District of Massachusetts

Boston – A federal detainee being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility was sentenced today in connection with importing several kilograms of methylone, also known as “molly,” from China and distributing it in Massachusetts.  He also admitted to smuggling a small quantity of the designer drug alpha-PVP, also known as “flakka,” into the Essex County Correctional Facility. 

Harold Bates, 33, of Rockland, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to 100 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  In September 2015, Bates pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to import methylone, importation of methylone, possession with intent to distribute methylone, and possession of a controlled substance by an inmate.

In October 2013, Bates began ordering substantial quantities of methylone over the Internet from his supplier based in China.  Bates and the supplier discussed methods of concealing the drugs to avoid detection.  When the methylone packages were shipped to Bates, the Chinese supplier included documents that falsely described the packages as containing samples of household items such as cosmetics with a value of $10 to $20 when, in fact, the drugs were worth considerably more. 

Federal agents discovered Bates’s scheme and, in December 2013, obtained search warrants for two international packages.  Both packages contained half a kilogram of methylone, which is a synthetic cathinone or “designer drug.”

In March 2014, Bates was arrested and charged with importing and distributing methylone.  He was ordered detained and sent to the Essex County Correctional Facility.  Shortly after Bates’s arrival, law enforcement officers learned that Bates had smuggled 4.70 grams of alpha-PVP, another synthetic cathinone (also known as “flakka”), into the facility by inserting the drugs into his rectum. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; James V. Buthorn, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz; Rockland Police Chief John R. Llewellyn; and Essex County Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr., made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Arnold of Ortiz’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit. 

BOSTON – Daniel Araujo Guerrero, 36, of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to fraudulently using the identity of an American citizen.  U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Jan. 5, 2016. 

In July 2014, Guerrero, who resided in Lawrence, went to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and submitted an application for a license using a name and Social Security number belonging to an individual from Puerto Rico.

The charge of identity theft provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Lynn man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with his attempts, following an illegal entry to the United States approximately 25 years ago, to gain citizenship and remain in the country.

Princehakeem Awolesi, 48, pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining United States citizenship and a U.S. passport, and using a false Social Security number.  Awolesi was arrested in August 2015 and charged with violating various federal immigration and social security laws.  U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for March 17, 2016.

In 2005, as part of his application for naturalization, Awolesi submitted a false birth certificate and made numerous false statements to the officials deciding whether he qualified for citizenship, including his use of a prior identity.  Awolesi was granted citizenship in 2005 and applied for a passport the same year, again concealing his use of another identity.  Later, when applying for a replacement passport, Awolesi used a social security number he had obtained by making false statements to the Social Security Administration. 

As a result of the conviction on the citizenship charge, Awolesi’s United States citizenship will be revoked.

The charges of naturalization and passport fraud each provide a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of falsely obtaining a social security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; David W. Hall, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Boston Field Office; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Pérez-Daple of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.

BOSTON – A California-licensed attorney was indicted in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday on charges arising out of his participation in a scheme to manipulate the shares of a publicly-traded microcap company.  Earlier this week, a New Jersey man pleaded guilty to charges related to his participation in the same scheme. 

Jehu Hand, 59, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, securities fraud and wire fraud based on his involvement in a pump-and-dump scheme to manipulate the market and to sell unregistered shares of the stock of Greenway Technology.  Greenway was a microcap or “penny stock” company that claimed to be on the verge of acquiring hotels that would cater to gay travelers in several major cities. 

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, Mitchell Brown, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of securities fraud for his participation in the Greenway pump-and-dump scheme.  U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Jan. 21, 2016.

According to court documents, in 2012, Hand, Brown and their co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to obtain and conceal their control over the majority of Greenway’s stock so that they could “pump” up the company’s share price and then secretly “dump” their shares into the market by selling at the inflated price.  Hand issued false legal opinion letters to Greenway’s transfer agent and to stock brokers.  The opinion letters, which intentionally disguised the conspirators’ control over Greenway’s stock, enabled Hand, Brown and their co-conspirators to obtain and sell Greenway’s stock in the open market in violation of federal securities laws.  Hand also created and backdated convertible promissory notes.  Hand then relied on the false date on the convertible promissory notes when providing his legal opinion that federal securities laws had been followed and that the notes could be converted into seven million shares of Greenway stock, which were then issued to entities controlled by Brown.

With millions of shares of Greenway stock at the conspirators’ disposal, Brown and another co-conspirator, proceeded to hire stock promoters to send blast e-mails that reached many potential investors, including those in Massachusetts, and contained misleading information touting Greenway’s stock.  As a result of the hype created by the false and misleading promotional campaign, Hand, Brown and their co-conspirators were able to sell their Greenway stock to unwitting investors at artificially high prices.

These charges arise out of a multi-year investigation focusing on preventing fraud in the microcap stock markets.  Microcap companies are small publicly traded companies whose stock often trades at pennies per share.  Fraud in the microcap markets is of increasing concern to regulators as such markets have proven to be fertile grounds for fraud and abuse.  This is, in part, because accurate information about microcap stocks may be difficult for the average investor to find, since many microcap companies do not file financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The charges and conviction follow a series of cases filed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and the SEC in which more than 30 individuals have been criminally charged and convicted for using kickbacks and other schemes to trigger investment in, or manipulate the stock of, thinly-traded stocks.

The charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss to the victim.  The charge of securities fraud and wire fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Chargeof the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vassili Thomadakis and SEC attorneys Andrew Palid and Eric Forni, who were appointed as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  Hand is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Blackstone, Mass. man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston to charges that he impeded the IRS by cashing nearly $3 million in checks from his masonry business at check cashing services to evade the IRS. 

John W. Lippolis, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and restitution of $172,759 to the IRS. In June 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the IRS. 

From 2005 to 2011, Lippolis was the sole proprietor of JW Masonry, a masonry company which operated in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  At various times, he also worked for his son’s business, JM Masonry Inc.  When Lippolis was paid by check for work performed, he used check cashing services to cash the checks instead of depositing the funds into a bank account in an effort to avoid IRS scrutiny.  Lippolis operated his business in cash, paid workers in cash, and requested that customers not write checks to him for amounts exceeding $10,000, which would trigger a reporting requirement for financial institutions that cashed the checks.  Lippolis also failed to file tax returns for many years. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit. 

BOSTON – The owner of tobacco wholesale businesses in Massachusetts and New Hampshire was charged in an indictment unsealed on Dec. 7, 2015 in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with his scheme to defraud Massachusetts and New Hampshire of substantial tobacco tax revenue.Khalid Siddique, 59, of Attleboro, was charged in a 28-count indictment with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 10 counts wire fraud, five counts of trafficking in contraband smokeless tobacco and 11 counts of money laundering. 

The indictment alleges that between 2006 and 2012, Siddique defrauded Massachusetts and New Hampshire by failing to pay excise taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars purchased from businesses he owned.  It is alleged that co-conspirator Syed Bokhari transferred smokeless tobacco to the Attleboro business without reporting such transfers to the appropriate state tax authorities, as required under the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act.  Siddique distributed smokeless tobacco without paying any of the required taxes, and filed false tobacco tax returns for cigars which vastly under-stated the amount of tax he owed.   

On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, additional charges were handed down by a federal grand jury against co-defendant Syed I. Bokhari, 51, in connection with his role in the scheme which defrauded Massachusetts and Connecticut of substantial tobacco tax revenue.

The charges of conspiracy and wire fraud provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss for each count.  The change of trafficking in contraband smokeless tobacco provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss for each count.  The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction for each count.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Commissioner Mark Nunnelly of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; and Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, made the announcement today.  The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex J. Grant and Katharine Wagner of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office. 

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A Pembroke, Mass., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with failing to pay taxes on more than $1.1 million he earned as a carpenter from 1998 to 2006. 

Theodore Hammond, Jr., 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to six months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay the IRS restitution of $406,458. Hammond pleaded guilty in July 2015 to two counts of tax evasion and seven counts of subscribing to false tax returns.  

Hammond was a self-employed carpenter for many years.  From1998 to 2006, he earned $1.1 million, but failed to timely file federal income tax returns and, when he did file, he falsely reported zero income.

At sentencing, Hammond argued that he had based his conduct on information he learned from tax-defier websites, lectures, and books, such as those promoted by Irwin Schiff, who wrote The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop Paying This Illegally Enforced Tax, and Peter Hendrickson, who wrote Cracking the Code: The Fascinating Truth About Taxation in America.  Judge Saylor noted the importance of deterring others from believing the misguided and misleading theories promoted by individuals such as Schiff and Hendrickson, both of whom served federal prison sentences.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Robert E. O’Malley, Special Agent in Charge of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, New York Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Christine Wichers of Ortiz’s Civil Division. 

