Northern District of Alabama
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
District Elections Officers Available Nov. 8 to Receive Complaints of Election Fraud or Voting Rights AbusesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pat Meadows and Ramona Albin will lead the efforts of her office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming Nov. 8 general elections.
Vance appointed Meadows and Albin to serve as the district election officers for the Northern District of Alabama, and in that capacity they are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of any complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination, and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” Vance said. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the department so the public may report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting, may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.
The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they so choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Nov. 8, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Vance said that the district election officers, Meadows and Albin, will be on duty in the Northern District while the polls are open. The public can reach them at the following telephone number: (205) 244-2001.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The public can reach the local FBI field office at 205-326-6166.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, D.C., by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate,” Vance said. “It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Former Non-Profit Health Clinics CEO Sentenced to 18 Years for Funneling Millions in Grant Money to Private CompaniesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced the former chief executive of two non-profit health clinics for the poor and homeless to 18 years in prison for funneling millions in federal grant money to private companies he formed to contract with the clinics. U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson announced the sentence.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein sentenced JONATHAN WADE DUNNING, 53, of Hoover, for conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The judge ordered Dunning to pay $13.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Birmingham Financial Federal Credit Union and the non-profit health clinics Birmingham Health Care and Central Alabama Comprehensive Health.
Dunning orchestrated and led a criminal enterprise for his personal benefit that involved an extensive conspiracy and scheme to defraud HHS, HRSA, the non-profit clinics BHC and CACH, the credit union and others, out of more than $16 million over the course of seven years, the government said in its sentencing memorandum.
A federal jury in June convicted Dunning on 98 of 112 charged counts related to his involvement with BHC, CACH, BFFCU, and a group of for-profit businesses known as the “Synergy Entities.” Over the years, BHC and CACH received millions of dollars in federal grant funds through HRSA to further their missions of providing healthcare services to underserved populations.
“Jonathan Dunning formed Synergy Entities so he could bleed money away from non-profit clinics meant to provide medical care to the neediest of people and make himself rich by diverting millions of dollars into his personal accounts and businesses,” Vance said. “Motivated by greed, Mr. Dunning had no regard for the harm he caused others. He earned today’s prison sentence.”
“Heartless and appalling are just a few words to describe Jonathan Dunning’s actions,” Hyman-Pillot said. “The impact of his scheme extends beyond monetary loss. Citizens in need of medical attention were deprived of care due to his callous behavior. The judgment against Dunning is the consequence of his greed.”
“Stealing money away from programs that provided health care to poor and homeless people in order to live lavishly is an abominable crime,” Stanton said. “The FBI and its law enforcement partners are committed to joining forces and putting in the hours, and years if necessary, to stop this kind of crime.”
“This is one of the most outrageous fraud cases I have seen,” Jackson said. “Dunning embezzled millions of dollars in federal grant money that diverted desperately needed resources from those who need it most. Today’s sentencing sends a hard message to criminals like Dunning that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to include hard prison time and millions of dollars payable to U.S. taxpayers.”
Dunning was the chief executive officer of BHC and CACH for a period of time and left those jobs to run his for-profit businesses. Even after leaving his post as CEO, however, Dunning continued to exercise control over BHC and CACH. Between October 2008 and October 2011, Dunning served as president, board chairman and loan officer of the Birmingham credit union. From those various positions, he led the conspiracy that defrauded BHC, CACH, their funding agencies, and others.
“The need for medical care and clinical services for the homeless, indigent, and uninsured is well-known in this and other communities,” the government said in its sentencing memorandum. “Through the Synergy Entities, the defendant siphoned more than $16 million in money and property from two nonprofit health centers and the federal agency that funded them. He caused CACH to close its doors, drove BHC to the brink of bankruptcy, cost employees of CACH and BHC their jobs, precipitated the collapse of a credit union, and caused additional harm to others in the process. BHC and CACH had an essential mission of providing health care desperately needed by the communities they served. The defendant thwarted that mission and diverted the money and property to his personal benefit for one simple reason: greed.”
FBI, IRS-CID, and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa K. Atwood, Tamarra Matthews-Johnson and John B. Ward prosecuted.
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Accountant for Non-profit Government Contractor Pleads to Theft and Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former accountant with a Huntsville non-profit corporation that contracted with the government to place people with disabilities into government jobs pleaded guilty today in federal court to defrauding the organization and the Internal Revenue Service, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
REGGIOUS SANCHESTER BELL, 30, of Madison, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of federal program theft for stealing more than $1 million from the non-profit government contractor, and to two counts of federal income tax evasion for underreporting his income and underpaying his taxes for 2011 and 2012. As part of a plea agreement with the government, Bell must pay restitution of about $1.3 million to Huntsville Rehabilitation Foundation, which does business as Phoenix, and $81,768 to the IRS. He is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 21.
“This defendant acknowledges he stole from American taxpayers and that he stole more than $1 million from an organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities find jobs. Those actions are deplorable as well as criminal, and I applaud the work of the IRS and the FBI in bringing this case forward for prosecution,” Vance said.
Phoenix, which provides counseling for and places people with disabilities in administrative, manufacturing and custodial jobs, received more than $20 million a year from 2011 through 2013 under contracts to perform custodial work at Redstone Arsenal.
According to information presented by the government at today’s hearing, Bell went to work for Phoenix in 2008 in its accounting department. He worked in accounts payable, accounts receivable and fixed assets management. As it did with other staff members, Phoenix provided Bell a credit card to use for business expenses only. Bell, however, began using his Phoenix credit card for personal expenses in at least 2009, and continued to do so until he was caught in the summer of 2013, according to his plea.
Bell’s personal charges during that time including $95,228 to Best Buy, $21,969 to Louis Vuitton, $18,945 to American Airlines, $23,823 to Southwest Airlines, $46,345 to Marriott Hotels, $19,268 to Renaissance Hotels and $20,706 to Dillard’s Department Store, according to his plea. Bell also had Phoenix issue a credit card in a fictitious name with a fictitious Social Security number, which he also used for personal expenses.
Bell deleted unauthorized purchases from the credit card monthly statements and manipulated Phoenix’s account ledgers so that they would balance with the bank’s spreadsheet that showed what Phoenix owed for its staff credit cards, according to the plea.
Bell also established an accounting firm, called Bell-Pete Associates. Although Phoenix never did any business with the firm, Bell invoiced Phoenix for $58,133 in accounting services in 2011, and for $235,740 in 2012, according to his plea. Bell did not report the fraudulent income to the IRS, resulting in an underpayment of taxes of $15,132 in 2011, and $66,636 in 2012.
The maximum penalty for federal program theft is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for tax evasion is five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The IRS and FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell E. Penfield is prosecuting.
U.S. Attorney, Birmingham Police Officials Attend National Community Policing AwardsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Birmingham Police Department were in the nation’s capital Thursday to take part in the Justice Department’s first Community Policing Awards Ceremony.
As representatives of one of the 12 cities that U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited on her Community Policing Tour over the past 15 months, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney’s Office Law Enforcement Coordination Manager Lyndon J. Laster, Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper and Birmingham Police Deputy Chief Henry Irby III attended the afternoon ceremony in the Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building in Washington, D.C. The awards ceremony took place during National Community Policing Week.
The attorney general presented awards for Distinguished Service in Community Policing to recognize individual state, local or tribal sworn police officers and deputies who exemplify remarkable achievements in innovative community policing strategies, criminal investigations and field operations.
Birmingham was the second city on Lynch’s Community Policing Tour when she visited in June 2015. Birmingham was among the first six cities named in March 2015 as a pilot site for DOJ's National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. The attorney general undertook her tour of cities to highlight important and innovative work in police-community relations, and to examine ways in which those programs can be applied to other jurisdictions.
On her visit to Birmingham, Lynch met with some recent graduates of Birmingham's Youth Citizen's Police Academy, a program of the Birmingham Police Department and the Mayor's Office of Community Policing and Revitalization, in association with the Woodlawn Foundation. She addressed cadets at the Birmingham Police Academy and held a roundtable discussion with community leaders at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
Justice Department Announces Statewide Investigation into Conditions in Alabama’s Prisons for MenRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a statewide investigation into the conditions in Alabama’s prisons for men. The investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from physical harm and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners; whether prisoners are adequately protected from use of excessive force and staff sexual abuse by correctional officers; and whether the prisons provide sanitary, secure and safe living conditions.
“The Constitution requires that prisons provide humane conditions of confinement,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We hope to work cooperatively with the state of Alabama in conducting our inquiry and ensuring that the state’s facilities keep prisoners safe from harm.”
“Our obligation is to protect the civil rights of all citizens, including those who are incarcerated,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama. “This investigation provides us with an opportunity to work collaboratively with the state of Alabama to assess current conditions and ensure constitutionally sufficient conditions exist for all prisoners.”
“The vulnerability of a prisoner makes it even more important that basic hygiene and safe accommodations are afforded the inmates,” said U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama.
“I am very pleased to have my office join the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama as well as the Civil Rights Division in opening an investigation into the Alabama prison system,” said U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama. “All citizens, even those who are incarcerated, should expect sanitary conditions of habitation that are free of physical harm and sexual abuse.”
The department has not reached any conclusions regarding the allegations in this matter. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). Under CRIPA, the department has the authority to investigate violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights that result from a “pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of such rights.” The department has conducted CRIPA investigations of many correctional systems, and where violations have been found, the resulting settlement agreements have led to important reforms.
The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama are conducting this investigation. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at (205) 244-2001 or by email at [email protected]
Former Fairfield PD Custodian Pleads Guilty as Felon in Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A former Fairfield Police Department custodian pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of firearms, which he stole from the police department’s evidence room and was selling from his home, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.
