District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Florida man was convicted today following a jury trial for his role in a scheme to defraud investors from across the country out of millions of dollars.

Alan Gilner, 78, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., was convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering following a seven-day jury trial. Last month, Randi A. Bochinski, a Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering for his role in the scheme.

Gilner was convicted for his role in a conspiracy to promote a series of high-yield investment programs. Gilner and Bochinski promised investors significant returns on their investments within a short amount of time. Gilner recruited United States-based investors, including friends and acquaintances in Florida, and also advertised in an investment newsletter that was distributed throughout the United States. Gilner often made the initial presentations selling the high yield investments and brought Bochinski in when he needed assistance in convincing someone to invest. Once investors sent their money to either Gilner or Bochinski, the defendants diverted the invested funds for other uses, including their own personal use.

In order to lull investors into believing that their funds had been invested as promised, Bochinski and Gilner often made at least some of the promised “return” payments, using other investor money to fund the “returns.” In some instances, Bochinski and Gilner attempted to return principal to frustrated investors by using counterfeit checks.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Gilner on September 26, 2013. Bochinski is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3, 2013.

The statutory maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The statutory maximum penalties for the mail and wire fraud charges are 20 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The statutory maximum penalty for the money laundering charge is 10 years in prison, to be followed by three years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Walters and Stephen E. Frank of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON - A Boston man was sentenced late yesterday in federal court for being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Emmanuel Mervil, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to 48 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Mervil pleaded guilty on January 7, 2013.

In October 2007, Boston Police responded to a 911 call of an armed domestic assault. Upon arrival, the officers were directed to a third floor area where they observed Mervil attempting to climb out the window. Mervil, armed with a firearm, was ordered back into the room and taken into custody. He was found in possession a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

Mervil was originally arrested and arraigned in the West Roxbury District Court. He was released on bail and defaulted on a court appearance. In 2008, Mervil, a previously convicted felon, was charged in United States District Court where an arrest warrant was issued. The United States Marshal’s Service located and arrested him in March 2012 as he exited a motel in Norwood.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Kenneth Croke, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis; and United States Marshal John Gibbons made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Leominster man was charged yesterday with operating a construction business under two different names in order to avoid paying union benefits for his employees, a practice commonly known as "double-breasting."

Juan J. Alonso, 59, and Aguila Construction Company, Inc. of Fitchburg were charged with theft or embezzlement from benefit plans subject to the provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), making false statements in documents submitted to benefit plans subject to ERISA, and making false statements to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).

The Information alleges that Alonso operated Alonso Construction, Inc. and Aguila Construction Company from the same yard and office in Fitchburg. Alonso Construction and Aguila Construction performed the same type of work, used the same equipment, and used the same laborers and office staff. This “double-breasted” arrangement is often used in the construction industry to avoid paying union members the union wages and benefits they are entitled to.

In 2000, Alonso, on behalf of Aguila Construction had agreed to be bound by certain collective bargaining agreements with, among other unions, Laborers International Union of North America Local 39 (Local 39). The collective bargaining agreements governed the remittance of fringe benefit contributions to employee benefit plans. The agreements require signatories to accurately report to the plans the number of hours worked by members of Local 39 and to make contributions to the funds accordingly.

Between 2008 and 2011, Alonso and Aguila Construction defrauded the benefit funds by running part of the Aguila Construction payroll through Alonso’s “non-union” company, Alonso Construction, thereby underreporting the hours actually worked by Local 39 members. Alonso also defrauded the funds by paying Aguila Construction laborers in cash, in order to avoid making hourly payments to the benefit funds. Over the four-year period, the defendants failed to pay approximately $805,338 owed to the funds.

The Information further charges that between 2008 and 2011, Aguila Construction secured several publicly-funded projects, including 12 projects funded by the DOT pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). As part of the scheme, a portion of this contract work was conducted by Alonso Construction rather than Aguila Construction, the signator to the contracts.

In particular, between June 15, 2009 and May 23, 2010, Aguila Construction was subcontracted to perform construction work on an ARRA-funded construction project on Route 2 in Harvard and Littleton. In connection with this project, Aguila Construction completed and sent to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation certified payroll records falsely stating the identity of employees, the number of hours worked and the wages paid.

If Alonso is convicted, each of the statutes provides for a maximum sentence of five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a fine. Conviction of Aguila Construction could result in a fine and a term of probation between one and five years.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Theodore L. Doherty, III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Robert Panella, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering & Fraud Investigations; and Susan Hensley, Director, Boston Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

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

In recognition of LGBT Pride Month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office hosted representatives from the Greater Boston PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).  Greater Boston PFLAG aims to change attitudes and create an environment of understanding so that gay family members and friends can live in a world that is safe and inclusive. The organization works to create environments of understanding so that all people can live with dignity and respect through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten the public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Greater Boston PFLAG also provides opportunities for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

Pam Garramone, Executive Director, and Deb Peeples, Board President, along with Amir Dixon and Zachary Kerr, spoke about Greater Boston PFLAG and shared their personal stories involving a wide variety of LGBT issues. Pam and Deb recently returned from the White House to receive recognition for the important work that they do on behalf of the LGBT community.  Amir, 23, is an award winning writer, producer, filmmaker and activist who in 2011 became the youngest board member of the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition of Boston (HBGC).  Zachary, 19, is a recent high school graduate and member of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBT Youth.  He has been working to address the needs of transgender students.

In March 2013, the Department of Justice established a formal LGBT Special Emphasis Program. The formal designation of a LGBT Special Emphasis Program helps to institutionalize program activities that are currently in place to support the recruitment, retention and development of LGBT employees. The designation also complements existing Special Emphasis Programs which are designed to further develop a diverse and talented DOJ workforce.

BOSTON – A Cape Cod man was sentenced today for filing a false tax return.

William Burr, 48, of Cataumet, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Burr was also ordered to pay $101,327 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. In January 2013, Burr pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.

Burr was a 50% owner of a debt collection business. During 2003, the business operated under the names Pilgrim Financial LLC and Excel Acquisitions, LLC. Between January 1 and December 31, 2003, the gross receipts earned by the business totaled $726,226, but Burr did not provide his tax preparer with information necessary to determine a correct gross receipts figure for the business. Consequently, in April 2008, Burr filed a federal partnership tax return for the year 2003, falsely reporting that the gross receipts or sales of the business in 2003 were $246,731. By filing the false return, Burr evaded the payment of approximately $101,327 in taxes.

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 Kristina E. Barclay of Ortiz’s Pubic Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON – A Virginia woman was charged today with making a false declaration to a grand jury.

Ilene Terrell, 65, of Fredericksburg, Va., was indicted with making a false declaration to a grand jury.

The indictment alleges that Terrell, a podiatrist, and representatives of Orthofix, Inc., manipulated patient medical records to induce Medicare to pay for claims for Orthofix bone growth stimulator medical devices that did not meet Medicare’s payment guidelines. When Terrell was asked about these matters before the grand jury, she lied, claiming that she was not aware that any records had been manipulated. Bone growth stimulators are externally-worn medical devices that help regenerate bone cells and are used to assist the healing of broken bones. Medicare only pays for a bone growth stimulator if the medical supplier provides records demonstrating that fracture healing has ceased for three or more months. If the bone may heal on its own, Medicare will not pay for a stimulator, which can cost upwards of $4,000.

On numerous occasions, Terrell prescribed a stimulator for a patient where the claim would not have met Medicare’s guidelines. When this occurred, the Orthofix territory manager, Terrell, and an employee at Terrell’s direction often manipulated the patient’s medical records, making it appear as though the stimulator was not prescribed until three months had elapsed without healing, when in fact that was not true and Medicare should not have paid the claim. On some occasions, Terrell prescribed a stimulator for a patient and the patient’s bone healed within the prohibited three-month window. When that occurred, Terrell, an Orthofix representative, and an employee at Terrell’s direction deleted references in chart notes that the patient was using the stimulator and was healing, and they created a new, fictitious note at the end of the 90-day period stating that the bone was still broken and that a stimulator would be ordered. Terrell also created fictitious prescriptions to support the bogus claims.

On May 22, 2012, Terrell testified before the grand jury. She was asked several times if she was aware that patient records had been manipulated. Terrell lied to the grand jury, emphatically denying that she manipulated patient records or that she was even aware that anyone had done so. Terrell lied about other matters as well, including her communications with an Orthofix representative about the government’s investigation and her role in obstructing an audit performed by Orthofix when the company requested that she provide medical records related to claims for bone growth stimulators.

If convicted, Terrell faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each count.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David S. Schumacher of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.

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

BOSTON – A Woodlyn, Pa., man was charged today with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme in which he recruited a straw buyer to purchase three condominiums in Dorchester, Mass., which ultimately went into foreclosure, causing a loss to the lenders of nearly $900,000.

Simon H. Aouad, 34, of Woodlyn, Pa., was indicted with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.

According to the Indictment, in August 2007, Michael Lee purchased a three-family dwelling at 162 Quincy Street, in Dorchester, for $400,000. He immediately converted the dwelling to three condominiums, which allowed Lee to sell the units individually. At the request of Lee and another individual, Michael Hicks, Aouad recruited a “straw buyer” to purchase all three units for $1.11 million. The straw buyer provided his identifying information to Aouad who forwarded it to Hicks. Hicks used this information, such as his name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, to apply for mortgages for the purchase of the three units at 162 Quincy Street. In the loan applications, Hicks falsely represented the straw buyer’s assets and employment. Aouad also arranged for false income tax returns to be submitted with the fraudulent mortgage applications.

In 2010, Hicks was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. In 2011, Lee was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

Aouad faces a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Steven Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office, and William Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

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

BOSTON – A Whitinsville lawyer, who was also a Boy Scout troop leader and part time middle school instructor, was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Worcester of charges that he used the internet to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and that he possessed child pornography.

Andrew Jonathan Myers, 34, of Whitinsville, Mass., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to four counts of using the internet to entice, persuade, or induce a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and of possessing child pornography.

Between July 13, 2012 and July 23, 2012, Myers communicated with a twelve year old Colorado boy, identified as juvenile victim 1 (JV-1), over the internet, first via email, and then via Skype. During the course of the communications with JV-1, Myers told JV-1 that he was attractive, directed JV-1 to websites where child pornography could be found, and offered to “find” JV-1 “a place to sleep” if JV-1 came to Massachusetts. Throughout the communications, Myers repeatedly solicited JV-1 to take off his clothes and masturbate over the Skype video streaming service.

On May 7, 2012, May 9, 2012, and June 28, 2012, Myers sent sexually explicit emails to three minors with whom he was acquainted, identified as JV-2 (age 13), JV-3 (age 11), and JV-4 (age 14), in which Myers proposed to perform oral sex on the minors. Myers had served as a substitute school teacher for JV-2 and JV-3, and had been the Troop leader for JV-4's scout troop.

Finally, the evidence would have proven that a computer and an external hard drive seized from Myers’ residence at the time of his arrest contained in excess of 600 videos depicting child pornography including an electronic video recording of a Skype video chat between Myers and a minor identified as JV-5, a 13-year-old South Carolina resident, in which JV-5 is depicted engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 9, 2013. Pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Myers faces a sentence of between 15 to 21 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; District Attorney Joseph Early of Worcester County; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Chief Walter J. Worhol of the Northbridge Police Department; and Chief Kenny Powell of the Millbury Police Department made the announcement today. This was a joint investigation that was initiated by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office who discovered Myers’ alleged conduct and provided the information that led to both Myers’ identification and these federal charges. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Office.

BOSTON – A former Quincy man, now living in New Hampshire, was sentenced yesterday for carrying out two elaborate tax evasion schemes and theft of federal housing assistance funds.