BOSTON – Angel Ortiz, 31, of Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in firearms without a license and five counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.  U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, scheduled sentencing for Feb. 29, 2016.

Ortiz, who had previously been convicted of a felony offense, was involved in the sale of six firearms to a cooperating witness on five occasions between June 10, 2014 and July 23, 2014.  On some occasions, Ortiz also provided ammunition for the weapons.  It is a federal crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm or ammunition and also a federal crime to sell firearms without a license.

The charge of dealing firearms without a license provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Gardner, Mass. woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester for fraudulently receiving over $100,000 in public benefits. 

Heidi Narcisse, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to three years of probation and ordered to pay $117,524 in restitution.  Narcisse pleaded guilty in September 2015. 

Narcisse began collecting Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits in 1999 and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in 2011.  In order to be eligible for these benefits, a person must have very limited income and financial resources; furthermore, income provided by a spouse can make a person ineligible for benefits.  In order to receive these benefits, Narcisse repeatedly and falsely stated that she was separated from her husband, lived alone with her children and had no outside support. 

In reality, in July 2006, Narcisse and her husband bought a house together in Gardner using a subsidized government loan, listed that house as their residential address on their respective driver’s licenses and filed joint tax returns listing the same address.  In addition, Narcisse’s husband, who had income from his job, regularly gave Narcisse money for household expenses.  If Narcisse had truthfully reported her living situation and her husband’s financial support, she would not have been eligible to receive the SSI and SNAP benefits.  From 2006 to 2014, Narcisse illegally received $100,512 in SSI benefits, and from 2011 to 2015 she received $17,012 in SNAP benefits.  The investigation also revealed that Narcisse spent a portion of this money at a casino in Connecticut. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit. 

BOSTON – A Worcester woman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with a $3.6 million food stamp fraud scheme that she operated out of her Worcester convenience store.

Vida Ofori Causey, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit SNAP benefits fraud, one count of SNAP fraud, and one count of money laundering.  U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2016.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides eligible households with government subsidies for certain foodstuffs, and allows holders to exchange their SNAP benefits for food at authorized retail food stores.

Causey was the owner and operator of J&W Aseda Plaza, a convenience store on Main Street in Worcester.  From April 2010 to October 2014, Causey conspired with others to commit SNAP fraud by purchasing SNAP benefits from recipients rather than exchanging them for food.  Causey purchased the benefits at a discounted value of approximately fifty cents for every SNAP dollar.  By so doing, Causey caused the USDA to electronically deposit into a bank account she controlled the full face value of the SNAP benefits fraudulently obtained. 

During the course of the four-year conspiracy, Causey defrauded the USDA of approximately $3,638,900 in SNAP funds.

The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison and three years of supervised release.  The charge of SNAP fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release.  The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.  Each charge also provides for a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and forfeiture and restitution.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William G. Squires, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Northeast Region; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

BOSTON – Two men were sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with selling cocaine on multiple occasions in Leominster.

Jose Rodriguez, 32, of Fitchburg, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 63 months in prison and four years of supervised release.  Rodriguez pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, four counts of distribution of cocaine and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Julio Alicea-Romero, 27, of Webster, Mass., was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  Alicea-Romero had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of distribution of cocaine.

The charges against Rodriguez and Alicea-Romero arose from a six-month investigation into drug sales around the Mechanic Street area of Leominster.  From June through October 2013, Rodriguez and Alicea-Romero conspired to sell and sold crack cocaine on six occasions to an individual cooperating with law enforcement and to an undercover officer.  Rodriguez subsequently sold a loaded .45 caliber handgun to the undercover officer in Leominster on Oct.17, 2013.  Rodriguez was previously convicted in 2012 for unlawful possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The investigation was investigated by the DEA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Leominster Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg A. Friedholm of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office. 

BOSTON – A Boston man, who previously worked as a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) clerk, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for conspiring to produce false RMV identification documents. 

Rommer Valdez, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to five months in prison, three years of supervised release, the first five months of which is to be served in home confinement, forfeiture of $26,200, and a fine of $3,000.  In July 2015, Valdez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to produce a false identification document.

The RMV issues identification documents such as drivers’ licenses, learners’ permits and state identification cards.  To prevent people from obtaining a fraudulent identification document, the RMV has systems to verify whether applicants’ identity information is accurate.  Valdez, who worked as a clerk at the RMV office in Watertown, was responsible for verifying that applicants’ identity documents were valid. 

From December 2010 to December 2012, Valdez participated in a conspiracy to help the customers obtain authentic RMV-issued identification documents that bore their own pictures but other people’s identity information.  Other co-conspirators obtained real identification documents for customers to give the RMV as proof of (false) identity.  Before sending certain customers to the RMV with this proof, the co-conspirators sent Valdez the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for these identities and asked him to verify whether this information would pass the RMV’s checks.  Valdez checked the information and reported back to the co-conspirators.  If the information passed, the co-conspirators provided the documents to a customer who later presented them to the RMV (although not necessarily at Valdez’s station) to obtain an identification document in that false identity. 

On other occasions, the co-conspirators sent customers with false identification documents directly to Valdez at the RMV.  When Valdez spotted such a customer, he signaled the customer to approach and submit his or her application and proof of (false) identity.  Valdez then processed the application, knowing that it was fraudulent.  He also let the customer or someone else helping the customer take whatever tests the RMV required, all using the false identity. 

Valdez checked identity information at least 136 times and accepted false proof of identity from customers at least 42 times, in exchange for bribes totaling approximately $26,000. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; David Hall, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Services, Boston Field Office; and Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation, New York Regional Office, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott L. Garland, of Ortiz’s Criminal Division. 

BOSTON – A former insurance salesman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to tax evasion in connection with the theft of more than $470,000 that he stole from three clients. 

Paul Disidoro, 64, of Georgetown, Mass., pleaded guilty to attempting to evade taxes.  U.S. District Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for March 8, 2016. 

For many years, Disidoro operated an insurance business in Massachusetts, including from 2007 through 2010 when he also acted as a financial adviser for some clients.   During that period, Disidoro stole more than $470,000 from three clients, used the money for his personal benefit, concealed this income from his tax preparer, and failed to report the embezzled funds on his federal income tax returns.  In so doing, Disidoro evaded $144,000 in taxes. 

The charge of tax evasion provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Anthony DiPaolo, Chief of Investigations of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit. 

BOSTON – A Bourne, Mass. man was sentenced on Thursday, Dec. 3 for distributing heroin on Cape Cod. 

Antone “Tank” Andrade, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to 120 months in prison, four years of supervised release, and forfeiture of $10,890. Andrade pleaded guilty in August 2015 to conspiring to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, over 100 grams of heroin.

From May 2013 to August 2014, Andrade sold over 100 grams of heroin and 100 grams of cocaine to individuals cooperating in a government investigation.  Andrade was recorded bragging about the quality of the heroin he was peddling on Cape Cod; specifically, he told a cooperating witness that his heroin came straight from Colombia, saying “that ain’t no Hyannis garbage.”  Andrade was also recorded talking about another individual who was selling heroin on Cape Cod, stating that “dope fiends are falling out,” in an apparent reference to drug overdoses occurring in the Bourne and Falmouth areas.

Andrade was arrested in August 2014 along with another Cape Cod drug dealer, Duane Gomez, 40, of Falmouth, who was sentenced in September 2015 to 87 months in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.

This case was brought as part of the federal response to the growing opioid abuse epidemic in Massachusetts and other New England states.  Heroin is highly addictive, and users can quickly develop a tolerance, prompting them to seek higher potencies and greater quantities of the narcotic.  Between 2000 and 2014, opioid overdose deaths have more than tripled with a spike in recent years in Massachusetts.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Barnstable County District Attorney Michael D. O’Keefe; Edward A. Dunne, Chief of the Falmouth Police Department; Dennis R. Woodside, Chief of the Bourne Police Department; Rodney Collins, Chief of the Mashpee Police Department; and James M. Cummings, Barnstable County Sheriff, made the announcement today.  The case was investigated by the Cape Cod Drug Task Force and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William F. Bloomer and Brian A. Pérez-Daple of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.

BOSTON – Two Lawrence men were charged today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a scheme to file fraudulent federal income tax returns using stolen identities.

Furvio Flete-Garcia, 42, and Juan Santiago, 36, nationals of the Dominican Republic, were indicted on conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government property, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. 

