District Not Recorded
The source did not name an office we could identify. These records remain unassigned rather than guessed.
Louisiana Company Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government and Violate the Procurement Integrity ActRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Peter G. Strasser and Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, announced that CAJAN WELDING & RENTALS, LTD., a company located in Opelousas, Louisiana, was charged on July 2, 2020 in a one-count bill of information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the Procurement Integrity Act, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.
According to the bill of information, CAJAN WELDING & RENTALS, LTD. conspired with unnamed co-conspirators to defraud the United States by corrupting and impairing the government procurement process, and by obtaining non-public pricing and cost information in order to obtain subcontract awards and payments from the U.S. Department of Energy in connection with its operation of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
If convicted, CAJAN WELDING & RENTALS, LTD. faces a maximum fine of $500,000.00, a term of probation of up to five years, and a special assessment of $400.00.
An information is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, and the Department of Energy’s Office of the Inspector General.
Justice Department Settles Lending Discrimination Lawsuit with Maryland Used Car DealershipRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced a settlement of its race discrimination lawsuit against Guaranteed Auto Sales, a used car dealership in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The agreement also settles the United States’ claims against the dealership’s owner and manager, Kelly Ann West and Robert Chesgreen.
The settlement resolves claims that Guaranteed Auto Sales discriminated against African Americans in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by offering different terms of credit based on race to those seeking to purchase and finance used cars. The agreement, which is subject to court approval, was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The settlement requires the dealership to implement a number of specific practices to ensure that loan terms are offered to customers on a nondiscriminatory basis. Specifically, defendants will develop written policies to govern financing decisions, including how down payment amounts are calculated and whether the down payments may be made in more than one installment; post and distribute nondiscrimination notices to potential purchasers; attend training on the requirements of the Equal Opportunity Act; and engage in ongoing record keeping and reporting to the United States.
“When people borrow money to buy a car, a house, or anything else, they have a right to be treated fairly and without regard to their race,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. “The U.S. Department of Justice will not tolerate anyone who discriminates against people because of their race in deciding whether, and under what conditions, to lend them money. Our common humanity, our nation’s sense of decency, and federal law make this kind of race discrimination both un-American and illegal. Today’s settlement should send a clear message that car dealerships and other lenders must never make credit decisions based on a customer’s race. By entering into this agreement, the defendants have committed to take the steps necessary to ensure that they will provide equal treatment for borrowers of all races.”
This lawsuit, filed in September 2019, was based on the results of testing conducted by the department’s Fair Housing Testing Program, in which individuals pose as prospective car buyers to gather information about possible discriminatory practices. The complaint alleged that employees of Guaranteed Auto Sales told African American testers that they needed larger down payments than white testers for the same used cars, and told African American testers that they were required to fund their down payments in one lump sum, while they gave white testers an option of paying in two installments.
The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lending discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program, or because an applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The Justice Department’s enforcement of fair lending laws is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. Additional information about the Section’s fair lending enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/fairhousing.
U.S. Seeks to Recover Approximately $96 Million Traceable to Funds Allegedly Misappropriated from Malaysian Sovereign Wealth FundRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of approximately $96 million in assets allegedly associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Combined with earlier civil forfeiture complaints filed beginning in July 2016, the United States has sought the forfeiture of more than $1.8 billion in assets traceable to funds embezzled from 1MDB. To date, as a result of these actions, the United States has recovered or assisted Malaysia in recovering nearly $1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. This case represents the largest action brought under the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative as well as the largest civil forfeiture action in the Justice Department’s history.
The complaints filed today in the Central District of California identify additional assets traceable to the 2012 and 2013 bond offerings. These assets include luxury real estate in Paris, artwork by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol, and accounts maintained at financial institutions in Luxembourg and Switzerland.
According to the complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates. 1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people.
“The complaint filed today seeks to forfeit a range of luxury items — including real estate in Paris, artwork by Monet, Warhol, and Basquiat, and international bank accounts — all of which were allegedly acquired with funds stolen from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s action is just the latest demonstration of the Criminal Division’s longstanding commitment to tracing, seizing, and forfeiting assets acquired through grand corruption and, wherever possible, returning those assets to the people from whom they were stolen.”
“The FBI will relentlessly pursue international corruption investigations,” said FBI Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the Criminal Investigative Division. “As efforts in this case have shown, our dedicated investigators will pursue corruption, uncover proceeds of illicit activity, and return ill-gotten gains to the rightful owners. In this case, to the people of Malaysia.”
“These seemingly endless civil forfeiture complaints associated with the 1MDB scandal are representative of the seemingly endless schemes used to hide and launder money as part of the sophisticated efforts to steal from the Malaysian people,” said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “This latest civil forfeiture complaint would return an extraordinary sum of money to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can finally be used for its original intended purpose - to improve the lives of everyday Malaysians.”
As alleged in the complaints, the members of the conspiracy – which included officials at 1MDB, their relatives and other associates – diverted more than $4.5 billion in 1MDB funds. Using fraudulent documents and representations, the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the funds through a series of complex transactions and shell companies with bank accounts located in the United States and abroad. These transactions allegedly served to conceal the origin, source and ownership of the funds, and ultimately passed through U.S. financial institutions to then be used to acquire and invest in assets located in the United States and overseas.
As alleged in the earlier complaints, in 2009, 1MDB officials and their associates embezzled approximately $1 billion that was supposed to be invested to exploit energy concessions purportedly owned by a foreign partner. Instead, the funds were allegedly transferred through shell companies and were used to acquire a number of assets, as set forth in the complaints. The complaints also allege that the co-conspirators misappropriated close to $1.4 billion in funds raised through bond offerings in 2012, and more than $1.2 billion following another bond offering in 2013. The complaints also allege that in 2014, the co-conspirators misappropriated approximately $850 million in 1MDB funds under the guise of repurchasing certain options that had been given in connection with a guarantee of the 2012 bonds.
The FBI’s International Corruption Squads in New York City and Los Angeles and the IRS-CI are investigating the case. Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorneys Barbara Levy and Joshua L. Sohn of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Kucera and Michael Sew-Hoy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided substantial assistance. The trial team also expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs for their continued assistance in this matter.
The department also expresses its deep appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland, the judicial investigating authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Grand-Ducal Police of Luxembourg, the Attorney General’s Chambers of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force-Commercial Affairs Division, and the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is led by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and often with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to [email protected] (link sends e-mail) or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards judgment in favor of the United States.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Restoration of Law and Order in SeattleRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement:
“I commend Police Chief Carmen Best for her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle. For the past several weeks, the Capitol Hill area of Seattle was occupied by protesters who denied access to police and other law enforcement personnel. Unsurprisingly, the area became a haven for violent crime, including shootings that claimed the lives of two young people, assaults, and robberies. As Chief Best made clear throughout the process, there is a fundamental distinction between discussion of substantive issues — including addressing distrust of law enforcement by many in the African-American community — and violent defiance of the law. Chief Best has rightly committed to continue the substantive discussion while ending the violence, which threatens innocent people and undermines the very rule-of-law principles that the protesters profess to defend. Thanks to the Seattle Police Department, Capitol Hill parks, streets, and businesses are again accessible to the people of Seattle, who may travel throughout their city without fear of violence. The people of Seattle should be grateful to Chief Best and her Department for their professional and steadfast defense of the rule of law. The message of today’s action is simple but significant: the Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law, and such conduct has no place in a free society governed by law.”
Justice Department Congratulates T-Mobile and Dish for Closing the Boost DivestitureRead the Press Release
T-Mobile US Inc. (T-Mobile) and Dish Network Corporation (Dish) announced today that they closed T-Mobile’s divestiture of Boost Network (Boost) to Dish. Boost was legacy Sprint Corporation’s prepaid wireless brand, and the transaction was completed pursuant to the remedies imposed by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.
“I congratulate T-Mobile and Dish for closing the Boost divestiture as required under the Final Judgment,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This deal is a significant milestone in realizing the Department of Justice’s remedy, which is designed to strengthen competition for high-quality 5G networks and benefit American consumers nationwide.”
The Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on July 26, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia along with the settlement that resolves the department’s competitive concerns. Judge Kelly entered final judgment in that matter on April 1, 2020. The attorneys general for the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas each joined in this settlement. Separately, Judge Marrero in the Southern District of New York denied the request of a minority group of states to enjoin the transaction nationwide. Judge Marrero’s opinion relied, in part, on the federal remedies designed to protect against the competitive harms that may otherwise have occurred.
The FCC also approved the transaction after a thorough examination, with certain commitments as a condition of approval.
T-Mobile US Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. In 2019, T-Mobile posted revenues of $45 billion. Deutsche Telekom AG, a German corporation headquartered in Bonn, Germany, is the controlling shareholder of T-Mobile US Inc.
The Justice Department, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Trade Commission Partner to Alert Public of Contact Tracing COVID-19 Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
In continued effort to fight fraud connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Trade Commission are partnering to alert the public of emerging threats to steal money and sensitive information through contact tracing scams. Contact tracing is a process underway to identify people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instruct them to quarantine, and monitor their symptoms. Contact tracing scams often appear in the form of text messages or telephone calls seeking money, or Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, along with other sensitive information not required for authentic contact tracing.
“As cities and states start to reopen for business and implement contact tracing measures in their reopening plans, the Department of Justice remains committed to preventing, prosecuting, and punishing rogue actors who seek to exploit these safety efforts and who attempt to steal money and sensitive information from citizens,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.
“COVID-19 fraud is rapidly evolving. Operating contact tracing schemes is just one method that criminals use to target unsuspecting patients nationwide, attempting to steal their personal information and commit healthcare fraud,” said Health and Human Services Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Gary Cantrell. “We continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring to justice those who exploit the ongoing public health crisis in order to enrich themselves.”
“You may receive a call, email, text or visit from a contact tracer, and you should not hesitate to talk with them,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But, beware if they ask you for money, bank account information, your Social Security number, or to click on a link, as those are sure signs of a scam.”
Contact tracing systems rely on people voluntarily communicating with and giving information to state health departments. The goal of contact tracing is to identify those who have been in contact with individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19 and to alert them that they may have been exposed. Contact tracers are usually hired by a state’s department of public health. They work with an infected person to get the names and phone numbers for everyone that infected person came in close contact with while possibly infectious.
Depending on the state, a person who had contact with someone infected with COVID-19 will either get a telephone call or a text message from the health department indicating that the person will be receiving a telephone call from a specific number. State health departments will not text individuals asking them to call a telephone number or to click a link.
Fraudsters, seeking to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, are attempting to exploit contact tracing to steal both money and personal information. Scammers may offer fake contact tracing jobs to collect both Social Security numbers and fees. They also may send text messages or emails with fake links, or call people pretending to be contact tracers. Their goal is to get money, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive information not required for authentic contact tracing. Clicking on a link in the text message or email will download malware onto your device, giving scammers access to your personal and financial information. Ignore and delete these scam messages. Remember, real contact tracers will never ask for a Social Security number, bank account number, or credit card number, and will never ask for payment. For specifics about contact tracing in your area, check with your state government
The Justice Department, HHS and FTC encourage anyone who has spotted a contact tracing scam or any fraud connected to COVID-19 to report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721 or online at www.Justice.gov/DisasterComplaintForm or ftc.gov/complaint.
For more information on how to identify and report COVID-19 health care related scams, visit the OIG COVID-19 Portal at www.OIG.HHS.gov.
For more information about COVID-19 contact tracing scams and tips to protect yourself from identity theft and financial fraud, visit the Federal Trade Commission at: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/05/covid-19-contact-tracing-text-message-scams.
The Department of Justice Warns of Inaccurate Flyers and Postings Regarding the Use of Face Masks and the Americans with Disabilities ActRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband reiterated today that cards and other documents bearing the Department of Justice seal and claiming that individuals are exempt from face mask requirements are fraudulent.
Inaccurate flyers or other postings have been circulating on the web and via social media channels regarding the use of face masks and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these notices included use of the Department of Justice seal and ADA phone number.
As the Department has stated in a previous alert, the Department did not issue and does not endorse them in any way. The public should not rely on the information contained in these postings.
The ADA does not provide a blanket exemption to people with disabilities from complying with legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operations.
The public can visit ADA.gov or call the ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) and 800-514-0383 (TTY) for more information.Opioid Manufacturer Indivior’s Chief Executive Officer Pleads Guilty in Connection with Drug Safety ClaimsRead the Press Release
The chief executive officer of Indivior PLC, Shaun Thaxter, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia to a one-count information charging him with causing the introduction into interstate commerce of the opioid drug Suboxone Film, which was misbranded in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Thaxter served as Indivior’s top executive since 2009 (including the time period prior to December 2014 when Indivior was known as Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals). Indivior announced yesterday that Thaxter is stepping down as chief executive officer. When Indivior was known as Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals it was a subsidiary of British conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB Group). RB Group paid $1.4 billion in 2019 to resolve its liability to the United States and various states related to the marketing of Suboxone.