ROY ELLIS HUNTER, 70, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala to one count of a July indictment that charged him with being a convicted felon in possession of four handguns on June 4, 2015. As part of his plea, Hunter agrees to forfeit 50 firearms, acknowledging they were connected to his crime. Hunter is scheduled for sentencing March 7.
“Roy Hunter is no longer stealing and selling guns,” Vance said. “ATF and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency shut down his conversion of evidence in a police locker into inventory for his illegal home-based gun store. Their fine work and this prosecution help make our communities safer.”
“The collaborative efforts of ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners prevented the potential for firearms to illegally enter into commerce,” Hyche said. “Reducing the flow of illegal firearms into our communities aids in providing a safe environment for the public.”
According to the indictment and Hunter’s plea agreement, Hunter 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, according to the plea agreement. 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.
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 the plea agreement. 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 the plea agreement.
The maximum penalty for the charge of felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. ATF, with assistance from ALEA, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Royster is prosecuting.
Former Wireless Phone Company Employees Charged with Selling Customer InformationRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged a Birmingham man with selling private customer information, including customer cell phone records, that he obtained from his work computer at AT&T. Prosecutors last week charged a former Verizon employee in a related case, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
“We cannot allow people with access to sensitive personal information abuse that access for personal financial gain,” Vance said. “Anyone with a cell phone could be put at risk of harm if their private call information or tracking data is illegally accessed and used.”
“Computer crimes continue to be a high priority for the FBI,” Stanton said. “Those who engage in the kind of illegal activity Conley and Traeger participated in can expect to be prosecuted.”
In a one-count information filed today in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged ERIC CONLEY, 33, with computer intrusion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a plea agreement with Conley. According to the agreement, Conley will plead guilty to the charge.
Conley was employed as a retail sales consultant at AT&T in Gardendale in 2011 when a private investigator offered to pay Conley for particular AT&T customer records, according to the plea agreement. Conley accepted the offer and, between 2011 and 2013, sold hundreds of customer records to the private investigator, all of which Conley had obtained from AT&T computer systems without the customers’ permission. In exchange, Conley received thousands of dollars in cash and check payments.
Last week the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged a former Verizon Wireless employee, DANIEL EUGENE TRAEGER, 51, of Bessemer, with computer intrusion for gathering customer records to sell to the same private investigator. Traeger worked for Verizon in Birmingham as a network technician. Traeger is charged in a one-count information and, like Conley, has agreed to plead guilty. Traeger has admitted that he sold the private investigator hundreds of Verizon customer call records and location data records between 2009 and 2014.
The maximum punishment for the computer intrusion offense is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica W. Barnes and John B. Ward are prosecuting.
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Federal Law Enforcement Officials to Hold Public Community Policing ConversationsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI and U.S. Marshal Service will hold community policing discussion sessions for the public in Birmingham and Huntsville next week as part of the Justice Department’s National Community Policing Week.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and U.S. Marshal Martin C. Keely will be available Monday night, Oct. 3, in Birmingham, and Thursday night, Oct. 6, in Huntsville, for “A Community Conversation Addressing Police and Community Relations.”
The meetings will provide community members an opportunity to meet the panelists, learn the roles their agencies have in the justice system, and ask them questions on issues of public safety and community policing.
Monday’s Community Conversation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Arrington Auditorium of the Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place.
Thursday’s meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Student Services Building Welcome Center Theater on the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus, 1201 John Wright Dr.
The meetings are free and open to the public. For more information contact Phillip Howard at [email protected].
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Two Georgia Men Indicted for Access-Device Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted two Georgia men for access-device fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Craig Caldwell.
An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges GREGORY SIMEON and CLAUDELL RALPH PETIT, both 29, with possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices – credit and bank debit cards – and aggravated identity theft in Jefferson County in August 2015. SIMEON is charged alone with one count of each crime, and the men are charged jointly with another count of fraud and identity theft.
Upon conviction, access-device fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, and aggravated identity theft carries a two-year prison term and $250,000 fine for each count.
The U.S. Secret Service, Birmingham Police Department and Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa K. Atwood is prosecuting.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Grand Jury Indicts Mexican Man for Drug Distribution, Illegal Weapons PossessionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Mexican man on drug distribution and weapons charges, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance 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 OSCAR ADRIAN CASTILLO, 24, with illegally distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jefferson County on Sept. 15. The indictment also charges Castillo with possessing firearms on September 20 while an illegal resident in the United States. Castillo possessed a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol, according to the indictment.
The charge of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, with a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine. The maximum penalty for being in the United States illegally and possessing a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Felton 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 Jefferson County and Marshall County Men in Separate Child Pornography CasesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today, in separate and unrelated indictments, charged a Jefferson County man with producing child pornography and a Marshall County man with receiving and possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper announced.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges LARRY DEAN GARRETT JR., 36, of Birmingham, with producing child pornography in 2015 and 2016.
The indictment charges that Garrett enticed or coerced a pre-school child to engage in sexual conduct for the purpose of producing a visual image of the act.
The maximum penalty for producing child pornography is 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If certain statutory enhancements apply, the sentence can increase to a maximum of 50 years in prison.
The FBI and Birmingham Police Department investigated the case involving Garrett, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Hutzell is prosecuting.
A two-count indictment filed in the district court charges STEVEN VINCENT SMITH, 53, of Albertville, with receiving and possessing child pornography in 2015 and 2016.
The maximum penalty for each count of receiving and possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case involving Smith, which Hutzell also is prosecuting.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty.
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Four Members of Large-Scale Cocaine/Heroin Trafficking Ring Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sent to prison four members of one of Birmingham’s largest cocaine- and heroin-trafficking rings, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot and Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale.
Among those sentenced was ANTHONY DEJUAN WILLIAMS, 46, of Birmingham, who a federal jury convicted in May of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, along with other drug counts including distribution and using a telephone to further drug-trafficking crimes. The jury also convicted Williams of possessing firearms after previously being convicted of a felony.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Williams to 24 years and five months in prison.
According to trial evidence, federal agents arrested Williams in October 2015 at his home on Sun Valley Road after finding drugs, guns and a drug repackaging facility on the property. Agents found more than a pound each of heroin and cocaine in the washing machine. They recovered a pistol from Williams’ car, and a Cobray Street Sweeper 12-gauge shotgun, a PWA AR-15 5.56 mm rifle, a Mossberg pistol grip 12-gauge shotgun, and an SKS 7.62 x 39 mm rifle in a shed on the property. In a larger outbuilding on Williams’ property, agents found two large metal presses used to repress kilograms of cocaine and heroin after adding cheaper ingredients to boost their drug supply.
The three other defendants from the drug ring based in northeast Birmingham who were sentenced today are JAMES MARION ROBINSON III, 45, and ROYCE THERMON JOHNSON, 31, both of Birmingham, and CANDIDA ARROYO LEIMAKAM OCASIO, 36, of Beaumont, Texas.
Judge Coogler sentenced Johnson to 20 years in prison. He sentenced Robinson to five years in prison, and Ocasio to two years and four months in prison.
The leader of the heroin and cocaine ring, Patrick DeWayne Hall, 37, pleaded guilty in January to the drug-trafficking conspiracy and various other drug charges, including money laundering and using a telephone to traffic drugs. In June, Judge Coogler sentenced Hall to 23 years in prison.
One of Hall’s lieutenants, Lovodas DeAngelo Blake, 27, pleaded guilty in January to the conspiracy and other drug-related charges. Judge Coogler sentenced Blake in July to 10 years in prison.
Other defendants previously sentenced are David Wayne McDaniel, 24, who is widely known by his rap artist moniker, “Northside Weezy.” McDaniel received a seven-year, six-month sentence. His mother, Deangela Kay McDaniel, 42, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. Deandre Jadarious Hall, 22, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Eric Demond Hall, 40, to seven years, Teddy Tonell Davis, 34, to 15 years, eight months, Corey Lionel Pitts, 38, to 10 years, Robert Lynn Thomas Jr., 26, to five years, Jesstifur Jahalia Ferrari Hurst, 29, to 10 years, Rodriquis Tyrone Sturdviant, 26, to two years and 11 months, Israel Bravo Olasoagar, 38, to three years and 10 months, and Jesse Tyrone Hurst, 58, to five years.
Four defendants remain to be sentenced. They are Brandon Dion Lewis, 31, and Lena Kenya Irvine, 30, both of Birmingham, Sonja Denise Mitchell, 55, of McCalla, and Justice Martinique Holden 21, of Huntsville.
Twenty-one defendants have been convicted in the case. The prosecution resulted in the forfeiture of large amounts of cash, four vehicles valued at more than $160,000, five parcels of real property valued at more than $300,000, and money judgments totaling $10 million levied against the defendants.
The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and other agency members of the FBI’s North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Dimler prosecuted the case.
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Huntsville Pill Mill Doctor Charged with Illegal Prescribing and Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a former Huntsville physician, who was the nation’s highest Medicare prescriber of opioid painkillers at the height of his practice, with illegally prescribing controlled substances and with a health care fraud involving $9.5 million in unneeded and unused urine tests, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
In a two-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged SHELINDER AGGARWAL, 48, of Huntsville, with one count of distributing a controlled substance outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose in July 2012, and with one count of conspiring to execute a health care fraud scheme against Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama between Jan. 1, 2011, and March 31, 2013.
Prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Aggarwal in which he agrees that he will plead guilty to the charges and forfeit his former clinic on Turner Street Southwest in Huntsville, along with $6.7 million. Aggarwal earlier repaid $2.8 million to Medicare and $45,843 to Blue Cross following audits, according to his plea agreement. The agreement stipulates a 15-year prison sentence. A federal judge must accept the terms of the agreement before it is final.
Aggarwal surrendered his Alabama medical license in 2013, along with his Alabama and federal Drug Enforcement Administration certificates to prescribe controlled substances, after the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners initiated an investigation.
