Facebook, email and phone messages in a campaign to terrorize and control someone is a fiendish crime that must be punished,” Town said. “Thanks to the dedicated work of the FBI, this defendant is having to answer for the fear and emotional distress he inflicted on these women and their families.”
According to Lewis’ plea agreement with the government, he used text messages, emails and voicemails to threaten, harass and intimidate a woman who had ended their five-year dating relationship. His harassment and threats, which included references to the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and wounded more than 500, went on for at least 10 months in 2017 and he threatened his harassment would “continue forever.”
The second woman Lewis threatened and harassed was the girlfriend of his first victim’s brother, according to Lewis’ plea agreement. He used Facebook and text messages to threaten and intimidate his second victim, including threats to stalk and kill her and her minor daughter.
Among Lewis’ often profane Facebook messages to his second victim, he demanded to know where he could find his former girlfriend. “I have your phone number. I have your address. I know where [Victim-1’s brother] lives. I know where you live,” he wrote, according to his plea agreement. “You tell me where she is. You tell me whats (sic) going on. Or I’m coming with a desert eagle .45,” he wrote. Following that message, Lewis sent a photo of a Desert Eagle pistol to Victim 2.
The maximum penalty for cyberstalking is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting.
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Appeals Court Upholds BP Oil Spill Compensation Fund Fraud ConvictionsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Thursday upheld the convictions and sentences for three south Alabama family members who schemed to steal $2 million from the fund established by British Petroleum to compensate victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
The appellate court affirmed sentences of 12 years and a month in prison for MARCELLA TRUSS, 57, 13 years and three months for her husband, MARTEE DAVIS, 45, and seven years and eight months for Truss’ brother, HOWARD LENARD CARROWAY, 45. A federal jury in Birmingham convicted the trio in October 2014 of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud between August 2010 and December 2011 by filing false claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. Separately, the jury convicted each of the defendants on other counts underlying the scheme.
During the course of the scheme, Truss and Davis lived in Grand Bay, Ala., and Birmingham, and Carroway lived in Mobile.
“The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the righteous prosecution of these defendants who chose to exploit a tragedy for their personal gain and at the expense of all of the true victims of this disaster,” Town said. “The FBI led a thorough investigation that enabled the U.S. Attorney’s Office to successfully bring these individuals to justice.”
The overall conspiracy involved the filing of more than 50 fraudulent claims in the names of 37 people alleging damages in the form of lost earnings from the oil spill. All of the claims were purported to be from individuals employed by, or otherwise associated with, a company named Built By Request, which Truss formed in 2006. All 37 people had supposedly worked for, or held an ownership interest in, Built By Request, and claimed they had lost earnings from the company due to the oil spill. All of the claims were indisputably false.
To get the false claims filed, Truss, Davis and Carroway all solicited the participation (and the needed personal information) of others. When the money came in, Truss, Davis or Carroway always took substantial portions of the payments.
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U.S. Attorney Presents Program to Streamline Decision on State or Federal ProsecutionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town today presented Alabama district attorneys with a new program to boost collaboration between state and federal prosecutors in choosing which jurisdiction is best for prosecuting repeat offenders or defendants accused of serious criminal conduct.
Town detailed his Prosecutor-to-Prosecutor Program, or P3, at a statewide gathering of state prosecutors at The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover for the Alabama District Attorneys Association 2018 Winter Conference. Every district attorney in the Northern District of Alabama has agreed to participate in P3, he said.
P3 is a six-step process by which state and federal prosecutors jointly determine whether a criminal case should be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Town said. It is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s centerpiece program for fighting violent crime. PSN and P3 both underscore the need to target the worst offenders in the worst areas of crime in order to reduce violence.
“This program will advance the common goal of state and federal prosecutors to charge our worst offenders with the most serious, readily provable offense in whichever jurisdiction offers the greatest available sanction,” Town said.
P3 is designed to capture cases that, otherwise, would not come to the attention of federal prosecutors.
P3 liaisons in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in each of the district attorney’s offices within the Northern District will ensure consistent communication among the prosecutorial agencies. DA’s offices also have received a “P3 Overlay” identifying state and federal criminal statutes with similar elements. Common elements that could trigger federal prosecution include use of a firearm, crossing of state lines, use of phones or internet to commit a crime, or victimizing an institution that is federally regulated or insured, or that receives federal grant funds.
“The training conducted today is the product of local, state and federal law enforcement representatives investing hundreds of hours to develop P3’s strategic framework,” Town said. “Prosecutors at all levels can now collectively target our worst offenders like never before.”
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Sheffield Man Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – A federal judge this week sentenced a Sheffield man to more than 11 years in prison for possessing child pornography, including images of infants and toddlers being raped, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH BOERCKEL, 27, of Sheffield, to 11 years and three months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Boerckel pleaded guilty in September to possessing more than 13,000 images of child pornography on his computer and computer hard drives. He must report to prison Feb. 7.
“This defendant possessed thousands of horrific images of adults forcing sex acts on children and babies, innocents completely unable to defend themselves,” Town said. “Anyone possessing these images ensures that those children continue to be victimized. Judge Proctor’s sentence rightfully reflects the severity of this case and our efforts reflect our pledge to fully prosecute these atrocious behaviors.”
Law enforcement seized computers and hard drives during searches of Boerckel’s home in March 2015, according to his plea agreement. An Alabama Department of Revenue review of Boerckel’s computer hard drives showed that hundreds of the images were stored on a drop box saved to “the cloud,” so investigators could not determine if the images had been accessed in Lauderdale County or Colbert County.
Further FBI analysis of Boerckel’s electronic equipment identified the 13,183 images of child pornography, according to the plea agreement.
The FBI, Alabama Department of Revenue and the Florence Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Keim prosecuted.
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Number of Federal Defendants Charged and Imprisoned Rises in 2017Read the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The number of people charged with federal crimes in the Northern District of Alabama in 2017 and the percentage of those defendants sentenced to prison was the highest since 2011, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
“Charging more defendants, putting more criminals behind bars, and preventing future criminal activity makes the Northern District a safer place for our families,” Town said. “I am very proud that my office has successfully prosecuted the priorities of the Department of Justice and we will continue to do so. In addition to our impressive prosecutorial and litigation numbers, we continue to install and manage comprehensive violence reduction and crime prevention initiatives across the Northern District, such as Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Public Safety Partnership, which will continue to make our communities more secure, our partnerships more robust, and our law enforcement agencies more impactful.”
The priorities of the Department of Justice to reduce illegal gun crimes, reduce violent crime, pursue criminal immigration matters, and to aggressively address the opioid epidemic in Alabama were all successfully executed by the Northern District in 2017. The U.S. Attorney’s Office showed vast improvement in all categories in 2017 over the previous fiscal year.
The data provided by the Department of Justice indicates that the Northern District’s conviction rate of 94.4 percent is the highest since at least 2004. Defendants charged totaled 540 for Fiscal Year 2017, up 32.4 percent from the 408 defendants charged in FY 2016. The number of defendants sentenced to prison in 2017 rose 15 percent, from 283 in 2016 to 325 in 2017.
The 239 defendants charged with violent crimes in 2017 was a 39.8 percent increase over the 171 charged with violent crimes in 2016. The 33 defendants charged with opioid-related crimes in 2017 represented a 65 percent increase over the 20 defendants charged with opioid crimes in 2016.
Illegal firearms prosecutions rose 36 percent in FY 2017 to 225 from 165 in FY 2016. Illegal firearms prosecutions are 57.9 percent higher than the average of the previous four fiscal years.
In FY 2017, the prosecution of criminal immigration cases saw a 212.5 percent increase in the number of defendants, rising from 16 in FY 2016 to 50, which is the highest number of defendants charged with criminal immigration violations since at least 2004.
Our Civil Division achieved favorable judgments in nearly every category of litigation. Our Appellate Division won 95.4% of all civil and criminal appeals.
See attachment for a full explanation of FY2017.
Co-op Supervisor Sentenced to 2½ Years in Prison, Ordered to Forfeit $3 million for EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced the former supervisor of an electric cooperative in Arab to more than two years in prison and ordered him to repay nearly $3 million he embezzled from the co-op over eight years, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams and Tennessee Valley Authority Acting Inspector General Jill M. Matthews.
JOHN PEARSON WILLIS III, 57, of Arab, pleaded guilty in September to one count of embezzling from an organization that receives federal funds. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced Willis to two years and six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $2.98 million in restitution to the Arab Electric Cooperative. The judge also ordered Willis to forfeit the same amount of money to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. Willis must report to prison April 18.
“Willis violated the trust of the hardworking members of this co-op by stealing millions of dollars, which he spent primarily on sports collectibles,” Town said. “He literally traded his freedom for $3M worth of baseball cards.”
The electric co-op hired Willis as its member services supervisor in 1988. As the cooperative’s primary fiduciary officer, Willis operated with limited oversight and removed large amounts of cash from customer deposits, according to his plea agreement. He altered deposit slips and manipulated billing software to cover his embezzlement.
The Secret Service and TVA-OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes prosecuted.
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Convicted Felon Who Fled Mt. Brook Police Indicted on Federal Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today returned a federal gun charge against the Irondale man who last month crashed a stolen car in Mountain Brook after fleeing police there.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido, Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton and Mountain Brook Police Chief Ted Cook announced the indictment.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges ERIC DEVAUGHN McALPINE, 24, as a convicted felon in possession of firearms on Nov. 22 in Jefferson County. He possessed a Charter Arms .22-caliber revolver and a Stallard Arms 9mm pistol, according to the indictment. McAlpine previously was convicted of the felonies of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and third-degree robbery in Jefferson County Circuit Court in December 2013, the indictment says.
“This is a great example of local, state and federal law enforcement working together to bring violent criminals to justice, especially those who illegally possess firearms,” said Town. “The partnerships forming between state and federal prosecutorial and investigative agencies is great news for every citizen of the Northern District, but will prove to be the bane of the worst offenders who have afflicted our neighborhoods for too long.”
“The partnerships fostered between ATF, the Mountain Brook Police Department and the District and U.S. Attorney’s offices have led to taking firearms off the streets from prohibited persons endangering the community,” Gerido said.
“This cooperative effort between local and federal agencies is truly a thing of beauty,” Anderton said. “This case, in particular, shows the dedication of prosecutors and law enforcement to take the most violent offenders and deal with them in a special way. My office looks forward to even better working relationships with agencies with which we normally do not interact. We are proud of these men and women.”
“Criminals have no regard for jurisdictional boundaries when committing crimes,” Cook said. “This case represents that, and how cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies works to take these violent criminals off the streets of our communities.”
Mountain Brook Police initially arrested McAlpine Nov. 22 on charges of first-degree receiving stolen property, certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and attempting to elude.
Court documents indicate that Irondale Police identified McAlpine on a home security video on Nov. 20 after responding to a home burglary and car theft report. The vehicle stolen was a blue 2014 Hyundai Sonata.
On the afternoon of Nov. 22, a Mountain Brook Police officer attempted to stop a Sonata on Montclair Road after his radar clocked the car traveling 55 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to court documents. The Sonata sped away, exceeding 100 mph and recklessly weaving through traffic to avoid apprehension.
The car went off the road on the westbound side of Montclair Road, near Cresthill Road, and landed upside down in a wooded area. No one was in the vehicle when the officer pursuing it arrived at the crash, according to court documents. Another Mountain Brook police officer arrested McAlpine a short time later walking through a front yard on Cresthill Road.
Police recovered a loaded Charter Arms Pathfinder .22-caliber revolver and an unloaded Stallard Arms 9mm pistol in the Sonata, according to court documents.
The federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
ATF investigated the case in conjunction with Mountain Brook Police and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Federal Judge Sentences Prior Felon to 10 Years in Prison for Possessing 31 GunsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Birmingham man to 10 years in prison on separate counts of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, including a 2016 incident in which police recovered 31 firearms after he barricaded himself and three other people inside a house to avoid arrest.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives announced the sentence.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn sentenced WILLIE LEE COOKS, 46, for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm on April 4, 2016, and multiple firearms on August 30, 2016.
“Cooks was a threat to the community, to his victims, and to law enforcement,” Town said. “Violent felons who possess firearms will not get diversion. They will not get probation. They will get a cell in the Bureau of Prisons.”
Birmingham Police stopped Cooks on April 4, 2016, for driving a vehicle without a license plate and arrested him on an outstanding felony warrant after seeing a Glock 9mm pistol on the floorboard, according to Cook’s plea agreement. The pistol was loaded with 31 rounds of ammunition in an extended magazine. Cooks had several prior felony convictions at that time, according to his plea agreement.
