District Not Recorded

WASHINGTON - The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Dr. Najam Azmat and the Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga., the Justice Department announced today. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, alleges that the defendants submitted false or fraudulent claims to federal health care programs, such as Medicare. Specifically, the United States contends that certain operative procedures performed by Dr. Azmat at Satilla, and hospital services provided by Satilla in connection with those procedures, were not reasonable and necessary, were incompatible with standards of acceptable medical practice, and were of no medical value. The United States further alleges that the defendants’ misconduct endangered the lives of federal health care program beneficiaries.

The government’s complaint alleges that in the Spring of 2005, Satilla recruited Dr. Azmat, a general surgeon by training, to relocate to Waycross and join the hospital’s medical staff. Shortly after Dr. Azmat came aboard, Satilla allowed him to begin performing endovascular procedures – highly specialized operative procedures that require formal training – in Satilla’s Heart Center cath lab. Satilla did so despite the fact that Dr. Azmat lacked training to perform such procedures, was not qualified or competent to perform such procedures, had never performed such procedures before at any of the hospitals where he had been on staff, and did not even have privileges at Satilla to perform such procedures.

The complaint further alleges that it was obvious to the cath lab nursing staff that Dr. Azmat was not qualified or competent to perform endovascular procedures. The nurses repeatedly voiced their concerns to Satilla’s management, but the hospital took no formal action for at least five months, during which patients were seriously injured and one patient died from hemorrhagic shock following an endovascular procedure during which Dr. Azmat perforated her renal artery. The complaint also states that not only did Satilla’s management ignore its nurses’ concerns for several months, but it also performed no formal oversight of Dr. Azmat, categorically excluding all of his endovascular procedures from Satilla’s peer review process.

"When health care providers cut corners by allowing unqualified doctors to perform complicated medical procedures, patients suffer," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "Here, we allege individuals were endangered because of these defendants. The seriousness of this case illustrates why we remain committed to protecting patient safety and the integrity of our federal health care programs by aggressively enforcing our health care fraud laws."

"The filing of this complaint is but one example of the willingness of the Department of Justice to take action to protect the health and safety of the American people. The United States Attorney’s Office will take the necessary legal actions to comply with our vigorous enforcement responsibilities under the False Claims Act," said Edward Tarver, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia .

This lawsuit was originally filed by Lana Rogers, a nurse who formerly worked in Satilla’s Heart Center. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, a private citizen can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. In April of this year, the United States intervened in the lawsuit, and today filed its own complaint. Under the False Claims Act, the government may recover up to three times the amount of its losses, plus civil penalties based on the number of false claims filed.

The suit is entitled United States ex rel. Lana Rogers v. Najam Azmat, M.D. and Satilla Health Services Inc., dba Satilla Regional Medical Center.

The United States’ intervention is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover approximately $3 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 have topped $4 billion.

WASHINGTON — Three former financial services executives were indicted today for their participation in fraud schemes and conspiracies related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts, the Department of Justice announced.

The 12-count indictment was filed today in U.S. District Court in New York City. The indictment charges Dominick P. Carollo, Steven E. Goldberg and Peter S. Grimm, all former executives at financial service companies or financial institutions, with participating in wire fraud schemes and separate fraud conspiracies at various time periods from as early as 1999 until 2006.

The charged conspiracies and schemes all relate to the provision of a type of contract, known as an investment agreement, to public entities, such as state, county and local governments and agencies throughout the United States. Major financial institutions, including banks, investment banks, insurance companies and financial services companies, are among the providers of investment agreements and other related municipal finance contracts. Public entities seek to invest money from a variety of sources, primarily the proceeds of municipal bonds that they issued to raise money for, among other things, public projects. Public entities typically hire a broker to conduct a competitive bidding process among various providers for the award of an investment agreement to invest such money. Competitive bidding for these agreements is the subject of regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is related to the tax-exempt status of the bonds. The companies that employed Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm all marketed financial products and services, including services as a provider of investment agreements.

"The individuals charged today allegedly participated in complex fraud schemes and conspiracies to manipulate what was supposed to be a competitive process," said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. "The Antitrust Division has previously indicted several individuals and their employer in this matter. Our investigation is ongoing and we will continue to prosecute those who engage in such illegal and anticompetitive behavior."

The indictment charges that Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm conspired with various brokers to attempt to increase the number and profitability of investment agreements and other municipal finance contracts awarded to the provider companies where they were employed. According to court documents, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Rubin/Chambers, Dunhill Insurance Services Inc., also known as CDR Financial Products, was one of the co-conspirator brokers. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm obtained from CDR and other co-conspirator brokers information about the prices, price levels or conditions in competing providers’ bids, a practice known as a "last look," which is explicitly prohibited by U.S. Treasury regulations. As a result of the information, various providers won investment agreements and other municipal finance contracts at artificially determined price levels. In exchange for this information, Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm submitted intentionally losing bids for certain investment agreements and other contracts when requested, and, on occasion, agreed to pay or arranged for kickbacks to be paid to CDR and other co-conspirator brokers.

The indictment also alleges that Carollo, Goldberg, Grimm and co-conspirators misrepresented to municipal issuers or bond counsel that the bidding process was in compliance with U.S. Treasury regulations. This caused the municipal issuers to award investment agreements and other municipal finance contracts to providers that otherwise would not have been awarded the contracts if the issuers had true and accurate information regarding the bidding process. Such conduct placed the tax-exempt status of the underlying bonds in jeopardy.

According to court documents, the efforts by Carollo, Goldberg, Grimm and their co-conspirators to control and manipulate the bidding for investment contracts, and the execution of a variety of certifications that covered up their scheme, also obstructed the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) ability to monitor compliance with U.S. Treasury regulations and impeded the IRS’s ability to determine whether municipal issuers had correctly accounted for any money that was owed to the U.S. Treasury.

"The elaborate schemes outlined in the indictment boil down to efforts by these defendants to subvert the competitive bidding process for investment agreements. In the process, they defrauded public entities – and therefore, the public – and put bondholders at risk," said FBI Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos. "The FBI will continue to work with the Antitrust Division to ensure the integrity of competitive bidding in public finance."

"This case demonstrates the value of a coordinated approach by multiple agencies and law enforcement authorities," said IRS Special Agent in Charge Charles R. Pine. "IRS Criminal Investigation contributed to this joint effort by providing financial investigative expertise to uncover this complex and sophisticated scheme. Professionals, including financial service executives, should know we will devote all resources necessary to bring to justice those who commit financial crimes."

The fraud conspiracies with which Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm are charged each carry a maximum penalty per count of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty per count of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Goldberg is charged with eight counts of conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud, Grimm is charged with five counts of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud, and Carollo is charged with four counts of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. The maximum fines for each of these offenses may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The charges announced today resulted from an ongoing investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division’s New York Field Office, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. The division is coordinating its investigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. To date, four individuals have pleaded guilty in relation to this investigation. In addition, on Oct. 29, 2009, CDR, two of its employees and one former employee were indicted and charged with participating in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies and related crimes. The CDR trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 12, 2011.

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

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging and related offenses in any financial markets should contact the Antitrust Division’s New York Field Office at 212-264-0390 or the FBI at 212-384-5000.

WASHINGTON – Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. today formally imposed the federal death penalty sentence on Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, aka "Wizard," announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina. A 12-person federal jury in Charlotte, N.C., voted unanimously on April 28, 2010, to impose the death penalty against Umana after convicting him on April 19, 2010, on charges related to the murders on Dec. 8, 2007, of Ruben Garcia Salinas and his brother, Manuel Garcia Salinas. Umana is the first La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 member in the United States to receive the federal death penalty.

Umana, 25, of Charlotte, was convicted by the jury on all charged counts, including conspiracy to participate in racketeering; two counts of murder in aid of the racketeering enterprise known as MS-13; two counts of murder resulting from the use of a gun in a violent crime; possession of a firearm by an illegal alien; one count of extortion; and two criminal counts associated with witness tampering or intimidation. During the sentencing phase, the jury also found that Umana was responsible for other murders. Specifically, the jury found that on July 27, 2005, Umana killed Jose Herrera and Gustavo Porras in Los Angeles, and on Sept. 28, 2005, Umana participated and aided and abetted the killing of Andy Abarca in Los Angeles.

Umana was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 23, 2008. Witnesses testified at his trial that Umana was a veteran member of MS-13 who illegally came to Charlotte to assist in reorganizing the Charlotte MS-13 cell. Witnesses also testified that on Dec. 8, 2007, while in Las Jarochitas, a family-run restaurant in Greensboro, N.C., Umana shot Ruben Garcia Salinas fatally in the chest and Manuel Garcia Salinas in the head. Witnesses testified that the shootings took place after the Garcia Salinas brothers had "disrespected" Umana’s gang signs by calling them "fake." Firing three more shots in the restaurant, according to trial testimony, Umana injured another individual with his gunfire. Trial testimony and evidence showed that Umana later fled back to Charlotte with MS-13 assistance. Umana was arrested five days later in possession of the murder weapon. Additional evidence and testimony from the trial revealed that while Umana was incarcerated pending trial, he coordinated attempts to kill witnesses and informants. During trial, Umana attempted to bring a knife with him to the courtroom, which was discovered by U.S. Marshals prior to Umana being transported to the courthouse.

"Violent gangs like MS-13 terrorize communities across this country," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  "As the evidence in this case showed, murder and intimidation are a way of life for some members of this gang.  Although there is no punishment that will bring back the lives taken by the defendant, this series of prosecutions of MS-13, and the punishments imposed, should make abundantly clear to gang members that we will not let them operate with impunity.  As today’s sentence shows, their criminal actions have serious consequences."

"The imposition of the death penalty - the harshest sentence in the criminal justice system - is a sobering event for all involved in the investigation and prosecution," said U.S. Attorney Tompkins. "The death penalty in this case is fair, just, and merited. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, based upon the facts and evidence, advocated for the death penalty, and the jury agreed that Umana deserved nothing less than the death penalty. I commend the investigators and prosecutors for engaging in this critical process with professionalism and integrity."

"While the outcome of today’s hearing does not change that two innocent people are dead, it will hopefully bring closure to the families and loved ones of the men who were killed and the many other victims left in the wake of the MS-13 crime spree. This case has spanned international borders, taken years of investigation and thousands of hours of arduous work. It proves our law enforcement partners are determined to bring those who break the law to justice, regardless of the obstacles that may block the path," said Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI.

"Our goals as law enforcement officers are to put an end to gang violence and see that those who are responsible are punished. This sentence serves as a reminder that gang violence has harsh consequences, and those who choose to be involved in gangs need to understand that their actions will not be tolerated. We have the motivation and determination to keep pursuing gang members. That motivation creates a safer Charlotte," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe.

The investigation of the MS-13 enterprise in Charlotte has led to charges against 26 MS-13 members.  In addition to Umana, six defendants were convicted at trial in January 2010, and 18 others have pleaded guilty.  One defendant remains in custody in El Salvador.  To date, 11 of the 25 defendants convicted have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to 20 years. 

The case was investigated by the Charlotte Safe Streets Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Chief Criminal Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro from the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Gast and Adam Morris of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina were also members of the government’s trial team.

WASHINGTON — A federal jury in Philadelphia today convicted Ian P. Norris, the former CEO of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, a United Kingdom corporation, of conspiring with others to obstruct justice, the Department of Justice announced.

In 2004, a federal grand jury indicted Norris, a citizen of the United Kingdom, on one count of fixing prices of carbon brushes and other carbon products, one count of conspiring to obstruct justice, and two counts of obstructing justice in connection with the Department of Justice’s antitrust investigation of price fixing in the carbon products industry. Norris was extradited to the United States in March 2010 on the three obstruction charges. The jury returned a guilty verdict today on the conspiracy to obstruct justice count and not guilty verdicts on the witness tampering count and the count of corruptly persuading others to destroy or conceal documents. Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 2, 2010.

The department said that Norris conspired with his subordinates to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation. Morgan Crucible employees conspired with Norris to create a false script that employees of both Morgan Crucible and a competitor were to follow when questioned in the investigation. Also, a document destruction task force was formed to collect and destroy or conceal documents from the grand jury, the department said.

"The Antitrust Division uncovered this elaborate and egregious obstruction of justice scheme," said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. "Today’s verdict holds Norris accountable for his actions and sends a message that corporate leaders must promote a culture of law abiding conduct within their companies or be prepared to face stiff prison sentences. The Antitrust Division will remain vigilant in protecting the integrity of its criminal investigations from obstruction in order to effectively carry out its mandate to protect American businesses and consumers from price-fixing cartels."

Carbon products are used to transfer electrical current in automobiles, trains, public transit vehicles and consumer products and are used in pumps and compressors to contain liquids and gases.

Including today’s conviction, more than $11 million in criminal fines have been obtained and four executives and two companies have pleaded guilty or have been convicted as a result of the department’s antitrust investigation of price fixing in the carbon products industry.

The Morgan Crucible Company plc, based in Windsor, England, pleaded guilty in 2002 to one count of tampering with witnesses and one count of document destruction. The company paid a $1 million criminal fine.

A former subsidiary of the company, Morganite Inc., which was based in Dunn, N.C., pleaded guilty in 2002 to fixing prices of carbon brushes and other carbon products and paid a $10 million fine.

In addition, three subordinates of Norris previously pleaded guilty to obstruction charges. Jacobus Johan Anton Kroef, the former Chairman of the Industrial and Traction Division of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, pleaded guilty in 2003 to witness tampering. Robin D. Emerson, former pricing coordinator at Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd. of Swansea, U.K., pleaded guilty in 2003 to corruptly persuading another person to destroy or conceal documents in connection with the investigation. F. Scott Brown, the former Global President and a member of the Board of Directors of Morgan Advanced Materials and Technology Inc. (MAMAT), now headquartered in Greenville, S.C., pleaded guilty in 2003 to aiding and abetting document destruction in connection with the investigation. Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd. and MAMAT are subsidiaries of The Morgan Crucible Company plc.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Trial attorneys Lucy McClain, Richard Rosenberg, and Kimberly Justice of the Antitrust Division’s Philadelphia Field Office prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – A former U.S. Army contractor was arrested today in Newport News, Va., for allegedly killing one sailor and seriously injuring another in a vehicular collision in Kuwait, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia and Brigadier General Colleen McGuire, Provost General of the Army and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.

Morgan Hanks, 25, of Newport News, was arrested on charges contained in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 13, 2010, and unsealed today in the Eastern District of Virginia. The indictment charges Hanks with one count of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Brian Patton, and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury for injuring David Morgan.

