District Not Recorded

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) alleging that provisions of its agreements with hospitals raise hospital prices, prevent other insurers from entering the marketplace and discourage discounts. The department said that these agreements likely resulted in Michigan consumers paying higher prices for their healthcare services and health insurance.

The state of Michigan joined the department in its lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan.

The challenged provisions are known as most favored nation (MFN) clauses. In the healthcare context, MFN provisions generally refer to contractual clauses between health insurance plans (buyers) and healthcare providers (sellers) that essentially guarantee that no other plan can obtain a better rate than the plan wielding the MFN. Some of the MFNs in this case guarantee the plan an even better rate than given to any other plan or purchaser.

The department alleges in its complaint that BCBSM’s MFN clauses in its contracts with hospitals have caused hospitals to increase their prices to BCBSM’s competitors and insulated BCBSM from competition. According to the complaint, BCBSM has used MFNs or similar clauses in its contracts with at least 70 of Michigan’s 131 general acute care hospitals, including many major hospitals in the state.

"The department’s lawsuit alleges that the intent and effect of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s MFNs is to raise hospital costs for competing health plans and reduce competition for the sale of health insurance. As a result, consumers in Michigan are paying more for their healthcare services and health insurance,"said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. "American consumers deserve affordable healthcare at competitive prices, and the Antitrust Division will vigorously pursue anticompetitive actions that stand in the way of achieving that goal."

The department said that the MFNs require a hospital either to charge BCBSM no more than it charges BCBSM’s competitors, or to charge the competitors a specified percentage more than it charges BCBSM, in some cases between 30 and 40 percent. The complaint alleges that BCBSM’s use of MFN provisions has reduced competition in the sale of health insurance in Michigan by raising hospital costs to BCBSM’s competitors, which discourages other health insurers from entering into or expanding within markets throughout Michigan. The complaint further alleges that BCBSM agreed to raise the prices that it pays certain hospitals to obtain the MFNs, thus buying protection from competition by increasing its own costs.

BCBSM is a Michigan nonprofit healthcare corporation headquartered in Southfield, Mich. It is the largest provider of commercial health insurance in Michigan, with revenues of more than $10 billion in 2009. BCBSM insures more than nine times as many Michigan residents as its next largest commercial health insurance competitor, covering more than 60 percent of Michigan’s three million commercially insured residents.

The court will determine a pretrial schedule for the case once BCBSM files its response to the government’s lawsuit.

WASHINGTON – A Colorado couple has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Denver on charges related to the illegal trapping and interstate sale of bobcats, the Justice Department announced today.

Jeffrey M. Bodnar, 37, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release during which time he will be prohibited from hunting, trapping or fishing. Mr. Bodnar pleaded guilty on June 1, 2010, to one felony count of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Veronica Anderson-Bodnar, 46, was sentenced to five years of probation during which time she will be prohibited from possessing firearms and also prohibited from hunting, trapping or fishing. Ms. Anderson-Bodnar pleaded guilty on June 1, 2010, to one misdemeanor count of Lacey Act trafficking and one misdemeanor count of making false statements in violation of the Lacey Act.

"The Lacey Act has been in place for over 100 years to prevent the kind of interstate trafficking of wildlife and wildlife parts in which these defendants engaged for profit," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. "This case is an excellent example of how state and federal wildlife agencies work together to protect our nation’s natural treasures from commercial plunder.  The Justice Department is determined to assist in that effort by prosecuting violators to the full extent of the law."

"Prosecutions under the Lacey Act are essential to protect wildlife from illegal trapping and trafficking of wildlife pelts," said District of Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

The Lacey Act is a federal law that makes it illegal to transport or sell in interstate commerce any wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of state law or regulation. Bobcats, whether alive or dead, and including their pelts and other parts, are considered wildlife under the Lacey Act. Colorado law limits bobcat trapping to a specified season, requires that trappers obtain licenses and generally prohibits the trapping of bobcats with leghold traps.

In his guilty plea earlier this year, Jeffrey Bodnar admitted to conspiring with his wife, Veronica Anderson-Bodnar, to unlawfully trap and kill bobcats without a license and using prohibited leghold traps, and to sell the bobcat pelts to fur buyers in Montana and Kansas. He also admitted to conspiring with his wife to submit false records to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in order to obtain tags for the pelts. With regard to the firearms charge, Bodnar admitted to possessing a firearm after his conviction on a state felony charge in 2000.

In separate court documents related to her own guilty plea, Veronica Anderson-Bodnar admitted earlier this year to selling bobcat pelts to a buyer from Kansas in March 2008, when she should have known that the bobcats were trapped without a license and using prohibited leghold traps. She also admitted to making and submitting false records to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in order to obtain tags for the pelts.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

WASHINGTON – A foreign national employed at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, was charged today with theft of public money and acts affecting a personal financial interest in connection with $237,236 in U.S. Government funds, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Acting Assistant Director in Charge John G. Perren of the FBI Washington Field Office.

An indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia charges Osama Esam Saleem Ayesh, 36, with two counts of theft of public money and one count of acts affecting a personal financial interest, commonly known as a conflict of interest charge. Ayesh was arrested on Aug. 16, 2010, based on a criminal complaint charging him with one count of conflict of interest.

According to the indictment, Ayesh held the position of shipping and customs supervisor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Ayesh was responsible for preparing the necessary documents and logistical support for customs clearance and delivery of shipments coming into Iraq for the embassy and embassy officials and personnel. While Ayesh worked at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, his primary residence was in Amman, Jordan.

The indictment alleges that, between November 2008 and June 2010, Ayesh fraudulently caused $237,236 in U.S. Government funds, intended for the payment of services provided to the U.S. Embassy pursuant to two Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), to be sent to a bank account in Jordan that he controlled. The indictment further alleges that, between September 2008 and June 2010, Ayesh participated in the creation and operation of BPAs executed by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, in which Ayesh knew that he and his wife had a financial interest. The indictment alleges that Ayesh also knew that he and his wife had a financial interest in the instigation of U.S. electronic funds transfers to pay for services rendered under those BPAs.

The theft of public funds counts each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conflict of interest charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney David H. Laufman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas H. McQuillan for the Eastern District of Virginia.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance. The case is being investigated by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of State and the FBI, Washington Field Office, as part of the International Contract Corruption Task Force. The ICCTF is a joint law enforcement agency task force that seeks to detect, investigate, and dismantle corruption and contract fraud resulting from U.S. Overseas Contingency Operations worldwide, including in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

WASHINGTON – Otros siete residentes del área de Houston que supuestamente se desempeñaron como reclutadores de pacientes y un enfermero han sido acusados por su supuesta participación en un ardid de fraude de servicios médicos a domicilio, anunciaron hoy los Departamentos de Justicia y Salud y Servicios Humanos [Health and Human Services (HHS)]. Las primeras apariciones de los demandados estaban programadas para ayer y hoy en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito en Houston ante el Juez Magistrado Stephen Wm. Smith.

Una acusación formal revelada presentada el 7 de octubre de 2010 y emitida hoy en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito acusa a Clifford Ubani, 52; Ezinne Ubani, 45; Princewill Njoku, 51; Caroline Njoku, 45; Mary Ellis, 54; Michelle Turner, 42; Cynthia Garza-Williams, 49; Adelma Casas Sevilla, 44; y Sammie Wilson, 69, de conspirar para cometer fraude de servicios médicos. Florida Holiday Island, 50; Margaret Pleasant, 45; Estella Joseph, 61; Terrie Porter, 47; y Erica Walker, 30, están acusadas de conspirar para pagar o recibir comisiones ilícitas junto con Clifford Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner y Garza-Williams. Estos demandados también están acusados de cargos individuales relacionados con pagar y recibir comisiones ilícitas.  Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku y Ellis también están acusados de realizar declaraciones falsas al presentar reclamos al programa Medicare. Clifford Ubani, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner y Garza-Williams fueron acusados en la acusación formal original presentada el 21 de junio de 2010.

Según la acusación formal revelada, Clifford Ubani, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku y Caroline Njoku eran propietarios y operadores de Family Healthcare Services. La acusación formal revelada alega que estos propietarios y operadores presentaron reclamos falsos y fraudulentos al programa Medicare por supuestamente brindar servicios médicos a domicilio que no eran médicamente necesarios y/o no se brindaron. Según la acusación formal revelada, el programa Medicare pagó a Family Healthcare Services alrededor de $5 millones de dólares basándose en los reclamos falsos y fraudulentos.

Se alega que Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner, Garza-Williams, Wilson, Island, Pleasant, Joseph, Porter y Walker reclutaron a beneficiarios de Medicare para que brindaran servicios calificados de enfermería en Family Healthcare Services y se alega que a cambio recibieron comisiones ilícitas de Clifford Ubani, Princewill Njoku y terceros por los referidos. Según la acusación formal revelada, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Ellis, Garza-Williams y Sevilla supuestamente falsificaron o ayudaron a falsificar expedientes de pacientes para que pareciera que los beneficiarios de Medicare calificaban para los servicios médicos a domicilio y los habían recibido, cuando en realidad esos servicios no eran médicamente necesarios y/o no habían sido brindados.

La sentencia máxima por cometer fraude de servicios médicos es de 10 años de prisión. La sentencia máxima por conspirar para pagar o recibir comisiones ilícitas, cada cargo individual de pagar y/o recibir comisiones ilícitas y realizar declaraciones falsas al determinar el derecho a beneficios y pago por parte de Medicare es de cinco años de prisión. La acusación formal revelada solicita la confiscación de bienes de los demandados.

Una acusación formal es una mera acusación y se supone que los demandados son inocentes hasta que se pruebe lo contrario.

Los cargos de hoy fueron anunciados por el Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar Lanny A. Breuer de la División Criminal; el Fiscal Federal José Ángel Moreno del Distrito Sur de Texas; Richard C. Powers, Agente Especial a Cargo de la oficina de Houston del Buró Federal de Investigaciones [Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)]; el Agente Especial a Cargo Mike Fields de la Oficina de Investigaciones de la Oficina Regional de Dallas de la Oficina del Inspector General del HHS [HHS Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG)]; y la Unidad de Control de Fraude contra Medicare [Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU)] de la Oficina del Secretario de Justicia de Texas.

Están a cargo de la acusación en el caso los Abogados Litigantes Charles D. Reed y Sam S. Sheldon de la Sección de Fraude de la División Criminal. Este caso fue investigado por el FBI, la HHS-OIG y la MFCU, y fue entablado como parte de la Fuerza de Ataque al Fraude contra Medicare, supervisada por la Sección de Fraude de la División Criminal y la Fiscalía Federal del Distrito Sur de Texas. 

Desde su creación en marzo de 2007, las operaciones de la Fuerza de Ataque al Fraude contra Medicare en siete distritos obtuvieron las acusaciones formales de más de 810 personas que, en conjunto, facturaron fraudulentamente al programa Medicare más de $1.85 billones de dólares. Además, los Centros para Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid del HHS, en trabajo conjunto con la HHS-OIG, están tomando medidas para lograr una mayor responsabilización y una menor presencia de proveedores fraudulentos.

Para obtener más información sobre el Equipo de Acción, Prevención y Control de Fraude de Servicios Médicos [Healthcare Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT)], visite: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

 

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached agreements with New York, Kansas and Mississippi officials to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election.  The agreements were necessary to ensure compliance with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act).

“The MOVE Act provides critical protections to ensure that members of the uniformed services, their families and other citizens living overseas are able to exercise their right to vote and know their votes will be counted.  The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the MOVE Act to protect the rights of all Americans to vote in the upcoming elections,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “I am pleased that officials in these states have worked with the Department to reach these agreements, which will ensure military and overseas voters will have their votes counted.”

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed service voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and their families and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office.  In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA.  Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections.  The 45th day before the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election fell on Sept.18, 2010.       

Pursuant to UOCAVA, the State of New York sought a waiver from the Department of Defense of the requirement to transmit ballots by the 45th day before the Nov. 2 federal general election on grounds that New York’s Sept. 14, 2010, primary election prohibited the State from complying with the requirement.  The State’s waiver application included a comprehensive plan that outlined the steps the State would take to ensure that UOCAVA voters had time to receive, mark, and submit their ballots in time to have the ballot counted.   New York’s comprehensive plan relied on two key provisions that together created a 45-day period for UOCAVA voters to receive, mark, and submit their ballots: (1) the transmission of absentee ballots to UOCAVA voters on Oct. 1, 2010, 32 days before the Nov. 2, 2010, Federal general election, and (2) the deadline of Nov. 15, 2010, 13 days after the election, for receipt of ballots from UOCAVA voters postmarked by Nov. 1, 2010.   On Aug. 27, 2010, pursuant to its statutory authority, and based on the comprehensive plan set forth in New York’s waiver application, the Department of Defense granted the State’s request for a hardship exemption.  In its determination letter, the Department of Defense noted the waiver was based “on an understanding that the State of New York will transmit absentee ballots for the November 2, 2010 Federal general election to UOCAVA voters no later than October 1, 2010.”  Despite the Oct. 1, 2010 deadline outlined in the comprehensive plan set forth in New York’s waiver application, election officials in New York State nonetheless failed to transmit absentee ballots for the Federal general election to UOCAVA voters by that date in at least thirteen New York counties.   These thirteen counties include the five counties in New York City (New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx and Richmond Counties) and eight other counties around the State (Erie, Niagara, Putnam, Westchester, Onondaga, Albany, Nassau, and Wayne Counties). 

On Oct. 12, 2010, the department filed suit against the State of New York and the New York State Board of Elections, and today the department, the State and the State Board of Elections signed a consent decree that they have submitted to the federal court in Albany for its approval.   The consent decree provides for a statewide extension of the ballot receipt deadline for UOCAVA voters until Nov. 24, 2010, for ballots executed and postmarked by Nov. 1, 2010.  The consent decree provides that election officials shall make efforts to notify UOCAVA voters of the agreement and of the option to receive ballots electronically through the state’s online ballot delivery wizard.  The decree also provides for the state to file reports on the number of UOCAVA ballots sent, received and counted and on efforts by the state to adopt measures to ensure that these UOCAVA violations do not recur in future federal elections.

Kansas state officials informed the department that seven of its counties failed to send ballots by the Sept. 18, 2010, deadline:  Marshall, Finney, Jackson, Hamilton, Wabaunsee Ellis and Stevens Counties.  Under the agreement, the state will take actions to ensure that counties provide at least 45 days for the transmission, execution and return of ballots to all qualified UOCAVA voters who requested absentee ballots on or before Sept. 18, 2010, and will extend the receipt deadlines in those counties as commensurate with the delay in each of those counties in sending ballots.  In addition, Kansas officials will notify UOCAVA voters about the agreement, explaining the extended deadline and providing appropriate contact information for voters needing assistance.  The state will also file a report with the court concerning the number of UOCAVA ballots received and counted, and will take actions to ensure compliance with the law in future elections. 

Following inquiries from the department, Mississippi state officials reported that the ballots for UOCAVA voters from 22 counties who had requested ballots on or before Sept. 18, 2010, were not sent at least 45 days before the federal general election: Adams, Alcorn, Attala, Clay, Coahoma, Covington, Forrest, Hinds, Jasper, Jones, Lafayette, Lamar, Montgomery, Neshoba, Perry, Pontotoc, Tishomingo, Union, Warren, Washington, Webster, and Yazoo.   Under the agreement, Mississippi will extend the deadline for the receipt of ballots from military and overseas voters -- ballots from eligible voters who requested ballots by Sept. 18, 2010, that are executed and sent by Nov. 2, 2010, and received by 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2010, will be counted.  Mississippi also will notify voters of the extension, provide a post-election report, and take steps to ensure compliance with the law in future elections.

The department previously reached agreements with Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada, North Dakota, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and filed lawsuits against New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Guam seeking relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming election.  More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.htm. Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

WASHINGTON – Seven additional Houston-area residents who allegedly served as patient recruiters and a nurse have been charged for their alleged participation in a $5 million Medicare home healthcare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.  The defendants were scheduled to make their initial appearances yesterday and today in U.S. District Court in Houston before Magistrate Judge Stephen Wm. Smith.

A superseding indictment filed Oct. 7, 2010, and unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Houston charges Clifford Ubani, 52; Ezinne Ubani, 45; Princewill Njoku, 51; Caroline Njoku, 45; Mary Ellis, 54; Michelle Turner, 42; Cynthia Garza-Williams, 49; Adelma Casas Sevilla, 44; and Sammie Wilson, 69, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Florida Holiday Island, 50; Margaret Pleasant, 45; Estella Joseph, 61; Terrie Porter, 47; and Erica Walker, 30, are charged with conspiracy to pay or receive kickbacks, along with Clifford Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner and Garza-Williams. These defendants are also charged with individual counts relating to the payment and receipt of kickbacks.  Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku and Ellis are also charged with making false statements in the submission of claims to the Medicare program. Clifford Ubani, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner and Garza-Williams, were charged in the original indictment filed on June 21, 2010.