On Aug. 30, 2016, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency task force approached Cooks’ Birmingham residence to arrest him on a warrant, and Cooks barricaded himself and others in the house, according to his plea agreement. A Birmingham Police SWAT team was called to the scene and tear gas was deployed to get the occupants out of the house after negotiations for Cooks’ surrender failed, according to the plea agreement.
Police subsequently found the 31 firearms hidden in a crawl space under the house.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr. prosecuted.
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Huntsville Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $107,707 in Government Funds Through Fraudulent Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Huntsville woman pleaded guilty today in federal court to stealing more than $107,000 from the government by filing fraudulent income tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman.
JOAN MARIE CHANDLER, 42, also known as Joan Marie Robinson, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor to one count of theft of government funds. The judge scheduled her sentencing April 10.
“Today’s guilty plea by Ms. Chandler again emphasizes that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and IRS-Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively pursue those who attempt to defraud America’s tax system,” Town said. “Those who threaten the integrity of the tax system, and cheat the public treasury, will pay their fair share, one way or another.”
“Stealing from the government is not a way to earn a living,” Holloman said. “Refund fraud results in major loss of revenue to the United States Government. Every taxpaying citizen is affected when tax dollars are stolen. IRS Criminal Investigation will continue our efforts to investigate similar schemes and recover the stolen funds.”
According to Chandler’s plea agreement, the U.S. Treasury deposited numerous electronic refund payments into accounts held by Chandler at three banks in the Huntsville area between February 2015 and April 2015.
An investigation revealed two Treasury Refund Electronic Transfer of Funds deposited into Chandler’s account at Branch Banking and Trust, six electronic refund deposits into her account at PNC Bank, and two electronic refund deposits into her account at Wells Fargo Bank, according to the plea agreement.
The 10 refund transfers totaled $107,707. PNC seized $38,608 from Chandler’s account and returned that money to the U.S. Treasury, according to the plea agreement.
The maximum penalty for theft of government funds is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
IRS-CI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes is prosecuting
Former FCI Aliceville Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact with InmateRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former corrections officer at the federal prison for women in Alabama pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing a sexual act with an inmate and lying about his contact with her while he worked at the facility, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Miami Field Office, Assistant Special Agent in Charge James F. Boyersmith.
JESSE BAILEY, 28, of Carrolton, Ala., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Virginia E. Hopkins to one count each of abusive sexual contact and making false statements to the government. The judge scheduled Bailey’s sentencing for March 13.
“Our office takes seriously the responsibility of holding individuals accountable when they violate the trust and responsibility placed on them to supervise and protect prisoners by, instead, abusing them — sexually or otherwise,” Town said. “Bailey’s action makes a very dangerous job more difficult for all members of law enforcement, the vast majority of whom conduct themselves with the highest professional standards and utmost levels of integrity.”
“The OIG is committed to protecting the safety of inmates and investigating incidents of alleged abuse by correctional staff,” Boyersmith said. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that corruption and abuse of power within our federal correctional system will not be tolerated.”
Bailey worked as a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution at Aliceville, a low-security prison for women, from January 2015 to August 2016. He had direct custodial, supervisory and disciplinary authority over inmates, including the victim, whom court records identify as H.G.
In January 2016, Bailey was assigned to the prison dorm unit where H.G. was housed and soon began a flirtation with her that resulted in the sexual act that took place in a staff bathroom near the dorm unit. Over the course of the flirtation that lasted several weeks, Bailey began communicating with H.G., even when he was not assigned to her dorm, including by email and telephone, according to his plea. Such communication between corrections officers and inmates is strictly prohibited.
Agents from the FBI and the DOJ Office of the Inspector General interviewed Bailey at FCI Aliceville in August 2016 about allegations of improper communications and sexual contact with H.G. Bailey falsely denied the sexual contact and told the agents he had never communicated with H.G. or other inmates by phone or email outside of his assigned role as a corrections officer, according to his plea.
The maximum penalty for abusive sexual contact is 15 years and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for making false statements is eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI and DOJ-OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. is prosecuting.
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The Resurgence of the Justice DepartmentRead the Press Release
By Jay Town, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. The former Marine Corps officer, and career prosecutor, was nominated by President Trump in June and confirmed by the Senate, and thereafter sworn, in August.
Like any division of government, the Department of Justice has found its share of headlines this year. There is a stark contrast between the headlines of the day and the underlying news. The headlines come with clever pageantry and facile strobe. The news in the finer font below is more often the circumstance without the pomp. Critical thought about government, including and especially the DOJ, is inevitable, but too often any intellectual curiosity about the news eludes us. As 2017 begins to give up her fight to a new year, it is perhaps a wise resolution to reflect more often upon the DOJ news than to gaze dimly at those headlines.
Violent crime is at its highest levels in decades. Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions' leadership, this frightening reality was confronted immediately. FBI data suggests that overall violent crime rates were up approximately 4 percent the last two years while the murder rates have risen at disturbing rates with a 10.8 percent increase in 2015 followed by 8.6 percent last year. In response, partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement have re-emerged as the force-multiplier needed to combat the increasing violence. Project Safe Neighborhoods has been revitalized, creating more robust partnerships that target violent criminals and drug traffickers in our communities. Defendants will "smartly" be prosecuted for the most serious, readily provable offenses and no longer will it be a unique approach to law enforcement to reserve bed-space in prisons for our worst offenders.
The news is that the DOJ will not cede our safety and security in one city, in one neighborhood, or on one street corner to crime.
The opioid crisis in America is the deadliest in our history. In fact, 77 percent of the 64,000 drug overdoses last year were a result of prescription opioids, synthetic opioids like Fentanyl, or heroin. Opioid abuse is the number one cause of death for anyone under the age of 50. No part of our society -- not young or old, rich or poor -- has been spared the bane of drug addiction. The DOJ has responded by aggressively leading the prosecution of "pill mill" doctors and health care providers who have traded the efficacy of care for the poison of their own greed. President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency and requested over $1 billion for anti-opioid treatment and law enforcement measures. The Department continues to stem the flow of deadly fentanyl across our borders and into our homes.
The news is that never before has there been such impactful measures to combat illegal narcotics.
The current administration has relieved law enforcement from the doldrums of previous policies by the trade winds of the freedom to pursue our worst offenders. The FBI continues to be at the forefront of not only traditional aspects of law enforcement, but also the emerging cyber and intelligence threats to our nation. The ATF and DEA continue to rid our streets of illegal guns and illicit drugs. The U.S. Marshals remain the best manhunters in the world. Our other federal partners are engaged at the highest levels. Perhaps more important, however, the morale of law enforcement is emboldened by believing once again that we have their backs, and they have our thanks.
The news is that crime again has sanction and sanction is again aggressively pursued.
Illegal immigration is at its lowest point in years while deportations continue to rise. Illegal immigrants who commit crimes are being prosecuted, not just deported, and justice given to victims of crime. Combating illegal immigration remains among DOJ's highest priorities. Transnational gangs like MS-13 can no longer take advantage of a porous border without notice. The President's travel ban was successfully defended by the Justice Department and the sanctuary of sanctuary cities is diminishing.
The news is that our borders are more secure.
There are myriad other successes of the Department of Justice. They won't fit neatly in a headline. They are too complex for the lower-third chyrons. Indeed, they are oft overshadowed by the shrewd headline's bold print. Read onward! The triumphs of the Department of Justice will continue in the finer font.
And the news is good!
Birmingham Man Gets 20 Years in Prison for Selling Heroin that Killed Cullman Man, Injured AnotherRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man to 20 years in prison for selling heroin last year that caused the death of one person and seriously injured another, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
MICHAEL DEWAYNE “Big Boi” JOHNSON, 32, pled guilty in August to one count of distributing heroin in Jefferson County on July 28, 2016, and that a 31-year-old Cullman man died as a result of using that heroin. Johnson also pled guilty to distributing heroin the same day that caused serious bodily injury to a then 18-year-old Cullman man who overdosed from using the drug.
When Johnson distributed the heroin to the victims, he told them, “Be careful, this (expletive deleted) will kill you,” according to court records.
Johnson also pled guilty to one count of distributing heroin in Jefferson County on Aug. 3, 2016. U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced Johnson to 20 years in prison on all the charges, in accordance with the binding plea agreement he reached with the government.
“This strong sentence cannot remove the victims’ suffering,” Town said. “But it sends a strong message to every drug dealer that they will be severely punished for the lethal harm their drugs do to others.”
“The abuse of heroin is a serious problem in our communities. All too often, this abuse leads to addiction, shattered lives, and even death,” Hamilton said. “The lengthy sentencing for this individual is a message to criminals that we take drug trafficking very seriously in the Northern District of Alabama. The DEA will continue working with our law enforcement partners and pursue those who threaten our communities with the distribution of heroin and other illegal and dangerous drugs.”
DEA investigated the case, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
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Federal Jury Convicts Birmingham Man for Sexually Exploiting Five-Year-Old BoyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury on Monday convicted a Birmingham man of sexually exploiting a five-year-old boy by forcing the child to perform sexual acts on him in 2016 and videotaping the conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
LARRY DEAN GARRETT Jr., 37, faces 25 to 50 years in prison because of a previous conviction of a sexual offense against a child in Michigan in 2000. In that case, Garrett confessed to criminal sexual conduct involving a boy younger than 13, according to evidence at trial.
The north Alabama jury convicted Garrett on one count of sexual exploitation of a child following four days of testimony before U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala. Garrett chose to represent himself at trial. A sentencing date has not been set.
“Sexual exploitation of a child by a previously convicted sex offender is one of the most serious and emotionally difficult offenses we prosecute within the federal system,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Williamson Barnes, who prosecuted the case. “I commend the family and friends of the victim for their willingness to come forward and assist law enforcement, the FBI for its tireless devotion to vindicating a particularly vulnerable victim, and the jurors who rendered a just verdict,” she said.
“The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s trial team did an excellent job of bringing the perverse, abhorrent acts of Garrett before the jury that rightfully convicted him,” Town said. “We are very much looking forward to the sentencing hearing.”
“These types of cases are always particularly disturbing,” Sharp said. “The FBI and our partners, however, will not rest in bringing predators like Garrett to justice and holding them accountable for their heinous actions.”
Garrett, who performs magic tricks and uses the name, “Magic,” lived in the same Birmingham apartment complex as his five-year-old victim and the child’s mother in 2016 and was known to have spent time with the child, according to evidence.
A friend of the child’s family who also lived in the same apartment complex testified that he knew Garrett downloaded movies and requested one from him. When the man, identified in court records as, “A.J,” opened the files on the computer memory card that Garrett gave him, he discovered the sexually explicit video involving the child, he testified. He showed the video to members of the child’s family, and they provided the video to police, the man testified.
The FBI investigated the case, which Barnes prosecuted.
PSN Brings Firearms Prosecution Training to BPD Officers Working in Public Housing CommunitiesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office through Project Safe Neighborhoods will provide training Wednesday on federal and state firearms prosecution to Birmingham Police officers who work with Birmingham’s housing authority or patrol in its communities, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office are providing the training at the request of the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District to help curb gun violence within the agency’s public housing and surrounding communities. The training will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council Chamber at Birmingham City Hall.
“Training for our state and local partners is a key component of our PSN strategy, and we are especially pleased to be working with the Housing Authority on reducing crime on and near their properties,” Town said. “Our success in both crime prevention and enforcement will rid these communities of their worst offenders while providing a safe environment for the families who live there,” he said.
“We are extremely pleased to begin this partnership with the U.S. attorney to share resources that are designed to protect our citizens,” said HABD President and CEO Michael Lundy. “Protecting our residents is a shared responsibility, and these creative approaches will help us achieve this goal. This is about saving lives and improving the quality of life for thousands of our neighbors in public housing who seek the same peace that we all desire and deserve.”
PSN is a collaborative effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and communities to prevent and deter gang and gun violence nationwide. The Department of Justice began PSN in 2001 and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in October announced steps to strengthen the program, directing all U.S. attorneys to implement a violent crime reduction program incorporating law enforcement and community partnerships, targeted enforcement in high-crime areas, training, and crime-prevention strategies.
HABD Public Safety Director Jeffrey Gorley contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office seeking new ways to collaborate with law enforcement to address violence in and near public housing in Birmingham. HABD pays for additional police service in its 14 housing communities. Those officers are the High Intensity Community Oriented Police Patrol, or HICOPPS.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, Jefferson County D.A.’s Office and ATF will train the HICOPPS’ officers, as well as Birmingham officers who have public housing communities on their patrol beats, and investigators in the Birmingham Police Department’s robbery, homicide and crime-scene investigation units.