According to court documents, in 2013 and 2014, Flete-Garcia and Santiago allegedly possessed more than 800 names and social security numbers of U.S. citizens, including Puerto Rican residents, which Santiago allegedly sold to another individual for the purpose of using those identities to prepare and file fraudulent federal income tax returns.  The indictment further alleges that Flete-Garcia and Santiago sold more than 16 U.S. Treasury tax refund checks with a total face value of more than $100,000 to the same individual.  These tax refund checks were issued by the IRS as a result of the fraudulent income tax returns that were filed using the stolen identities.   

The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charges of theft of government property and access device fraud each provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of aggravated identity theft provides a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Lisa A. Quinn, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Boston Field Division, made the announcement.  The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Corey J. Smith of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

BOSTON – An Iowa man was sentenced today for threatening to shoot and kill Muslims by posting threats on the Facebook page of an Islamic organization in Boston.

Gerald Wayne Ledford, 57, of Clinton, Iowa, was sentenced in the Southern District of Iowa to four years of probation with the first six months to be served in home confinement.  In August 2015, Ledford pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure after being charged in the District of Massachusetts.  He was initially arrested in Iowa and his case was transferred to the Southern District of Iowa for his guilty plea and sentencing. 

“Now more than ever it is essential to protect Muslims in our communities from misguided notions of their faith and traditions,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.  “Islamophobia has no place in this Commonwealth or this county, and those who threaten Muslims must be held to account.” 

“The FBI takes our duty to protect the civil rights of all Americans seriously, regardless of one’s race, religion or sexual orientation,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division.  “We ask that anyone who feels their civil rights have been violated to come forward and report it.”

On Oct. 19, 2014, Ledford threatened the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), a cultural center that offers a mosque and a variety of educational, spiritual, and social services to Muslims in New England.  Ledford posted two threats on the ISBCC’s Facebook page.  One post threatened, “Mohamed was a child rapist .a murderer and molester.you all will go to hell with you’re father satan..we will destroy you here and in your’re s**t hole countrys.”  The second post consisted of a photograph of a man bearing a long gun with the caption, “This is for you.followers of the piece of s**t Mohamed …”  Ledford admitted that he knew that these messages would be viewed as threats.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz; United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa Nicholas A. Klinefeldt; FBI SAC Shaw, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys  S. Theodore Merritt and Scott L. Garland of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team and Richard D. Westphal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office reached a $20,000 civil settlement today with Dr. Richard Heller, a psychiatrist in North Andover, Mass., in connection with his uncontrolled storage of patient medication in a self-storage unit and his related failure to maintain proper records.

In settlement documents, Dr. Heller admitted to failing to maintain readily retrievable records of controlled substances, failing to conduct required biennial inventories, and failing to maintain complete and accurate records of controlled substances at his office and self-storage unit.  An investigation revealed that Dr. Heller was improperly taking back unused medications from his patients, leaving those medications in various unsecured locations within his office, and failing to keep records of those medications, as required by regulations.  In addition, investigators learned in May 2015 that Dr. Heller had been maintaining a substantial amount of unused medications for which he did not have accurate records in a North Andover self-storage unit.  That storage unit was not registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the contents of the unit were subject to possible auction as a result of Dr. Heller’s failure to make timely rental payments.

“Ensuring the proper handling of prescription drugs is a critical part of our ongoing efforts to protect patient safety and prevent drug diversion,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.  “We will continue to monitor those handling controlled substances, whether they are large pharmacy chains or solo physician practices, to insist that they adhere to these regulations in conducting business.” 

“DEA registrants are responsible to handle controlled substances and ensure that complete and accurate records are being properly kept and accounted for in compliance with the Controlled Substance Act,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson.  “Our obligation is to improve public safety and public health, and we are committed to working with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to ensure that these rules and regulations are followed.

“The North Andover Police Department aggressively investigates all reports of potential drug diversion that could result in the misuse and abuse of pharmaceuticals,” said Chief Paul J. Gallagher of the North Andover Police Department.  “To that end, we will continue to work with our federal, state, local and community partners to help mitigate the severe negative consequences of drug abuse and addiction present in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast.” 

Dr. Heller has agreed to pay $20,000 to settle these claims and to permit the DEA to perform four administrative inspections of his office over the course of the next two years without a warrant.  

U.S. Attorney Ortiz, DEA SAC Ferguson and Chief Paul J. Gallagher of the North Andover Police Department, made the announcement today.  The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Callahan.

BOSTON – Additional charges were handed down yesterday by a federal grand jury in Springfield against a Middletown, Conn. man in connection with his scheme to defraud Massachusetts and Connecticut of substantial tobacco tax revenue.

Syed I. Bokhari, 51, was charged in a 35-count superseding indictment with one count of racketeering conspiracy, 10 counts of wire fraud, five counts of trafficking in contraband smokeless tobacco, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, nine counts of concealment money laundering, five counts of money laundering and five counts of violation of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act.  Bokhari was initially charged in a 32-count indictment in October 2014. 

The superseding indictment alleges that Bokhari was the head of a sprawling enterprise which included tobacco wholesale businesses, gas stations and convenience stores, real estate, and hotels in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  Between 2000 and 2012, Bokhari allegedly defrauded Massachusetts and Connecticut by failing to pay excise taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars.  It is alleged that he transferred smokeless tobacco to those states without reporting them to the appropriate state tax authorities, as required under the PACT Act.  The superseding indictment also alleges that Bokhari accepted payments for tobacco products in cash amounts of more than $10,000, yet did not file the required federal financial reporting form.  He did this to disguise the true volume of the tobacco products being sent to Massachusetts and Connecticut and the source of the cash payments.  Bokhari also allegedly provided fake invoices and caused the filing of false excise tax returns to the Massachusetts and Connecticut tax authorities.  Lastly, Bokhari allegedly used his non-tobacco businesses to launder the proceeds of the tobacco tax fraud.

The charges of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss for each count.  The change of trafficking in contraband smokeless tobacco provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss for each count.  The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction for each count.  The charge of concealment money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction for each count.  The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss for each count.  The charge of violation of the PACT Act provides for a sentence of no greater no three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for each count.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Commissioner Mark Nunnelly of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; and Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex J. Grant and Katharine Wagner of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office. 

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was arrested today on charges that he received stolen U.S. Treasury checks.

Rolfi Espinal, 49, was indicted on 24 counts of receipt of stolen public money and ­­two counts of making false statements. 

The indictment alleges that from approximately September to December 2011, Espinal accepted fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks totaling $146,698.  In January 2013, Espinal falsely told federal agents that he received the checks as payment for used cars that he had sold to an individual, when, in fact, the individual did not exist and Espinal knew that the checks were obtained fraudulently.  Furthermore, Espinal allegedly told the agents that he paid taxes on the income although he only paid taxes on $34,000 in gross receipts. 

The charge of receipt of stolen public moneys provides for a sentence of no more than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of making false statements provides for a sentence of no more than five years in prison, two years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Boston; and Lisa A. Quinn, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit. 

The details contained in charging document are allegations.  Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

BOSTON – A former American Airlines flight attendant pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to making a false bomb threat on a plane scheduled to fly from Boston to Miami.

Nancy Marie Gray, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of giving false information about the presence of a bomb on an aircraft and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to time served, approximately 18 months in prison.

On Sept. 30, 2009, while working as a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 1318 scheduled to fly from Boston to Miami, Gray wrote "Bomb on Board! BOS-MIA" on the inside of the airplane’s bathroom storage closet during pre-flight preparations.  Claiming that she had discovered the note, Gray informed the lead flight attendant and the pilot.  After inspecting the note, the pilot immediately halted the ongoing boarding procedure, evacuated the plane, and notified airport security and law enforcement.  Dozens of first responders quickly reported to the scene, and the plane was swept with a bomb-sniffing dog before removing the aircraft to a remote location at Logan International Airport.  There, all luggage was unloaded from the plane and checked for explosives, and the exterior of the plane and its cargo hold were thoroughly searched.  No bomb was found.

Gray was indicted in August 2010.  After a jury trial in March 2013, she was found guilty of making the false bomb threat and sentenced to prison.  Gray was released from prison in March 2015 after the First Circuit Court of Appeals granted her a new trial due to an erroneous jury instruction given at the close of the 2013 trial.  Instead of a new trial, Gray chose to plead guilty, admitting that she was, in fact, responsible for making the false bomb threat on AA Flight 1318.    

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Michael Ondocin, Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Boston Field Office; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Begg Lawrence and John A. Capin of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.

BOSTON – A former JetBlue Airways employee was sentenced today for smuggling thousands of dollars of what he believed to be drug money past security checkpoints at Boston’s Logan International Airport. 

Alvin Leacock, 29, of Dania Beach, Fla., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to 18 months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $4,500.  Leacock pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of illegally entering an airport area with intent to commit a felony. 