According to the superseding indictment, Clifford Ubani, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku and Caroline Njoku were the owners and operators of Family Healthcare Services.  The superseding indictment alleges that these owners and operators submitted false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare program for purportedly providing home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or not rendered.  According to the superseding indictment, the Medicare program paid Family Healthcare Services approximately $5 million based on the false and fraudulent claims. 

Caroline Njoku, Ellis, Turner, Garza-Williams, Wilson, Island, Pleasant, Joseph, Porter and Walker allegedly recruited Medicare beneficiaries to be placed at Family Healthcare Services for skilled nursing services, and in return allegedly were paid kickbacks by Clifford Ubani, Princewill Njoku and others for the referrals.  According to the superseding indictment, Ezinne Ubani, Princewill Njoku, Ellis, Garza-Williams and Sevilla allegedly falsified or helped falsify patient files to make it appear that Medicare beneficiaries qualified for and received home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. 

The maximum sentence for committing health care fraud is 10 years in prison.  The maximum sentence for conspiracy to pay or receive kickbacks, each individual count of paying and/or receiving kickbacks, and making false statements in determining rights for benefit and payment by Medicare is five years in prison.  The superseding indictment seeks forfeiture of assets held by the defendants. 

An indictment is merely a charge and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Today’s charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent-in-Charge Richard C. Powers of the FBI’s Houston field office; Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations; and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU).

 

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Charles D. Reed and Sam S. Sheldon of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and MFCU, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.  

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than

810 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion .  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov .

 

 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced the filing of a major lawsuit today against 10 companies and two municipalities to require continued environmental cleanup work at Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site.  The lawsuit also seeks payment of associated government costs and natural resource damages.  The total cleanup costs and damages for the Green Bay Site are expected to exceed $1 billion.  The Superfund lawsuit, brought jointly by the United States and the State of Wisconsin, targets risks to humans and wildlife posed by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in bottom sediment, banks, and shoreline areas of the Fox River and Green Bay.

In addition to the complaint, the United States and the state of Wisconsin filed a proposed settlement with one of the newly-named defendants, Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP.  In the proposed settlement, Georgia-Pacific would agree that it is liable, along with other defendants, for performance of all required cleanup work downstream from a line across the Fox River slightly upstream of its paper mill in the city of Green Bay.  The company also would pay $7 million to reimburse a portion of the government’s unpaid past and future costs.  The proposed settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period.

The lawsuit will proceed against 11 other non-settling defendants, including: NCR Corporation; Appleton Papers Inc.; CBC Coating Inc. (formerly known as Riverside Paper Corp.); City of Appleton; Kimberly-Clark Corp.; Menasha Corp.; Neenah-Menasha Sewerage Commission; NewPage Wisconsin Systems Inc.; P.H. Glatfelter Co.; U.S. Paper Mills Corp.; and WTM I Co. (formerly known as Wisconsin Tissue Mills Inc.).   

A large amount of cleanup and natural resource restoration work has already been done in the area under a set of partial settlements and an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative order.  The parties performing the ongoing cleanup work under that order have protested, and they have not agreed to take full responsibility for completing the cleanup or paying all damages for injuries to natural resources, according to the Justice Department. 

The complaint by the United States seeks a court order requiring the responsible parties to continue funding and performing the PCB cleanup without delay.  It also seeks monetary damages for decades of PCB-related injuries to fish and birds and for lost recreational opportunities.  By law, any damages recovery will be used to restore or replace the injured natural resources or acquire equivalent resources.

The defendants in the government’s lawsuit include paper companies that contaminated sediment in the Fox River and Green Bay when they made and recycled a particular type of PCB-containing “carbonless” copy paper.  NCR Corporation and its affiliates produced that paper with PCBs from the mid-1950s until 1971.  The suit also names two municipal sewer system operators that discharged relatively large amounts of PCBs to the Fox River.  In 2009, the United States and Wisconsin reached pre-litigation settlements with several other local sewer system operators and a number of companies that made relatively minor contributions to the PCB contamination at the site.

The cleanup remedy at the site was jointly-selected by the EPA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.  The remedy will remove much of the PCB-containing sediment from the Fox River by dredging.  In other portions of the river, contaminated sediment will be contained in place with specially-engineered caps.  The dredging and capping will reduce PCB exposure and greatly diminish downstream migration of PCBs to Green Bay.  More than $300 million in cleanup work has already been done at the site.  The remaining dredging and capping work could cost an estimated $550 million more.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state and tribal trustees for natural resources in the area also have prepared a related natural resource damage assessment under the Superfund law.  According to that assessment, the additional cost of required natural resource restoration work may approach another $400 million. 

Copies of the complaint and the consent decree with Georgia-Pacific are available on the Department of Justice’s website at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

For more information on cleanup and natural resource restoration activities at the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund site, go to:

The Environmental Protection Agency’s website:  www.epa.gov/region5/sites/foxriver/

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website: www.fws.gov/midwest/FoxRiverNRDA/

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ website: dnr.wi.gov/org/water/wm/foxriver/

WASHINGTON - A federal jury in Scranton, Pa., has convicted Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, both of Shenandoah, Pa., of a hate crime arising out of the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez. The jury found the defendants guilty of violating the criminal component of the federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it a crime to use a person’s race, national origin or ethnicity as a basis to interfere, with violence or threats of violence, with a person’s right to live where he chooses to live. In addition, the jury found that Donchak conspired to, and did in fact, obstruct justice.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence from multiple eyewitnesses that the defendants, aided and abetted each other and some of their friends in fatally beating Luis Ramirez because he was Latino and because they did not want Latinos living in Shenandoah.

According to the evidence presented at trial, on July 12, 2008, the defendants came upon Ramirez in a park after leaving a community festival. The defendants and several of their friends, some of whom testified during the trial, attacked Ramirez. During the course of the beating, the defendants and their friends yelled racial epithets in which they repeatedly called Ramirez a racial derogatory term and told him "This is Shenandoah. This is America. Go back to Mexico." According to testimony, Donchak beat Ramirez while holding a thick piece of metal identified at trial as a "fist pack." Piekarsky kicked Ramirez in the head as he lay prone on the ground. After Piekarsky kicked Ramirez, he told a bystander who was married to a Latino man to "tell your Mexican friends to get out of Shenandoah or you will be lying next to him." After the fight concluded, Ramirez was taken to Geisinger Regional Medical Center, where he died of massive head injuries. The jury also heard evidence that, immediately following the beating, Donchak conspired with some of his friends, some of their parents, and members of the Shenandoah Police Department to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault.

"Hate crimes of this nature have no place in this country, and today’s verdict demonstrates that violence committed because of a victim’s race, national origin, or ethnicity will not be tolerated," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. "As this case illustrates, the Civil Rights Division will vigorously enforce the right of every person who lives in this country to do so free of racially-based violence and intimidation."

Because the jury found that death resulted from their acts, Donchak and Piekarsky face sentences of up to life in prison on the hate crime charge. In addition, Donchak faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge and five years on the conspiracy charge. The defendants will be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2011, by Senior District Judge A. Richard Caputo.

This case was investigated by special agents from the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, and was prosecuted by Gerard V. Hogan and Myesha Braden of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

WASHINGTON – A McCormick, S.C., tax return preparer pleaded guilty today to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Teresa Little Moss, formerly known as Teresa Waller Little, appeared before U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in Greenville, S.C.

According to court documents, Moss owned and operated The Little Tax Shop, a tax return preparation business with locations in McCormick and Abbeville, S.C. The business served clients from throughout the state. For tax years 2004 through 2007, she helped prepare false tax returns for numerous clients. The charges to which Moss pleaded guilty relate to the 2005 and 2006 tax returns of a particular client. The resulting tax loss is $18,977. The total tax loss that she caused is $557,429.

A sentencing date has yet to be set. Moss faces a sentence of up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each of the counts to which she pleaded guilty.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco of the Justice Department’s Tax Division commended the investigative efforts of the IRS agents involved in the case and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Tracy Gostyla and Michelle Petersen, who are prosecuting the case.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/.

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against a former executive of a Taiwan thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) producer for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels, the Department of Justice announced today.

The indictment, returned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco today, charges that Hsin-Tsung Wang participated in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels sold worldwide. Wang, a resident of Taiwan and the former vice president of sales and marketing of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, is charged with participating in the conspiracy from at least as early as Sept. 14, 2001, and continuing at least until Dec. 1, 2006.

TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones and other electronic devices. By the end of the charged conspiracy period, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD was valued at $70 billion. Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracy include some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard.

According to the one count felony charge, Wang and co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by agreeing to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels during secret meetings and issuing price quotations in accordance with the agreements reached. As a part of the conspiracy, Wang is also alleged to have exchanged information on sales of TFT-LCD panels for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices.

Including today’s filing, 20 executives and eight companies have been charged in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the LCD industry. As a result of this investigation, to date, more than $890 million in criminal fines have been obtained.

Wang is charged with violating the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Today’s charge is the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and the FBI in San Francisco.

Anyone with information concerning illegal antitrust conduct in the TFT-LCD industry is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office at 415-436-6660 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.

WASHINGTON – A patient recruiter and operator of a Detroit-area home health agency was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced today.

Christopher Collins was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood in the Eastern District of Michigan to three years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $6.97 million in restitution, jointly and severally with his co-conspirators.

Collins, 39, pleaded guilty in May 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Collins admitted in court documents that he was responsible for submitting or causing the submission of approximately $6.96 million in false or fraudulent claims to the Medicare program between August 2007 and October 2009. According to the plea documents, in the late spring or early summer of 2007, Collins was hired by co-conspirator Muhammad Shahab to work as a nurse at Patient Choice Home Healthcare Inc.  Patient Choice purported to provide home health services, including physical and occupational therapy services, to homebound Medicare beneficiaries.

According to plea documents, Collins solicited Medicare beneficiaries for Shahab and Patient Choice and offered them cash kickbacks in exchange for their Medicare patient information and signatures on medical documents.  Collins admitted that he knew the beneficiaries he recruited were neither homebound nor in need of physical therapy services.  Collins also admitted in court papers that he knew Patient Choice used the beneficiaries’ Medicare information to bill Medicare for physical therapy that was medically unnecessary and/or never performed.

In June 2008, Shahab helped finance and establish All American Home Care Inc.   All American was owned at various times by Shahab and Hassan Akhtar, another co-conspirator.  Beginning in April 2009, All American was owned by Collins.  Collins admitted in court documents that he became the exclusive beneficiary recruiter at All American, recruiting hundreds of patients to the home health agency through the payment of cash kickbacks in exchange for their Medicare information and signature on medical documents.  Collins admitted that All American billed Medicare for physical therapy services that were either not rendered or not medically necessary. 

Shahab pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in February 2010. Akhtar pleaded guilty to the same charge in September 2010. Both defendants await sentencing.

Today’s result was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Chicago Regional Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief John K. Neal and Trial Attorney Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. 

Since its inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 810 individuals and organizations that collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion.  In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov/ .

WASHINGTON - The United States has sued a Bryson City, N.C., tax return preparer seeking to bar her and her company from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction suit alleges that Jody S. Ball, doing business as Jody Ball Accounting and The Tax Lady Inc., claims bogus deductions and credits on customers’ federal tax returns.

Ball allegedly included fabricated claims for charitable deductions, business expenses and other deductions on tax returns that she and her businesses have prepared since 2006. According to the government’s complaint, Ball, who had penalties imposed against her in 2004 for similar conduct involving customer returns for 2001, 2002 and 2003, prepared more than 1,600 federal income tax returns since 2006. The Internal Revenue Service audited 144 of those returns, and approximately 80 percent of them understated customers’ tax liabilities.

In the past 10 years the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has awarded $720,321 in grants to 13 organizations throughout the country to conduct public education programs for workers and employers about federal protections against immigration-related job discrimination.

The grants, which range from $43,664 to $88,000, are being awarded by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the department’s Civil Rights Division. Recipients will assist discrimination victims; conduct seminars for workers, employers and immigration service providers; distribute educational materials in various languages; and place advertisements in local communities through both mainstream and ethnic media to educate workers and employers about their rights.

OSC enforces the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which protects U.S. and authorized immigrant workers against citizenship and national origin discrimination. As part of its mission, OSC also educates workers and their employers about the anti-discrimination provision.

“Awarding grants to professional and community-based organizations better enables us to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under federal immigration law,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Our grant recipients, who are well known and respected in their communities, will collaborate with us to prevent immigration-related discrimination in the workplace.”

The OSC grant recipients are:

• Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (Dearborn Mich.)
• CRLA Foundation (Sacramento Calif.)
• Catholic Charities of Dallas (Dallas
• Catholic Charities Diocese of Palm Beach (Palm Beach Gardens Fla.)
• Colorado Legal Services (Denver)
• International Institute of Metro St. Louis (St. Louis)
• La Raza Centro Legal (San Francisco
• Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
• Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York (Utica, NY
• Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern PA (Philadelphia)
• National Immigrati on Law Center (Los Angeles)
• New York City Human Rights Commission (New York
• University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (Iowa City Iowa

For more information about protections against job discrimination under federal immigration law, call 800-255-7688, 202-616-5594, email: [email protected] or visit www.justice.gov/crt/osc.

 

WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy el otorgamiento de $720,321 dólares en subsidios a 13 organizaciones de todo el país para la realización de programas públicos educativos para trabajadores y empleadores sobre protecciones federales contra la discriminación en el empleo asociada a la inmigración.

 

Los subsidios, que varían de $43,664 a $88,000 dólares, son otorgados por la Oficina de Asesoramiento Especial sobre Prácticas de Empleo Injustas asociadas a la Inmigración [Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC)] de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento. Los destinatarios de los subsidios asistirán a víctimas de la discriminación, realizarán seminarios para trabajadores, empleadores y proveedores de servicios de inmigración, distribuirán materiales educativos en diversos idiomas y publicarán anuncios en comunidades locales en medios generales y étnicos para educar a los trabajadores y los empleadores sobre sus derechos.

 

La OSC hace valer la disposición antidiscriminación de la Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad, que protege a trabajadores estadounidenses e inmigrantes autorizados contra la discriminación asociada a la ciudadanía y el origen nacional. Como parte de su misión, la OSC también educa a los trabajadores y a sus empleadores sobre la disposición antidiscriminación.

 

“El otorgamiento de subsidios a organizaciones profesionales y comunitarias nos facilita la tarea de educar a trabajadores y empleadores sobre sus derechos y responsabilidades bajo nuestras leyes federales de inmigración”, dijo Thomas E. Pérez, Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles. “Los destinatarios de nuestros subsidios, quienes son conocidos y respetados en sus comunidades, colaborarán con nosotros para prevenir la discriminación asociada a la inmigración en el lugar de trabajo”.

 

Los destinatarios de los subsidios de la OSC son:

• El Centro de Servicios Económicos y Sociales de la Comunidad Árabe (Dearborn, Mich.)
• La Fundación CRLA (Sacramento, Calif.)
• Las Organizaciones Benéficas Católicas de Dallas
• La Diócesis de Palm Beach de Organizaciones Benéficas Católicas (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.)
• Servicios Legales de Colorado (Denver)
• El Instituto Internacional de la Zona Metropolitana de St. Louis
• Centro Legal La Raza (San Francisco )
• La Fundación de Ayuda Legal de Los Ángeles
• La Sociedad de Ayuda Legal de la Región Media de Nueva York (Utica, NY)
• El Servicio Luterano para Niños y Familias de la Zona Este de PA (Filadelfia)
• El Centro Nacional de Leyes de Inmigración (Los Ángeles)
• La Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Ciudad de Nueva York
• El Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa )  

Para obtener más información sobre protecciones contra la discriminación laboral bajo las leyes federales de inmigración, llame al (800) 255-7688, (202) 616-5594, envíe un correo electrónico a: [email protected] o visite www.justice.gov/crt/osc.

WASHINGTON - Un juez federal en Scranton, Pa. condenó a Brandon Piekarsky y Derrick Donchak, de Shenandoah, Pa. por un delito por odio relacionado con la golpiza fatal sufrida por Luis Ramírez. El jurado determinó que los demandados eran culpables de violar el componente criminal de la Ley Federal de Vivienda Justa, que establece que es un delito usar la raza, el origen nacional o su origen étnico de una persona como base para interferir, con violencia o amenazas de violencia, con el derecho de una persona de vivir donde desee. Además, el jurado determinó que Donchak conspiró para obstruir la justicia y de hecho lo hizo.

Durante el juicio, el jurado escuchó evidencia de diversos testigos oculares de que los demandados se ayudaron y asistieron mutuamente y a algunos de sus amigos en la golpiza fatal de Luis Ramírez por ser Latino y porque no querían que vivieran Latinos en Shenandoah.