The training will address federal and state firearms laws and provide instruction on best investigative techniques to facilitate federal charges on certain violent offenses, particularly gun crimes. The training also will address individual’s constitutional rights regarding search and seizure, the right to counsel and the right to remain silent under police questioning.
Members of the media may attend the training. For more information, contact Peggy Sanford at peggy.sanford@usdoj, 205-244-2020 or, Joseph Bryant at [email protected], 205-521-0764.
Leader of Tuscaloosa Area Drug Ring Sentenced to 25 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
TUSCALOOSA – A federal judge today sentenced the leader of a drug ring trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine in Tuscaloosa County to 25 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido and West Alabama Narcotics Task Force Captain Phil Simpson.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced SANTONY MARKEI NOLAND, 32, also known as “Santony Markies Noland,” “San T” and “Black,” on one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine between December 2016 and March 2017, and on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Noland pleaded guilty to the charges in July.
Noland, of Tuscaloosa, is one of 10 defendants, all of whom have pleaded guilty to charges related to the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Three of the defendants remain to be sentenced.
"Multiple law enforcement agencies came together in this investigation and successfully took down an established cocaine- and methamphetamine-trafficking organization in the Tuscaloosa area," Town said. "This is an outstanding example of how robust partnerships between every level of law enforcement enables the dismantling of drug smuggling organizations and reduces the availability of illegal narcotics in our communities.”
“ATF, along with its partners, work diligently to protect the public from senseless acts of violence,” Gerido said. “ATF will remain vigilant as we engage with the community and foster a safe environment. Support from the public is crucial and the reporting of illegal activity is encouraged through ATF’s report it phone app.”
“We were glad to be able to partner with the ATF to get this violent drug offender off the streets,” Simpson said.
Noland has multiple felony convictions in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court and a prior federal felony conviction from the Northern District of Alabama for being a felon in possession of a firearm on a previous occasion.
The ATF, WANTF and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. The task force is composed of officers from the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Tuscaloosa, Northport and University of Alabama police departments, and the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton is prosecuting the case.
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Hoover Man Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Against Employers and UA Band Support GroupRead the Press Release
TUSCALOOSA – A federal judge today sentenced a Hoover man to more than two years in prison for stealing money from two former employers and a non-profit organization that supported the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced RANDALL SHO WOODS, 33, to two years and three months in prison on two counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. Woods pleaded guilty to the charges in June.
“This case is yet another example of an employee stealing from a series of employers,” Town said. “Citizens have to trust those with access to bank accounts and confidential business information and when that trust is breached, there needs to be dire consequences.”
Ingram’s Accounting & Financial Management Inc. in Tuscaloosa had employed Woods as a staff accountant. While working at the business, Woods fraudulently charged more than $30,000 on corporate credit card accounts for personal expenses, according Woods’ guilty plea. Another company, Birmingham-based State Traditions, had previously employed Woods as an account clerk. While at State Traditions, Woods engaged in numerous fraudulent activities, including stealing from the company’s Pay-Pal account and forging the endorsement of one of State Traditions’ owners on multiple checks. Combined, Woods stole more than $150,000 from State Traditions, according to his plea. Finally, while Woods served as treasurer of the Million Dollar Band Association, he stole more than $28,000 by writing checks payable to himself, according to his plea.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark prosecuted.
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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Men for Child Sex-Trafficking in Madison CountyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Wednesday indicted a Huntsville man and a Honduran national on sex-trafficking charges involving a minor in Madison County, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr.
In separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court, BILLY R. EDWARDS, 63, of Huntsville, and DARWIN MOISES AMADOR-ZEPEDA, 38, of Honduras, are charged with commercial sex trafficking, coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution and sexual exploitation of a child. Edwards also faces additional charges of producing child pornography and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.
“Sex trafficking and the exploitation of children are among the most heinous acts that too often prey on the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community,” Town said. “Our Human Trafficking Task Force will continue bringing to justice the persons who facilitate these horrific crimes.”
“Sex trafficking of a minor is one of the most reprehensible criminal offenses imaginable,” Parmer said. “Along with law enforcement partners like the Madison County Sheriff's Office, HSI will continue seeking out the facilitators and perpetrators of these heinous crimes to ensure they are brought to justice.”
HSI arrested Edwards Oct. 30 on a criminal complaint charging that he paid Amador-Zepeda more than $20,000 over several years to have sexual relations with a boy who was 16 years old when Amador forced him into the ongoing sexual relationship with Edwards.
According to the indictments, Edwards and Amador-Zepeda both trafficked “Minor Child 1” between December 2014 and January 2017, knowing that the child would be forced or coerced into commercial sex acts. During that time, the two men used cell phones and bank accounts to induce or coerce the child to engage in prostitution, and used a cell phone to induce or coerce the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to photograph the conduct, according to the charges.
Edwards is charged with possessing an Industrial National de Armes .38-caliber revolver, a Jimenez Arms .25-caliber pistol, a Bryco Jennings .380-caliber pistol and a Winchester model 1400 MKII shotgun on Sept. 1, 2017, in Madison County. He was convicted of a felony, conspiracy to commit fraud, in the Northern District of Alabama in 2005, according to the indictment.
Amador-Zepeda has used a number of aliases, according to the indictment, including Darwin M. Amador, Moises Amador, Amador Zepeda-Darwin Moses, Mario Antonio Guillen-Lopez and Mario Guillen-Lopez.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s HSI, in conjunction with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Madison County District Attorney’s Office, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Xavier Carter and Carla Ward are prosecuting.
Decatur Man Indicted on Kidnapping, Child Sex-Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Wednesday indicted a Decatur man on kidnapping and child sex-trafficking charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
A seven-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges BRIAN DAVID BOERSMA, 48, with two counts of attempted kidnapping, one count of attempted transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. The indictment also charges Boersma with illegally possessing a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-caliber pistol and both .40-caliber and .380-caliber ammunition as a convicted felon. It further charges that Boersma possessed the pistol in furtherance of a crime of violence – the attempted kidnappings.
“The quick actions of the FBI and the Decatur Police Department thwarted Mr. Boersma’s disturbing plot to effect the kidnapping of two individuals, the result of which could have had dire consequences,” Town said. “Mr. Boersma, and those like him, can expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent by the United States.”
According to the indictment, between Sept. 1 and Oct. 10 in Morgan County, Boersma attempted to kidnap and hold “for ransom, reward and otherwise,” a minor, who was younger than 18, and a second individual identified as “K.S.” In separate counts, the indictment charges that Boersma attempted to transport the minor in interstate commerce for intended criminal sexual activity, and that he attempted to traffic the child, knowing she would be forced into a commercial sex act.
The maximum prison penalty for attempted kidnapping is 20 years. The prison penalty for both attempted transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and sex trafficking of children is 10 years to life. The maximum prison penalty for possessing a firearm or ammunition as a convicted felon is 10 years. The penalty for possessing a pistol in furtherance of a crime of violence is a minimum of five years in prison.
The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from the Decatur Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow is prosecuting the case.
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Tuscaloosa Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Hostage-Taking Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Tuscaloosa man to 20 years in prison for the January robbery and hostage-taking at a Tuscaloosa credit union, announced U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
CEDRICK LAMAR COLLINS, 19, pleaded guilty in August to one count of robbing a federally insured bank, the Alabama Credit Union, and to one count of taking hostages during the commission of the bank robbery. U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Collins and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term.
“This defendant threatened and endangered the lives of 10 people as he put them between himself and armed police,” Town said. “The SWAT teams from the Tuscaloosa Police and Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s departments did a superb job of stopping the bank robbery, arresting the robber, and recovering all the hostages unharmed.”
“Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Office and the Tuscaloosa Police Department, this potentially deadly situation was resolved without injury,” Sharp said. “The sentence handed down today will give Collins plenty of time to reflect on his dangerous actions.”
One of the bank employees taken hostage during the robbery testified at today’s hearing about how Collins put them all in fear for their lives. During the ordeal, Collins moved the hostages throughout the building, brandishing his gun and, at one point, holding it to her head, she testified.
Collins robbed the Alabama Credit Union on Jan. 17. According to court records, the University of Alabama Police Department received a call concerning suspicious activity at the credit union. As SWAT teams from the Tuscaloosa Police Department and Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department arrived on the scene, Collins had taken a number of bank employees hostage after demanding money. Officers attempted to enter the bank and encountered Collins in the stairwell with a hostage in front of him. Collins threatened to start shooting unless law enforcement moved back. Officers later entered the bank and safely secured Collins, without any hostages being injured. The handgun Collins held was found to be a BB gun.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.
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Colbert County Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Colbert County man pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography between 1997 and 1998, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
CHARLES MARK MCCORMACK, 54, of Muscle Shoals, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre. Sentencing is set for April 3 in Huntsville.
“It is incredibly disturbing that this kindergarten teacher was engaged in the production of child pornography,” Town said. “I thank the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and HSI agents who worked with federal prosecutors for their quick efforts which prevented more innocent victims from suffering at the hands of McCormack. The Bureau of Prisons has bed space reserved for people like him.”
According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, between Aug. 1, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1998, McCormack used a minor, born in 1992, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the conduct, by videotaping the minor urinating in a bathroom in his Colbert County home. During a May 2016 search of McCormack’s residence, law enforcement also discovered fewer than 25 images of nude and topless females believed to constitute child pornography and a suitcase containing young girls’ panties.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s HSI is investigating this case with the cooperation of the GBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama and Department of Justice Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case.
This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Army Reserves Lt. Col. Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Fraudulently Supplying Chinese-made Army Promotional Gear as USA-MadeRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – A federal judge today sentenced a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves to four years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $4.4 million to the government for fraudulently supplying hundreds of thousands of Chinese-produced baseball caps and backpacks to the Army Recruiting Command and passing them off as American-made products.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command Special Agent in Charge James T. Wallis announced the sentence.
FREDERICK LAMAR BURNETT, 50, of Madison, received millions of dollars under contracts with the Army stating he must supply promotional items for the Recruiting Command that were “100 % U.S. MADE.” A federal jury convicted Burnett in April on three counts of wire fraud for using his Huntsville-based company, Lamar International Inc., in the scheme to defraud the Defense Department on three contracts, worth $6.2 million, between 2005 and 2009. U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn sentenced Burnett and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
“Securing the defense procurement base from fraud is important to American taxpayers and our national security posture,” Town said. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that defrauding the United States carries a stiff penalty. Anyone seeking to lie, cheat, or steal from the government will find bed space reserved for them behind bars.”
"In concert with our partner agencies, DCIS aggressively investigates fraud and corruption that undermines the integrity of Department of Defense programs and contracts," Khin said.
Burnett had received two contracts for baseball caps and one for backpacks, all intended as promotional items to give Army recruits. Burnett certified for all three contracts that he would meet the requirements of the Buy American Act, the Berry Amendment, and federal regulations that require the government to buy domestic products and materials, according to court evidence at trial.
The Buy American Act requires the federal government to buy domestic articles, materials and supplies, primarily to protect American workers and manufacturing jobs. The Berry Amendment prohibits the Defense Department from buying clothing, fabrics, fibers and yarns that were not grown, reprocessed, reused or produced in the United States. The purpose of the Berry Amendment is to protect the viability of the American textile and clothing production base.
Under the first contract awarded to Lamar International in 2005, Burnett supplied 209,706 baseball caps over three years and the government paid him $1.4 million. Under the second contract, awarded in 2007, Lamar supplied 590,042 ball caps and the government paid him about $4 million. Under the third contract, also awarded in 2007, Lamar supplied 146,375 Army Combat Uniform backpacks and the government paid $1.1 million. A Defense Department accounting agency made the payments to Burnett by electronic funds transfer to his Huntsville bank.
Along with the required compliance to the Buy American Act and the Berry Amendment, according to evidence, both of the 2007 contracts included a statement, in all capital letters, that the “PRODUCT MUST BE 100% U.S. MADE.”
Instead of providing American-made products, however, Burnett negotiated and contracted with suppliers directly from China and with American companies who he knew were procuring their products from Chinese manufacturers. He filled orders with Chinese-made products under all three contracts and hid their foreign origins by hiring workers on a cash basis to remove the Chinese labels and repackage the items, which he then sent to the Army Recruiting Command.
DCIS and Army CID investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys David H. Estes and Jonathan S. Keim prosecuted the case.
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Alabama Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
An Alabama man pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography between 1997 and 1998, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama.
Charles Mark McCormack, 54, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography before Chief U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre of the Northern District of Alabama. Sentencing is set for April 3, 2018.