Raymond C. Stebbins, 70, of Manchester, NH, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to three years in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release and restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. In March 2013, Stebbins pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, five counts of tax evasion, two counts of making false statements and theft of public money.

Stebbins was engaged in two ten-year long schemes – first, a false invoice scheme aimed at evading the ascertainment and assessment of income taxes and, second, a Section 8 housing fraud scheme.

In 2000, Christopher McGadden, the General Manager of Xcel Fire Protection, a fire protection indoor sprinkler business, engaged in a false invoice/tax evasion scheme with Stebbins. Stebbins purportedly owned numerous businesses, among them a trucking company, a moving company, a real estate company, and two or more business equipment resale companies. Stebbins prepared and sent bogus invoices in the names of the companies he purportedly owned to Xcel. The invoices falsely reflected that one of the Stebbins’ companies had provided goods or services to Xcel when they had not. Knowing the invoices were bogus, McGadden authorized Xcel to pay the invoices by check. Stebbins then deposited the Xcel checks into various bank accounts he had opened, structuring the withdrawals of funds from those accounts. Thereafter, Stebbins gave McGadden 90 percent of the proceeds of those checks in cash and kept 10 percent for himself. In addition, McGadden caused Xcel’s customers to write checks directly in the name of one of Stebbins’ companies. Stebbins deposited those checks in to his bank account and did the same 90/10 split with McGadden. Neither Stebbins nor McGadden paid the proper income taxes on the $490,000 they took from Xcel checks and certain Xcel customer checks.

In a second conspiracy, starting in December 1999, Stebbins conspired with another individual, identified as FV, to defraud the IRS. Stebbins carried out a nearly identical false invoice tax evasion scheme in which the two men fraudulently diverted more than $3.3 million in funds rightfully belonging to FV’s construction company based in Nashua, NH. This scheme, although larger in scope, worked virtually identically to Stebbins’ scheme with McGadden. Neither Stebbins nor FV paid the proper income taxes on the money they took from FV’s company checks.

For the tax years 2005 through 2009, Stebbins attempted to evade a large part of income tax he owed to the IRS by filing erroneous returns which under-reported his income.

Furthermore, Stebbins made false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development when applying for the Section 8 Housing Assistance Program which provides housing assistance payments to people who need rent subsidy in order to obtain adequate housing.

Beginning in December 1997, Stebbins represented to HUD that he was unable to afford adequate housing. As a result, Stebbins received Section 8 benefits from June 1998 through May 2008. During this time, HUD periodically attempted to establish Stebbins’ continued eligibility for Section 8 benefits, and the level of those benefits, by sending him annual re-certification forms which requested information concerning his household income level and assets. Stebbins filled out the forms with false entries that under-reported his household income and assets. At the time he was receiving Section 8 benefits from HUD, Stebbins was an approved Section 8 housing assistance landlord for two multi-family properties, one in Quincy and another in Nashua, NH. Between January 1, 2002 and May 31, 2008, Stebbins effectively stole money from HUD in the form of Section 8 housing payments that he was not entitled to.

Judge O’Toole ordered Stebbins to report to the U.S. Marshal’s Office in Boston to begin serving his sentence on June 18, 2013.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Cary Rubenstein, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Regional Office, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Freniere of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON – A Dighton man was convicted today of falsifying his own personal income tax returns.

David J. Woods, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris to filing false individual tax returns for the period 2006 through 2008.

Woods has owned and operated Woods Tax & Accounting Services for the past 20 years. During the period 2006 through 2008, Woods failed to report taxable income of over $500,000, resulting in a tax loss to the government.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 25, 2013 at 2:30. Woods faces a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz 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 Lori J. Holik of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – An Andover man was convicted today for obstructing a grand jury investigation.

Kamlesh Patel, 48, of Andover pleaded guilty before United States District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to obstruction by destruction and alteration of documents in connection with a grand jury investigation.

Patel received a grand jury subpoena for records relating to his business dealings with another company and claims that this other company was a service-disabled veteran owned and operated business. Patel was aware that he had documents on his computer that were responsive to the subpoena and that were relevant to the pending investigation. Patel nonetheless deleted documents on his computer that were responsive to the grand jury subpoena.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 12, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. Patel faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever is greater.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Jeffrey G. Hughes, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; Luis A. Hernandez, Special Agent in Charge of the General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Michael D. Conner, Resident Agent in Charge of U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Boston Fraud Resident Agency; Aaron Collins, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General; Robert Panella, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering & Fraud Investigations, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom and William Bloomer of Ortiz’s Office

BOSTON – A Florida man was sentenced today in connection with a scheme to defraud 200 people out of more than $700,000.

William Totaro, 61, of Pompano Beach, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Totaro was also ordered to pay $700,972 in restitution and to forfeit $462,750. In January 2013, Totaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud.

At the plea hearing, Totaro admitted that between June 2010 and December 2010, he conspired with co-defendants Lawrence Amirto and Jamon Caswell to defraud victims in a business opportunity advance fee scheme involving an entity called Premier Service Group, Inc. (PSG). Totaro, Amirto and Caswell falsely claimed that PSG provided credit repair services to consumers. They also advertised in publications throughout the United States the sale of independent businesses whereby affiliates would purchase geographic territories and would receive leads from PSG for potential credit repair clients within those territories. The affiliates were to contact these leads, describe the services that PSG would provide, sign them up as clients of PSG, and earn commissions. PSG never provided any credit repair service. Instead, many of the newly-recruited affiliates were immediately given the opportunity to recruit additional affiliates. The new affiliates were thereby diverted from learning that there was no actual credit repair business, while soliciting still more affiliates. The funds collected from new affiliates were used for making payments to other affiliates, for expenses associated with the scheme, or for the personal expenses of Totaro, Amirto and Caswell. Totaro also admitted to operating similar advanced fee schemes between 2009 and 2011, using the names Snack America and Assisto Coffee.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON - Today President Barack Obama identified Mihael Karner as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker, or “drug kingpin,” for purposes of sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the “Kingpin Act”).

This announcement, along with the identification of five other foreign persons and organizations, is only the 15th Presidential determination under the Kingpin Act since June 2000. Karner’s designation is based on evidence that, since 2000, Karner has run a global distribution network for anabolic steroids that has sold millions of steroid dosages worldwide, including to thousands of customers in the United States.

The Kingpin Act is administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”). It is designed to bring financial pressure against high-level foreign drug traffickers, terrorists, and related organizations by blocking their interactions with the U.S. financial system. Other recent Kingpin Act designations have included Mexican cartel members and related corporate entities, and persons and entities related to Syria and Iran. Today’s action against Karner generally bars U.S. persons and companies from conducting financial or commercial transactions with Karner, and freezes any assets Karner may have that are within U.S. jurisdiction.

The six drug kingpin designations announced today were recommended to the President through an interagency consultation process among the Departments of Treasury, State, Defense, Justice, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Although not required by the Kingpin statute, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were also consulted.

Karner, a Slovenian national, and two co-conspirators, Alenka Karner and Matevz Karner, were indicted in March 2010 on charges of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to import controlled substances to the United States. Based on allegations in the unsealed indictment and in extradition paperwork submitted to the Federal Republic of Austria in June 2011, beginning in about 2000, Karner set up a network of hundreds of web sites and numerous corporate shells to facilitate selling anabolic steroids to customers in any country. Karner sourced precursor chemicals for his products from Southeast Asia, among other places, after which the steroids were assembled and packaged in a factory in Eastern Europe. As internet orders were received, Karner shipped the steroids in bulk to “remailers” in the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece and elsewhere, who repackaged the drugs as individual orders and mailed them out. Through this method Karner was able to disguise the true geographical origins of the drugs.

It is alleged that since 2000, through the use of a constantly shifting network of web sites, Karner shipped tens of thousands of anabolic steroid dosages to thousands of customers in the United States, including to customers in Massachusetts. Nationwide, these customers came from all walks of life, including amateur athletes, weight lifters, people recovering from injuries, doctors and others.

Karner allegedly laundered the proceeds of his steroid trafficking using bank accounts in Austria, Bulgaria and elsewhere, and through the use of internet-based payment processors in France, Iceland, Germany and Luxembourg. Karner and his co-conspirators hid the true ownership of his web sites and accounts by setting up corporate shells in Gibraltar, Panama, Liechtenstein, Dominica, Hong Kong, the Seychelles, and elsewhere. Much of the activity was run out of a post office box based in Klagenfurt, Austria, near the Slovenian border. According to the indictment, Karner has received over $50,000,000 in illicit proceeds from his trafficking activities. Karner has also used drug trafficking profits to buy, among other things, a ski lodge in the Austrian Alps, beachfront lots in Croatia, substantial real property in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a yacht moored on the Croatian coast.

Karner is presently a fugitive. Based on a formal extradition request from the United States, in December 2011 Karner was arrested at his ski lodge in Austria and detained by Austrian authorities. In March 2012, U.S. Marshals were sent to Vienna, Austria, to take custody of Karner and a co-conspirator with whom he had been arrested, but at the last moment an Austrian court stayed extradition. After being allowed to pay 1,250,000 Euros (about $1,630,000) in bail, Karner fled across the border to Slovenia, where he now resides and continues to operate.

Karner has been the subject of prior European investigations, including efforts undertaken by the Italian Carabinieri in 2003 and the Austrian State Police in 2005.

If convicted on the U.S. charges, Karner faces up to 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiring to launder money, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the offense. On the charges of conspiracy to distribute and import controlled substances, Karner faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Boston Field Office 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 Andrew E. Lelling of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

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

BOSTON – A Leicester man was convicted today of eight child exploitation charges.

Jason Clark, 31, Leicester, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to five counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count each of distribution of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

Between October 2010 and October 2011, Clark used a six-year-old minor to produce child pornography, disseminated child pornography on the internet by trading it with other child pornography collectors and by posting it to websites, and possessed child pornography.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 30, 2013. According to the plea agreement, Clark faces between 15 and 30 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release and up to a $2 million fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Mark G. Mastroianni, Hampden County District Attorney; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.

BOSTON – A Fitchburg man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester for multiple counts of distributing crack cocaine.

Hector Rodriguez a/k/a Bolo, 33, of Fitchburg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 170 months in prison, to be followed by 96 months of supervised release. In January 2013, Rodriguez was found guilty following a five-day jury trial of three counts of crack distribution.

During the five-day trial, evidence proved that Rodriguez distributed over 70 grams of crack cocaine on October 26, 2011, November 2, 2011 and November 26, 2011 for just under $4,000.

Rodriguez was arrested in January 2011 as part of Operation Red Wolf, a multi-agency investigation targeting gang members involved in drug dealing and firearms distribution in the Fitchburg area. At the time of his arrest in January 2012 Rodriguez was found in possession of a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun and small amounts of both crack cocaine and marijuana.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Fitchburg Police Chief Robert A. DeMoura; Webster Police Chief Timothy J. Bent; Dan Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cory Flashner and Mark Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office Unit.

BOSTON – Two Fitchburg men were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester for distributing crack cocaine.

Shawn McWhorter a/k/a Kaeshaun, 40, of Fitchburg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 220 months in prison, to be followed by 48 months of supervised release. Junior Barclay a/k/a Mouse, 30, of Fitchburg, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, to be followed by 48 months of supervised release. In March 2013, both men were found guilty after a jury trial in U.S. District Court. McWhorter was convicted of three counts of crack cocaine distribution and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Barclay was convicted of two counts of crack cocaine distribution and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

During the four day trial, evidence proved that McWhorter distributed crack cocaine on July 26, 2011 and that McWhorter and Barclay together conspired to and did distribute crack cocaine on August 5, 2011 and August 25, 2011. McWhorter and Barclay were arrested in January 2011 as part of Operation Red Wolf, a multi-agency investigation targeting gang members involved in drug dealing and firearms distribution in the Fitchburg area.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Fitchburg Police Chief Robert A. DeMoura; Webster Police Chief Timothy J. Bent; Dan Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cory Flashner and Mark Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office Unit.