A federal undercover operation was initiated at Logan Airport in August 2012, after Homeland Security agents discovered lapses in airport security and the potential for airline employees to smuggle contraband around the employee security system.  Alvin Leacock was one of several individuals identified as a potential smuggler.

On two occasions between October 2012 and December 2012, Leacock used airport security credentials to evade Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and smuggled $107,000, which was represented to be drug proceeds, from a non-secure airport area to the secured passenger departure area of Logan.  Leacock was paid $4,500 as compensation from a cooperating witness.  Unbeknownst to Leacock, the cash smuggling plan was part of an HSI undercover sting operation.

Co-defendant Dino Dunkley, 32, of Mattapan, and a former Delta Airlines employee, pleaded guilty yesterday to the similar charges as Leacock and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2016. 

Three other airline workers identified in the investigation were previously sentenced for similar offenses. In January 2015, Rupert Crossley was sentenced to two years in prison and Anthony Trotman was sentenced to 14 months in prison.  Eric Vick was sentenced in May 2015 to 18 months in prison. 

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Bob Allison, Federal Security Director of the Transportation Security Administration; Dwain Troutt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of the Massachusetts Port Authority, JetBlue Airways Corporate Security and Delta Airlines.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos A. López, Maxim Grinberg, and Dustin Chao of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.

BOSTON –A Dorchester man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to transporting two 14 year-old girls from Massachusetts to Rhode Island for the purpose of prostituting them.

Derek Miranda, a/k/a Dub, 21, pleaded guilty to transporting the two girls from Massachusetts to Providence, R.I. on or about Jan. 15, 2015 with the intent for them to engage in prostitution.  The following day, Miranda was arrested.  He was indicted in July 2015.  U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for March 9, 2016.

On Jan. 14, 2015, Miranda met two 14 year-old girls who had run away from their homes in Lowell and brought them to a hotel in Brockton where he provided them with different clothes and told them that he “had guys coming over.”  One of the girls texted a friend for help who then notified the police and a search was initiated.  The girls left the hotel and temporarily stayed with a friend in Brockton.  However, as runaways with no place to go, they contacted Miranda who arranged to have them picked up by an Uber driver.  Miranda then had them driven to a house in Providence where he intended to have the girls provide sex for a fee.  One of the girls texted a friend to notify local law enforcement authorities who then rescued them and arrested Miranda.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.   The case was investigated with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police assigned to Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office, the Providence, Lowell and Brockton Police Departments, and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Theodore Merritt of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Bercovitch, Chief of AG Healey’s Human Trafficking Division.

BOSTON – A Tennessee businessman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to defrauding investors in connection with the fraudulent sale of millions of dollars of stock in a medical technology company.

Shane Gunn, 40, of Medina, Tenn., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.  U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2016.

From 2010 to 2013, Gunn, an information technology expert, sold stock in CareXGen, whose principal asset was a patent for a system, he claimed to have designed, that would facilitate the electronic exchange of health information.  To lure investors, Gunn repeatedly misrepresented CareXGen’s profitability and how investors’ money would be used.  He also represented to investors that CareXGen had large contracts lined up worth millions of dollars.  In fact, CareXGen did not have any major contracts and Gunn spent over $1 million of victim investors’ money on himself, his wife and his former girlfriend.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – George Englehart, 51, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release.  In September 2015, Englehart pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and possession of child pornography.

In April 2014, Englehart, who was dressed in dark clothes with a scarf hiding his face, entered a Bank of America in Mansfield, Mass.  He approached a teller, brandished what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun, and demanded that the teller give him money.  The teller complied with and gave Englehart $878.  Englehart fled and was located and arrested a short time later in possession of $878 and what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun.  The weapon was later determined to be a BB gun.  During Englehart’s booking, his cell phone was found to contain numerous images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Mansfield Police Chief Ronald A. Sellon, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A man from Brazil who had been living unlawfully in Columbus, Ohio was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and entering the United States after having been deported.

Reinaldo Oliveira, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to 15 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $66,985 in restitution. 

From 2011 to 2012, Oliveira and other conspirators deposited worthless checks into accounts at Massachusetts banks opened in fictitious names, and then withdrew funds before the banks realized the deposits were worthless.  Oliveira’s role in the scheme was to help open accounts, to participate in withdrawing funds, and to control one of the bank accounts.  Oliveira had been deported from the United States in 2001, and was participating in the scheme after reentering the country unlawfully.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Dorchester woman was arrested late Friday afternoon for being in possession of an M-4 assault rifle that was stolen from a Worcester armory on Nov. 14, 2015, and for making false statements to federal agents.

Ashley Bigsbee, 26, has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun and one count of false statements.  Bigsbee was arrested on an outstanding state warrant on Nov. 20, 2015.  According to the affidavit, at the time of her arrest on the state warrant, agents recovered her cell phone.  A subsequent search of the phone pursuant to a search warrant revealed numerous photographs, including a photograph of Bigsbee with a distinctive hand tattoo, a photograph of what appears to be a stolen Sig Sauer handgun and an M-4 assault rifle.  Prior to her arrest on Nov. 20, Bigsbee voluntarily spoke with FBI agents and denied knowing anything about a robbery of the armory and the guns Morales was allegedly trying to sell.  She denied any knowledge of the stolen weapons.

According to the affidavit, further investigation revealed that the photographs were taken at 27 Page Street in Dorchester.  A search warrant was executed at this location on Nov. 20 where agents observed distinctive items seen in the photographs.  However, no weapons were recovered from this location. 

In a related development, the final stolen M-4 was recovered by law enforcement agents in Dorchester on the afternoon of Nov. 27. 

Bigsbee had an initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Worcester before Magistrate Judge David Hennessey.  She will remain in U.S. Marshal custody until her detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 3. 

The maximum sentence under the firearms statute is 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.  The false statement charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

On Nov. 19, 2015, James Morales was arrested and charged in connection with the theft of 16 weapons from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester, Mass.  He was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun, one count of unlawful possession of stolen firearms and one count of theft of government property.  Morales remains in U.S. Marshal custody.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Daniel Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Chief Gary Gemme of the Worcester Police Department; and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans made the announcement today.   

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Grady and Cory Flashner of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.

The Justice Department filed a complaint and proposed consent order today to resolve allegations that Sage Bank, headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race and national origin in the pricing of its residential mortgage loans.

The United States’ complaint alleges that Sage Bank charged African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher prices for home loans than Sage Bank charged to similarly situated white borrowers for reasons unrelated to their creditworthiness.  Specifically, under Sage Bank’s pricing policy, each of its loan officers was assigned a “target price,” which was the price a loan officer was required to achieve on each home loan, regardless of a borrower’s creditworthiness.  The complaint alleges that those loan officers whom Sage Bank assigned higher target prices disproportionately served African-American and Hispanic borrowers.  The complaint also alleges that loan officers had discretion to price loans above their target prices and did so to a greater extent for African-American and Hispanic borrowers than for white borrowers.  The result, the complaint alleges, was that the average African-American borrower paid approximately $2,500 more for his/her loan than did a similarly qualified white borrower; the average Hispanic borrower paid approximately $1,400 more.

The consent order, which is subject to court approval, was filed in conjunction with the Justice Department’s complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  Under the consent order, Sage Bank will pay $1,175,000 into a settlement fund to compensate borrowers and applicants who were harmed by Sage Bank’s policies.  The consent order also requires Sage Bank to establish a new loan pricing policy and a new loan officer compensation policy, have loan officers and bank employees undergo fair housing and fair lending training, and establish a monitoring program to detect future unlawful disparities in mortgage loan pricing.

“Sage Bank’s loan pricing policies created the risk that borrowers would be treated differently based on impermissible characteristics like race and national origin, and that was in fact the result,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division.  “This settlement ensures that all potential borrowers will be treated equally, regardless of race and national origin, and Sage Bank has agreed to restructure and monitor its lending practices to ensure that it is meeting those obligations.”

“Sage Bank’s discriminatory practices were aimed at some of our most vulnerable neighborhoods and populations,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts.  “Homeownership is the foundation of the American dream, and we will continue our work to ensure that all people – regardless of their skin color or the language they speak – have equal access to that dream.”

The lawsuit originated from a referral by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The Justice Department’s enforcement of fair lending laws and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is conducted by the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in the Civil Rights Division.  Since 2010, the Civil Rights Division has provided approximately $1.3 billion in monetary relief for individual borrowers and impacted communities through its enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, ECOA and the SCRA.  The Attorney General’s annual reports to Congress on ECOA enforcement highlight the department’s accomplishments in fair lending and are available at www.justice.gov/crt/publications/.