Suboxone Film is a drug product approved for use by recovering opioid addicts to avoid or reduce withdrawal symptoms while they undergo treatment. Suboxone and its active ingredient, buprenorphine, are powerful and addictive opioids. Thaxter was charged in connection with Indivior’s misrepresentations to a state Medicaid program regarding the safety of Suboxone Film.
“Our nation is confronting the deadliest drug crisis in American history. Opioid withdrawal is dangerous, difficult, and painful, and the people struggling to overcome addiction face challenges that can often seem insurmountable,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael D. Granston of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Opioid manufacturers, and the individuals charged with managing them, are obligated to ensure the opioid drugs they sell are marketed and distributed honestly, responsibly, and in compliance with the law.”
“The public must be able to trust pharmaceutical manufacturers and their executives—particularly when they are marketing powerful opioids,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of the Western District of Virginia. “While he was the top executive of Indivior, Shaun Thaxter violated that trust, and must be held accountable. I am very proud of the continued partnership between our office and the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, FDA, HHS, and the U.S. Postal Service.”
According to the criminal information filed in court today, Thaxter had authority over Indivior’s marketing and sales of Suboxone Film which, along with other Suboxone products, generated substantially all of the company’s revenue. In 2012, Thaxter oversaw and encouraged Indivior’s efforts to secure formulary coverage for Suboxone Film from the Massachusetts Medicaid agency called MassHealth. Thaxter asked Indivior employees under his direction to devise a strategy to win preferred drug status for Suboxone Film and counteract a non-opioid competitor MassHealth was considering for opioid-addiction treatment. Certain Indivior employees subsequently shared false and misleading safety information with MassHealth officials about Suboxone Film’s risk of accidental pediatric exposure. Two months after receiving that false and misleading information, MassHealth announced it would provide access to Suboxone Film for Medicaid patients with children under the age of six.
Thaxter pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by causing the distribution of misbranded Suboxone Film in interstate commerce. Under the terms of the plea agreement filed today, Thaxter has agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and forfeiture and faces up to one year in prison. Thaxter will be sentenced on Sept. 29, 2020, by U.S. District Court Judge James P. Jones in Abingdon, Virginia.
“Opioid addiction and abuse is an immense public health crisis and taking steps to address it is one of the FDA’s highest priorities,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. “Providing misleading information about relative product benefits could undermine efforts to provide affordable treatment to those suffering from this crisis. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice to investigate and hold accountable those who devise and participate in schemes to the detriment of the public health.”
On April 9, 2019, a federal grand jury sitting in Abingdon, Virginia, indicted Indivior for allegedly engaging in an illicit nationwide scheme to increase prescriptions of Suboxone. The United States’ criminal trial against Indivior is scheduled to begin on September 28, 2020, in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia. Indivior is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The criminal cases against Thaxter and Indivior are being prosecuted by attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, including Albert P. Mayer, Randy Ramseyer, Kristin L. Gray, Joseph S. Hall, Janine M. Myatt, Garth W. Huston, Carol Wallack, Charles J. Biro, and Matthew J. Lash. The criminal investigation of Thaxter was handled by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations; the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; the United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General. Assistance was provided by representatives of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel.
Guam Ambulance Company Owners Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Medicare Ambulance Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Two owners of Guam Medical Transport (GMT) were sentenced to prison terms today for their roles in a health care fraud and money laundering scheme that resulted in a loss to the United States of approximately $10.8 million, one of the largest single Medicare ambulance fraud cases ever prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Special Agent in Charge Eli S. Miranda of the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Justin Campbell of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Seattle Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Timothy DeFrancesca of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.
U.S. District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood of the District of Guam sentenced Clifford P. Shoemake, 63, of Guam, and Kimberly Clyde “Casey” Conner, 60, of Saipan, to serve 71 and 63 months, respectively, in federal prison in connection with their Oct. 29, 2019, guilty pleas to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions with the proceeds of specified unlawful activity. Judge Tydingco-Gatewood also ordered the defendants to pay $10,884,964.49 in restitution and to forfeit the same amount.
Medicare and TRICARE are federal health benefit programs which, under certain specified conditions, reimburse providers for medically necessary, non-emergency, scheduled ambulance transportation to and from dialysis treatments, provided to beneficiaries with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Ambulance services are medically necessary when provided to such beneficiaries who cannot be transported by any other means without endangering their health, or were bed confined before, during and after the transportation.
According to their admissions at the plea hearing, from approximately March 11, 2010, to approximately March 21, 2014, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to defraud Medicare and TRICARE by submitting claims for reimbursement for medically unnecessary ambulance services that GMT provided to patients with ESRD. The defendants admitted they were aware that GMT was transporting patients who did not qualify for ambulance transportation under applicable Medicare and TRICARE regulations and guidelines, with which they had failed to familiarize themselves. Specifically, the defendants admitted they were aware that many of GMT’s patients were not bed-confined, and did not have acute medical conditions that would otherwise qualify them for ambulance transportation.
As part of the scheme, the defendants directed GMT employees to remove from internal documents references to GMT patients’ ability to walk because they knew that Medicare and TRICARE would not provide reimbursement for the patients. The defendants further admitted they were aware of, but failed to address, concerns about GMT’s Medicare and TRICARE billing practices raised by other GMT employees. According to court documents, GMT submitted claims to Medicare totaling approximately $32 million during the course of the scheme. The conspiracy resulted in improper payments to GMT of approximately $10.8 million, the defendants admitted.
The defendants further admitted to conspiring to engage in money transactions involving the proceeds of their health care fraud scheme. Specifically, they admitted that they used the proceeds of their health care fraud scheme to pay for personal expenses, such as vacations, personal income taxes, a personal residence and other items. They then caused these expenses to be falsely categorized as business expenses of GMT, thereby improperly reducing GMT’s taxable income and GMT’s corresponding tax liability, they admitted.
This case was investigated by the FBI, IRS and HHS-OIG. Senior Litigation Counsel John A. Michelich and Trial Attorney Michael McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic David of the District of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands prosecuted the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for approximately $19 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Guam Ambulance Company Owners Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Medicare Ambulance Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Two owners of Guam Medical Transport (GMT) were sentenced to prison terms today for their roles in a health care fraud and money laundering scheme that resulted in a loss to the United States of approximately $10.8 million, one of the largest single Medicare ambulance fraud cases ever prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Special Agent in Charge Eli S. Miranda of the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Justin Campbell of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Seattle Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Timothy DeFrancesca of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.
U.S. District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood of the District of Guam sentenced Clifford P. Shoemake, 63, of Guam, and Kimberly Clyde “Casey” Conner, 60, of Saipan, to serve 71 and 63 months, respectively, in federal prison in connection with their Oct. 29, 2019, guilty pleas to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions with the proceeds of specified unlawful activity. Judge Tydingco-Gatewood also ordered the defendants to pay $10,884,964.49 in restitution and to forfeit the same amount.
Medicare and TRICARE are federal health benefit programs which, under certain specified conditions, reimburse providers for medically necessary, non-emergency, scheduled ambulance transportation to and from dialysis treatments, provided to beneficiaries with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Ambulance services are medically necessary when provided to such beneficiaries who cannot be transported by any other means without endangering their health, or were bed confined before, during and after the transportation.
According to their admissions at the plea hearing, from approximately March 11, 2010, to approximately March 21, 2014, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to defraud Medicare and TRICARE by submitting claims for reimbursement for medically unnecessary ambulance services that GMT provided to patients with ESRD. The defendants admitted they were aware that GMT was transporting patients who did not qualify for ambulance transportation under applicable Medicare and TRICARE regulations and guidelines, with which they had failed to familiarize themselves. Specifically, the defendants admitted they were aware that many of GMT’s patients were not bed-confined, and did not have acute medical conditions that would otherwise qualify them for ambulance transportation.
As part of the scheme, the defendants directed GMT employees to remove from internal documents references to GMT patients’ ability to walk because they knew that Medicare and TRICARE would not provide reimbursement for the patients. The defendants further admitted they were aware of, but failed to address, concerns about GMT’s Medicare and TRICARE billing practices raised by other GMT employees. According to court documents, GMT submitted claims to Medicare totaling approximately $32 million during the course of the scheme. The conspiracy resulted in improper payments to GMT of approximately $10.8 million, the defendants admitted.
The defendants further admitted to conspiring to engage in money transactions involving the proceeds of their health care fraud scheme. Specifically, they admitted that they used the proceeds of their health care fraud scheme to pay for personal expenses, such as vacations, personal income taxes, a personal residence and other items. They then caused these expenses to be falsely categorized as business expenses of GMT, thereby improperly reducing GMT’s taxable income and GMT’s corresponding tax liability, they admitted.
This case was investigated by the FBI, IRS and HHS-OIG. Senior Litigation Counsel John A. Michelich and Trial Attorney Michael McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic David of the District of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands prosecuted the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for approximately $19 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Fifth Pharmaceutical Company Charged in Ongoing Criminal Antitrust InvestigationRead the Press Release
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA was charged for conspiring to fix prices for generic drugs, the Department of Justice announced today.
The charge, filed today in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, alleges that Glenmark conspired with other generic drug companies, including a company with its principal place of business in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and Apotex Corp., to increase and maintain prices of pravastatin and other generic drugs beginning in or around May 2013 and continuing until at least in or around December 2015. Pravastatin is a prescription medication that reduces cholesterol, helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The charge alleges that the gain to the conspirators, and the loss to the victims, was at least $200 million.
“By cheating through fixing prices, generic drug companies artificially raised prices even though prescription drug costs were already sky high,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “As today’s charge shows, the Antitrust Division will not hesitate to charge these companies, and litigate where necessary, particularly where their crimes resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges for life-saving medications.”
“During these difficult times, it is more important than ever that our pharmaceutical companies conduct business with the well-being of the consumer in mind,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Steven Stuller, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “When generic drug companies conspire to artificially increase prices, they do so to the detriment of many who depend on these medications to maintain good health. Along with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and our partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the USPS Office of Inspector General will remain committed to investigating those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.”
“The FBI will continue to work closely with our partners to pursue companies and individuals who seek to manipulate the economic system to their benefit,” said Timothy R. Slater, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today's charge demonstrates the FBI's ongoing commitment to rooting out this greed and illegal activity. There are real victims in these crimes; they are the patients around the country who rely on these vital medications.”
“Artificially inflating the price of medication is reprehensible and illegal,” said Jennifer Arbittier Williams, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “This ill-gotten gain by the pharmaceutical industry potentially put the health of millions of Americans at risk. Just as with the other charges that have been brought out of this investigation into generic pharmaceuticals, today’s announcement demonstrates that we will continue to hold accountable any company that engages in this type of conduct.”
Glenmark is the fifth company to be charged over the last 13 months in connection with antitrust violations in the generic pharmaceutical industry. The previous corporate charges, including the charge against Glenmark’s co-conspirator Apotex, were resolved by deferred prosecution agreement. Four senior executives have also been charged. Three entered guilty pleas and the fourth is awaiting trial.
A criminal Information merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The offense charged carries a statutory maximum penalty of $100 million, which may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims if either amount is greater than $100 million.
This charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the generic pharmaceutical industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington and Philadelphia Field Offices, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Anyone with information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the generic pharmaceutical industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Issue New Vertical Merger GuidelinesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission issued today new Vertical Merger Guidelines that outline how the federal antitrust agencies evaluate the likely competitive impact of mergers and whether those mergers comply with U.S. antitrust law. These new Vertical Merger Guidelines mark the first time the Department and the FTC have issued joint guidelines on vertical mergers, and represent the first major revision to guidance on vertical mergers since the Department’s 1984 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which the Department withdrew in January of this year.
In March 2019, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that a draft of new vertical merger guidelines was underway, following an FTC workshop in Fall 2018 on whether new vertical merger guidelines should be issued.
“As a joint effort of DOJ and the FTC, the new vertical merger guidelines will provide greater transparency and predictability to the marketplace when businesses combine at different levels of the supply chain," said Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen.
“These new Vertical Merger Guidelines provide transparency in the important area of vertical merger analysis,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “They explain our investigative practices as we apply them today and have applied them in recent years. The guidelines will give greater predictability and clarity to the business community, the bar, and enforcers. I am grateful for the commitment, thoroughness, and dedication with which staff from both agencies worked on this project. This has been a successful process because of our robust public engagement and our excellent collaborative relationship with the FTC.”