According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, between Aug. 1, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1998, McCormack used a minor, born in or about 1992, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the conduct, by videotaping the minor urinating in a bathroom in his residence in Colbert County, Alabama. McCormack was employed as a kindergarten teacher during a May 2016 search of his residence, which resulted in law enforcement discovering fewer than 25 images of nude and topless females believed to constitute child pornography and a suitcase containing young girls’ panties.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this case with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Statement of U.S. AttorneyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney Jay Town, in response to local and national media reports and inquiries regarding assertions that the U.S. attorney “has verified defamation cases” or confirmed any type of federal investigation against Alabama citizens accusing a candidate for U.S. Senate of certain behaviors, responds as follows:
“These assertions are patently absurd. My office has not received, nor would we have the legal basis to pursue, any such defamation cases.
NW Alabama Compounding Pharmacy Sales Representative Pleads Guilty in Prescription Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A sales representative for a Haleyville, Ala.,-based compounding pharmacy pleaded guilty today in federal court to participating in a conspiracy to generate prescriptions, including for a $29,000 wound cream, and defraud health care insurers and prescription drug administrators out of tens of millions of dollars in 2015.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the charges.
PETER EODICE II, 34, of Webster, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud, various counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent prescription reimbursement claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, and one count of aggravated identity theft for forging a prescription. Eodice worked for Northside Pharmacy, an Alabama company doing business as Global Compounding Pharmacy. Global’s compounding and shipping facility was in Haleyville. The pharmacy did its prescription processing, billing and customer service at its “call center” in Clearwater, Fla.
Eodice is the fourth Global sales representative charged in the conspiracy. As part of his plea, Eodice agreed to forfeit $266,513 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. His sentencing date has not been set.
“This defendant was one of several representatives with Global Compounding Pharmacy whose greed led him to scheme to line his pockets at the expense of average citizens simply seeking quality health care,” Town said. “This type of fraud not only puts patients at risk with unnecessary prescriptions and treatments but unconscionably drives up the costs of health care for all of us.”
According to the charges and Eodice’s plea agreement, Global hired sales representatives who were located in various states and were responsible for generating prescriptions from physicians and other prescribers. To bill insurance providers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, for the prescriptions, Global contracted to enter the pharmacy networks of their third-party administrators, known as “pharmacy benefit managers” or “PBMs.” These PBMs included Prime Therapeutics and Express Scripts Incorporated.
The court documents describe a conspiracy at Global that centered on generating and billing PBMs for fraudulent, often high-reimbursement prescriptions. To generate prescriptions, Global hired sales representatives who were married or related to doctors and other prescribers. Global also encouraged sales representatives to volunteer at doctors’ offices where they would review patient files and push Global’s products to patients. Global executives frequently instructed employees to obtain high-reimbursing prescriptions that Global would fill and bill for reimbursement. One of the drugs that Eodice got for himself and his family members was a wound cream that cost over $29,000. Eodice also forged multiple prescriptions.
When billing, Global engaged in various fraudulent practices, including automatically refilling and billing for prescriptions regardless of patient need, and routinely waiving co-pays to encourage patients to accept unnecessary medications and refills. Global paid sales representatives a base salary, plus a monthly commission for prescriptions they obtained, according to court documents.
The charges against Eodice follow charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office earlier this year against three other Global sales representatives, Robin Gary Lowry, 49, of Columbus, Miss., Bridget McCune, 42, of Destin, Fla., and Kelley Norris-Hartley, 41, of Tuscaloosa. All three were charged with conspiracy to defraud insurance plans and PBMs, along with various health care fraud counts for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to BCBS of Alabama. McCune also was charged with conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks in return for referring prescriptions under Medicare and TRICARE, a U.S. Department of Defense health care program, and with money laundering for spending proceeds of the crimes. All three defendants pleaded guilty. Their sentencings are scheduled for early 2018.
FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting.
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Shelby County Woman Sentenced to 25 Months in Prison for Fraudulently Raising Money on False Cancer ClaimRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Shelby County woman to more than 25 months in prison for fraudulently soliciting more than $260,000 by falsely claiming she had terminal cancer, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.
JENNIFER FLYNN CATALDO, 37, of Sterrett, pled guilty in August to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud for using her claim of terminal cancer to get money from family and friends and to solicit donations through the online fund-raising site, GoFundMe.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced Cataldo to 25 months and 20 days in prison and ordered her to pay $79,629 in restitution to the victims of her fraud, and to forfeit that amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
“This defendant’s conduct was reprehensible,” Town said. “For more than two years she engaged in an elaborate scheme that preyed upon the sympathy and generosity of her friends and family. Not only did she fake cancer to take their money, she used her minor child as part of her ruse and allowed the child to believe his mother was dying,” he said. “She has earned every nickel of her punishment.”
“Crimes like this make good people think twice before they are willing to be charitable, and Cataldo’s conduct could have a chilling effect on donations to legitimate accounts set up for people who are truly in need,” Sharp said. “It is hard to understand how anyone could ignore the anguish that their greed- or drug-fueled lie brought to their loved ones every single day.”
“This crime involved an act of calculated cruelty carried out over a prolonged time, causing terrible anguish and grief to the defendant’s family and friends, as well as her own young child, who were led to believe she was dying. She took heartless advantage of their love as well as the compassion of strangers who gave generously to meet what they believed was a desperate need,” Marshall said. “The fact that we now know that part of the money was going to fund illegal opioids is yet more evidence of how destructive these drugs can be. It is imperative that we confront such criminal activities and that the offenders are stopped and punished.”
Cataldo fraudulently collected a total of $264,163 in checks and cash deposited into her personal checking account, according her guilty plea. A government sentencing document states that throughout Cataldo’s scheme, she was spending part of the money she obtained fraudulently to pay for 30 to 40 non-prescribed Percocet, an opioid containing painkiller, per day.
Court documents, including Cataldo’s plea agreement, describe her fraudulent scheme as follows:
From 2014 to about May 2017, Cataldo misrepresented to friends and family that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In person, online and via text messages, she solicited contributions from friends, family and others and received the more than $200,000 in donations for expenses including utilities and living, medical, insurance and funeral costs. In January 2016, Cataldo also created an account on the GoFundMe website titled, “Mom has Terminal Cancer Disney Trip,” with the stated goal of raising $4,000 to take her young child to visit Disney before she died. The account featured a photo of the child on the cover and a statement from Cataldo that she had “had cancer for two years and was just told it was inoperable! I would like to experience this with my [minor child] before I die within the year.” That account raised more than $10,000.
In September 2016, a friend who believed Cataldo was suffering from terminal cancer created a second GoFundMe account titled, “Jenny Flynn Cataldo Medical Care,” with a $20,000 fund-raising goal. The medical GoFundMe account featured a photo of Cataldo, her husband and their child. The accompanying story related that Cataldo had been battling cancer for three years, that it was no longer treatable and “the primary goal of medical care at this point is to give Jenny as much time as possible” with her husband and child.
Between September 2016 and May 2017, Cataldo repeatedly re-posted the medical GoFundMe account link to her Facebook page with messages thanking people for their contributions, giving false updates on her condition, and requesting more donations. The medical account raised more than $25,000. Cataldo withdrew $27,755 and deposited it into her personal banking account.
In addition to the two GoFundMe accounts, Cataldo solicited funds on Facebook, in person, and by phone, e-mail and text message to friends, family and organizations, including churches. Some of those individuals paid third-party vendors on Cataldo’s behalf.
The FBI and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
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Former BBVA Compass Investments Employee Agrees to Plead Guilty to EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged a former BBVA Compass Investment Solutions employee with embezzling more than $200,000 from the bank, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
Prosecutors filed a one-count information in U.S. District Court charging ERIC SCOTT DARTY, 30, of Birmingham, with bank embezzlement. Darty has agreed to plead guilty and signed a plea agreement. He must appear before a judge to formally enter a guilty plea.
“This office and our law enforcement partners continue to aggressively investigate financial crimes in order to protect the integrity of our nation’s financial infrastructure,” Town said. “We must hold accountable employees of financial institutions who take from a bank or its customers for personal gain.”
“Darty was a stockbroker who used the trust customers placed in him to steal for his own personal greed,” Sharp said. “I would like to express my appreciation to the Alabama Securities Commission for their assistance in this investigation and helping to bring Darty to the justice he deserves.”
According to the Plea Agreement, also filed in the district court, Darty was an employee of BBVA Compass Investment Solutions and a registered stockbroker when he began embezzling customer funds by manipulating customer cashiers’ checks that were intended to purchase insurance products.
At times between November 2015 and his termination in October 2016, Darty would renegotiate a customer’s original cashier’s check into a cashier’s check for a lesser amount. Darty would receive the left over amount as cash, typically several thousand dollars, and keep the cash for himself, rather than returning it to the customer or using it to buy the investment product on the customer’s behalf. According to the plea agreement, he would use the newly issued cashier’s check to purchase the investment product. In some circumstances, Darty renegotiated an original cashier’s check more than one time into successively smaller amounts. On some occasions, he would move money between customer accounts to attempt to cover his embezzlement.
Darty admits in his plea agreement that his scheme involved 47 unauthorized transactions in 13 accounts belonging to nine customers and resulted in a loss to BBVA Compass of between $150,000 and $250,000 dollars. Darty has agreed to pay restitution of $206,970 to BBVA Compass Bank and to forfeit that same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. He has also agreed to restrictions on his future employment in the financial services industries.
Darty faces a potential prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million.
The FBI, in conjunction with the Alabama Securities Commission, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Williamson Barnes is prosecuting.
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Drug Enforcement Administration collects record number of unused pills as part of its 14th Prescription Drug Take-Back DayRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Americans nationwide did their part to reduce the opioid crisis by bringing the DEA and its more than 4,200 local and tribal law enforcement partners a record-setting 912,305 pounds – 456 tons – of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at more than 5,300 collection sites. That is almost six tons more than was collected at last spring’s event. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,015,668 pounds, or 4,508 tons.
In Alabama, DEA collected more than 7,000 pounds – 3.5 tons – of unused and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at its more than 52 collection sites across the state.
Now in its eighth year, this event continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens. The DEA action came just days after President Donald J. Trump announced the mobilization of his entire administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by directing the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids crisis.
“In the midst of the worst drug crisis in American history, drug abuse prevention has never been more important,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “And at the Department of Justice, it’s what we do every day. By taking dangerous drugs off of our streets, we keep addiction from spreading. One of the most important ways we do that is through the DEA’s semi-annual Prescription Drug Take Back Days. The latest Take Back day was the most successful yet, safely disposing of a record amounts of drugs. I have no doubt that will save lives. At a time like this, this event is having more of an impact than ever. I want to thank all of our local law enforcement partners who helped at all 5,300 collection sites to make this possible – and everyone who participated. They're helping us end this crisis one pill at a time.”
“Properly disposing of pills left in home medicine cabinets means fewer pills making it into the hands of young people experimenting with drugs, possibly leading to more drug abuse and possible addiction,” said Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town. “The success of DEA’s fall Take-Back indicates people are learning how dangerous the abuse of prescription pills, particularly opioid painkillers, can be and are taking the right step to reduce the amount of pills that make it onto the streets,” he said.
“More people start down the path of addiction through the misuse of opioid prescription drugs than any other substance. The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to the highest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen,” said Acting DEA Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “This is a crisis that must be addressed from multiple angles. Educating the public and removing these medications from households across the Unites States prevents misuse where it often starts.”
“I am pleasantly surprised with the results of our efforts during the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton in Alabama. “The fall event has historically been slightly less effective than the spring event but not this year. Hopefully this means the word is getting out about the dangers of narcotics being left readily available, tempting our loved-ones with possible life-altering addiction,” he said. “We can never be too safe with highly addictive opioids. Get them out of your house.”
This year, DEA worked with its tribal law enforcement partners to set up 115 collection sites on tribal lands. Opioid addiction impacts Native American communities just as it does all parts of American society. By partnering with FBI, BIA, and tribal law enforcement, the DEA was able to greatly expand tribal participation in the Take Back program. DEA remains committed to supporting public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. DEA launched its prescription drug take back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines – flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash – posed potential safety and health hazards.
Helping people to dispose of potentially harmful prescription drugs is just one way DEA is working to reduce the addiction and overdose deaths plaguing this country due to opioid medications.
Complete results for DEA’s fall Take Back Day are available at www.deatakeback.com. DEA’s next Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 28, 2018.
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Shelby County Duo Agree to Plead to Conspiracy to Operate Pawn Shop Fencing RingRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged two Shelby County residents with conspiring to operate a large-scale pawnshop fencing ring, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.