Según la evidencia presentada en el juicio, el 12 de julio de 2008, los demandados atacaron a Ramírez en un parque después de salir de un festival comunitario. Los demandados y muchos de sus amigos, algunos de los cuales testificaron durante el juicio, atacaron a Ramírez. Durante la golpiza, los demandados y sus amigos le gritaron epítetos raciales a Ramírez en repetidas ocasiones usando un término racial despectivo y le dijeron, "Esto es Shenandoah. Esto es Estados Unidos. Vuelve a México". Según los testimonios, Donchak golpeó a Ramírez usando una pieza gruesa de metal identificada en el juicio como "nudillera". Piekarsky golpeó a Ramírez en la cabeza mientras yacía tirado en el piso. Después de patear a Ramírez, Piekarsky le dijo a una transeúnte casada con un hombre Latino: "diles a tus amigos mexicanos que se vayan de Shenandoah si no quieren terminar como él". Después de que terminó la pelea, Ramírez fue llevado al Centro Médico Regional Geisinger, donde falleció por lesiones intensas en la cabeza. El jurado también escuchó evidencia de que, justo después de la golpiza, Donchak conspiró con algunos de sus amigos, algunos de sus padres y miembros del Departamento de Policía de Shenandoah para obstruir la investigación de la agresión fatal.

"Los delitos de odio de esta naturaleza no tienen lugar en este país y el veredicto de hoy demuestra que la violencia cometida por la raza, el origen nacional o el origen étnico de la víctima no será tolerada", dijo Thomas E. Pérez, Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia. "Como demuestra este caso, la División de Derechos Civiles hará valer enérgicamente el derecho de todos los habitantes de este país a vivir libres de violencia e intimidación basadas en cuestiones raciales".

Dado que el jurado determinó que el fallecimiento fue resultado de sus actos, Donchak y Piekarsky enfrentan sentencias de hasta cadena perpetua por el cargo de delito por odio. Además, Donchak enfrenta hasta 20 años de prisión por el cargo de obstrucción de la justicia y cinco años por el cargo de conspiración. Los demandados serán sentenciados el 24 de enero de 2011 por el Juez Principal de Distrito A. Richard Caputo.

El caso fue investigado por agentes especiales de la División de Filadelfia del Buró Federal de Investigaciones [Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)] y enjuiciado por Gerard V. Hogan y Myesha Braden de la Sección Criminal de la División de Derechos Civiles.

WASHINGTON – William K. Harrington has been appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder as U.S. Trustee for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island (Region 1), and he will assume his duties on November 8, 2010, the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees announced today. Mr. Harrington replaces John P. Fitzgerald, who has served as Acting U.S. Trustee for Region 1 since March 2010.

Mr. Harrington has served since October 2008 as the Assistant U.S. Trustee in Wilmington, Del., after joining the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) as a trial attorney in March 2004. He has significant experience in the oversight of complex chapter 11 cases. Prior to joining the USTP, Mr.Harrington practiced law in a large regional law firm concentrating on bankruptcy, corporate and commercial litigation matters. Before attending law school, he worked as a senior accountant for an investment management firm in Boston.

Mr. Harrington received a law degree from Villanova University School of Law in Villanova, Pa., and a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) is the component of the Justice Department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws. The USTP has 21 regions and 95 field offices. Region 1 is headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in Worcester, Mass.; Manchester, N.H.; Portland, Maine; and Providence, R.I.

  Contact:

Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
(202) 305-7411

 

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned an indictment against a married couple from Fairfax Station, Va., for conspiracy, bank fraud and tax evasion, the Justice Department today announced.

 

According to the indictment, Kevin and LuAnn Shaffer were co-owners of a Manassas, Va.,-based consulting business named Matrix-DSS. From 2003 to 2006, the indictment alleges that the couple conspired to defraud four separate banks, including attempting to secure approximately $5.6 million from one bank for a home loan. The Shaffers are accused of submitting false information to their lenders that overstated their assets and made other material misrepresentations, including inflated 401(k) account balances, false W-2 forms, false pay stubs and false wage information.

 

In addition, the couple are charged with four counts of tax evasion for allegedly failing to make an income tax return for the calendar years 2005 to 2007 and for understating their taxable income in 2004 by more than $380,000.

 

Finally, Kevin Shaffer is also accused of failing to account for and pay over to the IRS more than $200,000 in federal taxes that he withheld from the paychecks of Matrix DSS employees from July 1, 2006, to Jan. 31, 2008.

 

The 12-count indictment, which was unsealed today, was announced by John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice, Tax Division; U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia; and Rebecca A. Sparkman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office.

 

The case is being investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Office and U.S. Secret Service. Trial Attorney Tracy L. Gostyla from the department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles F. Connolly from the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

 

 

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with New Mexico officials to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election. The agreement was necessary to ensure New Mexico’s compliance with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act).

The agreement was filed in conjunction with a lawsuit by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division alleging that election officials in six New Mexico counties violated federal law when they failed to transmit ballots by Sept. 18, 2010, to military and overseas voters who requested absentee ballots. The affected counties are Curry, Los Alamos, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Taos. The agreement extends the deadline for receipt of ballots from military and overseas voters. Ballots from eligible voters who requested ballots by Sept. 18, 2010, that are executed and sent by Nov. 2, 2010, and received by 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2010, will be counted.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed service voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and their families and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA. Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections.

"The Justice Department is committed to vigorous enforcement of the MOVE Act so that members of the uniformed services, their families and other citizens living overseas are able to exercise their right to vote and know their votes will be counted," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "I am pleased that officials in New Mexico worked cooperatively with the Department to reach this agreement, which will ensure that the state’s military and overseas voters can participate in the upcoming federal elections."

As part of the agreement, the state will take s teps to ensure compliance in future federal elections and provide a report to the Department of Justice on those efforts.

 

The department previously reached agreements with Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada, North Dakota, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and filed lawsuits against New York, Wisconsin and Guam seeking relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming election. More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.php .  Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

 

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and manager of Royal Arms Apartments, a 26-unit apartment building in Ravenna, Ohio, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of familial status in the rental of apartments.

 

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, names as defendants Testa Family Enterprises Ltd. LLC, the owner of Royal Arms Apartments, and its manager Christine Testa. The suit alleges that the defendants refused to rent the above-ground-level units at Royal Arms to families with young children.

 

“Equal access to housing in the United States is a fundamental right, and this nation will not tolerate discrimination in housing,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. “The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of Fair Housing laws along with its partners at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).”

 

“Few things are more fundamental to success and happiness than having a safe place to live.  Fair and equal access to housing is a cornerstone of our society,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven M. Dettelbach.  “Apartment owners must ensure that their managers treat all tenants, and potential tenants, in a fair and equitable manner without regard to race, national origin or whether they have children.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will actively pursue these cases with the goal of fairness and equity for all.”

 

As alleged in the complaint, the defendants refused to show an apartment to a mother of a four-year-old child and a 10-month-old child. The individual complained to the Fair Housing Advocates Association (FHAA) in Akron, Ohio, which conducted testing at Royal Arms that corroborated the complaint. The individual and the FHAA filed complaints with HUD. After an investigation, the Secretary of HUD determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that discriminatory housing practices had occurred and issued a charge of discrimination. The FHAA elected to have the matters asserted in the HUD charge heard in federal court.

 

“Housing discrimination is illegal and unacceptable,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity John Trasviña. “HUD and the Justice Department work vigorously to eliminate this form of discrimination.”

 

The suit seeks monetary damages for those harmed by the defendants’ actions, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination.

 

Fighting illegal discrimination in housing is a top priority of the Justice Department. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777.

 

The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must still be proven in federal court.

 

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that the evidence does not reveal a violation of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute or warrant further federal criminal investigation in the death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a Detroit Muslim cleric, who was shot during an Oct. 28, 2009, arrest by FBI agents in Dearborn, Mich.

 

The department conducted a complete, thorough, and independent review of this matter. The review included examining all documents witness accounts, forensic evidence and reports, and operational plans and procedures that were generated by an FBI Inspection Division inquiry, a Dearborn Police Department investigation, and the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office. Additionally, a senior Civil Rights Division prosecutor consulted with Dearborn detectives and forensic experts and interviewed critical witnesses, including the FBI agents who shot Imam Abdullah and who voluntarily agreed to be interviewed.

To establish a violation of 18 U.S.C., Section 242, the applicable federal statute, the government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that an official, acting under color of law, willfully deprived a person of a right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. In prosecuting a Section 242 case, the government must show that the official used unnecessary and unreasonable force that was not warranted to achieve a legitimate law enforcement purpose. The government must also prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the official acted willfully, that is, with the specific intent to do something the law forbids.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas E. Perez met in Detroit today with members of Imam Abdullah’s family and later with representatives of interested local groups. Assistant Attorney General Perez explained based on a thorough review of the evidence, federal prosecutors have determined that the evidence does not reveal a violation of Section 242.

The attached summary of the findings regarding the shooting incident provides detailed information and legal analysis to support the department’s conclusion. This matter is being returned to the FBI to complete its administrative inquiry of the incident.

 

WASHINGTON – A federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud, and defraud the United States, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The defendants were also convicted of substantive Clean Air Act violations and mail fraud counts. CES and Elisa Dunn were also convicted of making false statements to federal law enforcement.

As alleged in the indictment, CES (an asbestos air monitoring company and accredited laboratory), and several of its senior employees, together with Aapex Environmental and Paragon Environmental (asbestos removal companies, having already pled guilty) conspired over the course of nearly a decade to falsify lab results used to prove that asbestos removal was done properly. In numerous instances, asbestos removal companies represented that homes, schools and other buildings were free of asbestos contamination when asbestos debris remained behind. Owners of local homes and buildings were unaware that asbestos had been left behind from sloppy abatement work because air quality reports were falsified by CES and its supervisors and employees. Due to the false lab reports, people that lived or worked in these buildings were exposed to asbestos, putting them at risk of developing cancer or other asbestos-related diseases. EPA investigators have notified affected building owners of the asbestos problem so proper clean up can be conducted.

"Because of the dishonest and illegal practices of this company, many people were left unaware for years of their possible exposure to asbestos," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. "Companies and employees will be fully investigated and prosecuted when they put the public’s health at risk by violating environmental laws."

"Falsifying asbestos reports and air quality data is a serious crime and undermines our nation’s efforts to protect human health and the environment," said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Exposure to asbestos can be fatal, and the conviction by a jury shows that the American people will not tolerate illegal activity that puts the public at risk of cancer or other serious respiratory diseases."

The conspiracy and substantive Clean Air Act and false statements counts of the indictment each carry a maximum term of incarceration of five years and a fine of $250,000. The mail fraud counts each carry a maximum term of incarceration of 20 years. CES faces a possible maximum fine of $7.5 million, and restitution to all victims. Nicole Copeland faces a maximum possible sentence of 110 years in jail and a fine of $3,000,000. Elisa Dunn faces a maximum possible sentence 40 years in jail and a fine of $1,250,000. Sandy Allen faces a maximum possible sentence 50 years in jail and a fine of $1,000,000. Sentencing has been set for February 25, 2011 at 10 a.m. in Utica, NY before the Honorable David N. Hurd.

Today’s conviction is the latest in a series of asbestos removal cases that EPA and the Justice Department have brought to trial. For example, in June 2010, the owners of Kodiak Construction Service were sentenced to a combined total of more than 13 years in prison after being found guilty of numerous asbestos related violations. Another example is the four year sentence and requirement to provide restitution to victims of more than $850,000 for the operator of J & W Construction Inc. that violated the Clean Air Act through illegal asbestos removal and disposal activities.

Asbestos has been determined to cause lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an invariably fatal disease. EPA has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the EPA and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig A. Benedict of the Northern District of New York and trial attorneys Jessie M. Alloway and Todd W. Gleason of the Environmental Crimes Section, U.S. Department of Justice.

More information on asbestos: www.epa.gov/asbestos/ .

WASHINGTON – Un jurado federal en Utica, N.Y. ha hallado culpables a Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); dos de sus gerentes, Nicole Copeland y Elisa Dunn; y uno de sus empleados, Sandy Allen, de conspirar para ayudar y asistir en violaciones a la Ley de Aire Limpio, cometer fraude postal y defraudar a los Estados Unidos, anunciaron hoy el Departamento de Justicia y la Agencia de Protección Ambiental [Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)]. Los demandados también fueron condenados por violaciones sustanciales a la Ley de Aire Limpio y por cargos de fraude postal. CES y Elisa Dunn también fueron condenados por realizar declaraciones falsas a fuerzas del orden público federales.

Como se alega en la acusación formal, CES (una empresa de observación de asbesto en el aire y laboratorio acreditado) y algunos de sus empleados de alto rango, junto con Aapex Environmental y Paragon Environmental (empresas de eliminación de asbesto que ya se declararon culpables), conspiraron durante casi una década para falsificar resultados de laboratorio usados para probar que la eliminación de asbesto había sido realizada correctamente. En numerosas ocasiones, las empresas de eliminación de asbesto hicieron creer que los hogares, escuelas y otras edificaciones estaban libres de contaminación con asbesto cuando en realidad quedaban residuos de asbesto. Los propietarios de hogares y edificaciones locales no sabían que había quedado asbesto por el trabajo descuidado de reducción porque los informes de calidad del aire eran falsificados por CES y sus supervisores y empleados. A raíz de los falsos informes de laboratorio, las personas que vivían en estas edificaciones estaban expuestas al asbesto, lo que las ponía en riesgo de desarrollar cáncer u otras enfermedades asociadas al asbesto. Los investigadores de la EPA han notificado a los propietarios de las edificaciones afectadas del problema de asbesto para que puedan realizar las tareas correspondientes de limpieza.

"Debido a las prácticas deshonestas e ilegales de esta empresa, muchas personas vivieron años sin saber que podían estar exponiéndose a asbesto", dijo Ignacia S. Moreno, Secretaria de Justicia Auxiliar de la División de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales del Departamento de Justicia. "Las empresas y los empleados serán investigados y enjuiciados con todo el peso de la ley cuando pongan en riesgo la salud pública al violar leyes ambientales".

"La falsificación de informes de asbesto y datos de calidad del aire es un delito grave que debilita las iniciativas de nuestro país para proteger la salud de las personas y el medio ambiente", dijo Cynthia Giles, Administradora Auxiliar de la Oficina de Control y Garantía de Cumplimiento de la EPA. "La exposición al asbesto puede ser fatal y la condena por parte de un jurado demuestra que el pueblo estadounidense no tolerará actividad ilegal que ponga en riesgo de cáncer u otras enfermedades respiratorias graves al público".

Los cargos de conspiración, violaciones sustanciales a la Ley de Aire Limpio y declaraciones falsas de la acusación formal conllevan cada uno una condena a prisión máxima de cinco años y una multa de $250,000 dólares. Los cargos de fraude postal conllevan cada uno una condena máxima a prisión de 20 años. CES enfrenta una multa posible máxima de $7.5 millones de dólares y restitución a todas las víctimas. Nicole Copeland enfrenta una sentencia posible máxima de 110 años de prisión una multa de $3,000,000 de dólares. Elisa Dunn enfrenta una sentencia posible máxima de 40 años de prisión y una multa de $1,250,000 dólares. Sandy Allen enfrenta una sentencia posible máxima de 50 años de prisión y una multa de $1,000,000 de dólares. La lectura de la sentencia ha sido programada para el 25 de febrero de 2011 a las 10a.m. en Utica, NY ante el Juez David N. Hurd.

La condena de hoy es la última en una serie de casos de eliminación de asbesto que la EPA y el Departamento de Justicia han llevado a juicio. Por ejemplo, en junio de 2010, los propietarios de Kodiak Construction Service fueron sentenciados a un total combinado de más de 13 años de prisión después de ser declarados culpables de numerosas violaciones relacionadas con el asbesto. Otro ejemplo es la sentencia a cuatro años y la restitución a las víctimas de más de $850,000 dólares impuestas al operador de J & W Construction Inc., que violó la Ley de Aire Limpio a través de actividades ilegales de eliminación y desecho de asbesto.

Se ha determinado que el asbesto provoca cáncer de pulmón, asbestosis y mesotelioma, una enfermedad que siempre es terminal. La EPA ha determinado que no existe un nivel seguro de exposición al asbesto.

Este caso fue investigado por Agentes Especiales de la EPA y el Departamento de Conservación Ambiental del Estado de Nueva York. Estuvieron a cargo de la acusación en el caso el Fiscal Federal Auxiliar Craig A. Benedict del Distrito Norte de Nueva York y los abogados litigantes Jessie M. Alloway y Todd W. Gleason de la Sección de Delitos Ambientales del Departamento de Justicia de los EE.UU.

Para obtener más información sobre el asbesto, visite: www.epa.gov/asbesto/ .

