Northern District of Alabama
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches Voluntary Compliance Agreement with Pinson to Improve Facilities and Program AccessRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the City of Pinson have reached a comprehensive settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to city facilities and programs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey.
- agreement, which went into effect Monday, resolves a number of complaints filed by a Pinson resident who claimed that various city facilities and programs were inaccessible to individuals with mobility impairments, in violation of the ADA.
“The City of Pinson cooperated with our office to work out a solution that resolves these alleged ADA violations,” Posey said. “With this agreement, Pinson commits to ensuring that individuals with disabilities will have an equal opportunity to access and participate in their city government’s programs.”
As a public entity subject to the requirements of Title II of the ADA, Pinson must ensure that its facilities and programs are readily accessible to individuals with disabilities. This includes ensuring that all new construction and alterations to buildings or facilities meet the physical accessibility requirements of Title II. Title II also requires that a public entity make participation in it services, programs and activities available to any qualified individual, regardless of a disability.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the ADA may visit the U.S. Department of Justice’s ADA website at www.ada.gov. To make complaints about potential civil-rights violations, including complaints about discrimination based on race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status, please call or e-mail the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Intake Specialist at (205) 244-2001 or [email protected].
To file a written complaint, mail the complaint to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, ATTN: Civil Rights Intake Specialist, 1801 Fourth Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203.
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Virginia Man Indicted for Possessing More than a Pound of CocaineRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Virginia man for possessing with intent to distribute more than a pound of cocaine in Greene County, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges WILLIAM RONDELL HOLMES, 35, of Chesapeake, Va., with possessing the 500 grams or more of cocaine on Jan. 23.
The cocaine was discovered after an Alabama State Trooper stopped Holmes for speeding on Interstate 59.
The penalty for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine is five to 40 years in prison and a maximum $5 million fine.
DEA investigated the case in conjunction with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Shutt is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Three Foreign Nationals Indicted for Illegally Re-entering U.S.Read the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted three Latin American nationals for illegally re-entering the United States, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
In separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court, the grand jury charged two people from Mexico and one from Honduras for illegally entering the U.S. after previous deportation.
ANELI LIMON CASTREJON, 42, who was living in Oneonta, is charged with being in Blount County on May 3, 2017, after having been removed from the U.S. to Mexico in April 2007 following a conviction for an aggravated felony. Castrejon’s indictment also charges her with misusing a Social Security number in DeKalb County in April and May of this year.
MARCOS ANTONIO PONCE RODRIGUEZ, 25, who was living in Marshall County, is charged with being in Blount County on May 3, 2017, after having been removed to Mexico in May 2013, September 2013 and April 2015. Castrejon and Rodriguez were arrested at a convenience store and gas station in Oneonta where Castrejon worked.
DARWIN MOISES AMADOR-ZEPEDA, 38, a native of Honduras who was living in Huntsville, is charged with being in Madison County on May 16, 2017, after being removed from the U.S. in November 2011 and March 2012. Amador-Zepeda had used many other names, including Darwin M. Amador, Moises Amador, Amador Zepeda-Darwin Moses, Mario Antonio Guillen-Lopez and Mario Guillen-Lopez, according to his indictment.
The maximum penalty for illegally re-entering the U.S. is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for misusing a Social Security number is five 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.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Shelby County Woman Indicted for Raising Money on False Cancer ClaimRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Shelby County woman on multiple fraud charges for falsely claiming she had terminal cancer in order to get money from family and friends and to solicit donations through an online fund-raising site, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.
A 15-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JENNIFER FLYNN CATALDO, 37, of Sterrett, with eight counts of wire fraud and seven counts of bank fraud.
“This type of deception potentially impacts fund-raising efforts of websites and organizations that exist to raise money for families with true medical needs,” Posey said. “I applaud the cooperative efforts of the FBI and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office in investigating this crime and bringing it forward for prosecution.”
“Sadly, crimes like this make good people think twice before they are willing to be charitable,” Stanton said. “It is hard to comprehend how anyone could sink so low as to claim to have cancer just to fuel their greed.”
“I appreciate the prompt work of Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton in securing a federal indictment in this case in which state charges have also been brought by warrant,” Marshall said. “We stand together to fight this kind of alleged fraud in which many Good Samaritans from Alabama and other states were victimized. I look forward to working closely with our federal partners in obtaining a conviction and sending a message to would-be criminals that such fraud will be aggressively prosecuted.”
From 2014 to about May 2017, Cataldo misrepresented to friends and family that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, according to the indictment. In person, online and via text messages, she solicited contributions from friends and family and received more than $100,000 in donations for living and medical expenses, the indictment charges. 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 child to visit Disney before she died, according to the indictment. 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, according to the indictment. That account raised more than $25,000 by May 17.
Cataldo transferred money from both GoFundMe accounts into her personal bank account, according to the charges.
The maximum penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The FBI and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Mother and Daughter Tax Return Preparers Indicted in Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a mother and daughter who ran a tax-preparation business in Sumter County for a conspiracy to defraud the IRS, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey.
A 20-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges KATIE TOMEKO GREEN-HORN, 38, owner of Katie’s Tax Service in York, and her mother, SANDRA LENORA GREEN, 60, who worked at the tax business, with conspiring to defraud the United States between January 2011 and April 2014 by obstructing the IRS in its collection of income taxes.
The defendants repeatedly prepared fraudulent tax returns for clients by claiming false education and residential energy credits, false business losses and inflated business expenses, according to the indictment. The fraudulent deductions boosted refund amounts, thereby increasing KTS’s clients and preparation fees, the indictment says.
It also charges Green-Horn with three counts of making a false return on her own tax forms for the calendar years 2011 through 2013 by not disclosing income from her tax business, which she was legally required to do as its sole proprietor. The indictment charges that Green-Horn knowingly omitted nearly $700,000 in personal income from KTS over those three years.
The indictment further charges Green-Horn with seven counts of assisting in preparing and presenting false returns for clients by including fraudulent credits and deductions on their tax forms.
The indictment charges Green with nine counts of assisting in preparing and presenting false returns for including the fraudulent credits and deductions.
The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for submitting false returns and for assisting in preparing and presenting false returns is three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
IRS-CI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Atwood is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Huntsville Man Indicted for ID Theft, Counterfeiting and Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Huntsville man on identity theft, access device fraud and illegal gun possession charges, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.
A four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges DAMARREYA BARROW, 39, with using counterfeit bank or credit cards to make purchases in Madison County and elsewhere, ranging from Prattville, Ala., to Fayetteville, Tenn., between February and May this year, and with possessing more than 15 of the counterfeit devices on June 2016 in Madison County. The indictment also charges Barrow with aggravated identity theft for using credit and debit card account numbers belonging to other people, and with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the indictment, Barrow was convicted of fraudulent use of a debit or credit card in Madison County Circuit Court in October 2015, and on June 22, 2016, possessed a Smith & Wesson Model 669 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Barrow’s indictment is one of several involving illegal gun possession returned by the grand jury today. Others are as follows:
MAXIMILIANO CINTO, 33, a native of Guatemala living in Albertville, indicted as an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, a Jennings Model J-22 .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, on Oct. 14, 2016, in Marshall County.
SIDONTE TOMAR HARRIS, 19, of Birmingham, indicted for stealing guns from Alabama Guns and Outdoors in Pelham on Jan. 13, and for possessing and receiving stolen guns in Jefferson County on Jan. 14.
Harris’ indictment charges that he stole 17 guns from the Pelham store and that he possessed three of the stolen guns on Jan. 14 – a Colt .38-caliber revolver, a Colt 32-20-caliber revolver and a Beretta .40-caliber pistol.
MARTIN SHELTON, 36, of Bessemer, indicted for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, a FNH .45-caliber pistol and a Steyr .40-caliber pistol, on Oct. 24, 2016, in Jefferson County. The indictment lists Shelton with prior convictions of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, March 2001, Jefferson County District Court; robbery, third degree, September 2002, Jefferson County District Court; unlawful possession of marijuana, first degree, January 2003, Jefferson County Circuit Court; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, April 2009, Jefferson County Circuit Court.
BRUCE DANIEL WARD JR., 23, of Anniston, indicted for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms – a Harrington & Richardson 20-gauge shotgun, a Mossberg .22-caliber rifle and a Noble Manufacturing Company 16-gauge shotgun – on Feb. 1 in Calhoun County. Ward’s indictment lists him with prior convictions in Calhoun County Circuit Court of burglary, third degree, in April 2003, and receiving stolen property, first degree, in August 2012.
Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence and a maximum $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for all other crimes charged in these cases is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Various agencies, including the Secret Service, Jefferson County Regional Fraud Task Force, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Hoover Man Indicted for Three 2017 Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Hoover man for three bank robberies between January and April, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
A three-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges DAVID ALAN LAWLEY, 34, with the Jan. 30 bank robbery at the Chelsea branch of APCO Employees Credit Union in Shelby County, the March 31 robbery at the Leeds branch of Covenant Bank in Jefferson County, and the April 13 robbery of the Northport branch of BB&T in Tuscaloosa County.
The maximum penalty for bank robbery is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Former UA Music Professor Charged with Receiving & Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a former University of Alabama music professor with receiving and possessing child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sherry Douglas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a two-count information charging NIKOS PAPPAS, 41, of Tuscaloosa, with receiving child pornography on a computer at his residence between January 2014 and September 2016. The information also charges Pappas with possessing child pornography on a second computer, which was found in his university office, between January and September of 2016. Pappas is scheduled for arraignment June 15.
In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Pappas. That agreement details Pappas’ receipt and possession of child pornography using the internet and computers.
According to the agreement, the laptop computer taken from Pappas’ home contained more than 100 videos of child pornography, some depicting sex acts with very young children, and Pappas’ second computer contained more than 150 images and at least 25 videos of child pornography.
The penalty for receiving child pornography is five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ward is prosecuting.
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Deputy Attorney General Honors Alabama, Georgia Task Forces for Child Pornography InvestigationRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein today recognized the Alabama and Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children task forces for their coordinated investigation that resulted in 54 search warrants being served and the arrest of 29 suspects from both states on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography, announce Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey.
Rosenstein presented the Attorney General’s Special Commendation to representatives of the Alabama and Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children task forces during the Department’s National Missing Children’s Day ceremony. The special commendation recognizes Internet Crimes Against Children task forces or affiliate agencies for making significant investigative or program contributions.
“The work of our ICAC task forces exemplifies the effective collaboration of our federal, state, and local partners,” Posey said. “The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, with help from police agencies across Alabama, leads our state’s task force. In this operation, numerous law enforcement agencies from the Northern District of Alabama provided invaluable assistance in executing warrants and arresting those engaged in exploitation of illegal images of children.”