“Shelinder Aggarwal treated his medical license like a license to deal opiate drugs,” Vance said. “He also defrauded Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of more than $9 million dollars by performing drug tests he never used to treat his patients. Thanks to this prosecution, Aggarwal is no longer a drug dealer masquerading as a doctor. His pill mill is closed, he must repay the money he stole from health insurers, and he will serve time for his crimes,” she said. “I am grateful to our prosecutors and the investigators who brought this individual to justice.”
“Aggarwal was trusted with resources to care for others and used that access to defraud the health care system, thus costing tax payers millions of dollars,” Stanton said. “In addition, he directly contributed to the opioid drug epidemic which is plaguing our nation, and potentially endangered the lives of his patients. I applaud the work of my agents and our partners to shut down Aggarwal’s pill mill and hold him accountable for his actions.”
Aggarwal was a pain management doctor who operated Chronic Pain Care Services in Huntsville. His medical practice was a pill mill, according to the charges and plea agreement. The documents state that in 2012, about 80 to 145 patients a day visited Aggarwal’s clinic, with him seeing the majority of patients and writing all prescriptions. Initial patient visits typically lasted five minutes or less, and follow-ups two minutes or less. The documents state that Aggarwal did not obtain prior medical records for his patients, did not treat patients with anything other than controlled substances, often asked patients what medications they wanted and filled their requests, prescribed controlled substances to patients who he knew were using illegal drugs, and did not take appropriate measures to ensure that patients did not divert or abuse controlled substances. The plea agreement summarizes an interaction with a patient, which was captured on video. In it, Aggarwal notes that the DEA viewed him as the “biggest pill-pusher in North Alabama” and that many of his patients were “dropping like flies, they are all dying.”
The documents cite the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for Alabama, which tracks the dispensing of controlled substances, as well as Medicare data, to document Aggarwal’s prescribing practices.
According to the PDMP, Alabama pharmacies filled about 110,013 of Aggarwal’s prescriptions for controlled substances in 2012. That would equal about 423 prescriptions per day if he worked five days a week, and resulted in about 12.3 million pills. The PDMP rated Aggarwal as the highest prescriber of controlled substances filled in Alabama in 2012, with the next highest prescriber writing a third as many prescriptions.
Medicare data shows Aggarwal was the highest prescriber in the United States of Schedule II controlled substances under Medicare in 2012. Schedule II substances include the opioid painkillers oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and morphine.
As to Aggarwal’s health care fraud scheme, he is charged with requiring patients to undergo unreasonable and unnecessary urine drug tests that he did not need or use in their treatment. According to the documents, the tests he ran depended not on patients’ treatment, but on how much he could bill for tests. Aggarwal often ignored urine test results showing patients were using illegal drugs, the documents state.
Between January 2011 and March 2013, urine drug tests accounted for about 80 percent of paid claims Aggarwal submitted to Medicare and Blue Cross, for a total reimbursement of $9.5 million. According to his charges and plea agreement, “Aggarwal’s primary motivation for testing patients’ urine specimens, and submitting those claims for payment, was financial gain.”
The FBI investigated the case, based partly on an investigation conducted by the ABME. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Russell Penfield are prosecuting.
Alabama Pill Mill Doctor Charged with Illegal Prescribing and Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a former north Alabama physician, who was the nation’s highest Medicare prescriber of opioid painkillers at the height of his practice, with illegally prescribing controlled substances and with a health care fraud involving $9.5 million in unneeded and unused urine tests, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
In a two-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama charged Shelinder Aggarwal, 48, of Huntsville, Alabama, with one count of distributing a controlled substance outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose in July 2012 and with one count of conspiring to execute a health care fraud scheme against Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama between Jan. 1, 2011, and March 31, 2013.
Prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Aggarwal in which he agrees that he will plead guilty to the charges and forfeit his former clinic on Turner Street Southwest in Huntsville, along with $6.7 million. Aggarwal earlier repaid $2.8 million to Medicare and $45,843 to Blue Cross following audits, according to his plea agreement. The agreement stipulates a 15-year prison sentence. A federal judge must accept the terms of the agreement before it is final.
Aggarwal surrendered his Alabama medical license in 2013, along with his Alabama and federal Drug Enforcement Administration certificates to prescribe controlled substances, after the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners initiated an investigation.
“Shelinder Aggarwal treated his medical license like a license to deal opiate drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Vance. “He also defrauded Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of more than $9 million dollars by performing drug tests he never used to treat his patients. Thanks to this prosecution, Aggarwal is no longer a drug dealer masquerading as a doctor. His pill mill is closed, he must repay the money he stole from health insurers and he will serve time for his crimes. I am grateful to our prosecutors and the investigators who brought this individual to justice.”
“Aggarwal was trusted with resources to care for others and used that access to defraud the health care system, thus costing tax payers millions of dollars,” said Special Agent in Charge Stanton. “In addition, he directly contributed to the opioid drug epidemic which is plaguing our nation, and potentially endangered the lives of his patients. I applaud the work of my agents and our partners to shut down Aggarwal’s pill mill and hold him accountable for his actions.”
Aggarwal was a pain management doctor who operated Chronic Pain Care Services in Huntsville. His medical practice was a pill mill, according to the charges and plea agreement. The documents state that in 2012, about 80 to 145 patients a day visited Aggarwal’s clinic, with Aggarwal seeing the majority of the patients and writing all prescriptions. Initial patient visits typically lasted five minutes or less, and follow-ups two minutes or less. The documents state that Aggarwal did not obtain prior medical records for his patients, did not treat patients with anything other than controlled substances, often asked patients what medications they wanted and filled their requests, prescribed controlled substances to patients who he knew were using illegal drugs and did not take appropriate measures to ensure that patients did not divert or abuse controlled substances. The plea agreement summarizes an interaction with a patient, which was captured on video. In it, Aggarwal notes that the DEA viewed him as the “biggest pill-pusher in North Alabama” and that many of his patients were “dropping like flies, they are all dying.”
The documents cite the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) for Alabama, which tracks the dispensing of controlled substances, as well as Medicare data, to document Aggarwal’s prescribing practices.
According to the PDMP, Alabama pharmacies filled about 110,013 of Aggarwal’s prescriptions for controlled substances in 2012. That would equal about 423 prescriptions per day if he worked five days a week, and resulted in about 12.3 million pills. The PDMP rated Aggarwal as the highest prescriber of controlled substances filled in Alabama in 2012, with the next highest prescriber writing a third as many prescriptions.
Medicare data shows Aggarwal was the highest prescriber in the United States of Schedule II controlled substances under Medicare in 2012. Schedule II substances include the opioid painkillers oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and morphine.
As to Aggarwal’s health care fraud scheme, he is charged with requiring patients to undergo unreasonable and unnecessary urine drug tests that he did not need or use in their treatment. According to the documents, the tests he ran depended not on patients’ treatment, but on how much he could bill for tests. Aggarwal often ignored urine test results showing patients were using illegal drugs, the documents state.
Between January 2011 and March 2013, urine drug tests accounted for about 80 percent of paid claims Aggarwal submitted to Medicare and Blue Cross, for a total reimbursement of $9.5 million. According to his charges and plea agreement, “Aggarwal’s primary motivation for testing patients’ urine specimens, and submitting those claims for payment, was financial gain.”
The FBI investigated the case, based partly on an investigation conducted by the ABME. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Russell Penfield are prosecuting.
Hoover Man Charged for Marketing Misbranded Male Enhancement Drugs from ChinaRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged a Hoover man with receiving and reselling misbranded male enhancement drugs from China that could cause serious side effects in men taking medications containing nitrates, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Justin D. Green.
In a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged NABIL CHAGRI, 38, with one count of receiving and selling or offering to sell a misbranded prescription drug under the name, Zhen Gong Fu, on March 22. The product labeling did not declare that it contained sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in the prescription drug, Viagra, and made additional false statements. Viagra is FDA approved for treatment of erectile dysfunction. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a plea agreement with Chagri in which he acknowledges the charge and states he will plead guilty to it.
According to the information, drugs containing sildenafil are considered prescription drugs under federal law because of their toxicity and potential for harmful effects, and are considered unsafe for use except under the supervision of a licensed physician.
Sildenafil-containing drugs can be particularly harmful to people taking medications containing nitrates, such as nitroglycerin, because sildenafil can interact with the nitrates and lower blood pressure to dangerous levels, according to the information. Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease often take nitrates.
The Zhen Gong Fu labeling not only failed to disclose that the drug contained sildenafil, it also falsely and misleadingly stated that Zhen Gong Fu “does not affect heart diseases [sic], hypertension or diabetes,” according to the information.
The government’s plea agreement with Chagri states that he received and sold, or offered for sale, a variety of mislabeled male enhancement drugs to wholesale supply stores or gas stations. The drugs, including Zhen Gong Fu, contained sildenafil or tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis, another FDA-approved prescription drug for erectile dysfunction.
The assorted mislabeled male enhancement drugs were mailed to Chagri from China at various addresses in north Alabama, according to the plea agreement. Between March 2015 and March 2016, the FDA detained multiple packages containing the drugs in route from China to Chagri and issued eight import detention notices to him, inviting Chagri to challenge the agency’s decision to detain the packages, the plea agreement states.
Chagri received the FDA detention notices, but continued to order and receive the drugs from China, sometimes under fictitious names “in an effort to mislead and evade detection by law enforcement,” according to the plea agreement.
The maximum punishment for receiving and selling, or offering for sale, a misbranded prescription drug is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FDA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinelo Dike-Minor is prosecuting
Two Postal Service Employees Sentenced for Bribery and Conspiracy to Distribute MarijuanaRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a U.S. Postal Service supervisor to 6 months’ home detention and a Postal carrier to 12 months’ probation for accepting cash to deliver marijuana, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Postal Inspection Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Max Eamiguel, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, and West Alabama Narcotics Task Force Captain Wayne Robertson.