According to the indictment, in November 2009, Hanks was employed in Kuwait as a canine handler by Combat Support Associates and Combat Support Associates Ltd. (CSA). CSA provided site security and force protection at U.S. Army bases in Kuwait. The indictment alleges that on approximately Nov. 19, 2009, Hanks was operating a motor vehicle in excess of the posted speed limit on Alternate Supply Route Aspen in Kuwait. The indictment alleges that Hanks attempted to pass an eight-vehicle convoy on the two-lane road while traveling uphill and caused a collision with another vehicle in which Patton and Morgan were traveling. The collision killed Patton and left Morgan with a serious brain injury and multiple fractures.

Hanks is charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense. If convicted, Hanks faces up to 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Micah D. Pharris and Steven C. Parker of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Hurt for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Criminal Division announced the formation of HRSP on March 30, 2010.  The new section represents a merger of the Criminal Division’s Domestic Security Section (DSS) and the Office of Special Investigations (OSI).

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

WASHINGTON – Univision Services Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Univision Communications Inc., pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain increased radio broadcast time, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California.

According to court documents, Univision Communications formerly owned Univision Music Group, a collection of entities that produced recordings and published music for the Latin music market. Univision Services admitted that executives, employees and agents of Univision Music Group conspired to commit and did commit mail fraud from approximately 2002 to September 2006. According to court documents, the mail fraud was related to a nationwide scheme in which Univision Music Group executives, employees and agents made illegal cash payments to radio station programmers and managers in exchange for increased radio broadcast time for Univision Music Group recordings. The cash payments were made without on-air acknowledgments or payment of broadcast fees to the radio stations, as required by law.

According to court documents, executives, music promoters and agents of Univision Music Group used fraudulent contract invoices and payments to obtain and conceal the nature of the cash that funded the scheme.

"Illegal cash payments never make for a good business model. Listeners have a right to know if someone has paid for increased air time or promotions," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. "The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with our partners at the FCC to ensure businesses operate within established laws and regulations."

Under its plea agreement, Univision Communications, which is no longer involved in the Latin music recording and publishing business, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to pay a fine of $500,000 and to cooperate fully with the department and other law enforcement agencies in related matters.

In a related administrative proceeding, Univision Radio Inc., another wholly-owned subsidiary of Univision Communications, has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $500,000 and implement a compliance plan to end a parallel investigation by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Peter B. Loewenberg of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Richard Robinson. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FCC Office of Inspector General.

WASHINGTON – Miami-area husband and wife Modesto and Victoria de la Vega pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for their participation in a $13.7 million HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS). Also today, two Miami-area residents were sentenced to prison for their participation in a separate HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme.

 

Modesto de la Vega, 59, and his wife, Victoria de la Vega, 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, to cause submission of false claims to Medicare, and to pay health care kickbacks; one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; and three counts of submitting false claims, as charged in a March 2010 indictment. At sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 5, 2010, Modesto and Victoria de la Vega each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the United States count and each false claims count, and 10 years in prison for the health care fraud conspiracy count.

 

According to plea documents, Modesto de la Vega was an owner and operator of T&R Rehabilitation Professional Corp., a Miami clinic that purported to provide expensive injection and infusion treatments to patients with HIV. Victoria de la Vega was an office assistant at T&R. Modesto de la Vega admitted at his plea hearing that he agreed with his co-defendants and others to enlist patient recruiters and patients, among others, into a scheme to defraud Medicare. Modesto and Victoria de la Vega admitted that they knew the patients at T&R did not need and/or did not receive the purported services, and that it would be necessary to pay kickbacks and bribes to the patients so that T&R could bill the Medicare program for the HIV infusion services that were not medically necessary and/or were not provided.

 

The defendants admitted that from approximately January 2003, through approximately July 2005, they and their co-defendants caused T&R to submit fraudulent claims to the Medicare program in the amount of approximately $13.7 million. Medicare paid approximately $4.1 million of these fraudulent claims.

 

In a separate and unrelated case, two Miami-area residents were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Ursulla Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida for their participation in a similar HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme. Keith Earnest Humes, a patient recruiter for a fraudulent HIV/AIDS infusion clinic known as Tendercare Medical Center Inc., was sentenced to 84 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants in the amount of $539,485. Lawrence Edward Humes, also a patient recruiter for Tendercare, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants in the amount of $222,967. In addition, based on the court’s consideration of relevant conduct, Keith Humes was ordered to pay further restitution in the amount of $346,889.

 

According to court documents, Keith Humes and Lawrence Humes admitted that they conspired with each other and other individuals to defraud Medicare by submitting false claims for injection and infusion treatments that were medically unnecessary and that in most instances were not provided. Keith Humes and Lawrence Humes paid kickbacks to beneficiaries in return for their Medicare numbers and signatures, which Tendercare used to submit the false claims. Between January 2005 and December 2007, Tendercare submitted approximately $5.8 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for treatments that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Medicare paid Tendercare approximately $2.7 million.

Today’s guilty pleas and sentences were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies , Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Miami field office; and Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Miami office.

 

The cases were prosecuted by attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, including Trial Attorneys N. Nathan Dimock, Joseph Beemsterboer, Charles D. Reed, former Trial Attorney Michael Padula, former Fraud Section Assistant Chief John S. (Jay) Darden and former Fraud Section Special Trial Attorney Martha Talley, on detail from HHS-OIG. The cases were investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and were 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 Florida.

 

Since its inception in March 2007, the 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 - Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative Inc., an Indiana electric generation and transmission cooperative, has agreed to install state-of-the-art pollution control technology at its two coal-fired power plants in Indiana, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement, filed in federal court today, will reduce harmful air pollution by more than 24,500 tons per year, and requires Hoosier to pay a civil penalty of $950,000 and spend $5 million on environmental mitigation projects.

The settlement requires Hoosier to reduce air pollution from the cooperative’s Merom and Ratts Stations, located in southwest Indiana. Emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) will be reduced by almost 20,000 tons and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by more than 1800 tons. The settlement will also reduce harmful sulfuric acid mist and particulate matter emissions. To achieve these reductions, Hoosier will upgrade existing, and install new, pollution controls at the Merom and Ratts plants, and comply with annual tonnage limitations across its system. Hoosier estimates that it will spend between $250 and $300 million upgrading and installing pollution controls at its coal-fired units through the end of 2015.

The state of Indiana joined in the settlement and will receive $100,000 of the $950,000 civil penalty.

“The large reductions in harmful air pollutants including sulfuric acid mist emissions secured by this settlement will have a significant beneficial impact on air quality in Indiana and downwind states,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing our nation’s environmental laws, and we are pleased that Hoosier has agreed to install state-of-the art controls that will significantly reduce harmful emissions.”

“This settlement continues our important enforcement initiative to reduce harmful air pollution from coal-fired power plants and provide the public with cleaner, healthier air to breathe,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Pollution from these sources can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze. Coal-fired power plants of all sizes are large sources of air emissions, and EPA is committed to making sure that they all comply with the law.”

Hoosier will spend $5 million on environmental mitigation projects in its service territory to address the impacts of past emissions. Hoosier must direct $200,000 for projects to mitigate the harm caused by Hoosier’s excess emissions at lands owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The remaining $4.8 million will be spent on one or more of the following projects:

• Coal Bed Methane: Hoosier will capture and combust methane from coal beds to generate at least 10 megawatts of electricity. Carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the combustion of methane will be supplied to a greenhouse for use as a fertilizer.

• Wood Appliance Changeout and Retrofits: Hoosier will sponsor a wood-burning appliance changeout and retrofit project. Hoosier will provide incentives through rebates, discounts, and in some instances, actual replacement of old, inefficient, high polluting wood-burning technology. 

• Clean Diesel Retrofits: Hoosier will retrofit in-service, public diesel engines with emission control equipment designed to reduce air pollutants. 

• Solar Technologies: Hoosier will install solar power systems on public schools or non-profit groups in the company’s service territory.

The settlement marks the federal government’s 20th settlement under its national enforcement initiative to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. SO2 and NOx, two key pollutants emitted from power plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and the environment. These pollutants are converted in the air to fine particles of particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and premature death. SO2 and NOx are also significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze. In addition, air pollution from power plants can drift significant distances downwind, thereby effecting not only local communities, but also communities in a much broader area.

The proposed settlement was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

WASHINGTON – Paula Whitfield, a patient recruiter for a Houston durable medical equipment (DME) company, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison in connection with a $3 million power wheelchair fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

 

Whitfield, 43, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. of the Southern District of Texas to pay $807,781 in restitution. In addition, Whitfield was sentenced to three years of supervised release following her prison term.

 

On April 16, 2010, after a week-long trial, a federal jury convicted Whitfield of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud. Helen Etinfoh, the former owner and operator of the DME company, Luant & Odera Inc., was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud. Etinfoh is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13, 2010.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, Whitfield was a recruiter for Luant, which was doing business as Tonni Medical Equipment & Supplies. Evidence at trial showed that Whitfield was paid kickbacks in exchange for providing the company with beneficiaries in whose names bills could be submitted to Medicare. Etinfoh and other co-conspirators submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary DME, including power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and motorized scooters.

 

Evidence at trial showed that, based on representations from Whitfield and other recruiters, Luant would bill Medicare under a special code that designated the power wheelchairs as replacements for wheelchairs lost during hurricanes that hit the Houston area in fall 2008. In fact, the hurricanes did not damage the wheelchairs. Certain beneficiaries testified that they did not even have a power wheelchair before receiving the ones provided to them by Luant. Luant used the hurricane code because it allowed the company to submit claims to Medicare without a doctor’s order.

 

At trial, beneficiaries in whose names claims were submitted to Medicare testified that recruiters whom they had never met, including Whitfield, came to their homes and offered them free power wheelchairs in exchange for their Medicare information. The beneficiaries, all of whom could walk, testified that they neither needed nor used the power wheelchairs delivered to them by Luant, which were often billed to Medicare at more than $6,000 per chair.

 

Today’s sentence 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 the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations; and the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

 

The case was tried by Trial Attorneys Sam S. Sheldon and Joseph S. Beemsterboer, with assistance from Assistant Chief John Neal and Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Saulino 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, 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 – A federal district judge in Chicago has permanently barred Natalie Bradford, individually, and operating as K & N Tax Pros Inc., and Kristine Burkland-Valdez, individually, and operating as K & N Tax Pros Inc. and Tax Pros Inc., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The court’s orders also prohibit Bradford and Burkland-Valdez from allowing others to use their names to advertise or otherwise promote any tax preparation business. Bradford and Burkland-Valdez consented to the civil injunction orders.

 

According to the government complaint in the case, the Elmhurst, Ill., company prepared 23,823 federal tax returns for calendar years 2005 through 2009. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined 100 of these returns and found that 94% of the returns contained misstatements. The examinations of these returns resulted in the assessment of additional taxes totaling $830,147.

 

According to the complaint, the returns that the defendants, a mother-daughter team, prepared for customers contained fabricated or falsified deductions such as employee business expenses, mileage, cash contributions, rental losses and medical expenses. Court papers allege that in January 2009, Burkland-Valdez formed a second entity, Tax Pros Inc., after she learned of the IRS’s investigation of the tax preparation activities of K & N Tax Pros Inc.

WASHINGTONThe Justice Department announced today that it will publish four new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) proposals addressing the accessibility of websites, the provision of captioning and video description in movies shown in theaters, accessible equipment and furniture, and the ability of 9-1-1 centers to take text and video calls from individuals with disabilities. The proposals are in the form of advance notices of proposed rulemaking, or ANPRMs, which provide information on these ADA issues and ask questions seeking comments and information from the public. The four ANPRMs will be published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010.

 

“We are working hard to ensure that the ADA keeps up with technological advances that were unimaginable 20 years ago,” said Attorney General Holder. “Just as these quantum leaps can help all of us, they can also set us back – if regulations are not updated or compliance codes become too confusing to implement. To avoid this, the Department will soon publish four advanced notices of proposed rulemaking regarding accessibility requirements for websites, movies, equipment and furniture, and 9-1-1 call-taking technologies.”

 

Web Accessibility

 

State and local governments, businesses, educators, and other organizations covered by the ADA are increasingly using the web to provide information, goods, and services to the public. In the web accessibility ANPRM, the department presents for public comment a series of questions seeking input regarding how the department can develop a workable framework for website access that provides individuals with disabilities access to the critical information, programs, and services provided on the web, while respecting the unique characteristics of the internet and its transformative impact on everyday life.

 

Next Generation (NG) 9-1-1

 

9-1-1 centers are moving towards an Internet-enabled network to allow the general public to make a 9-1-1 “call” via voice, text, or video over the Internet and directly communicate with personnel at the centers. The NG 9-1-1 ANPRM seeks information on how the centers may be able to provide direct access to 9-1-1 for individuals with disabilities as they implement new communication technologies.

 

Captioning and Video Description in Movies Shown in Movie Theaters

 

Recent technologies have been developed to provide closed captions and video description in movies being shown at movie theaters. Movie studios have begun to produce and distribute movies with captioning and video description. However, these features are not generally made available at movie theaters. In the captioning and video description ANPRM, the department asks for suggestions regarding the kind of accessibility requirements for captioning and video description it should consider as proposed rules for public comments, particularly in light of the industry’s conversion to digital technology.

 

Equipment and Furniture

 

Full use of the nation’s built environment can only be fully achieved by the use of accessible equipment. There is now improved availability of many different types of accessible equipment and furniture, ranging from accessible medical exam tables, chairs, scales, and radiological equipment and furniture to “talking” ATMs and interactive kiosks. In the equipment and furniture ANPRM, the department poses questions and seeks comments from the public, covered entities, equipment manufacturers, advocacy and trade groups about the nature of accessibility issues and proposed solutions for making equipment and furniture accessible to persons with disabilities.

 

The four ANPRMs will be available for review today at 3:00 P.M. EDT at http://ada.gov/anprm2010.htm.

WASHINGTON - Champion Chemical Company, Imperial Oil Company Inc. and Imperial’s two former officers have agreed to pay at least $1.4 million to resolve actions to enforce a prior agreement to reimburse cleanup costs incurred by the federal government at the Imperial Oil Company Inc./Champion Chemical Company Superfund Site in Marlboro Township, N.J., the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

According to the terms of thesettlement filed today in federal court in Trenton, N.J., Champion and Imperial will pay more than $1 million and Imperial’s two former officers, Scott Stevens and George Kulick, will pay $360,000 to satisfy the companies’ obligations according to a 2001 consent decree. The 2001 consent decree resolved the companies’ liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) for past cleanup costs incurred by the United States and the state of New Jersey in connection with the site. According to that decree, the companies committed to make future monthly and annual payments based on Imperial’s gross profits. On March 29, 2007, the United States filed a motion to enforce the 2001 decree, seeking more than $1 million in payments that Champion and Imperial failed to make, as well as stipulated penalties. The United States also filed a claim under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act against Stevens and Kulick, alleging that excessive salaries they received beginning in 2001 constituted fraudulent conveyances from Imperial of assets that should have been paid to the federal government.