The two task forces led coordinated investigations that included more than 70 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. In addition to the search warrants and arrests made, the investigation — dubbed “Operation: Southern Impact”— also resulted in the seizure of 731 digital devices as evidence. Additional charges are expected as data on the seized devices are analyzed.
- addition to the two task forces, the deputy attorney general recognized the efforts of two law enforcement officers and a private citizen for their efforts to protect children. Rosenstein also recognized Audrey Link, a fifth grader at Resurrection Catholic School in Lakeland, Florida, as the 18th winner of the Annual National Missing Children’s Day poster contest.
Additional information is available online about National Missing Children’s Day.
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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Surgical Practice Office Manager Sentenced to 3 ½ Years in Prison for $1 million Theft from EmployerRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the office manager of a Birmingham surgical practice to more than three years in prison for stealing from her employer and ordered her to repay nearly $1 million. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey.
U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced ANNTWINE MOSS, 51, of Bessemer, to three years and five months in prison on five counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion for stealing from Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Alabama between 2006 and 2013. Moss pleaded guilty to the charges early last year.
Judge Bowdre ordered Moss to pay $987,375 in restitution to the practice and to forfeit the same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
“Businesses necessarily depend on their management and accounting personnel to act honestly and safeguard the financial health of the company,” Posey said. “Moss violated this trust and helped herself to $1 million that should have supported the surgical practice.”
“Anntwine Moss’ actions can be appropriately described as deceitful and motivated by greed,” Dorsey said. “She compromised her integrity and enriched herself at the expense of her employers. Moss chose the life of theft and fraud and now she has to face her punishment.”
“Ms. Moss misused her trusted position of authority to steal from her employer and enrich herself, and now she pays the price for her greed,” Stanton said.
Moss’ boyfriend at the time, ANTHONY T. MICHAEL, 43, of Jackson, Miss., pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in the case. According to his plea agreement, he is to pay about $1.2 million in restitution and forfeit that same amount. Michael’s sentencing is scheduled July 12 before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala.
- to court documents, Moss stole from the surgical practice by using her authority as office manager to write unauthorized checks to herself and to Michael, make unauthorized direct deposits into her account, and use the company's credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases. Moss had authority over several key functions at the surgical practice including payroll, accounting, bookkeeping and managing the office's budget. She falsified her personal tax returns for several years by failing to report to the IRS the illicit income she stole from the practice.
The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. is prosecuting.
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Former Shelby County Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Accessing Women’s Computers for Personal Data and Explicit PhotographsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former Shelby County resident will spend six months in federal prison for illegally accessing email and cloud storage accounts of more than 50 women to obtain personal data, including explicit photographs, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon today sentenced KEVIN M. MALDONADO, 35, now living in North Carolina, on one count of intentionally accessing the Gmail account of K.M., and the documents and images therein, without her permission in order to invade her privacy. Maldonado pleaded guilty to the charge in February. Judge Kallon ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Maldonado must report to prison July 17.
Maldonado “repeatedly and indiscriminately gained access to multiple women’s computers for a period of at least two years using a number of methods, in essence, to stalk them,” according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“[T]he defendant spent countless hours creating numerous fictitious email accounts impersonating email administrators from multiple email providers; sending numerous emails from these accounts demanding login and password information; and then frequently checking the fictitious email accounts for response emails from victims,” the memorandum said.
“The defendant also spent untold hours trolling the accounts he accessed via phishing for additional password information and conducting extensive open source research, for example on websites such as spokeo.com, on potential victims and making note of information about them including birthdates, places of employment, collegiate affiliations, etc. He then used this information to try to guess victims’ passwords, or answer the security questions necessary to re-set them,” the memorandum said.
Once the defendant accessed the victims’ accounts, he downloaded their data, including personal identifying information and personal photographs and videos, including images of them nude, partially nude, or engaged in sexual activity.
Maldonado knew some, but not all of the women he victimized and seemed motivated by more than a desire to see pornographic images, according to the government’s memorandum. His actions “appear to be based on an intentional need to violate others privacy – as many others as he could,” it says.
Much of the information Maldonado obtained illegally he catalogued by victim or group and saved to an external computer hard drive for easy access.
“In this age of digital living, passwords and security questions serve the same function as the lock on the front door once did,” the memorandum said. “Computer intrusions are the new ‘break ins’ and must be punished as such. Actions like the defendant’s compromise emails systems, decrease trust in technology, increase the security burdens imposed on everyone, and make it more difficult for people to access their accounts and their information, and quite simply live their lives.”
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Barnes is prosecuting.
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Sales Rep for North Alabama Compounding Pharmacy Charged in $13 M Insurance ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged a sales representative for a Haleyville, Ala.,-based compounding pharmacy with conspiracy in a multi-faceted scheme to generate prescriptions and defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and one of its prescription drug administrators out of over $13 million in one year. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton, United States Postal Inspector in Charge, Houston Division Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin announced the charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a four-count information in U.S. District Court charging ROBIN GARY LOWRY, 49, of Columbus, Miss., with conspiring between October 2014 and November 2015 to defraud BCBS of Alabama and Prime Therapeutics, the entity that processed prescription drug reimbursement claims for BCBSAL. The information also charges Lowry with three counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to BCBSAL.
In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Lowry.
Lowry worked for Northside Pharmacy, which did business as Global Compounding Pharmacy. Global’s compounding and shipping facility was in Haleyville. The pharmacy did all of its prescription processing, billing and customer service at its “call center” in Clearwater, Fla.
In May 2015, Prime notified Global that it was terminating the compounding pharmacy from its network, effective Sept. 4, 2015. Also in May 2015, two Global employees became listed owners of Carrollton Pharmacy, which does business as The Prescription Shop in Haleyville. After the Sept. 4 date, Global began compounding and shipping its drugs from other pharmacies, including TPS, which in 2015 was a Prime network pharmacy contracted with BCBSAL.
Prime paid claims of more than $13 million to Global and TPS in 2015, according to Lowry’s plea agreement. Global and TPS billed more than $13 million. Lowry’s plea agreement holds her accountable for between $250,000 and $550,000 of the fraudulent claims and seeks to have her forfeit $272,405 as proceeds of illegal activity.
According to the information and plea agreement, there was a conspiracy among Lowry and others at Global to generate prescriptions, particularly high-reimbursement prescriptions. To increase profits, Global targeted products covered by BCBSAL, which was its employee insurance provider.
Global paid Lowry an annual salary, plus a monthly commission for each prescription she obtained.
The court documents describe the conspiracy as follows:
Global recruited close relatives of doctors and other prescribers as sales representatives. It also encouraged employees to work, typically without pay, at prescribers’ offices where they were to review patient files in order to recommend and encourage use of Global's products.
Global also frequently instructed its employees to obtain high-reimbursing, but medically unnecessary prescriptions for Global products for themselves and their family members, and waived co-pays for these products. A July 2015 email from a Global sales executive to other pharmacy employees encouraged every sales representative and district manager to get a prescription “for themselves and every eligible family member” for SilaPak, a high-reimbursing “topical skin repair complex.”
“So far we have 15 reps and one [district manager] who have gotten at least one in. If we get everyone in the week that would be around 45-50 depending on the family. At 50 that is $220,000 in revenue and we need it,” the email said.
Lowry obtained prescriptions from a prescriber with whom she had a close familial relationship, and who sometimes issued the prescriptions to people without talking to or having a doctor-patient relationship with them. Lowry also frequently forged prescriptions from her relative, according to the charges and her plea agreement.
In July 2015, Lowry sent Global a forged SilaPak prescription for the three-year-old child of a Global employee, even though Global’s own marketing materials warned that the SilaPak cream was not to be used for children. Global filled the prescription and mailed a refill of it for the child to Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., in August 2015.
The maximum punishment for the conspiracy charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for health care fraud is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
FBI, USPIS, HHS-OIG and DCIS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting.
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Birmingham Man Receives 15 Year Prison SentenceRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, AL – Acting United States Attorney Robert O. Posey of the Northern District of Alabama, and David Hyche, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announce that LUSION YOSHUA RICE, 31, of Birmingham, Alabama was sentenced to fifteen years in prison today for being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor imposed the sentence.
In April 2016, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Alabama charged RICE in a one-count indictment with possession of a firearm after having been convicted of violent felony offenses, including three such crimes that qualified him for an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). On May 21, 2015, Birmingham police officers were dispatched to a home on a complaint of a male with a gun causing a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, officers found RICE with a beer in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He was immediately placed under arrest.
“The sentencing illustrates the positive effect of the resources provided by ATF and our law enforcement partners to combat the violent crime. ATF’s priority is to provide the safe environment for the public," stated Steven Gerido, Special Agent in Charge, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The joint investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Birmingham Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory R. Dimler prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
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Ten People Indicted in Connection to Tuscaloosa Methamphetamine, Cocaine Drug-Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – ATF agents and local task force officers fanned out across Tuscaloosa County today to arrest defendants indicted last month as part of a drug ring trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine in the county, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido and West Alabama Narcotics Task Force Captain Wayne Robertson.
A federal grand jury on April 27 indicted eight Tuscaloosa County residents with the drug-trafficking conspiracy. A 61-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges SANTONY MARKEI NOLAND, 32, also known as Santony Markies Noland,”“San T” and “Black,” SHAKEA CHYNESE PREWITT, 23, CHRISTOPHER KELLEY BOYD, 30, MICHELE DIANE SMITH, 40, also known as Michele Diane Sellers,” TIMOTHY JOE PATTON, 29, also known as “Timothy Joe Harless” and “Money,” KATHERINE LEE CANNON, 39, TREMAINE RAYMOND CANNON, 36, also known as “Juice,” and DANNY RAY BARRON JR., 27, also known as “Drizzle” and “Jug,” with conspiracy to distribute the drugs between December 2016 and March 2017. A federal judge unsealed the indictment following today’s arrests.
The indictment also charges BEVERLY DIANE TUBBS, 33, with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and charges AMY LEEANN BLIZZARD, 33, with possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Noland and Prewitt were in custody before today’s roundup. This afternoon, nine of the 10 defendants are in custody.
"This investigation has successfully taken down an established cocaine- and methamphetamine-trafficking organization operating in the Tuscaloosa area," Posey said. "This is an outstanding example of how federal, state and local law enforcement, working together, are able to successfully dismantle narcotics smuggling organizations and reduce the availability of illegal drugs on the streets," he said.
“The arrests today have shown that the resources provided by ATF and our partners diminished the violent crime that has affected the neighborhoods within the Tuscaloosa area,” Gerido said.