The two Postal Service employees in Tuscaloosa, LENARD POMPEY, 39, a supervisor, and LYLE JONES, 36, a mail carrier, pleaded guilty in March to charges of bribery and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The two men took part in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana and accepted cash to deliver packages containing the drug, according to their guilty pleas.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced Pompey to six months on home detention followed by six months of probation. She sentenced Jones to 12 months’ probation.
A third Tuscaloosa Postal Service employee, Jocelin Betts, a mail carrier, pleaded guilty in November to bribery and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. She is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 29.
The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the West Alabama Narcotics Squad investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton is prosecuting.
U.S. Attorney Charges Property Manager for Stealing from Condominium AssociationsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Birmingham woman with stealing more than $350,000 from homeowner associations, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
In a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged JILL ROUSE BOOTHBY, 42, with one count of wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a plea agreement with Boothby. According to the agreement, Boothby will plead guilty to the charge and pay restitution in the amount of $375,750.
According to the information, Boothby was employed as a property manager at Boothby Realty from 2008 through January 2015. Boothby Realty is a real estate and property management company located in Birmingham. Boothby also owned and operated an interior design business called Jill Boothby Designs. The design company is a separate and independent company from Boothby Realty and is run solely by Boothby.
As a property manager at Boothby Realty, Boothby was personally responsible for the management of 11 condominium associations within the Birmingham metropolitan area. Boothby attended homeowner association meetings, assisted with the use and accounting of the homeowner association funds, coordinated maintenance services at the properties, helped bid contracts for maintenance and improvements to the properties, and assisted the associations with budgeting. As expenses were incurred by the various associations, Boothby would advise Boothby Realty’s accounting personnel of the invoices and expenses to be paid from the homeowner associations’ funds.
The government’s plea agreement with Boothby states that, beginning in late 2012 and continuing to about January 2015, Boothby created false and fraudulent invoices for goods and services in the name of her company, Jill Boothby Designs, and submitted the various invoices to the 11 condominium associations that she managed. The Jill Boothby Designs invoices contained descriptions of items billed to the various associations, however, neither Boothby nor her design company actually purchased the items. Boothby submitted the fraudulent invoices to her employer, Boothby Realty, with a copy to the homeowner associations for payment out of the homeowner associations’ funds. The realty company paid the fraudulent invoices to Boothby out of the associations’ funds. To further conceal the fraud, Boothby altered the monthly financial statements that were submitted to Boothby Realty to be mailed or emailed to the associations.
The maximum punishment for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
Birmingham Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Armed CarjackingsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal judge this week sentenced a Birmingham man to 20 years in prison for three armed carjackings in 2015, and for being a convicted felon in possession of a 9mm pistol, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced JERMAINE DANIEL PARKS, 32, on three carjacking counts, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. Parks pleaded guilty to the charges in March. Parks’ previous felony conviction was for an unrelated robbery. He was convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
On April 9, 2015, according to court records, Parks brandished a firearm and forcefully took a 2005 Nissan Altima from an individual in eastern Birmingham. Later the same day, he also brandished a firearm and forcefully took a 2008 Saturn Vue from a second individual in eastern Birmingham. On April 18, Parks brandished a gun, forcefully took a 2010 Nissan Rogue from a woman in Birmingham’s Avondale neighborhood, and forced her to visit several ATMS and withdraw cash.
Several days after releasing the victim from Avondale, Parks telephoned her and asked for a date, according to court records. Police were able track his phone number and identify Parks through Facebook.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Felton prosecuted.
*******media Advisory*******Read the Press Release
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
FRIDAY, SEPT.16, 2016
As part of National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance will join Walgreens officials to demonstrate the ease and importance of safely disposing of unused prescription drugs at a permanent take-back receptacle in the Walgreens Pharmacy in Bessemer.
In late July, Alabama became one of 21 states where Walgreens has implemented its Safe Medication Disposal Program.
WHAT: Press conference
WHEN: Monday, Sept. 19
10:30 A.M.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Presents Community Summit, Law Enforcement Seminar to Address Opiate Abuse and AddictionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is presenting law enforcement training on the illegal diversion of prescription opioid drugs and a community summit focused on seeking solutions to the problems of opioid abuse and addiction as part of National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, which begins Sunday.
Dr. Stephen M. Taylor, an addiction and recovery specialist who serves as medical director of the National Basketball Association’s drug testing and treatment program, will be the keynote speaker at the community summit on Friday, Sept. 23, in Birmingham. Taylor has worked as a licensed and board-certified general, child/adolescent and addiction psychiatrist for 20 years.
President Barack Obama today proclaimed Sept. 18-24 as National Heroin and Opioid Abuse Awareness Week to focus the nation’s attention on the burgeoning problem of abuse, addiction and overdose deaths associated with heroin and prescription opiate painkillers.
“Heroin and opiate drug addiction are at crisis levels in our community, as are overdose deaths,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance. “This problem demands a community-wide response, and we are hard at work in north Alabama bringing together law enforcement, educators, the medical and treatment communities, and prevention specialists to engage with affected individuals, their families and their employers,” she said.
“This week, my office is hosting events to enhance our prosecutions of people who make these drugs available in our communities, while also working to educate the community, particularly our youth, on the dangers of these drugs, and to develop strategies to increase treatment resources.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s Birmingham Field Office have joined together to present the Drug Diversion Training Seminar to law enforcement Monday on the Shelby County Campus of Jefferson State Community College. More than 100 local, state and federal law enforcement members are expected to attend the one-day training.
The seminar will focus on investigating and prosecuting the diversion of legal drugs, primarily opioids, for illegal purposes. DEA Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Ben’Ary will present the seminar’s morning session, discussing use of the federal 20-year mandatory minimum penalty in cases where it can be proven that a defendant sold a controlled substance that resulted in an overdose death. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie from Southern Mississippi, who has had marked success in building diversion cases, will present a case study during the afternoon session.
Members of law enforcement may register for the training at https://usaoalntraining.org/DrugDiversionTraining.
On Sept. 23, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health and the Jefferson County Department of Health, as part of the Pills to Needles Initiative, will present a community summit to focus on building solutions to the heroin and prescription opioid problem.
“Pills to Needles Summit 2.0: Building Solutions” is a follow-up to the 2014 Pills to Needles summit that focused on raising awareness of the growing epidemic of opioid abuse, addiction and overdose deaths.
Summit 2.0 is designed to engage participants from diverse backgrounds in conversations about building solutions to the heroin and prescription opioid problem in our community. The program will include an update on the Pills to Needles Initiative and the status of opioid addiction in our community, as well as panel and community discussions focused on prevention, education, and treatment access and options.
Friday’s summit will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Harbert Center, 2019 Fourth Ave. North. It is free and open to the public. Use this registration link to find more information about the event. You can also register for Summit 2.0 by visiting the Pills to Needle’s website, KNOWDOPE.org.
Summit 2.0 will conclude with a special viewing of the FBI-produced documentary, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict. The 45-minute film, whose title refers to the never-ending pursuit of the original or ultimate high, is designed to help educate students and young adults about the dangers of opioid addiction.
Pills to Needles is a community collaboration initiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2013. Its mission is to create a comprehensive and responsive community infrastructure to address heroin and prescription drug abuse.
Social Security Administrative Law Judge Charged with Accepting Sexual Gratuity, Obstruction & Stealing SSA RecordsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged a former administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration for engaging in a sex act with, and other activities related to a Social Security beneficiary, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, SSA-Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Margaret Jackson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a three-count information in U.S. District Court charging PAUL STRIBLING CONGER JR., 73, of Akron, Ala., with obstructing justice, accepting a gratuity for an official act of a public official and stealing government property. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a plea agreement with Conger in which he acknowledges the charges and agrees he will plead guilty to them. Conger is scheduled for arraignment Sept. 15.
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 the charges and Congers’ plea agreement:
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. There, the two engaged in sexual activity. Over ensuing weeks, they remained in contact through phone calls and text messages.
Conger is charged with illegal receipt of a gratuity for his conduct with T.M.
He is charged with theft of government property for using 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 is charged with obstruction for attempting to obtain T.M.’s cell phone and destroy it after learning that he was the subject of a workplace complaint and an OIG 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.
As further alleged, Conger falsely told federal agents that he never had any physical or sexual contact with a claimant, including T.M., even after being notified that he was the target of a federal grand jury investigation.
The maximum penalty for obstruction is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for the gratuity charge is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the maximum penalty for the theft of government property charge is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
SSA-OIG and FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson is prosecuting.
Former Church Staff Member Sentenced to 50 years in Prison for Child Sexual Exploitation and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Shelby County man and former church staff member to 50 years in prison for sexually abusing a seven-year-old child and possessing child pornography in 2013, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced JASON MICHAEL HANKINS, 35, to 30 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child, plus 20 more years for possessing child pornography. The judge also ordered Hankins to remain on supervised release for the rest of his life after completing his prison sentence. Hankins pleaded guilty to the charges in January.
Hankins had worked at Shades Crest Baptist Church in Hoover as part of the Family Life Center staff, assisting in the planning and coordinating of recreational activities. Hankins found his young victim by seeking out a single mother on a Christian dating website.
The government, in its sentencing memorandum to the court, recommended a 50-year prison sentence in the case. Such a sentence is reasonable, the government argued, because Hankins “targeted the victim, engaged in a repeated pattern, lasting the entire time he had access to the child, of sexual exploitation of a very young child …” Not only did Hankins sexually abuse the child, but he used his cell phone to memorialize the child’s nightmare, the government said.
The seven-year-old child was not Hankins’ only victim, as he possessed more than 100 videos and more than 1,000 images of child pornography, including a video of a man raping a toddler, according to the sentencing memorandum.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Hutzell prosecuted.