In addition to the $1.4 million payment, the United States will receive all of the net proceeds from the sale of the site, which is owned by Champion, and proceeds from the companies’ remaining insurance coverage. The settlement ensures that the United States will receive all remaining non-bankruptcy assets of both Imperial, which is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and Champion, which is a dormant company with no assets other than the site.

"The United States expects parties to honor their consent decree obligations and any failure to do so is a very serious violation," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "This agreement will ensure that Champion, Imperial and their corporate officers live up to their prior obligations."

"Under Superfund, parties responsible for damaging the environment are required to pay for the cost of the toxic cleanup," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "This New Jersey case is a testament to EPA's hard work to uphold a basic principle of the Superfund law -- the polluter pays."

The ground water at the 15-acre site is contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PCBs and metals, among other contaminants. Additionally, the surface soil at the site is contaminated with heavy metals, including chromium, lead and arsenic, as well as PCBs. To date, the site has been addressed by EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. EPA has conducted numerous cleanup activities at the site, including the removal of a waste clay pile and arsenic contaminated soil from adjoining residential properties.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Justice Department website at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html .

WASHINGTON – Two individuals have pleaded guilty to charges related to their participation in an international group of child pornography traffickers who used a social networking site to share thousands of sexually explicit images, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer for the Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 

Fred Woolum, 58, of Lexington, Va., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Arthur A. Schwab to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. Daniel Cox, 54, of Houston, pleaded guilty Wednesday before Judge Schwab to one count of conspiring to distribute and receive child pornography. Information presented at court established that from January 2007 to September 2009, Woolum, Cox and others distributed images and videos of children being sexually abused to other members of an international group that had restricted membership and was formed on a social networking website. Members of the group distributed to one another thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children, many of which graphically depicted prepubescent, male children, including some infants, being sexually abused and sometimes sodomized or subjected to bondage.

Sentencing has been set for Feb. 18, 2011, for Woolum and March 4, 2011, for Cox. At sentencing, Woolum faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, with the possibility of lifetime supervised release. Cox faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, with the possibility of lifetime supervised release. Woolum and Cox both face a fine of up to $250,000.

These cases were 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.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the High Tech Investigative Unit of CEOS conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Woolum and Cox.  CEOS Trial Attorney Barak Cohen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted the cases.

WASHINGTON – Three Colombian nationals have been extradited from Colombia to the United States on charges of conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit, alien smuggling for profit, and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their alleged roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. The extraditions were announced today by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia; Eric J. Boswell, Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, U.S. State Department; and Director John Morton of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

Heliber Toro Mejia, 52; Humberto Toro Mejia, 60; and Luz Elena Acuna Rios, 52; all of Bogotá, were charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on Feb. 4, 2009. The defendants were arrested on June 2, 2009, by Colombian authorities in Bogotá on provisional arrest warrants in response to a U.S. government request for their arrest. The defendants have been in custody in Colombia since their arrest and prior to their extradition to the United States. Humberto Toro Mejia was arraigned in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today and ordered detained by U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle. Heliber Toro Mejia and Luz Elena Acuna Rios were arraigned on July 14, 2010, and ordered detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay.

 

According to the indictment, the defendants were the leaders of an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud ring that profited by assisting otherwise inadmissible Colombian nationals in fraudulently procuring visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá. To support the visa applications of alien applicants, the defendants and other conspirators allegedly created fictitious backgrounds for the aliens and fraudulent supporting documentation, including paperwork that appeared to be official Colombian government-issued documents such as tax filings and birth and marriage certificates. The indictment alleges that the conspirators coached the aliens on how to pass the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá by answering questions untruthfully. During the course of this conspiracy, which according to the indictment lasted between July 15, 2005, and March 20, 2007, more than 100 aliens are alleged to have fraudulently obtained or attempted to fraudulently obtain a U.S. visa. According to the indictment, many of those aliens who did obtain a fraudulently-procured visa used that visa to enter the United States.

 

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for profit, 10 years in prison for alien smuggling for profit, and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit visa fraud. Each defendant is also subject to a maximum fine of $250,000 for each charge.

 

The charges are the result of “Operation Coffee Country,” a coordinated international investigation by the Diplomatic Security Service - Regional Security Office in Bogotá and the ICE Attaché’s Office in Bogotá. The Diplomatic Security Service - Criminal Investigations Division and the ICE Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Washington, D.C. provided substantial assistance.

 

The government of Colombia, including the Colombian Department of Administrative Security and Colombian prosecutors, provided significant assistance and support during the investigation, arrest and extradition of the defendants. The Office of International Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá worked with their counterparts in Colombia to effect the extradition.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney James S. Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederick W. Yette of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Significant assistance from the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs was provided by Trial Attorney Nicolette Romano.

 

An indictment is merely a formal accusation. It is not proof of guilt, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

WASHINGTON –The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights today issued new technical assistance guidance for medical providers which will help people with mobility disabilities obtain accessible medical care.  Access to Medical Care for Persons with Mobility Disabilities will assist medical care providers in understanding how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 apply to them.  This 19-page document includes an overview of general ADA requirements, commonly asked questions, and illustrated examples of accessible facilities, examination rooms and medical equipment.

 

“It is critical that all individuals, including those with disabilities, have access to health care.  But far too often, barriers prevent people with disabilities from visiting a doctor’s office or a clinic,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. 

 

“Due to barriers, people with disabilities are less likely to receive even basic medical treatment that will prevent routine small problems from turning into major and possibly life threatening ones.  This guidance promotes the core values of the health care reform legislation championed by this Administration,” said Georgina C. Verdugo, director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. 

 

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics and other health care providers. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended prohibits disability based discrimination by all health care providers that receive federal financial assistance.

For more information about the ADA or to obtain copies of Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities visit www.ada.gov or call the ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (V) or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY).  For more information about Section 504, see www.hhs.gov/ocr/.

 

WASHINGTON — A former Department of State employee has been charged for his alleged role in a $147,000 wire fraud scheme involving the conversion of government-owned property for the employee’s use, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Robert D. Hearn, 55, was charged in a five-count indictment in the Southern District of Texas with wire fraud and conversion stemming from a scheme to defraud the United States and Iraq. Hearn was arrested this morning in Temple, Texas, and will make his initial appearance in court today. According to the indictment, from April 2005 to September 2006, Hearn worked for the Department of State’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO) and was responsible for providing advice to the director of the port at Umm Qasr, in Basra, Iraq. The port director was an official with the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation.

The indictment alleges that, in late 2005 and early 2006, Hearn orchestrated the transfer of approximately 60 accommodations caravans and other equipment from the site of a U.S.-funded power plant project in Khor Az Zubair, Iraq, to the port, purportedly on behalf of IRMO. These caravans served as living and office accommodations for government and private personnel, but since construction of the power plant was winding down, the caravans were no longer needed at that location.

According to the indictment, Hearn had no authority or authorization to negotiate the transfer of any equipment or to sign paperwork on behalf of IRMO to accept such equipment, which he allegedly did on Dec. 11, 2005. When U.S. officials notified Hearn that IRMO did not have the necessary property-management structure and therefore could not take control of the equipment, the indictment alleges that Hearn directed an Iraqi employee of the Ministry of Transportation to sign for and accept the equipment on behalf of the Iraqi government.

According to the indictment, the individual who signed for the equipment also was employed by Bawabet Al Amer Company (BAC), a private Iraqi company operating at the port. BAC provided security, through subcontractors, as well as lodging, office space and dining services for government and private personnel. The indictment alleges that from the summer of 2005 to the fall of 2006, Hearn controlled the day-to-day operations of BAC, and on behalf of BAC and a silent investor, negotiated business contracts, provided input in BAC’s hiring decisions and directed the work of BAC employees.

According to the indictment, Hearn signed a three-year lease agreement on Jan. 1, 2006, on behalf of IRMO, permitting BAC to use a portion of the port, which during Hearn’s tenure became known as "Bob’s Camp." Hearn allegedly had no authority to enter into this agreement in his official capacity with IRMO and did not discuss it with his supervisors. A portion of the transferred accommodations caravans was installed by BAC employees in "Bob’s Camp."

On Sept. 14, 2006, the day before Hearn was scheduled to be reassigned to IRMO’s Baghdad office, he allegedly negotiated a rental agreement on behalf of BAC involving several of the transferred accommodations caravans. According to the indictment, Hearn directed that rental payments be wired to a bank account in Conroe, Texas, which he controlled. In this manner, Hearn allegedly received $147,000 from the lessee business, which he used for personal and business expenses.

The indictment alleges Hearn’s planned reassignment was based in part on his failure to carry out his function of advising the port director. Hearn eventually resigned from the State Department.

If convicted, Hearn faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the four wire fraud counts. If convicted on the conversion charge, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being prosecuted by Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Trial Attorney Catherine Votaw, who is detailed from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) to the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section as part of a joint Department of Justice and SIGIR prosecutorial initiative.

The case was investigated by SIGIR, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the U.S. State Department Office of Inspector General , and members of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force (NPFTF) and the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF).

The NPFTF, created in October 2006 by the Department of Justice, was designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs. 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 - The Justice Department announced today a settlement agreement with the Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union (MVLA), which owns and maintains Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, the home of the nation’s first president, George Washington. The department and MVLA reached an amicable agreement under which the association will continue to bring Mount Vernon’s structures and facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible design standards and provide effective communication of the content of its audiovisual presentations, exhibitions, public programs and other offerings for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision.

"As the nation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the ADA, we commend the Mount Vernon Ladies Association for its cooperation and for its innovative efforts to improve access to this historic estate and to its exhibitions and programs for individuals with disabilities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "This agreement shows that two lofty goals – providing access for individuals with disabilities, and preserving and understanding our nation’s historic past – are not in conflict. This agreement will ensure equal access for individuals with disabilities who want to participate in the wide range of public offerings of one of the most important historic estates in the United States."

Under the settlement agreement Mount Vernon will:

• Modify and make accessible the primary walkway to the main entrance for visitors to Mount Vernon;
• Complete installation of an accessible surface along the gravel walk connecting the newly constructed facilities with the historic mansion;
• Provide a shallower entry ramp and complete other modifications to the route into and out of the ground floor of the historic mansion;
• Provide an accessible walk to and a level landing at the entrance of the shops, food court and Mount Vernon Inn;
• Modify the controls of interactive exhibits so that they are usable by visitors with mobility disabilities;
• Replace or relocate objects that protrude from walls and exhibits so that they are no longer a hazard to visitors who are blind or have low vision;
• Provide closed captioning for its centerpiece films in the Revolutionary War Theater and the Legacy Theater;
• Provide sign language and oral interpreted tours of George Washington’s mansion for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, on advanced request;
• Provide walk-in audio-described tours for people who are blind or have low vision of the mansion, Estate grounds and outbuildings, and of the exhibitions, computer interactives, and audiovisual presentations in the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center;
• Provide tactile access to selected objects and reproductions for people who blind or have low vision to augment information provided as part of the audio-described tours;
• Provide alternate formats (e.g., audio, large print and Braille) of exhibition label content, general public maps and printed materials; and
• Provided a photographic album containing current views of each of the mansion’s rooms on the basement, second and third floor levels for people who cannot climb stairs to those areas. The photographs are accompanied by printed commentary offered to all visitors by the mansion’s historic interpreters.

The estate is located in Alexandria, Va., on the banks of the Potomac River. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The estate has 20 structures and 50 acres of gardens as they existed in 1799 and includes George Washington’s mansion, a museum, the tombs of George and Martha Washington, and a slave burial ground and memorial.

The agreement resolves a compliance review under the ADA. The department’s review focused on the historic mansion, the Mount Vernon Inn and Shops, the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, the Ford Orientation Center and the public walks connecting these structures. People interested in finding out more about the ADA or this agreement can call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov.

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Mark John Walker, 51, of Eugene, Ore., in an eight-count indictment stemming from multiple incidents in which Walker allegedly sexually abused female offenders who were under his direct supervision as a probation officer, and then obstructed a later investigation to cover up his misconduct.

Walker is charged with three felonies for allegedly engaging in aggravated sexual abuse against three different women between December 2006 and June 2009. He is charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly engaging in sexual contact with two different women between April 2005 and September 2006. In addition, the indictment charges Walker with making a false statement to the FBI, intimidating and threatening a witness, and falsifying a record in order to obstruct the investigation. Walker appeared today before U.S. Magistrate John Acosta, and entered a plea of not guilty. Magistrate Acosta released the defendant pending a trial date of Sept. 14, 2010, ordering Walker’s release subject to pre-trial release conditions.

The indictment alleges that Walker, in his capacity as a U.S. probation officer, deprived persons under his supervision of their civil rights. Walker supervised offenders who were serving probation or supervised release terms imposed by a federal judge, including offenders with vulnerable backgrounds involving sexual abuse, mental illness and drug addiction. Walker was required to accurately report his contacts with each offender under his supervision, and to report each offender’s conduct to the federal judge who had sentenced her. Walker had the power to recommend that offenders who violated their conditions of probation or supervised release be incarcerated or otherwise sanctioned. Walker was bound by the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, and was responsible for complying with the U.S. Constitution, as well as all federal, state and local laws.

Walker is charged with willfully depriving five different female offenders of their constitutional right to bodily integrity, while acting under color of law, by engaging in aggravated sexual abuse or sexual contact. Walker is also charged with making a false statement to the FBI by stating that he recorded all of his contacts with one of the female offenders in a record-keeping system used by the U.S. Probation Office, when he had not done so. He is also charged with intimidating, threatening and corruptly persuading the same female offender not to tell authorities about the sexual activity that was related to the commission of a civil rights violation by telling her "you know what I can do." Finally, he is charged with one count of falsifying and making false entries in records and documents at the U.S. Probation Office with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence the investigation.

"Acts of sexual abuse by an employee of our federal court system against persons committed to his custody will not be tolerated by the U.S. Department of Justice," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "The Civil Rights Division will work with our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to aggressively investigate and prosecute all such allegations."

"Government service is an honor and a privilege – to use a government position to sexually exploit others is appalling," said U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton. "We stand ready to enforce and defend the civil rights of all Oregonians from such exploitation."