“Criminals should take note that state, local and federal law enforcement are combining their resources to investigate criminal activity and make our communities safe,” Robertson said.
The indictment includes special findings of the grand jury regarding the amount of methamphetamine and cocaine attributable to various defendants as part of the drug-trafficking conspiracy.
Noland, Prewitt, Boyd and spouses Tremaine and Katherine Cannon are charged with conspiring to traffic 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. That charge carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence and a maximum prison penalty of life. Noland and the Cannons, having previously been convicted in state and federal court for drug trafficking, could face a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison if convicted on the current charges. Smith, Patton, and Barron face a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years on the conspiracy count.
Noland and Prewitt are also charged with multiple counts of distributing methamphetamine, which carries a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of 40, plus a $5 million fine. Other counts charge Noland and Prewitt with possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
Boyd also faces a separate count of distributing methamphetamine in February 2017.
Tremaine Cannon and Katherine Cannon face a count of possessing with the intent to distribute or distributing methamphetamine, in February 2017.
The indictment further charges Smith with possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine in February 2017.
Barron, along with the conspiracy charge, is also charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a stolen firearm on March 1, 2011.
Along with Tubbs, Noland and Patton also each face a count of illegal gun possession for being convicted felons in possession of a pistol. Patton and Tubbs have convictions in Tuscaloosa Circuit Court.
Noland has multiple felony convictions in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court and a federal felony conviction from the Northern District of Alabama for being a felon in possession of a firearm on a previous occasion.
Thirty-eight counts of the indictment charge various defendants with using telephones to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime.
The remaining distribution and possession with the intent to distribute narcotics charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Each count of using a telephone in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Former Regions Bank Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty in $5 Million Bribery and Wire Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former senior vice president at Regions Bank has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in a $5 million bribery and wire fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court with PHILIP HENRY COOPER, 67, of Birmingham. As part of the agreement, Cooper pledges to plead guilty to conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes for steering Regions’ business to a company established by a co-conspirator, and to conspiracy to launder the millions of dollars the conspirators received as part of the scheme.
Along with his two co-conspirators, Cooper agrees to repay Regions $5.1 million, according to the plea agreement. Cooper also agreed to forfeit approximately $1.5 million he received from the scheme.
Cooper was indicted last year along with Richard Alan Henderson, 57, of Hoover, on conspiracy, bank bribery, wire fraud affecting a financial institution and money laundering charges. Henderson, who also was a senior vice president at Regions, is scheduled for trial on those charges in June.
A third conspirator in the case, Jesse Stewart Ellis, 56, of Hoover, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bank bribery and wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. He is scheduled for sentencing June 26.
Henderson and Cooper served as senior officers of Regions Bank. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Regions Equipment Financing Company, Regions Bank offered business customers various financing tools, including equipment financing and lease options. Henderson was first assigned to be finance manager of REFCO and was later promoted by Regions Bank to REFCO’s chief administrative officer. Cooper worked for Regions Bank as REFCO’s asset manager.
According to Cooper’s plea agreement, he and Henderson recruited Ellis to establish a company that would enter an agreement with REFCO to provide residual value insurance, a type of insurance designed to manage asset value risk and provide favorable accounting treatment on leases for Regions Bank. Ellis had no experience providing residual value insurance. The defendants directed REFCO’s residual value insurance business to Ellis’ new company, and Ellis, in return, split the money paid to him with Henderson and Cooper, according to the charges and Cooper’s plea agreement. Cooper and Henderson concealed from Regions that they were receiving money as a result of directing residual value insurance business to the company Ellis established.
Between Sept. 2010 and Nov. 2015, REFCO paid Ellis’ company, Residual Assurance Inc., about $5.1 million. Henderson received about $1.8 million as a result of the scheme and Cooper received about $1.5 million, according to Cooper’s plea agreement.
In 2014, after initially receiving his share of the bribery money in cash, Cooper established a company named Capital Equipment Appraisal Service to receive his payments, according to the plea agreement. After May 2014, Ellis deposited most of Cooper’s share of the bribery payments into a Wells Fargo Bank account Cooper opened for that company. Cooper also had a part of his share of the money deposited into an account at Merrill Lynch, according to the plea agreement.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for money laundering conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. As part of the plea agreement, the government recommends a five-year prison sentence for Cooper.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George A. Martin Jr., Henry B. Cornelius, and John B. Ward are prosecuting.
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Irondale Man Charged with Identity Theft for Using Signature Stamp to EmbezzleRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors last week charged an Irondale man with identity theft in connection to nearly $400,000 embezzled from the company where he worked, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a one-count information in U.S. District Court charging JOHN D. PILKINGTON III, 39, with one count of identity theft for using another person’s identification, via a rubber signature stamp, to steal property between January 2010 and July 2016.
In conjunction with the charge, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Pilkington. As part of the plea agreement, Pilkington promises to pay $397,016 in restitution to Cain Awning of Birmingham.
Pilkington worked at Cain Awning from January 2002 to July 2016. His job included preparing the weekly payroll, ordering materials and negotiating contracts with general contractors, as well as managing invoices and collections, which gave him access to the company’s books and accounts, according to the plea agreement. Pilkington also had access to a rubber stamp bearing the signature of the company’s owner and president.
According to Pilkington’s plea agreement, he carried out his identity theft and embezzlement as follows:
Between January 2010 and July 2016, Pilkington prepared more than 200 unauthorized company checks totaling about $293,410 and made payable to himself or to cash. He used the company owner’s signature stamp to sign the checks.
During the same period, Pilkington embezzled about $25,576 by signing his own name to Cain Awning checks, obtaining cashier’s checks with company funds and using company credit cards for personal purchases and benefits.
Cain Awning used outside vendors to process its payroll, and Pilkington caused the vendors to inflate his wages and compensation by about $75,042. The company paid an additional $5,288 in payroll taxes on the wrongly inflated pay.
The total estimated loss to Cain Awning because of Pilkington’s conduct was $399,316. His restitution amount is $397,016 because of $1,200 and some property he previously returned to the company.
The maximum penalty for identity theft is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius is prosecuting.
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Hoover Man Arrested on Federal Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud and Aggravated ID Theft ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – FBI agents today arrested a Hoover man on multiple charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
RANDALL SHO WOODS, 32, is charged with stealing money from two former employers and a non-profit organization that supported the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band. Agents arrested Woods at his Inverness home. A federal grand jury in April returned a 24-count indictment against Woods. The indictment was unsealed upon his arrest.
Ingram’s Accounting & Financial Management Inc. previously employed Woods as a staff accountant. While working there, Woods fraudulently charged more than $30,000 on corporate credit card accounts for personal expenses, according to the indictment. Another company, State Traditions, previously employed Woods as an account clerk. While at State Traditions, Woods engaged in numerous fraudulent activities, including stealing more than $130,000 in funds from the company’s Pay-Pal account and its corporate checks, the indictment charges. Finally, while Woods served as treasurer of the Million Dollar Band Association, he stole more than $20,000 by writing checks payable to himself, according to the indictment.
The maximum penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum prison sentence for bank fraud is 30 years.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty.
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Morris Woman Indicted for Fraudulently Taking SSA Survivor Benefits for Husband She KilledRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury last week indicted a Morris woman for fraudulently claiming nearly $168,000 in Social Security widow’s benefits on the death of a husband she killed, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Margaret Moore-Jackson.
A six-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges OPAL ELAINE TILLMAN, 71, of Morris, with five counts of wire fraud for causing the SSA to wire benefit payments, which Tillman was not entitled to receive, to her account at Regions Bank in Jefferson County between May 2012 and September 2016. Count Six of the indictment charges Tillman with theft of government property for stealing more than $100,000 from the SSA. The indictment seeks to have Tillman forfeit $167,830 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
According to the indictment, Tillman was convicted in Alabama in June 1988 for killing her husband, Walter R. Tillman, on March 1, 1987. The month he died, Opal Tillman applied for Social Security Title II benefits on her husband’s work record. Title II benefits encompass old age, survivor and disability insurance payments. In her application Tillman wrote a statement acknowledging that she understood that “if I am convicted of felonious homicide any social security monies I receive on Mr. Tillman’s Social security record will constitute an overpayment and I will be liable to repay this money,” according to the indictment. She then requested monthly benefits for her and her children to begin as soon as possible.
While Opal Tillman was in prison in November 1988, the SSA notified her of an overpayment of benefits and explained: “A person who has been convicted of the felonious and intentional homicide of a wage earner cannot be entitled to monthly benefits, underpayments, or the lump-sum death payment on the earnings record of that wage earner,” according to the indictment.
Opal Tillman was released from prison into the Jefferson County Community Corrections Program in December 1996.
In October 2009, she applied by telephone to the SSA for widow’s benefits on the work record of Walter Roderick Tillman, according to the indictment. Opal Tillman provided her deceased husband’s Social Security number, dates of birth and death, and verification of their marriage for the application, the indictment charges.
Opal Tillman began receiving benefits Nov. 9, 2009, on the work record of the man she killed, according to the indictment. The monthly benefits continued until Sept. 14, 2016.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for theft of government property is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The SSA-OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Mexican Man Indicted on Illegal Reentry and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Mexican man for being in the country illegally and illegally possessing a firearm, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MARIO PEREZ-VELASQUEZ, 41, also known as Julian Perez-Bravo, Mario Perez-Velazquez and Julian Perez-Brabo, with one count of possessing a firearm and being prohibited to do so because he was in the United States illegally. The indictment also charges Perez-Velasquez with illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported.
According to the indictment, Perez-Velasquez possessed an EIG derringer .22-caliber pistol on Jan. 25, 2015, in Talladega County. On April 10 this year, Perez-Velasquez was found to be voluntarily in the U.S. after having been removed to Mexico in March 2004, January 2006 and May 2012.
The grand jury also indicted two other Mexican nationals for being in the U.S. illegally after previously being deported. In separate indictments, the grand jury charged JESUS GOMEZ-GONZALEZ, 35, also known as Jesus Gomez and Jesus Gomez Olvera, and MIGUEL ANGEL GONZALEZ-JIMENEZ, also known as Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
According to the indictments, Gonzalez-Jimenez was found in St. Clair County on March 23 after having been removed from the U.S. in July 2014, and Gomez-Gonzalez was found in Morgan County on April 7 after being removed from the country in November 2004.
None of the defendants obtained consent from the U.S. attorney general or the secretary of homeland security to re-apply for admission into the United States, according to the charges.