Federal Judge Sentences Former Teacher to Five Years in Prison for Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former high school teacher to five years in prison for receiving child pornography in connection with an improper relationship he had with a teenage student he met at the school, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced ROBERT LELAND GRANT JR., 26, of Warrior, on one count of receiving child pornography between March 2013 and November 2013 while Grant was a teacher at John Carroll High School. The judge ordered Grant to remain on supervised release for life after completing his prison sentence.
Grant pleaded guilty to the child pornography charge in April. He admitted that he had an improper relationship with a 17-year-old student that involved sexual contact and sexually explicit videos and images swapped via text message.
Grant “abused his position as a teacher to prey on and sexually exploit his students and received child pornography,” the government said in its sentencing memorandum. The 17-year-old student was not the only student Grant victimized, according to the memorandum, which states that he admitted improper relationships with two other students in 2013 and 2014.
The FBI and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Hutzell prosecuted.
KNOWDOPE Documentary Showing Sunday at Birmingham Sidewalk Film FestivalRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A documentary short following two lives in Alabama altered by heroin addiction will screen Sunday during the Birmingham Sidewalk Film Festival, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
Students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, working with UAB Digital Media Director Rosie O’Beirne, produced KNOWDOPE: The Documentary last year as part of a series of public service announcements and the establishment of the larger KNOWDOPE campaign and website, www.knowdope.org. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, as part of the community Pills to Needles Initiative, contracted with UAB’s Digital Media Department to create content for the website that focused on raising awareness and prevention of opiate addiction. KNOWDOPE: The Documentary is a compelling look at one life lost and another irreparably altered by heroin addiction.
The UAB students who worked on the yearlong KNOWDOPE project won Best of Show in February in the student competition for the American Advertising Federation Birmingham Awards, or ADDYs. The students created the KNOWDOPE campaign name and logo, along with the 13-minute documentary and six brief video clip PSAs designed to be shown in area schools as part of drug awareness programs, or shared on social media. The documentary and PSAs, along with information and links to help educate and provide resources on drug abuse and addiction, all can be found on the website. It is critical for the community to understand the path from prescription opiate use and abuse to heroin addiction, and to focus on prevention and treatment opportunities, Vance said.
KNOWDOPE: The Documentary, will be shown Sunday at the Alabama School of Fine Arts’ Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre, 1800 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard, during Alabama Documentary Shorts, from 5:15 p.m. to 6:55 p.m. #KNOWDOPE buttons will be available.
The film’s directors are Matthew Henton and Sarah Buckalew. Run time is 13 minutes.
“Pills to Needles” is a collaborative initiative begun in 2014 to respond to the sharp spike in heroin deaths in northern Alabama. The initiative, originated thorough the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama in conjunction with key partners including the UAB School of Public Health, the Jefferson County Department of Health and the Addiction Prevention Coalition. Its overarching goals are to create a comprehensive and responsive community infrastructure to address this serious public health issue; develop strategies to reduce the ill-effects of heroin and prescription drug abuse; and give voice to those affected by heroin and prescription drug abuse.
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United States Postal Service Employee Charged with Theft of MailRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a U.S. Postal Service employee for stealing gift cards from the mail, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Special Agent in Charge Maximo Eamiguel, Southern Area Field Office, United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges TERRILL CHATMAN, 48, of Birmingham, with theft of mail by a Postal Service employee in September and October of 2015. According to the indictment, Terrill Chatman stole a $50 Publix gift card from the mail in Birmingham in September 2015, and the next month stole a $10 Walmart gift card.
The maximum penalty for theft of mail by a Postal Service employee is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Georgia Man Indicted for Bank Fraud and Aggravated I.D. TheftRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a Georgia man in connection with a counterfeit check and stolen identity scheme in north Alabama in late 2014, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.
A four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges CAMERON MICHAEL MORAN, 29, of Rome, Ga., with two counts each of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Moran was aided by others not named in the indictment in a scheme to defraud BBVA Compass Bank of more than $18,000. Moran would obtain a stolen business check or a counterfeit check, forge the original check-maker’s signature on the counterfeit check and/or change the name of the payee on the stolen check, according to the charges. He then cashed those checks for his personal use.
Between Nov. 25 and 26, 2014, Moran cashed a $9,673 counterfeit check bearing a forged signature and drawn on the account of Transportation Services Inc. at a BBVA Compass Bank in Huntsville, the indictment charges. Moran also cashed a second counterfeit check on the Transportation Services account, in the amount of $8,946 and bearing a forged signature, at a BBVA Compass Bank in Madison, according to the indictment.
Moran is charged with aggravated identity theft on each check transaction for forging the name and using the associated account numbers of a Transportation Services employee as part of the charged bank fraud.
The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Aggravated identity theft carries a minimum two-year prison sentence that must be served after completion of any sentence imposed for the underlying crime, and a maximum $250,000 fine.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Estes is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Federal Jury Convicts Birmingham Man of Preparing False Tax Returns and Witness TamperingRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a Birmingham man for assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns and tampering with a witness who the IRS contacted to question about returns he had prepared, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.
Following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon, the jury convicted DONALD E. STEELE, 41, on five counts of assisting in the preparation of a false federal income tax return in 2010 or 2011, and on one count of witness tampering in 2011. At the time, Steele operated Max Tax, a Birmingham tax return preparation business owned by his wife.
According to evidence at trial, Steele made false claims and fabricated tax deductions on federal tax returns for three different taxpayers.
Multiple taxpayer witnesses testified that they were not given a copy of their tax return when they were prepared. When investigators later presented them their returns, they saw fraudulent claims that included false filing status, false dependents, false itemized expenses including medical and dental deductions and charitable contributions, false business expenses and deductions, and false disability claims and education expenses and credits.
The jury found Steele guilty of tampering with a witness for whom he had prepared a fraudulent 2010 return. The woman testified that she tried unsuccessfully many times to get a copy of her return from Steele, but once the investigation began, he showed up at her workplace and handed her a $200 check, which she considered a bribe not to talk to the IRS.
The maximum penalty for aiding in the preparation of a false federal income tax return is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for witness tampering is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
IRS-CI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Patton Meadows and Manu Balanchandran are prosecuting.
Northwest Alabama Pharmacies Owner Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Medicare AuditRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The owner of two northwest Alabama pharmacies pleaded guilty today to obstructing a Medicare audit and agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty to the government.
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, Department of Justice Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, 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 guilty plea. The sentencing date has not been set.
RODNEY DALTON LOGAN, 63, of Muscle Shoals, pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing a 2012 federal audit of Medicare claims submitted by a pharmacy he owned, as charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama. Logan, a registered pharmacist, owned Leighton Pharmacy Inc., which did business as Sheffield Pharmacy and Homecare in Sheffield, and Russellville Pharmacy in Russellville. At various times, according to Logan’s plea agreement with the government, he was the lead pharmacist at both Sheffield and Russellville.
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 the charges and plea agreement, Logan 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.
The maximum penalty for obstructing a federal audit is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount improperly gained through the defendant’s conduct.
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 are prosecuting.
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IRS Employee Sentenced to Nine Years and Two Months in Prison for Leading $1 Million ID Theft Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced an IRS employee to nine years and two months in prison for using her access to taxpayer information to lead a complex, multi-year, $1 million stolen identity refund scheme involving hundreds of victims, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, IRS Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Karl A. Stiften, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Mid-States Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Ruben Florez.
NAKEISHA HALL, 40, pleaded guilty in February to theft of government funds, aggravated identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud affecting a financial institution. Chief U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced Hall to nine years and two months in prison on the charges, ordered her to pay $438,187 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, and to forfeit the same amount to the U.S. government as proceeds of criminal activity. Bowdre’s sentence was based in large part on Hall’s role in the extensive scheme and the fact that she abused her position of trust as an IRS employee to commit it.
Hall is the daughter of a long time IRS employee and began working for the IRS in 2000. Hall worked in the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service office in Birmingham from July 2007 to November 2011. After November 2011, she worked in TAS offices in Omaha, Neb., New Orleans, La., and Salt Lake City, Utah. TAS is responsible for assisting taxpayers who are having difficulties with the IRS. TAS works with victims of identity theft and assists them in removing fraudulent tax information from their accounts and in filing corrected tax returns, if necessary.
“This defendant abused her position of trust as an IRS employee, using her access to compromise taxpayers’ identities to attempt to steal more than $1 million from the agency. She successfully claimed more than $400,000 in fraudulent tax refunds,” Vance said. “Hall victimized United States taxpayers and jeopardized the reputation of the IRS and its division that is intended to assist taxpayers experiencing problems resulting from identity theft. Today’s sentence reflects the outrageous and serious nature of her crime.”
“Misusing her position with the Internal Revenue Service, Ms. Hall stole the identities of American taxpayers and filed false tax returns in their names,” Stiften said. “Today, Ms. Hall is being held accountable for her criminal actions. Refund fraud and identity theft of this magnitude and with this degree of dishonesty and deceit, deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Violations of federal law, particularly those committed by IRS employees who are entrusted to protect taxpayers’ sensitive information, will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Florez said. “TIGTA will continue to work closely with the United States Attorney's Office to identify, investigate and hold those individuals responsible for their illegal activities.”
Three co-conspirators have pleaded guilty in the case. Lashon Roberson, 36, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud affecting a financial institution and mail fraud affecting a financial institution. Roberson worked for many years in the financial services industry. She was sentenced in July to three years in prison and ordered to pay $119,185 in restitution to the IRS.
Jimmie Goodman, 37, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud. Goodman, who had a prior identity-theft conviction, was sentenced in July to three years and five months in prison and was ordered to pay $82,802 in restitution to the IRS and to forfeit that amount to the government.
Abdulla Coleman, 40, also of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud. He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 14.
According to court records, Hall led Roberson, Goodman, Coleman and at least one other conspirator in the scheme operated out of Birmingham between 2008 and 2011 that involved stealing personal identity information from the IRS to create fraudulent tax returns, and collecting the stolen refunds that were generated.