“These new Vertical Merger Guidelines are an important step forward in maintaining vigorous antitrust enforcement, and reaffirm our commitment to challenge vertical mergers that are anticompetitive and would harm American consumers,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons. “The new guidelines reflect our current enforcement approach and, through increased transparency, will help businesses and practitioners understand how we evaluate vertical transactions. The new Guidelines also reflect our strong collaboration with the Department of Justice, and the substantial input that we received from the public.”
Vertical mergers combine two or more companies that operate at different levels in the same supply chain. A primary goal of the new Vertical Merger Guidelines is to help the agencies identify and challenge competitively harmful mergers while avoiding unnecessary interference with mergers that either are competitively beneficial or likely will have no competitive impact on the marketplace. To accomplish this, the guidelines detail the techniques and main types of evidence the agencies typically use to predict whether vertical mergers may substantially lessen competition. The Guidelines will help businesses, antitrust practitioners and other interested persons by increasing transparency into the agencies’ principal analytical techniques, practices, and enforcement policies for evaluating vertical transactions.
The new Vertical Merger Guidelines reflect the agencies’ analysis of vertical mergers. The revised guidelines:
- Explain that mergers often present both horizontal and vertical elements, and the agencies may apply both the Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Vertical Merger Guidelines in their evaluation of a transaction, as part of a fact-specific process that involves a variety of tools to determine whether a merger may substantially lessen competition.
- Clarify that its analytical techniques, practices, and enforcement policies apply to a range of non-horizontal transactions, including strictly vertical mergers, “diagonal” mergers, and vertical issues that can arise in mergers of complement.
- Clarify that when the agencies identify a potential competitive concern in a relevant market, they will also specify one or more related products. A related product is a product or service that is supplied or controlled by the merged firm and is positioned vertically or is complementary to the products and services in the relevant market.
- Provide detailed discussions, including multiple diverse examples, of the “raising rivals’ costs” and “foreclosure” theories of harm. In recent decades, these theories of harm have been the principle theories investigated in merger reviews.
- Identify conditions under which a vertical merger would not require an extensive investigation, because the merger does not create or enhance the merged firm’s incentive or ability to harm rivals.
- Emphasize that analyzing efficiencies is an important part of reviewing vertical mergers.
- Explain in detail the analysis of the elimination of double marginalization (“EDM”), which economists emphasize is a frequent procompetitive result of vertical transactions.
The new guidelines are the culmination of a process that dates back to the start of the FTC’s Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century in June 2018. In June 2018, and then again in the October 2018, the Commission sought comment on the legal and economic analysis of vertical mergers, and whether new Vertical Merger Guidelines should be issued by the antitrust agencies. In November 2018, the Commission held a public hearing to discuss the proper scope of new guidelines. In the spring of 2019, both agencies began working on revisions to the 1984 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, and began sharing drafts of proposed new guidelines in the summer of 2019. On January 10, 2020, the agencies jointly released a draft version of the Vertical Merger Guidelines; the agencies received 74 substantive comments on the draft. A public workshop to discuss the draft was held on March 11, 2020 during which staff from both agencies moderated debate and discussion on the draft Vertical Merger Guidelines. The guidelines released today modify the draft released in January to incorporate comments from the public.
Attorney General William P. Barr's Statement on the Supreme Court's Ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of RevenueRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr has released the following statement:
“We are pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision today in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Montana’s Blaine Amendment excluded religious schools from state scholarship programs that are open to other educational institutions. It thus prevented parents who send their children to religious schools from receiving scholarship funds that are available to the rest of the community.
The Supreme Court concluded today that Montana’s Blaine Amendment violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. The Court recognized that the Free Exercise Clause “condemns discrimination against religious schools and the families whose children attend them.” As a result of the Court’s decision, a state may no longer disqualify religious schools from scholarships or other programs “solely because they are religious.”
The Court’s decision represents an important victory for religious liberty and religious equality in the United States. As the Court explained, religious people are “members of the community too,” and their exclusion from public programs because of their religion is “odious to our Constitution” and “cannot stand.” We were pleased to see the Court agree with the Trump Administration that such blatant discrimination against religion has no place in our constitutional system.”
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt Announces Departure from Civil DivisionRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division recently announced his departure from the Department, effective July 3, 2020.
“Jody has served the Department of Justice with honor and distinction for over two decades,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Under his direction as Assistant Attorney General for these past two years, the Civil Division has vigorously defended the Administration’s most important policies and achieved many successes, from regaining billions of dollars from those who sought to defraud our government, to protecting our nation’s seniors by bringing to justice those who sought to abuse and exploit them. On behalf of the Department, I want to thank him for his dedication to the rule of law and his service to the Department and our nation.”
“Having spent more than two decades of my professional career at the Department of Justice, I have a deep and abiding respect for those who have devoted their careers to public service,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt. “I have had the wonderful privilege of working alongside the many talented public servants of the Civil Division, and have witnessed firsthand their dedication and commitment to the values and principles for which this Department stands. I am grateful for the opportunity to have led the Civil Division as Assistant Attorney General, and in that role to have helped support and defend the interests of the Executive Branch. I am confident that the Civil Division will continue its outstanding work on behalf of the Government going forward.”
Under Assistant Attorney General Hunt’s leadership, the Civil Division defended many of the Administration’s most important policies and priorities, including suits concerning the Emoluments Clauses and challenges to the President’s Executive Orders, such as the travel proclamation and the border wall emergency declaration. The Civil Division also successfully opposed suits against numerous immigration-related policies, including the migrant protection protocols, the third-country asylum rule, and the public charge rule. In combatting the opioid epidemic, the Civil Division helped to secure a $1.4 billion settlement in July 2019 from a pharmaceutical company, the largest recovery in history in a case involving an opioid manufacturer.
Under Mr. Hunt’s leadership, the Civil Division also prioritized protecting American seniors, announcing in early 2020, the largest-ever sweep of elder fraud cases in Department history, charging more than 400 defendants with causing over $1 billion in victim losses and surpassing the record-setting 2019 elder fraud sweep. Similarly, in September 2019, a pharmaceutical company agreed to pay $95.9 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks and engaged in false and misleading marketing of its drug to induce providers in long term care facilities, including nursing homes, to prescribe it for behaviors commonly associated with dementia patients, which was not an approved use. More recently, under Mr. Hunt’s leadership, the Civil Division announced first of a kind civil actions against those responsible for fraudulent robocalls.
Beyond vigorously pursuing and defending the Administration’s policies and priorities, during Mr. Hunt’s time as Assistant Attorney General, the Civil Division protected the public fisc in suits seeking monetary relief on behalf of the government and its officials. This included prioritizing enforcement of the False Claims Act, the government’s primary civil tool for protecting taxpayer funds against fraud. In each of the last two years, the government recovered approximately $3 billion under the act. At the same time, the Civil Division increased the use of its authority to dismiss unwarranted qui tam actions. In this area, Mr. Hunt developed guidelines to help ensure transparency and consistency in the Department’s evaluation of the credit to award defendants who cooperate in False Claims Act cases.
Mr. Hunt also prioritized bringing justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization. As just one example, the Civil Division succeeded in securing the civil denaturalization of an individual convicted of terrorism offenses in Egypt who admitted recruiting for al Qaeda within the United States and running a communications hub in California for the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. Due to enormous successes in this area and growing referrals from law enforcement agencies, Mr. Hunt spearheaded the creation of a new section within the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation – the Denaturalization Section – dedicated to investigating and litigating revocation of naturalization.
The Department of Justice thanks Assistant Attorney General Hunt for his leadership and for his 21 years of service to the Department and our nation.
Virtual Five Country Ministerial Meeting – Joint CommuniquéRead the Press Release
On June 17 and 18, 2020, United States Attorney General William P. Barr and United States Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinnelli joined ministers from the ‘Five Eyes’ partnership for a virtual meeting to agree joint action to tackle emerging security threats during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This final communiqué was published following the meeting:
BEGIN TEXT:
We, the Home Affairs, Interior, and Security Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (the ‘Five Countries’) have met via video conference on June 17 and 18, 2020. Guided by our shared responsibility and commitment to build a more peaceful and secure world for our citizens, we discussed the challenges and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for our security and reconfirmed our determination to protect our nations from these threats.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a change in state based and non-state activity as new opportunities to interfere in our societies and commit crime have emerged. Our law enforcement and security agencies have been agile in responding to these threats. As many of these threats cross borders, we discussed how we can redouble our efforts to respond to these challenges.
With many of our citizens staying at home during the pandemic and relying on the internet to conduct business, learn, and socialize, criminals and hostile actors are exploiting this increased online activity as an opportunity to conduct criminal activity, and capitalizing on anxieties about the pandemic. This sort of malicious activity on the internet is unacceptable. We agreed to share information and develop joint assessments on these threats and explore ways to strengthen our collective responses. We will work with all partners to promote the framework of responsible state behavior in cyberspace and uphold the role of all States to help counter irresponsible activity being carried out by criminal groups in their countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated the terrible reality that, as children increasingly use the internet for education, socializing, and entertainment, they are at higher risk of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. We agreed to exchange information on this issue in light of COVID-19, and share lessons in order to continue to strengthen our fight against those who seek to exploit children. We call on the digital industry to take immediate, tangible action to implement the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, launched in March 2020.
Finally, we discussed the vital importance of collaboration between governments and the digital industry to address concerns with end-to-end encryption where it impacts public safety and the lawful access to information necessary to prevent or investigate serious crimes. We continue to urge technology companies to make real progress on this issue and work with governments in a meaningful way to resolve this challenge in ways that protect our citizens. We will continue to work with like-minded international partners and institutions to ensure complementary approaches to this issue.
We reaffirmed our commitment to keep working together and look forward to meeting face to face when it is safe to do so. Until then, we will continue to meet virtually to advance cooperation among our nations on security, border and migration issues that ensure the public continue to be protected.
Statement from Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband on Federal Court's Religious Liberty Ruling Concerning New York City and New York StateRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division issued the following statement in response to the federal court ruling today regarding religious liberty in New York City and New York State:
"Today’s federal court decision is a win for religious freedom and the civil liberties of New Yorkers. Government cannot discriminate by protecting free speech and the right to assemble while threatening or limiting religious exercise – it must protect all rights guaranteed under the First Amendment. The court’s decision is consistent with positions and arguments made by the United States Department of Justice in similar filings and letters, including in New York City and elsewhere around the country. The Department of Justice will continue to support people of faith who seek equal treatment against threats and actions by public officials who discriminate against them because of their religion. The Constitution and our oath to defend and protect it require nothing less."
The federal case is Soos et al., v. Cuomo et al., No. 1:20-cv-651 (N.D.N.Y).
The court opinion can be found here https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Dist.-Ct.-Memo-and-Order-June-26-2020.pdf. The department's previous statement on religious concerns in New York City can be found here https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-assistant-attorney-general-eric-dreiband-and-us-attorney-matthew-schneider-new-york.
Russian National Pleads Guilty for Role in Transnational Cybercrime Organization Responsible for more than $568 Million in LossesRead the Press Release
One of the leaders of the Infraud Organization pleaded guilty today to RICO conspiracy. Infraud was an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
Sergey Medvedev, aka “Stells,” “segmed,” “serjbear,” 33, of the Russian Federation, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan in the District of Nevada. According to the indictment, the Infraud Organization was created in October 2010 by Svyatoslav Bondarenko aka “Obnon,” “Rector,” and “Helkern,” 34, of Ukraine, to promote and grow interest in the Infraud Organization as the premier destination for “carding”—purchasing retail items with counterfeit or stolen credit card information—on the Internet. Under the slogan, “In Fraud We Trust,” the organization directed traffic and potential purchasers to the automated vending sites of its members, which served as online conduits to traffic in stolen means of identification, stolen financial and banking information, malware, and other illicit goods. It also provided an escrow service to facilitate illicit digital currency transactions among its members and employed screening protocols that purported to ensure only high quality vendors of stolen cards, personally identifiable information, and other contraband were permitted to advertise to members. In March 2017, there were 10,901 registered members of the Infraud Organization.
During the course of its seven-year history, the Infraud Organization inflicted approximately $2.2 billion in intended losses, and more than $568 million in actual losses, on a wide swath of financial institutions, merchants, and private individuals, and would have continued to do so for the foreseeable future if left unchecked.
The investigation was conducted by the Las Vegas Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Henderson, Nevada Police Department. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s extradition from Thailand. Deputy Chief Kelly Pearson and Trial Attorneys Chad W. McHenry and Alexander Gottfried of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the case.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice Holds Hearing on Policing Culture and Community EngagementRead the Press Release
This week, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice continued its series of hearings on community engagement, with testimony from faith leaders, and held a hearing on policing culture. The hearings were conducted via teleconference and featured expert witnesses who provided testimony and answered questions from the commissioners.
On Tuesday, June 23, 2020, the commission received testimony from Robin Engel, Ph.D., Professor, University of Cincinnati; Michael Ranalli, Chief (Retired), Glenville, New York, Police Department; Hampton (Virginia) Police Chief Terry Sult; and Springboro (Ohio) Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff.