WASHINGTON – Curtis Keith Cooper de Princeville, Hawai fue sentenciado hoy a 97 meses de prisión por abusar de una menor mientras viajaba en un vuelo de Hawai a California en julio de 2003, anunciaron el Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar Lanny A. Breuer de la División Criminal y la Fiscal Federal para el Distrito de Hawai Florence T. Nakakuni.

Cooper, 74, también fue sentenciado por el Juez Federal de Distrito Principal Alan C. Kay a cumplir cinco años de libertad bajo supervisión después de su condena a prisión y a pagar $3,098 dólares en restitución. Cooper se declaró culpable en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito en Honolulu, Hawai el 19 de abril de 2010 de un cargo de abuso sexual agravado de un menor de doce años dentro de la jurisdicción aérea especial de los Estados Unidos. Fue acusado formalmente por esos cargos el 19 de noviembre de 2009.

Según el expediente judicial, Cooper admitió que el 12 de julio de 2003, durante un vuelo de Hawai al norte de California, se sentó al lado de una menor de 12 años. Durante el vuelo, la menor comenzó a dormirse cubierta por una manta. Cooper colocó la mano por debajo de la manta y cometió abuso sexual agravado al tocar a la menor de manera inapropiada sin su consentimiento.

Están a cargo de la acusación en el caso la Abogada Litigante Anitha Ibrahim de la Sección de Explotación y Obscenidad Infantiles de la División Criminal y el Fiscal Federal Auxiliar Larry Butrick de la Fiscalía Federal del Distrito de Hawai. Están a cargo de la investigación del caso el Buró Federal de Investigaciones [Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)] y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Contra Costa.

WASHINGTON – Curtis Keith Cooper of Princeville, Hawaii, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for molesting a minor while aboard a flight from Hawaii to California in July 2003, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Florence T. Nakakuni.

 

Cooper, 74, was also sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Alan C. Kay to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and to pay $3,098 in restitution. Cooper pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Apr. 19, 2010, to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under the age of twelve years within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. He was indicted on those charges on Nov. 19, 2009.

 

According to court documents, Cooper admitted that on July 12, 2003, during a flight from Hawaii to Northern California, Cooper sat next to a minor who was under 12 years of age. During the flight, the minor started to fall asleep with a blanket over her. Cooper reached under the blanket and committed aggravated sexual abuse by touching the minor inappropriately without her consent.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Anitha Ibrahim of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Butrick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii. This case was investigated by the FBI and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Attorney’s Office announced today, the settlement of claims against ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc. to resolve their liability to EPA under CERCLA for contamination in the Calcasieu Estuary of Louisiana. The Justice Department also announced a settlement of claims for natural resource damages against ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc. related to contamination in the Estuary.

Under the terms of a consent decree lodged in the federal district court for the Western District of Louisiana together with a filed complaint, ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America will reimburse the EPA Superfund more than $4.5 million and will complete a removal action valued at about $10 million to clean up Bayou Verdine within the Calcasieu Estuary. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is also a plaintiff in the case and party to the settlement.

“These settlements demonstrate the United States’ and Louisiana’s successful and continuing efforts to hold polluters accountable for contamination in the Estuary,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “The responsible parties will fund the cleanup and restore the damaged Estuary.  This will provide substantial benefits to the health and environment of the citizens of Louisiana.”

“The United States Attorney’s Office remains committed to addressing environmental concerns in Calcasieu Parish and throughout our entire district. Today’s filing is an example of the coordination of federal and state efforts to protect the environment and the health of all area residents,” said United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley.

“It is important that polluters help pay for cleanup,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz. “Recovering more than $4.5 million is another milestone in our ongoing work to address historical pollution problems in this area of Louisiana.”

Bayou Verdine is a waterway within the Calcasieu Estuary that flows into the Calcasieu River and is located southwest of the City of Westlake and south of the City of Mossville, in Calcasieu Parish, La. Heavy industry dominates the southern reaches of Bayou Verdine which is the recipient of industrial discharges.

ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America previously entered into an agreement with EPA to perform an Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis of Bayou Verdine. The project documented the presence of hazardous substances in the sediments and water of Bayou Verdine and nearby Coon Island Loop. ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America also performed a cleanup in the West Ditch area of Bayou Verdine to address high concentrations of contaminants. The parties entered into negotiations with the Justice Department, EPA and LDEQ to perform a cleanup of Bayou Verdine and resolve their liability for past and future response costs for the entire Calcasieu Estuary.

Over the past 10 years, EPA has performed numerous investigations at abandoned hazardous waste sites, made decisions on cleanup actions, addressed industrial non-compliance and monitored ozone and other air toxics associated with the Mossville area. EPA will continue to work with Calcasieu Parish and Mossville to address environmental concerns.

As part of a comprehensive settlement, the Department of Justice also announced the lodging of a second consent decree to resolve the liability of ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America for natural resource damages in the Estuary resulting from discharges of hazardous substances. Over the past several years, federal and state trustees worked cooperatively with ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America to assess injuries and to develop a restoration plan. Under the terms of settlement with state and federal natural resource trustees (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America will reimburse the federal and state trustees a total of nearly $1.2 million for a share of past natural resource damages assessment costs, perform construction of a restoration project selected by the trustees in the Sabine Wildlife Refuge in accordance with the Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Bayou Verdine Site, and pay an additional $750,000 for future monitoring of the restoration project.

Copies of the consent decrees are available on the DOJ website at: www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

WASHINGTON – Setenta y tres demandados, entre ellos muchos supuestos miembros y asociados de una empresa armenia-estadounidense de delincuencia organizada, fueron acusados en acusaciones formales emitidas hoy en cinco distritos judiciales por diversos delitos de fraude de servicios médicos con facturación fraudulenta de más de $163 millones de dólares, anunciaron el Secretario de Justicia Adjunto Interino Gary G. Grindler, el Director Auxiliar de la División de Investigaciones Criminales del Buró Federal de Investigaciones [Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)] Kevin Perkins y el Inspector General del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos Daniel R. Levinson.

 

En esta investigación nacional multiagencia, 52 personas fueron arrestadas hoy por agentes del FBI en el mayor ardid de fraude a Medicare de la historia perpetrado por una sola empresa delictiva y acusado por el Departamento de Justicia.

Los demandados son acusados de participar en diversas actividades fraudulentas, entre ellas ardides multimillonarios muy organizados para defraudar a Medicare y a empresas de seguros al presentar facturas fraudulentas por tratamientos médicamente innecesarios o que nunca se realizaron. Según las acusaciones formales, los demandados supuestamente robaron las identidades de médicos y miles de beneficiarios de Medicare y operaban al menos 118 clínicas falsas diferentes en 25 estados con el fin de presentar reembolsos a Medicare.

“El surgimiento de la delincuencia organizada internacional en ardides internos de fraude de servicios médicos señala una expansión peligrosa que representa una seria amenaza a los consumidores, ya que estas organizaciones están dispuestas a explotar casi a cualquier programa, empresa o persona para percibir ganancias ilegales”, dijo el Secretario de Justicia Adjunto Interino Gary G. Grinder. “El Departamento de Justicia está afrontando esta amenaza cambiante en el país y el extranjero a través de diversas iniciativas, entre ellas el fortalecimiento del Consejo de Delincuencia Organizada del Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos y la creación del Centro Internacional de Inteligencia y Operaciones contra la Delincuencia Organizada (IOC-2) para asegurarnos de estar enfocados y coordinados en nuestra labor contra la delincuencia organizada internacional”.

“La empresa internacional de delincuencia organizada conocida como Mirzoyan-Terdjanian despojó al sistema de servicios médicos a través de diversos ardides fraudulentos para ganar dinero. Los miembros y asociados ubicados en todos los Estados Unidos y Armenia perpetraron un ardid a gran escala en todo el país contra Medicare que facturó fraudulentamente a Medicare más de $100 millones de dólares por tratamientos médicamente innecesarios mediante distintas clínicas fantasma”, dijo Kevin Perkins, Director Auxiliar de la División de Investigaciones Criminales del FBI.  “Queremos restablecer la confianza en el sistema de servicios médicos del país y garantizarle a los profesionales que no nos quedaremos de brazos cruzados mientras se usan sus identidades para beneficio de los delincuentes”.  

“Hoy agentes especiales de la Oficina del Inspector General en coordinación estrecha con nuestros asociados de las fuerzas del orden público federales realizaron 52 arrestos en todo el país—desde Nueva York hasta Los Ángeles—por cargos que incluyen fraude contra Medicare y robo de identidad médica por un total superior a $163 millones de dólares”, dijo Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos. “No hace falta que los delincuentes que roban a Medicare miren por sobre el hombro para saber que los perseguimos”.

Cuarenta y cuatro demandados fueron acusados en dos acusaciones formales emitidas hoy en el Distrito Sur de Nueva York de conspiración de delincuencia organizada y conspiración para cometer los siguientes actos: fraude de servicios médicos, fraude bancario, lavado de dinero, fraude en conexión con el robo de identidad, fraude con tarjetas de crédito y fraude de inmigración. Además, siete demandados fueron acusados en el Distrito de Nuevo México de fraude de servicios médicos, fraude postal, fraude telegráfico, conspiración de lavado de dinero, lavado de dinero, confiscación y robo de identidad agravado. Seis demandados fueron acusados en el Distrito Sur de Georgia de fraude de servicios médicos, conspiración para cometer fraude de servicios médicos, conspiración para lavado de dinero y robo de identidad agravado. Seis demandados fueron acusados en el Distrito Norte de Ohio de fraude de servicios médicos, conspiración para cometer fraude de servicios médicos, conspiración para lavado de dinero y robo de identidad agravado. Por último, 10 demandados fueron acusados en dos acusaciones formales en el Distrito Central de California de conspirar para cometer fraude bancario, fraude bancario, lavado de dinero, conspirar para lavar instrumentos monetarios, confiscación criminal, robo de identidad agravado, ayudar y apoyar, y provocar la realización de un acto.

Según los cargos presentados en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito en el Distrito Sur de Nueva York, la Organización Mirzoyan-Terdjanian recibe el nombre de sus principales líderes, Davit Mirzoyan y Robert Terdjanian. El liderazgo de la organización tiene sede en Los Ángeles y Nueva York y sus operaciones se extienden por todos los Estados Unidos y a nivel internacional. Entre los demandados acusados de delincuencia organizada se encuentra Armen Kazarian, que supuestamente es un “Vor”, un término traducido como “Ladrón en Ley” que se refiere a un miembro de un grupo selecto de delincuentes de alto nivel de Rusia y países que han sido parte de la ex Unión Soviética, entre ellos Armenia. Esta es la primera vez que un Vor es acusado de un delito de delincuencia organizada y la primera vez desde 1996 que un Vor conocido ha sido arrestado por cualquier cargo federal.

Los cargos de delincuencia organizada conllevan una sentencia máxima de cadena perpetua y una multa de $250,000 dólares. Los cargos de fraude de servicios médicos y conspiración para cometer fraude de servicios médicos conllevan cada uno una sentencia máxima de 10 años de prisión y una multa de 250,000 dólares. Los cargos de conspiración para cometer fraude bancario conllevan una sentencia máxima cada uno de 30 años de prisión y una multa de $1 millón de dólares. Los cargos de conspiración para cometer lavado de dinero conllevan una sentencia máxima cada uno de 25 años de prisión y una multa de $500,000 dólares. Los cargos de conspiración para cometer lavado de dinero conllevan una sentencia máxima cada uno de 20 años de prisión y una multa de $500,000 dólares. Los cargos de conspiración para cometer fraude relacionado con el robo de identidad conllevan una sentencia máxima de cinco años de prisión y una multa de $250,000 dólares. Los cargos de robo de identidad agravado conllevan cada uno una sentencia obligatoria consecutiva de dos años de prisión a cualquier otra sentencia impuesta, los cargos de conspiración para cometer fraude con tarjetas de crédito conllevan una sentencia máxima de 10 años de prisión y una multa de $250,000 dólares. Los cargos de conspiración para cometer fraude de inmigración conllevan una sentencia máxima de cinco años de prisión y una multa de $250,000 dólares.

Los cargos anunciados hoy son solo alegatos y los demandados son considerados inocentes hasta que se pruebe lo contrario en un tribunal de derecho.

Los demandados acusados en cada distrito serán acusados por Fiscales Federales Auxiliares de cada uno de los respectivos distritos en los que se realizaron las acusaciones de los casos. Estuvieron a cargo de la investigación de los casos agentes de las oficinas del FBI en Los Ángeles y Nueva York.

Los arrestos de hoy son un ejemplo de la capacidad del FBI de realizar investigaciones entre programas y divisiones para controlar una amenaza a nivel nacional. En los últimos años, el Departamento ha tomado una serie de pasos para modernizar su programa de delincuencia organizada y permitir que las fuerzas del orden público federales empleen un enfoque unificado en la lucha contra la delincuencia organizada a nivel internacional. El Consejo de Delincuencia Organizada del Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos reúne el liderazgo del FBI y otras ocho agencias u oficinas federales de las fuerzas del orden público con los fiscales del Departamento para brindarles un alto nivel de atención a estos problemas. El IOC-2 brinda apoyo en forma de información e inteligencia a agencias miembro que mejora la labor para identificar, penetrar y desmantelar los grupos de delincuencia organizada más peligrosos a través de investigaciones y enjuiciamientos. La creación del Comité Internacional contra la Delincuencia Organizada y la Lista de Principales Organizaciones Criminales Internacionales [Top International Criminal Organizations Target (TICOT)] contribuye a que los investigadores y fiscales concentren sus recursos limitados en los grupos internacionales de delincuencia organizada que representan la mayor amenaza a los Estados Unidos. La División Criminal del Departamento, a través de la Unidad de Fraude de Servicios Médicos, la Sección de Delito Organizado y Extorsiones, y la Sección de Confiscación de Activos y Lavado de Dinero, ha creado nuevos programas de capacitación para educar a los investigadores y fiscales sobre las complejidades de la delincuencia organizada internacional y las investigaciones financieras.

WASHINGTON – Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged in indictments unsealed today in five judicial districts with various health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing, announced Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins and Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson.

In this national, multi-agency investigation, 52 were arrested today by FBI agents in the largest Medicare fraud scheme ever perpetrated by a single criminal enterprise and charged by the Department of Justice.

 

The defendants are charged with engaging in numerous fraud activities, including highly-organized, multi-million dollar schemes to defraud Medicare and insurance companies by submitting fraudulent bills for medically unnecessary treatments or treatments that were never performed. According to the indictments, the defendants allegedly stole the identities of doctors and thousands of Medicare beneficiaries and operated at least 118 different phony clinics in 25 states for the purposes of submitting Medicare reimbursements.

 

“The emergence of international organized crime in domestic health care fraud schemes signals a dangerous expansion that poses a serious threat to consumers as these syndicates are willing to exploit almost any program, business or individual to earn an illegal profit,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grinder. “The Department of Justice is confronting this evolving threat here and abroad through a number of initiatives including a strengthened Attorney General’s Organized Crime Council and the creation of the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) to ensure that we are focused and coordinated in our efforts to combat international organized crime.”

 

“The international organized crime enterprise known as the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian, fleeced the health care system through a wide-range of money making criminal fraud schemes.  The members and associates located throughout the United States and in Armenia, perpetrated a large-scale, nationwide Medicare scam that fraudulently billed Medicare for more than $100 million of unnecessary medical treatments using a series of phantom clinics,” said Kevin Perkins, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division.  “We want to restore the confidence in the nation’s health care system and assure practitioners we will not stand by and let their identities be used for criminal gain.”  

 

“Today, special agents of the Office of Inspector General working in tight coordination with our federal law enforcement partners made 52 arrests across the nation—from New York to Los Angeles—on charges including Medicare fraud and medical identity theft totaling more than $163 million,” said Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Criminals stealing from Medicare needn’t look over their shoulders to know that we are in hot pursuit.”

 

Forty-four defendants were charged in two indictments unsealed today in the Southern District of New York with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit the following acts: health care fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, fraud in connection with identity theft, credit card fraud and immigration fraud. In addition, seven defendants were charged in the District of New Mexico with health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, forfeiture and aggravated identity theft. Six defendants were charged in the Southern District of Georgia with health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Six defendants were charged in the Northern District of Ohio with health care fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft. Lastly, 10 defendants were charged in two indictments in the Central District of California with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, criminal forfeiture, aggravated identity theft, aiding and abetting, and causing an act to be done.

 

According to the charges filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization is named for its principal leaders, Davit Mirzoyan and Robert Terdjanian. The leadership of the organization is based in Los Angeles and New York, and its operations extend throughout the United States and internationally. Among the defendants charged with racketeering is Armen Kazarian, who is alleged to be a “Vor,” a term translated as “Thief-in-Law” and refers to a member of a select group of high-level criminals from Russia and the countries that has been part of the former Soviet Union, including Armenia. This is the first time a Vor has ever been charged for a racketeering offense, and the first time since 1996 that a known Vor has been arrested on any federal charge.