An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, each of the three felony civil rights charges carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Walker also faces one year in prison for each of the misdemeanor civil rights charges, five years in prison for the false statement charge, and 20 years in prison for both the witness tampering and falsification of records charges.

"All persons sworn to serve the public violate a sacred trust when they use their position for personal or criminal ends. Violation of the oath of office is one of the most significant offenses we deal with. We take this kind of crime very seriously," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Arthur Balizan.

The case has been investigated by the FBI in Eugene. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pamala Holsinger and Hannah Horsley are handling the prosecution, along with Civil Rights Division Criminal Section Trial Attorney Eric L. Gibson.

WASHINGTON A Las Vegas federal grand jury has indicted Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao, a resident of Orange County, Calif., for filing false liens against federal employees and corruptly obstructing the administration of the federal tax laws, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The court has not yet set a trial date.

According to the indictment, Cao filed 22 false liens in public records in Nevada against federal officials and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the Secret Service and the IRS, as well as false liens against four federal judges. According to the indictment, the false liens ranged from $25 million to $300 million.

The indictment further alleges that Cao corruptly obstructed the administration of the federal tax laws, by, among other things, filing retaliatory false liens against IRS employees, filing and attempting to file with the IRS false Forms 1099-OID (Original Issue Discount) that claimed fictitious income tax withholdings, filing and attempting to file false tax returns that claim fraudulent refunds totaling approximately $20 billion, and preparing at least five false tax returns for third parties that claimed fraudulent income tax refunds totaling in excess of $1.1 million based upon fictitious income tax withholdings.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Cao faces a maximum of 223 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5.75 million.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Christopher S. Strauss and Joseph A. Rillotta.

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

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Wilson County, N.C., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

 

“The ADA is 20 years old this month, and I commend Wilson County officials for making this commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure equal access to civic life for the county’s residents with disabilities,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to vigorous enforcement of the ADA, and the 20th anniversary of the ADA should be a wake-up call to state and local officials across the country where the ADA’s promises of equal access have not yet been realized.”

 

Under the agreement announced today, Wilson County will take several important steps to improve access for individuals with disabilities, such as:

 

·         Making physical modifications to facilities surveyed by the department so that parking, routes into the buildings, entrances, service areas and counters, restrooms, public telephones and drinking fountains are accessible to people with disabilities;

 

·         Surveying other facilities and programs and making modifications wherever necessary to achieve full compliance with ADA requirements;

 

·         Ensuring that buildings and outdoor facilities that will be built or altered by or on behalf of the city comply with the ADA’s architectural requirements;

 

·         Officially recognizing North Carolina telephone relay service as a key means of communicating with individuals who are deaf, are hard-of-hearing, or have speech impairments and training staff in using the relay service for telephone communications;

 

·         Undertaking the required planning and modifications to ensure equal, integrated access to emergency management for individuals with disabilities, including emergency preparedness, notification, evacuation, sheltering, response, clean up and recovery;

 

·         Developing a method for providing information for interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the city’s accessible services, activities and programs; and

 

·         Installing signs at any inaccessible entrance to a facility directing individuals with disabilities to an accessible entrance or to information about accessing programs and services at other accessible facilities.

 

“We appreciate the commitment to equal access and ADA compliance made by each of the 180 cities, counties and other government entities that have entered into a Project Civic Access agreement with the Justice Department,” said Assistant Attorney General Perez. “This initiative is a priority for the Civil Rights Division, and we will be actively pursuing similar commitments from other government officials in the weeks and months ahead.”

 

Wilson County is located in Eastern North Carolina. According to census data, the county has approximately 73,814 residents, and more than 27 percent of those residents are individuals with disabilities.

 

Today’s agreement was reached under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments. The investigation of Wilson County was initiated in response to a complaint alleging that certain of the county’s facilities were not accessible. The agreement requires most actions to be completed within two years. The department will actively monitor compliance with the agreement, which will remain in effect until the department has confirmed that all required actions have been completed.

 

PCA was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life, which is a fundamental part of every day life in America. As part of the PCA initiative, Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects survey state and local government facilities, services and programs in communities across the country to identify the modifications needed for compliance with ADA requirements. The agreements are tailored to address the steps each community must take to improve access. This agreement is the 180th under the PCA initiative.

 

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at the website www.justice.gov/crt. More information about the ADA, today’s agreement with Wilson County, the Project Civic Access initiative, and the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments is available on the ADA home page at www.ada.gov or at the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the town of Pomfret, Conn., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

 

“I commend public officials in the town of Pomfret for making this important commitment to ensuring equal access to civic life for individuals with disabilities,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Civic access is a civil right, and the ADA guarantees to individuals with disabilities the same opportunities to participate in, and access, local government that everyone else enjoys.”

Pomfret is a small town located in northeastern Connecticut with an estimated population of 3,798 residents. More than 14 percent of Pomfret’s residents have disabilities and will benefit from the agreement. Under the agreement, the town of Pomfret will take several important steps to improve access for individuals with disabilities, such as:

•   Making physical modifications to facilities surveyed by the department so that parking, routes into the buildings, entrances, service areas and counters, restrooms, public telephones and drinking fountains are accessible to people with disabilities;
• Surveying other facilities and programs and making modifications wherever necessary to achieve full compliance with ADA requirements;
• Ensuring that buildings and outdoor facilities that will be built or altered by or on behalf of the town comply with the ADA’s architectural requirements;
• Posting, publishing, and distributing a notice to inform members of the public of the provisions of Title II of the ADA and their applicability to the town’s programs, services and activities;
• Officially recognizing the Connecticut telephone relay service as a key means of communicating with individuals who are deaf, are hard-of-hearing or have speech impairments and training staff in using the relay service for telephone communications;
• Undertaking the required planning and modifications to ensure equal, integrated access to emergency management for individuals with disabilities, including emergency preparedness, notification, evacuation, sheltering, response, clean up and recovery;
• Developing a method for providing information for interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the town’s accessible services, activities and programs;
• Installing signs at any inaccessible entrance to a facility directing individuals with disabilities to an accessible entrance or to information about accessing programs and services at other accessible facilities;
• Adopting a grievance procedure to deal with complaints of disability discrimination relating to town programs, services and facilities; and
• Amending its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission implementing title I of the ADA.

“The ADA applies to every state, city, county, town and village throughout the United States, no matter how large or small,” said Assistant Attorney General Perez. “I hope that public officials across this nation will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA by making a renewed commitment to the individuals with disabilities who live in their communities.”

 

Today’s agreement was reached under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments. The department’s investigation of the town of Pomfret was initiated when it received a complaint alleging that the town hall was not accessible to individuals with disabilities. The department will actively monitor the town’s compliance with the agreement, which will remain in effect for three years or until the department has confirmed that all required actions have been completed, whichever is later.

 

PCA was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life, a fundamental part of American society. As part of the PCA initiative, Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects survey state and local government facilities, services and programs in communities across the country to identify the modifications needed for compliance with ADA requirements. The agreements are tailored to address the steps each community must take to improve access. This agreement is the 181st under the PCA initiative.

 

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at the website www.justice.gov/crt .  More information about the ADA, today’s agreement with the Town of Pomfret, the Project Civic Access initiative, and the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments can be obtained at the ADA Web page at www.ada.gov or by calling the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Pearl River County, Miss., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns, and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

“As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this month, we applaud Pearl River County for its commitment to bring its facilities and programs into full compliance with the ADA,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Individuals with disabilities will now have improved access to the programs and services offered by the county.”

 

 

More than 24 percent of the residents of Pearl River County have disabilities and will benefit from the agreement announced today. Under the agreement, Pearl River County will take several important steps to improve access for individuals with disabilities, such as:

• Making physical modifications to facilities surveyed by the department so that parking, routes into the buildings, entrances, service areas and counters, restrooms, public telephones and drinking fountains are accessible to people with disabilities;
• Posting, publishing and distributing a notice to inform the public of the provisions of Title II of the ADA and their applicability to the county’s programs, services and activities;
• Adopting a grievance procedure to deal with complaints of disability discrimination relating to county programs and services;  
• Officially recognizing the Mississippi telephone relay service as a key means of communicating with individuals who are deaf, are hard-of-hearing, or have speech impairments, and training staff in using the relay service for telephone communications;
• Continuing to ensure that 9-1-1 emergency service calls placed by persons with disabilities who use text telephones (TTYs) are answered as quickly as other calls, that such calls are monitored for timing and accuracy, and that employees are trained and practiced in using a TTY to make and receive calls;
• Amending its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission implementing Title I of the ADA;
• Providing accessible polling places;
• Undertaking the required planning and modifications to ensure equal, integrated access to emergency management for individuals with disabilities, including emergency preparedness, notification, evacuation, sheltering, response, clean up and recovery;
• Maintaining its database that tracks and assists the county in prioritizing and making the repairs needed to eliminate barriers to accessibility in the county’s sidewalks;
• Ensuring that the county’s official website is accessible to people with disabilities; and
• Installing signs at any inaccessible entrance to a facility directing individuals with disabilities to an accessible entrance or to information about accessing programs and services at other accessible facilities.

Today’s agreement was reached under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments. The department will actively monitor the county’s compliance with the agreement, which will remain in effect for three years or until the department has confirmed that all required actions have been completed, whichever is later.

 

Following an influx of new residents after Hurricane Katrina, Pearl River County, located in southern Mississippi, was recognized by the Census Bureau as the seventh fastest growing county in the United States. Pearl River County is the fourth largest county in Mississippi.

 

PCA was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life, a fundamental part of American society. As part of the PCA initiative, Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects survey state and local government facilities, services and programs in communities across the country to identify the modifications needed for compliance with the ADA. The agreements are tailored to address the steps each community must take to improve access. This agreement is the 182nd under the PCA initiative.

 

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at the website www.justice.gov/crt . More information about the ADA, today’s agreement with Pearl River County, the Project Civic Access initiative, and the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments can be accessed at the ADA Web page at www.ada.gov or by calling the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

WASHINGTON – Lloyd Mack Royal III, aka "Blyss," "B," and "Furious," 29, of Gaithersburg, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. for his role in a sex trafficking operation, the Justice Department announced today. Royal was sentenced to 37 years in prison and 10 years supervised release.

On March 25, 2010, a jury convicted Royal of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, three counts of sex trafficking, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and two counts of distribution of controlled substances to persons under the age of 21.

"This defendant violently preyed upon some of the most vulnerable members of our society. He sought out troubled young girls and, using physical violence, drugs, guns and lies, coerced them into prostitution for his own benefit," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases."

"Maryland’s human trafficking task force follows a policy of zero tolerance for child prostitution," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.  "Anyone who promotes or profits from sex with children should understand that we are standing by to send them to federal prison."

Two co-defendants previously pleaded guilty in connection with the case.

In announcing the sentence, Assistant Attorney General Perez and U.S. Attorney Rosenstein commended the FBI and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in this cooperative investigation and prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Solette Magnelli and Civil Rights Division Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit Trial Attorney Jim Felte prosecuted this case for the government.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Blockbuster Inc. to ensure equal access to its stores nationwide for individuals with disabilities who use service animals.

 

The settlement agreement, which resolves a complaint filed under title III of the ADA by an individual with a disability, requires, among other things, that Blockbuster provide comprehensive training to employees at more than 3,000 retail stores throughout the United States to ensure individuals with disabilities who use service animals have full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services and facilities.

 

“The Americans with Disabilities Act guarantees equal access to individuals with disabilities who are accompanied by service animals, but too often those individuals are subject to discrimination because of misperceptions or a lack of understanding of the law,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

 

The agreement, which will remain in effect for three years, requires that Blockbuster:

•   Implement a comprehensive nationwide nondiscrimination policy regarding service animals for people with disabilities;
• Distribute the policy and train employees across the United States on the rights of service animal users and employee obligations to ensure full and equal access to Blockbuster goods, services and facilities;
• Provide the same training to new staff during the hiring process;
• Post its service animal policy on its website and in its stores, and post a “Service Animals Welcome” sign in each of its stores;
• Create a toll-free ADA complaint line;
• Establish, implement, and monitor a grievance procedure for ADA-related complaints from customers;
• Pay $12,000 in damages to the individual who filed the complaint resolved by this settlement; and
• Pay $10,000 as a civil penalty.

A service animal is individually trained to work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. Service animals – most commonly dogs – perform a wide variety of functions. Examples of these functions include guiding persons who are blind or have low vision, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds, warning persons about impending seizures or other medical conditions, performing a variety of tasks for persons with psychiatric disabilities, and picking up items, opening doors, flipping switches, providing physical support and pulling wheelchairs for individuals with mobility disabilities.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by retail stores, restaurants, hotels, taxi and bus companies, doctors, hospitals and other private businesses and nonprofit organizations that provide services to the public. Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public entities, including state and local governments and public transportation providers. All of these entities are prohibited from excluding individuals with disabilities from their facilities, services and programs because the individuals use service animals. If any of these entities has a rule excluding pets or other animals, it must make an exception to that rule and permit an individual with a disability to be accompanied by a service animal anywhere on the premises that other customers are permitted to go.

 

“The ADA’s 20th anniversary is July 26, 2010,” said Assistant Attorney General Perez. “As we celebrate the anniversary of this landmark civil rights law, we are pleased that Blockbuster has affirmed its commitment to ensuring that individuals with disabilities benefit fully and equally from its goods, facilities, and services, including individuals who use service animals.”

 

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at the website www.justice.gov/crt .  More information about this agreement, the ADA, and ADA rights and responsibilities relating to service animals is available on the ADA home page at www.ada.gov. This information includes two publications specifically addressing access for individuals accompanied by service animals: “ADA Business Brief: Service Animals” and “Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business.” Those interested in obtaining copies of these documents or additional information may also call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).

 

 

WASHINGTON – August Landis has been appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder as Acting U.S. Trustee for Northern and Eastern California and Nevada (Region 17), effective July 18, 2010, the Executive Office for United States Trustees announced today. Mr. Landis replaces Sara L. Kistler, who previously served as Acting U.S. Trustee for Region 17.

Mr. Landis joined the U.S. Trustee Program in July 2005, and has served as the Assistant U.S. Trustee in the Las Vegas office since that time. Immediately prior to his appointment as Acting U.S. Trustee, Mr. Landis also served as Acting Associate General Counsel for Chapter 11 Practice in the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. Before joining the U.S. Trustee Program, Mr.Landis practiced law in Des Moines for 18 years, specializing in commercial litigation and bankruptcy practice. He received his law degree from Drake University Law School, and his undergraduate degree from Drake University, in Des Moines, Iowa.