BOSTON – A Needham woman was sentenced today for defrauding a financial advisory client in connection with a bogus securities investment.

Jane E. O’Brien, 60, of Needham, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution and forfeit of $240,000. In December 2012, O’Brien pleaded guilty to securities fraud.

O’Brien, a former financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (Merrill Lynch), offered her client an opportunity to invest $240,000 in an interest-bearing note, convertible to stock in a privately held software company. In fact, the investment opportunity was a sham; O’Brien kept the money for herself, and used it to pay personal expenses. O’Brien also borrowed approximately $1.7 million from the client, in violation of securities industry rules and Merrill Lynch’s own internal policies, and paid back only a fraction of that amount.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

Thank you, Chairman Foster. Good morning Dean O’Brien, distinguished faculty, trustees, proud parents and family, friends, and esteemed graduates of the Class of 2013! Congratulations!

I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be here celebrating this very special achievement with you. Make no mistake about it, what you have accomplished during your years at New England Law Boston is truly remarkable.

Before I begin I would like to thank Dean O’Brien for inviting me, once again, to attend New England Law Boston’s commencement ceremony and for affording me the privilege of addressing the graduates. Last year, I was flattered and touched to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree, and I must say it is wonderful to be back in the company of such driven and promising students.

On a personal note, I also want to recognize and give regards to a dear friend who is graduating today, Erin Fitzgerald, my executive assistant’s lovely niece; and two paralegals that have been working in my office while attending school: Merrilee O’Coin and Laura Vaughn. You finally did it! Congrats!

I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the many family members and friends in the audience. As a parent myself, I know the tremendous sense of pride that you all feel today to see your own son or daughter dressed in cap and gown. And I hope you feel a shared sense of accomplishment because you paved their path with your unyielding love and support.

I often speak at events across the Commonwealth, but nothing quite compares to addressing a group of graduates – and law graduates nonetheless.

For me, the opportunity to speak to the future leaders of the legal community provides for the rare occasion to reflect on the path I’ve traveled and to evaluate the choices I’ve made that led me here today. While preparing my remarks, I reflected on my own law school graduation. I was full of anticipation about where my path in life would take me next.

The truth is that time and again, my path led to public service. I began my legal career working at the Department of Justice, where I met another young attorney, Eric Holder – and from what I gather, he’s done pretty well for himself there! It was the ‘80s. It was a time when some cities and towns across the country were transformed by heroin and crack; ruled by gangs and corrupt cops.

It was a time when crime rates were at an all-time high and a time when leaders in the government and communities across the country reevaluated the approach to policing and implemented policies and programs to reduce murder rates and smother the proliferation of illegal drugs. The campaign proved successful and restored peace to cities nationwide.

But those were the early years of my career. Today, we face a new set of priorities: immigration reform, gun control, criminal justice reform, and national security, just to name a few. Imagine what challenges you will confront during the course of your career…as you begin to determine what role you might play in formulating the future of justice.

As a young Hispanic girl growing up in the housing projects of Spanish Harlem, I could never have imagined that one day I would be delivering a commencement address. All I was sure of was that I yearned to be a lawyer.

I was one of those kids who knew what she wanted. All through adolescence, I was driven by a desire to “perform” in court and before a jury. Perhaps that stems from my early years watching Perry Mason on television, or from my earliest aspirations of being an actress – a dream that was quickly squashed when I came to terms with the fact that I really couldn’t act and I had a singing voice that left much to be desired!

Instead, I threw myself into my studies. I worked hard in high school to get into college and then twice as hard in college to get into law school. You see, I was the first one in my family to go to college, and the only one who went on to earn a graduate degree. My parents taught me that if I wanted to accomplish my dreams, I had to work hard and focus on education. I am sure many of you received that same message from your own support system.

It was with that in mind that I launched my career, first at DOJ in Washington, then as a prosecutor at the Middlesex DA’s Office before I joined a small firm as a defense attorney.

My life was certainly going according to plan. I was an eager young attorney honing my skills; I was a wife and a new mother to two young girls. I had reached a point in my life when I was on top of the world – I thought I had it all. But there are some things in life that you simply can’t predict. Never could I have prepared myself for my husband’s cancer diagnosis. Together we battled the horrific disease for eight years, until it took his life 13 years ago.

Suddenly, the once solid ground beneath me disappeared and I was left devastated, wondering which direction was up.

Slowly, I began to pick up the pieces. I was fortunate to be surrounded by family, friends and colleagues who believed in me. I learned – what was a difficult lesson to learn for a woman who prided herself on her independence and confidence – that it’s okay to ask for help. Over the years, I have come to believe that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

In navigating my personal and professional life, I encountered numerous ups and downs, but I never gave up on what I wanted to achieve, despite life’s hardships or setbacks. Four years ago, I was a prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office and my once-little girls were blossoming into young, independent women who were ready to leave home and endeavor along their own path.

Although I was incredibly satisfied with the varied professional experiences I had enjoyed during my career, I craved another professional challenge. I knew that my desire to serve the public was still not fulfilled and so I sought the position of U.S. Attorney when it became available under the Obama Administration.

Over the course of my life, I’ve learned some very important principles, which I have turned to time and again as I’ve navigated through exciting times and difficult times – and especially now as United States Attorney.

As your commencement speaker, I believe it is my duty to impart some advice to you all today. While I’m still finding my own way, I can say with certainty that your life will follow paths planned and unplanned. During the course of your career, you will encounter numerous choices and challenges. I encourage you to take the path of most resistance – do what challenges you. That’s what you’ll learn the most from. And that’s the job that will give you the most satisfaction when you master it.

Don’t forget that as you go forth you are forging your career…building a reputation and a record of who you are and how you work. Make sure that over time, you don’t just have a job, but you build a career and a life of contribution that makes you proud.

As attorneys, you are endowed with certain responsibilities and each of you must be prepared to use the knowledge you’ve attained to aid your fellow citizens, to lead others faithfully, and – above all else – to serve justice.

I realize that this is a tremendous obligation. But I also believe that your presence here today proves you’re qualified and ready. In fact, I believe many of you have already begun serving those commitments by taking advantage of New England Law Boston’s strong community ties and commitment to public service.

I know several students sitting here today have already stepped in to tackle broad policy issues that emerge in our own backyard. One program, overseen by Professor Haynes through the Center for Law and Social Responsibility, trained 40 students in a novel area of immigration law, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This policy was signed into effect last fall and allows undocumented young people to apply for immigration relief. For the million-plus young people that have been in this country since they were children, this policy is life-changing. It means they can step out from the shadows, attend school and work without fear of deportation.

Forty students, including two graduates here today – Blaire Patrick and Erica Miller – partnered with attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services and Catholic Charities to assist hundreds of applicants file the required forms. And since this is the Government we’re talking about, you can be sure there were a lot of forms! But this was more than just paperwork; it took an incredible amount of sensitivity to gain the trust of the young applicants who were taking a risk by making their presence known to the Department of Homeland Security.

Clearly, there is much more to be done to redress the issues embroiled in U.S. immigration policy. But this country was founded on the dreams of immigrants. Many of us are here today because our ancestors came to this land in search of a better life for themselves and future generations…for each of us.

Blaire and Erica have already contributed to a small part of the greater dialogue of immigration reform…and we look forward to hearing more from them in the future!

Another issue on the forefront is the epidemic of gun violence and the number of mass shootings that have impacted the safety of communities across the country.

We were shocked to watch the horrific footage of a public event with a Congresswoman in Tucson, a movie theatre in Colorado, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and an elementary school in Newtown. These atrocities are compounded by the countless gun-related tragedies that wreak havoc on our streets each and every day.

Our nation is in the midst of an epidemic of gun violence that steals the future of too many young people and destroys peace in our neighborhoods. Every life cut short by a bullet is an outrage…is…so unnecessary.

When affirming his determination to address gun violence, the President said, “If there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence – if there’s just one life that can be saved – then we’ve got an obligation to try.”

And the majority of Americans agree with him. Ninety percent support universal background checks that make it harder for a dangerous person to buy a gun. Although the first attempt at bipartisan legislation to make our background check system stronger failed, we are going to keep doing everything in our power to protect citizens from gun violence because its impact on our nation has been far too severe.

This isn’t about party politics or influential lobbying groups. This is about a robust, national discourse in which citizens direct their elected leaders.

As you’ve learned here at New England Law Boston, few serious questions – of law or policy – can be satisfied with straightforward, one-size-fits-all solutions.

That lesson is the take-away for one of today’s graduates, Ben Jones, who helped to organize a criminal justice project involving criminal offender record information, or CORI.

The project, developed by Professor Siegel, assisted indigent persons in sealing their old criminal records that would otherwise prevent them from acquiring housing, employment, and insurance, for example, after serving their time in debt to society. More than 60 students participated in this effort to help applicants with CORI-related matters.

This project gave students invaluable experience working with clients, preparing affidavits, and conducting intake at court. Additionally, it provided students an opportunity to engage in critical components of the criminal justice system: helping individuals who had served their time to take advantage of their second chance to lead a lawful life. This is an aspect of the criminal justice system that often goes unrecognized and under-appreciated.

These students, as well as many others here, have shown their genuine commitment to public service.

I am proud to consider myself a public servant. Each day, I have the privilege of working alongside the most talented, devoted law enforcement officials in this country, and that was most evident during the weeks following the horrible events surrounding the Marathon bombing – a day that is typically reserved for celebration of our Patriotic heritage.

On that day, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. On that day, this city was shaken to its core.

But Boston did not falter – it stood tall, it stood…strong. First responders and regular citizens alike sprang into action in the moments following the first explosion; the tireless effort of all – from my colleagues leading the investigation to the agents and police on the streets combing through Watertown block-by-block – culminated in the apprehension of one living suspect. It was a night of celebration in the streets of Boston. And for myself and my colleagues, it was the first full night of relief after a nerve-wracking and challenging week.

Boston, knowing no other way, has rallied around the victims, has thanked the agents and officers that worked around the clock, and has come together stronger than ever before.

As I noted before, you never know what life will throw at you. Never could I have imagined – 20 years ago, five years ago, even three months ago – that I would confront such a horrific act in my city during the course of my legal career.

Soon, each of you will fan out across Massachusetts and around the country seeking to make your mark, blaze new trails and confront the unprecedented challenges of tomorrow. Remember – as you strive to achieve success, in whichever way you define it, don’t forget to give back to your community. As Sir Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

So let me be the first to officially welcome you into a profession that will provide countless opportunities for you to hone your skills, channel your passions, take some risks, and improve the world we share.

That is your mission, Class of 2013, and your responsibility. Based on the distinguished reputation of New England Law Boston, the commitment of your faculty and leadership, and the graduates that came before you, I have uncompromising faith that you’re going to make major contributions and I salute you.

Congratulations and thank you for allowing me to share this moment!

BOSTON – A warrant recently unsealed in U.S. District Court details the seizure of radio transmission equipment of a pirate radio station broadcasting from Roslindale.

The seizure, by federal officials on May 21, 2013, occurred at the station’s last known address on Washington Street in Roslindale. The pirate radio station is alleged to have been using frequency 88.5 MHz without a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A civil action was brought seeking forfeiture of the equipment because it was allegedly used in violation of federal law.

According to an affidavit filed with the civil complaint, the FCC issued warnings to the residents of 4258 Washington Street, but the radio station continued to broadcast. The forfeiture action was brought after complaints were received from a licensed broadcaster about interference with its radio signal.

The Communications Act of 1934 prohibits the operation of radio broadcasting equipment above certain low-intensity thresholds without a license issued by the FCC. The Act authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of any electronic or radio frequency equipment used to broadcast without an FCC license. The number of available radio frequencies is limited, and unlicensed broadcasting can interfere with the broadcasting of legitimate licensed radio stations, potentially causing chaos in the radio spectrum.