 

The racketeering charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. The conspiracy to commit money laundering charges each carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit money laundering charges each carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with identity theft charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The aggravated identity theft charges each carry a required two-year consecutive prison sentence to any other sentence imposed, the conspiracy to commit credit card fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit immigration fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

 

The charges announced today are merely allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

 

The defendants charged in each district will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys from each of the respective districts in which the cases were charged. The cases were investigated by special agents from the FBI’s Los Angeles and New York field offices.

 

Today’s arrests are an example of the FBI’s ability to conduct cross-program, multi-divisional investigations targeting a national level threat. In recent years, the department has undertaken a series of steps to modernize its organized crime program and enable federal law enforcement to take a unified approach to combating international organized crime. The Attorney General’s Organized Crime Council brings together the leadership of the FBI and eight other federal law enforcement agencies or offices with the department’s prosecutors, focusing high-level attention on these issues. The IOC-2 provides support in the form of information and intelligence to the member agencies that enhance efforts to identify, penetrate and dismantle the most dangerous organized crime groups through investigations and prosecutions. The creation of the International Organized Crime Targeting Committee and the Top International Criminal Organizations Target (TICOT) List, directs investigators and prosecutors to concentrate their limited resources on those international organized crime groups that pose the greatest threat to the United States. The department’s Criminal Division, through the Health Care Fraud Unit, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, has created new training programs to educate investigators and prosecutors on the intricacies of international organized crime and financial investigations.

WASHINGTON – An owner of two Houston health care companies pleaded guilty today in connection with schemes to defraud Medicare of $6.3 million, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Princewill Njoku, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller in Houston to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In his plea, Njoku admitted that he defrauded Medicare of $6.3 million.

According to court documents, Njoku was an owner of Family Healthcare Services (Family Services). Family Services maintained a valid Medicare provider number in order to submit Medicare claims for the costs of durable medical equipment (DME) and purported to provide orthotics and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries. According to court documents, Njoku and co-defendant Clifford Ubani hired co-conspirators to recruit Medicare beneficiaries for the purposes of filing claims with Medicare for DME. Once Njoku and Ubani obtained Medicare beneficiary numbers, Family Services submitted claims to Medicare for DME, including orthotic devices, which were medically unnecessary and/or not provided. Many of the orthotic devices were components of what was referred to as an "arthritis kit," and purported to be for the treatment of arthritis-related conditions, although they were not medically necessary or appropriate for such conditions. The arthritis kit generally contained a number of orthotic devices including braces for both sides of the body and related accessories such as heat pads. Njoku admitted that he paid kickbacks to the recruiters for their referrals. In total, Family Services submitted approximately $1.1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

Additionally, Njoku was an owner and operator of Family Healthcare Group (Family Group), a home health care company. Family Group purported to provide skilled nursing to Medicare beneficiaries. According to court documents, Njoku hired co-conspirators to recruit Medicare beneficiaries for the purposes of filing claims with Medicare for skilled nursing. Family Group then used the Medicare beneficiary numbers to submit claims to Medicare for skilled nursing that was medically unnecessary and/or not provided. Njoku admitted that he paid kickbacks to the recruiters for their referrals. In total, Family Group was paid approximately $5.2 million by Medicare for the submission of fraudulent claims.

At sentencing, Njoku faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Ubani, Njoku’s business partner and co-owner of Family Services and Family Group, pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, 2010, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  Ubani and Njoku are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, 2011.

Today’s guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent-in-Charge Richard C. Powers of the FBI’s Houston Field Office; Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations; and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Charles D. Reed and Sam S. Sheldon of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 810 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the state of New York seeking relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election and future federal elections.

 

The lawsuit, brought under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), was filed in federal district court in Albany , N.Y   “Our laws guarantee that uniformed service members and other overseas citizens will have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the elections of our nation’s leaders,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “This suit seeks both immediate and permanent relief to ensure that New York’s military and overseas voters, many of whom are members of our armed forces and their families serving our country around the world, can exercise their right to vote and have their votes counted in the upcoming federal elections.”

UOCAVA requires states to allow uniformed service voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and their families and citizens living overseas to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office.  In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA.  Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections.  Under the new law, states can apply to the Department of Defense for a hardship waiver of this requirement for a particular fede ral election if the state’s primary election date prohibited it from sending ballots by the 45 th day before the election; if a legal contest causes a delay in generating ballots; or if the state ’s constitution prohibits compliance.   To obtain a waiver, states must 1) establish that one or more of these circumstances creates an undue hardship, and 2) present a comprehensive plan that provides UOCAVA voters sufficient time to receive and submit marked absentee ballots in time to have them counted in that election.   Waiver determinations are made by the Department of Defense, after consulting with the Department of Justice.

 

The state of New York submitted a waiver application on April 23, 2010, claiming that its Sept. 14, 2010, primary election date created an undue hardship that prohibited the state from complying with UOCAVA.  On Aug. 27, 2010, the Department of Defense granted New York’s waiver under the agreement that New York would transmit absentee ballots for the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election to its UOCAVA voters no later than Oct. 1, 2010, and that absentee ballots would be accepted and counted up to Nov. 15, 2010.

 

Today’s action was necessary because New York failed to mail ballots to its military and overseas citizens by the Oct. 1, 2010, deadline in the state’s waiver application in nine New York counties, including those comprising New York City.  The lawsuit seeks a further extension of the deadline for counting UOCAVA ballots which will ensure military and overseas voters have a 45-day period to receive, mark and return their ballots.

 

The department previously reached agreements with Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada, North Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and filed lawsuits against Wisconsin and Guam seeking relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming election. More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.php. Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) employee pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington to stealing $104,000 in government funds, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

According to court documents, Sno H. Rush, 40, of Upper Marlboro, Md., worked as an administrative officer for USMS in the District of Columbia Superior Court from 2002 to 2008. Rush’s responsibilities included, among other things, handling payroll-related matters for USMS, authorizing payment to USMS employees and outside entities, drafting and signing U.S. Treasury checks for USMS expenditures, as well as supervising and directing other USMS employees to draft and sign such checks.

According to the plea agreement, Rush admitted that between April 2006 and February 2009, she unlawfully used a USMS credit card for personal expenses totaling approximately $15,000. In addition, Rush admitted creating a fictitious employee in the USMS payroll system and submitting falsified time-and-attendance records for the employee, resulting in fraudulent payments totaling $31,000 between November 2007 and October 2008, which Rush converted to her personal use. Rush also admitted that between June 2007 and November 2008, she caused to be issued $51,000 in U.S. Treasury checks to pay down the balance on a personal credit card, disguising the theft with fraudulent business invoices she created to make the payments appear legitimate. According to the plea agreement, Rush converted an additional $7,000 in U.S. Treasury checks used to pay the balance on another personal credit card. In total, Rush admitted stealing approximately $104,000 in USMS funds.

Rush pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to a one-count criminal information, filed Sept. 9, 2010, charging Rush with theft of government property. Rush faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set by the court.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. This case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

WASHINGTON – Doe Run Resources Corp. of St. Louis, North America’s largest lead producer, has agreed to spend approximately $65 million to correct violations of several environmental laws at 10 of its lead mining, milling and smelting facilities in southeast Missouri, the Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced today.

As part of the settlement, Doe Run will pay a civil penalty of $7 million for violating a series of environmental laws, including the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Emergency Planning and Right-to-Know Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (known as Superfund), and the Missouri Air Conservation Law, Clean Water Law and Hazardous Waste Management Law. The penalty will be paid by Doe Run in a $3.5 million payment to the United States and a $1.5 million payment to the state of Missouri, with an additional $1 million plus interest to be paid to the state each year for the next two years.

“This settlement will reduce lead pollution in the town of Herculaneum and in other southeastern Missouri communities, as well as encourage the development of innovative technology and projects to improve the environment in impacted communities,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resource Division. “It should also send a message to all companies that handle hazardous waste, such as lead: You must comply with the laws that are intended to protect public health and the environment.”

“For years families with children near Doe Run’s facilities have been exposed to unacceptable levels of lead, one of the most dangerous neurotoxins in the environment,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Infants and young children are at the greatest risk from lead exposure, which even at low levels can cause behavioral problems, learning deficits and lowered IQ. Today’s settlement requires Doe Run to take aggressive actions to clean up their act and work to ensure that families living near the company’s facilities are protected from lead poisoning and other harmful pollution.”

The settlement also requires Doe Run to establish financial assurance trust funds, at an estimated cost of $28 million to $33 million, for the cleanup of Herculaneum and the following active or former mining and milling facilities: Brushy Creek, Buick, Fletcher, Sweetwater, Viburnum and West Fork. This commitment ensures that financing will be available to fund the clean up of the smelter property and the six mining and milling sites whenever they are eventually closed. Doe Run will also take steps to finalize and come into compliance with more stringent Clean Water Act permits at 10 of its facilities, including Herculaneum, Glover, Buick Mill, Brushy Creek, Fletcher, Sweetwater, Viburnum, West Fork, Mine #35 (Casteel), and Buick Resource Recycling, and will spend an estimated $5.8 million on stream mitigation activities along 8.5 miles of Bee Fork Creek, an impaired waterway near Doe Run’s Fletcher mine and mill facility.

The company will also spend $2 million on community-based mitigation projects to reduce pollution from other sources in southeastern Missouri. At least $1.1 million of this amount will be spent on diesel engine retrofits, school science lab clean outs, school energy efficiency projects and installations of heat pumps. Other projects, such as the purchase of sulfur dioxide allowances, wastewater infrastructure projects for the city of Herculaneum, or the development and improvement of environmental management systems at Doe Run’s facilities may also be included.

Instead of installing pollution control technologies needed to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as required by the Clean Air Act, Doe Run has made a business decision to shut down its lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., by Dec. 31, 2013. The company will also provide an initial $8.14 million in financial assurance to guarantee cleanup work at the Herculaneum facility. The closing of the Herculaneum smelter is expected to result in significant benefits to public health and the environment by annually reducing air emissions of at least 101,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 42,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, 30 tons of lead, 23 tons of particulate matter, 22 tons of carbon monoxide, 13.5 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 2.5 tons of volatile organic chemicals. These reductions will result in significant health and environmental benefits to the Herculaneum and St. Louis areas, which are currently exceeding federal air standards for lead, ozone and particulate matter.

In addition to the consent decree, EPA is issuing for public comment a new administrative order that requires Doe Run to sample residential properties within 1.5 miles of the Herculaneum smelter, and clean up all residential properties with lead soil concentrations of 400 parts per million or higher within that zone. The order requires Doe Run to conduct a final round of soil sampling and residential property cleanups in Herculaneum after the smelter is shut down.

EPA is also issuing for public comment a modified May 2007 administrative order addressing issues related to the transportation of lead-bearing materials between Doe Run facilities. The modified order requires Doe Run to spend an estimated $3.2 million to improve the washing and inspection of its trucks, conduct additional sampling of soil from residential properties along the haul routes, provide independent auditing of its washing and inspection activities, and conduct a study to assess and improve its transportation and handling operations.

The civil judicial consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by a court before it becomes final. Each of the two administrative orders are subject to similar but separate 30-day public comment periods before they become final.

More information on the settlement:

www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/mm/doerun.html

WASHINGTON – A Bulgarian national was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for his role as a money launderer for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

 

Georgi Boychev Georgiev, of Sofia, Bulgaria, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman in the District of Columbia. In addition to his prison term, Georgiev was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $161,400 in restitution. Georgiev pleaded guilty on May 13, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Georgiev was extradited from Poland to the United Stated in December 2009. Prior to his extradition, Georgiev was incarcerated for over three years in Poland for related offenses.

 

According to court documents, from approximately May 2006 through October 2006, Georgiev participated in a scheme to post advertisements on eBay and other web sites, fraudulently offering expensive vehicles and boats for sale that the conspirators did not possess. When the U.S. victims expressed interest in the merchandise, they were contacted directly by an e-mail from a purported seller. The victims were then instructed to wire transfer payments through “eBay Secure Traders”—an entity which has no actual affiliation to eBay but was used as a ruse to persuade the victims that they were sending money into a secure escrow account pending delivery and inspection of their purchases. Instead, the victims’ funds were wired directly into bank accounts in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Greece and Poland, which were controlled by Georgiev and his co-conspirators. According to court documents, in less than one year, the criminal conspiracy netted more than $1.2 million from U.S. victims.

 

Georgiev was originally charged on Jan. 9, 2008, along with five additional defendants: Roman Teodor, Georgi Vasilev Pletnyov, Ivaylo Vasilev Pletnyov, Nikolay Georgiev Minchev and Antoaneta Angelova Getova. On Dec. 2, 2009, Ivaylo Vasilev Pletnyov and Nikolay Georgiev Minchev were sentenced to four years and 30 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the money laundering conspiracy. Georgi Vasilev Pletnyov was extradited to the United States from Poland in May 2010. The United States continues to work with foreign counterparts in Romania and Poland regarding the remaining defendants. An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This investigation was conducted by the FBI – Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation (HNBI) Organized Crime Task Force located in Budapest, Hungary (Budapest Task Force). The Budapest Task Force was established by the FBI in April 2000 in an effort to address the increasing threat of Eurasian organized crime groups to the United States. Its objective was to develop cooperation with law enforcement in Central/Eastern Europe, and to identify transnational cases with a nexus to the United States.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Lisa Page of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance on this case.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – En su discurso en el Foro Europeo de Empleo para Infractores, el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder anunció $110 millones de dólares en fondos en el año fiscal 2010 para subsidios para el reingreso a la sociedad de la Ley Segunda Oportunidad y la Iniciativa de Reinversión de Justicia. Estas dos iniciativas se concentran en reducir las tasas de recaída y los gastos estatales y locales en correccionales a través del uso de enfoques inteligentes basados en pruebas implementados por asociados estatales, locales, tribales y sin fines de lucro. La Oficina de Programas Judiciales [Office of Justice Programs (OJP)] del Departamento está administrando los subsidios, investigación, capacitación y asistencia técnica.

"El Departamento de Justicia de hoy se dedica a ser inteligente, y no solo exigente, con respecto a la delincuencia - y nuestra labor de reingreso social no es ninguna excepción", dijo el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Holder. "Es vital que ayudemos a asegurar que las personas que deseen mejorar nuestra sociedad, así como sus propias circunstancias, tengan la oportunidad de crecer, aprender y contribuir. Juntos, creo que podemos hacer realidad nuestra visión compartida de comunidades seguras y prósperas".

De acuerdo con el Buró de Estadísticas Judiciales de la OJP, existen más de 2.3 millones de personas encarceladas en los Estados Unidos. El noventa y nueve por ciento de todas las personas encarceladas hoy eventualmente serán liberadas y regresarán a sus comunidades. La conferencia, del 7-8 de octubre en Washington, D.C. fue convocada por la Red Nacional de Empleos de Transición y el Centro para la Inclusión Económica y Social para discutir pràcticas, políticas y estrategias prometedoras para el reingreso de prisioneros.

"Tenemos la responsabilidad de asociarnos a comunidades para mantener seguro al público y asegurar que los ex transgresores estén plenamente equipados para ser ciudadanos productivos y respetuosos de la ley,” dijo Laurie O. Robinson, Secretaria de Justicia Auxiliar de la OJP, quien también habló en la conferencia. "Esto incluye el apoyo a programas comunitarios exitosos y respaldados por su eficacia comprobada".

Fondos para programas de reingreso

 

La Ley Segunda Oportunidad, administrada por el Buró de Asistencia Judicial [Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)] de la OJP y la Oficina de Justicia y Prevención de la Delincuencia Juveniles, fue diseñada para brindar apoyo a gobiernos estatales, locales y tribales y organizaciones sin fines de lucro en sus iniciativas para proveer una amplia gama de programas de reingreso para adultos y jóvenes. Durante el año fiscal 2010, la OJP otorgó $100 millones de dólares para apoyo a 178 destinatarios de subsidios de la Ley Segunda Oportunidad en todo el país.

Los fondos para programas de reingreso se ocuparán de una serie de áreas, incluidas capacitación para el empleo, educación, programas de mentores, tratamiento para abusos de sustancias y salud mental, servicios familiares, clases de alfabetización, asistencia para la vivienda y para el empleo. Además, estos fondos incluyen $10 millones de dólares a ser otorgados por el Instituto Nacional de Justicia de la OJP para evaluar la eficacia y el impacto de los programas de reingreso. Y $4.6 millones de dólares de los $100 millones se utilizarán para continuar el trabajo del Centro Nacional de Recursos para el reingreso [National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC)], el que brinda información, capacitación y asistencia técnica a funcionarios gubernamentales, profesionales, organizaciones sin fines de lucro e individuos de todo el país. El NRRC también desarrollará una biblioteca de "lo que efectivamente funciona" con respecto al reingreso, la que ofrecerá información actualizada de la que se pueden realizar búsquedas acerca de los programas, las políticas y las prácticas más efectivas para reducir la recaída, aumentar el empleo, reducir el abuso de sustancias y producir otros desenlaces positivos.