The maximum penalty for illegal re-entry after deportation is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Department of Homeland Security investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Birmingham Man in Tuscaloosa Gun Store BurglaryRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Birmingham man on stolen firearms charges related to the July 2016 burglary at a Tuscaloosa gun shop, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MARTAVES LABRON “Moo Moo” BROWN, 23, with one count of stealing firearms from a licensed firearms business, the Guns & Ammo store in Tuscaloosa, on July 12, 2016. The indictment also charges Brown with one count of possessing the more than 40 stolen firearms.
Taken in the store break-in were: two Taurus .380-caliber pistols, two SCCY 9mm pistols, two Jimenez Arms 9mm pistols, a Phoenix Arms .22-caliber pistol, an Anderson 5.56mm rifle, a GSG .22-caliber rifle, a KEL-TEC 9mm pistol, a Glock .380-caliber pistol, 11 Glock 9mm pistols, an Armalite 0.308-caliber rifle, a Bushmaster 5.56mm rifle, a Century Arms 7.62x39-caliber pistol, a Diamondback 5.56mm rifle, a Mossberg .22-caliber rifle, a Bersa .380-caliber pistol, a Masterpiece Arms 9mm pistol, two Hi-Point .40 S&W caliber rifles, an Armalite 5.56mm rifle, a Hi-Point .40 S&W caliber rifle, a Century Arms 7.62x39-caliber rifle, a Hi-Point 9mm pistol, a Walther .22-caliber pistol, a KEL-TEC 9mm pistol, a Smith & Wesson 5.56mm rifle, a Taurus 9mm pistol, a KEL-TEC .22-caliber pistol, a Walther .22-caliber rifle, a KEL-TEC 12-gauge shotgun, two Hi-Point .380-caliber rifles, and a JC Higgins 12-gauge shotgun.
In separate and unrelated cases, the grand jury indicted two other men with illegal possession of firearms or explosives.
A one-count indictment charges JARVIS MONTREZ KEY, 24, of Hoover, with being a convicted felon in possession of a Glock 9mm pistol and a Sig Sauer .380-caliber rifle on Aug. 20, 2016, in Jefferson County. Key was convicted of second-degree robbery in Shelby County Circuit Court in March 2013, according to the indictment.
A one-count indictment charges JEFFERY CUNNINGHAM, 47, of Cullman, with being a convicted felon in possession of an electrically initiated explosive detonator on March 23, 2016 in Cullman County. Cunningham previously was convicted in Cullman County Circuit Court of first-degree property theft in May 2001, second-degree receiving stolen property in August 2001, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance in November 2001, according to the indictment.
The maximum penalty for stealing a firearm from a licensed gun dealer and for possession a stolen firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms or explosives is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
ATF investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Cullman County Man Indicted for Jasper Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Cullman man for robbing the same Walker County bank twice within seven months, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
A three-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges WALTER LARRY LUMPKIN, 71, with two counts of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a bank robbery.
According to the indictment, Lumpkin robbed the Curry Branch of First Bank of Jasper on June 17, 2016, taking $32,600. The indictment charges he robbed the same bank on Jan. 20 this year, taking $61,135. He is charged with brandishing a Heritage Arms .22-caliber revolver during the January robbery.
The maximum penalty for bank robbery is 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is a minimum of seven years and a maximum of life in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is SaturdayRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Saturday is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey.
“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,” Posey said. “The easiest and most effective thing you can do to protect your loved ones from prescription drug abuse and possible addiction, and even potential progression to heroin use, is to clean out your medicine cabinets and drop those drugs off for proper disposal. The vast majority of new heroin users started with painkillers.”
On the most recent Take-Back Day, Oct. 22, 2016, the public turned in 731,269 pounds — almost 366 tons — of medication to DEA and its more than 4,000 community partners at more than 5,000 collection sites nationwide. Over the life of the program, people across the country have removed 7.1 million pounds (more than 3,500 tons) of prescription drugs from medicine cabinets, kitchen drawers and nightstands.
Unused medicines in the home are dangerous because the majority of the 6.4 million Americans who abused prescription drugs in 2015, including the almost 4 million who abused prescription painkillers, say they obtained those drugs from friends and family, including from a home medicine cabinet, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers. Almost 30,000 people — 78 a day — died from overdosing on these painkillers or heroin in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Drug Take-Back initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. At the same time, Americans now are advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards. The Take-Back Day provides an easy, anonymous, secure and environmentally safe way to dispose of unused prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
Collection sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide. To locate a collection site near you, go the DEA Office of Diversion Control web site at https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback where you can search by zip code, city, or state. The service is free and anonymous.
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/.
Army Reserves Lt. Col. Convicted for Fraudulently Supplying Chinese-made Army Promotional Gear as Made in USARead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves for fraudulently supplying hundreds of thousands of Chinese-produced baseball caps and backpacks to the Army Recruiting Command, despite receiving millions of dollars under contracts stating the items “MUST BE 100 % U.S. MADE.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, 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 verdict.
Following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, the jury found FREDERICK LAMAR BURNETT, 48, of Madison, guilty on three counts of wire fraud. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Burnett, who took the stand in his own defense.
The jury determined that Burnett used his Huntsville-based company, Lamar International Inc., in a scheme to defraud the Defense Department on three contracts, worth $6.2 million, between 2005 and 2009. All the contracts, two for baseball caps and one for backpacks, were for promotional items to be given to 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 the indictment.
The Buy American Act requires the federal government to buy domestic articles, materials and supplies, primarily to protect American labor. The Berry Amendment prohibits the Defense Department from buying clothing, fabrics, fibers and yarns that are not grown, reprocessed, reused or produced in the United States. The purpose of the Berry Amendment is to protect the viability of the textile and clothing production base in the United States. These statutes are incorporated and made applicable to government contractors through the federal acquisition regulations.
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 BBA and the Berry Amendment, according to evidence at trial, 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 the products from China. He used Chinese-made products to fill orders under all three contracts and hid their foreign manufacture by hiring workers on a cash basis to remove all the Chinese labels and repackage the items he sent to the Army Recruiting Command.
After award of the third contract, a competitor protested the bid, claiming Burnett could only bid so low if he were using foreign suppliers. The government allowed Burnett to proceed with the contract after he promised that he would use only American-made products and that he would comply with all aspects of the Buy American Act and the Berry Amendment.
The total amount of the three contracts was $6.2 million. The indictment seeks to have Burnett forfeit that amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
DCIS and Army CID investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Estes is prosecuting.
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Three People Sentenced for Trafficking Heroin and FentanylRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced three Birmingham residents for conspiring to traffic nearly $2 million worth of heroin and fentanyl, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced ONANDAS CARMECE BEARD, 19, to five years in prison; ANTHONY LEVY ALEXANDER, 57, to eight years and nine months in prison, and BETTY LEVY ALEXANDER, 50, to nine years and five months in prison. Each of the defendants last year pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, acknowledging their involvement in the distribution of multiple kilograms of heroin and fentanyl between September 2015 and October 2016 in Jefferson County.
“The Birmingham Metro Area and other parts of North Alabama have seen a dramatic rise in the number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl or a combination of heroin and fentanyl,” Posey said. “Most heroin users have no idea whether the drug they are using contains fentanyl, and while heroin can be deadly, fentanyl is much more potent. Our office is committed to the kind of joint law enforcement effort that took down this large-scale supply operation and, undoubtedly, saved lives.”
“Heroin abuse is a growing drug problem across the nation, including here in Alabama,” Hamilton said. “Overdoses from heroin and heroin laced with fentanyl have increased dramatically and are destroying countless number of lives. It only takes a few grains of pure fentanyl for an immediate death sentence. DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate those who distribute this poison in our communities with no regard for the destruction they cause.”
The remaining six defendants in the case are scheduled for sentencing on May 9, June 29, and July 27. They are: ANTHONY LEVY WARD, 36, of Chelsea, FERLANDO CARMISE MIMS, 19, and COREY DARNELLE HAYNES, 37, both of Birmingham, and JOSE AGUSTIN GUTIERREZ, 31, JESUS UBALDO MONTOYA, 23, and MARAHAI ARDIZO ENRIQUEZ, 25, all of Phoenix, Ariz.
The indictment in the case sought a $1.7 million monetary judgment against the defendants as proceeds of illegal activity. The amount of fentanyl trafficked in the conspiracy was about 4.6 kilograms, or nearly 233,000 user doses of the drug. The total amount of heroin trafficked was about 5 kilograms, or approximately 50,000 user doses.
Betty Alexander was responsible for trafficking 4.6 kilograms of pure fentanyl and Anthony Alexander, her brother, with trafficking 5 kilograms of heroin and 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl.
The DEA investigated the case in conjunction with the Birmingham and Hoover police departments and the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting the case.
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Atlanta Concert Promoter Pleads Guilty to MDMA ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – An Atlanta man and co-owner of a promotions company that presented musical “raves” and concerts across the Southeast pleaded guilty today in federal court to a conspiracy to distribute thousands of MDMA pills, a drug commonly known as “Ecstasy” or “Molly.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Homeland Security Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sherry Douglas, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzales, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary of Law Enforcement Hal Taylor, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, and Helena Police Chief Pete Folmar announced the plea.
WOODIE LOUIS OCHLE, 40, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler to one count of conspiracy to distribute 3,4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, in Jefferson and Shelby counties between February 2015 and April 2016, and to one count of possessing with intent to distribute the drug on April 13, 2016, in Jefferson County. Ochle’s sentencing date has not been set.
Ochle led an organization that distributed MDMA in Alabama and Georgia, according to his plea. Through his Atlanta business, Freakstep Promotions, Ochle set up concerts or dance events and then sold MDMA to people who attended the “raves.”
Four other people have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and await sentencing. They are KEVIN REID PEDERSEN, 28, SHAWN EDWARD PERKINS, 22, and JENNIFER LEIGH PETITJEAN, 31, all of Birmingham, and KENTON LEE HOWARD, 38, of Chelsea.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-HSI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, ALEA, Alabama Attorney General’s Office and Helena Police investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.
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Former Executive Director of Birmingham Volunteer Lawyer Program Charged with Misapplication of Federal Program FundsRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 21, 2017 - Kelli Hogue Mauro, 48, of Birmingham, Alabama, and former Executive Director of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyer Program, has been charged with misapplication of property worth at least $5,000 from a federal program, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith of the Middle District of Tennessee.
The criminal information, filed on April 19, 2017, charged that between January 1, 2012 through 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.
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 impartiality.
This offense is punishable by not more than 10 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, a period of supervised release of not more than 3 years, and payment of restitution in an amount to be determined by the court.
A criminal information is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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 is prosecuting the case.