The defendants conspired to defraud both the IRS and financial institutions, and used the U.S. mail to execute the fraud. The multi-year conspiracy was conducted as follows, according to court records.
Hall obtained individuals’ names, birth dates and Social Security numbers through unauthorized access to IRS computers. She used the personal identity information to prepare fraudulent income tax returns and submitted them electronically to the IRS. Hall requested that the IRS pay the refunds onto debit cards and directed that the cards be mailed to drop addresses that she controlled. Hall solicited and received drop addresses from Goodman, Coleman, Roberson and at least one other person. The co-conspirators also collected the refund cards from the mail.
Hall activated the cards by using the stolen personal identity information. She and her co-conspirators took the money off the debit cards at ATMs or used the cards for purchases. If the fraudulent returns generated U.S. Treasury checks rather than the requested debit cards, the group used fraudulent endorsements in order to cash the checks. Hall compensated Goodman, Coleman, Roberson and the fifth co-conspirator by giving them a portion of the refund money, or by giving them refund cards for their own use.
The theft, aggravated identity, and unauthorized access counts relate to two specific taxpayers’ information that Hall accessed and used in 2010.
IRS-CI and TIGTA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Williamson Barnes is prosecuting.
Former Community Health Clinic CFO Involved in Complicated Scheme to Defraud the Government Sentenced to 17 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced the former chief financial officer of an Alabama non-profit health clinic for the poor and homeless to 17 years in prison for a complicated scheme to defraud millions of dollars from two non-profit health clinics and the federal government health agencies that provided most of their funding, and for a separate scheme to defraud a life insurance company that involved identity theft against a physician.
Chief U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced TERRI McGUIRE MOLLICA, 50, of Birmingham, to 15 years for the $11 million fraud involving the two clinics, Birmingham Health Care and Central Alabama Comprehensive Health in Tuskegee, and for mail fraud connected to the insurance fraud. The fraud against the two clinics also led to money laundering by Mollica and the filing of false tax returns. Those crimes were included in the 15-year sentence. For the aggravated identity theft of a physician on a phony death certificate, Mollica received an additional two years in prison. U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Atlanta Regional Office Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson announced today’s sentencing.
As part of Mollica’s sentence, she must forfeit $1,961,397 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity,.
Mollica pleaded guilty last year to 19 counts related to the fraud against the government -- six counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, eight counts of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and five counts of money laundering. She also pleaded guilty to four counts of filing false tax returns, and to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft related to the life insurance fraud.
In June, a federal jury convicted Jonathan Dunning for his role in the scheme against the health clinics and the federal funding agency. His sentencing is set for Oct. 14.
Mollica's fraud against the government, as outlined in court records, is as follows:
She was the chief financial officer of the non-profit BHC clinic from April 2005 through November 2008. She also performed fiscal duties for CACH, the Tuskegee non-profit clinic intended to provide primary and preventative health care to people in east Alabama, regardless of their ability to pay. BHC's chief executive officer served for a time as the chief executive officer of the Tuskegee clinic and, in 2008, BHC took over fiscal responsibility of CACH.
Between January 2008 and March 2012, Mollica aided others in diverting about $11 million in federal grant money and assets and property of BHC and CACH to numerous private entities using "Synergy" in the name. Mollica and others retained authority over the affairs of BHC and CACH as they operated the Synergy entities. Mollica then conducted financial transactions to transfer money from the private entities to herself and others, illegally receiving about $1.7 million through the scheme.
BHC began receiving grants from the Health Resources and Human Services Administration, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 20 years ago. Federal grants administered by HRSA and HHS constituted the overwhelming majority of BHC and CACH funding during the relevant time.
Mollica and others misrepresented and concealed information from HRSA to ensure the agency would continue to grant money to the Birmingham and Tuskegee community health clinics.
The FBI, IRS and HHS-OIG investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Kay Atwood, Tamarra Matthews-Johnson and John B. Ward prosecuted the case.
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Former Fairfield PD Custodian Arrested on Federal Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal agents on Thursday arrested a former Fairfield Police Department custodian on federal firearms charges returned by a grand jury on July 26, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.
A two-count federal indictment charges ROY ELLIS HUNTER, 70, of Fairfield, as a convicted felon in illegal possession of nearly 50 firearms, mostly handguns. The federal indictment was unsealed following his arrest Thursday. Hunter was arraigned today before a federal magistrate judge and released on bond. He was arrested on state firearms charges in July 2015 following a joint ATF and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency raid at his home. Hunter was working as the police department custodian in Fairfield at the time. He was released on a state bond pending those charges.
“Taking a convicted felon in control of a cache of firearms off the streets is the kind of law enforcement work that greatly reduces the threat of violence in our communities,” Vance said. “We should all appreciate the collaborative work of ATF and ALEA agents in investigating this case and bringing it forward for prosecution.”
“Putting a stop to this flow of confiscated firearms into the community, no doubt, has had an effect on crime in the area,” Hyche said. “Firearms that had been used in crimes and recovered by police getting back into the hands of a convicted felon who was selling them had to be stopped as fast as possible. Stolen firearms in the hands of violent criminals are an enormous problem for us in Alabama and nationally, so we aggressively work these cases with our law enforcement partners,” he said.
According to the indictment, Hunter was convicted on federal racketeering and cocaine distribution charges in 1984 and on federal counterfeiting charges in 1983. Count one of the indictment charges Hunter with being a convicted felon in possession of four handguns on June 4, 2015. Count two charges him as a convicted felon in possession of 42 firearms – 39 handguns, one rifle, one shotgun and a trigger group – on July 8, 2015.
The indictment seeks to have Hunter forfeit those 46 firearms, plus five others, to the government.
The maximum penalty for the charge of felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Royster is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty
Jefferson County Schools HR Director and Former Hueytown Middle School Principal Indicted on Federal Child Enticement and Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Jefferson County Schools’ human resources director and former Hueytown Middle School principal now faces federal charges of enticing a minor and receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger Stanton, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven D. Anderson and Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler.
A federal grand jury on Tuesday returned a four-count indictment charging BRETT WILLIAM KIRKHAM, 40, of Tuscaloosa, with child enticement and receipt and possession of child pornography between 2008 and 2016. The indictment was unsealed Thursday. Kirkham is schedule for arraignment in federal court on Aug. 11.
The maximum penalty for child enticement is life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000; the maximum penalty for each count of receiving and 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. Attorneys Jacquelyn Hutzell and John B. Ward are prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Shelby County Woman Indicted for $328,000 Bank Fraud Embezzlement SchemeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today charged a Shelby County woman in connection with a $328,000 bank fraud embezzlement scheme, as well as with aggravated identity theft, witness tampering, misusing a Social Security number and filing false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.
A 47-count superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges REBECCA ANN “BECKY” NORTON, 46, with 30 bank fraud counts, 12 aggravated identity theft counts, three counts of filing false tax returns, and one count each of misusing a Social Security number and witness tampering. The superseding indictment expands charges returned against Norton in a June indictment.
Norton worked as office manager and bookkeeper for Total Fire Protection in Alabaster. Between August 2013 and August 2015, she used a variety of methods to fraudulently take the $328,000 from bank accounts held by Total Fire Protection and related companies, according to the July indictment.
Norton committed aggravated identity theft by using personal identification information of several other individuals to facilitate her fraud, according to the indictment. It also charges that once Norton knew she was under federal and state investigation, she tried to contact two of her victims to convince them not to pursue criminal charges against her.
The superseding indictment also charges that, between 2011 and 2012, Norton drew unemployment benefits from the State of Alabama under another person’s Social Security number, thereby misusing that Social Security number and committing aggravated identity theft against that person.
Finally, the superseding indictment charges that Norton filed false federal income tax returns for 2010, 2013 and 2014 by underreporting her taxable income during each relevant year.
If convicted, Norton faces maximum prison sentences of 30 years for each bank fraud count, 20 years for witness tampering, five years for misuse of a Social Security number, and three years for each count of filing a false tax return. In addition to these sentences, Norton faces a mandatory two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft conviction.
The Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case, with assistance from the Alabaster Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Atwood and John B. Ward are prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. The defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Jefferson County Man for Receiving and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a Jefferson County man on multiple charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JAMES RYAN TAYLOR, 28, with receipt of child pornography between January 2013 and January 2016, and with possession and access with intent to view child pornography between Feb. 28, 2015, and March 4, 2015.
The maximum penalty for each count of receiving and possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Manu K. Balachandran and Jacquelyn Hutzell are prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty.
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Birmingham Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Selling HeroinRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man to more than five years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute heroin, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Clay A. Morris.
U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced KATIAH MATEEN “BONE” GRIFFIN, 35, to five years and four months in prison on one count of possessing with intent to distribute 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of heroin. Griffin pleaded guilty to the charge in November. He has remained in custody.
According to Griffin’s plea agreement with the government, he sold the heroin to a confidential informant working with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force for $12,500 in October 2013.
DEA and the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr. prosecuted.
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Former Talladega Correctional Officer Sentenced to a Month in Prison for Accepting Bribe to Smuggle Phone to InmateRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega to one month in prison for accepting a bribe to provide a cell phone to an inmate, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Bourbon.
STACIE MARIE GARDNER, 31, of Weaver, pleaded guilty in March to accepting $1,474 in January 2015, while she was working as a correctional officer, in exchange for smuggling a cell phone into the prison and providing it to an inmate. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced her to the month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Gardner also must forfeit $1,474 to the government.
DOJ OIG investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis A. Barlow prosecuted.
Koch Industries Executive to Keynote U.S. Attorney’s Fair Chance Hiring ConferenceRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Mark V. Holden, senior vice president and general counsel of Koch Industries, will be the keynote speaker Wednesday at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama focused on reentry and fair chance employment issues for people returning to society from prison.
Koch Industries is nationally recognized for its leadership and advocacy to remove barriers to employment for people who have had a criminal conviction or arrest. Koch Industries reports that it directly employs 60,000 people nationally, about 2,600 of them in Alabama.
The Alabama Fair Chance Employment Summit is Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Steiner Auditorium at the Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard. Holden is considered a national leader in reentry reform and fair chance employment practices.
“In Alabama and across the country, leaders from the public and private sector are collaborating to break the cycle of crime by promoting employment and community support for those who have committed crimes, served their sentences and paid their debts to society,” Vance said. “Often, collateral consequences that result from an arrest or conviction affect an individual’s ability to find employment long after the completion of any court-imposed sentence. We can prevent crime and make our community safer by making it possible for people to find jobs,” she said. “Mr. Holden’s experience with gainfully employing ex-offenders should provide great insight for our community.”
For more information on the event, contact Jeremy Sherer at (205) 244-2001 or [email protected].
U.S. Attorney Vance: Where Do We Go from Here?Read the Press Release
These past few weeks have been difficult for our country. The deaths in Baton Rouge, Minnesota and Dallas are nothing short of tragic, and they raise fundamental questions about who we are as a society. We must have trust between communities and law enforcement if we are to be a safe society. How can this trust be rebuilt? How can every person in this country be guaranteed equal justice under the law?
As a part of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama plays a key role in answering these questions. Our mission is contained within our very name: our responsibility is to work to ensure equal justice for all Americans. Because of this core value, we support law enforcement in its commitment to keep all of us safe. We also seek to ensure that all Americans’ civil rights are protected. Recently, some have questioned whether those who support black lives can also support blue lives. In our view, the answer is a resounding yes.
The killings of the five police officers in Dallas — Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarriga, and now three in Baton Rouge -- Montrell Jackson, Brad Garafola and Matthew Gerald — were unconscionable. In order for us to move forward in a meaningful way, we must respect law enforcement and acknowledge that they risk their lives to protect public safety. The police officers in Baton Rouge were ambushed; those in Dallas died protecting a public protest that originated from the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The commitment of law enforcement is essential to a safe, just society.
Bad actors, as we are all too frequently reminded, live in many different communities. They do not, however, define those communities — whether police departments or minority groups. So how do we move forward and rebuild trust between the police and the communities they protect? For us, one way is to help the community understand the Justice Department’s role in enforcing this nation’s civil rights laws. Although we work with law enforcement every day and overwhelmingly see officers and agents who are committed to doing what is right, we will not sit idly by if police use excessive force. We have, and will continue, to prosecute officers who violate our citizens’ civil rights, as we did, successfully, just this past week.
At the same time, we are committed to the success of Birmingham’s work as a pilot city in the Justice Department’s Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. Efforts have been underway since the fall of 2015 to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect. As part of this program, the Justice Department, community stakeholders, academics, and civil rights advocates are developing a plan that will enhance procedural justice, reduce bias, and support reconciliation in local communities. I welcome your feedback in this program; it is essential.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Although we have work to do, the obstacles to justice are not insurmountable. This is not the time for hate or indifference. This is the time for us to set aside differences and old misunderstandings and come together to promote good law enforcement, a safe community, and an understanding that our civil rights are precious. It is our obligation to protect them, and it is going to take all of us to do this work.
Stevenson, Alabama, Police Chief Convicted of Civil Rights Offenses for Assaulting and Failing to Protect ArresteeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal jury convicted the Chief of Police of Stevenson, Alabama, Daniel Winters, 56, of two counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law: one count for beating an arrestee, identified as D.F., and one count for failing to protect the victim from harm.
According to evidence presented at trial, on March 22, 2015, Winters and a civilian friend went to a residence to investigate suspicions that property had been stolen from the friend’s business and was located at the residence. Upon arrival, Winters and his friend entered the residence without a search warrant and encountered the victim, D.F. Winters and his friend then began to beat D.F. The beating moved outside where Winters and his friend continued to strike and kick the victim in front of the residence. Over the course of approximately five minutes, Winters not only participated in the beating, but stood by watching his friend beat D.F. and did nothing to stop it. A passing motorist called 911 to report the beating. D.F. was left bloody with wounds to his face, chest and back and was taken to the jail at the Stevenson Police Department. While at the jail, D.F. began to spit up blood. A jailor requested Winters’ permission to call an ambulance, but Winters refused the request. Eventually, the jailor received permission from another supervisor and D.F. was transported to a hospital where he received medical attention.
“This police chief abused his authority, broke the law and violated the public trust,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When law enforcement leaders engage in egregious, unlawful conduct – as this defendant did here – they do a disservice to the thousands of hard-working officers who perform their difficult, demanding jobs each day with integrity and distinction.”
“Civil rights enforcement is a priority of our office and the trial team on this case did an excellent job of putting the evidence together and presenting it to the jury,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama.
Winters faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the civil rights charges. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala of the Northern District of Alabama.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and Alabama’s State Bureau of Investigation. The matter is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Laura Hodge of the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorney Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
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Court Shuts Down Alabama Tax Return PreparerRead the Press Release
Washington—According to a lawsuit the United States filed in April, a Birmingham, Alabama, tax return preparer continually and repeatedly prepared federal income tax returns that understated her clients’ liabilities or overstated their refunds. Now a federal court in Birmingham has permanently barred her from preparing tax returns for others and it has ordered her to give the United States a list of her customers since 2014.
Jessica Leverett aka Jessica Harris, owns and operates a number of different tax return preparation businesses in and around Birmingham, including Tax Money Now, Dynamic Tax Services, Dynamic Tax Solutions and Express Money Tax, the civil complaint alleged. Leverett’s businesses prepared returns that fabricate Schedule C businesses and business losses to offset their customers’ taxable income from other sources or to increase the customers’ Earned Income Tax Credit, according to the complaint. The complaint also alleged that Leverett’s businesses prepare returns that claim education credits that Leverett’s customers are not entitled to receive and that misreport self-employment income as household employee wages in order to avoid the self-employment tax.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined 264 returns prepared by Leverett’s businesses and found that 206 understated the customer’s tax due, the complaint alleges. Altogether, Leverett’s activities may have caused the United States to lose over $2.5 million in understated taxes and/or fraudulent refunds, according to the complaint. Leverett did not file a response challenging the government’s allegations.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2016. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax 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.
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South Carolina Attorney Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud in UA Sorority House Furnishing SchemeRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – A South Carolina attorney pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to bank fraud as part of a scheme that involved submitting false invoices for furnishings and equipment for a University of Alabama sorority house and receiving payment without providing the items, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Craig Caldwell, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez.
JENNIFER ELIZABETH MEEHAN, 39, pleaded guilty to bank fraud before U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala. As part of a plea agreement with the government, Meehan also agreed to forfeit, as proceeds of illegal activity, $234,648 provided to the government in April, and to pay additional restitution of $34,815 to Greek Resource Services. In exchange, the government agreed to drop seven other fraud and money laundering counts brought against Meehan in the 2015 indictment. The government also agreed to recommend a 20-month prison sentence.
Meehan, a former member of Gamma Phi Beta at Alabama, was acting in her position as president of the House Corporation Board of The Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority in an unpaid, volunteer capacity when she carried out the fraud.
According to Meehan’s plea agreement, Gamma Phi Beta was building a $14 million sorority house and Meehan was responsible for coordinating and purchasing all furniture and associated implements for the house between September 2013 and March 2015.
Meehan executed a bank fraud scheme to illegally obtain money from First Citizens Bank & Trust Company and the Bank of Tuscaloosa, according to her plea agreement. Gamma Phi Beta Sorority’s account was at the Bank of Tuscaloosa. Meehan opened an account at First Citizens Bank under a fraudulent business name.
In September and November of 2014, Meehan submitted fraudulent furniture invoices totaling about $375,000 to Greek Resource Services, a contract company that handles the finances for fraternities and sororities at UA. GRS drew money from Gamma Phi Beta’s account at Bank of Tuscaloosa and gave Meehan two checks totaling about $375,000. She deposited that money into the newly opened First Citizens account.
In January 2015, Meehan entered a First Citizens Bank & Trust branch in Anderson, S.C., and wired $175,000 from the fraudulent business account into her personal business account at Bank of America for her personal use, according to her plea agreement.
The U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Estes is prosecuting.
Florence Man Sentenced to Five Months in Prison for Federal Domestic Violence ViolationRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE – A federal judge today sentenced a Florence man to five months in prison for assaulting a former girlfriend living on Redstone Arsenal, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
A federal jury in April convicted RONNIE CHRISTOPHER RICKS, 46, on one count of interstate domestic violence for coming into the U.S. government’s special territorial jurisdiction of Redstone Arsenal and striking his former girlfriend with his fists on Aug. 5, 2015. U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced him to the five months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Ricks already is in custody.
According to government documents, the assault occurred as follows:
Ricks’ former girlfriend was a U.S. Army non-commissioned officer living on Redstone Arsenal last year. On Aug. 5, Ricks showed up at her residence as an Army officer arrived to pick up his daughter, who Ricks’ victim was babysitting. Ricks began cursing and swung a fist at the officer. When Ricks former girlfriend stepped between the two men, Ricks threw her to the ground, struck her in the face with his fists and dragged her along the ground.
The Redstone Arsenal Police investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes is prosecuting.
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Koch Industries Executive to Keynote U.S. Attorney’s Fair Chance Hiring ConferenceRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Mark V. Holden, senior vice president and general counsel of Koch Industries, will be the keynote speaker next week at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama focused on reentry and fair chance employment issues for people returning to society from prison.
Koch Industries is nationally recognized for its leadership and advocacy to remove barriers to employment for people who have had a criminal conviction or arrest. Koch Industries reports that it directly employs 60,000 people nationally, about 2,600 of them in Alabama.