In separate informations filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors charged STEVE RANDALL SCOTT, 59, of Shelby County and Puerto Rico, and SARAH VICKERS, also known as Sarah Elizabeth Cahill and Sarah Vickers Morrow, 39, of Shelby County, with one count of conspiring to transport stolen goods across state lines. Scott and Vickers have agreed to plead guilty and signed plea agreements. They must appear before a judge to formally enter guilty pleas.
“These defendants encouraged thieves to bring stolen retail merchandise to their pawn shops to fuel an illicit online business where they sold as much as $1.5 million in stolen goods,” Town said. “Thanks to the outstanding work of the Secret Service, our partners at the Jefferson County District Attorneys’ Office and local law enforcement, we have been able to shut down a widespread fencing operation in our district,” he said. “This exemplifies the successes in partnerships.”
“This case highlights the excellent work the Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force is conducting,” Williams said. “This task force is a strong force-multiplier of Birmingham metro area law enforcement that fights financial crimes affecting our community.”
According to Scott’s and Vickers’ plea agreements, Scott, personally and through his relatives and corporations, owned and operated multiple check-cashing, check advance, title loan, and traditional pawn businesses in the Birmingham metro area operating under the names Cashmax, Check Exchange, Cash 101, Cash Plus and Scott’s Jewelry and Pawn. Scott employed Vickers to operate the Cashmax, Check Exchange, Cash 101 and Cash Plus locations.
In 2015, Scott, Vickers and others agreed to start taking in items from shoplifters. Vickers and other employees of Scott encouraged shoplifters to bring them new, in-box items from national retailers including Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Home Depot. The stolen items included power tools, graphing calculators, Fitbit activity trackers, vacuum cleaners, designer purses and electric toothbrushes. Vickers and other Scott employees accepted the stolen goods, paid the shoplifters a portion of their value, resold the items for a profit on Amazon and eBay, and mailed them to locations across the United States, according to the plea agreements.
On Oct. 14, 2016, the Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force, working in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, raided 12 of the Scott locations and arrested 16 people including Scott and Vickers. The task force recovered two tractor-trailers’ worth of stolen goods. The more than 5,000 items had a value of at least $500,000. Scott and Vickers acknowledge in their plea agreements that they sold at least another $500,000 in stolen items via eBay and Amazon. The total loss to area retailers from their scheme is between $550,000 and $1.5 million.
Scott already has forfeited much of the proceeds of the scheme and is no longer operating the businesses. Scott and Vickers will face up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000.
The Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force is composed of investigators from the Secret Service, the Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Birmingham, Homewood and Alabaster police departments, and prosecutors from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. eBay also assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica Williamson Barnes, Robin Beardsley Mark and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting the case.
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Moody Pill Mill Doctor Charged with Illegal PrescribingRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Friday charged a Vestavia Hills physician with illegally prescribing controlled substances, including opioid painkillers, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
In a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged STEVEN BRUCE HEFTER, 60, with one count of conspiracy to dispense and distribute schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose between 2012 and December 2015. Hefter worked at a pain management clinic in Moody that closed after investigators began looking into the clinic’s prescribing practices.
In conjunction with the charge against Hefter, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with him. The terms of the plea agreement were filed under seal; however, Hefter will be required to surrender his Alabama medical license, along with his state and federal DEA certificates to prescribe controlled substances. He will be prohibited from ever practicing medicine in the United States. A federal judge must accept the terms of the agreement before it is final.
“President Trump has declared the opioid crisis a national health emergency,” Town said. “Attorney General Sessions has already implemented programs to target this epidemic. Our collective efforts in the Northern District of Alabama are already getting results and the people of Alabama can count on many more.”
“Our agents will continue to work these cases tirelessly,” Hamilton said. “This opioid crisis is devastating to our community and our children.”
“Doctors must play a critical role in not only treating pain but also in combating America’s opioid epidemic,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib. “Doctors prescribing opioids within the bounds of legitimate medicine are not the focus of the Department of Justice. We are, however, coming for those physicians and medical providers who abuse their positions and prescribing authority for no other purpose than greed,” he said. “Doctors who do so harm all Americans and represent the nadir of the medical profession.”
Hefter specialized as a cardiologist, not in pain management, but worked as a pain management physician for the clinic in Moody. The clinic held itself out as providing legitimate pain management services. In reality, the clinic was a pill mill churning out schedule II controlled substance pills mainly to make money. Hefter issued prescriptions through the clinic for schedule II controlled substances that were not medically necessary.
The DEA investigated the case, based partly on an investigation conducted by the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. Khatib is prosecuting the case.
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Saturday’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Good Way to Fight Public Health Emergency of Opioid AbuseRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM –Today’s declaration by President Donald Trump that America’s opioid crisis is a public health emergency underscores the importance of the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, said U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s biannual event offers the public a convenient, anonymous way to properly dispose of potentially dangerous expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs, thereby preventing their misuse and protecting the environment from contamination that can result from flushing drugs down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.
“The number of individuals whose path to addiction began with prescription pills is staggering,” Town said. “Today, the president formally recognized what he and so many others have known for too long…that this country’s abuse and addiction to opioids is a public health emergency. This is evidenced by the sad reality that nearly 100 people in America die every day from opioid overdose. The easiest and most effective thing we all can do to protect our loved ones from prescription drug abuse, opioid addiction, and even potential progression to heroin use, is to clean out our medicine cabinets and drop those drugs off for proper disposal,” he said.
“Last April, Alabamians turned in more 6,200 pounds of prescription drugs at more than 70 sites operated by the DEA and our state and local law enforcement partners,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton. “We hope that this Take-Back will be just as successful and will help rid our community of these deadly drugs.”
The Take-Back will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at thousands of collection sites across the country, including more than 30 in the Northern District of Alabama. To locate a collection site near you, go to the DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day website at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator where you can search by zip code, city or state.
The site lists eight drop-off locations in the Birmingham area, including the Hoover and Vestavia Hills police departments, Fultondale Fire Station No. 2, Greystone YMCA, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department at 2651 Center Point Road, Bessemer Police Department Emergency Operations Center at 651 9th Ave. SW, and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy at 111 Village St.
Huntsville-area locations include the Fox Army Health Center and the Army Air Force Exchange Service's Mail Post Exchange Building.
If this weekend is not convenient, there also are permanent, secure prescription drop-off sites in the metro Birmingham area. Locations include 24-hour Walgreens Pharmacies in Hoover, Roebuck and Bessemer, and some police and fire departments. To find a location near you, follow this link: http://www.rxdropbox.com/.
On the DEA’s Take-Back Day in April, Americans turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 8.1 million pounds – more than 4,050 tons – of pills. DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches. The disposal service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.
The Take-Back initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.
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Three Foreign Nationals Indicted for Being in U.S. after DeportationRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted three foreign nationals for being in the United States illegally after previous deportation, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
Separate and unrelated indictments filed in U.S. District Court charge JESUS PREITO-ROSAS, 34, who is also known as Louis Martinez, and ADAN MIRELES-JARAMILLO, 30, both of Mexico, and PEDRO EDGARDO PORTILLO-PORTILLO, 43, of El Salvador, with illegal re-entry after deportation.
According to Preito-Rosas’ indictment, he was in Jefferson County on Sept. 26 after having been removed from the United States to Mexico in October 2011 following a conviction for an aggravated felony. The maximum penalty for that charge is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Mireles-Jaramillo was in Jefferson Count on Sept. 18 after having been removed from the United States in December 2010 and August 2013, according to his indictment.
Portillo-Portillo was in Shelby County on Sept. 15 after having been removed from the United States in July 2015 and August 2016, according to his indictment. The maximum penalty for the charge against both Mireles-Jaramillo and Portillo-Portillo is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
ICE investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
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Mississippi Man Charged with Theft from Government for Defrauding TARP-funded Alabama BankRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors this week charged a Mississippi man with stealing government property by defrauding an Alabama bank that received money through the Troubled Asset Relief Program following the 2008 financial crisis, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, TARP Special Inspector General Christy Goldsmith Romero, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged THOMAS G. COMER JR., 58, of Columbus, Miss., with one count of theft of government money or property between January 2010 and July 2014. In conjunction with the charge, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Comer in which he agrees to plead guilty, pay restitution of $136,278 to the U.S. Treasury and forfeit that same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. Comer must appear before a federal judge to formally enter his guilty plea.
The Treasury Department lost nearly $500,000 in its TARP investment in the Lamar County, Ala., bank that Comer defrauded, according to his plea agreement.
“Those who greedily seek a self-indulgent advantage during times of calamity, especially in times of financial crisis or natural disaster, will be vigorously prosecuted by the United States,” Town said. “I want to thank SIGTARP and the FBI for their outstanding work on this case.”
“Today’s plea is an important step in the fight against fraud that hurt a TARP bank and cost taxpayers,” Romero said. “One week after taxpayers funded Bank of Vernon with $6 million in a TARP program to foster small business lending, the bank loaned money to Thomas Comer to buy river barges. Months later, Comer sold the barges that served as collateral for the loans, and defrauded the bank, keeping the money for himself rather than repaying the loans,” she said. “Fraud against a TARP bank is fraud against taxpayers, as seen here when the bank could not repay TARP in full and Treasury took a loss of nearly half a million dollars. I thank U.S Attorney Jay E. Town and his team for fighting with SIGTARP against TARP bailout-related crime and recovering funds for Treasury.”
“Mr. Comer ultimately stole from tax-paying citizens in order to line his own pockets,” Sharp said. “The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who perpetrate this type of fraud.”
Comer owned a Mississippi-based company, CFC Transportation, which specialized in hauling gravel and other freight on the Mississippi and other rivers. He and his company filed for bankruptcy in federal court in May 2014, according to his plea agreement.
Comer had an established banking relationship with the Bank of Vernon in Lamar County and in March 2009 obtained a $295,922 business loan to buy nine barges, according to the plea agreement. The loan documentation designated the barges as security for the loan.
Several months later, Comer obtained a second loan, in the form of a $136,278 line of credit, saying the barges “had been arrested” and he needed money to recover them, according to the plea agreement. In early 2010, Comer sold six of the nine barges for $239,000 but used that money to prop up his struggling businesses rather than to repay his bank loans. Comer also did not inform the Bank of Vernon that he had sold the barges. Between July 27, 2010, and June 25, 2013, on 11 loan renewals and extensions of his two loans, Comer misrepresented his security for the loans, listing the nine barges as collateral, according to his plea agreement.
The Vernon bank, through its holding company, First Vernon Bancshares, received $6 million in TARP funds from the U.S. Treasury in June 2009, according to Comer’s plea agreement. The Treasury Department established TARP as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. TARP was designed to restore liquidity and stability to the country’s financial system in the wake of the financial crisis.
In exchange for the TARP funds to First Vernon Bancshares, the government held shares in the bank and the holding company was required to pay quarterly dividends to the U.S. Treasury until the bank redeemed its stock. In September 2010, the bank converted to a different TARP program designed to help small businesses obtain credit, but First Vernon Bancshares still was required to make quarterly dividend payments to the Treasury Department until the bank repaid its investment, according to Comer’s plea agreement.
The holding company ultimately missed some of the quarterly payments and, in November 2016, reached an agreement with Treasury to buy back its preferred stock for about $5.7 million, according to the plea agreement. Treasury lost about $499,600 on its investment in First Vernon Bancshares.
Comer could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Treasury’s Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter is investigating.
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U.S. Attorney Charges NW Alabama Compounding Pharmacy Sales Representative in Prescription Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged a fourth sales representative for a Haleyville, Ala.,-based compounding pharmacy for participating in a conspiracy to generate prescriptions and defraud health care insurers and prescription drug administrators out of tens of millions of dollars in 2015.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the charges.
Prosecutors filed an information in U.S. District Court charging PETER EODICE II, 34, of Webster, NY, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud, various counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent prescription reimbursement claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, and one count of aggravated identity theft for forging a prescription. In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Eodice.
Eodice worked for Northside Pharmacy, an Alabama company doing business as Global Compounding Pharmacy. Global’s compounding and shipping facility was in Haleyville. The pharmacy did its prescription processing, billing and customer service at its “call center” in Clearwater, Fla.
Global hired sales representatives, including Eodice, who were located in various states and were responsible for generating prescriptions from physicians and other prescribers. To bill insurance providers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, for these prescriptions, Global contracted to enter the pharmacy networks of third-party administrators, known as “pharmacy benefit managers” or “PBMs.” These PBMs included Prime Therapeutics and Express Scripts Incorporated.
The court documents describe a conspiracy at Global that centered on generating and billing PBMs for fraudulent, often high-reimbursement prescriptions. To generate prescriptions, Global hired sales representatives who were married or related to doctors and other prescribers. Global also encouraged sales representatives to volunteer at doctors’ offices where they would review patient files and push Global’s products to patients. Global executives also frequently instructed employees to obtain high-reimbursing prescriptions that Global would fill and bill for reimbursement. One of the drugs that Eodice got for himself and his family members was a wound cream that cost over $29,000.