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Federal Correctional Officer Charged with Accepting Bribes for Prison ContrabandRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors last week charged a former employee at the Federal Correctional Institution at Aliceville with accepting $5,695 in bribes to smuggle contraband into the prison and lying about it to investigators, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Bourbon.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a two-count information in U.S. District Court charging ERIC C. PENDLETON, 54, of Montgomery, with accepting a bribe in return for violating his official duty as a federal correctional officer, and with making false statements to agents of the FBI and the DOJ-OIG. In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Pendleton.
As a federal correctional officer, Pendleton was a public official. He worked at the women’s prison from about January 2014 to August 2015. Beginning about September 2014, Pendleton worked as a federal materials handler supervisor in the prison commissary and laundry, overseeing inmates assigned to work in those facilities, according to his plea agreement.
During that time, Pendleton reached an agreement with an inmate to bring requested items, including prohibited items such as cigarettes, into the prison in return for payment, according to his plea agreement. Pendleton arranged for payment by providing inmates with prepaid credit card numbers and instructing them to have friends or family members load money onto the cards. He also told inmates they could pay him by having friends or family send money orders to a Tuscaloosa County address, according to the plea agreement. Pendleton owned the home at that address, but relatives lived there.
Pendleton deposited many of the money orders into his bank account, some bearing the name of the inmate on whose behalf the payment was made in the “memo” line, according to the plea agreement.
When agents interviewed Pendleton in September 2015, he falsely denied smuggling contraband into the prison or providing credit card numbers or an address to inmates so they could have payments sent to him, his plea agreement states.
The FBI and DOJ-OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. is prosecuting.
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Claimed Naturopathic Doctor Indicted for Defrauding Cancer Patients at Hoover ClinicRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal magistrate judge today ordered a woman who claimed to be a naturopathic doctor to be held pending trial on charges she defrauded patients of the Euro Med Klinic in Hoover in 2015 by lying about her name, her credentials, her experience and her license to practice medicine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Posey and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.
A federal grand jury in February indicted ISABEL KESARI GERVAIS, 60. The indictment was unsealed following her March arrest in Arkansas. The nine-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Gervais, who is known in Birmingham as “Dr. Rose Starr,” and in other locales as “Debrah Goodman,” with six counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of false statements, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
The indictment charges that in 2015, Gervais opened the Euro Med Klinic in Hoover using the alias, Dr. Rose Starr, and claiming to have years of experience and various credentials, including a license to practice medicine in Alabama and throughout the world. Acting as Dr. Starr, Gervais promised patients, including cancer sufferers, that she could provide various medical services, including DNA tests, according to the charges. She ran various tests and prescribed various substances to these patients. Through her misrepresentations about her name, licensure and qualifications, she fraudulently induced patients to pay her thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.
Gervais also is charged with misappropriating the identity of one patient to fraudulently charge the patient’s credit card without consent, and with misappropriating the identity of another individual and fraudulently using it to set up a post office box.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud affecting a financial institution is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Aggravated identity fraud carries a two-year mandatory minimum prison sentence to run consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Barnes is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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U.S. Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribe to Deliver MarijuanaRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former postal carrier pleaded guilty this week in federal court to accepting a bribe to deliver marijuana in the U.S. mail as part of a conspiracy to distribute the drug, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.
DEANN MARCHETT DIXON STEVENSON, 43, of Birmingham, entered her plea Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Stevenson in February. Her sentencing date has not been set.
Stevenson was a mail carrier at the Meadowbrook Post Office. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Jefferson and Shelby counties between January 2016 and September 2016. Court documents do not name her co-conspirators.
Stevenson also pleaded guilty to one count of accepting a bribe to deliver U.S. mail.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton is prosecuting.
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Siblings Plead Guilty as Part of Bank Robbery Conspiracy Using Hoax BombRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A brother and sister have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob a bank by placing a hoax bomb at an elementary school to divert police, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido and Alabama Fire Marshal Scott F. Pilgreen.
QUINESE NICOLE NICHOLS, 30, of Birmingham, entered her plea Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala to conspiracy to take money from a BBVA Compass Bank in Trussville by “force, violence and intimidation” on Nov. 16. She also pled guilty to conspiring to carry a firearm in furtherance of bank robbery. Her sentencing date has not been set.
Quinese Nichols’ brother, WENDELL ROY NICHOLS JR., 27, also of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to the bank robbery conspiracy last week. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 16.
The Nichols are among four people charged in the conspiracy to rob the Trussville bank by drawing the city’s police to Magnolia Elementary School by placing a hoax bomb at the school while it was in session.
ZACHARY EDWARDS, 35, and RALPHEL MAURIE EDWARDS, 34, are the remaining defendants and are scheduled for trial in July. The Edwards lived together but are not related. Both face the bank robbery conspiracy charge. Zachary Edwards also faces the charge of conspiracy to carry a firearm in furtherance of bank robbery, and two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm – a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol on Nov. 16, and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun on Nov. 21.
Zachary Edwards was convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court in April 2000 of assault, first degree, and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, according to the indictment.
The defendants carried out the conspiracy as follows, according to court records:
In early November, Zachary and Ralphel Edwards and Quinese Nichols discussed plans to rob a bank. Soon thereafter, Zachary and Ralphel Edwards obtained a cardboard box, a stopwatch, strands of wire, gunpowder, Play-Doh and duct tape, which Zachary Edwards used to construct a hoax explosive device. On Nov. 16, Zachary Edwards and Quinese Nichols drove to Magnolia Elementary School in Trussville, where Zachary Edwards placed the hoax device on the hood of a truck in the school’s parking lot. He then called 911 and, while disguising his voice, falsely reported to Trussville Police that he had just seen a Hispanic male place a suspicious package on a vehicle at the school.
Armed with the Ruger pistol, the two then drove to a parking lot near the Compass Bank on Chalkville Mountain Road, which they had visited two days earlier to familiarize themselves with the location. Ralphel Edwards and Wendell Nichols were parked nearby in separate vehicles to serve as lookouts for their co-conspirators.
Zachary Edwards and Quinese Nichols left Trussville without attempting to rob the bank after seeing what they believed to be a police officer close to where they were parked near the bank.
The maximum penalty for the bank robbery conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for conspiracy to possess a firearm during a violent crime is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the maximum penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The ATF investigated the case in conjunction with Trussville Police and the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William G. Simpson and Michael A. Royster are prosecuting the case.
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Seven Sentenced in Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine Across NW AlabamaRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge this week sentenced seven people from Jefferson, Walker, Marion and Franklin counties for conspiring to traffic methamphetamine across northwest Alabama, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor on Monday sentenced GLADYS IVETTE RODRIGUEZ-VALLE, 34, of Pinson, to nine years in prison. Rodriguez-Valle pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in December, acknowledging she led the operation by sending couriers to Atlanta to buy multiple kilograms of methamphetamine between January 2015 and June 2016 for her and her co-defendants to distribute.
Also on Monday, Judge Proctor sentenced JEFFREY DOUGLAS DUNAWAY, 29, of Bear Creek, and GREGORY KEITH KING, 35, of Hodges, for their roles in the conspiracy. King received nine years and nine months in prison and Dunaway received eight years and nine months in prison.
Today, Judge Proctor sentenced co-defendants ALLEN M. MORGAN, 35, CONNIE HALLMARK BATCHELOR, 44, and EVAN ANDREW NORRIS, 39, all of Jasper, and KEVIN WAYNE BLACKBURN, 44, of Russellville. The judge sentenced Morgan to five years and three months in prison, Batchelor to eight years and four months, Norris to 14 years, and Blackburn to six years and eight months.
The remaining defendant in the case, BRUCE ALAN ROBERTS, 37, of Pinson, is scheduled for sentencing July 18 in the methamphetamine distribution conspiracy and in an unrelated wire fraud conspiracy that he pleaded guilty to in March.
The DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr. is prosecuting.
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Inmate Health Consultant Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBIRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM –A Vestavia Hills man pleaded guilty today in federal court to making a false statement to the FBI in relation to payments he received from a contractor providing inmate health care at the Jefferson County Jail, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
MICHAEL P. GODDARD, 68, a consultant on inmate health at the county jail, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor to falsely telling FBI agents that payments he received from a Jefferson County contractor were unrelated to a specific contract with the county jail. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Goddard in February. His sentencing date has not been set.
Birmingham FBI agents questioned Goddard in August 2016 while they were investigating recurring monthly payments to him from Davis & Associates, a Birmingham consulting firm, and “another entity that were funded by Health Assurance, LLC,” according to Goddard’s plea agreement in the case. Health Assurance had contracts with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office from 2007 through 2011 to provide health care to Jefferson County jail inmates.
The sheriff’s office contracted with Health Assurance in about February 2007, and the contract could be renewed yearly. Soon after Health Assurance began receiving payments from Jefferson County, Goddard began receiving monthly payments from Davis & Associates that were funded by Health Assurance, according to the plea agreement.
In July 2011, the payments to Goddard funded by Health Assurance began coming from a different entity, which the court documents do not name. The payments to Goddard continued to about October 2011, when Health Assurance’s contract with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office ended, the plea agreement states.
FBI agents interviewed Goddard on Aug. 31 and served him with a grand jury subpoena for records. The agents asked Goddard about the monthly payments he received that were funded by Health Assurance. Goddard told the agents that the monthly payments he received were unrelated to Health Assurance’s contracts with Jefferson County.
Goddard knew that statement was false “in that he knew the payments he received were directly related to the contracts, and he knew that this false statement was material to the FBI’s investigation,” the plea agreement states.
The maximum penalty for making a false statement to the FBI is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI is investigating the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin is prosecuting.
Contractor in Failed Smokestack Implosion Pleads to Federal Explosives ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Pell City contractor pleaded guilty today in federal court to explosives storage and record-keeping charges filed after his failed 2015 implosion of a 100-year-old smokestack ended with the structure collapsing on the track hoe he was using to complete the job.
Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido announced TIMOTHY MANLEY PHIFER, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor to one count of failing to record the acquisition of explosives and one count of improperly storing explosives. Phifer is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 14. Phifer, who held a federal permit to receive and use explosives, failed to timely record the receipt of explosives materials – Austin Powder 50-grain and 25-grain detonating cord – between Sept. 10, 2014, and Dec. 2, 2014, according to his plea. He also failed to properly store the detonating cord on Dec. 4, 2015, in St. Clair County.
Phifer owns Phoenix Services of Alabama, which contracted with Pell City to demolish the old Avondale Mills’ brick smokestack. Phifer detonated explosives to bring down the stack on Nov. 24, 2015, but it did not fall. “So, to accomplish the task, Phifer boarded a city-owned excavator and used it to nudge the smokestack over. However, as the structure began to come down, it buckled and fell directly onto the excavator while Phifer was still behind the wheel,” according to Phifer’s plea agreement. “Phifer miraculously emerged from the rubble stunned and dirty, but essentially uninjured.”