Iniciativa de reinversión judicial

Las investigaciones indican que a lo largo de los últimos 20 años, los gastos estatales en correcciones han crecido con mayor rapidez que cualquier otro punto presupuestario estatal, habiendo pasado de $10 billones a más de $50 billones en un año.

 

En la conferencia de hoy, el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Holder destacó la necesidad de invertir más en estrategias eficaces de justicia criminal y correcciones, y anunció el otorgamiento de $10 millones de dólares en fondos del año fiscal 2010 para la ampliación de la Iniciativa de Reinversión Judicial.

Esta iniciativa, lanzada en 2006, es un enfoque impulsado por datos que optimiza la seguridad pública, reduce los gastos en correcciones, y redirige ahorros a estrategias alternativas de justicia criminal que reducen la delincuencia y fortalecen los vecindarios. Este enfoque constituye una iniciativa altamente estratégica en curso en 20 estados, múltiples condados y gobiernos tribales para brindar a formuladores de políticas estatales y locales recursos y herramientas para incrementar la seguridad pública, hacer con que los delincuentes paguen por sus actos, y controlar los costos en correccionales. Los fondos del año fiscal 2010 permitirán a la Iniciativa ampliar la colecta y el análisis de datos de correcciones, delincuencia y recursos de modo a incluir gobiernos estatales, de condados y tribales, así como proveer asistencia técnica para implementar las opciones de políticas identificadas como resultado de dichos análisis.

Solicite información sobre los subsidios otorgados bajo La Ley de Segunda Oportunidad del Año Fiscal 2010 de BJA y subsidios otorgados bajo Mejora de la Justicia Criminal y Reducción de la Recaída a través de la Reinversión en Justicia Estatal, Local y Tribal del Año Fiscal 2010 de BJA en:www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/FY2010_awards_solicitation.htm .

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Nevada officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election. This agreement was necessary to resolve a violation of the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act).

“Our uniformed service members and other overseas citizens deserve to have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the election of our nation’s leaders, and to know that their votes will be counted,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “I am pleased that Nevada officials worked quickly and cooperatively with the department and adopted measures that will ensure the state’s military and overseas voters will have their votes counted in the upcoming election.”

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed service voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad changes to UOCAVA. Among those changes is a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA no later than 45 days before federal elections.

Following inquiries from the department, Nevada reported that due to a ballot printing delay, one of its counties, Elko County, did not send absentee ballots by the 45th day before the general election to its 34 UOCAVA voters who had requested ballots by that date. To address this MOVE Act violation and permit these voters to have a 45-day period to receive, mark and return their ballots, the Nevada Secretary of State adopted an emergency regulation to provide an additional six days, until 5:00 p.m. PDT on November 8, for Elko County’s UOCAVA voters to return their ballots, provided they are executed and sent by Election Day.

The department previously reached agreements with Wisconsin, Alaska, Colorado, District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii; and filed a lawsuit against Guam seeking emergency relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming election. More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.htm . Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaking at the European Offenders Employment Forum today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced $110 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for the Second Chance Act reentry grants and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. These two efforts focus on reducing recidivism rates and state and local spending on corrections through the use of evidence-based, smart-on-crime approaches implemented by state, local, tribal and non-profit partners. The department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is administering the grants, research, and training and technical assistance.

 

“Today’s Department of Justice is dedicated to being smart, not only tough, on crime – and our reentry efforts are no exception,” said Attorney General Holder. “It’s vital that we help ensure that people who want to improve our society, as well as their own circumstances, have opportunities to grow, to learn, and to contribute. By joining together, I believe that we can realize our shared vision of safe, thriving communities.” 

 

According to OJP’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are more than 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States. Ninety-five percent of all people incarcerated today will eventually be released and will return to their communities. The conference, Oct. 7-8 in Washington, D.C., was convened by the National Transitional Jobs Network and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to discuss promising practices, policies, and strategies for prisoner reentry.

 

“We have a responsibility to partner with communities to keep the public safe and to ensure ex-offenders are fully equipped to become productive, law-abiding citizens, ” said Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for OJP, who also spoke at the conference. “This includes supporting community-based programs that are successful, and backed by evidence of effectiveness.”

Funding for Reentry Programs

 

The Second Chance Act, administered by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, is designed to support state, local and tribal governments, and non-profit organizations in their efforts to provide a full range of adult and juvenile reentry programs. During FY 2010, OJP awarded $100 million to support 178 Second Chance Act grantees across the country.

The funding for reentry programs will address a number of areas, including job training, education, mentoring, substance abuse and mental health treatment, family-based services, literacy classes, housing and employment assistance. In addition, this funding includes $10 million that will be awarded by OJP’s National Institute of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of reentry programs. And $4.6 million of the $100 million will be used to continue the work of the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC), which provides information, and training and technical assistance to government officials, practitioners, non-profit organizations, and individuals across the country. The NRRC also will develop a reentry “what works” library that will offer searchable, up-to-date information about the most effective programs, policies, and practices for reducing recidivism, increasing employment, decreasing substance abuse, and producing other positive outcomes.

 

Justice Reinvestment Initiative

Research shows that over the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has grown at a faster rate than nearly any other state budget item, increasing from $10 billion to more than $50 billion a year.

 

At the conference today, Attorney General Holder emphasized the need to invest in more effective criminal justice and corrections strategies and he announced that $10 million in FY 2010 funding had been awarded to expand the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

This initiative, launched in 2006, is a data-driven approach that enhances public safety, reduces corrections spending, and redirects savings to alternative criminal justice strategies that decrease crime and strengthen neighborhoods. This approach is a highly strategic effort underway in 20 states, multiple counties and tribal governments to provide state and local policymakers with the resources and tools to increase public safety, hold offenders accountable, and control corrections costs. The FY 2010 funding will enable the Initiative to expand the collection and analyses of corrections, crime, and resource data to include additional states, counties, and tribal governments, as well as to provide technical assistance to implement the policy options identified as a result of these analyses.

 

Information about the grants awarded under BJA’s FY 2010 Second Chance Act grant solicitation and the grants awarded under BJA’s FY 2010 Criminal Justice Improvement and Recidivism Reduction through State, Local, and Tribal Justice Reinvestment solicitation is available at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/FY2010_awards_solicitation.htm .

WASHINGTON - U.S. Army Major Charles E. Sublett, 46, of Huntsville, Ala., was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for making false statements to a federal agency, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

 

Sublett was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays in Memphis, Tenn. In addition to his prison term, Sublett was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit $107,900 and 17,120,000 Iraqi dinar. Sublett was indicted on Jan. 5, 2010, following his arrest in Huntsville, and pleaded guilty on July 7, 2010. According to the indictment, Sublett smuggled more than $100,000 in currency, concealed in a shipping package, into the United States from Iraq in January 2005.

 

According to court documents, Sublett was deployed to Balad Regional Contracting Center on Logistical Support Area (LSA) Anaconda in Iraq from August 2004 through February 2005. LSA Anaconda is a U.S. military installation that was established in 2003 to support U.S. military operations in Iraq. According to the indictment, Sublett served as a contracting officer while deployed to LSA Anaconda. As a contracting officer, Sublett was responsible for, among other things, evaluating and supervising contracts with companies that provide goods and services to the U.S. Army.

 

Sublett admitted that, on Jan. 11, 2005, he sent a package from Balad, Iraq, to Killeen, Texas, which was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Memphis. Sublett admitted that, on the international air waybill, he falsely described the contents of the package as books, papers, a jewelry box and clothes with a total declared customs value of $140 when, in fact, Sublett knew the package contained $107,900 in U.S. currency and 17,120,000 in Iraqi dinar. Sublett also admitted that he failed to file a currency or monetary instruments transaction report (CMIR) as required by federal law when transporting currency in amounts of more than $10,000 into or out of the United States. During the plea hearing, Sublett admitted to making false claims to investigators regarding his attempt to bring the currency into the United States in an effort to impede their investigation.

This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel A. Petalas and Deputy Chief Justin V. Shur of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. This case was investigated by Army Criminal Investigation Command; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the FBI; Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

WASHINGTON – Jay Lee (aka Michael Smith; John Marks; Ricky Marks; and Anthony Romero) was sentenced today in connection with an odometer tampering scheme that defrauded numerous victims in Wyoming and Colorado, among other places, the Justice Department announced. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne, Wyo., sentenced Lee to a term of 33 months in prison and a term of three years of supervised release during which he cannot be involved in the sale of motor vehicles. The court ordered Lee to pay $195,654.55 in restitution.

     On July 23, 2009, a Casper, Wyo., federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Lee and a co-defendant, Randy Lee, in a 28-count indictment alleging conspiracy, odometer tampering, securities fraud, providing false odometer certifications and mail fraud. Investigators were unable to locate Jay Lee at the time, with the result that Randy Lee proceeded to trial alone. Randy Lee was convicted on Jan. 21, 2010, after a two-week trial, by a federal jury in Cheyenne of 11 felony counts, and is currently serving a 37 month prison sentence. Authorities subsequently located and arrested Jay Lee in Salt Lake City, where he was doing business using the name Michael Smith. On July 29, 2010, Jay Lee pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of mail fraud.

     According to the indictment, the Lees purchased high-mileage, used motor vehicles from various businesses in New Mexico and Wyoming, as well as from a wholesale motor vehicle auction in Loveland, Colo. The Lees were charged with altering the odometers, the motor vehicle titles and sales documentation associated with these vehicle titles in order to reflect a false, lower mileage. As a result, the state of Wyoming issued motor vehicle titles reflecting false, lower mileage, which the Lees knew to be untrue. The defendants then sold the motor vehicles to local consumers, other used motor vehicle dealers, and at wholesale auto auctions. As a result, the Lees received higher sales prices for the vehicles they sold.

     "Fraud schemes like odometer rollbacks cost consumers by de-valuing one of the most important purchases they make: their automobiles. Corrupt dealers who engage in this fraudulent practice steal consumers' hard-earned money, impede intelligent buying choices, and raise safety concerns by misrepresenting the true condition of the vehicles they sell," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "The Justice Department will seek tough and appropriate sentences for those who try to cheat consumers by engaging in this illegal practice."

     Assistant Attorney General West thanked the agencies that worked collaboratively to achieve this result. The underlying investigation was conducted by the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Office of Compliance and Investigation and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Denver. The case was prosecuted by attorneys David Sullivan and Alan Phelps in the Office of Consumer Litigation in the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

WASHINGTON – Jay Lee (alias Michael Smith; John Marks; Ricky Marks; y Anthony Romero) fue sentenciado hoy en conexión con un ardid de alteración de odómetro que defraudó a numerosas víctimas en Wyoming y Colorado, entre otros lugares, anunció el Departamento de Justicia. El Juez Federal de Distrito Alan B. Johnson de Cheyenne, Wyo., sentenció a Lee a 33 meses en prisión y tres años de libertad bajo supervisión, durante los cuales no podrá dedicarse a la venta de vehículos de motor. El tribunal ordenó a Lee que pagara una restitución de $195,654.55 dólares.

     El 23 de julio de 2009, un gran jurado federal en Casper, Wyo. emitió una acusación formal contra Lee y un codemandado Randy Lee, en una acusación formal compuesta por 28 cargos que alegaba conspiración, alteración de odómetros, fraude de valores, provisión de certificaciones de odómetro falsas y fraude postal. Los investigadores no lograron ubicar a Jay Lee en la época y, por lo tanto, Randy Lee fue juzgado solo. Randy Lee fue condenado el 21 de enero de 2010, después de un juicio que duró dos semanas, por un jurado federal en Cheyenne, de 11 cargos de delitos mayores. Actualmente está cumpliendo una sentencia de prisión de 37 meses. Más tarde, las autoridades ubicaron y arrestaron a Jay Lee en Salt Lake City, donde realizaba negocios bajo el nombre Michael Smith. El 29 de julio de 2010, Jay Lee se declaró culpable de un cargo de conspiración y un cargo de fraude postal.

     De acuerdo con la acusación formal, los Lee compraron vehículos de motor usados con alto millaje de diversas empresas en Nuevo México y Wyoming, así como en una subasta mayorista de vehículos de motor en Loveland, Colo. Los Lee fueron acusados de alterar los odómetros, los títulos de los vehículos de motor y la documentación de venta asociada a los títulos de estos vehículos a fin de reflejar un millaje más bajo falso. Como resultado, el estado de Wyoming emitió títulos de motor que reflejaban millajes más bajos falsos, a sabiendas de los Lee. Luego, los demandados vendieron los vehículos a consumidores locales, otros vendedores de vehículos de motor y en subastas mayoristas de automóviles. Como resultado, los Lee recibieron precios de venta más altos por los vehículos que vendieron.

     Los ardides fraudulentos como la alteración de odómetros perjudican a los consumidores al desvalorizar una de las compras más importantes de realizan: sus automóviles. Vendedores corruptos que utilizan prácticas fraudulentas para robarles a los consumidores de su dinero, impiden decisiones de compra inteligentes y crean inquietudes de seguridad al mentir sobre el verdadero estado de los vehículos que venden", dijo Tony West, Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar de la División Civil del Departamento de Justicia. "El Departamento de Justicia pedirá sentencias pesadas y adecuadas para quienes intenten engañar a los consumidores a través de esta práctica ilegal".

     El Secretario de Justicia Auxiliar West agradeció a las dependencias que trabajaron unidas para lograr este resultado. La investigación profunda fue realizada por la Oficina de Cumplimiento e Investigación del Departamento de Transporte de Wyoming y la Administración Nacional de Seguridad de Tráfico de Carreteras del Departamento de Transporte de EE.UU. en Denver. Estuvieron a cargo de la acusación en el caso los abogados David Sullivan y Alan Phelps de la Oficina de Litigios de Consumo de la División Civil del Departamento de Justicia.

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging former Fresno, Calif., Police Department (FPD) Officers Christopher Coleman, 42; Paul Van Dalen, 44; and Sean Plymale, 41; and current FPD Sergeant Michael Manfredi, 50, with civil rights and obstruction of justice offenses related to the assault of a man in their custody in October 2005.

 

Coleman and Van Dalen are each charged with deprivation of rights under color of law. As alleged in the indictment, Coleman used a 12-gauge shotgun to repeatedly shoot the victim with less-lethal ammunition, which consists of a flexible material that is filled with metal shot. Despite its name, less-lethal ammunition can cause death or serious bodily injury. Coleman is also charged with driving a speeding vehicle at the victim, putting him in fear for his life. The indictment further alleges that Van Dalen repeatedly kicked the victim in the side and stepped on his ankle. Plymale and Manfredi are each charged with one count of misprision of a felony for their knowing concealment of the assault carried out by Coleman and Van Dalen. All four defendants also are charged with one count of falsifying an official report to obstruct justice.

 

The case is being investigated by the Fresno Field Office of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Benjamin J. Hawk of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin P. Rooney and Elana S. Landau of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

 

The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

WASHINGTON - Ochenta y nueve agentes de las fuerzas del orden público y 44 otros en Puerto Rico fueron acusados en 26 acusaciones formales reveladas hoy y emitidas por un gran jurado en San Juan, Puerto Rico, durante el mes de septiembre de 2010, anunciaron hoy el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder y la Fiscal Federal Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez del Distrito de Puerto Rico.

Los demandados enfrentan cargos que varían de conspiración para la posesión con intención de distribuir más de cinco kilogramos de cocaína, intento de posesión con intención de distribuir más de cinco kilogramos de cocaína, y uso de un arma de fuego durante la comisión de un delito de narcotráfico. Los delitos de la acusación se refieren a un periodo desde el 26 de julio de 2008 o fecha aproximada hasta el 21 de septiembre de 2010.

Los arrestos de hoy son el resultado de la Operación "Guard Shack", la mayor investigación de corrupción policial de la historia del Buró Federal de Investigaciones [Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)]. Cerca de 750 agentes del FBI fueron enviados a Puerto Rico de distintos puntos del país para ayudar con los arrestos esta mañana. Actualmente 129 se encuentran detenidos y cuatro sujetos están fugitivos.

"El compromiso del Departamento de Justicia de acabar con y erradicar la supuesta corrupción en nuestras fuerzas del orden público nunca ha sido más fuerte", dijo el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder. "Este Departamento tiene un mensaje para cualquiera que esté dispuesto a abusar de la confianza pública por ganancias personales: los atraparemos, los detendremos y serán castigados".

Las acusaciones formales reveladas hoy son el resultado de 125 transacciones de narcotráfico encubiertas llevadas a cabo por el FBI en varias localidades de Puerto Rico de julio de 2008 a septiembre de 2010. La participación de los demandados en las transacciones de narcotráfico consistió en la provisión de protección armada a un narcotraficante durante la venta de múltiples kilos de cocaína. A cambio de sus servicios de seguridad durante las transacciones de narcotráfico encubiertas, los demandados, la mayoría de los cuales son agentes de las fuerzas del orden público, recibieron pagos de entre $500 y $4,500 dólares por transacción.