Additional information about fair lending enforcement by the Justice Department can be obtained from the Justice Department’s website at http://www.justice.gov/fairhousing.

Sage Bank Complaint

Sage Bank Consent Order

BOSTON – A former member of Boston Teamster Local 82 pleaded guilty today in connection with receiving more than $40,000 of unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled.

James Deamicis, 52, of Quincy, pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud and one count of theft of government property.   Earlier this month, Deamicis was convicted by a federal jury of three counts of extorting businesses in Boston.  U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for all seven counts on March 23, 2016.

From 2008 to 2011, Deamicis received $41,391 in unemployment insurance benefits that he was not entitled to receive because he was collecting a paycheck while working as a member of Local 82.  Deamicis’s bank records as well as employment and unemployment insurance records revealed that he failed to report his weekly earnings or significantly under-reported his earnings so that it appeared to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Insurance that he was eligible to receive full or at least partial unemployment insurance when, in fact, he was employed nearly full-time and was not eligible.

Deamicis made several misrepresentations in the course of the three-year scheme.  First, Deamicis applied for benefits over a recorded automated telephone system and in doing so, affirmed that he was not working.  In reality, over that three-year period, Deamicis was working for Local 82 and earned $126,423.  During the same time period, he also falsely reported to the Department of Unemployment Insurance that he earned only $22,249.  Second, Deamicis certified under penalties of perjury that he had no earnings for work during the time period in which he was receiving benefits.  Although Deamicis was employed, he endorsed each of the 73 unemployment insurance checks he received and thereby falsely certified that he had no earnings except as reported in his benefit claim certification.

The charge of mail fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each count.  The charge of theft of government property provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott S. Dahl, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Jonathan Russo, District Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards; and Susan A. Hensley, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit.

BOSTON – A previously convicted former stockbroker was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with an investment scheme which defrauded victims of more than $600,000.

Jeffrey Eldred Gallagher, 72, of Bradenton Beach, Fla., was charged in an Information with one count of wire fraud, three counts of engaging in an illegal monetary transaction and two counts of tax evasion.  As alleged in the Information, in 1989, Gallagher was convicted of one count of mail fraud and three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property in connection with illegal options trading while he was a stockbroker at Paine Webber, Inc.  Gallagher is scheduled to plead guilty to the current charges on Dec. 14, 2015 before U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.

According to court documents, it is alleged that from at least 2008 through approximately early 2012, Gallagher persuaded friends and associates to pay him money to invest on their behalf, and made promises that the investments would yield guaranteed returns of 10 to 15 percent.  Gallagher then commingled investor funds with his own personal funds, and paid some investors with monies given to him by other investors.  When investors asked Gallagher for the return of their investments, Gallagher allegedly provided numerous false explanations concerning his attempts to repay them.  In a similar effort to stall for time, Gallagher wrote investors more than 40bad checks totaling $1,783,375.  In sum, 23 investors lost a total of approximately $617,475. 

As part of the scheme, in 2009 and 2010, Gallagher allegedly used approximately $249,703 of investor monies for his personal benefit, but did not report any of this income on his federal income tax returns for those years.  

The charges of wire fraud and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each count.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.

WASHINGTON – Hoy, el Departamento de Justicia entabló una demanda y una orden de consentimiento propuesta en resolución de alegatos de que Sage Bank, con sede en Lowell, Massachusetts, violó la Ley de Vivienda Justa y la Ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades de Crédito [Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)] al exhibir un patrón o práctica discriminatoria debido a raza y origen nacional en el precio de sus préstamos hipotecarios residenciales.

La demanda de los Estados Unidos alega que Sage Bank le cobró a prestatarios afroestadounidenses e hispanos precios más altos por préstamos hipotecarios residenciales que los que Sage Bank cobraba a prestatarios de raza blanca en situación similar por motivos no relacionados con su solvencia.  Específicamente, de acuerdo con la política de precios de Sage Bank, se le asignó a cada uno de sus agentes de préstamos un “precio objetivo”, que era el precio que el agente de préstamos debía lograr en cada hipoteca residencial, independientemente de la solvencia del prestatario.  La demanda alega que los agentes de préstamos a quienes Sage Bank asignó precios objetivos más altos atendían desproporcionalmente a prestatarios afroestadounidenses e hispanos.  La demanda también alega que los agentes de préstamos  podían, a su criterio, establecer precios de préstamos superiores a su precio objetivo y que, efectivamente, lo hacían en mayor medida para prestatarios afroestadounidenses e hispanos que para los prestatarios blancos.  El resultado, alega la demanda, fue que el prestatario afroestadounidense medio pagó alrededor de $2.500 más por su préstamo que un prestatario blanco con calificaciones similares; el prestatario medio hispano pagó alrededor de $1.400 más.

La orden por consentimiento, que está sujeta a aprobación del tribunal, fue presentada junto con la demanda del Departamento de Justicia en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito del Distrito de Massachusetts.  Bajo la orden por consentimiento, Sage Bank pagará $1.175.000 a un fondo de acuerdo conciliatorio para indemnizar a prestatarios y solicitantes perjudicados por las políticas de Sage Bank.  La orden por consentimiento también exige que Sage Bank establezca una nueva política de precios de préstamos y una nueva política de remuneración de agentes de préstamos, que los agentes de préstamos y empleados bancarios reciban capacitación en vivienda justa y otorgamiento justo de préstamos, y que Sage Bank establezca un programa de monitoreo para detectar futuras disparidades ilícitas en el establecimiento de precios de préstamos hipotecarios.

“Las políticas de precios de préstamos de Sage Bank crearon el riesgo de que los prestatarios recibieran tratamiento distinto con base en características no permitidas, tales como raza y origen nacional, y, de hecho, fue lo ocurrió,” dijo Secretaria de Justicia Auxiliar Adjunta Principal Vanita Gupta, líder de la División de Derechos Civiles. “Este acuerdo conciliatorio asegura que todos los potenciales prestatarios serán tratados de manera igualitaria, independientemente de su raza y origen nacional, y Sage Bank ha acordado restructurar y monitorizar sus prácticas de otorgamiento de préstamos de modo a asegurar el cumplimiento de sus obligaciones”.

“Las prácticas de Sage Bank estuvieron dirigidas a algunos de nuestros vecindarios y poblaciones más vulnerables”, dijo la Fiscal Federal Carmen M. Ortiz del Distrito de Massachusetts. “La vivienda propia es la base del sueño estadounidense, y seguiremos trabajando para asegurar que todas las personas, independientemente del color de su piel o del idioma que hablen, tengan acceso igualitario a dicho sueño”. 

La demanda surgió de una remisión de la Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

La coacción asociada a las leyes de otorgamiento justo de préstamos y de la Ley de Reparación Judicial Civil para los Miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas [Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)] es llevada a cabo por la Sección de Vivienda y Cumplimiento de la Ley Civil de la División de Derechos Civiles.  Desde 2010, la División de Derechos Civiles ha provisto alrededor de $1,3 mil millones en reparación monetaria para prestatarios individuales y comunidades afectadas al hacer valer la Ley de Vivienda Justa, la ECOA y la SCRA.  Los informes anuales del Secretario de Justicia de EE.UU. al Congreso sobre la acción coactiva asociada a la ECOA destacan los logros del Departamento en el otorgamiento de préstamos justos y están disponibles en www.justice.gov/crt/publications/.

Para obtener información adicional sobre la labor del Departamento de Justicia para hacer valer las leyes de otorgamiento justo de préstamos, visite el portal del Departamento de Justicia en http://www.justice.gov/fairhousing.

BOSTON – A charge against a registered nurse was unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with stealing painkiller from the nursing home where she worked, and then attempting to conceal her crime by replacing the medication with saline. 

Lea Roberge, 32, of Worcester, was charged with tampering with a consumer product, specifically the Schedule II controlled substance morphine which is used for pain relief.   Roberge was charged in a sealed Complaint on Nov. 20, 2015.

The complaint alleges that in March 2015, while working as a Registered Nurse at Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Roberge tampered with morphine sulfate contained in emergency narcotic kits.  The kits are available for use at the nursing home in case of an emergency when there is not enough time to obtain medication from the pharmacy. Roberge, who had access to these emergency narcotic kits, used a syringe to extract morphine from six vials and one bottle.  In an attempt to avoid detection, she replaced the extracted medication with saline, thereby decreasing the potency of the drug.  

The maximum sentence under the statute is 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In an unrelated but similar case, on Tuesday an ambulance paramedic was sentenced to 30 months in prison after she stole Fentanyl by extracting it from vials and replacing it with saline.  Teresa Torres was sentenced in Worcester by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Hillman.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Spencer Morrison, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office; and Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Food and Drugs, Drug Control Program, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The details contained in the complaint are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Randolph woman who was employed as a nanny pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with forging 65 checks totaling over $280,000 from her employers’ bank account. 

Stephanie L. Fox, 30, pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud after being arrested and charged in October 2015.  U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Feb. 18, 2016, at 2:30 p.m.

Fox was employed as a nanny from about February 2013 until August 2015 when her employers discovered that for more than a year, Fox had been writing checks on one of their bank accounts and forging one of their signatures on the checks.  Fox avoided detection by destroying the bank account statements when they arrived at her employers’ home.  In total, Fox forged 65 checks totaling $281,917.  She used the money to purchase jewelry, including a diamond pendant necklace and three Movado watches, as well as for travel to places such as the Bahamas, Aruba, Hawaii, Newport, Disney, and Cape Cod.  

The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of $1 million, restitution and forfeiture.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Commissioner William Evans of the Boston Police Department, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit. 

BOSTON – A former paramedic was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with stealing Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, and then attempting to conceal her crime by replacing the Fentanyl with saline solution.

Teresa Torres, 42, who moved from Worcester to Sebring, Fla. after the offense, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  In May 2015, Torres pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product, specifically vials containing the Schedule II controlled substance Fentanyl.

From November 2012 until February 2013, Torres worked as a paramedic for Vital Emergency Services in Worcester.  Beginning around Nov. 19, 2012, and continuing through Jan. 26, 2013, Torres tampered with vials of Fentanyl by removing the narcotic from vials kept in the ambulances used by Vital Emergency Services and replacing it with another liquid.  In total, Torres tampered with approximately 25 vials of Fentanyl.  Fentanyl is commonly administered for pain relief.  Torres was initially suspended from her paramedic job after it was discovered that she diverted morphine from ambulance supplies.  The Fentanyl theft was discovered after she had been suspended.

The theft of a powerful opiate from an ambulance is plainly criminal, but what makes this tampering case particularly egregious is that patients in critical need of pain medication in emergencies are given saline instead of the necessary medication.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Spencer Morrison, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Boston Resident Office; and Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Food and Drugs, Drug Control Program, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

BOSTON – A Brockton man was convicted yesterday of robbing multiple banks by a federal jury following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Boston.

James Patterson, 47, was found guilty of five counts of bank robbery.  U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Feb. 23, 2016. 

From April to July 2014, Patterson robbed five banks: the Beverly Bank on Dodge Street in Beverly on April 16th; the People’s United Bank on Dodge Street in Beverly on May 10th; the Century Bank on Fellsway West in Somerville on June 4th; the South Shore Bank on Turnpike Street in Stoughton on June 12th; and the North Shore Bank on Highland Avenue in Salem on July 20th.  On each occasion, Patterson wore sunglasses, gloves, and covered his lower face with a bandana or clothing.  After entering each bank, Patterson announced that it was a robbery and demanded large bills from the bank tellers.

Patterson was arrested on Aug. 4, 2014, near the Century Bank on Cambridge Street in Burlington carrying a black BB gun that had the appearance of a semi-automatic pistol.  At the time of his arrest, Patterson was wearing a hat, sunglasses, long pants pulled over shorts, a heavy pullover top and latex gloves.  The lower part of his face was covered with black clothing. 

Each count of bank robbery provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum possible penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  The Beverly, Somerville, Stoughton, Salem, Peabody and Burlington Police Departments assisted with the investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth G. Shine and Robert E. Richardson of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.  

BOSTON – Richard Alan Hersey, 63, of Winthrop, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to stealing over $400,000 in Social Security and federal pension benefits.  U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Feb. 23, 2016.

In 1991, Hersey’s mother passed away, but her Social Security and pension funds continued to be directly deposited into a bank account held jointly by her and Hersey.  Although he was not entitled to the funds, Hersey routinely withdrew them from the account after his mother’s death.  In total, from 1991 to 2015, Hersey took $444,287 in Social Security and pension funds to which he was not entitled.

This case was brought as part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the Social Security Administration, to investigate and prosecute the posthumous fraud of Social Security benefits.  In many of these cases, family members, knowing they are not entitled to government benefits, continue to withdraw and spend the funds after a relative has died.  In 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted several similar cases involving a total of more than $1 million in stolen government money: 

In November 2015, Mark Gardner, of Abington, pleaded guilty to stealing $65,311 from Social Security from 2009 to 2014.  Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2016.

Also in November, Brian Sandiford, of Milton, pleaded guilty to stealing $70,811 from Social Security from 2010 to 2014.  Sentencing is scheduled for March 3, 2016.

In September 2015, Patricia Kwiatkowski, of Upton, was sentenced for stealing $128,101 from Social Security from 2006 to 2014.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Scott Rezendes, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General, Field Operations, made the announcement today.  The Hersey case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A former East Longmeadow woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Springfield today for embezzling from retirement living community which she managed.

Alice Lacroix, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 52 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $323,000.  In July 2015, Lacroix pleaded guilty to nine counts of wire fraud, nine counts of money laundering and two counts of filing false tax returns.

In a fraud scheme that lasted from 2011 through February 2013, Lacroix embezzled funds from her employer, Bluebird Estates which is a retirement living community in East Longmeadow.  Lacroix, as manager of Bluebird Estates, took rent checks paid by tenants as well as other checks and property belonging to her employer.  Additionally, Lacroix established a bank account without authorization in the name of Bluebird Estates into which she deposited the embezzled funds.  During the course of the scheme, Lacroix deposited $325,000 into this fake Bluebird Estates bank account and engaged in financial transactions designed to disguise the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme.  Lacroix would deceive her employer through emails that provided false information about the rent payments she took.   Lacroix also submitted false income tax returns for the years 2011 and 2012.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Chief Douglas Mellis of the East Longmeadow Police Department made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.

BOSTON – A Dominican man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining over $300,000 in government benefits under a false identity.

Jose Marin, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV to a sentence of time served in prison, one year of home confinement, one year of supervised release and restitution.  In May 2015, Marin pleaded guilty to stealing public money.

Marin, who was born in the Dominican Republic, unlawfully entered the United States in or about 2003 and fraudulently acquired a driver’s license and Social Security card in the name of an American citizen.  Marin also fraudulently used the same American citizen’s name on multiple dates when Marin was arrested for drunk driving, breaking and entering and other charges.  Marin began receiving government benefits in 2006 under the American citizen’s identity, including Social Security, MassHealth, and food stamp benefits, totaling $303,685. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The Marin case was investigated by HSI’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force.  The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Virginia man and woman who recruited participants into a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Roxbury and Dorchester were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Jerrold Fowler, 31, of Virginia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $3,786,815 and to forfeit $7,413,712.  In June 2015, Fowler pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud.

Thursa Raetz, 40, of Virginia, was sentenced by Judge Stearns to two years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3,099,224 and to forfeit $7,413,712.  In June 2015, Raetz pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud.

Between September 2006 and April 2008, Michael David Scott, a former real estate developer, arranged to purchase multi-family residences in Roxbury and Dorchester and then sold individual condominium units in the buildings to straw buyers recruited by him and his co-conspirators, Fowler and Raetz.  Scott, Raetz, and Fowler recruited the straw buyers with promises that they would not have to make down payments, pay any funds at the closing, or be responsible for mortgage payments, and with assurances that they also would share in profits when the units were resold.  In order to obtain mortgage loans in the names of the straw buyers, Scott, Raetz, and Fowler submitted mortgage loan applications that falsely represented key information, including the buyers’ income, personal assets, down payment, and intention to reside in the condominiums.  The mortgage lenders (nine national mortgage companies and one local bank) were led to believe that the straw buyers had made substantial down payments and paid substantial sums at closings.

On Nov. 12, 2015, Scott, who also pleaded guilty to charges arising out of his role in the scheme, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $11,374,201 and to forfeit $7,413,712.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.

BOSTON – Jason Melchionda, 35, of Chelsea, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor to 108 months in prison and four years of supervised release.  In May 2015, Melchionda pleaded guilty to distributing over 1 kilogram of heroin between March 2013 and August 2013. 

In 2013, Melchionda was the leader of a criminal conspiracy responsible for distributing heroin in the North Shore.  In March 2013, federal agents began investigating members of the criminal conspiracy and intercepted telephone calls to and from several cellphones used by members of the group.  Agents determined that Melchionda was the leader, and that the group had at least two sources of supply for heroin.  Through intercepted telephone calls and surveillance, agents also determined that Melchionda directed others to distribute heroin on his behalf to at least 30 individuals in the North Shore area. 

In August 2015, co-defendant Senny Arias, one of Melchionda’s heroin suppliers, was sentenced to 66 months in prison following a one week jury trial.

This case was brought as part of the federal response to the growing opioid abuse epidemic in Massachusetts and other New England states.  Heroin is highly addictive, and users can quickly develop a tolerance, prompting them to seek higher potencies and greater quantities of the narcotic.  Between 2000 and 2014, opioid overdose deaths have more than tripled with a spike in recent years in Massachusetts.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case was investigated with the assistance of the Revere, Chelsea, Methuen and Saugus Police Departments.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos A. López, Theodore B. Heinrich, and David J. D’Addio of Ortiz’s Criminal Division. 

BOSTON – The president of a major seafood processing company in Gloucester was arrested today in connection with failing to pay taxes on more than $2 million in income he earned from 2006 to 2009.

Jack Ventola, 68, of Ipswich, was indicted on three counts of filing false tax returns and one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The indictment alleges that Ventola was the president and part owner of a major seafood processor that utilized the services of a temporary labor company called Continental Labor Team, Inc., which Ventola and a co-conspirator, who was also an executive of the seafood processor, controlled.  Ventola and his co-conspirator allegedly worked together to channel money out of Continental and into their personal bank accounts, tax free.  To do this, the co-conspirator allegedly prepared fraudulent invoices for work supposedly done for Continental by a shell company Ventola controlled called International Freezing Systems (IFS).  Ventola and his co-conspirator allegedly used the fake IFS invoices to obtain payments from Continental, which they deposited into one of Ventola’s personal bank accounts.  From there, Ventola used the funds to pay personal expenses and also wrote his co-conspirator personal checks approximately monthly.  Although the checks from Continental totaled more than $2 million between 2006 and 2009, neither Ventola nor his co-conspirator reported the income on their tax returns.

The indictment also alleges that Ventola failed to report approximately $149,000 of other income he received in 2008 and 2009.

The charge of filing a false tax return provides for a penalty of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000.  The conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, made the announcement today.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen E. Frank and Brian A. Pérez-Daple of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Phillip Jordan, 50, of Springfield, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Springfield on one count of failing to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, Jordan was convicted in 1984 of rape with a knife, gross sexual misconduct and kidnapping in York County Superior Court in Maine.  He traveled from Maine to Springfield in August 2015 and failed to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts until October 2015. 

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.      

BOSTON – The former Director of Technical and Development Operations at a South Boston-based media technology company was sentenced today for a fraud scheme in which he stole almost a million dollars’ worth of iPads and other Apple products from his employer.

Michael S. Denning, 34, of Peabody, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $1,391,618.  In January 2015, Denning pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing false tax returns.  After Denning was charged with the crime, he went on to commit a similar crime at a different company. 

In late 2010, Denning began working at a South Boston-based media technology company.  Denning’s job responsibilities included purchasing computer equipment, software, and other technology-based products for use by company employees.  Shortly after he was hired, Denning began ordering extra Apple computer equipment, primarily iPads, from a wholesale computer vendor used by the company.  Denning then intercepted these packages and sold them for cash, initially on eBay and Craigslist and later to eBay resellers.  Denning generated and submitted fraudulent invoices so that the company would pay the wholesale vendor.  Denning would change the description on the invoices so that they would appear to be for other items that he had legitimately purchased, such as software licenses, toner cartridges, computer monitors and other items.  He also took measures to conceal the fraud with the wholesale vendor, for instance by falsely noting that the iPads ordered were for “new hires.”  By the end of 2013, Denning, who was promoted to Director of Technical and Development Operations, had ordered almost a million dollars of Apple computer equipment in this manner.  Only a handful of these products were legitimate purchases for employees.  Denning also filed income tax returns that falsely listed his salary as his only source of income. 

While Denning was negotiating a plea to the above charges, he began working for a new employer, and again developed a scheme involving creating false invoices.  By the time the scheme was uncovered, Denning had stolen $380,000.  The judge noted that he had considered the additional fraud in imposing the sentence of 78 months.      

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; James V. Buthorn, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Harman Burkart of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.

BOSTON – A former Boston Police officer who was also the former treasurer of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association was sentenced today for making a false statement to the FBI in connection with his cash loans to a known criminal. 

David Michael Fitzgerald, 49, who resides in Milton, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to one year of probation and a fine of $1,000.  In July 2015, Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the FBI.  Fitzgerald was a Boston Police officer from 1996 until June 2015 when he resigned as part of his plea agreement.  He was the treasurer of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (BPAA) from 2012 to 2014. 

Fitzgerald developed a relationship with an individual who was known to be a street-level drug dealer and bookmaker.  During the course of this relationship, Fitzgerald made cash loans to the individual, which were paid back in weekly installments.  On April 27, 2015, Fitzgerald met the individual in Watertown in order to collect a $500 cash installment for one of the outstanding loans.  Later that same day, when federal agents who were investigating the matter questioned Fitzgerald, he falsely stated that the purpose of his meeting with the individual was simply social in nature and that he had never loaned money to the individual.  Not only were these statements untrue, but they were intended to interfere with an ongoing federal investigation. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, made the announcement today.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office also wishes to acknowledge the cooperation of the Boston Police Department’s Anti-Corruption Division.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris and Robert Fisher of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON – A former Army Reservist has been arrested in New York in connection with the theft of sixteen weapons from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester, Mass.

James W. Morales, 34, of Cambridge, Mass. was charged in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun, one count of unlawful possession of stolen firearms and one count of theft of government property.  Morales was arrested in Westbury, New York on Wednesday night after evidence linked him to the crime scene and agents tracked him to Long Island.

It is alleged that on the morning of Nov. 15, 2015, personnel at the U.S. Army Reserve Center on Lake Avenue North in Worcester, Mass. reported a forced entry through the roof of a weapons vault and that sixteen weapons, specifically six M-4 rifles and 10 Sig Sauer M11 9mm pistols, had been stolen.  An investigation revealed that the perpetrator allegedly entered the facility through a kitchen window and then gained access to the inside of the weapons vault by cutting a hole through the vault’s ceiling with a power saw and pry bar.

Blood samples were recovered inside and on the weapons vault at the armory and Morales was subsequently identified as the source.  Further investigation revealed that Morales was on electronic monitoring based on a charge in May 2015 in Middlesex Superior Court for child rape and indecent assault.  Review of the information recorded by Morales’s electronic monitoring bracelet revealed that he arrived at the facility at approximately 6:40 p.m. on Nov. 14, 2015 and was present until 12:08 a.m. the following morning.  The bracelet places Morales directly inside the facility several times during the intervening period.

Each charge provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Daniel Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Colonel Richard McKeon, Superintend of the Massachusetts State Police; Chief Gary Gemme of the Worcester Police Department; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Acting Police Commissioner Thomas C. Krumpter of the Nassau County Police Department, Mineola, New York; and Sheriff Michael J. Sposato of the Nassau County Sherriff’s Department, East Meadow, New York, made the announcement today.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers’s Office in the Eastern District of New York. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Grady and Corey Flashner of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law. 

BOSTON – An Arizona man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to defrauding four people who invested in his foreign currency trading company.

David Prescott, 45, formerly of Boston, pleaded guilty today to four counts of wire fraud.  Prescott, who previously went by the name of David Weeks, was indicted on those charges in February 2015.  U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Feb. 10, 2016.

Prescott was the owner and President of Cambridge Currency Partners, LLC (CCP), which was purportedly engaged in the business of buying and selling foreign currency.  Prescott falsely represented to investors that their funds would be invested in CCP and used for business purposes, and that the investors would receive a monthly return.  In fact, Prescott used the majority of the $500,000 he received on personal expenses and repayments to other investors.

As part of the scheme, Prescott solicited investors by promising monthly returns, and made payments to them that purported to be interest, but, in fact, simply consisted of money from other investors.  Prescott promised investors guaranteed monthly returns in amounts ranging from three to nine percent with little to no risk to the underlying principal.  Prescott made false representations to the investors regarding the balances in their accounts.  As a result, Prescott was able to secure multiple investments from the same investors.  On one occasion, Prescott allegedly emailed an investor and promised to increase the interest paid on her previous investments if she were willing to invest additional funds, even though Prescott had already spent the majority of her previous investments on personal expenses and repayments to other investors.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, and restitution on each count.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – Two men were sentenced on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, for their roles in a large-scale cocaine trafficking ring run out of a Roslindale restaurant.

Iskender Kapllani, of Dedham, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 188 months in prison and five years of supervised release, and Tony Bedini, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was sentenced to 135 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The men were convicted following a three-week jury trial for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

A two-year investigation revealed that Kapllani, an Albanian national, used his restaurant, the Arbri Café in Roslindale, as a base for his cocaine trafficking organization.  Many members of the conspiracy, including Bedini who transported large quantities of cocaine from California to Kapllani ASSOCIATES in Boston, were either from or had ties to Albania.

At trial, prosecutors introduced kilograms of cocaine seized from Kapllani; recordings of Kapllani and other members of the conspiracy; video surveillance at the Arbri Café of meetings between Kapllani and members of the conspiracy; phone, travel and financial records showing that Kapllani, Bedini and other members of the conspiracy were in regular contact; drug-related intercepts from a wiretap on Kapllani’s cellphone; and the testimony of cooperating witnesses and defendants who described how for nearly two years, Bedini and his California-based partner shipped multiple kilograms of cocaine to Kapllani and other members of his crew for distribution at the Arbri Cafe.

  At Friday’s sentencing hearing, the prosecutor argued the seriousness of the offense and Kapllani’s role in managing others in the conspiracy.  Judge Stearns agreed and noted: “I just add one additional thought, which is, to me, puzzling, that Mr. Kapllani, having been offered asylum by this country, chose to repay the generosity by poisoning his fellow citizens with the distribution of drugs.  I think that, in a sense, almost aggravates the nature of the crime itself.”

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  Significant assistance was also provided by the Homestead (Florida) Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration, Los Angeles Division.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pohl of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit.

BOSTON – A Methuen business executive pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts.

Dahianara Moran, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for Feb. 17, 2016.

Moran conspired with others – including a Methuen loan officer and a Haverhill real estate agent who were not identified in the charging document – to defraud various banks via bogus short sales of homes in Haverhill, Lawrence and Methuen.  A short sale is a sale of real estate for less than the value of any mortgage debt on the property.  Short sales are an alternative to foreclosure that typically occur only with the consent of the mortgage lender, and that generally result in the lender absorbing a loss on the loan and releasing the borrower from the unpaid balance.  By their very nature, short sales are intended to be arms-length transactions in which the buyers and sellers are unrelated, and in which the sellers cede their control of the subject properties in exchange for the short-selling bank’s agreement to release them from their unpaid debt.

The conspiracy began in approximately August 2007 and continued through June 2010, a period that included the height of the financial crisis and its aftermath.  Home values in Massachusetts and across the nation declined precipitously, and many homeowners found themselves suddenly “underwater,” with their homes worth less than the mortgage debt they owed.  As part of the scheme, Moran and her co-conspirators submitted materially false and misleading documents to numerous banks in an effort to induce them to permit the short-sales – and thereby to release the purported sellers from their unpaid mortgage debts – while simultaneously inducing the purported buyers’ banks to provide financing for the deals.  In fact, the purported sellers simply stayed in the homes, with their debt substantially reduced.  In some cases, the conspirators then re-sold the properties in genuine arms-length transactions for a profit.  Meanwhile, the short-selling banks lost millions of dollars.

As part of the conspiracy:

• The conspirators falsely led banks to believe that the sales were arms-length transactions between unrelated parties, when in fact, the transactions were not arms-length, and the sellers retained control of (and frequently continued to live in) the properties after the sale. For example, Moran purported to sell two properties she owned to third parties who were, in fact, her close relatives, while actually maintaining control of both properties.

• The conspirators submitted phony earnings statements that Moran prepared in support of loan applications that they submitted to banks in order to obtain financing for the purported sales.

• The conspirators submitted phony HUD-1 Settlement Statements to banks, as well as to the Federal Housing Administration, that did not accurately reflect the disbursement of funds in the transactions. (A HUD-1 Settlement Statement is a standard form, developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, that is used to document the flow of funds in real estate transactions.HUD-1 Settlement Statements are required for all transactions involving federally related mortgage loans, including all mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.)

Hayacinth Bellerose, a real estate attorney from Dunstable, Mass., pleaded guilty last month to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 4, 2016.

The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, New York Field Office; and Christy Goldsmith Romero, the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank, Deputy Chief of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today that it has sued to enjoin Hyannis-based Lehan Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Optimum Health Services, and its principal, Lesa Sverid, for violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in connection with their marketing and sale of purported medical treatments containing dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a solvent derived from wood pulp. 

The injunction is part of a coordinated nationwide sweep by the Department of Justice and federal partners pursuing civil and criminal cases against more than 100 makers and marketers of dietary supplements.  The actions are the result of a year-long effort, begun in November 2014, to focus enforcement resources in the dietary supplement market which is causing increasing concern among health officials. 

“Marketing products as treatments for disease when those products lack FDA approval presents potential health risks to consumers because the products may not be safe or effective,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.  “Consumers seeking relief from diseases and medical conditions should review FDA-approved products with a medical professional to avoid gambling with their health.”

The complaint filed on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the District of Massachusetts, alleges that Optimum and Sverid have been marketing their products—DMSO Cream, DMSO Cream with Aloe Vera, and DMSO Roll On—as topical treatments for diseases and medical conditions such as arthritis, cancer, herpes, and cataracts, even though the FDA has not approved the products.  The government further alleges that the products do not bear adequate instructions for use by consumers. 

The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act authorizes the federal courts to enjoin permanently the introduction of unapproved new drugs or misbranded drugs into the market.  The FDA drug approval process and labeling requirements are designed to ensure that drugs are safe and effective and that they bear adequate instructions for health care professionals and patients to use the products and understand the risks.

This case is among 25 civil actions pursued by the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Federal Trade Commission between November 2014 and November 2015.  To date, courts have entered judicial orders in 11 cases, requiring dietary supplement makers to change their business practices to ensure that they are selling their products in compliance with the law.

For more information for athletes and general consumers to help realize, recognize and reduce the risks associated with using supplement products, visit the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s website.  To better understand the range of dietary supplement products and claims, the potential risks of taking supplements and questions to ask a health care professional before taking any supplements, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz and Antoinette V. Henry, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office, made the announcement today.  This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deana El-Mallawany of Ortiz’s Civil Division and Daniel Zytnick of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch.

BOSTON – A former member of a Boston Teamsters local was convicted today by a federal jury in connection with extorting businesses in Boston.  

James E. Deamicis, a/k/a “Jimmy the Bull,” 52, of Quincy, was convicted following a one-week trial of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion.  Among the extortion victims were Pt. Lighting Systems, the Westin Copley Hotel, and House of Blues, a division of Live Nation.  U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for March 23, 2016.

“A jury unanimously found that Deamicis's tactics were not legitimate union organizing, but orchestrated extortion,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.  “A union card is not a license to commit a crime; the strong-arm tactics belong in the history books, not on the streets of Boston.”   

“Today’s conviction represents the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General’s commitment to protect employers and businesses from those who would instill fear and intimidation. James Deamicis and his co-conspirators lied to hotels, non-profits, and other businesses in Boston regarding their obligation to use union labor from the Teamsters in an effort to obtain cash in exchange for labor peace.  This office stands committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat this type of criminal activity,” stated Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, New York Region, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General.

Deamicis, a former member of Teamsters Local 82, worked in the trade show and moving industries loading and unloading trucks.  Since 2007, Deamicis, and others, extorted various entities in Boston including hotels, event planners, catering companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, music entertainment companies, and non-profit organizations, none of which had collective bargaining agreements with Local 82.  Deamicis threatened to picket and disrupt business, sometimes just hours before an event, if the entity did not accede to his demand for unwanted, unnecessary and superfluous jobs.  He also demanded payment for these unnecessary Ajobs.@ 

The charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each count.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In November 2014, two Teamster co-defendants, John Perry and Joseph Burhoe, were convicted by a federal jury of RICO and extortion charges.  A fourth defendant, Thomas Flaherty, was previously acquitted.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz; Inspector General Dahl; Jonathan Russo, District Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards; and Susan A. Hensley, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit.

BOSTON – U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor, Veteran’s Employment and Training Service and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sponsored a forum this afternoon on protecting the rights of service members in employment.  The program was hosted by the Massachusetts Iraq & Afghanistan Fallen Heroes. 

The discussion was attended by city and town counsel, human resources representatives, and private employers, and focused on employers’ obligations to returning veterans under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).  “The United States Attorney’s Office remains steadfast in its support of veterans returning from military service, and we are committed to ensuring that both public and private employers are educated about the provisions of USERRA and the rights of their employees who have been called to serve their country,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. 

USERRA is a federal law, passed in 1994, that protects military service members and veterans from employment discrimination on the basis of their military service.  USERRA applies to members of the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard, and other uniformed services.  The law ensures that service members: (1) are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their military service; (2) are promptly re-employed in their civilian jobs upon return from duty; and  (3) are not discriminated against by employers because of past, present, or future military service.  USERRA applies to both public and private employers.