The panelists discussed policing culture and reasonable use of force. An overarching theme throughout the panel was the need to use evidence-based research to inform successful reforms regarding police use of force.
On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, the commission received testimony from Sheriff James McDonell (retired), Los Angeles (Calif.) County; Ronal Serpas, Superintendent of Police of the New Orleans Police Department (retired) and Professor with the Loyola University New Orleans Criminal Justice Department; Chief Robert White (retired), Denver Police Department; and Sheriff Mike Chitwood, Volusia (Fla.) County.
The panel focused on the use of force and culture change. The panelists discussed the importance of leading by example within the department, especially with regards to new officers; integrating community policing values throughout an entire academy curriculum instead of teaching it as a standalone course; acknowledging that while no single police incident represents an entire department, nothing undermines years of work developing community trust as quickly as incidents where police use unnecessary or excessive force; and learning from the successes of other departments and agencies.
On Thursday, June 25, 2020, the commission received testimony from Jeff Ballabon, CEO B2 Strategic, Washington, DC; Rabbi Jack Moline, Executive Director, Interfaith Alliance, Washington DC; and Imam Talib Shareef, President of Masjid Muhammad, The Nation's Mosque.
The panel focused on the relationship between religious minorities and law enforcement. The panelists discussed the importance of building relationships with law enforcement at a community level in order to change dynamics; the need for law enforcement to take steps at every level to investigate and prevent hate-based crime, as well as hold officers accountable for engaging in racial or religious profiling, targeting, and surveillance; and the value of breaking stereotypes and “challenging the narrative.”
For more information on the commission, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/ag/presidential-commission-law-enforcement-and-administration-justice
Audio recordings and transcripts of the hearings will be posted online once available.
Department of Justice Applauds Congressional Passage of Reauthorization of the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform ActRead the Press Release
On June 25, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed identical bills, H.R. 7036 and S. 3377, to repeal the sunset provision of the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA).
“We applaud both Houses of Congress for their bipartisan action and recognition of ACPERA’s importance in the fight to safeguard our free markets and protect American consumers from collusion,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The Division wholeheartedly agrees with Congress’s findings that ‘[c]onspiracies among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate markets are categorically and irredeemably anticompetitive and contravene the competition policy of the United States.’”
“The Division is firmly committed to the Leniency Program, which has been our most important prosecutorial tool for the last 26 years, particularly when it comes to international cartels,” said Antitrust Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement Richard A. Powers. “Because of yesterday’s reauthorization, ACPERA’s incentives to self-report, seek leniency, and cooperate with our investigations will continue to assist the Division’s mission of deterring, detecting, and prosecuting cartel offenses.”
Congress enacted ACPERA in 2004 in part to provide greater incentives for corporations to self-report and cooperate pursuant to the Antitrust Division’s Corporate Leniency Policy. Since 2004, ACPERA’s provisions have substantially strengthened the Antitrust Division’s ability to detect and prosecute anticompetitive cartel activity through the Leniency Program.
From Fiscal Year 2010 to 2019, the Antitrust Division’s criminal prosecutions have resulted in over $9 billion in criminal fines and penalties, along with jail terms for more than 250 individuals. Since the fall of 2019 alone, the Division obtained three criminal fines and penalties at or above the Sherman Act’s $100 million statutory maximum, and prosecuted antitrust violations affecting generic drugs, cancer patients, grocery store staples, financial markets.
If the legislation is signed by the President, ACPERA will continue to mitigate a successful leniency applicant’s civil damages exposure from treble damages to actual damages if the company provides civil plaintiffs with timely and satisfactory cooperation. While treble damages liability can be an important deterrent for engaging in anti-competitive behavior, civil exposure also can deter self-reporting of criminal wrongdoing. Therefore, the Department supports the reauthorization of ACPERA and the repeal of its sunset provision.
Statement from Assistant Attorney General Beth A. Williams on the Senate’s Confirmation of 200 JudgesRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General Beth A. Williams issued the following statement today on the Senate’s confirmation of the 200th Article III judge under the Trump Administration. Earlier this week, Williams penned an op-ed noting that the administration’s judicial appointments have earned the American Bar Association’s “Well Qualified” rating at nearly the highest rate in five decades.
“The Department of Justice is pleased that today the Senate confirmed the 200th Article III judge since President Trump took office, including two Supreme Court justices, 53 Circuit Court judges, 143 District Court judges, and two Court of International Trade judges. These judges are among the most qualified in history and — in committing to rule faithfully and impartially, to follow the law and not personal preference — they embody the highest ideals of our legal system. We are proud of this historic milestone and grateful to these remarkable individuals for their willingness to serve our country, protect our Constitution, and uphold the rule of law. The Department looks forward to their years of future service, and to the continued confirmation of principled and well-qualified jurists to our nation’s courts.”
Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
An Oregon resident pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false claims, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Lawrence Collins conspired with others to file false tax returns that claimed more than $400,000 in fraudulent refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). From 2009 through 2014, Collins obtained names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth from other persons, including from inmates from a state penitentiary in Salem, Oregon, and provided that information to co-conspirators who used this information to seek fraudulent refunds from the IRS. Collins also provided bank account information and third-party mailing addresses for use on the returns in order to direct receipt of the fraudulent refunds. Once the refunds were received from the IRS, Collins divided the funds among the co-conspirators.
U.S. Chief Judge Marco A. Hernandez scheduled sentencing for Sept. 14, 2020. At sentencing, Collins faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Collins also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Stephen K. Moulton and Leslie A. Goemaat, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.
British Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Fraud Scheme That Victimized Hundreds of Thousands of U.S. ConsumersRead the Press Release
Gareth David Long, 41, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison for running a scheme to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of consumers, the Department of Justice announced.
Long was sentenced by Judge Andrew Gordon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada as a result of his Nov. 5, 2019, guilty plea to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with the scheme that he operated. As part of his guilty plea, Long admitted that he created and deposited checks drawn on the checking accounts of more than 375,000 victims without authorization during a six-month period in 2013. Although Long had no authorization to charge the victims’ accounts, he represented to victims’ banks that the victims had authorized the debits. When victims called to complain about the charges, Long instructed employees working for him to tell the victims that they had authorized the charges in connection with an online payday loan application. Many of the victims were elderly. Long used the proceeds of this scheme to purchase a ranch and 23 acres of land in Texas, three airplanes, cars, a fire truck, and construction and farm equipment, as well as to pay other personal expenses.
“The defendant exploited his access to sensitive personal and financial information to steal millions of dollars from victims throughout the United States” said Jody Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the public from such identity theft and fraud.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) has been at the forefront of investigating fraud schemes for many years,” said Delany E. De Leon-Colon, Inspector in Charge for the Criminal Investigations Group at the USPIS National Headquarters. “We remain steadfast in our pursuit to safeguard the public from those who take advantage of their trusted access for personal gains. Anyone who engages in this type of fraud scheme should know Postal Inspectors will find them and they will be held accountable for their actions.”
From 2008 through 2013, Long operated a third-party payment processing company, V Internet Corp, which also did business as Altcharge and Check Process. As a payment processor, Long specialized in the creation and deposit of remotely-created checks (RCCs). An RCC is a check created not by the account holder but by the third-party payee. In place of a signature, Long’s RCCs contained a typed statement claiming that the check was authorized by the account holder. Because of this payment processing activity, Long possessed the personal and financial information of hundreds of thousands of consumers whose accounts he debited in 2012 and before.
In January 2013, Long stopped acting as a third-party payment processor for other merchants, and simply started using RCCs to charge the bank accounts of consumers whose personal identifying information he had acquired over the previous five years, as well as other consumers whose information Long purchased in the form of “lead lists.” Long did not have authorization to charge any of these victims’ accounts.
During the wire fraud and identity theft scheme from January through July of 2013, Long created and deposited more than 750,000 RCCs totaling more than $22 million. While approximately half of the RCCs were immediately reversed by victims’ banks, Long nevertheless succeeded in stealing approximately $11 million over a six-month period.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service seized more than $2.9 million from Long’s company bank accounts. Postal Inspectors also seized property that Long purchased with the proceeds of his fraudulent activity, including three airplanes and the other vehicles and property described above. As part of the sentencing hearing, the court issued a forfeiture money judgment of more than $11.2 million and Long forfeited the ranch and land he purchased in Texas.
Trial Attorneys John W. Burke and Ehren Reynolds of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. USPIS investigated the case.
Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. In particular, in March 2020, the department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 400 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep. The department has likewise conducted hundreds of training's and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act.
More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov. If you or someone you know has been a victim of elder fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 833–FRAUD–11 or 833–372–8311, every day, 6:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. eastern time. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Statement from Attorney General William P. Barr on Introduction of Lawful Access Bill in SenateRead the Press Release
Today, Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement on the introduction of a bill that would give law enforcement access to critical digital evidence if permitted by a court while also protecting privacy. The legislation is sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, and Marsha Blackburn.
“Passing legislation that allows warrant access to encrypted data will allow law enforcement to further provide for the safety and security of the American people. I applaud Chairman Graham and Senators Cotton and Blackburn for introducing the first-ever bill to address this issue.
While strong encryption provides enormous benefits to society and is undoubtedly necessary for the security and privacy of Americans, end-to-end encryption technology is being abused by child predators, terrorists, drug traffickers, and even hackers to perpetrate their crimes and avoid detection. Warrant-proof encryption allows these criminals to operate with impunity. This is dangerous and unacceptable.
Indeed, the danger is particularly great for children who are targeted online for sexual exploitation, especially during this time of coronavirus lockdowns. Survivors of child sexual abuse and their families have pleaded with technology companies to do more to prevent predators from exploiting their platforms to harm children. We cannot allow these companies to elevate their profits and the privacy rights of these abusers over the safety and security of children.
The bill announced today balances the privacy interests of consumers with the public safety interests of the community by requiring the makers of consumer devices to provide law enforcement with access to encrypted data when authorized by a judge. I am confident that our world-class technology companies can engineer secure products that protect user information and allow for lawful access. Data security and public safety are not mutually exclusive. Encryption should keep us safe and secure, not provide an impenetrable safe haven for predators, terrorists, and criminals.”
Department of Justice Announces $42 Million to Combat Illegal Manufacture and Distribution of Methamphetamine and OpioidsRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice‘s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced nearly $42 million in funding to support state-level law enforcement agencies in combating the illegal manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and prescription opioids.
“The scourge of opioid and methamphetamine use continues to take a devastating toll on our nation’s communities,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “By providing these resources to law enforcement to help combat the further spread, the COPS Office is demonstrating our commitment to this Administration’s priority of reducing drug use and protecting our citizens from this public health and safety crisis.”
Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. Deaths from drug overdose are up among both men and women, all races, and adults of nearly all ages, with more than three out of five drug overdose deaths involving an opioid. More than 130 people die every day in the United States after overdosing on opioids, while methamphetamine continues to be one of the most commonly misused stimulant drugs in the world and is the drug that most contributes to violent crime.
The COPS Office is awarding more than $29.7 million in grant funding to 14 state law enforcement agency task forces through the Anti-Heroin Task Force Program (AHTF). AHTF provides three years of funding directly to state-level law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and interdisciplinary team (e.g., task force) structures, in states with high per capita rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and other opioids. This funding will support the location or investigation of illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.
Through the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP), the COPS Office is also awarding $12 million to 12 state law enforcement agencies. These state agencies have demonstrated numerous seizures of precursor chemicals, finished methamphetamine, laboratories, and laboratory dump seizures. State agencies are being awarded three years of funding through CAMP to support the location or investigation of illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, including precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine trafficking.
The AHTF and CAMP funding has a tremendous impact on state investigative and seizure work. During the five month period between October 2019 and February 2020, current AHTF grantees reported the seizure of over $4 million in cash and 1,213 firearms. Similarly, for CAMP, grantees reported seizures of more than $7 million in cash and 1,577 firearms.
The complete list of Anti-Heroin Task Force Program award recipients, including funding amounts, can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/ahtf-award
The complete list of COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program award recipients, including funding amounts, can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/camp-award
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 135,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.
Court Finds Miami-Area Tax Preparer and His Business in Contempt for Violating Permanent InjunctionRead the Press Release
On June 23, 2020, a federal court in Miami, Florida issued an order holding Vilbrun Simon and Simon Accounting & Tax, LLC in contempt for violating a permanent injunction that bars them from preparing or filing federal tax returns for others.
The United States filed a complaint on Nov. 28, 2017, alleging that Vilbrun Simon and Simon Accounting & Tax, LLC, along with codefendants Saintanise Agenord and Wilcienne Pierre, prepared returns that understated their customers’ tax due and overstated tax refunds claimed by their customers. After a three-day trial, the court issued a judgment and permanent injunction on March 26, 2019, that barred the defendants from preparing returns for customers.