ATF investigators arrived at the demolition site on Dec. 4, 2015, to assist Alabama state fire marshals with the investigation of the failed implosion. The investigators found about five feet of Austin Powder 50-grain detonation cord in an unlocked and unattended explosives magazine on a flatbed utility trailer at the site, according to the plea agreement. On the ground near the trailer, they found a three-foot section of 50-grain detonator cord and a two-foot section of Austin Powder 25-grain detonator cord, both improperly stored, the plea agreement states.
Further authorized searches led investigators to discover more unsecured detonator cord in Phifer’s truck, as well as in his bedroom and in the garage at his parents’ Pell City home, according to Phifer’s plea agreement. Investigators also found a non-secured APC Shock Star non-electric detonator in the garage of the Pell City home, the plea agreement states.
The maximum penalty for failure to record acquisition of explosives is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for improper storage of explosives, a misdemeanor, is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
ATF and the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson is prosecuting.
Three-Time Felon Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Taking Officer’s Gun and Beating Him UnconsciousRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Birmingham man and three-time convicted felon to 10 years in prison on a gun charged related to the 2015 pistol-whipping of a Birmingham police detective that left the officer unconscious and seriously injured, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.
U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor sentenced JANARD SHAMAR CUNNINGHAM, 36, on one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The gun Cunningham possessed was the detective’s service weapon, which he drew from the officer’s holster during a struggle in August 2015 at Roebuck Shopping Center. Cunningham pleaded guilty to the charge in August 2016. He is in federal custody.
“The president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have made it clear that prosecuting violent crimes committed against police officers is a top priority of the Department of Justice,” Posey said. “Our office will use all the tools at our disposal to aggressively pursue these cases.”
“Violent attacks on police officers will not be tolerated,” Gerido said. “This officer suffered grave injuries while doing his job protecting the public.”
Cunningham has three previous felony convictions, including breaking and entering a vehicle, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault, according to his federal plea agreement.
Cunningham’s assault on Birmingham Detective Johnny Brooks followed an incident about 11 a.m. Aug. 7, 2015, on Parkway East, where Detective Brooks was driving an unmarked police car. According to Cunningham’s plea, the events unfolded as follows:
Cunningham was driving a maroon GMC sport utility vehicle and came up swiftly behind the detective’s car and began tailgating. He then pulled quickly around Detective Brooks’ car, blew the truck’s horn and sped off at about 60 mph. Detective Brooks flashed his blue lights and called the dispatcher for a marked unit to come to the scene and make a traffic stop.
Before that could happen, Detective Brooks followed the SUV into Roebuck Shopping Center. Witnesses reported Cunningham got out of his truck in front of a clothing store and walked back toward Detective Brooks, who ordered him to get back into his vehicle. Cunningham did not comply and, instead, attacked the officer, taking his service pistol and using it to beat the detective unconscious.
Two Birmingham Police officers on patrol saw the maroon GMC truck speed from the shopping center and tried to stop him, but Cunningham refused to yield. Other Birmingham officers searching for the vehicle soon located it on Shadywood Drive, where Cunningham surrendered. Officers recovered Detective Brooks’ service pistol in Cunningham’s car.
ATF and Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson prosecuted.
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Former Medical Product Distributor Charged with False Statements about Hormone ShipmentsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a former Homewood medical product distributor for falsely stating to a U.S. postal inspector that packages of human pregnancy hormone shipped to him from China contained cosmetics he ordered as a gift for his wife. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, and Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Justin Green announced the charge.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a one-count information charging ALFRED LAMOUREUX JR., 45, of Columbiana, with making a false statement to the federal government on May 9, 2016. In conjunction with the charge, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Lamoureux. According to the documents, Lamoureux told a postal inspector that two packages he ordered from China contained cosmetics for his wife, when Lamoureaux knew the packages contained vials of injectable human chorionic gonadotropin and he intended to sell the HCG as a means for weight loss, a use not approved by the FDA that can have harmful consequences.
HCG is a hormone produced by the human placenta and found in the urine of pregnant women. FDA has approved HCG-containing drugs, but only for treatment in select cases of female infertility and hormone treatment in men, according to the information and plea agreement. FDA-approved HCG products are available only in injection form and require a valid medical prescription.
There are no FDA-approved HCG products intended for weight loss and the agency has published notices stating that current scientific evidence does not support the claim that HCG is safe and effective for weight loss or treatment of obesity, according to the court documents.
FDA has received reports of serious adverse events associated with HCG injections for weight loss, including cases of pulmonary embolism, depression, cerebrovascular issues, cardiac arrest, and death, according to the documents.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Birmingham intercepted a package on Nov. 4, 2015, that originated in China and was addressed to Lamoureux at a Hoover address. On May 4, 2016, the Postal Inspection Service detained a package originating in China and addressed to Lamoureux at a Columbiana address. Both packages were declared as cosmetics, but both contained 80 vials of HCG for injection, according to the documents. Since HCG is not FDA-approved for weight loss, the hormone would not have been allowed into the country.
On May 9, 2016, Lamoureux called the Columbiana Post Office to inquire about a lost package, and in a subsequent conversation with a postal inspector made his false statements about the May and November packages being presents for his wife.
Lamoureux operated Phoenix Meds Inc. in Homewood from 2012 to 2015 selling medical products, including injectable and oral products, according to his plea agreement. In January 2015, the Alabama Board of Pharmacy revoked Phoenix Meds’ manufacturer/wholesaler/distributor permit for ordering and receiving drugs from an entity that did not have permits from the pharmacy board. The board also cited claims on the business’ website that HCG was “important in weight control” when the FDA had declared it unlawful to sell the drug for that purpose, the plea agreement states.
Lamoureux then formed another company, Perdido Key Health and Wellness Inc. in Perdido Key, Fla. In January 2016, the Florida licensing board issued notice of intent to deny the new business’ applications for a prescription drug wholesaler permit and product registration because Lamoureux provided false information about the Alabama pharmacy board’s disciplinary action against Phoenix Meds, according to the plea agreement.
The maximum penalty for making a false statement to the government is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Postal Inspection Service and FDA-OCI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinelo Dike-Minor is prosecuting.
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Calera Man Convicted of Being a Felon in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal jury today convicted a Calera man of possessing a firearm after previously being convicted of a felony, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.
Following a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins, the jury convicted VAUGHN ALEXANDER CROPPER, 28, of possessing a pistol after being convicted of a felony. Cropper had elected to represent himself.
According to the evidence at trial, Birmingham police arrested Cropper in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 2016, in the parking lot of the USA Economy Lodge on Crestwood Boulevard in Irondale. Officers were responding to a complaint of a disturbance involving a man with a gun. The police, who were wearing body cameras, captured video of the defendant reaching into his pocket before officers seized the gun and placed him under arrest. Cropper, who has multiple drug-trafficking felonies, likely will qualify as an armed career criminal and face a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Cropper is scheduled for sentencing July 25.
The ATF and Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Dimler prosecuted.
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Colbert County Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Shipping Meth via U.S. MailRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Colbert County man to more than eight years in prison for drug distribution that included an attempt to ship methamphetamine from Los Angeles to the Colbert County town of Leighton using the U.S. Mail, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez.
U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced VENNIS MINOSA OATES Jr., 33, of Leighton, to eight years and four months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Oates is already in custody. Oates pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
A second Colbert County man, KEELAN SHUNTEZ ROBINSON, 23, of Muscle Shoals, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Judge Kallon sentenced Robinson in January to 1½ years in prison.
Oates and Robinson both were arrested in Leighton in January 2016 after they arrived at the U.S. Post Office there to pick up a suspicious package. Oates drove Robinson to the post office and waited in the car while Robinson went inside to get the package, according to Oates’ plea.
U.S. postal inspectors and members of the Colbert County Drug Task Force and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency were monitoring retrieval of the package after a resident at the address listed on the parcel initially refused its delivery. The resident said no one named Jeff Hawkins, the package’s listed recipient, lived at the Marthaler Lane address.
After the refused delivery, a postal inspector determined that neither the sender’s name nor the recipient’s name could be associated with either the California shipping address or the Leighton delivery address, and someone identifying himself as “Jeremy” began calling the Leighton Post Office inquiring about picking up the package, according to Oates’ plea.
Following Oates’ and Robinson’s arrests, police obtained a search warrant to open the package. It contained about a pound of methamphetamine and about two pounds of marijuana. Postal inspectors subsequently analyzed inbound and outbound packages with destination addresses similar to the Leighton methamphetamine package and identified 14 inbound and two outbound packages, according to court documents. Oates packaged large amounts of cash and shipped it to California to pay for the illegal drugs, according to his plea.
The Postal Inspection Service, Colbert County Drug Task Force and the ALEA State Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.
Former Hotel Clerk Indicted for Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a former hotel desk clerk on fraud and identity theft charges for unauthorized use of a customer’s bankcard, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.
A four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges TIFFIANY LASHAWN HALL, 40, of Birmingham, with three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The indictment also includes notice that the government will seek a longer sentence, of up to 10 years, if Hall is convicted because the criminal acts occurred while she was on supervised release after serving time on a 2007 conviction in federal court.
Hall worked as a front desk clerk at a hotel on Pelham Parkway in Pelham in October 2013. While at work on Oct. 11, 2013, Hall obtained a Regions Bank card belonging to a hotel customer identified in the indictment as P.T. Without authorization, Hall used the card for purchases at Walmart, Piggly Wiggly and Beauty Masters, according to the indictment. She also used the card to withdraw funds from P.T.’s Regions account. The multiple transactions totaled more than $3,000.
The indictment charges Hall with three wire fraud counts for separate bankcard purchases made at Walmart on Montclair Road in Birmingham. The indictment charges Hall with aggravated identity theft for using the bankcard, a means of identification of P.T., in relation to the wire fraud.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The penalty for aggravated identity theft is a minimum of two years in prison, which must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for an associated crime, and a maximum $250,000 fine.
U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson is prosecuting.
An indictment includes only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Former Hotel Clerk Indicted for Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a former hotel desk clerk on fraud and identity theft charges for unauthorized use of a customer’s bankcard, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.
A four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges TIFFIANY LASHAWN HALL, 40, of Birmingham, with three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The indictment also includes notice that the government will seek a longer sentence, of up to 10 years, if Hall is convicted because the criminal acts occurred while she was on supervised release after serving time on a 2007 conviction in federal court.