The plea agreement describes a Global executive instructing sales representatives to obtain certain prescriptions and, shortly after, Eodice obtained those prescriptions for himself and family members. Eodice also forged multiple prescriptions, according to the court documents.
When billing, Global engaged in various fraudulent practices, including automatically refilling and billing for prescriptions regardless of patient need, and routinely waiving co-pays to encourage patients to accept unnecessary medications and refills.
As part of his plea agreement, Eodice agreed to forfeit $266,513 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
Global paid sales representatives a base salary plus a monthly commission for prescriptions that they obtained, according to court documents.
The charges against Eodice follow charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office earlier this year against three other Global sales representatives, Robin Gary Lowry, 49, of Columbus, Miss., Bridget McCune, 42, of Destin, Fla., and Kelley Norris-Hartley, 41, of Tuscaloosa. All three were charged with conspiracy to defraud insurance plans and PBMs, along with various health care fraud counts for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to BCBS of Alabama. McCune also was charged with conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks in return for referring prescriptions under Medicare and TRICARE, a U.S. Department of Defense health care program, and with money laundering for spending proceeds of the crimes. All three defendants pleaded guilty. Their sentencings are scheduled for early 2018.
FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting.
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Shelby County Woman, Trussville Man Prosecuted for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Shelby County woman to more than 24 years in prison for producing child pornography of an eight-year-old relative in 2015, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor sentenced JENNIFER LYNNE GALLOWAY, 34, to 24 years and six months in prison on one count of producing child pornography. Galloway pleaded guilty to the charge in June.
After she took the photos of the child, Galloway sent them to a man she knew as Cory Haynes, whom she had met on the internet. Haynes actually was BRIAN WAYNE RAY, 55, of Trussville, according to Ray’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors. FBI investigators discovered the pornographic images that Galloway produced attached to emails between Ray and a man living in Washington, D.C., according to the plea agreement. The FBI also located other images of child pornography within Ray’s email account.
Ray pleaded guilty Oct. 11 to one count of distributing child pornography between March 9, 2016, and March 15, 2016, using the internet and an email account. He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography between Feb. 14, 2016, and July 5, 2016, in Jefferson County. Ray is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 23.
Ray will face between five and 20 years in prison.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Williamson Barnes is prosecuting.
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National Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville Receives $2 Million in DOJ GrantsRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – The Department of Justice has awarded grants totaling $2.1 million to the National Children’s Advocacy Center for the 2017 fiscal year, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and NCAC Executive Director Chris Newlin.
The Huntsville Center is receiving the funding through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Victims of Child Abuse grant programs. Under the Training and Technical Assistance for Child Abuse Professionals program, the center received $900,000 to develop a training program for state and local professionals who shepherd child abuse victims through the judicial system. It also received a $1.2 million grant under the VOCA Act Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers Program to support the Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, which provides training and technical assistance to state chapters, other children’s advocacy centers, and multidisciplinary teams in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
“I am so pleased to be able to announce that the Department of Justice has awarded grants totaling more than $2 million to the National Children’s Advocacy Center this year,” Town said. “This center is renowned for the training and support it provides the many professionals who work with child abuse victims and strive to improve the judicial system’s handling of their cases.”
“The NCAC is honored to be awarded these two grants, which will allow us to continue providing the highest quality child abuse training and technical resources for professionals working throughout the United States,” Newlin said. “The Department of Justice has continuously funded these two projects at the NCAC for more than 20 years. This is testament to the quality of training and technical assistance we have provided during that time, which also has seen the number of CACs in the United States increase to more than 900 in 2017, serving more than 300,000 children per year. At the same time, our nation has seen the sexual abuse of children decline by almost 50 percent! We are making progress, and the NCAC and this community have played a pivotal role in this regard.”
The Huntsville Center was the first child advocacy center in the country, and it continues to provide prevention and intervention services for child abuse in Huntsville and Madison County. It also houses the NCAC Training Center, the Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, NCAC Virtual Training Center, and the Child Abuse Library Online – CALiO.
The purpose of the two grants is to develop and implement a model training and technical assistance program to improve the judicial system's handling of child abuse and neglect cases and enhance the expertise of child abuse professionals.
The program will provide training and support for multidisciplinary teams of child abuse professionals at the state and local levels, and will develop resources and publications designed to enhance the coordinated multidisciplinary response to child abuse.
The training by the National Children’s Advocacy Center will emphasize the implementation of developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed and evidence-based programs, policies and practices. Training will address topics including Forensic Interviews at Trial: Preparation and Presentation Training; Building Forensic Interviewing Skills Training; Conducting Child Abuse Investigations for Child Protective Services, and Law Enforcement Training for CPS Investigators and Law Enforcement Investigators.
The grants also will help the advocacy center provide scholarships for child abuse professionals to the International Symposium on Child Abuse and offer new, recorded online child-abuse response training sessions and provide new webinars on high-priority child-abuse response topics. The center will continue to provide archived webinars and online trainings. Through its technical assistance efforts, the NCAC will provide technical assistance via online Mentoring and Consultation Groups for Forensic Interviewers and online Consultation and Support Groups for Supervisors of Child Forensic Interviewers.
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Bank Robber Sentenced to 7 ½ Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man to more than seven years in prison for three bank robberies in 2014, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
PATRICK DEXTER JONES, 49, pled guilty to the three bank robberies before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala, who then imposed the seven-year, six-month sentence.
Jones admitted to robbing a Regions Bank branch on Inverness Center Drive in Hoover on Jan. 9, 2014, a BBVA Compass Bank branch on Shades Creek Parkway in Homewood on Jan. 21, 2014, and a Wells Fargo branch on Sixth Avenue South in Birmingham on Feb. 14, 2014. Jones presented notes demanding money in the first two robberies and in the third, presented two plastic bags and instructed the teller to put cash in the bags, according to his plea.
The robber of the Compass Bank in Homewood was seen fleeing the scene in a silver Honda Civic and a tag number was recorded. Investigators identified Jones as the owner of that car, according to his plea. He was arrested in 2014.
The call for a competency hearing postponed resolution of the case, according to court records.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Felton prosecuted.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces Reinvigoration of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Other Actions to Reduce Rising Tide of Violent CrimeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced several Department of Justice actions to reduce the rising tide of violent crime in America. Foremost of those actions is the reinvigoration of “Project Safe Neighborhoods,” a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
In announcing this recommitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods, the attorney general issued a memo directing the nation’s U.S. attorneys to implement an enhanced violent crime reduction program that incorporates the lessons learned since Project Safe Neighborhoods launched in 2001.
In a statement on the program, the attorney general said:
"According to the FBI, the violent crime rate has risen by nearly seven percent over the past two years, and the homicide rate has risen by more than 20 percent. We cannot be complacent or hope that this is just an anomaly: we have a duty to take action.
“Fortunately, we have a president who understands that and has directed his administration to reduce crime. The Department of Justice today announces the foundation of our plan to reduce crime: prioritizing Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that has been proven to work.
“Let me be clear – Project Safe Neighborhoods is not just one policy idea among many. This is the centerpiece of our crime reduction strategy.
“Taking what we have learned since the program began in 2001, we have updated it and enhanced it, emphasizing the role of our U.S. attorneys, the promise of new technologies, and above all, partnership with local communities. With these changes, I believe that this program will be more effective than ever and help us fulfill our mission to make America safer."
"Recently the FBI released data confirming what we already knew … violent crime continues to rise,” said U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town. “In fact, Alabama has the nation’s third-highest murder rate, per capita, and Birmingham remains one of the nation's most violent major cities.”
“In response to this spike in violence,” Town said, “the Department of Justice has revised the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program and developed a holistic approach to drive down violent crime. We have learned that targeted enforcement efforts yield the greatest reductions in violent crime,” he said. “For that reason, my office, in collaboration with our state and local partners, have begun to identify the most violent locations in the Northern District. We will focus our enforcement efforts on the offenders driving violent crime in those areas and ensure that those offenders are prosecuted in the jurisdiction that will provide the most immediate and appropriate sanction.”
Town said the enhanced PSN program also addresses prevention and includes not just the deterrence messaging, but also support for programs to help keep youth on track and to help reduce recidivism.
“This is a critical time for all members and levels of law enforcement to stride swiftly towards forging positive partnerships,” he said. “We must find ways to collaborate in investigations and prosecutions without worry or claim to credit. To underscore our commitment to that end, and as a part of PSN, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama and the Department of Justice will continue to make available training and technical assistance to our state and local partners to ensure they have the information and the tools they need to succeed.
“Reserving prison bed space for our worst offenders can no longer be a unique approach to law enforcement,” Town said. “For the sake of our children and public safety, it must be standard practice.
“We can no longer just take a bite out of crime. We need to sit for all five courses."
“Reducing violent crime is our number one priority,” said Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper. “We are pleased to see the reinvigoration of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which will allow us to expand the tools within our tool box as we partner with our local, state and federal partners to combat violent crime in the City of Birmingham.”
The attorney general also announced the following Department of Justice initiatives to help reduce violent crime:
-Additional Assistant United States Attorney Positions to Focus on Violent Crime – The Department is allocating 40 prosecutors to approximately 20 United States Attorney’s Offices to focus on violent crime reduction.
-More Cops on the Streets (COPS Hiring Grants) – As part of our continuing commitment to crime prevention efforts, increased community policing, and the preservation of vital law enforcement jobs, the Department will be awarding approximately $98 million in FY 2017 COPS Hiring Grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.
-Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force’s (OCDETF) National Gang Strategic Initiative –The National Gang Strategic Initiative promotes creative enforcement strategies and best practices that will assist in developing investigations of violent criminal groups and gangs into enterprise-level OCDETF prosecutions. Under this initiative, OCDETF provides “seed money” to locally-focused gang investigations, giving state, local, and tribal investigators and prosecutors the resources and tools needed to identify connections between lower-level gangs and national-level drug trafficking organizations.
-Critical Training and Technical Assistance to State and Local Partners –The Department has a vast array of training and technical assistance resources available to state, local and tribal law enforcement, victims groups, and others. To ensure that agencies in need of assistance are able to find the training and materials they need, OJP will make available a Violence Reduction Response Center to serve as a “hot line” to connect people to these resources.
-Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGIC) – The Department has provided grant funding to support a comprehensive approach to identifying the most violent offenders in a jurisdiction, using new technologies such as gunshot detection systems combined with gun crime intelligence from NIBIN, eTrace, and investigative efforts. These FY 2017 grants were awarded to Phoenix, AZ, and Kansas City, MO.
-Expand ATF’s NIBIN Urgent Trace Program – The Department will expand ATF’s NIBIN Urgent Trace Program nationwide by the end of the year. Through this program, any firearm submitted for tracing that is associated with a NIBIN “hit” (which means it can be linked to a shooting incident) will be designated an “urgent” trace and the requestor will get information back about the firearm’s first retail purchaser within 24 hours, instead of 5 to 6 business days.
U.S. Attorney Jay Town Names Robert Posey to Management PositionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town has named veteran federal prosecutor Robert O. Posey as executive assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
“Robert Posey is an institution of knowledge. His leadership is proven and battle-tested and the Northern District has been fortunate to have it for many years, and it is my hope we will have it for many years to come,” Town said. “Robert will remain a big part of the management team as our new executive assistant U.S. attorney.”
Posey most recently served as the acting U.S. attorney from January until Town’s U.S. Senate confirmation as U.S. attorney in August. Posey served as first assistant U.S. attorney to former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance from July 2013 until assuming the acting U.S. attorney role when Vance retired. Posey has more than 25 years’ experience as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District, including serving as deputy chief of the Criminal Division, where he supervised white-collar crime, public corruption and civil rights cases.
In his role as executive assistant U.S. attorney, Posey will be tasked with a number of leadership and managerial roles, to include direct supervision of the Administrative Division, supervising special projects and working groups, and continuing as the district office security manager.
As an assistant U.S. attorney, Posey received the Justice Department's highest award presented to an attorney for trial of litigation for his role in the successful prosecution of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing cases. He received a similar Justice Department award for his role in the environmental crime prosecution of McWane Corporation.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Posey served 10 years as a state prosecutor in Jefferson and Shelby counties. He is an Alabama native and a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in Birmingham. He also is a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer.
U.S. Attorney Jay Town Names Lloyd Peeples to Office’s Number Two PostRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town has named Lloyd Peeples as first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, the office’s number two post. Peeples began work in the leadership position this week.