Following a hearing on June 15, 2020, the court found that Vilbrun Simon and Simon Accounting & Tax, LLC violated the permanent injunction in two ways: (1) by failing to post signs outside their storefront informing their customers of the ban, and (2) by continuing to prepare tax returns for others. For these violations, the court held Vilbrun Simon and Simon Accounting & Tax, LLC in civil contempt and found that compensatory sanctions were warranted, with the amount of the sanctions — representing the fees they received for returns prepared in violation of the injunction, and the costs the United States incurred to investigate and bring their violations to the court’s attention — to be determined.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Antitrust Division Issues 2020 Annual Newsletter UpdateRead the Press Release
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice issued the 2020 edition of its annual Newsletter Update today. The Newsletter highlights the Antitrust Division’s recent activities, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, successes on civil and criminal enforcement, international cooperation, and competition advocacy. The Newsletter also includes a message from Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim.
“Unlike previous newsletters released during the ABA Spring Meeting, the Division shares this ‘Spring’ Update for 2020 during extraordinarily challenging times,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Delrahim in the “Message from the AAG.” “The spread of Covid-19 has affected all aspects of our daily lives, as we face both the public health and economic effects of the virus. As many of us do our part to prevent the spread of Covid-19, however, we were also gripped by the horrifying death of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis. Despite these challenging times, these events have served to emphasize the resiliency of our nation. They also underscore the critical nature of our work as federal prosecutors and the precious opportunities we have in our positions of public trust. All of us have taken a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution, and we strive each day to discharge our duties faithfully as employees of the Department of Justice. In these times, the Antitrust Division remains steadfast in its mission to protect competition for the benefit of consumers. As we embark onto the second half of this coming year, the Antitrust Division will continue to monitor pandemic developments and guidance, but do so without compromising on our mission to pursue violations of the antitrust laws on behalf of American consumers.”
The Newsletter highlights important milestones and accomplishments from the past year, and features profiles of Division leadership and staff. The newsletter can be found via our website at https://www.justice.gov/atr/division-operations/antitrust-division-update-2020 or pdf at /media/1074496/dl?inline.
President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice Continues Hearing on Community Engagement, Holds Hearing on Research PerspectivesRead the Press Release
Last week, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice continued its hearing on community engagement and held another hearing on research perspectives in criminal justice. The hearings were conducted via teleconference and featured expert witnesses who provided testimony and answered questions from the commissioners.
On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the commission received testimony from Scott Turner, Executive Director of the President’s Opportunity Zone Revitalization Council; Rev. Markel Hutchins, President & Chief Executive Officer of MovementForward, and; Rev. Charles Harrison, Senior Pastor, Barnes United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, and President of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition.
The panelists discussed the role of community engagement in the criminal justice system. Each panelist testified to the overarching goal of building trust between law enforcement and communities, especially in high crime neighborhoods. Mr. Turner discussed the federal government’s role in fostering economic development in distressed communities, while Reverend Hutchins testified to the impact of getting to know one another across communities to break through stereotypes. Reverend Harrison spoke about engaging with community members, especially those with past criminal justice system contact, to get feedback about law enforcement, while also engaging law enforcement leadership. Eventually, Reverend Harrison was able to facilitate small group dialogues between young men in the communities and law enforcement officers to help bridge divides.
On Friday, June 19, 2020, the commission received testimony from Geoffrey Alpert, Ph.D., Professor, University of South Carolina; Gary Cordner, Ph.D., Academic Director, Baltimore Police Department; Sarah Guardiola, Chief Executive Officer, Skyway Leadership Institute, and; John M. MacDonald, Ph.D., Professor, University of Pennsylvania.
The panelists discussed research perspectives in criminal justice. Professor Alpert testified about the importance of knowing as much as possible about policing, so that shortcomings can be identified in policies, training, supervision, and systems of accountability. Professor Cordner provided recommendations to improve American policing – measuring what matters, evidence-based policing, and police education. Ms. Guardiola discussed how programs that partner youth with cops, educators, and other stakeholders, can be models of success for bridging divides between the community and law enforcement. Professor MacDonald testified about how place-based programs and policies can incentive reinvestment in high crime places, changing the psychical environment of disadvantaged places and generating health and public safety benefits.
For more information on the commission, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/ag/presidential-commission-law-enforcement-and-administration-justice.
Audio recordings and transcripts of the hearings will be posted online once available.
Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Securities and Exchange Commission Sign Historic Memorandum of UnderstandingRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Securities and Exchange Commission have signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to foster cooperation and communication between the agencies with the aim of enhancing competition in the securities industry. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division announced the first-ever MOU between the Antitrust Division and the SEC, which was executed with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton before a discussion on equity market structure hosted by MIT’s Golub Center for Finance and Policy this afternoon.
“The Antitrust Division and the SEC have prioritized close cooperation with one another in recent years to promote competitive conditions in the securities industry, benefitting both agencies’ enforcement missions,” stated Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “This MOU institutionalizes a strong working relationship between our two agencies. I expect that it will lead to even more robust, comprehensive analyses incorporating both competition and securities laws concerns, resulting in stronger, healthier markets yielding enhanced consumer benefits.”
“As competition is embedded in our securities laws, there are many policy areas where the missions of the SEC and DOJ’s Antitrust Division align, but where our respective areas of expertise differ,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “By formalizing the exchange of knowledge between our agencies, we aim to foster even greater collaboration and cooperation to ensure that we maintain the efficient and competitive markets that American investors rely on.”
Key provisions of the MOU facilitate both communication and cooperation between the agencies. In particular, the MOU establishes a framework for the Antitrust Division and the SEC to continue regular discussions and review law enforcement and regulatory matters affecting competition in the securities industry, including provisions to establish periodic meetings among the respective agencies’ officials. The MOU also provides for the exchange of information and expertise the agencies believe to be potentially relevant and useful to their oversight and enforcement responsibilities, as appropriate and consistent with applicable legal and confidentiality restrictions.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Virginia Attorneys Plead Guilty for Orchestrating a $200 Million Extortion Scheme Targeting a Multinational Chemicals CompanyRead the Press Release
Two licensed Virginia attorneys pleaded guilty today to federal extortion charges, admitting their roles in a scheme to extort a multinational chemicals company by threatening to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if their demands for a $200 million payment disguised as a purported “consulting agreement” were not met.
Timothy Litzenburg, 38, of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Daniel Kincheloe, 41, of Glen Allen, Virginia, each pleaded guilty today to one count of transmitting interstate communications with the intent to extort, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel C. Hoppe of the Western District of Virginia. Litzenburg and Kincheloe will be sentenced on Sept. 18, 2020, before U.S. District Court Judge Norman K. Moon.
“This is a case where two attorneys blew well past the line of aggressive advocacy and crossed deep into the territory of illegal extortion, in a brazen attempt to enrich themselves by extracting millions of dollars from a multinational company,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s pleas underscore that when crimes are committed, members of the bar, like all members of the public, will be held accountable for their actions.”
“The consequences of extortion are far reaching, affecting not only individuals, but also the economy in the United States and the world’s financial markets,” said Inspector in Charge Delany De Leon-Colon of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). “Those who engage in this type of abuse of power while in positions of authority should know they cannot escape detection. They will be found and they will be held accountable for their actions.”
As part of their guilty pleas, Litzenburg and Kincheloe admitted that in approximately October 2019, Litzenburg approached a company (Company 1) and threatened to make public statements alleging that Company 1 had significant civil liability for manufacturing a purportedly harmful chemical used in a common household product used to kill weeds. Litzenburg and Kincheloe also admitted that after describing the possibility of damaging lawsuits against Company 1, Litzenburg proposed, in sum and substance, that he and Kincheloe enter into a “consulting arrangement” with Company 1 that would create a purported conflict-of-interest that would effectively stop them from representing their clients as plaintiffs in litigation against Company 1. Thereafter, Litzenburg and Kincheloe admitted that Litzenburg, with Kincheloe’s knowledge and agreement, demanded that Company 1 pay Litzenburg, Kincheloe, and others, a total of $200 million in purported “consulting fees.”
Litzenburg and Kincheloe also admitted that after making their demand for $200 million from Company 1, they registered a Virginia corporation for the purpose of receiving monies from Company 1, and that they agreed to split the funds from Company 1 amongst themselves and their associates, and to not distribute any of the monies Company 1 paid them as purported “consulting fees” to their existing clients. Litzenburg and Kincheloe admitted that after making their demand for $200 million, Litzenburg threatened Company 1 that they and others would commence litigation that would become “an ongoing and exponentially growing problem for [Company 1], particularly when the media inevitably takes notice[,]” and that such litigation would cost Company 1 and its publicly-traded parent company “billions, setting aside the associated drop in stock price and reputation damage.”
Litzenburg and Kincheloe also admitted that in an email written by Litzenburg, they threatened Company 1 that unless they were paid $200 million, Company 1 would have “thousands of future plaintiffs against [Company 1,]” and that “in the absence of a so-called ‘global’ or final deal with me, this will certainly balloon into an existential threat to [Company 1].”
Litzenburg and Kincheloe also admitted that they met in person with attorneys representing Company 1 at a conference center in Charlottesville, Virginia, and during that meeting Litzenburg again threatened to injure the property and reputation of Company 1 and its parent company unless they were paid $200 million pursuant to purported “consulting arrangements,” and that without such a deal there was no way Company 1 “gets out of it for less” than “[a] billion. Yeah. No, I mean, nuisance value, uh, defense lawyer fees, a hit in the stock when this gets filed and served, maybe the press conference, whatever.” Later in the same meeting, Litzenburg and Kincheloe admitted that Litzenburg again stated, in sum and in part, that if they commenced litigation it would have adverse effects on Company 1’s parent’s stock price, which Litzenburg described as “a 40 percent stock loss coming off the top.”
Litzenburg also admitted that, during other communications with Company 1, he told Company 1 that if he received the $200 million in “consulting fees” he would not discuss Company 1 or its parent company with his current clients, and that he was willing to “take a dive” during a deposition of a toxicology expert to deter potential future claims related to litigation against Company 1.
The USPIS investigated the case. Principal Assistant Chief Henry P. Van Dyck and Assistant Chief L. Rush Atkinson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section plays a pivotal role in the Department of Justice’s fight against white collar crime around the country.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
The Department of Justice Files Statement of Interest Defending the Constitutionality of Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports ActRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court defending Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act against a challenge under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
“Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Under the Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause allows Idaho to recognize the physiological differences between the biological sexes in athletics. Because of these differences, the Fairness Act’s limiting of certain athletic teams to biological females provides equal protection. This limitation is based on the same exact interest that allows the creation of sex-specific athletic teams in the first place — namely, the goal of ensuring that biological females have equal athletic opportunities. Single-sex athletics is rooted in the reality of biological differences between the sexes and should stay rooted in objective biological fact.”
On March 30, 2020, Idaho enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (Fairness Act), Idaho Code Ann. § 33-6202 et seq., which goes into effect in July 2020. Idaho’s Fairness Act contains two main provisions. First, covered athletic teams “shall be expressly designated as one (1) of the following based on biological sex: (a) Males, men, or boys; (b) Females, women, or girls; or (c) Coed or mixed.” Idaho Code Ann. § 33-6203(1). Second, “[a]thletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.” Id. § 33-6203(2). The Fairness Act does not contain a comparable limitation for biological females who wish to participate on a team designated for biological males.
In enacting the Fairness Act, Idaho determined that “[h]aving separate sex specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality. Sex-specific teams accomplish this by providing opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their skill, strength, and athletic abilities while also providing them with opportunities to obtain recognition and accolades, college scholarships, and the numerous other long-term benefits that flow from success in athletic endeavors.” Id. § 33-6202(12). In support of this conclusion, the Fairness Act cites authority establishing that inherent physiological differences between men and women generally include a difference in “strength, speed, and endurance” that results in “different athletic capabilities,” which generally give men a significant advantage in head-to-head competition. Id. § 33-6202(1)-(10).
In its statement of interest, the United States explains that the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution does not require States to abandon their efforts to provide biological women with equal opportunity to compete for, and enjoy the life-long benefits that flow from, participation in school athletics in order to accommodate the team preferences of transgender athletes. Put differently, the Constitution does not require Idaho to provide the special treatment plaintiffs request, under which biological males are allowed to compete against biological females if and only if the biological males are transgender.
Readout of Attorney General William P. Barr’s Visit with Boston and New York City Police DepartmentsRead the Press Release
On Thursday, June 18, and Friday, June 19, Attorney General William P. Barr traveled to Boston and New York City to visit with leadership and members of each city’s police department. In Boston, the Attorney General met with Commissioner William Gross and his leadership team. In New York City, the Attorney General met with Deputy Commissioner Ben Tucker and other senior NYPD officials. In both meetings, the Attorney General expressed his deep appreciation for, and importance of, the service and work of their departments and discussed policing issues that have been at the forefront of national conversation and debate.