The Alabama Fair Chance Employment Summit will be Wednesday, July 20, from 9 a.m. to 11a.m. in the Steiner Auditorium at the Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard. Holden is considered a national leader in reentry reform and fair chance employment practices.
“In Alabama and across the country, leaders from the public and private sector are collaborating to break the cycle of crime by promoting employment and community support for those who have committed crimes, served their sentences and paid their debts to society,” Vance said. “Often, collateral consequences that result from an arrest or conviction affect an individual’s ability to find employment long after the completion of any court-imposed sentence. We can prevent crime and make our community safer by making it possible for people to find jobs,” she said. “Mr. Holden’s experience with gainfully employing ex-offenders should provide great insight for our community.”
For more information on the event, contact Jeremy Sherer at (205) 244-2001 or [email protected]
Former UAB Hospital Food Services Employee Charged with Stealing $1 million in Cash Kept for Cashier ChangeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged a former employee in the Hospital Food and Nutrition Services Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with stealing more than $1 million over about six years from a cash room she oversaw, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged KYEJUANA AVERY, 34, of Birmingham, with one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Prosecutors filed the charge, along with a plea agreement with Avery, in U.S. District Court. According to that agreement, Avery will plead guilty to the charge and pay restitution to UAB in an amount to be determined at sentencing.
Avery worked as a financial account representative at UAB in the Hospital Food and Nutrition Services Department between 2007 and 2013. That department sells food and beverages at locations throughout University Hospital. The department has a bank account, the Change Fund Account, to enable cashiers to exchange high denomination dollar bills for small bills and coins so they could provide change to customers, according to Avery’s plea agreement.
The plea agreement outlines Avery’s charged theft between 2008 and 2013 as follows:
Avery was responsible for the “Cash Room” where the safe containing money for change was kept. As a financial account representative, Avery was responsible for making change for cashiers; requesting change from the bank in the form of “change orders,” or withdrawals; repaying those change orders with “change payments,” or deposits; and keeping a balance of change available in the Cash Room for cashiers.
In December 2013, the Food and Nutrition Services Department counted cash on hand in the Cash Room and found about $14,000 missing. A subsequent UAB audit of the department found $1.1 million in withdrawals between 2008 and December 2013 that were never repaid through deposits.
Avery admitted to the FBI that she began periodically taking cash from the safe in 2008, usually about $800 to $900 at a time, and continued doing so for six years.
The maximum penalty for theft concerning programs receiving federal funds is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI, with assistance from the UAB Police Department, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
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Two Former Regions Bank Employees Indicted in Bribery and Wire Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury last week indicted two former Regions Bank employees for conspiracy in a $5 million bribery and wire fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
A 39-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges RICHARD ALAN HENDERSON, 57, of Hoover, and PHILIP HENRY COOPER, 66, of Birmingham, with conspiracy, bank bribery, wire fraud affecting a financial institution and money laundering.
Henderson and Cooper were Regions’ employees, serving as officers of Regions Equipment Financing Corp., a part of the bank that offered business customers various financing tools, including equipment financing and lease options. Henderson began as senior vice president and finance manager of REFCO and was promoted in April 2012 to its chief administrative officer. Cooper worked as senior vice president and asset manager of REFCO.
According to the indictment, Henderson and Cooper recruited a third man, Jesse Stewart Ellis, who has agreed to plead guilty to charges arising from this scheme, 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. Ellis had no experience providing residual value insurance. The defendants directed REFCO’s residual value insurance business to Ellis’ new company, and he, in return, split the proceeds of the business with Henderson and Cooper, according to the charges. The defendants concealed from Regions that they were receiving money as a result of directing REFCO’s 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, most often through interstate wire transfer into the new company’s account at Wells Fargo Bank, the indictment charges. Henderson received about $1.8 million as a result of the scheme and Cooper received about $1.5 million, according to the indictment. The indictment also seeks forfeiture from the defendants in those amounts.
The indictment includes 29 money laundering counts against Henderson and Cooper. The defendants moved the money generated by the scheme among several bank accounts to conceal the ownership and control of the proceeds of the scheme.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bank bribery is 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million or three times the value of what was solicited or accepted, whichever is greater. The maximum penalty for wire fraud affecting a financial institution is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and for money laundering and money laundering conspiracy, the maximum penalty 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.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George A. Martin Jr. and Henry B. Cornelius are prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Northwest Alabama Pharmacies Owner Agrees to Plead Guilty to Obstructing Medicare AuditRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The owner of two northwest Alabama pharmacies has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a Medicare audit and to pay a $2.5 million penalty to the government.
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, 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 charge and plea agreement today.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama charged RODNEY DALTON LOGAN, 63, of Muscle Shoals, with one count of obstructing a 2012 federal audit of Medicare claims submitted by a pharmacy he owned. Logan, a registered pharmacist, owned Leighton Pharmacy Inc., which did business as Sheffield Pharmacy and Homecare in Sheffield, and Russellville Pharmacy in Russellville. At various times, according to the charge, Logan was the lead pharmacist at both Sheffield and Russellville. Prosecutors filed the charge by information in U.S. District Court, along with a plea agreement reached between Logan and the government.
“This case revolves around the falsification of documents in an effort to defraud Medicare, which exists to provide health care services for the elderly,” Vance said. “My office and our law enforcement partners are committed to ensuring the integrity of government programs and to prosecuting those who would provide false information to criminally profit from those programs.”
“Fraud undermines the financial integrity of the Medicare system and combating health care fraud remains a top priority for the FBI,” Stanton said. “This should serve as a reminder to others that the FBI and its law enforcement partners will identify, investigate and present for prosecution those individuals involved in similar activities.”
"Obstructing a Medicare audit is something the OIG takes very seriously," Jackson said. "Submitting documentation to Medicare to substantiate that tablets or capsules were utilized when, in fact, bulk pharmaceutical powders were actually used is straight-up fraud."
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 the information and plea agreement, Logan 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.
The maximum penalty for obstructing a federal audit is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount improperly gained through the defendant’s conduct.
FBI, HHS-OIG and FDA-OCI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinelo Diké-Minor and Trial Attorney William Chang of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Fraud Section are prosecuting.
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Statement of U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance on the University of Alabama's Action Plan to Combat Racial Discrimination in Fraternities and SororitiesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The University of Alabama, which claims the largest fraternity and sorority community in the nation with regard to overall fraternity and sorority membership, today announced the adoption of an action plan to enhance the University’s ability to prevent and respond to racial discrimination, and to increase diversity within the University’s fraternities and sororities. In developing the plan, the University consulted with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
In Fall 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division contacted the University to inquire about the allegations of race discrimination in the selection process for new members in the University’s traditionally white sororities, and the University’s response. At that time, the University had undertaken a series of efforts to demonstrate the University’s commitment to a discrimination-free campus environment and to increase diversity in the University’s recognized Greek organizations. Following subsequent discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division, the University developed an action plan to memorialize the University’s efforts and serves as a roadmap for future efforts to remove barriers to the Greek system and improve how the University responds to allegations of discrimination. Specifically, the plan clarifies expectations for students and student organizations, and establishes clear and consistent procedures for reporting, investigating, and responding to allegations of discriminatory conduct.
“Greek life is a vital part of the college experience for many students. With today’s action plan, the University of Alabama makes a commitment that this important component of University life, which plays a significant role in the formation of relationships students will carry forward into their adult lives, is not tarnished by racial barriers,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance. “We look forward to the University’s prompt and full implementation of the action plan. We appreciate the students who came forward with allegations about discrimination in sorority rush and made this action plan possible. We urge the community to contact our office if they have any concerns about discrimination or other civil-rights violations on any campus.”
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)244-2185 or [email protected]. To file a written complaint, mail the complaint to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, 1801 Fourth Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35203.
Sylacauga Woman Indicted for Embezzling from Union LocalRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a Sylacauga woman for embezzling more than $23,000 from a construction trades union local based in Irondale, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, District Director Craig Neel.
A 20-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MICHELLE R. CLIFTON, 49, with embezzling from International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 78, where she worked as office manager and bookkeeper. According to the indictment, Clifton carried out the theft between December 2012 and September 2013 by forging 17 checks drawn on four separate union accounts.
The indictment also charges Clifton with making false statements to Labor Department investigators, claiming a business manager at the union office had directed her to forge the checks and alter union records to hide the payments.
The maximum penalty for both embezzlement of union assets and for making a false statement to a government agent is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for forged securities of an organization is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Patton Meadows 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 Kentucky Man for Child Enticement and Attempted Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a Kentucky man on charges of enticing a minor and attempting to produce child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sec. Stan Stabler.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges LARRY DEAN TACKETT, 55, of Wallingford, Ky., with child enticement and attempted production of child pornography in 2016 in Kentucky, Tennessee and Clay County, Ala.
The maximum penalty for child enticement is life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000; the maximum penalty for attempting to produce child pornography is 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI and ALEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Hutzell is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty.
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Cullman County Man Sentenced to 45 Years for Third Child Exploitation ConvictionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Cullman County man to 45 years in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography after two previous child sexual abuse convictions, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr.
JAMES KEITH STEWART, 36, who is currently serving a 15-year state sentence on a 2013 conviction of sexually molesting a boy under age 12 at a public swimming area in Chilton County, pleaded guilty in federal court in March to receiving and possessing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced him on those charges and ordered the federal sentence to be served concurrently with Stewart’s state sentence.
Along with Stewart’s 2013 conviction of sexual abuse of a child, he was convicted by court martial in 2003 for indecent acts upon a child.
Between August 2010 and February 2012, Stewart amassed a collection of thousands of images of child pornography, including sadistic and masochistic images of the rape of toddlers, and was trading the child pornography over the internet, according to court records.
The government recommended a 45-year prison sentence for Stewart and argued that lengthy incarceration is the only way to ensure that Stewart does not harm more children.
HSI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Barnes prosecuted.
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