“Lloyd Peeples brings tremendous energy, devotion and skill to the Northern District,” Town said. “His experience, coupled with his leadership capability, will serve the entire office well. I am very proud that Lloyd Peeples joins us as my first assistant U.S. attorney.”
As the first assistant U.S. Attorney, Peeples will supervise the Criminal, Civil, Appellate and Administrative Divisions. The first assistant U.S. attorney regularly receives case briefings, serves as a liaison with state and federal agencies, represents the U.S. Attorney’s Office to the public, and handles administrative matters as directed by the U.S. attorney.
Peeples worked as a prosecutor in the Northern District of Alabama from 2003 until 2012, handling a variety of civil and criminal matters, including civil and criminal health care fraud, False Claims Act, tax fraud, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and public corruption cases. Peeples left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to assist in managing his father’s manufacturing business. Following his father’s death, Peeples took over as chairman of the board and chief executive officer until the family sold the company in January 2017.
Peeples was born in Dothan. He attended Washington and Lee University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1995. Peeples obtained his law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in 1998. Peeples worked as a judicial clerk and in private practice in Birmingham before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2003.
Peeples said he is grateful for the opportunity to re-join the U.S. Attorney’s Office and return to public service.
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U.S. Attorney Charges Alabama Deer Breeder for Illegal Transportation of Whitetail DeerRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama today charged a licensed Alabama deer breeder and his associate for illegally transporting captive-bred and raised whitetail deer from a facility in Indiana to his deer breeder facility in Alabama. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Alabama’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division Chief of Enforcement Michael Weathers announced the charge.
Prosecutors filed a one-count information charging LEWIS H. SKINNER, 56, and his associate FRANKLIN BANKS LODEN, 56, both of Northport, with knowingly transporting and receiving whitetail deer in interstate commerce. The defendants should have known that the wildlife was possessed and transported in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Alabama and the federal Lacey Act, according to the charge.
In conjunction with the information, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Skinner and Loden in the U.S. District Court. According to the plea agreement, Skinner owned and controlled all activities occurring on Skinner Farms, a private deer breeding business in Sumter County, Ala. Skinner had obtained a deer breeder permit from the State of Alabama and knew that Alabama is a “closed border” state that prohibits importing deer.
According to the plea agreement, Skinner surrendered his Alabama Game Breeders License and agreed not to participate in the commercial deer breeder industry in the future. Skinner also agreed to pay a $100,000 fine, which shall be directed to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, and $650,000 in restitution to the State of Alabama.
In November 2016, according to the plea agreement, Skinner arranged for Loden to move six captive-bred whitetail deer covertly from Indiana to Skinner Farms in Alabama. Law enforcement stopped Loden and seized the deer in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Investigators determined that some of these illegally transported deer were lacking the required identification for the Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program. The deer in question, fawns from a previously certified herd, rendered the farm and other deer disqualified from the program because of the lack of identification. The required identification is usually in the form of a numbered ear tag or tattoo.
CWD affects the central nervous system of deer species, including whitetail deer. The disease attacks the brain of an infected animal causing it to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions, and die. CWD is infectious, communicable and 100 percent fatal.
“The illegal transport of deer from outside the State of Alabama by a licensed deer breeder motivated solely by profit places our entire whitetail deer herd at risk of this fatal disease,” Weathers said. “The charge and plea agreement in this case are evidence of the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division’s steadfast dedication to protecting the wildlife resources of the State of Alabama,” he said.
As noted in the plea agreement, Skinner is submitting all captive whitetail deer held in his deer breeder facility to be tested for the presence of CWD.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resource’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division investigated the case in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius is prosecuting the case.
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Compounding Pharmacy Owner Charged with $10 Million Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged the owner of a Decatur compounding pharmacy with conspiracy to defraud a federal health insurance program out of more than $10 million. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Justin Green and Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin announced the charge.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged JOHN CHRISTOPHER LEMLEY, 51, of Decatur, with the conspiracy and seeks to have him forfeit nearly $1 million as proceeds of the fraud. Most of that amount already has been seized from bank accounts held by Lemley or his businesses, according to the charges.
In conjunction with the one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Lemley. As part of that agreement, Lemley agrees to forfeit $918,234, along with a 2015 Lexus Gx-460 Premium purchased with criminal proceeds. Lemley must appear before a judge to formally enter a guilty plea.
“This defendant took part in a conspiracy that employed improper contracts, kickbacks, mislabeled drugs and prescription forgeries in order to bilk millions of dollars from the federal health insurance program meant for America’s military members and their families,” Town said. “The FDA and DCIS did a tremendous job uncovering this fraud and our office remains committed to prosecuting every single one of these types of cases.”
“American consumers rely on FDA to ensure that their drugs are safe, effective and properly labeled,” Green said. “Today’s announcement should serve as a reminder of our continued focus on those who put profits ahead of the U.S. public health by distributing misbranded products.”
“In concert with our investigative partners, DCIS aggressively pursues fraud and corruption that undermines the integrity of Department of Defense programs, especially those involving the well-being of our Warfighters who deserve the best medical care available,” Khin said. “It is unconscionable for a health care provider to make profits by taking advantage of military members and their families when they are most vulnerable.”
Lemley owned a Decatur pharmacy that operated as Southern Compounding. He also owned Apotheca Supply, which was licensed to relabel and repackage pharmaceutical drugs and was located in a suite that adjoined Southern Compounding on U.S. Highway 31 South. Lemley also had a 20 percent membership interest in Medworx Sunflower LLC, an affiliate of Medworx Compounding, a compounding pharmacy in Ridgeland, Miss., according to the information and plea agreement.
Between February 2015 to January 2016, Lemley conspired with others at Medworx Sunflower and Southern Compounding to defraud TRICARE, a U.S. Department of Defense health care program, and third-party prescription-drug program administrators Express Scripts Incorporated and OptumRx Inc., according to the court documents.
Southern Compounding submitted prescription reimbursement claims to TRICARE as part of ESI’s pharmacy network. The pharmacy submitted claims to various insurance plans as part of OptumRx’s pharmacy network.
As part of the conspiracy, Lemley conducted the fraud by various means that included improperly contracting with Medworx Compounding to refer prescriptions to Southern Compounding, paying kickbacks to independent sales representatives as incentive to refer TRICARE prescriptions, selling misbranded over-the-counter medications as prescription drugs and not reversing claims on prescriptions Lemley knew were forged, according to the court documents.
Although ESI’s regulations prohibited Southern Compounding from subcontracting any of its work, Southern entered a management agreement with Medworx in early 2015 whereby Medworx referred prescriptions to Southern Compounding, according to Lemley’s plea agreement. Southern filled the prescriptions, billed third-party administrators for them and sent almost all the payments received to Medworx. Medworx then returned a portion of those payments directly to Lemley, the plea agreement says. The amount returned totaled $918,234, representing a distribution for Lemley’s 20 percent membership interest in Medworx Sunflower.
Southern Compounding’s billings to TRICARE soared in the two months after Southern entered its agreement with Medworx, according to the plea agreement. In the 13 months prior to the agreement, TRICARE paid claims of about $215,561 to Southern. In the two months following the February 2015 agreement, TRICARE, through ESI, paid about $10.5 million in claims to Southern, according to the plea agreement. More than 90 percent of that was profit.
In accordance with Southern’s management agreement with Medworx, Lemley transferred most of the money – about $10.2 million – to Medworx. Most of the transferred money was to fund kickbacks to the independent sales representatives, according to the plea agreement.
Lemley faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.
FDA-OCI and DCIS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinelo Dike-Minor is prosecuting.
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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Lawyers and Coal Company VP in Conspiracy to Bribe LegislatorRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted two Birmingham lawyers and an Alabama coal company executive on charges of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment charges that the three paid a state legislator to take official action favorable to their interests in connection with EPA actions in north Birmingham. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr., and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the indictment.
A six-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges that JOEL IVERSON GILBERT and STEVEN GEORGE McKINNEY, both partners in the Birmingham law firm Balch & Bingham, and DAVID LYNN ROBERSON, vice-president of government and regulatory affairs for Drummond Company, conspired to provide former state Rep. Oliver L. Robinson Jr. with a valuable and confidential consulting contract in exchange for his taking official action favorable to Balch & Bingham and its client, Drummond, regarding an environmental cleanup site in north Birmingham.
"It matters not on which side of the bribe one falls in public corruption. Those who pay and those who receive will be prosecuted to the fullest," Town said. "The work done by this trial team and investigators with the FBI and IRS has been as diligent as it has been exceptional."
“Public corruption tears at the fabric of democracy and undermines the public's trust in government,” Sharp said. “Those who choose to engage in corrupt practices can expect the FBI and our partners will be working to bring you to justice.”
“The allegations against these defendants show personal gain and agendas were placed above the overall health of the citizens who lived and worked in this community,” Dorsey said. “Bribery of political officials is against the law and IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to assist with the ongoing effort to expose everyone involved in this conspiracy.”
The Environmental Protection Agency had designated an area of north Birmingham, including the neighborhoods of Harriman Park, Fairmont and Collegeville, as a Superfund site after finding elevated levels of arsenic, lead and benzo(a)pyrene during soil sampling. In September 2013, EPA notified five companies, including ABC Coke, a division of Drummond, that they could potentially be responsible for the pollution. A company determined to be responsible “could have faced tens of millions of dollars in cleanup costs and fines,” according to the indictment.
Robinson, 57, of Birmingham, pled guilty on Sept. 7 to conspiracy, bribery, and honest services fraud for accepting a valuable contract between Balch & Bingham and his non-profit Oliver Robinson Foundation to influence and reward him for using his elected position to oppose prioritization and expansion of the EPA site, designated the 35th Avenue Superfund Site. At the time, between November 2014 and November 2016, Robinson represented Alabama House District 58, which included citizens of Birmingham, and was vice-chairman of the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation.
In September 2014, EPA proposed adding the 35th Avenue Site to its National Priorities List, signaling that it required priority attention. Placement on the priorities list would have allowed EPA to use the federal Superfund Trust Fund to conduct long-term cleanup at the site, provided the State of Alabama agreed to pay 10 percent of the costs, which could equal millions of dollars, according the charges. EPA also was considering the petition of a Birmingham advocacy group, GASP, to expand the site to the Tarrant and Inglenook neighborhoods.
Gilbert, 45, McKinney, 62, and Roberson, 66, all of Birmingham, employed a strategy between 2014 and 2016 “focused on protecting ABC Coke and Drummond Company from the tremendous potential costs associated with being held responsible for pollution within the affected areas,” according to the indictment. They sought to accomplish that goal by working to prevent placement of the 35th Avenue Site on the National Priorities List or its expansion to Tarrant and Inglenook, according to the indictment.
In addition to the conspiracy count, the indictment charges Gilbert, McKinney, and Roberson with one count of bribery, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
The bribery count charges that the men agreed to give the lucrative contract and monthly payments to the Oliver Robinson Foundation to influence and reward Robinson for, among other things, using his official position to:
- Publicly pressure and advise the Alabama Environmental Management Commission and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s director to take a position for the state that was favorable to Balch & Bingham and Drummond in relation to EPA’s efforts to place the 35th Avenue Site on the NPL and expand it into Tarrant and Inglenook.
- Meet with and advise EPA officials to take a position favorable to Balch & Bingham and Drummond regarding the site listing and expansion.
- Vote as a member of the Alabama House Rules Committee to send a joint resolution, written by Gilbert, to the House floor for consideration with a recommendation for adoption. The resolution urged the state attorney general and ADEM to “combat the EPA’s overreach.”
The honest services wire fraud counts charge Gilbert, McKinney, and Roberson with scheming to defraud Alabama citizens of their intangible right to Robinson’s honest services through bribery. These three counts charge three specific executions of the wire fraud scheme – Balch & Bingham checks for $14,000 on Feb. 17, 2015, $7,000 on April 10, 2015, and $7,000 on June 25, 2015 – that were each deposited into the Oliver Robinson Foundation account at Regions Bank.
The money laundering conspiracy charges the three men with conspiring with each other and Robinson to engage in financial transactions designed to conceal the source and receipt of bribery payments.
According to the indictment, Gilbert, McKinney and Roberson formed a tax-exempt corporation named Alliance for Jobs and Economy and recruited corporations to contribute money to it to help fund opposition to EPA’s actions in north Birmingham. Roberson opened and controlled AJE’s bank account. During 2015 and 2016, Drummond and four other corporations contributed a total of $195,000 to AJE, according to the indictment, and Gilbert and Roberson directed almost all of that money to the Oliver Robinson Foundation. Gilbert and Roberson also directed more than $150,000 from Drummond to the Oliver Robinson Foundation. In total, the Oliver Robinson Foundation received approximately $360,000 under the contract during 2015 and 2016.