The U.S. Trustee Program 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. Region 17 is headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Las Vegas and Reno.

Contact:

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

WASHINGTON – Two defendants have been sentenced to prison in connection with a series of superseding indictments charging 26 individuals for their participation in an online child pornography conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison of the Southern District of Indiana.

Thomas Attebury, 40, of Bakersfield, Calif., was sentenced yesterday to 38 years in prison for his role in the child pornography conspiracy and David Williams, 46, of Selinsgrove, Pa., was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for his participation in the conspiracy. Each defendant also was sentenced to lifetime supervised release following their respective prison terms. Both defendants pleaded guilty on previous dates to one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography, one count of conspiracy to distribute child pornography, two counts of advertising child pornography and two counts of distributing child pornography before U.S. District Court Judge William T. Lawrence in Indianapolis.

According to his plea agreement, Attebury also admitted to the sexual abuse of three minors, one of whom was under the age of 12. Attebury also admitted to abusive sexual contact with a fourth child, who was also under the age of 12. Williams was convicted in 1996 of two counts of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for sexually abusing a five-year-old child.

The charges against Williams, Attebury and 24 co-defendants are a result of "Operation Nest Egg," an ongoing and joint investigation led by the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Operation Nest Egg, launched in February 2008, targeted 26 defendants charged in the Southern District of Indiana, as well as approximately 500 additional individuals located throughout the world for their involvement in an online group dedicated to trading images of child pornography.

According to court documents filed in the Southern District of Indiana, the 26 co-conspirators participated in a sophisticated, password-protected Internet bulletin board group, which existed to allow members to meet like-minded individuals with a sexualized interest in children, to discuss that interest and to trade images of child pornography. The defendants are charged with conspiring to advertise and distribute child pornography, along with substantive counts of advertising and distributing child pornography. Twenty-two of the 26 defendants charged in the conspiracy have been arrested. Twenty of the 22 individuals arrested have been convicted or have pleaded guilty. Thirteen of the 20 individuals who have pleaded guilty for their role in the conspiracy have been sentenced to prison on previous dates.

Four of the 26 individuals charged in the conspiracy remain at large and are known only by their online identities. Efforts to identify and apprehend these four individuals continue.

To date, as a result of Operation Nest Egg, more than 80 searches have been conducted in the United States. In total, more than 50 individuals have been arrested and 39 individuals have been convicted. The investigation is ongoing. Numerous members of the Internet-based bulletin board were found to have been personally sexually abusing children, for example Attebury and Williams. Additionally, lead administrator Delwyn Savigar of the United Kingdom, was identified and arrested in partnership with the U.K.’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, for his involvement in the conspiracy. After his initial arrest, Savigar was identified through DNA testing as the perpetrator of a previously unsolved sexual assault against a minor female in Great Britain, to which he pleaded guilty. Following this discovery, Savigar was linked to additional incidents of sexual assaults. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to either abusing or attempting to abuse three minors from 1999 to 2002. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the United Kingdom. To date, 16 child victims have been identified through Operation Nest Egg, including the four victims identified during the investigation of Thomas Attebury.

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 is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana and CEOS Trial Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak. The investigation was conducted jointly by CEOS’ High Technology Investigative Unit, USPIS and ICE, with assistance provided by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce, Indiana State Police, and numerous local and international law enforcement agencies across the United States and Europe.

WASHINGTON - Nelson Santos, aka "Nelly" and "King Nelly," 27, of Silver Spring, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, in connection with his gang activities as a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings).

The guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph Riehl of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy; Chief Roberto L. Hylton of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey.

According to Santos’ plea agreement, the Latin Kings is a violent street gang with thousands of members across the country and overseas. The Latin Kings have a detailed and uniform organizational structure, which is outlined – along with various "prayers," codes of behavior, and rituals – in a written "manifesto" widely distributed to members throughout the country. Members of the Latin Kings are also traditionally given "King Names" or "Queen Names," which are names other than their legal names, by which they are known to members of the gang and to others on the street. At the local level, groups of Latin Kings are organized into "tribes," including, but not limited to, the Royal Lion Tribe, MOG, Sun Tribe and UTL.

According to the plea agreement, in 2007, Santos became a member of the Royal Lion Tribe in Maryland. Santos attended Latin King meetings in Maryland, where dues were collected from members and gang business was discussed and he communicated with Latin King members about the gang’s activities by telephone. Santosparticipated in Latin King-sanctioned missions, including the armed robbery of a prostitute at the EconoLodge motel in Laurel, Md., on Dec. 14, 2007.

According to the statement of facts, Santos and other Latin King members and associates drove in two separate vehicles to the motel, where they forced their way into a motel room,

which they knew to be occupied by a prostitute. Santos and the other Latin King members and associates were armed with a gun and a knife. The prostitute was forced to strip naked on the bed, while the Latin Kings ransacked her room and stole cash, an X-Box, video games, a cell phone, a laptop and other items. The man who was in the room with the prostitute was held captive in the bathroom and pistol-whipped on the head.

Also according to the plea agreement, on April 28, 2009, in Wheaton, Md., Santos, a previously convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition, knowingly possessed a Leinad 9mm Mac-11 machine pistol with an obliterated serial number, which was loaded with 27 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Santos faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for racketeering and 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for Oct. 22, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. Santos remains detained.

Co-defendants Miguel Cruz, aka "Skibee" and "King Skibee," 45, of Bronx, N.Y., one of the founders of the Maryland tribe of the Latin Kings and Andres Echevarria, aka "B-Boy" and "King B-Boy," 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who admitted that he held leadership positions in the Latin Kings, previously pleaded guilty to the racketeering conspiracy in connection with their gang activities and are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 16, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. and Sept. 2, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., respectively. Both remain in federal custody.

The case was investigated by the Gaithersburg, Md., Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland National Capital Park Police - Prince George’s County Division, the Maryland State Police, the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Glatfelter and David Salem, and Trial Attorney Lara M. Peirce with the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit.

WASHINGTON – Ninety-four people have been charged for their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami; Baton Rouge, La.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit and Houston, announced Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of HHS. The operation announced today is the largest federal health care fraud takedown since Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations began in 2007.

The joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing. More than 360 law enforcement agents from the FBI, HHS-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), multiple Medicaid Fraud Control Units, and other state and local law enforcement agencies participated in today’s operation.

"Our continued Strike Force operations reflect the unprecedented commitment that inspired the creation of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team in May 2009," said Attorney General Holder. "With today’s arrests, we’re putting would-be criminals on notice: Health care fraud is no longer a safe bet. The federal government is working aggressively – and collaboratively – to pursue health care criminals around the country and to bring these offenders to justice."

"Today’s arrests send a strong message that attempts to defraud Medicare will not be tolerated," said Secretary Sebelius.  "With the help of new tools in the Affordable Care Act, including stiffer penalties and better information sharing, we will continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to stamp out Medicare fraud and protect beneficiaries and the American taxpayer."

Charges were unsealed today against 94 individuals who are accused of various Medicare fraud-related offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, criminal false claims, violations of the anti-kickback statutes and money laundering. The charges are based on a variety of fraud schemes, including physical therapy and occupational therapy schemes, home health care schemes, HIV infusion fraud schemes and durable medical equipment (DME) schemes. Thirty-six defendants charged in these schemes have been arrested in Miami, New York, Baton Rouge and Detroit and additional arrests are expected throughout the day.

According to the court documents, the defendants charged today participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare for treatments that were medically unnecessary and oftentimes, never provided. In many cases, indictments and complaints allege that beneficiaries accepted cash kickbacks in return for allowing providers to submit forms saying they had received the treatments that, in reality, were unnecessary or never provided. Collectively, the doctors, health care company owners, executives and others charged in the indictments and complaints are accused of conspiring to submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program.

In Miami, 24 defendants were charged for allegedly participating in various fraud schemes that led to approximately $103 million in false billings. According to court documents, the fraud schemes involved fraudulent billing for HIV infusion services, home health care and physical therapy services, DME and pharmaceutical medications. The defendants include owners and operators of companies, doctors, nurses, and patient recruiters, as well as a medical biller who is alleged to have billed approximately $49 million for fraudulent services.

Thirty-one defendants were charged in Baton Rouge for various schemes allegedly involving fraudulent claims for DME totaling approximately $32 million. The defendants include the owners and operators of nine different purported medical services companies and four doctors, 14 patient recruiters and other individuals who allegedly worked at the medical services companies.

Twenty-two defendants were charged in Brooklyn for their alleged participation in schemes to submit fraudulent claims totaling approximately $78 million. These fraud schemes involved false billing for physical and occupational therapy and DME. The defendants include the owners and operators, patient recruiters and employees at three different purported medical clinics and a medical equipment company, as well as three doctors. According to court documents, six of the defendants charged are serial Medicare beneficiaries, who purported to seek medical treatment from numerous providers, causing the submission of multiple claims to Medicare for purported medical treatments.

In Detroit, 11 defendants were charged for their alleged roles in schemes to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services, nerve conduction tests and injection and infusion therapy sessions. The schemes involved a total alleged fraud of approximately $35 million and five different purported medical services companies.

Four defendants were also charged in Houston for their alleged roles in a $3 million scheme to submit fraudulent claims for DME.

In addition to making arrests around the country, law enforcement agents are executing search warrants in connection with ongoing health care fraud investigations.

"Today’s charges allege attempts by individuals to defraud the Medicare program of $251 million," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III. "Countless Americans rely on Medicare for their well-being, and the FBI, working in conjunction with our federal agency partners, is resolute in its commitment to stop those who would illegally manipulate the system."

"Today’s arrests illustrate how health care fraud schemes can replicate virally and migrate rapidly across communities," said Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of HHS. "To combat this fraud, the government’s response must also be swift, agile, and organized – a HEAT initiative goal which is well illustrated by today’s Strike Force actions."

The Strike Force operations in Miami, Baton Rouge, Brooklyn, Detroit and Houston are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The HEAT task force, co-chaired by Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler and Deputy Secretary Bill Corr, is made up of top-level law enforcement agents, prosecutors and staff from both departments and their operating divisions. In the May 2009 announcement, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius announced the expansion of the Strike Force into Detroit and Houston to build upon existing partnerships between the agencies in a heightened effort to reduce fraud and recover taxpayer dollars. In December 2009, Strike Force operations were expanded to Brooklyn, Baton Rouge and Tampa.

Since its inception in March 2007 with Phase One in South Florida and continuing through its most recent expansion into Tampa, Fla., the Strike Force has 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.

The cases announced today are being prosecuted and investigated by Strike Force teams comprised of attorneys from the Fraud Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Southern District of Florida, the Eastern District of New York, the Middle District of Louisiana, the Eastern District of Michigan and the Southern District of Texas; and agents from the FBI and HHS-OIG.

The Railroad Retirement Board Office of Inspector General and the Office of Personnel Management-Office of Inspector General also participated in today’s operation.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

To learn more about the HEAT team, go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a consent decree resolving a lawsuit filed against Ventura County, Calif., alleging that the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to hire a qualified applicant for a children’s social services position because she is deaf and required reasonable accommodations. At the time of her application, the applicant had been employed in the same capacity for Los Angeles for more than eight years and had excelled in her position.

Under the terms of the consent decree, approved today by Judge Margaret M. Morrow, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Ventura County will train supervisory personnel involved in hiring and promotion decisions to ensure that qualified applicants and employees who are deaf will be provided reasonable accommodations, including sign language interpreters, where necessary to ensure equal employment opportunities. Ventura County has also agreed to pay $45,000 in damages to the complainant.

"The ADA prohibits employers from making hiring decisions based on unfounded assumptions about how a deaf employee will perform the job or about the costs involved in providing reasonable accommodations for a deaf employee," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Civil Rights Division is committed to vigorously enforcing the ADA to ensure equal employment opportunities for all individuals with disabilities, and we are pleased that the County finally agreed to resolve this matter."

Title I of the ADA prohibits employers, such as Ventura County, from discriminating against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures; the hiring, advancement or discharge of employees; employee compensation, job training and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment. An employer may not deny employment opportunities to a job applicant or employee who is otherwise qualified if the denial is based on the need to make reasonable accommodations for the applicant or employee.

Those interested in finding out more about federal disability rights statutes can call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access the ADA website at www.ada.gov.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner, management company and former manager of Summerhill Place Apartments, a 268-unit apartment complex in Renton, Wash., for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status in the rental of apartments.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Summerhill Place LLC (the owner of Summerhill Place Apartments), GRAN Inc. (the management company) and Rita Lovejoy (the former on site manager). The suit alleges, among other things, that the defendants steered Indian tenants away from one of the five buildings at Summerhill, treated tenants from India less favorably than other tenants, and discouraged African Americans, Hispanics and families with children from living at Summerhill.

"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 Western District of Washington Jenny A. Durkan.  "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, two Summerhill employees contacted the King County Office of Civil Rights (KCOCR) in 2007 and complained of discriminatory housing practices at Summerhill. KCOCR then contracted with the Fair Housing Council of Washington to conduct testing at Summerhill. After testing was conducted, KCOCR referred the matter to 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 defendants elected to have the matters asserted in the HUD charge heard in federal court.

"Housing discrimination is illegal and unacceptable," said Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity John Trasviña.  "HUD and the Justice Department work to eliminate it."

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 – A former U.S. Army contracting official was sentenced today to 42 months in prison in connection with two schemes to solicit more than $30,000 in bribes and other payments from an Egyptian businessman in Kuwait, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia.

William Rondell Collins, 46, of Bartlett, Tenn., was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady to forfeit $5,775, to pay a fine of $1,725 and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. Collins pleaded guilty on April 21, 2010, to one count of bribery and one count of unlawful salary supplementation. Collins was originally charged in an indictment filed on Feb. 18, 2010.

Collins was employed by the U.S. Army Area Support Group-Kuwait (ASG-KU). The ASG-KU is responsible for maintaining Camp Arifjan, a U.S. military installation providing support for operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations in the Southwest Asian Theater. As part of those responsibilities, the ASG-KU maintains an off-post housing office, located in downtown Kuwait City, which procures, leases and supervises off-post housing for government employees and military service members stationed at Camp Arifjan. According to court documents, Collins worked in the ASG-KU’s off-post housing office as a housing specialist responsible for supervising private contractors and procuring off-post apartment rentals.