“It is a potential hazard to public safety for pirate radio stations to broadcast illegally and interfere with critical radio communications,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will work in conjunction with the FCC to identify and seize equipment from these pirate broadcasters.”

“The FCC remains committed to shutting down pirate broadcasters whose operations potentially endanger public safety and interfere with the legitimate broadcasts of our licensees.” said Michele Ellison, Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. “We will continue to use all available enforcement tools, including equipment seizures, to protect the airwaves and are grateful for the assistance and fine work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston.”

U.S. Attorney Ortiz and Chief Ellison made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Ortiz’s Civil Division.

BOSTON – A Lawrence-based non-profit agency, funded largely by federal government grants, has entered into a settlement agreement to resolve allegations that several of its employees, including its former executive director, were paid for work on federal grants that was never done.

Specifically, the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council (GLCAC) applied for, and received, grants from the United States Department of Education to pay a program director and a program case manager to work on a full-time basis. In reality, the GLCAC program director and program case manager were simultaneously holding down part-time, paid positions with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, where they worked during normal GLCAC hours. In addition, GLCAC was responsible for claims to the Department of Education for the indirect costs of paying GLCAC’s facilities manager to work on a full-time basis, when in fact, during warm weather months, the facilities manager was golfing one or more afternoons per week during normal GLCAC working hours.

GLCAC also submitted, or caused to be submitted, claims to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the costs of paying its former executive director’s salary for working on a full-time basis, when in fact the former executive director worked only approximately 50 percent of the time that GLCAC claimed.

In the settlement, GLCAC does not dispute the government’s allegations.

“Non-profit agencies perform important work in our communities, oftentimes using public monies. Agencies receiving taxpayers’ dollars are expected to have a sense of integrity and to utilize funds for the actual purposes for which they are intended," said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. "Federal grant funds have become increasingly competitive in this fiscal climate. Communities suffer when funds are used inappropriately to subsidize employee moonlighting or recreational activities.”

“I am proud of the work of OIG Special Agents and our law enforcement colleagues whose efforts led to today's action,” said Brian Hickey, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General's Northeast Regional Office. “We will continue to work with our partners to protect the integrity of Federal education dollars.”

The total settlement amount is $80,282. GLCAC will receive a credit of $57,282 for amounts previously paid to the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to an administrative audit finding.

Today’s settlement with GLCAC resolves a lawsuit filed by former GLCAC employee Ruth Tarbox under the qui tam, or whistleblower provisions, of the False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. Ms. Tarbox will receive $11,500 as her share of the government’s recovery. The government commends Ms. Tarbox for bringing to light the allegations resolved in the settlement.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz and Brian Hickey, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, announced the resolution of this matter today. This matter was investigated by Ortiz’s Financial Litigation Unit and the Boston Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Education. It was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Gregg Shapiro of Ortiz’s Civil Division.

This case is docketed as United States ex rel. Tarbox v. Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc., and Philip F. Laverriere, Sr., No. 11cv12334-DPW (D. Mass.).

To report waste, fraud, abuse or misconduct concerning federal programs, please visit the website for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the various entities: Department of Justice, U.S. Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration and U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

BOSTON - The United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts announced today that Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc. (Curtiss-Wright), a defense contracting company based in Littleton, has paid $1.35 million to resolve civil claims related to alleged overcharges on two government contracts to provide parts for the Army’s line of Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The government alleged that those overcharges violated the Truth in Negotiation Act (TINA). The investigation of the overcharges resulted from Defense Contract Audit Agency audits which indicated that Curtiss-Wright had failed to provide the Army with current, accurate and complete data concerning the parts it was using to fulfill the two Army contracts.

Pursuant to a settlement agreement, Curtiss-Wright paid $1.35 million to resolve the government’s civil allegations and has also implemented new procedures to help ensure timely and complete disclosure of cost and pricing information, so as to prevent similar TINA violations in the future. Curtiss-Wright has not admitted liability or wrongdoing in connection with the settlement.

“This office will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that companies who are paid under federal contract play by the rules and provide the pricing data that the law requires. Taxpayers are entitled to know that their money is being spent for legitimate governmental purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz and Michael D. Conner, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Boston Fraud Branch Office, made the announcement today. The investigation and settlement were handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sonya Rao, Jennifer Cardello, and Patrick Callahan.

BOSTON – A Peabody man was convicted today of heading an interstate identity theft ring that used the identities of a Florida-based company’s employees to cause almost $370,000 in credit losses at large retail stores throughout New England.

William Dodge, 46, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to access device fraud (that is, credit card fraud), conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for August 14, 2013.

When Dodge was in Florida, he met the benefits administrator for a Florida-based company and obtained from her lists of employees’ identity information, such as their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. Upon traveling to Boston, Dodge and a group of at least five conspirators used the lists to obtain false identity cards that looked like Massachusetts drivers’ licenses and bore the co-conspirators’ pictures, but the Florida company employees’ personal information.

With these false identity cards, Dodge and the co-conspirators posed as the Florida company’s employees at large chain retail stores. In a typical fraudulent transaction, a conspirator would pose as the employee, pretend that he or she had left his store credit card at home, and ask the store personnel to provide the employee’s store credit card number. If the identity victim did not have an account with the store, the conspirator would use the false identity card to apply for a new credit account in the identity victim’s name. Upon obtaining a credit card number, the conspirator would use the account to purchase gift cards and other items such as electronics that they could resell. The store would lose the money, because the co-conspirators did not intend to pay the credit bill.

The conspiracy netted at least $368,000 in merchandise, with Dodge personally responsible for about $183,000 of the losses. Because Dodge directed the group’s actions, he took about 50% of his co-conspirators’ fraud proceeds.

On the charge of access device fraud, Dodge faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release; on the charge of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release; and on the charge of aggravated identity theft, he faces a mandatory penalty of two years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. He also faces a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross monetary gain or loss, restitution, and forfeiture.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis made the announcement today. The U.S. Attorney’s Office thanks the Florida company for cooperating during the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott L. Garland of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.

BOSTON – A Florida man was sentenced today in connection with a scheme to defraud over 200 victims out of more than $950,000 in a business opportunity advance fee scheme.

Lawrence Amirto, 60, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Amirto was also ordered to pay $968,307 in restitution and to forfeit $462,750. In January 2013, Amirto pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud.

Between June 2010 and December 2010, Amirto conspired with co-defendants Jamon Caswell and William Totaro to defraud victims in a business opportunity advance fee scheme involving an entity called Premier Service Group, Inc. (PSG). Amirto, Caswell and Totaro falsely claimed that PSG provided credit repair services to consumers. They also advertised in publications throughout the United States the sale of independent businesses whereby affiliates would purchase geographic territories and would receive leads from PSG for potential credit repair clients within those territories. The affiliates were to contact these leads, describe the services that PSG would provide, sign them up as clients of PSG, and earn commissions. PSG never provided any credit repair service. Instead, many of the newly recruited affiliates were immediately given the opportunity to recruit additional affiliates. The new affiliates were thereby diverted from learning that there was no actual credit repair business, while soliciting still more affiliates. The funds collected from new affiliates were used for making payments to other affiliates, for expenses associated with the scheme, or for the personal expenses of Amirto, Caswell and Totaro. Amirto also admitted to operating similar advanced fee schemes between 2009 and 2011 using the names Snack America, Coffee Tree and Assisto Coffee.

In October 2012, Caswell pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced June 13, 2013. In January 2013, Totaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced June 5, 2013.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

Boston - Edward J. MacKenzie, Jr., was arrested this morning after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston of racketeering, RICO conspiracy, mail fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, extortion and bribery.

MacKenzie, 54, of Weymouth, is the Director of Operations for the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem (“Church”), also known as the Church on the Hill, a position he has held from 2003 to the present. According to the indictment, MacKenzie began to systematically loot the Church of its considerable financial assets through a combination of fraud, deceit, extortion, theft and bribery. MacKenzie also allegedly intimated and threatened individuals who were employed by and did work at the Church by in part, among other things, providing them with signed copies of this 2003 autobiography, Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob. According to the indictment, MacKenzie admitted to a lengthy criminal history in the book.

Additionally, it is alleged that in his capacity as Director of Operations, MacKenzie had authority for physical changes to the plant of the church and as such, he along with his co-conspirators, began voting to provide themselves and associates substantial financial benefits. These benefits included, but not limited to, four new vehicles; cash awards for family members; and tuition grants to family members. The indictment also alleges that MacKenzie and his co-conspirators solicited bribes and kickbacks from numerous commercial vendors for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

MacKenzie faces the maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison on each of the charges.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office; and William Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer and Dustin Chao of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON – An East Falmouth man was charged today with trafficking Viagra.

David Nailen, 45, was indicted on four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs. The indictment alleges that between March and October 2012, Nailen sold counterfeit tablets that were similar or indistinguishable from Pfizer, Inc.’s pharmaceutical drug Viagra via the Internet, on Craigslist, and in person.

If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison on count one of trafficking in goods and a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison on counts two through four of trafficking in counterfeit drugs, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security 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.

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

BOSTON – United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and William M. Cowan, Congressman Edward Markey, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, and U.S. Marshal John Gibbons recognized Woburn Police Officer Mark Gibbons with the Congressional Badge of Bravery award during a ceremony at the U.S. Federal Courthouse today. Officer Gibbons was honored for his heroic acts following a jewelry store robbery in Woburn on Sept. 6, 2011.

"Throughout this Commonwealth and across the country, the men and women of law enforcement put themselves at risk to serve and protect their communities," said Senator Warren. "Today we thank them all for their service by recognizing one of their very best. Officer Gibbons, for your courage in the face of a serious threat, fortitude in a moment of uncertainty, and action in defense of the public, I am proud we can honor you today with the Congressional Badge of Bravery."

“In the face of danger, Officer Gibbons showed a tremendous amount of bravery and sense of duty. It’s moments like this that we’re reminded how our law enforcement officials put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, and they deserve our gratitude. I want to thank him for his extraordinary service, dedication and commitment to the City of Woburn and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Senator Cowan.

“Officer Gibbons exemplifies what it means to be a police officer and protector of the public. His incredible bravery helped save lives, and I am proud to join the people of Woburn in honoring this hometown hero,” said Congressman Markey.

“It is only during crisis that we are reminded how very dangerous the job of a police officer can be,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “Local law enforcement is committed to serving the public and keeping our communities safe. The actions of Officer Gibbons on Sept. 6, 2011 exemplify that dedication. On behalf of Attorney General Holder, I thank Officer Gibbons for his brave actions in the line of duty.”

On Sept. 6, 2011, the Woburn Police Department was dispatched to a jewelry store for a take-over style robbery which resulted in injuries to Woburn Police Officer Robert DeNapoli. Following the shooting of Officer DeNapoli, Officer Gibbons responded to the area of the suspect’s last known location. The suspect fired at Officer Gibbons multiple times, putting three rounds into the driver’s side of his cruiser.

Officer Gibbons was able to strike the suspect multiple times and then disengage temporarily. He exited his cruiser and took up a tactical position. More gunfire was exchanged and Officer Gibbons was ultimately able to neutralize the suspect. Officer Gibbons radioed in his position and maintained cover over the wounded suspect, issuing verbal commands, and ultimately taking him into custody. (For the full description, please visit https://badgeofbravery.ncjrs.gov/winners.html .)

To honor law enforcement officers’ acts of bravery, Congress created the Federal Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery and the State and Local Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery. A member of Congress may present a Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers who are recommended by either the Federal or the State and Local Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Board.

To contact Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Office: Lacey Janet Rose, 202-263-9747
To contact Senator William M. Cowan’s Office: Maura Hogan, 202-224-4159
To contact Congressman Edward Markey’s Office: Joseph Wender, 202-225-2836
To contact U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s Office: Christina DiIorio-Sterling, 617-748-3256

Good morning! And thank you, President Glenn, members of the Board of Trustees, administrators, distinguished faculty, proud parents, family, friends, and especially the esteemed graduates of the Class of 2013! Congratulations!

It is such an honor to be here celebrating this very special achievement with you. Make no mistake about it, what you have accomplished during your time at Northern Essex Community College is truly remarkable – and this is just the beginning!

First, I would like to thank President Glenn for inviting me to attend this year’s commencement celebration and for affording me the privilege of addressing the graduates today.

I’d also like to acknowledge the family members here who partake in this shared sense of accomplishment: this is a big day for you as well! It is wonderful to see so many family members and friends here to share in the joy of this occasion. And I can tell who you are, not because you aren’t wearing silly square caps, but because you are beaming with pride and it’s written all over your faces. As a mom of a college graduate, I know how that feels!

On several occasions I have had the privilege of addressing graduates at their commencement ceremony. Invariably, it is a tremendous honor and a great responsibility to bestow advice because commencement speakers typically see this occasion as an opportunity – indeed a duty – to provide some guidance to graduates as they leave the halls of academia and enter “the real world”.

When I think about the so-called “real world” and what is ahead for all of you -- for all of us really -- I think about challenges and hardships; both big and small, and how people overcome them. I believe when tested, people rise to the occasion, and nothing exemplifies this more than the events associated with the Boston Marathon bombings. The challenges and hardships posed for so many people were unimaginable. Yet, ordinary people chose to act and risk harm in order to help others; as well as, professionals who risked their lives to save others and to restore peace to our community. There were many examples of people coming together, when we needed it most. If there is anything I have learned from this event is that as a people living in this great country, when needed, we all come together and look out for each other.

But I think many of you already know that. Most of you have already begun – or began long ago – confronting challenges and hardships.

At some point you came to a fork in the road where you had to choose between two, or three, or many options. You were faced with a choice, and you made the decision to endeavor down the path of higher education. You are here today because you know that through hard work and education, you will achieve the success you strive for. Now, you are blazing your trail and the legacy that you are creating is, I am sure, an inspiration to your friends and family. I know it is for me!

So what does that mean: to create your legacy? I can’t tell you what it means for each of you individually, but determining the path of your legacy is up to you to decide!

And in fact, one of your classmates, Omar Anagam, can tell you that from his own experience. Omar and his wife immigrated in 2000. To support his growing family, he worked a series of jobs in car sales, hospitality, and banking. In 2006 he enrolled at Northern Essex part-time, studying at night while working full-time.

Omar’s ‘fork in the road’ came in 2010 when he was laid-off . With encouragement from his wife, whom he calls his “big motivator”, Omar went back to school, full-time, to earn an Associate’s Degree in respiratory care, a health care program in high-demand.

Today, Omar is graduating with high honors. In the meantime, he is capitalizing on this momentum, making plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in health and wellness promotion.

Omar is living his legacy. His resolve, and the unyielding support of his wife, personifies one of the principles on which I have come to live by. I have learned, through the ups and downs of my personal and professional life, how important it is to surround yourself with people who believe in you, encourage you, and support your career and ambitions.

What many people don’t know is that I served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for 12 years before I even considered applying for the position of U.S. Attorney. When I decided to make a move and apply for this job under the Obama Administration, I began to have doubts. There were others who were being touted as favorites for the job. I second-guessed myself, thinking, “How could I overcome those odds?” It was my close friends, colleagues and family who encouraged me. They said, “Go for it. What do you have to lose?!” I am certain that without their support, I wouldn’t be here today.

So I urge all of you, graduates, to surround yourself with mentors, colleagues, friends and family who will help motivate you to keep moving forward. Looking around here, today, I think it’s safe to say that you’ve already found a few…hundred people that support you. From President Glenn to academic advisors, and support staff to faculty, the Northern Essex Community College family will always believe in you.

Each one of you came to this college at a different stage of life. I know that many of you were working while you attended school, or worked for several years before returning to school. I know the tremendous dedication, perseverance, and even sacrifice that this requires. I assure you that the rewards of earning an education will far outweigh those sacrifices, and Alice Beauchamp’s story serves as a great example.

Alice didn’t have a college degree, but she served in a variety of positions in corporate finance. When she was laid-off during the recent recession, she thought she would easily find a new job. But she quickly realized that in the struggling job market, her lack of a degree posed difficulties in her search.

Alice decided to enroll at Northern Essex in business management, specializing in healthcare, would complement her past experience and allow her to use her career to help others. Earlier this spring, with her Associate’s Degree within reach, Alice secured a job as a business manager at the Lawrence YMCA. Already, it’s a job she loves.

I admire Alice. She never gave up on what she wanted to achieve most: a career that enabled her to help others. And that’s something that resonates with me as well.

When I was young, I wanted to be a lawyer because I believed it was a profession that I could utilize to help people. I grew up in a housing project in Spanish Harlem, the oldest of five children born to two, hardworking Puerto Rican parents. Like more than half of you, I too, was the first in my family to go to college. I saw the struggles of my neighbors and my friends. So it’s no surprise that once I became a lawyer, I was drawn time and again to a career in public service. It was a way for me to give back. I genuinely believe that a career in public service is a noble profession, one that takes commitment and sacrifice. Sometimes it means putting the needs of your community and the public before your own…and before your own family at times. Yet, serving the public can be tremendously satisfying.

I have been very fortunate in my career. My varied experiences as a state and federal prosecutor, defense attorney, and civil litigator, have prepared me for the job I now hold. Never could I have imagined that as a little girl who came from humble beginnings that I would one day become the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. I think it goes to show that you should never give up on what you want to achieve.

If nothing else, the diploma you receive today should give you the confidence to assure yourself that you have what it takes. You need confidence to take certain leaps of faith at different times in your life…to choose the path that is most challenging.

Josiery Santos clearly has what it takes. Josiery immigrated to the U.S. in pursuit of an education. But before she could enroll in college courses, she needed to improve her English and get a full-time job. Josiery woke up at 4am each day and went into work where she was a manager at a fast food restaurant. She worked from 5am until 4 in the afternoon, before going to class for several hours in the evening. When she finally returned home, she did her homework and snuck in a few hours of sleep before waking up to repeat that exhaustive routine.

But her internship in the probation department at the Lawrence Courthouse has reassured her that her hard work is paying off and that the field of Criminal Justice is a perfect fit. Josiery is well on her way to fulfilling her desire for an education: she is graduating today from the Criminal Justice Program with honors and will transfer to UMass Lowell to continue her studies.

Josiery says that the United States is the “country of opportunity”, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t take her a lot of hard work and perseverance to achieve her dreams.

Although I highlighted just a few stories of your peers, it is without a doubt that all of you have worked hard and have overcome adversity to be here today – to walk across this stage. For some, this may feel like just the beginning of your long journey – and for others this experience may feel like a detour, but a necessary step toward betterment of yourself, your family and your community. Regardless of the path each of you took to get here, today is an important day. It signifies your ability to forge ahead, overcome stereotypes and not let others’ perceptions define you or hold you back.

It’s been almost four years since I was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney. And, I have to tell you, there's never been a job at which I've worked so hard or that I’ve loved so much. To serve in this role has been an extraordinary privilege and being the first woman and the first Hispanic U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts is certainly not lost on me. In fact, it has been, and will continue to be, a source of strength and encouragement for me and hopefully, for others as well.

I am proud to be in the company today of so many graduates from diverse backgrounds such as myself: 65% of this year’s graduates are women, 37% are minorities, and more than half are first-generation college graduates.

I think that in our society, the demands and expectations on all of us have increased exponentially in recent years – especially as we seek to do it all: to balance a demanding career with family responsibilities. It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to do our part, to help weave the nation’s fabric with the colors and texture that represent the world in which we live.

I hope that as you go forth, you make that part of your legacy. You are our future leaders. It is up to you to inspire younger generations, to push the limits of conventionalism, and to define the evolving landscape of America.

So as you drive away from campus today, drive along your path with confidence. Don’t forget where you came from and return the goodwill that you benefitted from by helping those following in your footsteps.

I leave you with one last piece of advice, handed down from President Obama: “whether it’s starting a business, or running for office, or raising an amazing family, remember that making your mark on the world is hard. It takes patience. It takes commitment. It comes with plenty of setbacks and it comes with plenty of failures. But whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices say you can’t make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower – the trajectory of this country should give you hope.”

Congratulations on reaching this moment, and thank you, once again, for allowing me to celebrate it with you.

BOSTON - A federal jury in Boston today convicted a Massachusetts State Police Trooper for extorting and threatening a local bettor.

The jury, which deliberated over two days, convicted John Analetto, 49, of Belmont, on one count of extortion specific to a threatening phone call he made to a bettor in the gambling business. The jury was hung on the other count of extortion.

From October through December 2011, Analetto loaned money to a local bookmaker, who was a cooperating witness for the government. After learning of the bookmaker’s outstanding debts to loansharks, Analetto loaned him money in exchange for a percentage of his gambling business. Analetto loaned the bookie a total of $24,000 for these purposes and established the repayment terms as $500 principal return per week, plus interest return on the bookmaker’s gambling profits.

In various recorded meetings in December 2011, Analetto made threats in connection with the gambling business to both the cooperating witness and another bettor. Specifically on Dec. 30, 2011, Analetto made a threatening phone call to a bettor, which was video recorded. The jury also heard a voice mail message received by the bettor, in which Analetto tells him that he must pay his debt or, “2012 isn’t going to be too good for you.”

Analetto has been in custody since his arrest on Dec. 31, 2011. He faces the maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office and Colonel Timothy Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

BOSTON – A Dorchester man was sentenced yesterday for operating a mortgage fraud scheme to sell his own home and to buy other residential properties.

Peterson Cherimond, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to 87 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution to six mortgage lender victims. In July 2012, Cherimond pleaded guilty to nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. In October 2012, he pleaded guilty to four additional counts of wire fraud, seven counts of identity fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Cherimond recruited co-defendants Judy Bonas and Allison Gates to use stolen identities for the purpose of obtaining fraudulent mortgage loans aggregating more than $3.8 million for seven properties in Brockton, Mattapan, Halifax and Worcester. Cherimond provided Bonas and Gates with bogus identification documents and paid them $1,500 to $3,000 per property to pose as the purported buyers at mortgage loan closings in order to obtain the fraudulent loan proceeds for Cherimond and others.

Bonas pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February 2013 to six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Gates pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March 2013 to six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge for the U.S. Postal Inspection 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 was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Brian Perez-Daple of Ortiz’s Civil Division.

BOSTON – Three Fitchburg men were convicted today in federal court on charges related to the distribution of crack cocaine.

Charles Simmons, a/k/a B, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and six counts of distribution of cocaine base. Michael Dorzin, a/k/a Bonz, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and two counts of distribution of cocaine base. Andre Dorzin, a/k/a Wish, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and four counts of distribution of cocaine base. U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for August.

Between July 2011 and October 2011, Simmons, Michael Dorzin, and Andre Dorzin participated in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine to a cooperating witness and on seven separate dates the conspirators distributed crack cocaine to the cooperating witness.

For conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, the statutory mandatory minimum penalty is five years and up to 40 years in prison, followed by a period of supervised release (minimum of four years and up to life) and a $5 million fine. The distribution charge has a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, followed by a period of supervised release (minimum of three years and up to life) and a $1 million fine.

In January 2012, all three co-conspirators were arrested as part of Operation Red Wolf, a multi-agency investigation targeting gang members involved in drug dealing and firearms distribution in the Fitchburg area. Fourteen individuals have been charged in federal court as a result of that operation. To date, 12 of the 14 have been convicted, the remaining two await trial.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Fitchburg Police Chief Robert A. DeMoura; Eugenio A. Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cory Flashner, Mark Grady and Karin Bell of Ortiz's Worcester Branch Office Unit.

BOSTON – A Sutton, Mass., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield for bank fraud and making false statements on a loan application.

Jeffrey Dodge, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $135,494 restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban. In February 2013, Dodge pleaded guilty to bank fraud and false statement on a loan application.

Between June 2006 and November 2006, Dodge supplied false information and false documents to Bank of America when applying for a government-guaranteed mortgage loan. Dodge falsely stated that he had not been foreclosed upon when, in fact, he had just months earlier been foreclosed upon after defaulting on another government mortgage loan.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Cary A. Rubenstein, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, New York Regional Office, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex J. Grant of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Unit and Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz's Health Care Fraud Unit.

BOSTON – A Brockton woman and three of her employees were charged with defrauding insurance companies in connection with physical therapy services.

Walkyria Massie, a/k/a Vicky Lopes, 37, of Brockton; Edward Rossi, 53, of Rochester, Deidre Chouinard, 36, of North Attleboro; and Manuela Andrade, 24, of Brockton, were charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and three separate instances of mail fraud.

The indictment alleges that Massie was the owner and operator of Westgate Physical Therapy in Brockton. Patients would seek treatment at Westgate for minor injuries, generally sustained in car accidents. Massie employed Chouinard, a physical therapist, Rossi, a physical therapy assistant, and Andrade, an office manager. The indictment alleges that Massie, Rossi, Chouinard, and Andrade conspired together to falsify patient treatment charts to reflect therapy that was either never given, or was performed by unlicensed personnel, including Massie herself. Massie caused these fraudulent physical therapy claims to be submitted by mail to private insurance companies for payment. Various insurance companies paid more than $400,000 in bodily injury claims to Westgate and its patients during a two year period, based on these fraudulent submissions.

On the charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud, the defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and Anthony DiPaolo, Vice President/Chief of Investigations of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelbey Wright of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.

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

BOSTON – A former Orthofix territory manager was convicted today for health care fraud and paying kickbacks.

Hunter A. Rigsby, 33, of Knoxville, Tenn., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to health care fraud and paying kickbacks.

Rigsby was a territory manager for Orthofix, Inc., a company that sold bone growth stimulator medical devices. Bone growth stimulators are used by patients who have broken bones or spinal fusions that are not healing properly. From 2005 through 2011, Rigsby sold Orthofix bone growth stimulators in Tennessee. Medicare only pays for “long bone” stimulators when at least 90 days have elapsed without clinically significant healing, and it only covers certain types of injuries. Rigsby was well-aware of these guidelines, having received training on these guidelines at Orthofix. On numerous occasions, doctors in Rigsby’s territory ordered bone growth stimulators that did not satisfy Medicare’s guidelines. For instance, some doctors prescribed the device before 90 days had not yet elapsed without any healing, and other doctors prescribed the device for patients who had injuries that were not covered under Medicare’s guidelines. When this occurred, Rigsby often forged the patient’s medical records to make it appear as though the claim was payable under Medicare’s guidelines, when in fact Medicare should not have paid the claim. For instance, Rigsby falsified doctors’ chart notes to make it appear as though Medicare’s 90-day rule was satisfied. Rigsby also deleted portions of physicians’ chart note that described patients’ injuries which were not covered by Medicare and changed the note to make it appear as though the patients had injuries that were covered. On some occasions, Rigsby submitted orders where the physician had not ordered a bone growth stimulator at all. Rigsby also forged physicians’ signatures on prescriptions and Medicare Certificates of Medical Necessity.

In July 2009, Orthofix fired Rigsby after discovering his fraud scheme. Immediately thereafter, Rigsby and Orthofix sales personnel devised a scheme to allow Rigsby to continue to submit bone growth stimulator orders to Orthofix through a new front company that Rigsby created. Rigsby took numerous steps to conceal his affiliation with the front company so that Orthofix compliance personnel would not detect that he was still doing business with the company. Rigsby continued to submit orders for stimulators, sending the orders in through separate individuals. Even though Rigsby had been fired for falsifying medical records, he continued to manipulate patient medical records and forge physicians’ signatures until Orthofix finally severed its relationship with him in 2011. Through his scheme, Rigsby caused Medicare and other federal insurance programs to pay more than $400,000 for bone growth stimulators that should not have been paid.

Rigsby also paid kickbacks to health care professionals to induce them to order Orthofix stimulators. For instance, Rigsby paid the person who was responsible for ordering stimulators at one of the largest medical practices in Tennessee. Rigsby approached this person and asked if he could pay this person in return for steering stimulator orders to Orthofix. The person agreed, and Rigsby left an envelope with $200 in cash at the person’s house. In another instance, Rigsby entered into an arrangement to pay a nurse in Morristown, Tenn., each time that the surgeon who employed her ordered an Orthofix stimulator. Rigsby left an envelope of cash, between $200-$300, in the back of the nurse’s truck after the surgeon began to order stimulators.

In addition to the Rigsby sentence, the Orthofix investigation has to date resulted in a number of felony charges against employees and contractors of Orthofix, including the following:

• In December 2012, Orthofix was convicted of obstruction of a federal audit and ordered to pay $42 million in criminal fines and civil payments, and was sentenced to probation for five years;
• In January 2013, Tom Guerrieri, the former vice president of sales for Orthofix, was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay $50,000 in fines and forfeiture for paying kickbacks;
• In July 2012, Michael Cobb, a physician’s assistant, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months home confinement, and ordered to forfeit $10,000 and pay a $3,000 fine for accepting kickbacks from Orthofix;
• In January 2013, Derrick Field, a former Orthofix territory manager, was sentenced to five months of home confinement as part of a two year probation sentence, forfeiture of $40,000 and a $4,000 fine for committing health care fraud;
• In January 2013, Mitchell Salzman, a former regional manager for Orthofix, was sentenced to one year of probation, with the first three months to be served in home confinement, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine for committing perjury;
• In January 2013, Michael McKay was sentenced to one year of probation, with the first three months to be served in home confinement, forfeiture of $10,000 and a fine of $3,000 for committing health care fraud; and
• In February 2013, Brian Racey, a former Orthofix territory manager, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a fine for committing health care fraud;

Judge Saylor scheduled sentencing for August 9, 2013. The statutory maximum penalty on the charge of health care fraud is 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss or gain resulting from the crime, whichever is greater, forfeiture, restitution, and a mandatory special assessment. The statutory maximum penalty on the charge of paying kickbacks is five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss or gain resulting from the crime, whichever is greater, forfeiture, restitution, and a mandatory special assessment.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David S. Schumacher of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.

BOSTON - United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz recently recognized 152 officials from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies for exceptional service at the annual Law Enforcement Public Service Awards Ceremony.

The ceremony held at the United States Courthouse in Boston on May 8 identified 15 cases worthy of special recognition from 2012 for outstanding collaboration, investigative achievement, investigative excellence and victim assistance. The honorees were nominated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys involved in the investigation and prosecution of the cases.

During the event, US Attorney Ortiz praised law enforcement personnel or their accomplishments and recognized the demands placed upon them.

“This work can be difficult, and at times, it may seem thankless,” she said. “Please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed. What you have sacrificed - your personal safety, your precious time with your families – it is truly appreciated by our office, your agencies and the communities for which you have dedicated your esteemed service.”

Cases receiving recognition for Outstanding Collaborative Investigation were those that required exceptional efforts of investigators to overcome significant challenges and achieve a successful conclusion resulting from collaboration with multiple agencies. Cases and agencies highlighted in this category were as follows:

• U.S. v. John Alicea-Burgos, et al.
  Recipients: Drug Enforcement Administration; Easthampton Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Holyoke Police Department
  
  
• U.S. v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC
  Recipients: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General
  
  
• United States v. Luis Alberto Gonzalez, et al.
  Recipients: Drug Enforcement Administration; Fairhaven Police Department; and Massachusetts State Police through the FBI North Shore Gang Task Force and Essex County Drug Task Force
  
  
• U.S. v. Thomas A. Donahue
  Recipients: Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations
  
  
• U.S. v. Emadeddin Muntasser, et al.
  Recipients: Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; Massachusetts State Police; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection; and U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
  
  
• U.S. ex rel. Giddarie v. Sanofi-Aventis
  Recipients: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Federal Bureau of Investigation; United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General; and Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General.

Cases receiving recognition for Investigative Achievement were limited to those that substantially and significantly contributed to the mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice. Cases and agencies highlighted in this category were as follows:

• U.S. v. Owens Brown
  Recipients: Federal Bureau of Investigation; Boston Police Department; and Massachusetts State Police Gang Task Force.
  
  
• U.S. v. Ralph F. DeLeo, et al.
  Recipients: Federal Bureau of Investigation; Massachusetts Department of Correction; Boston Police Department; Medford Police Department; and U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
  
  
• U.S. ex rel. Susan Hutcheson v. Blackstone Medical, Inc.
  Recipient: Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service
  
  
• U.S. v. Dion, et al., U.S. v. Rickaby, U.S. v. Savage, and U.S. v. Lapierre, et al.
  Recipients: U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Internal Revenue Service; and U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
  
  
• Operation Magic Wand
  Recipients: Drug Enforcement Administration and Boston Police Department
  
  
• U.S. v. Orthofix, Inc. and U.S. v. Thomas Guerrieri
  Recipient: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations

Cases receiving recognition for Investigative Excellence were reserved for those whose actions led to the arrest of a dangerous subject or the exposure of a significant criminal conspiracy. The case need not be prosecuted in the District of Massachusetts, but related to a federal or international matter. Cases and agencies highlighted in this category were as follows:

• U.S. v. Jose L. Baez
  Recipients: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Boston Fire Department, Fire Investigation Unit; Boston Police Department; Massachusetts State Police, Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit; and Cambridge Fire Department
  
  
• U.S. v. Rezwan Ferdaus
  Recipients: Federal Bureau of Investigation and Worcester Police Department
  
  
• Operation Holitna
  Recipient: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations

The award recipients in Operation Holitna also received a Victim Service Award for their tireless efforts to rescue child victims of sexual abuse and pornography. Operation Holitna has led to the identification of about 160 child victims worldwide and arrests of 33 and 16 individuals internationally and domestically, respectively. Untold numbers of children have been saved from these predators due the exceptional efforts of those recognized.

BOSTON – A Fitchburg man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester for possessing child pornography.

Roy Parry, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. In January 2013, Parry pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

In February 2009, Parry placed images containing child pornography in a peer-to-peer file sharing program and that led federal authorities to obtain a search warrant for his home and computer. The execution of that search warrant in May 2009 resulted in the seizure of thousands of images and hundreds of videos containing child pornography. Additionally, in October 2001, Parry had been previously convicted of possession of child pornography.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady and Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

BOSTON – A Quincy man was sentenced yesterday on charges related to a prostitution ring.

Jin Liang Chen, a/k/a Mike, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to 28 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. In November 2011, Chen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport women to travel for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, and harboring aliens.

From August 2004 through February 2010, Chen, along with Hong Wei, a/k/a Ms. Chen, 37, previously of New York; Xiang Hua Zhang, a/k/a Darren, 27, of New York; Yu En Jin, a/k/a Eric, 26, of Quincy; and Don Kai Chen, 41, of Quincy, engaged in a conspiracy to entice Asian women to travel to Massachusetts to engage in prostitution. The conspiracy involved the use of advertising in various newspapers in New York, California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, seeking the services of Asian women to work in the defendants’ brothels. The women generally arrived at South Street Bus Station in Boston from New York and elsewhere around the country and were transported by the defendants to various apartments throughout Massachusetts where they then engaged in prostitution. Some of the women were not legally in the United States when they were harbored in the brothels. Some of the women were forced to work in the brothels.