The purpose of the Attorney General’s visit was to show the Administration’s strong support for law enforcement and seek the input of police leadership on a range of issues, including President Trump’s recent Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, as well as other issues involving community relations, use of force, officer training, and officer wellness. These visits were the first in a series of meetings Attorney General Barr intends to hold in the coming weeks with police leadership across the nation.
Juneteenth Message from Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Eric DreibandRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband issued the following statement today regarding Juneteenth:
“On June 19, 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was first announced to enslaved African-Americans in Texas. On that day, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became the official policy of the United States on January 1, 1863.
“Today, “Juneteenth” has become a day to recognize the abolition of slavery and the continuing work to promote racial equality for all Americans.
“When President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it had little impact on Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce it. For over two years, 250,000 men, women, and children remained enslaved in Texas. When Confederate forces surrendered in April of 1865, and Union soldiers led by General Granger arrived in Texas, the Union army overcame the resistance.
“After General Granger arrived in Texas, he issued General Order Number 3. It began:
"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."
“The Juneteenth announcement in Texas sparked joyous celebrations of freedom that have grown in communities across our nation for the past 155 years. Today, forty-seven states and the District of Columbia officially commemorate Juneteenth.
“But even after the Juneteenth announcement, a regime of racial violence, intimidation, abuses of authority under color of law, and the use of debts, threats, and assaults held many of the ostensibly freed citizens in conditions of inequality.
“While Juneteenth is a joyous celebration of emancipation from enslavement, it also serves as a solemn reminder that words alone cannot deliver on the promises of freedom, individual rights, and equal justice for all. It is a reminder that, although our nation has come a long way from our history of state-sanctioned slavery and segregation, our work remains unfinished.
“It would be another century before the civil rights movement – in the second wave of Reconstruction – resulted in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That long overdue legislation was the result of courageous citizens who spoke out against injustice, made their voices heard, and propelled our nation toward a more complete embrace of freedom and equality.
“In the decades since 1964, the Civil Rights Division has served on the front lines of enforcing laws against racial injustice and deprivations of individual rights. It has been steadfast in its commitment to vindicating the rights of individuals who have suffered discrimination and holding perpetrators accountable for the violations they commit.
“This year, Juneteenth affords us an opportunity for somber reflection on our past and future as we continue to work for the realization of the promise of equal rights under the law for all African Americans, so celebrated at the first Juneteenth. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously enforce the laws that protect the rights, lives, and freedoms guaranteed to all individuals under the law.
“Yet, Juneteenth also serves as a reminder of the grief and anguish our nation has experienced over the lives lost and the dreams destroyed by acts of racially-motived violence, abuses of power, and injustice.
“Just five years ago, as Juneteenth approached, our nation was reeling from the horrific act of racial violence that took the lives of nine worshippers at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. The Department of Justice convicted and obtained the ultimate penalty against the perpetrator.
“This Juneteenth, we recognize the progress our country has made, and the work that remains unfinished. We pledge to continue to deliver, to all Americans regardless of race, on the promises of freedom and equal justice under the law enshrined in the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Former Norfolk Doctor Sentenced for Role in Internet Pharmacy OrganizationRead the Press Release
A former Norfolk physician has been sentenced for his role in a long-running Internet pharmacy operation, the Department of Justice announced.
U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar sentenced Lawrence B. Ryan, 48, to 10 months’ incarceration and ordered him to forfeit $316,153, which constitutes the proceeds from the offense. Ryan pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and to introduce misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.
As part of his guilty plea, Ryan admitted that from October 2007 to September 2010, he approved more than 158,000 online drug orders for RX Limited, an international Internet pharmacy organization that sold prescription drugs without valid prescriptions to consumers in the United States. Ryan admitted that the drugs included Fioricet (which contains butalbital, a barbiturate that is a controlled substance), carisoprodol (Soma), and tramadol (Ultram). RX Limited sent Ryan drug orders for approval as a participating physician. These drugs were sold to customers without a valid prescription, because there was no legitimate doctor-patient relationship between Ryan and the customers. Specifically, there was no face-to-face contact, no physical examination, no taking of patient histories, and no checking of the accuracy of information provided by the customers, including qualifying medical conditions. The drugs sold were therefore mis-branded because they were introduced into interstate commerce without valid prescriptions.
“The Department of Justice has long been committed to protecting consumers from those who unlawfully sell potentially harmful and addictive drugs to American consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Ordering drugs on the Internet in the absence of a valid doctor-patient relationship is risky to consumers and can lead to impairment and addiction.”
Senior Litigation Counsel Linda I. Marks of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan M. Salsbury of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Minnesota office investigated the case, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service and the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva.
Colorado Tax Evader Pleads Guilty to Fleeing to Avoid Serving Five Year Prison SentenceRead the Press Release
A Colorado tax defier pleaded guilty yesterday to failing to surrender to serve his prison sentence for tax evasion and illegal possession of a firearm, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Birk was convicted by a jury in July 2019 of tax evasion. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Birk founded a sole proprietorship, Tarryall River Log Homes LLC, which sold and built log homes. Although the company was profitable, Birk did not voluntarily pay federal taxes on its income. When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began collection efforts, Birk hired a tax firm to prepare eight years’ worth of delinquent tax returns, but concealed from the firm $400,000 of retirement distributions. Even after filing returns, Birk still did not pay what the returns acknowledged he owed in taxes. Instead, he sent the IRS threatening correspondence and sought to impede its efforts to seize money from his bank accounts. He did not file returns or make any tax payments for 2006 through 2018.
Based on this conduct, on Oct. 30, 2019, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn sentenced Birk to 60 months in prison, to serve three years of supervised release, and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $1,858,826.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Birk was ordered to report to prison in November 2019 to serve his sentence. Instead, he fled Colorado with a fully automatic assault rifle, two pistols, over a dozen loaded magazines, hundreds of additional rounds of ammunition, ballistic helmets, ballistic vests, and gas masks. Birk remained a fugitive until he was caught and arrested in Florida in January 2020 and has been in custody ever since.
Judge Blackburn scheduled sentencing for Sept. 10, 2020. At sentencing, Birk faces a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment for his failure to appear, and ten years’ imprisonment for possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, in addition to the 60 month term of imprisonment previously imposed.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended the IRS special agents and U.S. Marshals Service who conducted the investigation, as well as Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Elizabeth C. Hadden and Christopher Magnani, who are prosecuting the case.
Attorney General William P. Barr on the Nomination of Jay Clayton to Serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New YorkRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr has released the following statement:
“I am pleased to announce that President Trump intends to nominate Jay Clayton, currently the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to serve as the next United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. For the past three years, Jay has been an extraordinarily successful SEC Chairman, overseeing efforts to modernize regulation of the capital markets, protect Main Street investors, enhance American competitiveness, and address challenges ranging from cybersecurity issues to the COVID-19 pandemic. His management experience and expertise in financial regulation give him an ideal background to lead the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and he will be a worthy successor to the many historic figures who have held that post. On behalf of the President, I thank Jay for accepting this nomination, and I look forward to working with him soon.
On my recommendation, the President has appointed Craig Carpenito, currently the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, to serve as the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, while the Senate is considering Jay Clayton’s nomination. This appointment will be effective July 3, and Craig will work closely with the outgoing United States Attorney to ensure a smooth transition. I thank Craig for his continued service and for taking on this important interim responsibility.
Finally, I thank Geoffrey Berman, who is stepping down after two-and-a-half years of service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. With tenacity and savvy, Geoff has done an excellent job leading one of our nation’s most significant U.S. Attorney’s Offices, achieving many successes on consequential civil and criminal matters. I appreciate his service to the Department of Justice and our nation, and I wish him well in the future.”
Vincent Raymond Rios Sentenced to Prison in Drug Trafficking CaseRead the Press Release
SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant VINCENT RAYMOND RIOS (Rios) , age 45, from Chalan Pago, Guam was sentenced in the United States District Court of Guam to 27 years imprisonment for Conspiracy to Distribute Fifty Grams or More of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); 20 years imprisonment for Attempted Possession with Intent to Distribute, in violation of 21 U.SC. § 841(a)(1); and 10 years imprisonment for two counts of Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. The Court ordered the terms of imprisonment to run concurrently. The Court also ordered five years of supervised release following imprisonment, participation in a 500-hour drug treatment program, and a mandatory $400 assessment fee. In addition, defendants convicted of a federal drug offense may no longer qualify for certain federal benefits.
During October 2016, Special Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began an investigation after Rios attempted to transfer
$300,000.00 in drug proceeds through a local bank. On November 16, 2016, the U.S. Postal Inspector and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agents and Task Force Officers intercepted three suspicious packages in the mail. One package contained 18.7 pounds of methamphetamine with a 98% purity level. Further investigation revealed that Rios and Sueann Baker (Baker) traveled to Washington State to purchase the drugs. Rios concealed the drugs in air mattresses, which were then mailed to Guam. When Rios and Baker returned to Guam, they attempted to claim the packages at a local mail box service. Rios further conspired with other people on Guam to distribute the drugs throughout the island.
ATF seized substantial amounts and types of property owned by Rios. This included $1,183,939.00 in cash from safe deposit boxes at Coast360 and Bank of Guam, in addition to $14,745.00 from a Mercedes Benz. The Court also ordered forfeiture of real estate, including an Apusento Gardens condominium and a home in Gloria Circle, Dededo. Both residences were purchased with illegal proceeds of drug trafficking.
U.S. Attorney Anderson stated, “I congratulate our law enforcement partners for the results of their hard work in dismantling this extensive drug trafficking enterprise. This case reflects not only the substantial terms of imprisonment facing drug traffickers. Criminals will also lose all the benefits, in whatever form, related to their illegal activity. The public rightfully deserves protection from this scourge on our island.”
This was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by Rosetta L. San Nicolas, Assistant United States Attorney in the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Reno Woman Sentenced for Extortion Scheme Targeting Parents of Missing PersonsRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Reno, Nevada woman was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison for schemes to extort money from parents of two missing persons, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Rozarri Verion Young, 24, pleaded guilty in August 2018 to two counts of interstate transmission of a threat to injure with intent to extort related to text messages she sent to the mother of a missing Gridley woman and the mother of a missing 16-year-old girl from Aurora, Colorado.
“A person who exploits a family for personal gain during the crisis of a missing child is among the cruelest of criminals,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “The FBI will ensure those who attempt to extort vulnerable families of missing children face justice. To help families of the missing, please continue to share posters found on websites managed by local law enforcement, the FBI, and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”
According to court documents, a Facebook page was established to aid in the search for a missing Gridley woman that had received significant coverage in local and regional media. Through the page, Young, who was then in Reno, Nevada, acquired the cellphone number of the missing woman’s mother. On April 4, 2017, Young sent a series of text messages to the mother saying to “pay me or she’s dead.” The Gridley woman had last been seen in Yuba City on March 30, 2017. Law enforcement treated this investigation as a kidnapping.
The threats were traced to Young’s phone and the investigation later linked Young to a similar scheme aimed at the mother of a missing 16‑year-old girl from Aurora, Colorado. According to court documents, on April 3, 2017, Young called and sent texts to the girl’s mother offering to give back her daughter if she would send $2,000. The girl has been missing since July 15, 2016.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heiko P. Coppola prosecuted the case.
Team Telecom Recommends that the FCC Deny Pacific Light Cable Network System’s Hong Kong Undersea Cable Connection to the United StatesRead the Press Release
Team Telecom today recommended to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), based on national security concerns, that the FCC partially deny the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) subsea cable system application, to the extent it seeks a direct connection between the United States and Hong Kong.
Team Telecom, which is formally known as the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (or the Committee), further recommended that the FCC grant the portions of PLCN’s application seeking to connect the United States, Taiwan, and the Philippines, which do not have any People’s Republic of China (PRC) based ownership and are separately owned and controlled by subsidiaries of Google LLC and Facebook, Inc., on the condition that the companies’ subsidiaries enter into mitigation agreements for those respective connections. On April 8, 2020, the FCC granted Google’s request for Special Temporary Authority (STA) to commercially operate the segment of PLCN connecting the United States and Taiwan for six months, based on obligations set forth in a Provisional National Security Agreement between Google and the U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense.
As submitted to the FCC, the PLCN application would have allowed for the highest capacity subsea cable connection between the United States and Asia and been the first direct connection between the United States and Hong Kong. This raised national security concerns, because a significant investor in the PLCN is Pacific Light Data Co. Ltd., a Hong Kong company and subsidiary of Dr. Peng Telecom & Media Group Co. Ltd. (Dr. Peng Group), the fourth largest provider of telecommunications services in the PRC.