Hall worked as a front desk clerk at a hotel on Pelham Parkway in Pelham in October 2013. While at work on Oct. 11, 2013, Hall obtained a Regions Bank card belonging to a hotel customer identified in the indictment as P.T. Without authorization, Hall used the card for purchases at Walmart, Piggly Wiggly and Beauty Masters, according to the indictment. She also used the card to withdraw funds from P.T.’s Regions account. The multiple transactions totaled more than $3,000.
The indictment charges Hall with three wire fraud counts for separate bankcard purchases made at Walmart on Montclair Road in Birmingham. The indictment charges Hall with aggravated identity theft for using the bankcard, a means of identification of P.T., in relation to the wire fraud.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The penalty for aggravated identity theft is a minimum of two years in prison, which must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for an associated crime, and a maximum $250,000 fine.
U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson is prosecuting.
An indictment includes only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Credit Card Cases Investigated by Jefferson County Regional Financial Fraud Task ForceRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned two separate indictments charging individuals from outside of Alabama with traveling to the state to commit access device fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.
“The two unrelated cases indicted this week are prime examples of financial crime frequently committed through the creation and use of fraudulent debit, credit and gift cards,” Posey said. “We are fortunate in the Birmingham Metro Area to have the Jefferson County Regional Financial Crimes Task Force, which brings local law enforcement in the county together with the U.S. Secret Service to quickly respond to and investigate these type of crimes.”
“Technology has forever changed the way we do business, making every day financial transactions a prime target for fraud,” Williams said. “The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Jefferson County Regional Financial Crimes Task Force, continues to successfully combat financial crimes in the metro area by adapting our investigative methodologies, and educating the general public.”
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges ALEXANDER ACOSTA, 27, and YESTER LUIS RODRIGUEZ DUQUE, 34, both of Florida, with conspiracy to use, possess and traffic in counterfeit and unauthorized access devices, and with possessing 15 or more of the fraudulent cards.
The indictment charges that Acosta and Duque traveled to Alabama in March in order to use counterfeit cards to obtain money, goods and services, and that Acosta used at least one of these cards at a Walmart in Vestavia Hills on March 15. The indictment likewise charges that the defendants were in possession of 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices on March 15.
The grand jury returned a separate two-count indictment charging CHARLES ANTONIO RICE, 27, and HERMES CHIMAERA-EL, 35, both of North Carolina, with conspiracy to commit access device fraud in March. The indictment also charges RICE with possessing device-making equipment on March 21.
According to the indictment, Rice and Chimaera-El obtained counterfeit access devices encoded with their own names, but with account numbers belonging to residents in the Northern District of Alabama. The duo came to north Alabama in order to use the fraudulent cards to obtain money, goods and services. Rice possessed an MSRX6 Bluetooth card encoder, the indictment charges.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to use, possess or traffic in unauthorized or counterfeit access devices is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing 15 or more unauthorized or counterfeit access devices is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the maximum penalty for possessing device-making equipment is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The U.S. Secret Service investigated both cases in conjunction with its financial service investigator and state and local law enforcement partners on the Jefferson County Regional Financial Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robin Beardsley Mark and Erica Williamson Barnes are prosecuting the cases.
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Pelham Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Anabolic SteroidsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Pelham man pleaded guilty today in federal court to charges related to distribution of anabolic steroids, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Stan Stabler.
MICHAEL ANTHONY SPANO, 30, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute the anabolic steroids testosterone propionate, trenbolone acetate, nandrolone decanoate, testosterone enanthate and stanozolol in Jefferson and Shelby counties between May 2013 and May 2016. He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with intent to distribute those steroids in Shelby County on May 13, 2016.
“The defendant in this case imported bulk quantities of steroid powder into the United States through the mail and then manufactured injectable and oral steroids at a clandestine lab in his basement in Pelham, Ala.,” Gonzalez said. “Postal inspectors will vigorously investigate crimes where the U.S. Mails are used to place the public at risk. This case is an example of how postal inspectors, working with our law enforcement partners, seek to protect the public from the criminal misuse of the U.S. Mail.”
Spano is scheduled for sentencing July 27. The maximum penalty for both distribution charges is 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
U.S. Postal Inspectors and the ALEA State Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton is prosecuting.
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NW Alabama Pharmacies Owner Sentenced to Six Month’s Home Confinement for Obstructing Medicare Audit; Ordered to Pay $2.5 million FineRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced the owner of two northwest Alabama pharmacies to six month’s home confinement for obstructing a Medicare audit, ordered him to pay a $2.5 million fine and prohibited him from working in a pharmacy during his year on probation.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced RODNEY DALTON LOGAN, 63, of Muscle Shoals, on one count of obstructing a 2012 federal audit of Medicare claims submitted by a pharmacy he owned. Logan pleaded guilty to the charge in August.
Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Department of Justice Criminal Division Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, and Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert J. West announced the sentence.
Judge Hopkins sentenced Logan to one year’s probation, but included the six months of home confinement and the prohibition against him working as a pharmacist as special conditions of his probation.
“This defendant falsified documents so that his businesses could keep money improperly billed to Medicare under its Part D prescription drug component,” Posey said. “Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, and for people with disabilities. I applaud the work of the investigative agencies and the prosecutors in this office who have worked at length to bring this defendant to justice.”
Logan is a registered pharmacist who owned Leighton Pharmacy Inc., which did business as Sheffield Pharmacy and Homecare in Sheffield, and Russellville Pharmacy in Russellville. At various times, he was the lead pharmacist at both Sheffield and Russellville, according to is plea.
The Sheffield and Russellville pharmacies operated as both compounding and retail pharmacies. A compounding pharmacy is one that prepares customized medications for individual patients, usually by mixing ingredients in order to create a prescription. The two pharmacies sold compounded prescriptions to patients in Alabama and other states.
According to court documents, including Logan’s plea agreement with the government, he obstructed a 2012 audit of the Sheffield pharmacy’s claims for Medicare reimbursement on compounded prescriptions as follows:
CVS/Caremark Inc. administered prescription drug claims for Medicare Part D and served as an auditor on Medicare’s behalf. Part D prohibited reimbursement to pharmacies for compounded medications made using bulk pharmaceutical powders. Russellville and Sheffield nonetheless sought Part D reimbursement after February 2009 for compounded medications, primarily topical pain creams, made from bulk powders. The pharmacies, however, used the billing code for the tablet or capsule form of the ingredient.
In response to the 2012 audit, Logan caused Sheffield to submit falsified and misleading documents stating that medications in tablet or capsule form were used as ingredients for the compounded prescriptions.
FBI, HHS-OIG and FDA-OCI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinelo Diké-Minor and Trial Attorney William S.W. Chang of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Fraud Section prosecuted.
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Social Security Administrative Law Judge Sentenced to Prison for Accepting Sexual Gratuity, Stealing SSA Records & ObstructionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration to one year and a day in prison for crimes including engaging in a sex act with a Social Security beneficiary whose case he presided over, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, SSA-Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Margaret Jackson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced PAUL STRIBLING CONGER JR., 74, of Akron, Ala., for obstructing justice, accepting a gratuity for an official act of a public official and stealing government property. Conger pleaded guilty to the charges in October. The judge also ordered Conger to pay a $4,000 fine. He must report to prison July 24.
Conger served as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration from May 1999 to April 2014, presiding over hearings to determine whether someone who applied for disability or other SSA benefits qualified to receive them. Conger’s judicial chambers were in the federal courthouse in Tuscaloosa.
According to court records:
In July 2013, Conger presided over the claims hearing of a woman identified in court documents as T.M., who subsequently was approved for SSI benefits, including future monthly payments and retroactive benefits. In November 2013, T.M. discussed Conger with a mutual acquaintance of theirs and was given information that led her to approach the judge about receiving her retroactive SSI benefits in a lump sum of about $10,000.
On Nov. 19, 2013, T.M. met Conger in his chambers at the Tuscaloosa federal courthouse, seeking the lump sum benefits payment. Conger illegally received a gratuity from T.M. when the two engaged in sexual activity in his chambers. Over ensuing weeks, they remained in contact through phone calls and text messages.
Conger stole government property when he took T.M.’s records from the SSA database to learn more about her. The information included medical records and identifiers such as her Social Security number.
Conger obstructed justice by attempting to obtain T.M.’s cell phone and destroy it after learning that he was the subject of a workplace complaint and a SSA Office of Inspector General investigation. According to the court records, Conger paid someone, “Individual B,” to obtain the phone and provided the individual with material from T.M.’s SSA file to help that person find her.
Conger falsely told federal agents that he never had any physical or sexual contact with a claimant, including T.M., even after he was notified that he was the target of a federal grand jury investigation.
SSA-OIG and FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson prosecuted.
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Muscle Shoals Man Sentenced to Nearly Eight Years in Prison as Three-Time Convicted Felon Possessing a GunRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Muscle Shoals man to nearly eight years in prison as a three-time convicted felon in possession of a gun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.
U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced JERRY ADAM CROCKER, 33, to seven years and eight months in prison on one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Crocker pleaded guilty to the charge in December. He already is in custody.
Cullman Police arrested Crocker in June 2016 after he traded a Romarm/Cugir 7.62 x 39mm rifle and a Sig Sauer .40-caliber pistol for an ounce of methamphetamine and $100 from a confidential informant for the police department’s narcotics unit. Crocker had stolen the firearms in a home burglary, according to his plea agreement.
Crocker’s prior felony convictions, which increased his sentence, were burglary, third degree, in Cullman County Circuit Court in February 2012, burglary, third degree, in Cullman County Circuit Court in August 2009, and burglary, first degree, in Cullman County Circuit Court in March 2002.
ATF and the Cullman Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.
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National Leader on Crime Victims’ Rights to Address April Ceremony Honoring Victims and AdvocatesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The executive director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute in Portland, Ore., will be the keynote speaker at a National Crime Victims’ Rights Week recognition ceremony on April 6 presented by One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey.
The Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney’s Office and One Place in Birmingham have joined to present “Strength, Resilience & Justice: A Recognition Ceremony Honoring Victims of Crime and Seekers of Justice.” One Place is a collaboration between the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, the City of Birmingham and Birmingham Police Department, the YWCA-Central Alabama and the Crisis Center Inc. Its mission is to provide coordinated services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals working together under one roof.
The April ceremony’s guest speaker, Meg Garvin, directs the National Crime Victim Law Institute and is a clinical professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School, where the institute is located.
Garvin is recognized as a leading expert on victims’ rights. She has testified before Congress, state legislatures, and the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault in the Military. In 2014, she was appointed to the Victims Advisory Group of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and, during 2013-2014, Garvin served on the Victim Services Subcommittee of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crime Panel of the U.S. Department of Defense.
During the recognition ceremony, sponsors will present awards to a victim advocate, a member of law enforcement and a prosecutor, each chosen for their commitment to assisting victims of crime.