Last month, Hong Wei was sentenced to five years in prison. In November 2011, Zhang was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Jin is pending trial. In March 2012, Don Kai Chen was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis; Chief Paul Keenan of the Quincy Police Department; Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office; and Chief Michael Kent of the Burlington Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura J. Kaplan and Timothy Moran in the Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.

BOSTON – One of the leaders of a drug-trafficking organization operating on Cape Cod was sentenced today to serve 25 years in federal prison.

Kelvin Frye, a/k/a Kelvin Andrews, a/k/a Brian Wright, a/k/a Cool Kel, a/k/a Cool Cal, 29, of East Wareham, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton. Frye, along with Russell Rose, a/k/a Double R, a/k/a Baby Russell, 31, of Randolph, was convicted in December by a jury of participating in a longstanding, entrenched conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin in Falmouth, Mashpee, Bourne, and the surrounding areas on Cape Cod. Fifteen members of the conspiracy were convicted in federal court; a sixteenth member of the conspiracy died while awaiting trial.

From 2008 through 2010, Frye and Rose were the leaders of an organization responsible for distributing large quantities of cocaine and heroin on Cape Cod. In March 2008, agents began investigating members of the organization and intercepted telephone calls to and from seven cellular telephones used by members of the organization. Agents determined that Frye and Rose were the leaders of the organization, that they had various sources of supply for cocaine and heroin, and that they directed others to distribute the drugs for them. During the investigation, agents seized approximately two kilograms of cocaine and more than 300 grams of heroin. Additionally, the organization had been provided access to empty units at a vacation resort in Falmouth, where they stored and processed drugs and firearms.

Frye was responsible for the distribution of at least 14 kilograms of cocaine, along with nearly a kilogram of heroin. Furthermore, Frye, with assistance from other members of the conspiracy, had attempted to smuggle heroin to Anthony Vaughn, a member of the organization who was serving a federal prison sentence in Pollack, LA for a prior federal drug-trafficking conviction. Frye had previously been sentenced to seven months in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle marijuana to Vaughn while Vaughn was incarcerated. Frye was also previously sentenced to 15 months in prison for a state conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon relating to the shooting of a Cape Cod man.

To date, six other members of the conspiracy have been sentenced: 1) Russell Rose, a/k/a Double R, a/k/a Baby Russell, of Randolph was sentenced to 300 months in prison; 2) Omay Ford, a/k/a Papa Doc, 42, of Boston was sentenced to 180 months in prison; 3) Michael Andrews, 25, of Falmouth was sentenced to 135 months in prison; 4) Adalberto Graciani, a/k/a Berto, 39, of Marstons Mills was sentenced to 120 months in prison; 5) Kyle Hicks, a/k/a Sleepy, a/k/a Sleep, 31, of Marstons Mills was sentenced to 120 months in prison; and
6) Jeremy Wobecky, 38, of Falmouth was sentenced to 44 months in prison.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John J. Arvantis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe; Chief Edward Dunne of the Falmouth Police Department; Chief Rodney Collins of the Mashpee Police Department; Chief Dennis R. Woodside of the Bourne Police Department; Chief Brian E. Stewart of the Scituate Police Department; Chief Russell Jenkins of the Braintree Police Department; Chief Paul MacDonald of the Barnstable Police Department; Sheriff James M. Cummings of Barnstable County; and Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald, Jr. of Plymouth County made the announcement today.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David J. D’Addio and James E. Arnold of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.

BOSTON – Following a five-day trial, a federal jury today convicted a Boston man for his role in the armed robbery of a Dorchester MetroPCS retail store in 2011.

Ronald E. Brown, 40, was convicted of armed robbery, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for August 7, 2013. On the armed robbery charge, Brown faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; for carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, he faces a statutory minimum penalty of 15 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; and for being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm, he faces a statutory minimum penalty of 15 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

On the morning of Oct. 31, 2011, Brown and his co-conspirator, Lynch Arthur, entered the MetroPCS retail store on Washington Street in Dorchester. Brown distracted the clerk and Arthur walked around the counter, brandishing a semi-automatic pistol. The two then forced the salesperson into the backroom and demanded the store’s cash after arming themselves with semi-automatic pistols. The men then used duct tape to tie up the clerk, removed all cash from the store, and fled the scene. A short time later the two men were encountered by Boston Police officers on Kenwood Street. During questioning officers observed clothing, reportedly worn by the robbers scattered on the sidewalk. The officers did a sweep and discovered the firearms, duct tape, and cash consistent with the amount stolen in a blue recycle bin a few yards from the scene of the encounter. The two were then brought back to the store and positively identified by the clerk.

In March 2013, Arthur pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Eugenio A. Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine and Robert M. Richardson of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A Westfield man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield for possession of child pornography.

Richard Starr, 56, of Westfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 42 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, restitution of $3,800 and forfeiture of various computer media. In February 2013, Starr pleaded guilty to possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

While federal agents were conducting a consensual interview with Starr at his residence he admitted that he had requested files from a child pornography-related website. In response to agents’ request to search Starr’s computers for child pornography, he responded that “chances are you’ll find something.” Starr subsequently did not consent to the search so agents contacted the Westfield Police Department who obtained a state search warrant for the residence and proceeded to seize multiple computers and computer media. The FBI conducted a forensic examination of the computer media and discovered tens of thousands of digital images and video files depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Many of these files were located in folders that contained suggestive or explicit titles, such as "Candydolls," and "eternal-nymphets."

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Field Division; and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was investigated with the assistance of the Westfield Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.

The Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester held the New England Women’s Leadership Awards (NEWLA) ceremony where they recognized U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and two other remarkable women for their accomplishments both professionally and personally. Massachusetts First Lady Diane B. Patrick, Esq, and Margaret Blood, founder and president Mil Milagros, Inc. and founder of Strategies for Children, were recognized along-side U.S. Attorney Ortiz at the event held on May 9. More than 550 guests attended this year’s 20th anniversary event which was emceed by Lisa Hughes of WBZ-TV.

Since 1992, New England Women’s Leadership Awards (NEWLA) has recognized over 104 women throughout New England for their accomplishments in athletics, business, education, health and human services politics and more. The event was created to provide role models for the young women of Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, in an effort to inspire and build leaders of the future.

BOSTON – Three Holyoke residents were charged today with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone.

Angel Luis Medina, 31, Doel Vega, 24, and Luz Eneida Morales, all residents of Holyoke, were indicted with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute the prescription drug oxycodone.

The indictment alleges that between January 2009 and April 11, 2013, the defendants were part of a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance.

The charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute the prescription drug oxycodone carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvinitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Kevin Niland, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection 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 Kevin O’Regan of Ortiz’s Springfield Office.

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

BOSTON – Fifteen individuals were charged today with conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone.

Charged in a criminal complaint with the drug conspiracy were Michael Bourque, 42, of Natick; Robert Hagenaars, 37, of Waltham; Brian Chisholm, 44, of Newton; Barry Goolst, 52, of Waltham; Phillip Goolst, 49, of Waltham; Thomas Ehwa, 26, of Waltham; Frank McGuire, 42, of Natick; Michael Roy, 32, of Milford; Christopher Yancey, 41, of Natick; Corey Assencoa, 43, of Hopkinton; Sean Cotter, 41, of Acton; Mark Newton, 27, of Hudson; Mark Ouellette, 43, of Shirley; John Kinney, 29, of Woburn; and Raymond Panaggio, 44, of Newton. All were arrested this morning.

According to the criminal complaint affidavit, a Court-authorized wiretap was utilized to intercept communication between the defendants over the course of approximately four months. It is alleged that Bourque, the owner and operator of DEX Corporation, a shipping company located in Natick, used DEX Corporation as a front for his drug trafficking operations. The criminal complaint affidavit details Bourque’s distribution of thousands of Oxycodone (Percocet) pills to both re-distributors and drug customers. Bourque is alleged to have acquired Oxycodone from multiple sources of narcotics supply, and utilized Yancey, Phillip Goolst, Barry Goolst, and McGuire, among others, as “runners” to distribute pills and collect drug proceeds.

On March 29, 2013, it is alleged that Ouellette and Cotter distributed 700 Oxycodone pills to Bourque. In a search of Ouellette’s home, law enforcement recovered 1,500 to 2,000 pills of suspected Oxycodone, over $30,000 in cash, and a loaded firearm.

According to court documents, from at least February 2011 through April 2013, Bourque, Hagenaars, Chisholm, Barry Goolst, Phillip Goolst, Ehwa, McGuire, Roy, Yancey, Assencoa, Cotter, Newton, Ouellette, Kinney, and Panaggio purchased, sold, and/or distributed wholesale quantities of Oxycodone.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who wreak havoc in Massachusetts cities and towns through the distribution and sale of illegal drugs,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “We will continue to keep a vigilant eye over the communities and neighborhoods that we serve in an effort to ensure the highest degree of safety and quality of life for all residents. This investigation exemplifies the commitment and cooperation between all levels of law enforcement which strive, above all else, to protect their communities from crime and those that perpetrate illegal activities.”

“With these arrests today we hope to send a strong message that trafficking and distributing prescription pain medication will not be tolerated and we will utilize the full breadth of our law enforcement resources to bare. We are committed to identifying, investigating, arresting, prosecuting and sending to prison those responsible for this illegal drug trafficking,” said Special Agent in Charge Arvanitis. “This case highlights the strengths of our law enforcement partnerships and the dedication of the men and women who participated in the investigation.”

The charge of conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $1 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, SAC of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; and Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, made the announcement today.

The case was investigated by DEA Boston; Federal Bureau of Investigation (Boston); Homeland Security Investigations (Boston); Internal Revenue Service (Boston); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Police Departments of Framingham, Waltham, Millis, Natick, Newton, Lexington, Arlington, Holliston, Boston, Stoughton, Haverhill, Shirley, Hopkinton, Watertown, Braintree, Woburn, Acton, Milford; Massachusetts State Police; Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (MetroLEC); and Butte (CA) Interagency Narcotics Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neil J. Gallagher and Michael I. Yoon of Ortiz's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

The details contained in complaint affidavit are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was charged yesterday with making extortionate.

Felix Paulino, 35, was indicted on charges of interstate extortionate threats and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. On April 2, 2013, Paulino was arrested on a criminal complaint. He is currently in federal custody.

The indictment alleges that, beginning in October of 2012 and continuing until November 2012, Paulino made threats in interstate commerce. It further alleges that on the date of his arrest, Paulino was found in possession of a firearm and ammunition after being convicted of a crime which was punishable by more than one year in prison.

The extortion charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a $250,000. The firearms charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for the firearms charge.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, 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 Nadine Pellegrini, Chief of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

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

BOSTON – A former bank teller was sentenced today for committing bank fraud in connection with her embezzlement of $377,000 from Citizens Bank.

Maria DaSilva, 54, of Smithfield, Rhode Island was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns to 27 months in prison, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $377,926 in restitution. In January 2013, DaSilva pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

From February 2008 through January 2012, while she was working as a bank teller at the North Attleboro branch of Citizens Bank, DaSilva embezzled over $375,000 from the accounts of three elderly bank customers by forging withdrawal slips on various accounts they held.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.

The case was investigated by the Lakeville Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Sternberg of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

BOSTON – A self-employed mason was charged today with filing false tax returns and cashing nearly $3 million in checks at a check cashing service and not reporting the income.

John W. Lippolis, 53, of Blackstone, Mass., was indicted on two counts of filing false tax returns and impeding the IRS.

The indictment alleges that when Lippolis, a self-employed mason, was paid by check for his services, instead of depositing the funds into a bank account, he used check cashing services to cash the checks and then reported only a fraction to the IRS. The indictment further alleges that 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 which cashed the checks. In 2006, Lippolis cashed business checks for more than $1 million, but reported only $45,000 in gross receipts on his federal income tax return for that year. In 2007, Lippolis cashed checks totaling more than $580,000, but reported only $47,813 in gross receipts for that tax year. In other years, Lippolis did not file any income tax returns at all.

The charges of filing false tax return carry a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of impeding the IRS carries a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greater.

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 is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

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

BOSTON – A former employee of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles was convicted today of conspiracy to produce false identification documents.

Alexander Brewer, 24, of Boston, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to conspiracy to produce false information documents. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2013. Brewer faces up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

From December 2011 through December 2012, Brewer issued Massachusetts driver’s licenses to individuals who presented legitimate Puerto Rican identity documents, in an identity other than their own, to obtain driver’s licenses for the purpose of concealing their true identities.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.

Boston - Geoffrey Portway, 40, a citizen of the United Kingdom and most recently of Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty today to solicitation to commit a crime of violence (kidnaping of a child) and distribution and possession of child pornography.

According to the agreed upon statement of facts, Portway engaged in numerous chats with many individuals about a mutual interest in abducting, raping, murdering, and eating children. Many of these conversations were accompanied by the trading of child pornography. These chats also included images of children known to them, accompanied by discussions of the desire to sexually abuse, murder and cannibalize those children.

As stated both in court filings and at the hearing today, through his online chats, Portway solicited several people for their help in abducting a child, predominately from Michael Arnett of Kansas. At least as early as 2010, Portway utilized Skype and other programs to communicate with Arnett, trading child pornography including images of injured, mutilated and deceased children while chatting about the sexual abuse, rape, abduction, murder, and cannibalism of children. Over months, Portway repeatedly solicited Arnett to kidnap a child for him, with the intent that Portway would ultimately rape, kill and eat that child. These solicitations for help abducting a child included discussing real children, by name and photo, that Arnett claimed to know and have access. In the chats, Portway and Arnett discuss different ways to kidnap children and the age range that Portway prefers. During the time that Portway was soliciting Arnett, Portway had been told that Arnett had helped others with such requests before and that Arnett had experience with the abduction and sexual abuse of children. Arnett has since pleaded guilty in Kansas to the sexual exploitation of a child for the purposes of producing child pornography.

On July 27, 2012, federal agents along with state and local police, executed a federal search warrant at Portway’s residence in Worcester. Various computers and digital devices containing Portway’s child pornography collection were seized, in addition to the computer he used to trade child photography and attempt to plan the abduction of a child.

During the execution of the search warrant, agents also discovered a locked door in the basement of the residence. Inside the door was a sally port that led to a second door (with a keyed lock). Inside the second door was a dungeon, which was lined with acoustical sound-deadening material and contained a chair, television, and what appeared to be cable access to the Internet. The room also contained a child-sized homemade coffin (with large speakers covered in wire mesh at one end) with exterior locking devices, a steel cage (approximately 3' wide, 2' high and 4' long) with multiple locking devices, and a steel table top (with steel rings at six points, presumably for restraints). Outside these rooms were a cabinet freezer, an upright freezer, disposable scalpels, butchering kits, and castration tools. This dungeon was described in detail by Portway in recovered chats as a place he intended to use to keep kidnaped children while he sexually abused them and as a place to eventually murder and cannibalize the children.

A forensic examination of the computers uncovered evidence of over 4,500 trades of child pornography between Portway and others. Many of these trades involved Portway distributing child pornography to others based on their stated specific preferences, including images and videos appearing to depict dead children and the cannibalism of children.

“Clearly, the facts of this case were quite disturbing and we are grateful law enforcement acted when they did,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “I hope that this case sends a clear message that we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who participate in these types of activities. Even though criminals attempt to hide in the anonymity provided by the Internet, the Department of Justice is committed to aggressively pursuing them to ensure that there is no place to hide.”

“An investigation that began in Milford in 2010 — expanded to Europe and beyond — has returned back to where it originally started: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI Boston. “Since we began this operation — Operation Holitna — a worldwide network of offenders has been, and continues to be, unraveled, including Portway. Thanks to the determination of HSI, along with our partners at the U.S. attorney’s office, we have been able to rescue 160 children and arrest 51 perpetrators worldwide — all as a result of the arrest of a Milford man, and subsequent advanced forensics of his digital media. Portway’s guilty plea should serve as a stern warning to those inclined to abuse children or share images of child pornography: there isn’t a place in the United States, on the Internet, or the planet in which you are truly safe. We will investigate you, we will prosecute you and we will bring you to justice.”

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the Court must sentence Portway to between 216 and 327 months in prison, a lifetime supervised release, restitution and forfeiture. He will also be required to register as a Level 3 sex offender. Additionally, Portway is to be deported after serving his sentence.

US Attorney Ortiz; SAC Foucart; Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early; Colonel Timothy Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Chief Gary J. Gemme of the Worcester Police Department made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Dawson Belf of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

If you have any information related to this investigation please call 617-748-3274.

Today's guilty plea is part of Operation Holitna, an ongoing HSI-led investigation that originated in Boston. In 2010, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and HSI Boston arrested Robert Diduca on child pornography production charges. He was convicted and subsequently sentenced in June 2012. Forensic analysis of Diduca’s computer led investigators to the Netherlands where a Dutch national was arrested and charged with production, distribution and possession of child pornography, as well as the sexual assault of 87 minors. Since that time, a worldwide network of offenders has been, and continues to be, unraveled, including today's defendant. Defendants and victims continue to be identified around the world. To date, more than 160 children have been rescued and 51 perpetrators arrested worldwide - including Portway - as a result of Operation Holitna.

BOSTON – A Peabody tax preparer was charged today with fraud and other related charges.

Barry N. Ginsberg, 61, was charged with wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud, 11 counts of aiding a false tax return, and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service. The indictment alleges that Ginsberg owned and operated a payroll tax business that had a number of so-called “escrow” clients. The escrow clients not only had their payroll tax returns prepared by Ginsberg’s payroll tax business, but also sent money to Ginsberg’s business on a weekly basis, to be held in escrow, for the purpose of paying their payroll taxes to the IRS. It is alleged that instead of paying these monies to the Internal Revenue Service, Ginsberg used the money for other business or personal reasons. Furthermore, Ginsberg also caused false quarterly employment tax returns to be filed with the IRS and provided to his clients the false returns stating that the clients’ payroll taxes had been paid in full, when they had not.

The fraud charges carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever is greater. The tax charges carry a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever is greater.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz 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 Jeremy Sternberg of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

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

BOSTON – Three men, one from Bourne and two from New Bedford, were arraigned late yesterday on an indictment charging them with heroin distribution and related crimes.

Francisco Monteiro, 32, of Bourne, is charged with conspiracy to distribute over a kilogram of heroin and distribution of heroin; Manuel Lopes, 34, of New Bedford, is charged with conspiracy to distribute over a kilogram of heroin, distribution of heroin, and possession with intent to distribute heroin; and Harry Parsons, 25, of New Bedford, is charged in the indictment with conspiracy to distribute over a kilogram of heroin and distribution of heroin.

According to an affidavit previously filed in court, the government advised that Monteiro, a/k/a Cisco, Lopes, and a third man, now identified as Parsons, conspired to distribute over 100 grams of heroin. On February 15, 2013, Monteiro and Lopes arranged and facilitated the sale of almost 100 grams of heroin to a cooperating witness in New Bedford. The DEA recorded telephone calls to Monteiro in which he agreed to provide heroin to a cooperating witness. Monteiro and Lopes drove with the cooperating witness to Parsons’ address in New Bedford where the heroin sale was completed. Furthermore, Monteiro and Lopes further planned and arranged for the sale of an additional 50 grams of heroin to the cooperating witness that was to take place on February 25, 2013, although the sale was not completed.

During an earlier hearing, the government advised that when Lopes was arrested on March 1, 2013, agents seized approximately 7,500 packages of heroin from Lopes’ home, as well as several large packages of marijuana, brass knuckles, and a bullet-proof vest. When Monteiro was arrested at his home on March 1, 2013, agents recovered the recorded buy money from the February 25, 2013 attempted purchase of heroin, as well as a small quantity of heroin (consistent with the packaging found at Lopes’ residence).

Monteiro has prior convictions for drug distribution and unlawful possession of a firearm. Monteiro faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of $20 million, and a minimum of 10 years supervised release.

In 2003, Lopes was convicted in U.S. District Court in Boston for gun and drug trafficking and received a sentence of 130 months. Lopes is still on supervised release for those offenses. Lopes faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a fine of $20 million, and a minimum of 10 years supervised release.

If convicted, Parsons faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of up to $20 million, and a minimum of 10 years supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; C. Samuel Sutter; Bristol County District Attorney; Sherriff Thomas M. Hodgson of Bristol County; Bourne Police Chief Dennis R. Woodside; and Wareham Police Chief Richard M. Stanley made the announcement today.

This case is being prosecuted by Christopher Pohl in Ortiz’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.

BOSTON – The chief executive officer of California-based Vida Life International, Ltd., and a self-described financing consultant to small and emerging companies were convicted today for their role in a securities fraud scheme.

John C. Jordan, 62, of Cameron Park, California, and James Prange, 62, of Greenbush, Wisconsin, were convicted following an eight-day jury trial. Jordan was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and mail fraud. Prange was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and eight counts of wire fraud for his role in transactions involving Vida Life and two other publicly- traded companies, China Wi-Max Communications, Inc., and the Small Business Company, Inc. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for August 8, 2013.

Last month, executives of those companies pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit security fraud for their roles in the scheme. Steven Berman, 50, of Hillsboro, Ohio was the chief executive officer of China Wi-Max; Karen Person, 62, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was the chief executive officer of the Small Business Company, Inc.; and Richard Kranitz, 69, of Grafton, Wisconsin, was a board member and lawyer for China Wi-Max.

The defendants were convicted for their roles in a conspiracy to pay secret kickbacks to an investment fund representative in exchange for having the investment fund buy stock in publicly-traded companies that traded on the over-the-counter securities market. The kickbacks were concealed through the use of sham consulting agreements and other fraudulent documents. What the defendants did not know was that the purported investment fund representative was actually an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The convictions followed a year-long investigation focusing on preventing fraud in the micro-cap stock markets. Microcap companies are small publicly-traded companies whose stock often trades at pennies a 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 SEC.

“It matters not whether the stock is trading at pennies per share or hundreds of dollars. Fraud is fraud and will be stringently regulated by federal authorities,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “We will continue to work with our counterparts to identify and prosecute individuals engaged in schemes with the aim to manipulate the securities market and defraud investors.”

“Boston FBI agents initiated an undercover operation purposefully aimed at identifying corporate insiders engaged in the illegal manipulation of stock prices,” said Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “These convictions send a message that no one who is engaged in illegal activity while participating in the markets, including CEO’s, traders, fund managers, equities analysts, lawyers and publicists, is exempt from justice. The FBI’s use of undercover operations and other investigative tools to protect the integrity and transparency of financial markets will continue. During these difficult economic times, now, more than ever, the well-being of the global economy rests on the diligent enforcement of laws designed to ensure the fair and orderly operation of the capital markets.”

The statutory maximum penalties for the securities fraud conspiracy charges are 25 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine and the statutory maximum penalties for mail and wire fraud are 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which conducted a parallel civil investigation alongside the FBI undercover operation, cooperated with criminal authorities in bringing these charges, and charges against 10 other defendants who participated in the kickback scheme. Six of the defendants have already pleaded guilty to charges arising out of their involvement in the scheme. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) provided assistance with the trial.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, announced the conviction today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Walters, Stephen E. Frank, and Vassili Thomadakis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.