The Committee’s recommendation was based on:
- The current national security environment, including the PRC government’s sustained efforts to acquire the sensitive personal data of millions of U.S. persons, the PRC government’s access to other countries’ data through both digital infrastructure investments and recent PRC intelligence and cybersecurity laws, and changes in the market that have transformed subsea cable infrastructure into increasingly data-rich environments that are vulnerable to exploitation;
- Concerns about PLCN’s PRC-based owners, Dr. Peng Group and Pacific Light Data, including Dr. Peng Group’s relationship with PRC intelligence and security services and its obligations under PRC intelligence and cybersecurity laws, questions about Dr. Peng Group’s compliance with U.S. laws and regulations stemming from separate acquisitions involving U.S. telecommunications assets, and Pacific Light Data’s connections to PRC state-owned carrier China Unicom; and
- Concerns that PLCN would advance the PRC government’s goal that Hong Kong be the dominant hub in the Asia Pacific region for global information and communications technology and services infrastructure, which would increase the share of U.S. internet, data, and telecommunications traffic to the Asia Pacific region traversing PRC territory and PRC-owned or -controlled infrastructure before reaching its ultimate destinations in other parts of Asia.
Subsea fiber optic cable systems form the backbone of global communications and carry most of the world’s internet, voice, and data traffic between continents. In recent years, subsea cable systems have become increasingly critical, connecting global data centers and expanding interconnections.
PLCN’s high capacity and low latency would encourage U.S. communications traffic crossing the Pacific to detour through Hong Kong before reaching intended destinations in other parts of the Asia Pacific region. The Committee’s recommendation specified that it was not in U.S. national security or law enforcement interests to approve subsea cables landing in PRC territory when the PRC government has previously demonstrated the intent to acquire U.S. persons’ data. The recommendation also explained that PLCN’s proposed Hong Kong landing station would expose U.S. communications traffic to collection by the PRC. Such concerns have been heightened by the PRC government’s recent actions to remove Hong Kong’s autonomy and allow for the possibility that PRC intelligence and security services will operate openly in Hong Kong.
The Committee also noted that PLCN’s proposed Hong Kong connection was only one of several pending applications seeking direct connections between the United States and Hong Kong, which would raise similar concerns.
The Committee was established pursuant to Executive Order 13913 and is led by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Foreign Investment Review Section. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are fellow members of the Committee. More information concerning the Committee’s recommendation is available on the FCC’s International Bureau Filing System (IBFS), under Docket Number SCL-LIC-20170421-00012. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration filed the recommendation on behalf of the Committee.
Solicitor General Noel Francisco Announces Departure from Department of JusticeRead the Press Release
Solicitor General of the United States Noel Francisco announces his departure from the Department of Justice, effective as of July 3, 2020.
“Solicitor General Noel Francisco has represented the United States superbly before the Supreme Court for the past three Terms,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Arguing before the Court 17 times on behalf of the federal government, he has been a principled and persuasive advocate on issues ranging from the separation of powers to religious liberty to vigorous enforcement of federal immigration law. His skilled advocacy has been instrumental to historic victories on behalf of the President’s national security authority, the free speech rights of public employees, and property owners’ access to federal courts, among many other significant accomplishments. Away from the courtroom, he has been a steady and respected leader for the Office of the Solicitor General, a wise counselor to me and others in the Executive Branch, and a good friend. I am grateful for his tireless service to his country and the Department of Justice, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.”
“It has been the honor of my professional career to serve as the Solicitor General of the United States,” said Solicitor General Noel Francisco. “Representing the United States before the Supreme Court is one of the greatest jobs in the law and an opportunity for which I am deeply grateful. I am proud of the significant success the Office of Solicitor General has had in advancing the rule of law of in our great nation alongside the dedicated men and women at the Department of Justice — some of the finest lawyers I have known.”
Since his appointment in 2017, Noel Francisco has served over three Supreme Court Terms as Solicitor General and has represented the United States before the nation’s highest court in more than 150 merit cases.
Under Solicitor General Francisco’s leadership, the United States consistently and successfully advocated in support of our nation’s core Constitutional principles including religious liberty, separation of powers, first amendment freedoms and enforcement of immigration laws. Over the course of his impressive tenure as Solicitor General, Francisco argued before the Supreme Court 17 times. Significant victories include:
- Trump v. Hawaii: upholding the President’s restrictions on travel from countries that present national-security risks.
- Janus v. AFSCME: holding that the First Amendment prohibits requiring public employees who decline to join a union to pay union dues (overruling a 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Education).
- Kisor v. Wilkie: significantly limiting judicial deference to agency interpretations of their own regulations while retaining such deference in core applications.
- Knick v. Township of Scott: allowing property owners to bring claims for government takings in federal court without first suing in state court (overruling a 1985 decision, Williamson County Regional Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank).
- Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm’n: concluding that Colorado violated the Free Exercise Clause in enforcing its antidiscrimination law against a baker who declined on religious grounds to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding.
In overseeing federal litigation, Solicitor General Francisco made strategic use of emergency motions to defend important federal programs against improper nationwide injunctions. To that end, the government obtained relief from the Supreme Court on major immigration initiatives, including the travel proclamation, restrictions on asylum abuses, allocation of funds to build a border wall, and revisions to the definition of a public charge. As a result of these successes, some lower courts have begun to curb the erroneous use of nationwide injunctions.
The Office of the Solicitor General and entire Department of Justice thank Solicitor General Francisco’s service and leadership.
Readout from Attorney General William P. Barr’s Meeting with the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of JusticeRead the Press Release
On June 16, 2020, Attorney General William P. Barr met with the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice to discuss the current status of their progress regarding their final report due October 2020. The Attorney General and the commissioners also discussed the way the commission could address key tenets of the President’s recent Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, promulgated yesterday.
The Attorney General tasked the commission with forging ahead with their existing work, and asked them to look at three areas of the President’s Executive Order in tandem. Attorney General Barr said three points in the Executive Order must be prioritized: Certification, Databases, and Social Problems.
Work on certification would explore ways to incorporate a standardized certification process across law enforcement, acknowledging that the certification requirements will have to be flexible, given disparities in size and resources between urban, rural, and tribal agencies. Developing a database would allow agencies to report use of excessive force into a uniform system accessible by all law enforcement agencies. Rethinking the law enforcement response to social problems would delve into the intersection of homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse and identify ways to fund social service providers who could reduce the burden of social service calls on law enforcement.
While the commission’s work to date has been focused on other issues in law enforcement outside the scope of yesterday’s executive order, the commissioners will meld the thinking of their existing work by the points addressed in the Executive Order on Safe Policing.
The commission will continue to hold hearings as it stays on course to produce a final report for the Attorney General and the President in October 2020. Upcoming topics will include the use of force, culture, and community engagement. Meanwhile, Commissioners are available to provide the Attorney General, at his request, with feedback on implementation of the Executive Order on Safe Policing.
Justice Department Issues Recommendations for Section 230 ReformRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice released today a set of reform proposals to update the outdated immunity for online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Responding to bipartisan concerns about the scope of 230 immunity, the department identified a set of concrete reform proposals to provide stronger incentives for online platforms to address illicit material on their services while continuing to foster innovation and free speech. The department’s findings are available here.
“When it comes to issues of public safety, the government is the one who must act on behalf of society at large. Law enforcement cannot delegate our obligations to protect the safety of the American people purely to the judgment of profit-seeking private firms. We must shape the incentives for companies to create a safer environment, which is what Section 230 was originally intended to do,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Taken together, these reforms will ensure that Section 230 immunity incentivizes online platforms to be responsible actors. These reforms are targeted at platforms to make certain they are appropriately addressing illegal and exploitive content while continuing to preserve a vibrant, open, and competitive internet. These twin objectives of giving online platforms the freedom to grow and innovate while encouraging them to moderate content responsibly were the core objectives of Section 230 at the outset. The Department’s proposal aims to realize these objectives more fully and clearly in order for Section 230 to better serve the interests of the American people.”
The department's review of Section 230 over the last ten months arose in the context of its broader review of market-leading online platforms and their practices, which were announced in July 2019. The department held a large public workshop and expert roundtable in February 2020, as well as dozens of listening sessions with industry, thought leaders, and policy makers, to gain a better understanding of the uses and problems surrounding Section 230.
Section 230 was originally enacted to protect developing technology by providing that online platforms were not liable for the third-party content on their services or for their removal of such content in certain circumstances. This immunity was meant to nurture emerging internet businesses and to overrule a judicial precedent that rendered online platforms liable for all third-party content on their services if they restricted some harmful content.
However, the combination of 25 years of drastic technological changes and an expansive statutory interpretation left online platforms unaccountable for a variety of harms flowing from content on their platforms and with virtually unfettered discretion to censor third-party content with little transparency or accountability. Following the completion of its review, the Department of Justice determined that Section 230 is ripe for reform and identified and developed four categories of wide-ranging recommendations.
Incentivizing Online Platforms to Address Illicit Content
The first category of recommendations is aimed at incentivizing platforms to address the growing amount of illicit content online, while preserving the core of Section 230’s immunity for defamation claims. These reforms include a carve-out for bad actors who purposefully facilitate or solicit content that violates federal criminal law or are willfully blind to criminal content on their own services. Additionally, the department recommends a case-specific carve out where a platform has actual knowledge that content violated federal criminal law and does not act on it within a reasonable time, or where a platform was provided with a court judgment that the content is unlawful, and does not take appropriate action.
Promoting Open Discourse and Greater Transparency
A second category of proposed reforms is intended to clarify the text and revive the original purpose of the statute in order to promote free and open discourse online and encourage greater transparency between platforms and users. One of these recommended reforms is to provide a statutory definition of “good faith” to clarify its original purpose. The new statutory definition would limit immunity for content moderation decisions to those done in accordance with plain and particular terms of service and consistent with public representations. These measures would encourage platforms to be more transparent and accountable to their users.
Clarifying Federal Government Enforcement Capabilities
The third category of recommendations would increase the ability of the government to protect citizens from unlawful conduct, by making it clear that Section 230 does not apply to civil enforcement actions brought by the federal government.
Promoting Competition
A fourth category of reform is to make clear that federal antitrust claims are not, and were never intended to be, covered by Section 230 immunity. Over time, the avenues for engaging in both online commerce and speech have concentrated in the hands of a few key players. It makes little sense to enable large online platforms (particularly dominant ones) to invoke Section 230 immunity in antitrust cases, where liability is based on harm to competition, not on third-party speech.
For more information about the department's recommendations, please visit https://www.justice.gov/ag/department-justice-s-review-section-230-communications-decency-act-1996.
Former Bumble Bee CEO Sentenced to Prison for Fixing Prices of Canned TunaRead the Press Release
Christopher Lischewski, former Chief Executive Officer and President of Bumble Bee Foods LLC, was sentenced to serve 40 months in jail and pay a $100,000 criminal fine for his leadership role in a three-year antitrust conspiracy to fix prices of canned tuna, the Department of Justice announced.
Lischewski was charged on May 16, 2018, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in San Francisco. After a four-week trial in late 2019, he was convicted on the single count of participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of canned tuna. In imposing Lischewski’s 40-month prison sentence, the Court found that Lischewski was a leader or organizer of the conspiracy and that it affected over $600 million dollars of canned tuna sales.
“The sentence imposed today will serve as a significant deterrent in the C-suite and the boardroom,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Executives who cheat American consumers out of the benefits of competition will be brought to justice, particularly when their antitrust crimes affect the most basic necessity, food. Today’s sentence reflects the serious harm that resulted from the multi-year conspiracy to fix prices of canned tuna.”
“This sentence is the result of our commitment to holding corporations and senior leadership accountable for their actions, whether they operate in the food supply industry or elsewhere,” said FBI San Francisco Division Special Agent in Charge, John F. Bennett. “This brings us closer to our goal; allowing our citizens to be able to purchase food in an unbiased market within an efficient and fair economy, free of corporate greed.”
Bumble Bee pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $25 million criminal fine. In September, StarKist Co. was sentenced to pay a statutory maximum $100 million criminal fine. In addition to Bumble Bee and StarKist, four executives, including Lischewski, were charged in the investigation. The other three executives pleaded guilty and testified in Lischewski’s trial.
The sentence announced today is a result of the Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the packaged-seafood industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the packaged-seafood industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html, or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.
Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security Joint Statement on Rescheduling MPP HearingsRead the Press Release
The Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) remain committed to proceeding with Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) hearings as expeditiously as possible. The departments have been in ongoing discussions about the timing for the resumption of hearings in light of the continuing emergency health conditions in the United States, in Mexico, and in the international community, as many countries continue to be significantly impacted by COVID-19. As a result of this ongoing review of conditions, and in conjunction with continued implementation of health officials’ COVID-19 guidance, DHS and DOJ are postponing both MPP hearings and in-person document service through, and including, July 17, 2020. This will alleviate the need for travel within Mexico to a U.S. port of entry while pandemic conditions in Mexico remain severe.