As part of the conspiracy, payments from Drummond and AJE to the Oliver Robinson Foundation were routed through Balch & Bingham. According to the charges, the Oliver Robinson Foundation invoiced Balch & Bingham; Balch & Bingham paid the invoices; Balch & Bingham invoiced Drummond or AJE in an identical amount; and Drummond or AJE promptly paid those amounts to Balch & Bingham.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bribery is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for honest services wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the maximum penalty for money laundering conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.
FBI and IRS, Criminal Investigation, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Martin, Robin Beardsley Mark and John B. Ward are prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Alabama Man Arrested on Production of Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
A 54-year-old Muscle Shoals, Alabama resident was arrested on September 27, on a federal criminal complaint charging him with producing child pornography, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama.
According to the complaint affidavit, between Aug. 1, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1998, Charles Mark McCormack used a minor, born in or about 1992, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography, by surreptitiously videotaping the minor urinating in a bathroom in his residence.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this case with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Alabama Man Arrested on Production of Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A 54-year-old Muscle Shoals, Alabama resident was arrested on September 27, on a federal criminal complaint charging him with producing child pornography, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama.
According to the complaint affidavit, between Aug. 1, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1998, Charles Mark McCormack used a minor, born in or about 1992, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography, by surreptitiously videotaping the minor urinating in a bathroom in his residence.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this case with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
U.S. Attorney Charges Pharmacy Tech for Tampering with OpioidsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged the former lead technician at a central Alabama pharmacy with tampering with vials of opioid painkillers used in the compounding of intravenous fluid bags intended for hospice and homecare patients. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Special Agent in Charge Justin D. Green announced the charge.
Prosecutors filed a one-count information charging JOHNATHON WILLIAM CLICK with tampering with consumer products in reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to that risk. Between December 2014 and September 2016, Click, 30, of Bessemer, removed morphine sulfate and hydromorphone hydrochloride from vials intended for use in mixing IV bags. Click replaced the drugs with another liquid, knowing the diluted vials would be dispensed to patients, according to the charge.
In conjunction with the information, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Click in U.S. District Court. According to the plea agreement, Click worked at Birmingham-based ContinuumRx of Central Alabama. CRX primarily distributes IV bags containing morphine and hydromorphone for palliative care. Click, as the lead pharmacy technician, prepared the vast majority of CRX’s IV bags until the company ended his employment in September 2016.
“This defendant was willing to subject terminal cancer patients to intolerable pain in order to feed his own addiction,” Town said. “This is one more aspect of the epidemic problem America has with abuse of prescription opioids. It also is a testament to law enforcement’s commitment to fight the illegal diversion of these drugs. In this case, people who desperately needed the prescribed drugs for their intended purpose of controlling intense and prolonged pain instead suffered at the hands of a man who knew the misery he could cause.
“It is disappointing when assumed professionals, like pharmacy technicians, are engaged in the diversion of controlled substances,” Hamilton said. “Anyone who can deliberately deny medication to legitimate patients and violate their duties as a professional will be held accountable for allowing these good medicines to get into the wrong hands. The charge and plea agreement in this case are the result of DEA’s continued commitment to work with our law enforcement partners and hold accountable those who participate in illegally diverting controlled substances in our communities,” Hamilton said.
“FDA is fully committed to the vigorous criminal investigation and prosecution of any individual who threatens the safety and security of the U.S. drug supply,” Green said. “The plea agreement in this case sends a clear signal that this kind of illicit tampering activity will not be tolerated.”
According to the plea agreement, Click diverted quantities of morphine and hydromorphone from CRX’s locked inventory by surreptitiously removing vials, withdrawing drugs from the vials and replacing the withdrawn amount with saline or sterile water. He subsequently would return the adulterated and diluted vials to the inventory, undetected, and later used those vials to compound IV bags that were distributed and administered to homecare and hospice patients. CRX’s primary customers are Alacare Home Health & Hospice, New Beacon Hospice, Lakeview Homecare & Hospice, Comfort Care Hospice and Kindred Hospice.
Former patients or family members of patients treated at any of those homecare or hospice providers between December 2014 and September 2016 may receive updates on the case by visiting the U.S. Attorney’s Office website at http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/us-v-johnathon-william-click or calling the toll-free number: 1-866-480-8230.
The maximum penalty for tampering with consumer products is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Click must appear before a federal judge to formally enter a guilty plea.
DEA, FDA and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting.
Jury Convicts Tax Preparer for Filing False ReturnsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury on Friday convicted an Atlanta-area woman on 13 tax-related counts following a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey.
The jury convicted PATRICE ANDERSON, 37, of Fayetteville, Ga., for using her Birmingham-area tax preparation business, Queen’s Fast Tax, to file tax returns on behalf of others in 2010 and 2011 that she knew contained false information. The jury found Anderson guilty of 12 counts of aiding or assisting others to prepare and file false income tax returns and one count of filing her own false income tax return for 2010.
According to evidence during the five-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor, Anderson filed tax returns that claimed refundable credits her clients were not entitled to so that they would receive inflated tax refunds from the government. In return, Anderson would charge the clients abnormally high fees to file their taxes. Anderson charged her clients up to $3,000 per fraudulent tax return, according to testimony.
Anderson testified during the trial that she included only information given to her by clients on the returns she prepared. The government presented evidence, however, that even Anderson’s own 2010, 2011 and 2012 tax returns contained some of the same false items that were characteristic of the fraudulent tax returns she filed for her clients.
Anderson will face up to three years in prison.
IRS, Criminal Investigation, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter prosecuted.
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Huntsville Defense Contractor Sentenced for Defrauding DTRA, NASARead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – A federal judge last week sentenced a Huntsville defense contractor on criminal charges of falsely obtaining Small Business Innovation Research contracts with the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin and Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John Khin.
U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon ordered the contractor, Scientic Inc., to repay the full amount of the contracts with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and NASA, which totaled $250,000, and fined the company $30,000. Judge Kallon also placed Scientic on three years’ probation.
“Bringing those to justice who defraud the United States is among my office’s highest priorities,” Town said. “We are already aggressively expanding our investigative oversight into this illicit behavior.”
“The NASA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those who defraud NASA programs and waste taxpayers' money,” Martin said. “The NASA OIG congratulates the investigative and prosecution team for their hard work and professionalism.”
“In concert with our partner agencies, DCIS aggressively investigates fraud and corruption that undermines the integrity of Department of Defense programs and contracts,” Khin said. “We must do all we can to preserve precious American taxpayer dollars while ensuring our national security.”
Scientic pled guilty in June to making a false statement in order to obtain research contracts with the DTRA and NASA. As part of its plea, Scientic agreed to the fine and restitution.
NASA OIG and DCIS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes prosecuted.
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DOJ Grant Will Support Jefferson County Health Department Resource Recovery CenterRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The Jefferson County Department of Health will receive $300,000 from the Department of Justice to help support a resource recovery center in Birmingham, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Jefferson County Health Officer Mark E. Wilson.
The money is part of $58.8 million in grants the Justice Department announced last week aimed at strengthening drug court programs and addressing the nationwide opioid epidemic.
The $300,000 to Jefferson County comes from $24 million of the overall $59 million that was awarded to 50 cities, counties and public health departments to provide financial and technical assistance to state, local and tribal governments to create comprehensive diversion and alternatives to incarceration programs for those impacted by the opioid epidemic, according to the Justice Department’s announcement.
These funds, awarded under the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, also included funds from the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. This program helps regulatory, law enforcement, and public health agencies address prescription drug and opioid misuse; reduce crime, and save lives. The National Institute of Justice will award an additional $3.1 million for research and evaluation on drugs and crime. The research priorities are heroin and other opioids and synthetic drugs.
“The exceptional leadership at OJP has recognized Birmingham's need for exactly this type of assistance and responded with action,” Town said. “This is truly a force multiplier for the Northern District and I appreciate the confidence the department has in us to produce positive results for all of our citizens.”
“The Jefferson County Department of Health is very pleased to receive this financial and technical assistance from the DOJ to enhance our ongoing efforts to prevent overdose deaths,” Wilson said. “We have enjoyed strong partnerships with law enforcement, local substance abuse treatment and social service organizations, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Without them this work would not be possible.”
The Jefferson County Department of Health had already committed to funding a Recovery Resource Center for Jefferson County, which Birmingham’s Crisis Center will manage with in-kind support from local substance abuse treatment organizations and Cooper Green Mercy Health Services. The RRC will be a place for people seeking assistance with substance abuse to receive in-person assistance with information, assessment, referral and navigation to treatment resources. The Department of Justice funding, which JCDH will receive over three years, will enhance the work of the RRC by supporting the Center’s Peer Navigation Initiative, which is being developed to help reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths within the county. One goal of this initiative, according to the grant application, is to increase access to naloxone to survivors of non-fatal overdose, individuals at risk of overdose and family and friends of those individuals. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can reverse an overdose if administered immediately.
Other goals of the program include serving 600 survivors, at-risk individuals and their family and friends through recovery support services, providing overdose prevention education, and partnering with a researcher to develop strategies to address system gaps, monitor program performance and gauge the program’s effectiveness.
A peer navigator will be someone who has sustained recovery from opioid abuse and is knowledgeable of local treatment resources, according to the grant application. The peer navigator will work with survivors, users and their families and friends at the point of crisis, such as immediately following an overdose.
The Recovery Resource Center Peer Navigation Initiative is a collaborative effort of the Department of Health, Crisis Center, UAB Department of Emergency Medicine, Addiction Recovery Program of UAB, Fellowship House, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Service, Community Law Office, Northwest Alabama Methadone Clinic and UAB Substance Abuse Programs.
In 2016, nearly 60,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses, an increase from the 52,000 overdose deaths the year before, the Justice Department said in announcing the grant awards. The majority of these deaths can be attributed to opioids, including illicit fentanyl and its analogues, the Justice Department release said, noting that the country’s opioid epidemic is a public health crisis and a growing public safety crisis.
Along with the Justice Department’s $24 million awarded under OJP’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, the department also is awarding more than $22.2 million to 53 jurisdictions to support the implementation and enhancement of adult drug courts and Veterans Treatment Courts. These diversionary courts serve as “one-stop-shops” to link veterans with services, benefits and program providers, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Service Organizations and volunteer veteran mentors.
Specific sites and funds awarded can be found online at: https://go.usa.gov/xRJWE.
The department is also awarding more than $9.5 million under several Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant programs, including the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Grant Program and the Family Drug Court Statewide System Reform Implementation Program. These programs help jurisdictions build effective family drug treatment courts and ensure current juvenile drug treatment courts follow established guidelines.
Specific sites and funds awarded can be found online at: https://go.usa.gov/xRJDf.
Finally, read more about the importance of these programs in a new blog by OJP Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson online at https://go.usa.gov/xRJBp.
The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART). More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
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Former Executive Director of Birmingham Volunteer Lawyer Program Sentenced for Misapplication of Federal Program FundsRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 21 2017 - Kelli Hogue Mauro, 48, of Birmingham, Alabama, and former Executive Director of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, was sentenced yesterday to five years of probation and five months of home confinement for misapplication of property worth at least $5,000 from a federal program, announced U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.
Mauro also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,228.32 to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program and was fined $10,000. The Court also imposed the following requirements: Mauro must complete a financial responsibility program under the supervision of the United States Probation Office and report back to the District Court Judge after completion of that program; Mauro must write an open letter of apology to the Birmingham Bar Association, the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Cumberland School of Law; and Mauro must complete 20 hours of community service work.
In pronouncing sentence, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre stated, “This crime was one I can only rationalize as being one of greed.” Judge Bowdre observed that Mauro’s license to practice law had been suspended and characterized Mauro’s offense as “a sin against the profession as a whole.”
The criminal information, filed on April 19, 2017, charged that between January 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012, Mauro misappropriated property owned by and under the control of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, an organization that received benefits in excess of $10,000 from grants made by the federal Legal Services Corporation through Legal Services Alabama.
According to the court documents, Mauro made approximately 100 transactions that benefitted herself and her family for a total loss to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program of $35,116. Court documents also reflect that Mauro previously repaid or returned property valued at $21,145 and that Mauro was credited with $3,742.68 for expenses she incurred on behalf of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program that were not previously reimbursed by the program. Mauro expressed her intention to immediately pay the $10,228.32 in restitution owed to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program to the District Court Clerk before leaving the courthouse.
The criminal information was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama was recused from the matter to avoid any appearance of partiality in the prosecution of Mauro.
This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Legal Service Corporation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron M. Jones of the Middle District of Tennessee prosecuted the case.
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