Along with the address from Garvin, there will be a multi-disciplinary panel discussion featuring Ashley Smith, now a teenager, who at 14 months old nearly died from third-degree burns over 30 percent of her body after her mother put her in a broiling oven in their Etowah County home in 2002. The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles last year denied early release for the mother, Melissa Wright, after a hearing that included horrific photos of the burned infant. Smith appealed to the board not to grant her mother parole, but Smith’s older sister argued for the early release, saying her mother was suffering from mental illness at the time and is a “changed woman.”
The National Crime Victims’ Rights Week recognition ceremony will be 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., Thursday, April 6, with breakfast provided, in the Diamonds Direct Ballroom at Regions Field, 1401 First Ave. South. The event is free, but space is limited. RSVPs are required to [email protected].
This project is supported by a National Crime Victims' Rights Week Community Awareness Project sub-grant awarded by the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators under a Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
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Former Fairfield PD Maintenance Worker Sentenced to 6 ½ Years in Prison as Felon in Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former Fairfield Police Department maintenance worker to six years and six months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced ROY ELLIS HUNTER, 70, on one count of being a convicted felon who possessed four handguns on June 4, 2015. Hunter pleaded guilty to the charge in October. He must report to prison May 15.
“Roy Hunter was stealing guns from a police department and then selling them to persons who could not legally buy a firearm,” Posey said. “ATF and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency stopped that illegal flow of guns back onto the streets. Our community is safer because of their work and this prosecution.”
“These guns had already been taken off the street by law enforcement once,” Hyche said. “I am happy that we were able to stop this and prevent more of them from being sold to criminals.”
According to Hunter’s plea, he was convicted on federal racketeering and cocaine distribution charges in 1984 and on federal counterfeiting charges in 1983.
On June 4, 2015, Hunter sold four handguns, a Cobra .380-caliber pistol, an FIE .32-caliber revolver, an Iberia .40-caliber pistol and a Norinco 9 mm pistol, for $800 to an informant working undercover with ATF agents. The transaction took place at Hunter’s Fairfield home and was monitored and recorded. In the course of that sale, Hunter and the informant planned a future purchase, according to Hunter’s plea.
On July 8, in another monitored transaction at Hunter’s residence, the informant paid Hunter $4,000 to buy 15 firearms, which he selected from 30 that Hunter retrieved from his basement, according to his plea. One of the guns was in a clear plastic bag that was marked “Evidence.” Agents arrested Hunter the next day and recovered 31 firearms, ammunition, narcotics and a decorative sword “that were all presumed to be stolen from the Fairfield Police Department,” according to Hunter’s plea.
ATF, with assistance from ALEA, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Royster prosecuted.
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Jefferson County Schools HR Director and Former Hueytown Middle School Principal Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Enticement and Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Jefferson County Schools’ human resources director and former Hueytown Middle School principal pleaded guilty today to federal charges of enticing a minor and receiving and possessing child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven D. Anderson and Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler.
BRETT WILLIAM KIRKHAM, 40, of Tuscaloosa, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler to one count of enticing a minor and one count of possession of child pornography. Kirkham’s sentencing hearing is not yet scheduled.
The maximum penalty for child enticement is life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000; the maximum penalty for possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI, Tuscaloosa Police Department, and Hueytown Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ward is prosecuting.
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Birmingham Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Fentanyl that Caused 20-Year-Old’s DeathRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A Birmingham man pleaded guilty today in federal court to distributing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid painkiller, that caused the death of a 20-year-old Pelham woman, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
RODRIGUS LEE PEARSON, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala to the charge of illegally distributing fentanyl, resulting in a death in January 2016 in Jefferson County. Pearson also pleaded guilty to distributing heroin on Feb. 8, 2016, distributing fentanyl on Feb. 23, 2016, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine on March 30, 2016, and being a felon illegally possessing a gun, an H & K .40-caliber pistol, on March 30, 2016. Pearson’s previous conviction was in Jefferson County Circuit Court in September 2014 for unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
Pearson entered a binding plea agreement with the government that stipulated a 20-year sentence for the crime of distributing an opioid drug that resulted in a death. The possible statutory sentence for that crime is 20 years to life in prison. Twenty years in prison is the maximum penalty for the heroin and fentanyl distribution charges, and 10 years is the maximum prison sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Pearson’s sentencing is scheduled July 12.
“Fentanyl kills in tiny doses – a few salt-sized grains. Most fentanyl on the streets is being made illegally in drug-dealer labs, and here and across the country overdose deaths soar as dealers add fentanyl to heroin to make it more potent,” Posey said. “In Jefferson County last year, the medical examiner’s office reported 106 overdose deaths caused by fentanyl and 100 by heroin, with 40 of those deaths caused by a combination of the two drugs. The fentanyl deaths more than doubled from 49 in 2015. We are committed to our work with DEA and other law enforcement partners to aggressively prosecute those who traffic these deadly drugs,” he said.
“Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Just a small amount, even a few grains, can be fatal. It is important that the public is aware of the danger of this powerful and potentially lethal drug,” Hamilton said. “DEA will continue to investigate and arrest distributors of this poison, especially when the distribution results in death. This conviction should put others who engage in the distribution of this deadly drug on notice: if you engage in this type of activity, you will face federal charges and a lengthy prison sentence.”
Ashlynn Bailey, the woman who died after purchasing fentanyl from Pearson was a former University of Alabama student. Police found her in a house on Jefferson Avenue in Birmingham on Jan. 30, 2016, after responding to a call of a suspected drug overdose death. Witnesses in the case stated that Bailey had been purchasing heroin from Pearson and that he likely substituted the fentanyl, which was found in her system, for heroin.
According to Pearson’s plea, a taxi driver called Birmingham Police after finding Bailey unresponsive at the house. The taxi driver had left her there the night before and returned to pick her up the next morning to take her to a business on U.S. 280 in Birmingham where Bailey said she worked and could get cash to pay cab fare she owed.
Bailey had borrowed the taxi driver’s cell phone and placed calls the night before. Police later determined that one of the two numbers she called was to a phone Pearson used for drug transactions.
The two drug distribution charges Pearson pleaded guilty to resulted from controlled purchases that a DEA confidential source made from Pearson after contacting the drug dealer at the same number that Bailey called from the taxi driver’s phone the night she died. On the first occasion, DEA agents obtained heroin from Pearson. On the second, agents received fentanyl despite having attempted to buy heroin. A third charge of possession with the intent to distribute heroin stems from Pearson being found in possession of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and the H & K .40-caliber pistol, as well as other drug paraphernalia, following a traffic stop.
DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Dimler is prosecuting.
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Jasper Pharmacist Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Illegally Dispensing Prescription DrugsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Jasper pharmacist to two years in prison for illegally dispensing opioid painkillers and other controlled substances, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced GEORGE RICHARD BOLLING JR., 55, on one count of conspiring, between January 2013 and March 2015, to illegally distribute and dispense prescription drugs including oxycodone, methadone, morphine sulfate, hydrocodone, ketamine HCL, zolpidem tartrate, alprazolam and clonazepam in Walker, Lamar, Winston and Fayette counties. The judge also sentenced Bolling on two counts of illegally transferring oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, between pharmacies in Walker and Fayette counties, once on March 6, 2013, and once on July 21, 2013. Bolling pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2016. He must report to prison May 8.
Bolling owned five northwestern Alabama pharmacies that were implicated in connection with his crimes: Berry Discount Apothecary in Berry, Bolling Apothecary in Fayette, Hospital Discount Apothecary in Vernon, Brown’s Discount Apothecary in Jasper, and Gateway Discount Apothecary in Double Springs. Bolling has sold the pharmacies and, as part of his plea and sentence, has forfeited his DEA registration numbers and his State of Alabama Board of Pharmacy permits and license number. He also had to forfeit $75,000 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.
Bolling’s prosecution was a result of a long-term investigation conducted in connection with DEA’s Operation Pilluted in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi in 2015, which focused on reducing the trafficking and abuse of pharmaceuticals and also brought about the prosecution of three Birmingham-area physicians for illegally distributing controlled substances.
DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Dimler prosecuted.
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Court Orders Return Preparation Business Owner to Pay Nearly $950,000 to the United States for Preparing Fraudulent ReturnsRead the Press Release
A federal court in Orlando, Florida, has permanently barred Jason Stinson, of Longwood, Florida, from preparing federal tax returns for others and from owning or operating a tax return preparation business, following a six-day bench trial held in 2016, the Justice Department announced today. The civil order, signed by Judge Anne C. Conway of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, also requires Stinson to disgorge to the United States $949,952.47 of funds he received from “improper and fraudulent tax return preparation.”
The court determined that Stinson owns a company called “Nation Tax Services” and had stores in four states: Birmingham and Fairfield, Alabama; St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida; Albany and Augusta, Georgia; and Greenville and Raleigh, North Carolina. Stinson’s stores, the court found, targeted “underprivileged, undereducated poor people and earned income credit claims.”
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for working people with low to moderate income. Eligibility depends on factors such as the amount of income, filing status, and the amount of dependents. To illustrate, the court noted that customers with earned income between $13,050 and $17,100 in tax year 2012 could receive the maximum EITC. The court found that Stinson falsified information on his customers’ returns to claim the maximum EITC amount by: “claiming bogus dependents, fabricating unreimbursed employee expenses and charitable contributions, and fabricating business income and expenses.” The court found that in many instances Stinson and his preparers fraudulently lowered a customer’s taxable income by claiming false unreimbursed business expenses in large amounts, at times more than half of what the customer earned in a given year. According to the court’s decision, “it is illogical for an individual making $35,000 a year to spend as much as half of their yearly income, around $16,000, on unreimbursed business expenses.”
Stinson’s stores charged customers in excess of $600 to prepare a single tax return, even as much as $999, sometimes without telling the customer, the court determined. Moreover, the court found that Stinson’s practice was to take his fees out of his customer’s refund, rather than charge fees upfront, meaning that “a larger refund was better for the client and better for Stinson.” Based upon the pattern of abusive claims made by Stinson and his preparers, the court ordered Stinson to pay the United States nearly $950,000 in fees he received.
“The Tax Division works with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to protect taxpayers from unscrupulous return preparers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Court decisions like this show that those who prepare false tax returns will be stopped and will not profit from their fraudulent conduct.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hubbert thanks the Tax Division attorneys assigned to the case, Daniel Applegate, Sean Green, Alison Yewdell, Steven Woodliff, Jared Wiesner, and Joshua Levine, and the revenue agents of the IRS—Small Business/Self-Employed Division, who conducted the investigation.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017 and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.