We anticipate the resumption of hearings on July 20, 2020, so long as public health and safety indicators support hearing reinstatement at that time. The departments are actively planning to ensure compliance with CDC social distancing guidelines and partnering to secure the equipment and resources necessary to support the resumption of MPP hearings when that time comes. The departments will reevaluate the timing for resumption of MPP hearings on a weekly basis, evaluating factors that include:
- White House gating criteria articulated in the “Guidelines for Opening Up America Again”;
- State-by-state assessment of COVID-19 levels in Mexico;
- Centers for Disease Control and State Department travel
advisories/recommendations; and - COVID-19 exposure risks to migrants traveling throughout Mexico, to agents and officers at the border and at ports of entry, and to court officers, and other court personnel.
When conditions are deemed safe, the departments will provide notice fifteen days prior to resumption with additional, location-specific information. Individuals should continue to check on case status in English and Spanish by calling the Automated Case Information Hotline at 1-800-898-7180 or visiting the EOIR Automated Case Information portal.
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Presents Procurement Collusion Strike Force to the International Competition CommunityRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, presented the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) to the international competition law enforcement community at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Competition Committee’s virtual meeting today.
The PCSF, an initiative of the Antitrust Division in 2019, is an interagency partnership including prosecutors from the Antitrust Division and 13 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and additional partner Offices of Inspector General. The goal of the Strike Force is to leverage the combined expertise and resources of the partner prosecutors and agents to better deter, detect, investigate, and prosecute antitrust crimes and related criminal schemes that affect procurement, grant, and program funding at all levels of government—federal, state, and local.
The OECD Competition Committee includes 38 member countries and the European Union, as well as non-member participant countries, experts, and other invitees. The Committee brings together leaders of the world’s major competition authorities for a dialogue on competition policy issues, including best practices and standards, and promotes market-oriented reforms.
“The PCSF has already shown significant signs of success on a national level and in the 13 U.S. Attorney Office partner districts,” said Assistant Attorney General Delrahim. “We hope the Strike Force can serve as a model for other countries looking for innovative ways to more effectively fight bid rigging and other anticompetitive schemes that impact public procurement, and cheat taxpayers, all over the world.”
Since its launch in November 2019, the PCSF has generated an overwhelmingly positive response from key stakeholders in the procurement space. More than 50 federal, state, and local government agencies have contacted the PCSF seeking outreach training, assistance with safeguarding their procurement processes, and opportunities to partner with the PCSF on investigations. In just the last few months, members of the PCSF have trained more than 2,000 criminal investigators, data scientists, and procurement officials.
According to the OECD, the elimination of bid rigging could help reduce procurement prices by 20 percent or more. The deterrent effect of greater enforcement against illegal collusion in public procurement should save taxpayers billions of dollars per year. Additional information about the OECD’s recommendations on fighting bid rigging in public procurement can be found at www.OECD.org/Competition/BidRigging.
Over a third of the Antitrust Division’s open investigations relate to conduct affecting public procurement that cheats the American taxpayer out of scarce resources, and the PCSF marks an important effort to better marshal enforcement resources to tackle these cases. Several grand jury investigations across the country have already been opened as a result of the work of the PCSF. The PCSF also remains on high-alert for collusion and other criminal schemes impacting public procurement related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The PCSF has launched a publicly available website at www.Justice.gov/Procurement-Collusion-Strike-Force, where members of the public, including from the international community, can review information about the federal antitrust laws and training programs, and report suspected criminal activity affecting public procurement.
Individuals and companies are also encouraged to contact the PCSF if they have information concerning anticompetitive conduct involving federal taxpayer dollars by email at [email protected].
Vincent John Meno Sentenced to Federal Prison for Felon in Possession of Firearm and AmmunitionRead the Press Release
Hagatña, Guam - SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant VINCENT JOHN MENO, age 54, from Mangilao, was sentenced in the District Court of Guam to 24 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, 50 hours of community service, $100 special assessment fee, among other things. On December 31, 2019, Meno entered a guilty plea to Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).
On May 24, 2006, Meno was convicted in the Superior Court of Guam for Theft of Property (As a Third Degree Felony). As a convicted felon, Meno was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition. On September 2, 2017, officers with the Guam Police Department responded to a reported criminal mischief complaint inside the Lucky Land game room in Dededo, Guam. Officers spoke with the game room cashier who identified Meno as causing a disturbance. During a pat down, officers discovered a pistol and ammunition inside a black sock tucked in Meno’s waistband.
U.S. Attorney Anderson states, “This case was adopted for prosecution as part of DOJ’s Project Safe Neighborhoods. Our federal partnership with GPD has made this program a success on Guam. Whether through prosecutions, outreach efforts or grant funding, we look forward to future opportunities to keep our communities free from gun violence.”
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Guam Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Stephen F. Leon Guerrero, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.
Office for Victims of Crime Awards Nearly $2 Million to Respond to Elder FraudRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced that the Office of Justice Programs’ Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) has awarded nearly $2 million for law enforcement training and technical assistance to improve the identification of elder fraud victims and connect victims to available resources. The department makes this announcement as communities around the world commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
“America’s seniors lose billions of dollars every year to fraud and financial scams, in many cases watching helplessly as their entire life savings disappear before their eyes,” said Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “We are fully committed to helping our law enforcement partners better recognize and combat these reprehensible crimes, bring the perpetrators to justice and begin to repair the damage and restore victims.”
The National White Collar Crime Center will receive $1,940,738 to work with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to identify current training, tools and practices being used to address elder fraud. The project will specifically study current resources available and responses to elder fraud in a rural and an urban jurisdiction in two of the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force districts and will develop and deliver trainings for law enforcement to improve the response to elder fraud tailored to the particular needs of different types of jurisdictions. The trainings will be tested, evaluated, and revised as needed and then made available to rural and urban law enforcement agencies nationwide. The Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force brings together the resources and expertise of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for six federal districts, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and other law enforcement personnel.
To further combat elder fraud and prevent harm to vulnerable victims, on March 3, 2020, the Justice Department launched the National Elder Fraud Hotline, managed by the OVC, providing services to all adults ages 60 and older who may be victims of financial fraud. Case managers on the hotline assess the needs of the callers and provide information to help them report fraud or may connect them directly with the appropriate agency. Since its inception, the National Elder Abuse Hotline has received more than 1,724 calls.
“Financial fraud is the most common form of abuse suffered by seniors in our country, affecting about one in 10 older Americans,” said OVC Director Jessica Hart. “I am confident that our investment in this effort, and our collaboration with these organizations, will lead to better identification of the victims of these deplorable crimes and greater justice for those victims.”
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was launched by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the cultural, social, economic, and demographic processes affecting the abuse and neglect of older persons in communities around the world.
For more information on how OVC responds to the right and needs of older victims of elder abuse and financial exploitation, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/mdt.
The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Executions Scheduled for Four Federal Inmates Convicted of Murdering ChildrenRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr today directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to schedule the executions of four federal death-row inmates who were convicted of murdering children in violation of federal law and who, in two cases, raped the children they murdered.
In July 2019, Attorney General Barr directed the BOP to revise the Federal Execution Protocol to provide for the use of a single-drug, pentobarbital — similar to protocols used in hundreds of state executions and repeatedly upheld by federal courts, including the Supreme Court, as consistent with the Eighth Amendment. A district court’s preliminary injunction prevented BOP from carrying out executions under the revised protocol, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated that injunction — clearing the way for the federal government to resume capital punishment after a nearly two-decade hiatus.
“The American people, acting through Congress and Presidents of both political parties, have long instructed that defendants convicted of the most heinous crimes should be subject to a sentence of death,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “The four murderers whose executions are scheduled today have received full and fair proceedings under our Constitution and laws. We owe it to the victims of these horrific crimes, and to the families left behind, to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”
In accordance with 28 C.F.R. Part 26, the BOP has scheduled executions for the following death-sentenced inmates:
- Daniel Lewis Lee, a member of a white supremacist group, murdered a family of three, including an eight-year-old girl. After robbing and shooting the victims with a stun gun, Lee covered their heads with plastic bags, sealed the bags with duct tape, weighed down each victim with rocks, and threw the family of three into the Illinois bayou. On May 4, 1999, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found Lee guilty of numerous offenses, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and he was sentenced to death. Lee’s execution is scheduled to occur on July 13, 2020.
- Wesley Ira Purkey violently raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl, and then dismembered, burned, and dumped the young girl’s body in a septic pond. He also was convicted in state court for using a claw hammer to bludgeon to death an 80-year-old woman who suffered from polio and walked with a cane. On November 5, 2003, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found Purkey guilty of kidnapping a child resulting in the child’s death, and he was sentenced to death. Purkey’s execution is scheduled to occur on July 15, 2020.
- Dustin Lee Honken shot and killed five people — two men who planned to testify against him, and a single, working mother and her ten-year-old and six-year-old daughters. On October 14, 2004, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa found Honken guilty of numerous offenses, including five counts of murder during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise, and he was sentenced to death. Honken’s execution is scheduled to occur on July 17, 2020.
- Keith Dwayne Nelson kidnapped a 10-year-old girl rollerblading in front of her home, and in a forest behind a church, raped her and strangled her to death with a wire. On October 25, 2001, Nelson pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to the kidnapping and unlawful interstate transportation of a child for the purpose of sexual abuse which resulted in death, and he was sentenced to death. Nelson’s execution is scheduled to occur on August 28, 2020.
Each of these inmates has exhausted appellate and post-conviction remedies, and no legal impediments prevent their executions, which will take place at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana. Additional executions will be scheduled at a later date.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen Issues Further Update to Memo on the Applicability of the Wire Act to Non-Sports GamblingRead the Press Release
In the June 11, 2020 memorandum to all U.S. Attorneys, Assistant Attorneys General, and the FBI, the Deputy Attorney General extended the grace period until December 1, 2020, on implementing the Office of Legal Counsel's (OLC) 2018 opinion finding that all but one of the prohibitions of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084, apply to non-sports gambling. During the grace period, federal prosecutors should not apply the Wire Act to non-sports-related betting or wagering. The Deputy Attorney General also directed that, to ensure continuity across the country, any Wire Act charges must be reviewed and approved by the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
Department of Justice Announces Launch of Civil Rights Reporting PortalRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced the launch of the Civil Rights Reporting Portal. This new online tool will make it easier for the public to report a civil rights violation.
“The department is committed to upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all people in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Reporting Portal will make it easier for the public to connect with us, which in turn makes us more effective at upholding these important rights. I encourage the public to use this portal to report civil rights violations.”
The new Civil Rights Reporting Portal – located at civilrights.justice.gov – will consolidate over 30 unique reporting pathways. The portal will dramatically ease the burden on victims of civil rights violations to identify the proper reporting channel. The form is fully accessible to people with disabilities. It is also available in both English and Spanish, with more languages to be added over the next year.
Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of civil rights violations can learn how to report violations by visiting civilrights.justice.gov.
If you believe that you are a victim of criminal civil rights violations, such as misconduct by law enforcement officers, hate crimes, or human trafficking, please contact your local FBI office.
Former Rapides Parish Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Offense for Assaulting InmateRead the Press Release
Dominic Davidson, 27, a former Correctional Officer with the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office (RPSO), Detention Center 1, in Alexandria, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to one misdemeanor count of using excessive force against a pretrial detainee housed at the facility.
“The Justice Department works to protect the civil rights of all citizens, including those in our custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. “It is disheartening to hear of law enforcement officials who violate the civil rights of citizens instead of aiding in the department’s work to protect them.”
“Law enforcement, including correctional officers, are sworn to uphold and defend the laws of our nation,” said U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph for the Western District of Louisiana. “When they themselves break those laws, they violate not just the rights of their victims, but also compromise the public's trust in law enforcement. My office will hold public servants accountable when they break the law.”
According to court testimony and documents filed in connection with the guilty plea, on June 14, 2018, while on duty as a correctional officer, Davidson entered the locked holding cell of pretrial detainee K.F. and began punching K.F. repeatedly in the face and body. Prior to Davidson entering the cell, K.F., who was completely naked and locked securely inside his cell, had been banging on the door in an attempt to get officers’ attention. In response to the banging, Davidson put on a pair of rubber gloves, unlocked and entered K.F.’s cell, pushed K.F. to the ground, and struck K.F. numerous times in the head and body. At no point before, during, or after the assault did K.F. pose a threat to himself or others.
Davidson faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. The sentencing will take place on Sept., 15, 2020.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorneys Katherine DeVar and Thomas Johnson of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.