According to court documents, Collins agreed to submit an inflated off-post apartment lease to the United States for approval and then split with an Egyptian businessman more than $23,100 that resulted from the inflated lease payments.  According to sentencing documents, Collins also solicited approximately $8,400 from the Egyptian businessman between July and December 2009 and agreed in return to provide advice and preferential treatment in connection with a fixed-price U.S. government contract awarded to the Egyptian businessman’s company. The contract was for maintenance services for off-post housing supervised by Collins and the ASG-KU off-post housing office.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan S. Faulconer and Fraud Section Senior Trial Attorney James J. Graham. The investigation was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division, and members of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force (NPFTF) and the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF).

The NPFTF, created in October 2006 by the Department of Justice, was designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs. 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 – A Tennessee grand jury has indicted Walter Allen Johnson, aka "Beau" Johnson, of Sevierville, Tenn., for filing false claims against the United States as well as conspiring to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

The indictment alleges that Johnson, while incarcerated with the Tennessee Department of Corrections, conspired to defraud the United States by submitting false tax returns claiming refunds on behalf of inmates from February of 2006 through January of 2007. The indictment further alleges that Johnson collected social security numbers from inmates and recruited other inmates to collect social security numbers for him. According to the indictment, Johnson used those social security numbers to file false income tax forms with the IRS in the names of inmates, claiming refunds to which the inmates were not entitled.

The indictment alleges that Johnson and his co-conspirators collected approximately 88 U.S. Treasury checks as a result of the returns that were filed, totaling approximately $58,651.80.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum of 65 years in prison and a maximum fine of $3 million.

The case is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Michelle M. Petersen and Kathryn B. Ward.

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

WASHINGTON -- Walter Kendall Myers, a former State Department official, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and 81 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a nearly 30-year conspiracy to provide highly-classified U.S. national defense information to the Republic of Cuba.

 

The sentences, handed down today by Judge Reggie B. Walton in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, were announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director for the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security. 

 

On Nov. 20, 2009, defendant Kendall Myers, 73, aka “Agent 202,” pleaded guilty to a three-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit espionage and two counts of wire fraud. His wife, Gwendolyn Myers, 72, aka “Agent 123,” and “Agent E-634,” pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging her with conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information. The defendants, both residents of Washington, D.C., were arrested on June 4, 2009, by FBI agents and have remained in custody ever since.

 

Both defendants have agreed to the entry of a monetary judgment against them in the amount of $1,735,054. The assets that will be forfeited to the government towards satisfaction of that judgment include the proceeds from the sale of the defendants’ apartment and vehicle, and various bank and investment accounts.

 

“For nearly 30 years, this couple proudly committed espionage on behalf of a long-standing foreign adversary. Today, they are being held accountable for their actions. Their sentences should serve as a clear warning to others who would willingly compromise our nation’s most sensitive classified information,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

“Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers were brought to justice not because they were careless, but because of an extremely well-planned and executed counterintelligence investigation that required the unprecedented cooperation of multiple agencies of the U.S. government tasked with protecting our national security,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. “Others like the Myers who are presently betraying the trust that this country has placed in them should know that they are not safe from prosecution regardless of how careful they think they are being.  As with Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers, they will be caught and brought to justice.”

 

Shawn Henry, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said: “The Myers made a conscious decision to betray the United States and its citizens.  The FBI, along with its partners in the U.S. Intelligence Community, will continue to aggressively pursue anyone who seeks to cause the same harm.”

 

“Walter Kendall Myers betrayed his country.  By committing acts of espionage Myers grievously violated the confidence placed in him by the U.S. Department of State and the American people.  Today, he has been rightfully sentenced for crimes against our nation,” said Assistant Secretary for State for Diplomatic Security Eric J. Boswell.

 

Background

 

According to the sentencing memorandum, plea agreements and other documents filed in court by the United States:

 

Kendall Myers began working at the State Department in 1977 as a contract instructor at the Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Va. After living briefly with Gwendolyn in South Dakota, he returned to Washington, D.C., and resumed employment as an instructor with FSI. From 1988 to 1999, in addition to his FSI duties, he performed work for the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). He later worked full-time in INR and, from July 2001 until his retirement in October 2007, was an intelligence analyst for Europe in INR where he specialized on European matters and had daily access to classified information through computer databases and otherwise. He received a “Top Secret” security clearance in 1985 and, in 1999, received access to “Sensitive Compartmental Information.”

 

Gwendolyn Myers moved to Washington, D.C., in 1980 and married Kendall Myers in May 1982. She later obtained employment with a local bank as an administrative analyst and later as a special assistant. Gwendolyn Myers was never granted a security clearance by the U.S. government.

 

Recruitment

 

In December 1978, while an employee of the State Department’s FSI, Kendall Myers traveled to Cuba after being invited by a Cuban government official who had made a presentation at FSI. That Cuban official was an intelligence officer for the Cuban Intelligence Service (CuIS). This trip provided CuIS with the opportunity to assess or develop Myers as a Cuban agent. Myers kept a diary of his two-week trip to Cuba in which he explicitly declared his affinity for Fidel Castro and the Cuban government. The diary was recovered by the FBI in the investigation.

 

In 1979, Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers were visited in South Dakota by the same Cuban intelligence officer who had invited Kendall Myers to Cuba. During the visit, the Cuban intelligence officer recruited both of them to be clandestine agents for Cuba, a role in which they served for the next 30 years. Their recruitment by CuIS as “paired” agents is consistent with CuIS’s past practice in the United States. Afterwards, CuIS directed Kendall Myers to pursue a job at the State Department or the CIA to gain access to classified information. Kendall Myers, accompanied by his wife, returned to Washington, D.C., where he pursued a position at the State Department.

 

During the time frame in which Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers were serving as clandestine agents for Cuba, the CuIS often communicated with its clandestine agents in the United States by broadcasting encrypted radio messages from Cuba on shortwave radio frequencies. Clandestine agents in the United States monitoring the frequency on shortwave radio could decode the messages using a decryption program provided by CuIS. Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers communicated with CuIS by this method. The shortwave radio they used to receive clandestine communications was purchased with money provided by CuIS. The shortwave radio was later recovered by the FBI.

 

Undercover Operation

 

According to the court documents, in April 2009, the FBI launched an undercover operation against the pair. Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers met four times with an undercover FBI source, on April 15th, 16th and 30th, and on June 4, 2009. The meetings were all video- and audio-taped.

 

During the meetings, Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers made a series of statements about their past activities on behalf of CuIS, including how they used code names and how they had transmitted information to their CuIS handlers through personal meetings, “dead drops,” “hand-to-hand” passes, and in at least one case, the exchange of shopping carts in a grocery store. The couple also stated that they had traveled to meet Cuban agents in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and other locations.

 

When asked by the undercover FBI agent if he had ever transmitted information to CuIS that was classified higher than “Secret,” Kendall Myers replied, “oh yeah…oh yeah.” He said he typically removed information from the State Department by memory or by taking notes, although he did take some classified documents home. Gwendolyn Myers admitted she would process the classified documents at home for delivery to their CuIS handlers. In the final meeting with the FBI source, Kendall Myers disclosed “Top Secret” national defense information related to sources and methods of gathering intelligence. He also admitted that he had previously disclosed the information to CuIS.

 

Corroboration

 

The admissions by Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers were corroborated by other evidence collected in the investigation. The FBI seized a shortwave radio in their apartment and confirmed overseas trips by the couple that corresponded to statements they made. The FBI also identified encrypted shortwave radio messages between CuIS and a handler for the couple that were broadcast in 1996 and 1997.

 

Furthermore, an analysis of Kendall Myers’ State Department computer revealed that, from August 22, 2006, until his retirement on Oct. 31, 2007, he viewed more than 200 intelligence reports concerning the subject of Cuba. Of these reports concerning Cuba, the majority was classified and marked “Secret” or “Top Secret.” The FBI also located handwritten notes by Kendall Myers reflecting the gathering and retention of “Top Secret” information which he intended to provide the CuIS, but never did.

 

Finally, since at least 1983 and until 2007, Kendall Myers made repeated false statements to government investigators responsible for conducting background investigations which determined his continued suitability for a “Top Secret” security clearance. By not disclosing his and his wife’s clandestine activity on behalf of CuIS and by making false statements to the State Department about their status as clandestine Cuban agents, he defrauded the United States whenever he received his government salary. Based on these false representations and promises, Kendall Myers obtained at least $1,735,054 in salary from the U.S. government for the benefit of him and his wife.

 

This investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Michael Harvey, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Senior Trial Attorney Clifford I. Rones, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

 

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today kicked-off the first in a series of regional health care fraud prevention summits in Miami. The summit brought together a wide-array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system.

 

“Despite all that’s been accomplished over the last year, we cannot yet be satisfied or become complacent. And we cannot ignore the fact that health care fraud remains a significant problem,” said Attorney General Holder. “Each of you can be part of this and other public education efforts. Each of you can help to ensure that our health reform achievements are not exploited.”

 

“The days of scamming dollars from our health care system are over,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Thanks to new tools contained in the Affordable Care Act, we are more prepared than ever to safeguard taxpayer dollars and ensure that the health care coverage of our seniors, families and children is secure. I’m proud of the tremendous success we’ve had so far, and look forward to continuing this important dialogue at fraud prevention summits across the country.”

 

The summit featured a training session for Miami-area seniors on how to detect suspected fraud in Medicare, including how to report fraud to 1-800-HHS-TIPS and at www.stopmedicarefraud.gov .

 

The summit also featured educational panels that discussed best practices for both providers and law enforcement in preventing health care fraud. The panels included law enforcement officials, consumer experts, providers and representatives of key government agencies.

The recently enacted Affordable Care Act provides additional tools and resources to fight fraud in the health care system by providing an additional $350 million over the next ten years through the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account. In addition, the Affordable Care Act toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances screenings and enrollment requirements, encourages increased sharing of data across government, expands overpayment recovery efforts, and provides greater oversight of private insurance abuses. For information on the 2009 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Report, please visit www.justice.gov/dag/pubdoc/hcfacreport2009.pdf

 

Investments in anti-fraud detection and enforcement pay for themselves many times over, and the administration’s tough stance against fraud is already yielding results. I n FY 2009, anti-fraud efforts put $2.51 billion back in the Medicare Trust Fund, a $569 million, or 29 percent, increase over FY 2008, and over $441 million in federal Medicaid money was returned to the U.S. Treasury, a 28 percent increase from FY 2008.

The Affordable Care Act builds on innovative strategies to fight fraud, such as the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), the joint operation between the Department of Justice (DOJ) in partnership with their 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the HHS Office of Inspector General  that has unleashed special strike forces in seven regions to target  health care fraud hot spots like South Florida, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Brooklyn, N.Y., Baton Rouge, La., and Tampa, Fla.

On June 8, 2010, President Obama announced this nationwide series of regional fraud prevention summits as part of a multi-faceted effort to crack down on health care fraud. The Miami summit was the first in a series, with additional summits to follow in the coming months in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned an indictment charging Felix M. Mathis, an attorney practicing in Zurich, Switzerland, with conspiring to defraud the United States and structuring the importation of currency into this country. If convicted, Mathis faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1.25 million.

According to court documents, in 1997, Dr. Andrew Silva of Sterling, Va., inherited an undeclared bank account from his mother at the Zurich branch of one of the world’s largest international banks. The bank is headquartered in England and also has offices in Zurich, Geneva and the Eastern District of Virginia. The account was held in the name of a sham Liechtenstein trust. In 1999, Silva met with Mathis who managed the account in Zurich. Mathis instructed Silva to keep the account "hush," to not keep any records relating to the account, and to send coded letters to him if he wished to meet. Further, Mathis advised Silva that if he transported or mailed less than $10,000 in U.S. currency back to the United States, he would not have to declare the funds to the U.S. government upon re-entry to the United States.

According to court documents, in September 2009, Silva was informed that the international bank was closing his undeclared Swiss account and that he had until the end of the year to travel to Switzerland to withdraw all funds. Silva made two trips to Zurich in October and November 2009 and met with Mathis at his office and a Swiss banker at the private wealth office of the international bank. Mathis and the Swiss banker refused to wire the money to the United States as it would leave a trail for U.S. law enforcement. Instead, they provided him with $235,000 in U.S. currency. Of that total, Silva received $200,000 in two individually wrapped "bricks" of $100,000 of sequentially numbered, new $100 bills.

According to court documents, with the assistance of Mathis, Silva mailed 26 packages containing over $200,000 in U.S. currency from Switzerland to the United States to himself and another person.

Silva pleaded guilty on Feb. 16, 2010 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to making a false statement. As part of his plea agreement, Silva agreed to forfeit to the government $211,200 in U.S. currency that law enforcement officials seized from packages that he mailed from Switzerland to his residence in Sterling, Va. On June 11, 2010, U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady sentenced Silva to two years of probation, including four months of home detention and a $20,000 fine.

Individuals who physically transport, mail or ship, or cause to be physically transported, mailed, shipped or received, currency, traveler’s checks, and certain other monetary instruments in an aggregate amount exceeding $10,000 into the United States are required to file a FinCen Form 105, Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (the CMIR).

United States law prohibits individuals from structuring mailings of U.S. currency into the United States in amounts less than $10,000 if the purpose of the structuring was to evade the requirement to file a CMIR.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being investigated by criminal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle of the Eastern District of Virginia, Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel Kevin M. Downing, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Mark F. Daly and John E. Sullivan.

WASHINGTON Roland J. Bourgeois Jr., 47, currently a resident of Columbia, Miss., was charged in a five-count indictment with conspiring to commit a hate crime, committing a hate crime with a deadly weapon and with intent to kill, making false statements and obstructing of justice in connection with a shooting that happened in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Today's indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jim Letten; and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New Orleans Field Office David Welker.

According to the indictment, on Sept. 1, 2005,Roland Bourgeois Jr. fired a shotgun at three African-American men because of their race and because they were attempting to use the public streets in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans. These African-American men were wounded as they sought to evacuate from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The indictment alleges that, after Hurricane Katrina,Bourgeoisdiscussed shooting African-Americans and defending Algiers Point from outsiders, including African-Americans who did not live in the neighborhood. After Bourgeois fired a shotgun at the three men walking on a public street, he learned that one of his victims had been wounded and he announced that he was going to kill African-Americans. Bourgeois then allegedly warned an African-American resident of Algiers Point that, "anything coming up this street darker than a brown paper bag is getting shot." Immediately following the shooting,Bourgeois retrieved from the scene – and subsequently displayed – a bloody baseball cap that belonged to one of the victims.

The indictment further alleges that Bourgeois later provided a false statement to federal agents investigating the Sept. 1, 2005, shooting in Algiers Point. Bourgeois is also charged with corruptly persuading an eyewitness to lie to the FBI. Finally,Bourgeois is charged with using a firearm in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy and civil rights offenses.

Bourgeois faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.

This case, which is ongoing, is being investigated by the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI, and is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Forrest Christian and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana W. Scott Laragy.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced the filing and settlement of a lawsuit against the Pasco County Fair Association Inc. for allegedly discriminating against Hispanic patrons in the rental of a reception hall on its fairgrounds in Dade City, Fla. The department’s complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa and the settlement is memorialized in a consent decree that must still be approved by the court.

The complaint alleges that the Pasco County Fair Association violated Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against persons of Hispanic descent by charging and quoting Hispanic customers and prospective customers higher deposit fees for renting the Dan Cannon Auditorium, a reception hall owned and operated by the fair association and used for weddings, anniversaries and other events.

"Public gathering places such as reception halls should be open to all persons regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, and our nation’s laws make clear that discrimination of this sort is unacceptable," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "This settlement sends the important message that the Justice Department and the Civil Rights Division are committed to eradicating illegal discrimination in public accommodations."

"People use public places like this to celebrate the most joyous and important events of their lives," said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida A. Brian Albritton. "The U.S. Attorney’s Office will remain vigilant to ensure access to such places without illegal discrimination."

The consent decree prohibits the fair association from discriminating on the basis of national origin in the provision of goods, services and facilities at the fairgrounds and the Dan Cannon hall. The decree also requires training of the association’s board members and employees, the adoption of nondiscrimination policies and procedures, the posting of nondiscrimination policies in Spanish and English, the adoption of complaint resolution procedures, the retention of an outside contractor to test the association’s compliance with Title II, and monitoring by the government.

The lawsuit arose after the Greater Tampa Chapter of the ACLU Foundation of Florida alerted the Civil Rights Division that the fair association was allegedly charging Hispanics higher deposits to rent Dan Cannon Auditorium. The government conducted an independent investigation, including using testers – individuals who pose as renters to gather information about possible discriminatory practices – who uncovered evidence of possible discrimination.

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin in places of public accommodation, such as restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, nightclubs, stadiums and other places of exhibition or entertainment. Under Title II, the Civil Rights Division can obtain injunctive relief that changes policies and practices to remedy customer discrimination. Title II does not include a provision for monetary damages for individuals who are victims of discrimination.

The continued enforcement of Title II is a priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive settlement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with QuikTrip Corporation, a private company that owns and operates more than 550 gas stations, convenience stores, travel centers, and truck stops in the Midwest, South and Southwestern United States.  Under the consent decree, which was filed today along with a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, QuikTrip will create a $1.5 million compensatory damages fund for individuals who were victims of discrimination based on disability, as well as take various steps to make its stores accessible.

 

The Justice Department initially opened the investigation in response to complaints about inaccessible parking by two individuals with disabilities in the Omaha, Neb., area.  The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleges that the investigation revealed a nationwide pattern and practice of discrimination on the basis of disability.  QuikTrip Corporation worked with the Justice Department to amicably resolve the matter without active litigation.

 

“On July 26, 2010, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA, a landmark civil rights law that ensures equal access and equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities.  Ensuring full and equal access to all businesses open to the public is a top priority, and the Justice Department is committed to vigorous enforcement of the ADA to ensure equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. 

 

“Convenience stores and gas stations are a critical part of everyday life in America, and these facilities must afford equal access to individuals with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Perez.  “QuikTrip has worked cooperatively with the department so we could resolve this case without active litigation and has affirmed its commitment to serving individuals with disabilities by taking the necessary actions to achieve ADA compliance at all of its stores.”

 

Under the settlement, which remains subject to court approval, QuikTrip Corporation will:

• Make necessary modifications at its current stores over a three year period to achieve compliance with ADA accessibility requirements.  QuikTrip has retained an independent licensed architect approved by the department to certify compliance with the ADA architectural standards for each of its current stores;
• Design and construct future stores so they comply with the ADA architectural standards and obtain a certification of ADA compliance for each future store from the independent licensed architect or a construction manager who has been trained by the architect on ADA compliance issues;
• Ensure that at least two fueling positions at each of its current stores and all fueling positions at each store opened after the entry of the consent decree are accessible to individuals with disabilities, including the fuel dispenser controls, self-service payment mechanism, call button and amenities. At QuikTrip stores opened after approval of the consent decree, two fuel dispensers will be on the shortest accessible route to the store entrance;
• Adopt, implement and train store employees on policies to ensure fueling and other types of indoor and outdoor assistance for people with disabilities, equal access for individuals who use service animals, and maintaining accessible features, such as accessible parking and routes;
• Ensure and maintain operation of remote notification systems for outdoor assistance after an initial testing and upgrade of notification systems that may take up to six months;
• Implement and maintain an ADA comment line and complaint resolution process and take appropriate corrective actions to resolve ADA-related complaints received from customers;
• Ensure the accessibility of its website, www.quiktrip.com ;
• Pay a maximum civil penalty in the amount of $55,000;
• Create a $1.5 million compensatory damages fund to compensate the complainants and other aggrieved persons who make timely claims to the Justice Department.  Claims must be received within 180 days of entry of the consent decree by the court.

 

The consent decree was reached under Title III of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by businesses that are open to the public, including gas stations, convenience stores, and other retailers, both large and small.  More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at the website www.justice.gov/crt .  More information about the settlement with QuikTrip can be found at www.ada.gov or by calling the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

 

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury has charged Vernon Wilson, former Chief Deputy of the Washington County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, in a six-count indictment stemming from four separate incidents in which Wilson allegedly assaulted inmates or caused the assault of inmates in the Washington County Jail in the summer and fall of 2005, the Justice Department today announced. The indictment charges Wilson with felony civil rights violations and with making false statements to the F BI.

 

According to the indictment, on July 27, 2005, Wilson caused an inmate, identified in the indictment by the initials J.T., to be assaulted when he placed J.T. in a cellblock that housed an inmate whom Wilson knew was dangerous and would likely assault J.T. On Aug. 14, 2005, Wilson repeatedly slapped another inmate, identified in the indictment by the initials J.G., causing J.G.’s head to hit a concrete wall, according to the indictment. The indictment also alleges that on Sept. 29, 2005, Wilson caused an inmate, identified in the indictment by the initials G.G., to be assaulted when he allowed G.G. to remain in a cellblock that housed the same inmate who had assaulted J.T. several weeks before. The indictment further alleges that Wilson repeatedly slapped an inmate, identified in the indictment by the initials W.H., causing W.H.’s head to hit a concrete wall. The indictment also alleges that the assaults resulted in bodily injury to all four inmates.

The indictment also alleges that Wilson lied to a special agent of the FBI.

"Law enforcement officers are the first line of defense for the U.S. Constitution," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute any person who abuses his or her official authority by deliberately subjecting persons in his or her custody to physical assaults."

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

 

 

If convicted, Wilson faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison for the civil rights charges and 10 years in prison for the false statement charges.

On July 14, 2010, Wilson’s daughter, Valeria Wilson Jackson, a former corrections officer at Washington County Jail, who worked under her father at the time of these alleged offenses, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of obstruction of justice for intentionally misleading the FBI about her role in one of the assaults at the jail.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s St. Louis office and is being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Patricia Sumner and Fara Gold.

 

 

WASHINGTON – Two individuals pleaded guilty for their participation in an international group of child pornography collectors who used a social networking site to share thousands of sexually explicit images, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer for the Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 

Ryan Chiles, of Hampton, Va. , pleaded guilty today in federal court in Pittsburgh before U.S. District Court Judge Arthur A. Schwab to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. Stephen Sims, of Palm Springs, Calif., pleaded guilty yesterday before Judge Schwab to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. Information presented during the plea hearings established that Chiles, 21, and Sims, 56, engaged in a child exploitation enterprise from Jan. 1, 2007, to Sept. 22, 2009. Specifically, Chiles, Sims and others distributed images and videos of children being sexually abused to other members of an international group that had restricted membership and was formed on a social networking website.  Members of the group distributed to one another thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children, many of which graphically depicted prepubescent, male children, including some infants, being sexually abused and sometimes sodomized or subjected to bondage.   

Sentencing for Sims has been set for Feb. 4, 2011, and sentencing for Chiles has been set for Feb. 11, 2011. Chiles and Sims each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, as well as the possibility of lifetime supervised release. Chiles and Sims also face a fine of up to $250,000.

 

These cases were 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.

 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the High Tech Investigative Unit of CEOS conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Chiles and Sims.  CEOS Trial Attorney Barak Cohen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted the cases.

WASHINGTON— McWane Inc., a national cast iron pipe manufacturer headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve more than 400 violations of federal and state environmental laws, the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement, filed in federal court today in Birmingham, Ala., covers 28 of McWane’s manufacturing facilities in 14 states and also requires the company to perform seven environmental projects valued at $9.1 million.

The $4 million civil penalty will be divided among the United States, Alabama and Iowa. The environmental projects McWane will perform address storm water contamination at numerous locations; reduce mercury emissions in Provo, Utah, and Tyler, Texas; reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions in Bedford, Ind., and Anniston, Ala.; and enhance air quality in Coshocton, Ohio. Additionally, McWane has already undertaken corrective measures to resolve the violations, at a cost of more than $7.6 million.

The settlement resolves civil violations during the past decade of the Clean Air Act the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, as alleged by the United States, Alabama and Iowa in the complaint.

McWane manufactures cast iron pipes, valves, fittings, fire hydrants, propane and compressed air tanks and other similar products. As a result of its manufacturing processes, McWane emits pollutants, such as particulate matter, VOCs and mercury at various facilities. Mercury is a known neurotoxin and exposure to it has been linked to adverse human health effects, particularly neurological disorders. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Particulate matter can aggravate lung diseases, cause asthma attacks and may increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. The environmental projects included in the settlement will result in reduction of more than four million pounds of pollutants annually. The corrective measures and supplemental environmental projects included in the McWane settlement will benefit communities in North Birmingham and Anniston with environmental justice concerns.

As part of the settlement, the United States also required McWane to develop and implement a corporate-wide environmental management system (EMS) to promote environmental compliance, achieve pollution prevention and enhance overall environmental performance. The EMS was implemented prior to today’s filing and is now complete. The agreement requires McWane now to conduct an audit of the EMS to evaluate the adequacy of the system. In addition, McWane has modified its corporate-wide stormwater pollution prevention plan and will develop or upgrade facility-specific plans as part of the agreement.

At its Coshocton, Ohio, iron foundry, McWane will operate a cupola furnace, which is a particulate emissions source, in accordance with its newly-revised Clean Air Act Title V permit. The consent decree also establishes operating conditions and emission limits for the cupola furnace, and is separately enforceable by the EPA.

In the past, multiple McWane divisions and facilities have been the subject of criminal investigations that have resulted in five federal prosecutions. As a result, the company has paid more than $25 million in criminal fines and penalties and spent approximately $5 million on environmental projects. Company executives have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 70 months and the company and certain executives have been placed on probation.

"This is a comprehensive settlement that brings McWane into full environmental compliance at 28 facilities nationwide, and imposes a penalty on the company for its civil environmental violations at those facilities over the past decade," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "As a result of this agreement, McWane has completely re-engineered its environmental management systems to ensure that it remains in compliance, and has committed over $9 million to environmental projects that will remove significant amounts of pollutants from the environment and benefit the surrounding communities."

"In addition to meeting its environmental obligations and taking corrective measures, McWane will go beyond compliance and take action to protect communities that are at the greatest risk for air and water pollution." said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "The additional environmental projects included in the settlement will protect children, pregnant mothers, local residents and workers from harmful pollution and are an example of securing public health and environmental benefits in addition to those achieved by compliance with our nation’s environmental laws."

The proposed settlement agreement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Birmingham Division, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Justice Department website at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

WASHINGTON – Douglas Carruthers, 46, formerly of Rockland, Mass., was sentenced today to 70 months in prison and eight years of supervised release following his prison term for child pornography offenses, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz for the District of Massachusetts.

Carruthers was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns. On March 22, 2010, Carruthers pleaded guilty to five counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. This case arose from an investigation by Swiss federal and local police of an individual in Switzerland who was sharing and trading child pornography using the Internet with individuals in the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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 against Carruthers was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the District of Massachusetts and CEOS Trial Attorney Bonnie L. Kane of the Criminal Division. The case was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police; the Plymouth County, Mass., Sheriff's Department; Marshfield, Mass., Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the Albemarle County, Va., Police Department.

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the city of Milton, Wash., under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve access to city parks and recreational activities for persons with disabilities. The agreement resolves a complaint alleging that the city’s parks and annual parade and festival are not accessible to individuals with mobility disabilities.

 

“This agreement will ensure that individuals with disabilities living in Milton will have improved access to their parks and recreational activities,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “I commend city officials for making this commitment to their residents with disabilities. In this year when we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA, it is time for all state and local governments throughout the country, no matter what size, to make a renewed commitment to achieving full ADA compliance and ensuring the civil rights of individuals with disabilities.”

 

Under the agreement announced today, the city of Milton will take several important steps to improve access for individuals with disabilities, such as:

 

·         Making physical modifications to the city’s two parks so that parking, routes to park amenities, and park amenities (e.g., picnic tables, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball fields and drinking fountains) are accessible to individuals with disabilities. The agreement specifies which modifications will be made at each park.

·         Ensuring that persons with disabilities will have equal access to restroom facilities in Triangle Park, the city’s largest park. Because the city raised concerns about the cost of tearing down the existing inaccessible restroom and replacing it with a new one, the agreement details a variety of ways for the city to meet the ADA requirements for providing restroom access to persons with mobility disabilities in the short and long term, with department approval, without unnecessarily large expenditures.

·         Providing accessible playground equipment at Triangle Park so children with mobility disabilities will have an equal opportunity to enjoy the playground.

·         Making modifications to city policies and practices for the annual summer parade and festival.

 

Located between Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., Milton, has an estimated population of approximately 6,000.  According to census data, one in every four residents of Milton is an individual with a disability.

 

Today’s settlement agreement was reached under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments.  The department will actively monitor the city’s compliance with the agreement. The agreement will remain in effect for three years or until the department has confirmed that all required actions have been completed, whichever is later.

 

People interested in finding out more about the ADA, today’s agreement with Milton or the ADA best practices tool kit for state and local governments can access the ADA website at www.ada.gov or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a court-approved consent decree which resolves a lawsuit against the state of New York and its public university systems for their failure to provide voter registration services at offices serving students with disabilities at each public university and college campus in New York State. 

"The voting process begins with registration and it is essential that all citizens, including individuals with disabilities, have unfettered access to voter registration opportunities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  "This decree ensures that college and university students with disabilities throughout New York State will be able to register to vote as easily and conveniently as possible."

The lawsuit, filed on April 15, 2004, in the U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y., alleged that the state violated Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which in part requires that voter registration services be provided at offices that provide state-funded programs primarily for persons with disabilities. The United States asserted the NVRA applied to disability services offices at New York’s public higher education campuses and that the state violated the NVRA by failing to provide voter registration services to students with disabilities at those offices.  In March 2010, the court agreed with the United States and issued an order upholding the United States’ position. The court gave the parties time, however, to negotiate an appropriate remedy to the violation, which resulted in the court-approved consent decree announced today.

Under the consent decree, by the start of the 2010-2011 school year, disability services offices at each public university and college campus in the state will provide voter registration services to students with disabilities.  The decree also provides a program for training, oversight, reporting and publicity to ensure continued NVRA compliance at New York’s public universities and colleges. 

Congress enacted the NVRA in 1993 in part to enhance citizen participation in elections, including those citizens with disabilities who, because of their disabilities, faced discriminatory barriers to voter registration.

Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be reported to the Justice Department at 1-800-253-3931. More information about the NVRA and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting . Additional information regarding other laws regarding citizens with disabilities may be found at www.ada.gov.

 

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a consent decree with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that, if approved by the U.S. District Court, will resolve the department’s complaint filed in May 2009, alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). 

The department’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., alleged that while on active duty, Air Force reservist Dany Felix aggravated a pre-existing back injury and also sustained a new back injury, resulting in his being honorably discharged. According to the complaint, when Felix sought reemployment, the CDCR violated USERRA by failing to promptly and properly reemploy him.  The consent decree obtained by the department requires the CDCR to pay Felix a monetary award of $43,750 and requires the CDCR to comply with all of USERRA’s provisions.  Under the terms of the consent decree, the CDCR has adopted a revised policy regarding reemployment of persons with service-connected injuries or limitations and the CDCR will provide employees with training regarding USERRA’s reemployment requirements.

"USERRA protects the reemployment rights of the men and women who serve our country, including service members who are injured during service and require an accommodation from their employer," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  "The department is committed to vigorously enforcing those rights."

The Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service investigated and attempted to resolve Felix’s USERRA complaint before referring it to the Department of Justice for litigation.

 

Both the Departments of Justice and Labor place a high priority on the enforcement of service members’ rights under USERRA.  "Our two agencies work closely together to ensure that our service members are treated right when they return from service," said Ray Jefferson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training. 

 

 

Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department website at www.servicemembers.gov and www.justice.gov/crt/emp , as well as on the Labor Department’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra

 

 

 

WASHINGTON– The United States has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the State of New York and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) that resolves previous findings of unconstitutional conditions at four juvenile justice facilities, the Justice Department announced today. The agreement resolves the United States’ investigation, which began in 2007, of the Finger Lakes Residential Center and Lansing Residential Center in Lansing, N.Y., and the Tryon Residential Center and Tryon Girls Center in Johnstown, N.Y. As a result of its investigation, the United States concluded that the facilities systematically violated juveniles’ constitutional rights in the areas of protection from harm and mental health care.

The agreement was filed today simultaneously with a complaint. The settlement agreement is pending approval by a federal judge in U.S. District Court in Albany, N.Y. The agreement contains comprehensive provisions on protection from harm, use of restraints, use of force, reporting and investigation of incidents, mental health care, use of psychotropic medications, training, quality assurance, and improved policies, procedures, and practices.

"It is New York’s fundamental responsibility to protect juveniles in its custody from harm and to uphold their constitutional rights," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We have worked cooperatively with New York officials to craft an agreement to ensure that the constitutional rights of juveniles at the four facilities are protected, and we commend New York and the New York State Office of Children and Families for their willingness to work aggressively to remedy these problems."

The United States’ 2009 findings concluded that staff at the facilities consistently and excessively used a disproportionate degree of force to gain control of youths in nearly every type of situation, leading to concussions, broken or knocked out teeth, spiral fractures, and other injuries. Further, staff at the facilities overused restraints often causing severe injury to youths, including initiating facedown restraints through "hooking and tripping," a process where staff grab a youth’s arms and trip his or her feet from underneath, causing the youth to fall face-first on the ground. Additionally, the facilities consistently failed to investigate uses of force and failed to properly discipline staff found to have used excessive force.

In the area of mental health care, the United States found that the facilities failed to provide adequate behavioral management programs and treatment plans. Residents’ substance abuse or dependence problems were generally ignored in their mental health services and programming, staff were not equipped to address youths in mental health crisis, and psychotropic medications were prescribed without appropriate monitoring of potentially dangerous side effects.

Under the agreement, New York will implement detailed remedial measures to ensure that juveniles are safe and receive the services necessary to meet their constitutional rights. This includes restrictions limiting the use of restraints to situations when all other techniques have failed and the youth poses a danger to him or herself, and requiring the immediate assessment of medical staff if prone restraints are used. The agreement also severely restricts the use of force on youths, including express prohibitions on using chokeholds and "hooking and tripping" techniques. The agreement also includes provisions directed at conducting appropriate investigations of excessive force allegations, as well as provisions aimed at improving policies; procedures and practices to protect inmates from harm by providing adequate mental health care; ensuring that the use of psychotropic medication is safe and clinically appropriate; addressing substance abuse and dependence issues; and instituting comprehensive employee training requirements.

Compliance with the agreement will be overseen by two jointly selected subject matter experts to monitor compliance with the settlement agreement. These monitors will conduct compliance review tours and will file a comprehensive monitoring report with the court within 60 days after each compliance review tour. The first compliance review tour will occur in approximately five to six months, and will occur every six months thereafter.

Additional information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/index.html .

Download the documents:

Complaint (PDF)
Joint Motion to Enter Settlement Agreement (PDF)

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced the 24 recipients of the annual Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Achievement Awards in a ceremony hosted by Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler at the PSN national conference in New Orleans. Recipients were chosen from a large pool of nominations submitted by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the nation.

“At its core, Project Safe Neighborhoods is built upon the commitment and personal integrity of individuals like those we honor today. This year’s awards celebrate and highlight the work that has been done that has truly made a difference,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Grindler. “Led by our U.S. Attorneys, federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement and prosecutors are on the frontlines on the streets of America every day. We thank you for your service, and honor your success.”

The recipients of the 2010 Project Safe Neighborhoods Achievement Awards include the following:

·         The PSN Maine Task Force received the Outstanding Media Outreach Campaign Award for its Gun Sellers Awareness Campaign.

·         The Western District of Tennessee Law Enforcement Coordination Committee received the Outstanding Local Training Program Award for developing and administering a series of training programs designed to improve the quality of officers' criminal investigations, case documentation and courtroom presentations.

·         Recipients of this year’s Outstanding Individual Contribution to a Violent Crime Task Force Award include Law Enforcement Coordinator for the District of New Mexico Ronald P. Lopez, Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Texas Trent Touchstone and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Guillermo Gil.

 

·         The Tampa/Hillsborough Comprehensive Anti-Gang Task Force from the Middle District of Florida and the Eastern District of North Carolina PSN Partnership Task Force received the Outstanding Overall Partnership/Task Force Award.

·         This year’s Outstanding Local Prosecutor ' s Office Award was awarded to the Los Angeles City Attorney' s Office in the Central District of California, the Oklahoma County District Attorney' s Office in the Western District of Oklahoma and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington C. Andrew Colasurdo.

 

·         Recipients of this year’s Outstanding Juvenile Program Award include the Springfield Salvation Army Bridging the Gap Program in the District of Massachusetts and the Mercer County PSN Juvenile Component in the District of New Jersey.

 

·         The San Francisco Police Department received the Outstanding Local Police Department Involvement Award for its innovative violence reduction strategy designed to direct a concerted enforcement effort in “hot spots” in each of the 10 police districts in the city.  The department reduced homicides by 54 percent and shootings by 34 percent in a single year.  

 

·         The Outstanding Gun Crime Investigation Award was awarded to Operation Gideon in the District of Arizona, Operation Glass Hotel in the District of Columbia, Operation Statesboro Blues in the Southern District of Georgia, and Operation City Nights in the Eastern District of Missouri.

 

·         Operation Augusta Ink in the Southern District of Georgia, the Western District of North Carolina MS-13 Investigation and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in Newport News, Va., received the award for Outstanding Gang Investigation.

 

·         This year’s Outstanding Community Involvement Award was awarded to the Youth Intervention Network in the Northern District of California for its comprehensive initiative designed to build and support a high performing and robust community working together to serve youth identified as likely to commit or become victims of violent crimes without prevention assistance.

·         Hartford Neighborhood Centers Inc. in the District of Connecticut and the Miami-Dade Reentry Task Force received the Outstanding Reentry Initiative Award.

 

·         Dr. Anthony A. Braga, a Senior Research Associate at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, received the Outstanding Service by a Research Partner Award for providing research and program development assistance to the Massachusetts PSN Program for more than eight years.

To find out about more about PSN and its local programs, visit the PSN website at www.psn.gov.

WASHINGTON - Jeffrey Alan Wasley of Kennesaw, Ga., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography through the surreptitious videotaping of young boys using public restrooms in Atlanta-area establishments, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates.

Wasley pleaded guilty to production of child pornography before U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper on March 16, 2010. According to court documents and proceedings, Wasley was a church youth counselor and former performing magician who followed young boys in retail stores and children’s attractions. Wasley admitted that when he observed young boys entering a restroom unaccompanied by an adult, he would also enter and secretly videotape the boys.

As described in court documents, in July 2008, Wasley victimized five and seven year-old brothers in the men’s restroom of a store in Kennesaw, according to information filed with the court and discussed at the plea hearing.  These boys reported Wasley’s conduct to their mother, who in turn notified store security.  According to court documents, store security and Cobb County police were able to identify a likely suspect from store surveillance footage.  When store security observed this same individual in the store several days later, they followed him to his car and noted his car’s tag number, which was linked to Wasley. A subsequent search of Wasley’s home yielded a computer containing six videos Wasley admitted he produced of boys in public restrooms, along with thousands of additional images of child pornography that Wasley had downloaded from the Internet. 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Cobb County Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert McBurney and Francey Hakes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Andrew McCormack of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

WASHINGTON – A former corrections officer for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department in Potosi, Mo., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of obstruction of justice, admitting that she intentionally misled law enforcement officials about her role in the assault of an inmate housed in the Washington County Jail (WCJ), the Department of Justice today announced .

 

Valeria Wilson Jackson pleaded guilty to charges arising out of an incident that occurred at the WCJ on Sept. 29, 2005, when an inmate, identified in court documents by the initials G.G., was severely beaten by other inmates and suffered significant injuries, including a broken orbital bone. Today in court, Jackson admitted that she placed G.G., who she claimed had annoyed her and called her a name, in a cellblock with an inmate whom Jackson knew to be violent. Wilson Jackson then encouraged the inmate to assault G.G. In addition, Jackson admitted that she intentionally misled a special agent of the FBI when she denied knowing at the time that the inmate was likely to assault G.G. and when she denied encouraging the inmate to assault G.G.

"When officers use their position to instigate violence and then make false statements to investigating authorities, our system of justice suffers," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "The Justice Department will not tolerate abuses of official authority by law enforcement officers."

Obstruction of justice charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s St. Louis office and is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Patricia Sumner and Fara Gold.

 

 

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. government filed civil forfeiture complaints against properties in New York and Virginia that represent a portion of illegal bribes paid to the former president of Taiwan and his wife, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and Director John Morton of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The forfeiture actions were filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York and the Western District of Virginia.

 

According to the complaints, in 2005 and 2006, Yuanta Securities Co. Ltd., (YSC) was attempting to increase its ownership share of Fuhwa Financial Holding Company Limited (FFHC) on Taiwan.  According to the complaints, YSC paid a bribe of 200 million New Taiwan dollars, or approximately $6 million U.S. dollars, to then-first lady Wu Sue-Jen, to ensure that the authorities on Taiwan would not interfere with its acquisition of additional shares and to attempt to establish a relationship with the head of the authorities on Taiwan.

 

“This case is another good example of the department’s resolve not to allow criminals to profit from their crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  “As we saw in this instance, international cooperation is often the key to effective enforcement.”

 

“This serves as a warning to those corrupt foreign officials who abuse their power for personal financial gain and then attempt to place those funds in the U.S. financial system,” said John Morton, Homeland Security Director for ICE. “ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations agents will continue to work with our law enforcement partners both here and abroad to investigate and prosecute those involved in such illicit activities and hold corrupt foreign officials accountable by denying them the enjoyment of their ill ­gotten gains.”

 

According to the complaints, Wu Sue-Jen orchestrated the movement of funds from Taiwan by using shell companies, created in the British Virgin Islands and the Island of Nevis, which held Swiss bank accounts controlled by her son, Chen Chih-Chung, aka Bryan Chen, and his wife Huang Jui-Ching. According to the complaints, a portion of these bribe proceeds were then transferred from Switzerland to the United States and used to purchase a condominium in Manhattan and a house in Keswick, Va. According to the complaints, Chen Chih-Chung and Huang Jui-Ching wanted to purchase the properties while concealing their ownership in them.

 

In August 2008, Chen Chih-Chung and Huang Jui-Ching returned to Taiwan to face money laundering charges based on their participation in this and other schemes. Both were subsequently convicted. Chen Chih-Chung is currently sentenced to 14 months in prison and Huang Jui-Ching is sentenced to 12 months in prison. Both are also currently under indictment in Taiwan on additional money laundering charges.

 

The former president and his wife were convicted in Taiwan on Sept. 11, 2009, for bribery, embezzlement and money laundering. They are currently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Their convictions were upheld on appeal and are now pending before the Supreme Court in Taiwan. Wu Sue-Jen previously pleaded guilty to other money laundering and forgery charges and was also convicted of perjury. The former president and his wife are also currently under indictment in Taiwan for additional alleged acts of graft and money laundering.

 

The Department of Justice and ICE worked closely with the Taiwan Supreme Prosecutors Office, Special Investigation Division to gather and exchange evidence regarding the money laundering that took place in this case to support the forfeiture of these funds.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Linda M. Samuel of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. The investigation was conducted by the Foreign Corruption Investigations Group and the Asset Identification and Removal Group of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, Miami field office, in cooperation with prosecutors in Taiwan. Indispensible assistance was also provided by the ICE Attaché in the Hong Kong.