Los agentes de las fuerzas del orden público acusados formalmente hoy pertenecen a las siguientes dependencias: 60 demandados del Departamento de Policía de Puerto Rico [Puerto Rico Police Department [PRPD]); 16 demandados de diversos departamento de policía municipales; y 12 agentes del Departamento de Correcciones de Puerto Rico. Los restantes demandados incluyen: tres soldados de Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico; dos oficiales del Ejército de EE.UU.; ocho ex agentes de las fuerzas del orden público ; un examinador administrativo de asuntos asociados al mantenimiento de hijos; un empleado de la Administración del Seguro Social; y 30 civiles.

"Estas acusaciones formales demuestran el compromiso del Departamento de Justicia y la Fiscalía Federal en Puerto Rico de erradicar la corrupción en nuestras fuerzas del orden público. No podemos dejar de asombrarnos debido la conducta delictiva revelada hoy de quienes juraron servir y proteger a los ciudadanos de Puerto Rico. El pueblo de Puerto Rico merece y espera mucho más, y hoy transmitimos un mensaje muy claro. Seguiremos trabajando lado a lado con los muchos miembros honestos de las agencias de las fuerzas del orden público de Puerto Rico en nuestra lucha contra el narcotráfico, la delincuencia violenta y la corrupción en la isla", dijo la Fiscal Federal Rodríguez-Vélez.

"La corrupción pública no solo ataca el centro de la buena gobernación. También pone en peligro la seguridad de nuestras comunidades y nuestra nación", dijo el Director Auxiliar Ejecutivo del FBI Shawn Henry, Oficina de Delincuencia, Cibernética, Respuesta y Servicios. "Acaba con la confianza pública y debilita la fuerza de nuestra democracia. El FBI se compromete plenamente a investigar alegatos de corrupción pública y trabajará estrechamente con el Departamento de Justicia en presentar cargos cuando sea necesario".

Los 61 demandados del Departamento de Policía de Puerto Rico sonOmar Pérez Prado; Tte. Ángel Torres Figueroa; Carlos Fontañéz Mercado, alias "Machazo;" Yacira Vélez Miliàn; Heriberto Cruz Vargas alias "Yopi;" Giovanni Cubertier Morales; Armando Valle Vicenty; Melvin Acevedo Hernández; Jeff Marrero Malpica; José Fuentes-Fuentes; Nelson Álvarez Mendoza; Obed Acevedo Ranero; Joel Hernández Hernández; David González Pérez; Israel Rullan Santiago; Eusebio Hernández Nieves; Xavier Álvarez Pérez; Ángel Acevedo Pérez, Ángel Rivera Ortiz, alias "Kento;" Samuel Acevedo Rivera; Pedro A. Morales Cintrón; Michael Forestier Figueroa; Juan Cruz Ramos, alias "Tito K9;" Jorge Rosado García; José R. Sánchez Quiñones; Rafael Figueroa Quiñones; Mayra Jiménez Pacheco; Juan D. Santiago Rosado; Rolando Nieves Valentín; Brenda Acosta Andújar; Javier A. Díaz Castro; Arnold E. Benítez Rivera; Rafael Rodríguez Valentín; Ramón Benítez Falcón; Carlos M. Méndez Pérez; Juan Hernández Vega;  Daviel Salinas Acevedo; Pedro Ayala Rivera; Yamil M. Navedo Ramírez; Ivàn Santiago-Cruz; Daniel E. Ocasio Figueroa; Rafael Bautista Santiago; Isaías Reyes Arroyo; Sgt. Luis E. Pérez Ortiz; Héctor Hernández Aguilar; Karla M. Colón Bracero; Jim Santana Ramírez; Jayson Acevedo; José L. Salva Negrón; Milton L. Martínez Matos; Luis A. González Torres; Miguel Santiago Cordero; Alberto De La Rosa Reyes; José B. Vargas Torres; Héctor López Terrón; Johanna Caraballo López; Silverio Vera Monroy; Juan Jusino Ramos; Raúl Vega Sosa; Jonathan Ortiz Muñiz; y Héctor Olivero Alicea. Ricardo Vázquez (Reclutador del Ejército de EE.UU.); Rafael Ureña Rivera, alias "Indio (ex PRPD);" y William Rivera García (ex funcionario municipal).

Los16 demandados acusados formalmente que son agentes de la policía municipal son:Andy Alejandrino Sánchez; Arcadio Hernández-Soto; Raquel Delgado Marrero; Ángel L. Rivera Claudio; Joel Omar Aldarondo-Montalvo; Neftalí Valentín-Fred; José O. Maldonado García; Luis Joel Avilés Rullan; Mark Anthony Ortiz; Luis Román Herrera; Gabriel Lozada Torres; Onel Saavedra González; Rose M. Serrano Vargas; Wilfredo González Lagares; Francisco J. Riesta Natal; y José Pérez Pérez.

Los 12 demandados acusados formalmente que son agentes del Departamento de Correcciones de Puerto Rico son:Christian Díaz Maldonado; Olvin García Huertas; José L. Román Méndez; Rubén Maldonado Torres; Radamés Cortez Ozoa; Carlos M. Rosado López; Omar Torres Ruperto; Carlos M. Linares Vega; Bernis González Miranda; José R. Bermúdez Quiñones; Joel Díaz Nieves;  y Bernardo Cruz Trujillo.

Los 44 demandados restantesson: Carlos Figueroa Cruz; Anthony Cruz; Miguel Sánchez Román (Ejército de EE.UU., ex Municipal de San Juan); Rodolfo E. Torres Negrón; Melquíades Álvarez Mendoza; Juan Carlos González Ortiz; Nelmic De La Cruz Raposo; Jesús LNU; Axel González Terrón; Juan Cruz Tapia (Oficina del Seguro Social); Edgar Rafael Rivera De Jesús (PRPD retirado); Idanis García Morales (examinador de mantenimiento infantil); Christian Sotomayor Filomeno; Omar Cajigas; Abimael Hernández Rivera; Pedro González-Cruz; Rubín A. Maisonet De Jesús; Wayne  Cedeño Amador; Josué Ramírez González; Oscar E. Ramos Rodríguez; Antonio L. Román Reyes; Yancy Toro Espiet; Alex O. Cordero Cortez, alias "Omar De La Cruz;" Luis Vélez-Concepción; Billy Hernández; Edward Quiñones (ex PRPD); Christian A. Núñez-Reverón, alias "Kelvin Núñez," Roberto Molina (PRPD retirado); Francisco Manzano López (PRPD retirado); Abraham Sánchez (Guardia Nacional);  Héctor Hernández-Aldarondo; Rafael E. Pérez Rivera; Sargento Abraham González Sánchez (Guardia Nacional); Wendell Rivera Ruperto, alias "Arsenio Rivera," (ex Departamento de Correcciones de PR); David Maldonado (Guardia Nacional); Juan C. Ramos-Vargas, alias "Joseph Avilés;" Frederick Santos Ortiz, alias "Roberto Ortega;" Yoana Sierra Padilla (ex PRPD); Julio Gómez-Lloréns; Ricardo Amaro-Santiago; Eliezer Pagán Medina; y el Sargento Ricardo Vàzquez (reclutador del Ejército de EE.UU.).

Si se les condena, los demandados enfrentan sentencias de entre 10 años y prisión perpetua.

Están a cargo de la acusación en el caso las Fiscales Federales Auxiliares Courtney Coker y Jacqueline Novas. El caso está siendo investigado por la Oficina Local de San Juan del FBI.

Una acusación formal es apenas una acusación de conducta delictiva y no prueba de la misma. Se supone que un demandado es inocente hasta ser condenado a través de debido proceso de la ley.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Guam and its election officials seeking emergency relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election.

 

The lawsuit, brought under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), was filed in federal district court in Hagatna, Guam. The department also filed a motion for emergency relief seeking additional time – until Nov. 15, 2010, – for receipt of absentee ballots to ensure eligible military and overseas voters have sufficient time to receive, cast and return their ballots and to have their votes counted. The suit also requests an order requiring Guam officials to take steps to ensure that military and overseas voters have the option of receiving their blank absentee ballots by email.

“Our uniformed service members and other overseas citizens deserve a meaningful opportunity to participate in the elections of our nation’s leaders,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “This suit seeks both immediate and permanent relief to ensure that Guam’s military and overseas voters, many of whom are members of our armed forces and their families serving our country around the world, will have their votes counted in the upcoming, and future, federal elections.”

UOCAVA requires states to allow uniformed service voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and their families and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA. Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections.

 

The action was necessary because Guam failed to mail ballots to its military and overseas citizens until between Sept. 27, 2010, and Oct. 1, 2010, well beyond UOCAVA’s deadline of Sept. 18, 2010, the 45th day before this year’s general election. Guam also did not timely establish procedures to offer voters the option of receiving their ballots electronically. The requested extension of the deadline for counting UOCAVA ballots will ensure military and overseas voters have a 45-day period to receive, mark and return their ballots.

 

More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.htm . Complaints may be reported to the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

WASHINGTON – Eighty-nine law enforcement officers and 44 others in Puerto Rico have been charged in 26 indictments unsealed today and returned by a grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the month of September 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico announced today.

The defendants face charges ranging from conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, attempt to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, and use of a firearm during the commission of a drug trafficking offense. The offenses charged cover a period from in or about July 26, 2008 until Sept. 21, 2010.

The arrests today are the result of Operation Guard Shack, the largest police corruption investigation in the history of the FBI. Close to 750 FBI agents were flown in to Puerto Rico from across the country to assist in the arrests early this morning. Currently 129 individuals are in custody and four subjects remain at-large.

 

"The Justice Department’s commitment to rooting out and eradicating alleged corruption in our law enforcement ranks has never been stronger," said Attorney General Eric Holder.  "This department has one message for anyone willing to abuse the public trust for personal gain: you will be caught, you will be stopped and you will be punished."

The indictments unsealed today are the result of 125 undercover drug transactions conducted by the FBI in several locations in Puerto Rico, from July 2008 until September 2010.  The defendants’ participation in the drug transactions consisted of providing armed protection to a drug dealer during the sale of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine.  In exchange for their security services during the undercover drug transactions, the defendants, a majority of whom are law enforcement officers, received payments ranging from $500 to $4,500 per transaction. 

The law enforcement officers indicted today are from the following agencies: 60 defendants from the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD); 16 defendants from various municipal police departments; and 12 officers from the Puerto Rico Corrections Department. The remaining defendants include: three Puerto Rico National Guard soldiers; two U.S. Army officers; eight former law enforcement officers ; one administrative examiner in child support matters; one employee from the Social Security Administration; and 30 civilians.

"These indictments demonstrate the commitment of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico to eradicate corruption in our law enforcement ranks. We cannot help but be appalled at the criminal conduct charged today against those who have sworn to serve and protect the citizens of Puerto Rico.  The people of Puerto Rico deserve and expect better, and today we send a clear message. We will continue working side by side with the many honest members of Puerto Rico’s law enforcement agencies in our fight against drug trafficking, violent crime and corruption in the island," said U.S. Attorney Rodríguez-Vélez.

 "Public corruption does not just strike at the heart of good government. It also jeopardizes the security of our communities and our nation," said FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry, Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.  "It erodes public confidence and undermines the strength of our democracy.  The FBI is fully committed to pursuing allegations of public corruption and we will work closely with the Department of Justice to bring charges when necessary." 

The 61 indicted defendants from the Puerto Rico Police Department areOmar Pérez Prado; Lt. Ángel Torres Figueroa; Carlos Fontanez Mercado, aka "Machazo;" Yacira Vélez Milian; Heriberto Cruz Vargas aka "Yopi;" Giovanni Cubertier Morales; Armando Valle Vicenty; Melvin Acevedo Hernández; Jeff Marrero Malpica; José Fuentes-Fuentes; Nelson Álvarez Mendoza; Obed Acevedo Ranero; Joel Hernández Hernández; David González Pérez; Israel Rullan Santiago; Eusebio Hernández Nieves; Xavier Álvarez Pérez; Ángel Acevedo Pérez, Ángel Rivera Ortiz, aka "Kento;" Samuel Acevedo Rivera; Pedro A. Morales Cintrón; Michael Forestier Figueroa; Juan Cruz Ramos, aka "Tito K9;" Jorge Rosado García; José R. Sánchez Quiñones; Rafael Figueroa Quiñones; Mayra Jiménez Pacheco; Juan D. Santiago Rosado; Rolando Nieves Valentin; Brenda Acosta Andújar; Javier A. Díaz Castro; Arnold E. Benítez Rivera; Rafael Rodríguez Valentin; Ramón Benítez Falcón; Carlos M. Méndez Pérez; Juan Hernández Vega;  Daviel Salinas Acevedo; Pedro Ayala Rivera; Yamil M. Navedo Ramírez; Ivan Santiago-Cruz; Daniel E. Ocasio Figueroa; Rafael Bautista Santiago; Isaías Reyes Arroyo; Sgt. Luis E. Pérez Ortiz; Hector Hernández Aguilar; Karla M. Colón Bracero; Jim Santana Ramírez; Jayson Acevedo; José L. Salva Negrón; Milton L. Martínez Matos; Luis A. González Torres; Miguel Santiago Cordero; Alberto De La Rosa Reyes; José B. Vargas Torres; Hector López Terrón; Johanna Caraballo López; Silverio Vera Monroy; Juan Jusino Ramos; Raúl Vega Sosa; Jonathan Ortiz Muñiz; and Hector Olivero Alicea. Ricardo Vázquez (U.S. Army Recruiter); Rafael Ureña Rivera, aka "Indio (former PRPD);" and William Rivera García (former municipal officer).

 

The16 indicted defendants who are municipal police officers are:Andy Alejandrino Sánchez; Arcadio Hernández-Soto; Raquel Delgado Marrero; Ángel L. Rivera Claudio; Joel Omar Aldarondo-Montalvo; Neftali Valentin-Fred; José O. Maldonado García; Luis Joel Avilés Rullan; Mark Anthony Ortiz; Luis Román Herrera; Gabriel Lozada Torres; Onel Saavedra González; Rose M. Serrano Vargas; Wilfredo González Lagares; Francisco J. Riesta Natal; and Jose Pérez Pérez.

The 12 indicted defendants who are officers in the Puerto Rico Corrections Department are:Christian Díaz Maldonado; Olvin García Huertas; José L. Román Méndez; Ruben Maldonado Torres; Radamés Cortez Ozoa; Carlos M. Rosado López; Omar Torres Ruperto; Carlos M. Linares Vega; Bernis González Miranda; José R. Bermúdez Quiñones; Joel Díaz Nieves;  and Bernardo Cruz Trujillo.

 

The remaining 44defendants are: Carlos Figueroa Cruz; Anthony Cruz; Miguel Sánchez Román (U.S. Army, former San Juan Municipal); Rodolfo E. Torres Negrón; Melquiades Álvarez Mendoza; Juan Carlos González Ortiz; Nelmic De La Cruz Raposo; Jesús LNU; Axel González Terron; Juan Cruz Tapia (Social Security Office); Edgar Rafael Rivera De Jesús (retired PRPD); Idanis García Morales (child support examiner); Christian Sotomayor Filomeno; Omar Cajigas; Abimael Hernández Rivera; Pedro González-Cruz; Rubin A. Maisonet De Jesús;Wayne Cedeño Amador; Josué Ramírez González; Oscar E. Ramos Rodríguez; Antonio L. Román Reyes; Yancy Toro Espiet; Alex O. Cordero Cortez, aka "Omar De La Cruz;" Luis Vélez-Concepción; Billy Hernández; Edward Quiñones (former PRPD); Christian A. Núñez-Reverón, aka "Kelvin Nuñez," Roberto Molina (retired PRPD); Francisco Manzano López (former PRPD); Abraham Sánchez (National Guard);  Hector Hernández-Aldarondo; Rafael E. Pérez Rivera; Sgt. Abraham González Sánchez (National Guard); Wendell Rivera Ruperto, aka "Arsenio Rivera," (former PR Department of Corrections); David Maldonado (National Guard); Juan C. Ramos-Vargas, aka "Joseph Avilés;" Frederick Santos Ortiz, aka "Roberto Ortega;" Yoana Sierra Padilla (former PRPD); Julio Gómez-Lloréns; Ricardo Amaro-Santiago; Eliezer Pagán Medina; and Sgt.

If convicted the defendants are facing sentences ranging from 10 years, up to life in prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Courtney Coker and Jacqueline Novas.  The case is being investigated by the FBI San Juan Field Office.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

WASHINGTON – Mamadou Sadio Barry and Moussa Baradji were convicted today for their involvement in a counterfeit DVD and CD ring, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates for the Northern District of Georgia.

After six days of trial and two hours of deliberation, a federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia found Sadio Barry and Baradji each guilty of two counts of criminal copyright infringement. On May 19, 2009, a federal grand jury indicted Sadio Barry, Baradji and 11 other defendants allegedly involved in the counterfeit ring, charging them with various copyright, trademark and counterfeit labels offenses.

The evidence at trial established that Baradji and Sadio Barry used space in warehouses located on Metropolitan Parkway in Atlanta to "burn" or copy DVDs and CDs. According to evidence at trial, Baradji and Sadio Barry produced and paid others to produce counterfeit labels and packaging and to assemble the final product, which Baradji and Sadio Barry sold through their retail stores. According to the evidence at trial, the defendants’ warehouse operation reproduced thousands of CDs and DVDs per week for distribution. The retail value of the corresponding authentic CDs and DVDs is at least $12 per CD and $19 per DVD.

The criminal copyright infringement charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison per count. In addition, the defendants could be fined up to $250,000 on each count. Sentencing hearings have not yet been scheduled.

Six of the defendants charged in the May 2009 indictment have pleaded guilty and one defendant is scheduled to begin trial in 2011. Two defendants, Alphadio Bah and Mamadou Simakha, are fugitives. The charges against two defendants who were on trial with Barry and Baradji, Sulaiman Jalloh and Bademba Barry, were dismissed by the court during trial. The jury acquitted a fifth defendant, Oumar Diallo, who was charged with trafficking in counterfeit labels for copyrighted materials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pearce in the Northern District of Georgia and Senior Counsel John H. Zacharia of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. The case was investigated by special agents of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, together with officers of the Atlanta Police Department Organized Crime Unit, College Park Police Department, and East Point Police Department. Assistance was provided by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.  

WASHINGTON – At the direction of President Obama, the Departments of Justice and Education officially launched the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (the forum) along with participating localities and other federal agencies. The administration created the forum as a context for participating localities to share challenges and promising strategies with each other and to explore how federal agencies can better support local efforts.

At a working session on Monday and Tuesday, teams from the cities of Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Tenn., Salinas, Calif. and San Jose, Calif., met with federal agencies and each other to share information and experience about what works in preventing youth and gang violence. Participating cities have pledged to develop or enhance comprehensive plans to prevent youth and gang violence in their city, using multi-disciplinary partnerships, balanced approaches and data-driven strategies. The cities’ comprehensive plans will be presented at a Youth Violence Summit to be held in Washington, D.C., next spring. These plans will aim to reduce violence, improve opportunities for youth, and encourage innovation at the local and federal levels.

"Our effort to combat youth violence isn’t about federally-imposed fixes, it’s about changing the way we do business on this critical public safety issue," said Attorney General Eric Holder, who met with the forum today. "We must come together to share knowledge and experience about what works, creating networks of local law enforcement agencies, educators, public health providers, community and faith-based organizations, parents and kids to stand together in the fight against youth and gang violence. This administration will continue to do what it takes to reclaim our communities and our youth from crime and violence. The lives of our nation’s children are at stake."

"We know that if children aren’t safe, then they can’t learn," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who met with the forum on Monday. "We all have a stake in public safety and a responsibility to keep our children out of harm’s way. This administration is committed to working with community and school leaders to identify core causes of crime and violence in and around our schools and to build the most effective solutions. This forum is an opportunity to better learn how we can provide the tools and resources that communities, administrators, teachers, parents and students need to keep our children safe."

"This forum provides not only an occasion for the federal government to assist cities, but also a platform for the cities to learn from one another," said White House Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes. "The agencies’ efforts here illustrate the administration’s commitment to address the complex and urgent problem of youth violence with innovation, coordination, and hands-on hard work."

Participating cities were selected on the basis of need, geographic diversity, and willingness and capacity to engage. Along with Justice and Education, participating federal agencies include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

WASHINGTON – Por pedido del Presidente Obama, los Departamentos de Justicia y Educación lanzaron oficialmente el Foro Nacional sobre Prevención de Violencia Juvenil (el foro) junto con localidades participantes y otras agencias federales. El gobierno creó el foro como un contexto en el cual las localidades participantes puedan compartir desafíos y estrategias prometedoras entre sí y explorar cómo pueden hacer las agencias federales para apoyar iniciativas locales.

En una sesión de trabajo el lunes y martes, equipos de las ciudades de Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Tenn., Salinas, Calif. y San José, Calif., se reunieron con agencias federales y entre sí para compartir información y experiencias sobre medidas efectivas en la prevención de la violencia juvenil y de pandillas. Las ciudades participantes han prometido desarrollar o mejorar planes integrales para prevenir violencia juvenil y de pandillas usando asociaciones multidisciplinarias, enfoques equilibrados y estrategias basadas en los datos. Los planes integrales de las ciudades serán presentados en la Cumbre de Violencia Juvenil que se realizará la próxima primavera en Washington, D.C. Estos planes se dedicarán a reducir la violencia, mejorar las oportunidades para los jóvenes y fomentar la innovación a nivel local y federal.

"Nuestra labor de lucha contra la violencia juvenil no se trata de soluciones impuestas a nivel federal, sino de cambiar la manera en que hacemos las cosas en este tema crucial de seguridad pública", dijo el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder, que se reunió hoy con el foro. "Debemos reunirnos para compartir conocimientos y experiencias sobre lo que funciona, crear redes de agencias locales de las fuerzas del orden público, educadores, proveedores de salud pública, organizaciones comunitarias y religiosas, padres y niños para unirnos en la lucha contra la violencia juvenil y de pandillas. Este gobierno seguirá haciendo todo lo que sea necesario para recuperar a nuestras comunidades y nuestros jóvenes de las manos de la delincuencia y la violencia. Está en juego la vida de los menores de nuestro país".

"Sabemos que si los niños no están seguros, no pueden aprender", dijo el Secretario de Educación Arne Duncan, quien se reunió con el foro el lunes. "Todos contribuimos a la seguridad pública y tenemos la responsabilidad de mantener fuera de peligro a nuestros niños. Este gobierno está comprometido a trabajar con líderes comunitarios y escolares para identificar las principales causas del delito y la violencia dentro de nuestras escuelas y en sus alrededores e idear las soluciones más eficaces. Este foro es una oportunidad de aprender mejores maneras de brindar las herramientas y recursos que las comunidades, los administradores, los maestros, los padres y los estudiantes necesitan para mantener seguros a los niños".

"Este foro no solo le da la oportunidad al gobierno federal de ayudar a las ciudades, sino que también les da a las ciudades una plataforma para aprender las unas de las otras", dijo la Asesora de Política Interna de la Casa Blanca Melody Barnes. "La labor de las agencias aquí demuestra el compromiso del gobierno de tratar el problema complejo y urgente de la violencia juvenil con innovación, coordinación y trabajo duro en el campo".

Las ciudades participantes fueron seleccionadas con base en la necesidad, diversidad geográfica y voluntad y capacidad de participar. Junto con los Departamentos de Justicia y Educación, las agencias federales participantes incluyen los Departamentos de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, y Trabajo, y la Oficina de Política Nacional de Control de Drogas.

WASHINGTON – A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced

Medical doctor Dahlia V. Kirkpatrick and Emmanuel M. Komandu each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson in the Middle District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  At sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2011, Kirkpatrick and Emmanuel each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine equal to the greater of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss to the United States resulting from the offense.

According to plea documents, Kirkpatrick began working with Komandu in or around January 2005. Komandu was the owner and operator of Alpha Medical Solutions Inc., a purported DME supplier based in Baker, La. Alpha purportedly specialized in the provision of power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and feeding nutrients to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.

According to court documents, from approximately January 2005 through February 2010, Komandu and Kirkpatrick submitted and caused the submission, on behalf of Alpha, of approximately $775,019 in fraudulent claims to the Medicare program. The majority of Alpha' s fraudulent claims were based on prescriptions for medically unnecessary DME that were written and provided by Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick wrote prescriptions for medically unnecessary DME, such as power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and feeding nutrients. Medicare paid $302,811 to Alpha based on these fraudulent claims.

This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys O. Benton Curtis III and Sarah M. Hall of the Criminal Division' s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and the Louisiana Attorney General' s Office.  The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division' s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney' s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 810 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion. In addition, HHS' s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to:www.stopmedicarefraud.gov

WASHINGTON – The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company was sentenced to 46 months in prison today in connection with a power wheelchair scheme to defraud Medicare, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

Sylvester Ijewere, 49, was also ordered to pay $211,755 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer of the Central District of California. In addition, Ijewere was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Ijewere pleaded guilty on April 12, 2010, to health care fraud. Ijewere, the owner of Maydads Medical Supply, admitted that between June 2007 and October 2009, he conspired with others to purchase fraudulent prescriptions and medical documents which he used to submit false claims to Medicare for expensive, high-end power wheelchairs, and other DME. Ijewere received approximately $4,000 in reimbursement payments for each power wheelchair claim he submitted to Medicare. Approximately 50 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries to whom Ijewere claimed Maydads had supplied power wheelchairs and other equipment lived more than 100 miles from Maydads’ Los Angeles-area offices in Central and Northern California.

As a result of this scheme, Ijewere admitted that he submitted or caused the submission of approximately $471,345 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through Maydads.

Ijewere’s co-conspirator, Donna Wells, a patient recruiter, was charged for her role in the scheme in October 2009, and is scheduled to begin trial on Nov. 9, 2010.

Today’s sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. for the Central District of California; Tony Sidley, Assistant Chief of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (CAL-DOJ); Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent-in-Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for HHS (HHS-OIG); and Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry C. O’Neill of the Central District of California. The case is being investigated by CAL-DOJ . The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in seven districts have obtained indictments of more than 810 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $1.85 billion. In addition, HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) , go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov

 

 

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging rules that American Express, MasterCard and Visa have in place that prevent merchants from offering consumers discounts, rewards and information about card costs, ultimately resulting in consumers paying more for their purchases. The department also said that the rules increase merchants’ costs of doing business. Joining the department in its lawsuit are the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas.

 

At the same time, the department announced that it has reached a proposed settlement with Visa and MasterCard, that, if approved by the court, would require the two companies to allow merchants to offer discounts, incentives, and information to consumers to encourage the use of payment methods that are less costly.

 

According to the complaint, American Express, MasterCard and Visa maintain rules that prohibit merchants from encouraging consumers to use lower-cost payment methods when making purchases. For example, the rules prohibit merchants from offering discounts or other incentives to consumers in order to encourage them to pay with credit cards that cost the merchant less to accept.

 

“With today’s lawsuit we are sending a clear message: We will not tolerate anticompetitive practices,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “We want to put more money in consumers’ pockets, and by eliminating credit card companies’ anticompetitive rules, we will accomplish that.”

 

“These restrictive rules restrain competition among credit card networks for merchant acceptance and distort the competitive process,” said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The proposed settlement with MasterCard and Visa is an important step in bringing more credit card competition to the point of sale. The department’s lawsuit against American Express will continue that effort and, if successful, allow merchants more freedom to benefit their customers.”

 

Credit card acceptance costs U.S. merchants approximately $35 billion each year. Those costs are collected from merchants in the form of a “swipe fee” they pay every time a credit card is used. American Express has the highest merchant fees of any credit card network. Merchants pass on these billions of dollars in fees to all their consumers in the form of higher retail prices. By preventing merchants from rewarding consumers when they use less expensive credit cards to make a purchase, American Express, MasterCard and Visa have inhibited merchants’ ability to reduce card acceptance costs, and therefore their retail prices to consumers.

 

The proposed settlement requires MasterCard and Visa to allow their merchants to:

 

• Offer consumers an immediate discount or rebate or a free or discounted product or service for using a particular credit card network, low-cost card within that network or other form of payment; 
• Express a preference for the use of a particular credit card network, low-cost card within that network or other form of payment;
• Promote a particular credit card network, low-cost card within that network or other form of payment through posted information or other communications to consumers; and
• Communicate to consumers the cost incurred by the merchant when a consumer uses a particular credit card network, type of card within that network, or other form of payment.

The proposed settlement allows any merchant that only accepts Visa and MasterCard to take advantage of the relief immediately.

 

The ongoing litigation against American Express seeks to allow merchants that accept American Express to engage in the same kind of discounting and encouragement that the proposed settlement with MasterCard and Visa allows. Until American Express’s restraints on merchants are lifted, the many merchants that accept American Express, as well as Visa and MasterCard, will not be able to take full advantage of their new options under the proposed settlement, the department said.

 

American Express Company, the parent of American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc., is a New York corporation, with its principal place of business in New York City. Cardholders used American Express credit and charge cards for $419.8 billion in purchases in 2009. MasterCard is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Purchase, New York. Cardholders used MasterCard credit and charge cards for $476.9 billion in purchases in 2009. Visa is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Francisco. Cardholders used Visa credit and charge cards for $764.2 billion in purchases in 2009.

 

The proposed settlement, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in The Federal Register, as required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to John R. Read, Chief, Litigation III Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street N.W., Suite 4000, Washington D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment as to MasterCard and Visa only upon a finding that it serves the public interest.

 

The court will determine a pretrial schedule for the case against American Express once American Express files its response to the government’s lawsuit.

WASHINGTON — El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que presentó una demanda civil antimonopolio en el Tribunal Federal de Distrito para el Distrito Este de Nueva York contra normas que implementan American Express, MasterCard y Visa que evitan que los vendedores les ofrezcan descuentos, recompensas e información sobre costos de las tarjetas a los consumidores, lo que genera que los consumidores paguen más por sus compras. El departamento también dijo que las normas incrementan los costos comerciales de los vendedores. Los estados de Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio y Texas se unen a la demanda del departamento.

Al mismo tiempo, el Departamento anunció que ha llegado a una propuesta de acuerdo conciliatorio con Visa y MasterCard que, de ser aprobada por el tribunal, exigirá que las dos empresas permitan a los vendedores ofrecer descuentos, incentivos e información a los consumidores para fomentar el uso de métodos de pago que resultan menos costosos.

Según la demanda, American Express, MasterCard y Visa mantienen normas que prohíben a los vendedores alentar a los consumidores a usar métodos de pago de menor costo al hacer compras. Por ejemplo, las normas prohíben a los vendedores ofrecer descuentos u otros incentivos a los consumidores para alentarlos a pagar con tarjetas de crédito que le cuestan menos al vendedor.

“Con la demanda de hoy enviamos un mensaje muy claro: no toleraremos prácticas anticompetitivas”, dijo el Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder. “Queremos que los consumidores tengan más dinero en los bolsillos y, al eliminar las normas anticompetitivas de las tarjetas de crédito, lo lograremos”.

“Estas normas restrictivas restringen la competencia entre redes de tarjetas de crédito por la aceptación de los vendedores y distorsionan el proceso competitivo”, dijo Christine Varney, Secretaria de Justicia Auxiliar a cargo de la División Antimonopolios del Departamento de Justicia. “El acuerdo conciliatorio propuesto con MasterCard y Visa es un paso importante para lograr más competencia entre tarjetas de crédito en el punto de venta. La demanda del Departamento contra American Express continuará con esa labor y, si es exitosa, les dará más libertad a los vendedores de beneficiar a sus clientes”.

Los gastos de aceptación de tarjetas de crédito les cuestan a los vendedores estadounidenses alrededor de $35,000 millones de dólares al año. Esos costos son cobrados a los vendedores mediante una “tarifa por pasada” que pagan cada vez que se usa una tarjeta de crédito. American Express tiene las tarifas más altas para vendedores de cualquier red de tarjetas de crédito. Los vendedores trasladan estos miles de millones de dólares en tarifas a todos sus consumidores a través de precios minoristas más altos. Al evitar que los vendedores recompensen a los clientes cuando usan tarjetas de crédito menos costosas para realizar compras, American Express, MasterCard y Visa han coartado la capacidad de los vendedores de reducir los costos de aceptación de tarjetas y, por consiguiente, sus precios minoristas para los consumidores.

El acuerdo conciliatorio propuesto exige que MasterCard y Visa permitan que sus vendedores:

WASHINGTON – Elden Ray Cibart, 61, of Redding, Calif., was sentenced today to 60 months in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for possession and receipt of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California.

Cibart was convicted on Jan. 29, 2010, of one count of possession of child pornography and three counts of receipt of child pornography, after an eight-day bench trial presided by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California. The evidence introduced at trial showed that, beginning before 2001, Cibart downloaded and saved to his computers images and videos of child pornography from Internet news groups. On Jan. 18, 2006, after receiving information about Cibart’s activity, Redding police officers went to Cibart’s home to investigate. Police searched one of Cibart’s computers and found child pornography.

At sentencing, two witnesses testified that Cibart had previously molested them when they were young boys.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park of CEOS and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel White of the Eastern District of California. The case was investigated by the Redding Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations, and CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit.