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2 July 2021
Spanish Fort Alabama Couple Sentenced for the Production and Packaging of Misbranded Drugs and PesticidesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Richard and Monique Parker of Spanish Fort, Alabama, doing business as FB McGuinness were sentenced in federal court on four counts of an information. The Parkers pled guilty to introducing misbranded animal drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead, operating an unregistered drug establishment, and the sale of unregistered, adulterated, and misbranded pesticides.
According to documents filed as part of the defendant’s guilty plea the Parkers operated a business, F.B. McGuinness, from their residence in Spanish Fort. F.B. McGuinness sold products from a catalogue, including drugs and pesticides mainly focused on the cockfighting industry. The facility was unregistered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These products included items that were repackaged and labeled to include false FDA and NADA numbers on F.B. McGuinness products. Through a series of anonymous purchases, products were obtained from the F.B. McGuinness catalogue. An analysis of the products purchased indicated that these items were mislabeled or not as they were advertised.
In October 2020 a search warrant was executed at the Parker’s residence and location of their catalogue business. The Parkers admitted to producing and packaging drugs and pesticides at their residence for several years. The Parkers went on to admit that many of the products were repackaged and relabeled for F.B. McGuinness. The Parkers stated that the false FDA and NADA numbers on the F.B. McGuinness products gave a perception of legitimacy for their customers.
The F.B. McGuinness catalogue included products the FDA no longer approved for sale in the United States because they contained suspected carcinogens. Additionally, the EPA determined the Parker’s facility contained pesticides that were inactive or no longer allowed to be marketed in the United States.
At sentencing, the Parkers were sentenced to a three year term of probation, a $5,000 fine and the forfeiture of $100,000.
The case was investigated by the FDA, the EPA, and the FBI.
“Since 2014, the defendants sold to customers across the country over $3 million of products, which included unregistered pesticides without instructions on how to use the product safely,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Chuck Carfagno of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in Atlanta. “Today’s sentencing shows that EPA and our law enforcement partners will hold responsible those who violate our pesticide laws and put the public at risk.”
“The FDA regulates animal drugs as part of its mission to protect the public health, which includes ensuring that prescription animal drugs are lawfully distributed and dispensed pursuant to a valid prescription,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder, Ph.D., FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office. “These laws are in place not only for the well-being of the animals, but also to protect consumers from animals that may be used for food that may contain unsafe drug residues. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who attempt to evade the law.”
This matter was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
South Texan convicted of gun and drug possessionRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A 35-year-old Edinburg man has entered a guilty plea to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
On April 29, 2020, authorities observed a vehicle departing Christian Ruben Chavez’s residence in Edinburg and conducted a traffic stop. At that time, they found marijuana inside the vehicle.
The investigation revealed Chavez had just sold the drugs to the driver at his residence.
Authorities subsequently searched his residence and found Chavez along with a .40 caliber pistol, 12-gauge shotgun, 5.56 caliber rifle, approximately 1000 rounds of ammunition, multiple high capacity magazines, body armor, eight pounds of vacuum sealed marijuana, marijuana plants, psychedelic mushrooms, a scale and thousands of dollars in U.S. currency.
Chavez admitted to regularly smoking marijuana for the past five years and to possessing both the marijuana and firearms.
Authorities confirmed Chavez had multiple arrests and other adjudications for possessing controlled substances. As such, federal law prohibits him from possessing firearms and ammunition.
Chavez has also agreed to forfeit all the firearms and ammunition.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez accepted the plea and set sentencing for Sept. 22. At that time, Chavez faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Edinburg Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Redavid is prosecuting the case.
Six Alleged Ms-13 Members Facing Federal Indictment for Extortion of Maryland BusinessesRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Six federal criminal complaints charging six defendants with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by violence or threats of violence including extortion were unsealed in the U.S. District Court in Maryland on Wednesday. The affidavit in support of the criminal complaints was partially unsealed. The defendants are:
Brayan Alexander Torres a/k/a “Spooky”;
Hernan Edgardo Yanes Rivera a/k/a “Shrek”, a/k/a “Recio”, a/k/a “Garra”;
Agustino Eugenio Rivas Rodriguez, a/k/a “Cipitio”, a/k/a “Chuchin”, a/k/a “Angel”, a/k/a “Terrible”;
Brian Samir Zelaya Meja a/k/a “Flaco”, a/k/a “Chispa”, a/k/a “Directo”;
Miguel Angel Ramires, a/k/a “Majin Buu”, a/k/a “El Gordo”;
Jorge Isaac Argueta Chica a/k/a “Timido”, a/k/a “Enamo”.
Torres, Rivas Rodriguez, Ramires, and Argueta Chica were arrested in Prince George’s County, Maryland on Tuesday. Zelaya Mejia was arrested in Houston, Texas on Tuesday. Yanes Rivera is already in federal custody after arrest on a pending Indictment charging him and others with Racketeering Conspiracy in Case No. PX-21-00047.
As alleged by the criminal complaint affidavit, Torres, Yanes Rivera, Rivas Rodriguez, Zelaya Mejia, Ramires, Argueta Chica and other co-conspirators are members of the Weedams Locos Salvatrucha (“WLS”), a clique of MS-13. Members of the same clique, including Yanes Rivera and unnamed co-conspirators, were also the subject of the Indictment charging Conspiracy to Participate in a Racketeering Enterprises filed in March of this year.
The criminal complaints were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Clark E. Settles of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Acting Special Agent in Charge Rachel Byrd of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Acting Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement=s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Sheriff Melvin C. High of the Prince George’s County Sheriff Department.
MS-13 is a national and international gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador and other central American countries. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland.
As stated in the affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, members of MS-13 are expected to protect the name, reputation, and status of the gang from rival gang members and other persons. To protect the gang and to enhance its reputation, MS-13 members are expected to use any means necessary to force respect from those who showed disrespect, including acts of intimidation and violence. MS-13 also frequently forces individuals to make extortion payments (that MS-13 refers to as “rent”) in order to operate unlicensed businesses in MS-13 gang-controlled territory. Extortion funds may then be used for gang purposes, including obtaining weapons and providing support for MS-13 gang members, some of whom are imprisoned in the United States, both inside and outside of Maryland, and in El Salvador.
Torres, Yanes Rivera and other WLS members threatened and collected rents from brothels and beer sellers. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement observed and recorded members of the clique collecting extortion payments.
If convicted, each conspirator faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment for their participation in the conspiracy. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. At yesterday’s initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day ordered that Ramires and Argueta Chica be detained pending trial. Torres and Rivas Rodriguez each have been ordered detained pending detention hearings scheduled for July 2, 2021.
A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Prince George’s County Police Department; the Prince George’s County Sheriff Department; and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Thomas P. Windom, who are prosecuting the case.
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Schuylkill County Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that David Collazo, age 34, formerly of Girardville, Schuylkill County, pleaded guilty on July 1, 2021, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to possession with intent to distribute crystal methamphetamine.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Collazo admitted to possessing highly pure crystal methamphetamine for further distribution in the Schuylkill County area between December 2018 and February 2019.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.
Judge Mariani ordered that a presentence report be completed for Collazo. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce crime.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison. The maximum sentence under federal law is up to life in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Romanian National Co-Defendant Pleads Guilty for His Role in A Conspiracy to Steal Checks Intended for Religious InstitutionsRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Daniel Velcu, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to a federal bank and wire fraud conspiracy, in which the conspirators received approximately $1,244,056.77 in stolen checks intended for religious institutions.
The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Postal Inspector in Charge Peter R. Rendina of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Toni Dezomits of the Cary, North Carolina, Police Department; and Sheriff Dusty Rhoades of the Williamson County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office.
According to his guilty plea, from June 2018 to October 2020, Velcu conspired with five other foreign nationals and others to steal checks, including donations, directed to religious institutions through the U.S. mail. Velcu and his co-conspirators conducted the thefts by driving to roadside mailboxes of religious institutions’ and removing the mail from the institution’s mailboxes.
As part of the scheme to defraud, Velcu fraudulently opened bank accounts at more than four victim financial institutions under false identities. Co-conspirators opened bank accounts in coordination with a conspiracy member employed at one of the victim financial institutions, who assisted in the fraudulent account openings under false identities.
Velcu often fraudulently negotiated stolen checks at victim financial institutions through automated teller machine (ATM) transactions and deposited stolen proceeds into both fraudulently opened bank accounts and into bank accounts held in his name or a family member’s identity. Velcu subsequently withdrew money from the fraudulently opened bank accounts through ATMs and spent fraudulent funds associated with the fraudulently opened bank accounts.
On October 9, 2020, law enforcement agents executed a search and seizure warrant at Velcu’s residence. Authorities seized documents pertaining to at least one fraudulent bank account as well as fraudulent French identity documents containing photographs of Velcu with a fictitious name. In order to open fraudulent bank accounts, Velcu but using several fictitious names and identifying documentation.
During the course of the conspiracy, Velcu personally negotiated at least approximately 70 stolen checks totaling in at least approximately $40,357.50 from various religious institutions in Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Georgia, and Maryland. Velcu withdrew at least $4,740 from the accounts that received checks. The accounts Velcu personally deposited checks into received at least $48,987.44 from approximately 101 stolen checks.
Eight additional accounts in the name of Velcu or a family member received at least approximately $82,872.65 from approximately 145 stolen checks, and at least that amount was withdrawn.
Co-defendant Marian Unguru, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland pleaded guilty to the same charge on April 23, 2021. His sentencing is scheduled for July 28, 2021, at 10 a.m.
Co-defendant Nicolae Gindac pleaded guilty to the same charge on June 29, 2021. His sentencing is scheduled for August 31, 2021, at 2 p.m.
As part of his plea agreement, Velcu has agreed to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which is at least $1,244,056.77.
Velcu faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for September 29, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, HSI, the FDIC Office of Inspector General, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Cary (North Carolina) Police Department, and the Williamson County (Tennessee) Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Wright, who is prosecuting the case.
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Philadelphia Man Charged with Federal Firearms Offense After Incident During 2020 Civil UnrestRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Mashaq White, 23, of Philadelphia, PA, was arrested and charged by Indictment on the charge of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from an incident which occurred during the civil unrest in Philadelphia last year. At a hearing in U.S. District Court today, the defendant was detained pending trial.
The Indictment alleges that on June 1, 2020, the defendant was in possession of a loaded 9mm Ruger handgun as a convicted felon. According to court documents, Philadelphia Police Officers responded to a burglary in progress at a pharmacy on the 5600 block of Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia. When they entered the store they found it ransacked and the sprinkler system activated. Suddenly, the defendant allegedly came running down an aisle of the store, toward one of the officers, while carrying a handgun. The officer restrained the defendant and he was arrested. The incident was captured on the officer’s body camera.
“Our office is committed to prosecuting anybody who took advantage of the civil unrest and protests of last summer to try to commit violent acts or otherwise violate federal law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “In this case, a previously convicted felon is charged with allegedly possessing a loaded firearm, which presents a clear danger to our community that is struggling under a surge of violent gun crime.”
“Getting guns away from people who shouldn’t have them is a crucial part of our concerted effort to check violent crime in this city,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “If you’re in criminal possession of a firearm, the FBI and our partners will be glad to take it off your hands, in exchange for a nice pair of cuffs. We will continue to do all we can to make Philadelphia safer for the good folks who live, work, or visit here.”
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James R. Pavlock.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
One Man Pleads Guilty, Another Sentenced for Their Roles in Buffalo Area Drug RingRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Antoine Gilbert a/k/a Twan, 43, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to narcotics conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a $5,000,000 fine. In addition, Ronnie Charleston, also of Buffalo, who was convicted of possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, and being a felon in possession of ammunition, was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison by Judge Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura A. Higgins and Richard Antoine, who are handling the case, stated that Antoine Gilbert conspired with co-defendants Ronnie Charleston, Louis Gilbert, and Saan Thompson to sell cocaine in the City of Buffalo. On 18 different occasions between December 21, 2019, and March 13, 2020, Antoine Gilbert purchased approximately 75 ounces of cocaine from Thompson. On August 5, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant at Antoine Gilbert’s Wecker Street residence and seized cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, $2,050 in U.S. currency, a digital scale, four cell phones, and, a computer.
As to defendant Charleston, on six separate occasions between December 2019 and January 2020, he purchased approximately 49 grams of cocaine from co-defendant Thompson. On August 5, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant at Charleston’s Lisbon Avenue residence and seized approximately 1,500 rounds of assorted ammunition, three firearm magazines, $5,000 U.S. currency, approximately 12 grams of cocaine, and three digital scales. In 2006, the defendant was convicted in state court of Criminal Possession of a Loaded Firearm – Third Degree and is legally prohibited from possessing ammunition.
Saan Thompson and Louis Gilbert were previously convicted and are awaiting sentencing.
The plea and sentencing are the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.
Antoine Gilbert is scheduled to be sentenced on October 14, 2021, before Judge Arcara.
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Officials from Two Louisiana Healthcare Companies Indicted for Multi-Million Dollar Bank Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
MONROE, La. – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Charlie L. Simpson, 48, of Downsville, who worked as Chief Operating Officer of United Home Care, Inc. (“United”) and Trinity Home Health Care, Inc. (“Trinity”), and Charles R. Gardner, 53, of West Monroe, who worked as Chief Financial Officer/Controller of United and Trinity. Simpson and Gardner were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and four counts of bank fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook.
The indictment alleges that from April 2016 until March 2017, Simpson and Gardner were involved in a scheme to defraud Origin Bank, Peoples Bank, and Louisiana National Bank (“LNB”) by fraudulently obtaining money and credits from the three banks. It is alleged that Simpson and Gardner orchestrated and executed a check kite between accounts at Origin Bank and LNB wherein they deposited hundreds of checks between multiple accounts they controlled at both banks and took advantage of the float when they passed the checks, timing the exchanges to artificially inflate the account balances. In so doing, Simpson and Gardner caused Origin Bank and LNB to honor checks and payments drawn against accounts with insufficient funds and put the financial institutions at risk.
The indictment further alleges that on March 8, 2017, Simpson learned that accounts under his control at LNB had an overdraft and the bank would only accept a certified check to cover the deficit. To cover the overdraft and prevent the kite from collapsing, Simpson and Gardner allegedly added a third bank, Peoples Bank, into the scheme by issuing over 20 checks for approximately $4 million drawn from different accounts at that bank and deposited them into multiple accounts at Origin Bank. However, the accounts used at Peoples Bank did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks deposited into Origin Bank. In fact, the accounts at Peoples Bank had less than $2,000 available. The following day, March 9, 2017, the defendants used the artificially inflated balances to obtain four certified checks totaling $2.1 million from Origin Bank and deposited them into different accounts at LNB to cover the overdraft. Origin Bank suffered a financial loss when it discovered that Simpson and Gardner had used the inflated accounts to obtain certified funds.
An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The FBI is conducting this investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon H. Whitten is prosecuting the case.
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Northern Ohio Health System Agrees to Pay over $21 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for Improper Payments to Referring PhysiciansRead the Press Release
Akron General Health System (AGHS), a regional hospital system based in Akron, Ohio, will pay $21.25 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act of improper relationships with certain referring physicians, resulting in the submission of false claims to the Medicare program. AGHS was acquired at the end of 2015 by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (Clinic) through a full member substitution agreement.
This settlement resolves allegations that between August 2010 and March 2016, AGHS paid compensation substantially in excess of fair market value to area physician groups to secure their referrals of patients, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Physician Self-Referral Law, and then submitted claims for services provided to these illegally referred patients, in violation of the False Claims Act. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded programs.
The Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, prohibits a hospital from billing Medicare for certain services referred by physicians with whom the hospital has an improper financial arrangement, including the payment of compensation that exceeds the fair market value of the services actually provided by the physician. The Clinic voluntarily disclosed to the government its concerns with these compensation arrangements, which were put in place by AGHS’s prior leadership, and received credit for its cooperation in the resolution reached by the parties.
“Improper payments to physicians for referrals threaten the integrity of our health care system and deprive patients of the independent medical decision making that they deserve,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department is committed to upholding these important interests and to pursuing providers who engage in improper financial arrangements.”
“Medical decisions should be made with a patient’s best interest in mind rather than an illegal financial agreement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan for the Northern District of Ohio. “This office is committed to taking appropriate action to ensure the integrity of federal healthcare programs.”
“Physicians must make referrals and other medical decisions based on what is best for patients, not to serve profit-boosting business arrangements,” said Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of HHS-OIG. “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to protect taxpayer-funded federal health care programs as well as patients.”
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Beverly Brouse, the former Director of Internal Audit at AGHS, and Ethical Solutions LLC. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Brouse et al. v. Akron General Health System, Inc. et al., No. 5:15-cv-2720 (N.D. Ohio).
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, HHS-OIG, and the FBI.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement can be reported to HHS at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The matter was investigated by Trial Attorney Christopher Wilson of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia M. Fitzgerald.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Naples Pill Mill Doctor Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Forfeit 9 Luxury Vehicles and More Than $400,000Read the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – Gerald Michael Abraham (76, Naples) has pleaded guilty to three counts of dispensing controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count.
According to court documents, Abraham was a licensed medical doctor practicing in Naples, Florida. In October 2019, the DEA began an investigation after receiving a tip that Abraham was illegally prescribing strong opioids to patients who had no need for the medication. Over the course of the next year, the DEA conducted 18 undercover patient visits to Abraham’s office, each time receiving prescriptions for oxycodone.
Abraham ignored signs of drug abuse the undercover patients pretended to have and prescribed them oxycodone without ever examining them. Additionally, Abraham repeatedly increased the strength of the prescriptions simply because the patient asked him for more. In one instance, he prescribed an undercover patient oxycodone after telling him the medical paperwork “shows you are completely normal.”
The investigation also revealed that Abraham frequently prescribed Adderall to patients for no legitimate reason. Adderall is the brand name of a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and contains amphetamine, a frequently abused controlled substance. On multiple occasions, law enforcement observed Abraham prescribe Adderall simply upon a patient’s request, without asking any questions or engaging in any examination justifying the prescription.
Abraham’s clinic operated on a cash only basis, with patients paying $400 per visit. Investigators traced the proceeds of Abraham’s criminal activities to multiple high-end vehicles he purchased and hundreds of thousands of dollars he held, all of which they seized. In connection with his plea agreement, Abraham has agreed to forfeit the following to the United States: a 2020 Acura NSX, a 2020 Porsche GT4, a 2021 Toyota Supra, a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2020 Aston Martin, a 2020 Nissan 370Z, a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro, two 2020 Ford Mustangs, $190,496.56 paid towards a 2021 Aston Martin, and $249,598.52 in cash.
This case was investigated by the DEA Miami Tactical Diversion Squad and the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Naples Police Department and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman is prosecuting the criminal charges, and Assistant United States Attorneys Anita Cream and James Muench are prosecuting the forfeitures.
Mother, Boyfriend, and Son Indicted for Violations of the Federal Gun Control ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on Thursday, July 1, 2021 that MATTHEW BARRA, age 33, JOSELYN BARRA, age 54, and JAMES HEIGLE, age 39, all from Orleans Parish, were charged in a six-count indictment by a Federal Grand Jury for violations of the Federal Gun Control Act, Misprision of a Felony, and False Declarations Before a Grand Jury.
MATTHEW BARRA is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.
JOSELYN BARRA is charged with misprision of a felony for intentionally lying to law enforcement regarding the investigation, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4. If convicted on that charge, she faces a maximum sentence of three (3) years imprisonment, up to a
$250,000 fine, up to one (1) year of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment. She was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.
JAMES HEIGLE is charged with making false declarations before a grand jury, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1623. If convicted on that charge, he faces up to five (5) years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a
$100 mandatory special assessment. HEIGLE is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment. Finally, HEIGLE is charged with being a violent felon in possession of body armor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 931. If convicted on that count, he faces up to three (3) years imprisonment, up to a
$250,000 fine, up to 1 year of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.
U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The case was investigated by the New Orleans Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Orleans Gang Task Force. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Melissa E. Bücher of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Mississippi Prison’s Deputy Warden Charged with Civil Rights Offense for Beating InmateRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury indicted Melvin Hilson, 49, currently a Deputy Warden at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, for repeatedly striking an inmate and knocking him to the ground, resulting in injury to the inmate. The indictment charges Hilson with a felony civil rights offense for assaulting the inmate in 2016, when Hilson was a member of the K-9 Unit at the prison, which is also known as Parchman. The indictment also alleges that Hilson wrote a false report to conceal his unlawful assault and, later, lied to investigators from the Mississippi Department of Corrections when questioned about the assault.
Today’s indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner for the Northern District of Mississippi and FBI Jackson Special Agent in Charge Michelle Sutphin.
This case was investigated by the Jackson Division of the FBI. Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Cameron Bell of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mims of the Northern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Michigan Sex Offender Sentenced to Thirty-Five Years for Enticing an Okaloosa County Child to Produce Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - Frank Leon Stapleton, 45, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, was sentenced in federal court today to thirty-five years' imprisonment for enticement of a minor, production of child pornography, and transfer of obscene matter to a minor. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
In June 2019, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was contacted regarding communications of a sexual nature between an unknown individual and a 9-year old girl via the internet. Deputies observed text communications on the child’s cellphone wherein the individual enticed the child to produce child pornography of herself, then directed that explicit images and videos be sent to him. The individual also transmitted images and videos of adults engaged in sex acts to the child. Through collaborative efforts, deputies and agents with Homeland Security Investigations identified the individual as Frank Leon Stapleton, a previously convicted sex offender who was at the time on supervised release as a result of a prior federal conviction involving his possession of child pornography in Michigan.
“There is no greater charge than the protection of our children,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Coody. “Acts of such depravity, committed by a previously convicted sex offender while under court-ordered supervision, highlight the danger to our most vulnerable. We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who prey upon our children.”
“This child predator was brought to justice via a collaborative effort between HSI Pensacola, HSI Detroit, and our partners with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, highlighting the important work of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Methamphetamine Dealing Couple, Who Dumped A Dead Teenager’s Body in A Texas Bayou, Sentenced to Twenty Years in Prison for Drug DistributionRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that CARLOS MARIO CANTU-COX, age 49, and his husband, CHRISTOPHER CANTU-COX, age 38, both of Pasadena, Texas, were sentenced on June 29, 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Wendy B. Vitter to twenty years of imprisonment, five years of supervised release and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, the maximum sentence allowed under the statute 21 United States Code § 846.
The CANTU-COXES were large scale methamphetamine suppliers to the Houston and New Orleans area. They pleaded guilty on February 4, 2020, to conspiring with nine other defendants to distribute methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Louisiana. As part of this conspiracy, the CANTU-COXES sent methamphetamine to themselves and other drug traffickers in New Orleans using the U.S. Postal Service, Greyhound Package Express, and other services. The drug conspiracy lasted from a time prior to January 1, 2016 and continued through August 18, 2016.
As described in court documents, one of the CANTU-COXES’ customers was an eighteen-year-old from Slidell, Louisiana, who frequently traveled to Texas to stay at their home. During one of these visits, the teenager was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm and the CANTU-COXES posted his $6000 bond.
The teenager did not appear for his Texas court appearances and the CANTU-COXES told their New Orleans customers that they wanted the teenager so they could transport him back to Texas and recover their bond. Williams Harrison Farris, age 40, a New Orleans-based methamphetamine dealer and user who was supplied by the CANTU-COXES learned that the couple was looking for the teenager and were offering free methamphetamine to anyone who successfully led them to him.
Farris had previously dated Kacie Doucet, aged 38, another New Orleans-based drug user. Farris knew that Doucet was connected to the teenager on Facebook. At the direction of Farris, Doucet contacted the teenager over Facebook on multiple occasions and suggested that they meet for a sexual encounter. Farris and Doucet enlisted the help of Leilani Aspuria, age 26, of Jefferson Parish, the only one of the three with a car.
The CANTU-COXES were aware that Doucet’s offer of a sexual encounter with the teenager was a ruse, and that the real purpose of picking up the teenager in Slidell at his grandfather’s house was to provide him with a cocktail of powerful drugs and thus render him incapacitated so he could be delivered to the CANTU-COXES who were staying at a hotel in downtown New Orleans. The CANTU-COXES supplied the drug cocktail, which contained ketamine, as well as instructions on how to mix the drugs with alcohol so that it could be administered to the teenager without him knowing what he was taking.
Doucet and Aspuria picked up the teenager on February 23, 2016 and gave him the CANTU-COXES’s drug cocktail, which the couple referred to as an “elixir.” Eventually, the teenager passed out, at which point Doucet and Aspuria drove to the parking garage of Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans. Farris had been following Doucet and Aspuria on his motorcycle. The teenager’s body was then transferred to the CANTU-COXES’ car. The CANTU-COXES then drove back to Texas, with the teenager passed out in their back seat.
Somewhere near the Louisiana-Texas border, the CANTU-COXES realized that the teenager was no longer breathing. The CANTU-COXES continued driving to their home in Pasadena, Texas and parked in their driveway. Because it was still daylight, they left the teenager’s body in the car. At nightfall on February 24, 2016, the CANTU-COXES drove to a bridge over Sims Bayou in the Houston area and put the teenager’s body into the bayou. The teenager’s body washed to the shore of Sims Bayou a week later. The CANTU-COXES later paid Farris a quantity of methamphetamine for his efforts in capturing the teenager.
Farris, Doucet, and Aspuria have all pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine. U.S District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Aspuria to ten years of imprisonment on February 7, 2020. Doucet will be sentenced on August 4, 2021. Farris will be sentenced on August 18, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Louisiana State Police, Houston Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Howard Sinkman and Brandon S. Long.
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Medical Imaging Companies CEO Found Guilty of Running Massive Health Care Fraud Through the State Workers’ Comp SystemRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – The CEO of several Southern California-based medical imaging companies was found guilty by a federal jury today of running a scheme in which more than $250 million in claims were fraudulently submitted through the state workers’ compensation system for medical services procured through bribes and kickbacks to physicians and others.
Sam Sarkis Solakyan, 40, of Glendale, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud and health care fraud, and 11 counts of honest services mail fraud.
Solakyan was the CEO of several medical-imaging companies, including the Glendale-based Vital Imaging Inc., and San Diego MRI Institute. Solakyan operated diagnostic imaging facilities throughout California, including the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Orange counties, and San Diego.
According to the evidence presented at the eight-day trial, from no later than mid-2013 to November 2016, Solakyan conspired with Steven Rigler, a Solana Beach-based chiropractor; Fermin Iglesias, the former CEO of MedEx Solutions, a patient-scheduling company; and others to perpetrate a scheme in which physicians were paid bribes and kickbacks in exchange for the referral of workers’ compensation patients. The compensation offered to the corrupt doctors consisted of either cash or referrals of new patients in what is known as a “cross-referral” scheme.
The conspirators obscured the true nature of their financial relationships in order to conceal the bribes and kickbacks, including by entering into various sham agreements such as contracts for “marketing,” “administrative services,” and “scheduling,” when in fact the money Solakyan paid amounted to volume-based, per- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan bribes and kickbacks to induce physicians to refer and continue referring patients to Solakyan’s companies.
Solakyan’s recruiters required physicians to refer a minimum number of patients to receive “cross-referrals,” and those referrals stopped if the physicians failed to meet the minimum quota. Solakyan’s recruiters – Fermin Iglesias, 41 of Glendale, and Carlos Arguello, 39, of Bonita – were paid more than $8.6 million for obtaining MRI referrals, payments which were concealed from patients and health insurers.
Solakyan concealed his cash payments to Rigler for patient referrals by calling them “reports,” and in March 2015 he asked Rigler if Solakyan could “send my driver with your reports,” then stated, “I’ll have him contact you then I’ll just send him with your reports, buddy,” according to a September 2018 federal grand jury indictment.
In total, Solakyan submitted and caused to be submitted more than $250 million in claims for medical services procured through the payment of bribes and kickbacks.
Rigler pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud and was sentenced to six months in federal prison.
Iglesias pleaded guilty in December 2016 to conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud and health care fraud and was sentenced in February 2019 to five years in federal prison.
Arguello pleaded guilty in August 2016 to conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud and health care fraud and was sentenced in April 2019 to four years in federal prison.
United States District Judge Cynthia A. Bashant has scheduled an October 4 sentencing hearing, at which time Solakyan will face a statutory maximum sentence of 240 years in federal prison.
The FBI and the California Department of Insurance, Fraud Division, investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Faraz R. Mohammadi of the Santa Ana Branch Office and Assistant United States Attorney Adam P. Schleifer of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.
Maricopa Man Sentenced to Prison for Shooting DeathRead the Press Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Brent Edwin Justin, 32, of Maricopa, Arizona, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to nearly 17 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Justin previously pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder.
On March 1, 2020, Justin shot the victim multiple times on the Gila River Indian Community, resulting in the victim’s death. Justin is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community.
The Gila River Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Raynette Logan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.
CASE NUMBER: CR-20-00557-PHX-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2021- 041_Justin###
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Man from Los Lunas pleads guilty to federal firearm and ammunition chargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Santos Duran, 23, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court on June 23 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
A federal grand jury indicted Duran on June 24, 2020. According to his plea agreement, on May 20, 2020, Duran fled from law enforcement after officers attempted to execute a traffic stop in Albuquerque. Duran then drove his vehicle to Valencia County, New Mexico, where he abandoned the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. While running away from law enforcement, Duran attempted to get rid of a bag containing a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine.
As a previously convicted felon, Duran cannot legally possess firearms or ammunition. By the terms of the plea agreement, Duran faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Albuquerque Field Office of the FBI, New Mexico State Police and Albuquerque Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jaymie L. Roybal and Sarah J. Mease are prosecuting the case.
Man from Albuquerque sentenced to three years in federal prison for communication threatsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –Michael Nissen, 66, of Albuquerque, was sentenced on June 18 in federal court to three years and five months in prison for threatening to harm another in an interstate communication.
On Aug. 7, 2019, a federal jury returned a verdict of guilty against Nissen on two counts of interstate communication containing threat to injure the person of another. According to public court records, on Nov. 2, 2018, Nissen was pulled over by New Mexico State Police (NMSP) and issued multiple citations in Torrance County, New Mexico. That evening, Nissen called NMSP dispatch and threatened to the kill the police officer who pulled him over. In November 2018, Nissen called and emailed NMSP Internal Affairs to complain about the police officer and again threatened to shoot the officer. On Dec. 13, 2018, Nissen called the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office to complain about the NMSP officer and stated he owned multiple firearms to protect himself from “rogue state cops.”
Upon his release from prison, Nissen will be subject to three years of supervised release.
The FBI and New Mexico State Police investigated this case with assistance from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mysliwiec and Alexander M. Uballez prosecuted the case.
Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on Wednesday June 30, 2021, JEFFREY GITTE, age 24, a resident of New York, pled guilty to two counts of the Indictment filed against him, in which he was charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B) and with attempting to escape from federal custody, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 751.
According to court documents, GITTE and his co-conspirators transported approximately 10 kilograms of suspected cocaine from New York to New Orleans in an effort to sell the drugs to an individual, who happened to be a DEA informant, in return for $350,000.00. As it turned out, most of the drugs were fake, and GITTE and his co-conspirators tried to rip off the informant by supplying him with fake drugs in return for the $350,000.00 dollars. After being arrested by DEA agents, GITTE and one of his co-conspirators were able to get out of their cells and tried to escape. They were re-captured a short time later.
United States District Court Judge Sarah Vance will sentence GITTE on November 17, 2021. For the drug trafficking violation, GITTE faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years and not more than 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000,000.00, a period of supervised release of at least 4 years, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00. For the escape violation he faces a sentence of not more than 5 years, a fine of not more than $250,000.00, a period of supervised release of not more than 3 years and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by United States Attorney Maurice Landrieu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Man Pleads Guilty for Violating Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on June 30, 2021, that YRIAN DEVORE “DEVORE”, age 48, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana pled guilty to count five of a multicount Indictment, which charged him with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).
According to court documents, DEVORE transported drugs and money between Houston, Texas and Louisiana for others who were involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
United States District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo will sentence DEVORE on September 29, 2021. For this violation, DEVORE faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years and not more than 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000,000.00, a period of supervised release of at least 4 years, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by United States Attorney Maurice Landrieu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Man Charged with Threatening Life of Philadelphia Woman Online from OverseasRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Davit Davitashvili, 43, of Gori, the Republic of Georgia, and a naturalized American citizen, was charged by Indictment today with one count of transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure another person. The defendant was arrested on June 3, 2021 upon arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York, and taken into custody.
The Indictment alleges that on March 10, 2020, Davitashvili knowingly and willfully transmitted messages using an Internet messaging application to a woman living in Philadelphia known as ‘O.V.,’ which contained threats to sexually assault the mother of O.V., and to injure, maim, and kill O.V. and others.
“The defendant is alleged to have sent incredibly scary, disturbing, and intimidating messages to a woman living and working in our city. No one should have to live in such constant fear,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “The public can rest assured that our Office, together with our law enforcement partners, is working tirelessly to protect victims from all types of threats both at home and abroad.”
“You can't just threaten people online with violent physical harm. That’s not protected speech — it’s a crime,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “The FBI takes all threats to life seriously and so should anyone thinking about making one. We will investigate, identify you, and ensure you’re held accountable for your actions.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Maine Fugitive Caught and Sentenced for Earlier Stunt to Gain Attention at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National ParkRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today that AARON E. MERRITT, age 37 of Madison, Maine pleaded guilty to trespassing on the Old Faithful thermal area in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Merritt appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming on July 1, 2021, for the arraignment and sentencing.
On July 7, 2020, while wearing a raccoon skin hat and waiving an American flag, Merritt ran out on the thermal area and up to the geyser of Old Faithful more than once. He then failed to appear for his court hearing on July 23, 2020, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on June 5, 2021, in Maine and made his appearance at the Yellowstone Justice Center in YNP. Merritt was sentenced to 15 days imprisonment with credit for four days served. He was fined $200 plus $30 in court costs and a $10 special assessment fee. He was also banned from YNP.
This case was handled by YNP law enforcement rangers and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Hambrick.
For questions relating to Yellowstone National Park, please contact Public Affairs Specialist, Morgan Warthin at 406-404-5096 or [email protected].
Lead defendant admits guilt in Georgia dog-fighting operationRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, GA: All of the defendants charged in connection with a dog-fighting ring broken up in 2018 in Dodge County have admitted guilt to federal charges now that the operator of the dog-fighting facility has pled guilty.
James Lampkin, a/k/a “Pookie,” 46, of Eastman, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to Conspiracy to Violate the Animal Welfare Act, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Lampkin to a statutory sentence of up to five years in prison, along with substantial fines and up to three years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Animal fighting is cruel and barbaric, and has no place in our society – and it is particularly unwelcome in the Southern District of Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “Our vigilant law enforcement partners shut down Lampkin’s brutal operation and rescued dozens of animals from a life of pain and misery.”
“This investigation and prosecution should send a strong zero-tolerance message to those individuals involved in the inhumane torture of animals for the purpose of entertainment,” said Jason Williams, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General. “We appreciate the partnership with our law enforcement partners in pursuing these purveyors of death and senseless suffering.”
Five of Lampkin’s co-defendants – Benjamin Shinhoster III, 41, of Augusta; Deveon Hood, 34, of Tennille, Ga.; Andre Archer, 23, of Sandersville, Ga.; Xavier Simmons, 34, of Sandersville, Ga.; and Joe Ford, 33, of Elgin, S.C. – also await sentencing in federal court after pleading guilty to related felony charges.
The remaining co-defendant, Dwight McDuffie, 44, of Eastman, Ga., pled guilty to Attending an Animal Fighting Venture, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to two years of probation, 150 hours of community service, and prohibited from owning animals.
In March 2018, Georgia State Patrol troopers and Georgia Department of Natural Resources game wardens conducted traffic stops in Eastman after receiving reports of a dogfighting operation at Lampkin’s property. During those traffic stops, officers discovered a dog in one of the vehicles that appeared to have been injured while fighting. Investigators later seized 63 dogs at Lampkin’s residence while serving a search warrant after finding the animals chained in the back yard. Investigators also discovered a disassembled pit where fights were held, and equipment used to train dogs for fighting.
While the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office initiated a civil forfeiture action, an animal rescue operation took custody of the dogs.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted for the United States by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Rock and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro V. Pascual IV.
Land O’ Lakes Man Indicted for Enticing A Minor Child to Engage in Sexual Activity, and for Producing and Possessing Child Sexual Abuse MaterialsRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return of an indictment charging Michael Lumpkin, a/k/a “Jamari” (26, Land O’Lakes), with one count of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, two counts of using a minor child to produce videos depicting sexual abuse, and one count of possessing matters containing child sex abuse materials. If convicted on all counts, Lumpkin faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
According to the indictment, between July 2019 and February 2020, Lumpkin enticed and attempted to entice a child to engage in sexual activity. In February 2020, Lumpkin used a child to produce sexually explicit videos. Lastly, on or about July 24, 2020, Lumpkin knowingly possessed certain matters that contained visual depictions of children under the age of 12 being sexually abused.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilyssa M. Spergel.
This is another case 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Lackawanna County Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine and Heroin TraffickingRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Rudolph Ford, age 32, formerly of Olyphant, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on July 1, 2021, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Ford admitted to participating in a conspiracy to distribute highly pure crystal methamphetamine, as well as heroin, in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Schuylkill Counties between January 2017 and December 2018. Ford was one of five individuals indicted by a grand jury in December 2018 for methamphetamine trafficking in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Judge Mariani ordered that a presentence report be completed. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
Previously, Amanda Boyle, age 37, of Sweet Valley, Luzerne County, was sentenced by Judge Mariani to nine years in prison for her role in this same drug trafficking conspiracy.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Pennsylvania State Police, the Kingston Police Department, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to twenty years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $1,000,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Knoxville Woman Sentenced in Connection with Overdose DeathRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– On July 1, 2021, Katrina S. Carinci, 28, of Knoxville, TN, was sentenced to 125 months imprisonment by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.
As part of the plea agreement filed with the Court, Katarina S. Carinci agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl, and a quantity of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(B), as well as distribution of fentanyl, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C). Yesterday, the defendant was sentenced to 125 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
According to documents filed with the Court, between May 1, 2017, and September 2017, the defendant engaged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl for a drug trafficking organization operating within the Eastern District of Tennessee. The defendant obtained drugs from the leaders of the organization and distributed them to various customers in East Tennessee. On one specific occasion in August 2017, officers responded to an overdose death in Oak Ridge, TN. Prior to the death, the defendant had received drugs from her source and distributed drugs to a co-defendant, Samuel Hammond, who used the drugs with his friend. The friend later overdosed and died.
The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s Drug Related Death Task Force, which includes members of the Knoxville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Oak Ridge Police Department, and the Knox County Regional Forensics Center also assisted in this investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Brent N. Jones represented the United States.
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Kaiser Permanente Agrees to Comply with Federal Law by Improving Access for People Who Are Deaf or Hard of HearingRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – Southern California Permanente Medical Group and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide at one of their facilities a qualified sign language interpreter or other appropriate form of auxiliary aid or service to a deaf patient.
The letter of resolution, which was signed this week by executives with the two Kaiser entities, ensures that individuals with disabilities at its Baldwin Park Medical Center receive appropriate auxiliary aids and services necessary for effective communication. Southern California Permanente Medical Group and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals have agreed to provide equipment and services free of charge to ensure that people who are deaf or hard of hearing have full and equal access to medical appointments, treatments and emergency visits at this medical center.
The investigation in this matter was triggered by a complainant who alleged she was not provided effective communication before and after a surgical procedure in 2018.
The entities, which fully cooperated with the government’s investigation, have agreed to:
- Provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters, when necessary to ensure effective communication with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing and their companions;
- Advertise the availability of auxiliary aids and services;
- Provide training on auxiliary aids and services, including to qualified interpreters, the diversity coordinator, Medical Center personnel and telephone operators; and
- Pay compensation to the complainant and civil penalties to the United States.
In February 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals entered into a settlement agreement to resolve allegations that the two entities failed to provide qualified sign language interpreters or other appropriate forms of assistant to a patient at their West Los Angeles Medical Center.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation as part of the Department of Justice’s Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, through which U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the Department’s Civil Rights Division target their enforcement efforts on a critical area for individuals with disabilities – access to medical services and facilities.
Assistant United States Attorney Acrivi Coromelas of the Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section handled this matter.
For more information on the ADA, please call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD) or access the ADA website at http://www.ada.gov.
Jury Convicts New Jersey Man of Essex County Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK - James Kerns, age 30, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was convicted on June 30, 2020, following a four-day jury trial of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division.
The trial evidence showed that on November 2, 2020, Kerns conspired with co-defendant Ibn Spivey and others to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine from a local residence in Westport, New York, in Essex County. It was established during trial that on November 2, 2020, Kerns and Spivey travelled from New Jersey to a residence in Westport and began to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. On November 3, 2020, DEA Special Agents executed a search warrant at this location where they found Kerns sitting across from a large brick of cocaine and drug packaging materials along with a large knife and a video surveillance monitor. Beside Kerns was a lunchbox filled with crack cocaine and powder cocaine. DEA Special Agents found Spivey sitting across from Kerns, with a bag of crack tucked in his (Spivey’s) trousers. Both Spivey and Kerns were arrested.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2021. As a result of his trial conviction, Kerns faces a minimum of 5 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years, a fine of up to $5,000,000, and term of supervised release of at least 4-years and up to life, when he is sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
Ibn Spivey, 29, also from Elizabethtown, New Jersey, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine just prior to the commencement of trial. Spivey is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2021. As a result of his conviction, Spivey faces a minimum of 5 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years, a fine of up to $5,000,000, and term of supervised release of at least 4 years and up to life.
This case was investigated by the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Troy Anderson and Katherine Kopita.
Jury Convicts Arizona Man of Methamphetamine Trafficking and Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – A federal court jury in Syracuse today convicted Davonte Williams-Dorsey, age 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division. The guilty verdict today followed a four-day jury trial during which Davonte Williams-Dorsey represented himself with the assistance of standby counsel.
The evidence at trial established that Williams-Dorsey and Tyshawn Logan, 24, of Cleveland, Ohio, conspired together to bring 20 kilograms (approximately 44 pounds) of methamphetamine from Arizona to Syracuse, where it was to be sold. DEA Special Agents and other law enforcement officers arrested Davonte Williams-Dorsey in Syracuse on January 8, 2020 in possession of 20 kilograms of methamphetamine in an automobile. At the time of his arrest Davonte Williams Dorsey was carrying a loaded Taurus 9mm semiautomatic handgun in the waistband of his trousers. Tyshawn Logan was arrested in a building in Syracuse where he was staying after transporting the methamphetamine from California by car.
Davonte Williams-Dorsey is scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2021, at which time he faces a minimum sentence of 10-years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000.00, and a term of supervised release of at least 5-years and up to life, for his convictions for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine). For his conviction for Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime he faces a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least 5-years and up to life imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
Tyshawn Logan pled guilty previously to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine). He is scheduled to be sentenced August 24, 2021, and faces a minimum sentence of 10-years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000.00, and a term of supervised release of at least 5-years and up to life, for his convictions for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine).
A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
This case is being investigated by The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with the assistance of the Syracuse Police Department-Special Investigations Division, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and DEA Task Force Officers from the New York State Police, U.S. Department of Homeland Security ICE-ERO, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, and the City of Rome Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Commandeur.
Jefferson County man charged with operating binary options fraud schemeRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury here has indicted William T. Caniff, Jr., 52, of Toronto, Ohio alleging multiple wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a binary options fraud scheme.
Binary options are a type of options contract in which the payout depended on the outcome of a yes/no proposition, typically related to whether the price of a particular asset would rise above or fall below a certain amount. A binary option did not give the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying asset. Instead, the holder received a pre-determined amount of money or nothing at all.
According to the indictment, it is alleged that Caniff and another individual formed Berkley Capital Management, LLC in January 2016 which purported to be in the business of trading binary options. Berkley Capital Management was the general partner for Bbot 1 LP (Bbot) which was created in January 2016 and Berkley II LP (Berkley II), which was created in August 2017. Bbot 1 LP and Berkley II LP were established as an investment pool that would offer participants the opportunity to trade binary options in a pool with other participants.
Caniff was the designated trader for Bbot and Berkley II. Caniff established bank accounts for Berkley Capital Management, Bbot 1, and Berkley II and had control of the bank accounts.
The indictment alleges that Caniff knowingly made and caused to be made materially false representations to investors to fraudulently obtain and retain money, including false representations about the risks involved with the investments, the expected and actual returns on investments, and the ways investor funds would be used and were used. Caniff created or caused to be created false documents in order to mislead investors, including false account statements.
The indictment also alleges that, even though Bbot and Berkley II received more than $4 million in funds from investors, Caniff caused only $85,000 of the funds to be invested through Nadex, an online binary options exchange. Caniff fraudulently misappropriated at least $2 million of investors’ funds for his own benefit and the benefit of a business partner, the indictment charges.
If convicted of wire fraud, Caniff faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Money laundering is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, announced the charges.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate and was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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Iowa Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for his Role in COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance FraudRead the Press Release
A man who used his credit union account to receive unemployment insurance money from the State of Washington to which he was not entitled was sentenced July 1, 2021, to federal prison.
Jerry D. Johnson, age 54, from Webster City, Iowa, received the prison term after a January 28, 2021, guilty plea to one count of mail fraud.
Information at Johnson’s plea and sentencing hearings showed that, in May 2020, Johnson’s credit union account received over $31,000 in unemployment funds from the State of Washington in the names of others. He then withdrew the benefits in cash and mailed the cash through the United States Postal Service to others involved in the scheme. Later, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts attempted to deposit over $20,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits into Johnson’s account. The credit union recognized the transaction as fraudulent and returned the money.
Johnson was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Johnson was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $31,062 in restitution to the State of Washington. He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Johnson was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prison on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-3027.
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Illinois Felon Who Possessed Loaded Firearm in Iowa Sentenced to over Three Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
A man who possessed a loaded Glock .380 pistol and attempted to flee from law enforcement was sentenced today to more than three years in federal prison.
Anthony Redman, age 30, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after a December 18, 2020 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In a plea agreement, Redman admitted that on November 26, 2019, he was a passenger in a vehicle located at a motel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Law enforcement responded to the location based on a 9-1-1 call reporting shots fired. When officers asked Redman to remain in the area, he attempted to flee to a hotel room. He was stopped and a loaded Glock .380 semiautomatic firearm was located in his coat pocket. Redman was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Cook County, Illinois, in 2007.
Redman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Redman was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment and fined $100. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Redman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Dupuich and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-0039.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Houston Man Pleads Guilty to Violating the Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – RAYMOND ZEPEDA age 48, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty on June 29, 2021 before the Honorable Jay C. Zainey to an indictment charging him with violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.
According to the court records, ZEPEDA conspired to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute a kilogram or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin and five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. ZEPEDA admitted to being captured on recorded calls as part of a lengthy Title III wire intercept.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 28, 2021. ZEPEDA faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of at least ten years up to a maximum of life, a fine of $10,000,000, at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment, and a $100 special assessment.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney David Haller.
Hollygrove Man Sentenced for Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – BRIAN TILLMAN, a/k/a “Cosca,” a/k/a “Costa,” a/k/a “Speedy,” age 34, was sentenced in federal court on June 30, 2021, to twenty-eight (28) months before U.S. District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 100 grams of heroin and over 28 grams of cocaine base and a quantity of marijuana in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C) and 846. TILLMAN was also sentenced to four (4) years of supervised release following imprisonment and payment of a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
According to court documents, TILLMAN and his co-conspirators sold drugs in the Hollygrove neighborhood in and around a corner-store in 2017 and 2018. TILLMAN was intercepted on a Title III wiretap arranging to purchase and/or sell heroin and cocaine base during multiple days in March and April of 2018.
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Orleans Gang Task Force. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Myles Ranier and Kathryn McHugh.
Gainesville Man Convicted of Receipt and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – A federal jury in Gainesville has convicted Travonta Deangelo Rivers, 33, of Gainesville, on two counts of receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. The guilty verdict, reached by the jury yesterday after a two-day trial that began on Wednesday, was announced by Jason R. Coody, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
A search warrant at Rivers’ residence in May 2020, resulted in the seizure of computers which Rivers used to receive and share numerous videos of child pornography. Rivers was located and arrested in December 2020, and again found in possession of a computer which he had used to receive and share child pornography.
“Those who seek to view and maintain child pornography facilitate the abuse of children by those who produce and profit from this illegal content,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Coody. “With the assistance of our law enforcement partners, we will ensure that those who engage in such heinous conduct will be held accountable for their actions.”
"This guilty verdict has an immediate impact in making our communities safer by keeping this child predator off our streets and highlights the importance of law enforcement partnerships, like the one between HSI and the Gainesville Police Department," said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips.
Rivers’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 14, 2021, at 1:00pm, at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville before the Honorable Allen Winsor. Rivers faces two mandatory minimum terms of five years imprisonment to twenty years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and a maximum term of Life on supervised release.
This conviction resulted from the collaborative investigation of Homeland Security Investigations, the Gainesville Police Department, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, and the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office as part of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Frank Williams prosecuted the case.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Former San Francisco Building Inspection Commission President Indicted for Bank Fraud, Obstruction of Justice, Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury indicted Rodrigo Santos yesterday for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and obstruction of justice, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair.
An earlier criminal complaint filed May 11, 2020, against Santos, 61, of San Francisco, alleged that Santos, as the principal and co-founder of the San Francisco-based company Santos and Urrutia Structural Engineers, Inc., engaged in a fraud scheme to obtain and deposit money from his clients into his own bank account and charged him with bank fraud. The complaint also described that Santos was appointed in 2000 to be a member of the San Francisco Building Inspection Commission by Mayor Willie Brown and promoted in 2004 to be the Commission’s President by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
The federal indictment filed yesterday broadened the charges against Santos. The indictment charges ten counts of bank fraud in a scheme that spanned from November 2012 through March 2019. As part of the scheme, the indictment alleges Santos obtained money from clients who wrote checks to pay fees or costs associated with their residential building and construction projects. The indictment asserts that in several instances, Santos manipulated the checks by editing the “pay to the order of” (“payee”) field to make the checks appear to be written to Santos. In other instances, the indictment charges that Santos endorsed the checks to himself without authorization from his clients or the payee indicated on the check, sometimes handwriting the payee’s name on the back of the check’s endorsement field. Santos is alleged to have deposited to his personal bank account approximately 445 such checks written as pay to the order of a third party, totaling $775,412.90.
The indictment also charges two counts of aggravated identity theft, alleging that in February 2017 Santos, while engaging in bank fraud, twice knowingly used the identity of another person without authority.
Lastly, the indictment charges Santos with one count of altering and falsifying records in a federal investigation, alleging that Santos twice submitted altered and false invoices of his company, Santos and Urrutia Structural Engineers, Inc., to the FBI with the intent to obstruct the FBI’s investigation into his bank fraud scheme.
Santos is charged with ten counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344; one count of altering or falsifying records in a federal investigation with the intent to obstruct justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519; and two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. If convicted, Santos faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine for each count of bank fraud; a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the obstruction of justice count; and at least two years in prison for a conviction on a count of aggravated identity theft, imposed consecutive to any sentence already imposed on the bank fraud counts. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
The charges contained in the indictment are mere allegations. As in any criminal case, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Santos is scheduled to appear for arraignment on yesterday’s indictment on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. before the Honorable Alex G. Tse, United States Magistrate Judge. Santos remains out of custody on bond.
This case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case is being investigated by the FBI. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera also alleged in a state civil lawsuit unsealed in March 2020 that Santos engaged in check fraud.
Former Customs and Border Protection Officer Sentenced on Child Exploitation ChargeRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida -- Defendant Fabio Lopez, 62, of Weston, Florida was sentenced last week by a federal district judge in Fort Lauderdale to 10 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.
According to court documents, Fabio Lopez, a former officer with Customs and Border Protection, enticed a 16-year-old child into attempting to produce child pornography. Lopez met the child after befriending her mother while on duty in his official capacity at Miami International Airport. From July 2019 through March 2020, Lopez had a relationship with the child and texted her frequently. According the factual proffer filed, Lopez fondled the child and offered her money in exchange for letting him take pornographic images of her. Lopez was arrested in Davie when he arrived to meet with the child. Prior to his arrival, Lopez had rented a local hotel room for the two and left a bag with lingerie for the child to wear.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, and Vernon T. Foret, Director of Field Operation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami and Tampa Field Office, announced the sentence.
HSI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility and Pembroke Pines Police Department. The case was investigated as part of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi L. Anton prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 20-cr-60081.
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Former Controller of the George Town Club Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Former EmployerRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Isabelle Garcia, 56, former controller for the George Town Club (“GTC”), pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of wire fraud stemming from a scheme in which she defrauded the GTC of over $300,000.
The announcement was made by Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Robert Bornstein, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Washington Field Office, Criminal Division.
Garcia was indicted in May 2018 on two counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of first degree fraud. Garcia pleaded guilty to wire fraud, the first count of the indictment, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The remaining charges will be dismissed at sentencing. Wire fraud carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Garcia faces a likely range of 27 to 33 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. The plea agreement also calls for Garcia to pay $300,422.06 in restitution and to agree to entry of a $300,422.06 forfeiture money judgment. The Honorable John D. Bates of the United States District Court for the Distict of Columbia scheduled Garcia’s sentencing for September 29, 2021.
As part of her plea, Garcia admitted that she was the controller for the GTC, a private dining club located in the District of Columbia. From 2006 to 2013, Garcia admitted that she used her control over GTC financial accounts to make payments to herself and to third parties for her personal benefit. Through her scheme, Garcia wrongfully obtained $300,442.06 to which she was not entitled.
In announcing the plea, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips and Special Agent in Charge Robert Bornstein commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also expressed appreciation for the work of Paralegal Specialist Stephanie Frijas. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Lallas and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Saler, who prosecuted the case.
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Federal officials close review of fatal shooting of Samuel DuBoseRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, in consultation with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced today they have concluded their review of the July 2015 fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose by former University of Cincinnati police officer Raymond Tensing without filing criminal charges against the former officer. The FBI has similarly concluded its investigation.
Justice Department officials have notified Mr. DuBose’s family of this decision via the family’s counsel.
Federal civil rights statutes – which are written by Congress – require federal authorities to prove beyond a reasonable doubt unanimously to a jury of twelve that a defendant willfully used unreasonable force with the specific intent of violating a victim’s constitutional rights. To establish willfulness beyond a reasonable doubt, federal authorities would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the former officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. This is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law.
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Erie Man on Parole for Child Rape Sentenced to 12+ Years in Prison for Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - A former resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 155 months in prison, 3 years supervised release and ordered to pay $11,100 in restitution on his convictions for bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
United States District Judge Stephanie L. Haines imposed the sentence on Ronald Eugene Lomax, Jr., 32.
According to information presented to the court, on November 21, 2018, Lomax entered the Northwest Savings Bank, 3407 Liberty Street in Erie and handed the teller a note that indicated he had a gun and demanded $5,000. Lomax then fled the bank after receiving the money.
On December 28, 2018, Lomax robbed the same Northwest Savings Bank branch taking $6,100. Lomax pointed a handgun at the victim teller during this robbery. When he committed the bank robberies, Lomax was on parole in Pennsylvania for a conviction involving the rape of a child.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Haines noted the seriousness of Lomax’s criminal history and his escalating behavior between the two bank robberies.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Erie Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Lomax.
Dry Ridge Man Sentenced to 264 Months for Armed Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
COVINGTON, Ky. – A Dry Ridge, Kentucky, man, Paul Stapleton, 48, was sentenced Friday to 264 months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of his drug trafficking.
Stapleton led a conspiracy that distributed more than 1.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine throughout Northern Kentucky. Agents seized significant amounts of methamphetamine in Campbell and Grant Counties, on October 21, 2019, and seized multiple firearms, including two short-barreled shotguns from the Grant County residence that was the focus of the conspiracy. Stapleton had four prior felony convictions for drug offenses and committed these crimes while on parole.
Several of Stapleton’s co-conspirators have already been sentenced to prison terms: Steven Green (96 months); Steven Ballard (15 months); Lee Grimm (72 months); Donald Kaylor (54 months); A.J. Phillips (120 months); Dewey Phillips (36 months); George Pickett (37 months); Crystal Prewitt (54 months); Joseph Dylan Smith (50 months); Morgan Smith (12 months and one day); April Stapleton 60 months; Jeremy Thomas (54 months); and Amber Turner (18 months).
Stapleton pleaded guilty in April 2021.
Under federal law, the defendants must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences. Upon his release, Stapleton will also be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years.
Carlton S. Shier IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Division; Christopher Conners, Director of the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force; and Colonel Lee Estepp, Chief of the Bellevue Police Department, jointly announced the sentences.
The investigation was conducted by ATF, the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, and the Bellevue Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Bracke.
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Contract Rehabilitation Therapy Providers Agree to Pay $8.4 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Relating to the Provision of Medically Unnecessary Therapy ServicesRead the Press Release
Select Medical Corporation and Encore GC Acquisition LLC have agreed to pay $8.4 million to resolve allegations that Select Medical Rehabilitation Services Inc. (SMRS) violated the False Claims Act by knowingly causing 12 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in New York and New Jersey to submit false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary or skilled. Select Medical Corporation was the prior parent company of SMRS, while Encore GC Acquisition LLC is the successor-in-interest to SMRS. The alleged conduct occurred prior to Encore’s acquisition of SMRS.
From 1997 through March 31, 2016, SMRS offered contract rehabilitation therapy services to SNFs across the country. The United States alleged that, at various times between Jan. 1, 2010, through March 31, 2016, SMRS contracted with 12 SNFs in New York and New Jersey to provide rehabilitation therapy services. The United States alleged that SMRS’ corporate policies and practices encouraged and resulted in the provision of medically unnecessary, unreasonable and unskilled therapy services being provided to patients at the 12 SNFs.
“Today’s settlement reflects our commitment to protect patients and taxpayers by ensuring that the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries is dictated by their individual clinical needs and not by a provider’s financial interests,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Contract rehabilitation therapy companies, like other health care providers, will be held accountable if they knowingly provide patients with unnecessary services that waste taxpayer dollars.”
“Skilled nursing facility residents and their families must be assured that the care and therapy that residents receive is based on medical need, not greed,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig for the District of New Jersey. “We must also protect the taxpayers by ensuring that Medicare pays only for appropriate services performed for legitimate medical purposes. We will hold all health care providers who violate the False Claims Act responsible for their actions.”
“Sticking taxpayers with a hefty bill for unnecessary health care services will never be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will tirelessly pursue unscrupulous health care companies to protect patients and federal health care programs.”
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Melissa Vail, a former SMRS employee. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Doe v. Select Medical Corporation et al.,No. 2:16-cv-03569 (D.N.J.).
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, with assistance from HHS-OIG and the FBI Newark Field Office.
The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrate the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The matter was handled by Trial Attorney Yolonda Campbell of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marihug Cedeño for the District of New Jersey.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Contract Rehabilitation Therapy Providers Agree to Pay $8.4 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Provision of Medically Unnecessary Therapy ServicesRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A contract rehabilitation therapy provider will pay $8.4 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly causing 12 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in New York and New Jersey to submit false claims to Medicare for services that were not reasonable, necessary, or skilled, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.
Select Medical Corporation and Encore GC Acquisition LLL have agreed to the settlement to resolve allegations that Select Medical Rehabilitation Services Inc. (SMRS) violated the FCA. Select Medical Corporation was the prior parent company of SMRS, while Encore GC Acquisition is the successor-in-interest to SMR
“Skilled nursing facility residents and their families must be assured that the care and therapy that residents receive is based on medical need, not greed,” Acting U.S. Attorney Honig said. “We must also protect the taxpayers by ensuring that Medicare pays only for appropriate services performed for legitimate medical purposes. We will hold all health care providers who violate the False Claims Act responsible for their actions.”
“Today’s settlement reflects our commitment to protect patients and taxpayers by ensuring that the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries is dictated by their individual clinical needs and not by a provider’s financial interests,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division said. “Contract rehabilitation therapy companies, like other health care providers, will be held accountable if they knowingly provide patients with unnecessary services that waste taxpayer dollars.”
“Sticking taxpayers with a hefty bill for unnecessary health care services will never be tolerated,” Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) said. “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will tirelessly pursue unscrupulous health care companies to protect patients and federal health care programs.”
According to documents filed in this case and the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:
From Jan. 1, 2010, to March 31, 2016, SMRS contracted with 12 SNFs in New York and New Jersey to provide rehabilitation therapy services to patients of the nursing homes. The United States contends that SMRS’ profit-driven corporate policies and practices encouraged and resulted in the provision of medically unnecessary, unreasonable, and unskilled therapy services being provided to patients irrespective of the individual clinical needs of the patients.
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the FCA by Melissa Vail, a former SMRS employee. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with assistance from HHS-OIG and the FBI Newark Field Office.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marihug P. Cedeño of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in Newark and Trial Attorney Yolonda Campbell of the Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section.
Tips and complaints about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Doe v. Select Medical Corporation et al., No. 2:16-cv-03569 (D.N.J.).
Caribou Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug ChargeRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Caribou man pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.
According to court records, between approximately July 2018 and May 2019, members of the conspiracy obtained methamphetamine in western and southern states from sources in Mexico. Greg Libby, 43, and his co-conspirators then distributed the drugs in Aroostook County and other parts of central and northern Maine.
Libby faces between 10 years and life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million. He also faces between five years and a lifetime of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigated this case with the assistance of multiple state and local law enforcement agencies.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Caretaker of Senior Couple Charged with Stealing Hundreds of Thousand from Couple’s Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida – A federal indictment unsealed yesterday in the Southern District of Florida charges the caretaker of two seniors with accessing to their bank accounts to steal nearly $300,000.
The indictment alleges that from 2016 to 2019, Sherri Lynn Smith worked as a caretaker for an elderly couple in Broward County. As part of her duties, Smith had access to the victims’ bank accounts to assist them with paying their monthly bills. Smith used her access to the victims’ bank accounts to embezzle approximately $300,000 out of the victims’ accounts without their knowledge or consent, according to the indictment. She accomplished this by writing and forging the victim’s signature on a number of checks made payable to herself, her family members, and her creditors; initiating Zelle electronic money transfers from the victims’ accounts to her own bank account; and making electronic payments from the victims’ accounts to her and her husband’s numerous credit card accounts, it is alleged.
The indictment returned by a federal grand jury on June 8, 2021, charges Smith with 16 counts of bank fraud and 5 counts of aggravated identity theft.
Smith made her initial federal court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart, who sits in West Palm Beach. If convicted, the maximum prison sentences on each bank fraud count is 30 years. The maximum sentence on each aggravated identity fraud charge is two years. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who sits in Ft. Pierce.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
FBI Miami investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Bergstrom. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Hyman is handling asset forfeiture.
An indictment is merely a charging document. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Combatting elder abuse and financial fraud targeted at seniors is a key priority of the Department of Justice. The mission of the Department’s Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s seniors. To learn more visit https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice. The public is encouraged to report victimization and suspected fraud schemes by calling the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD 11 (1-833-372-8311).
You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14023.
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Buffalo Sex Offender Sentenced to 24 Years for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Buffalo, Missouri, man who is a registered sex offender has been sentenced in federal court for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Eddie Feck, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark on Thursday, July 1, to 24 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Feck to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.
On Feb. 11, 2021, Feck pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. Feck has a prior conviction for sodomizing an 11-year-old child (for which he served the entirety of his sentence because he refused to participate in sexual offender treatment), as well as an extensive criminal history.
The investigation began when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper received a Cybertipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Jan. 13, 2020. That report was generated after Feck uploaded five images of child pornography to BingImage.
Law enforcement officers identified Feck as the BingImage account holder and executed a search warrant at Feck’s residence on Feb. 11, 2020. Upon arrival, the investigators located Feck’s computer, which was in the process of downloading suspected child pornography from the internet. Investigators found approximately 35 images of child pornography on Feck’s digital storage devices.
Feck confessed that he employed a variety of programs to access and view child pornography.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Project Safe Childhood
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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Brothers Convicted of Heroin DistributionRead the Press Release
Louisville, KY – A federal jury convicted a pair of Louisville-based brothers, Eric and Marcus Bennett, this week of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. Eric Bennett, age 43, and Marcus Bennett, age 44, were convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin. Eric Bennett was also convicted on charges of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the defendants each sold heroin to a confidential source between November 2016 and March 2017. Eric Bennett was arrested in February 2017 after taking evasive maneuvers to evade law enforcement surveillance, and tossing two parcels of heroin out the car window in a residential neighborhood. Federal agents backtracked on foot over the route Bennett had taken and recovered the heroin in a driveway and the curtilage near a recycling bin. Eric Bennett was arrested at that time and found with a loaded Sig Sauer p250 pistol in the glove compartment of his car. Eric Bennett has a prior state court conviction for trafficking in a controlled substance (cocaine) and fleeing or evading police.
The defendants were both acquitted of charges related to the 2016 shooting of a United States Postal Service mail carrier who survived a gunshot wound to the face. The charges related to the shooting included conspiracy to murder a federal employee, attempted murder of a federal employee, forcible assault of a federal employee, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky made the announcement.
The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford presented the case at trial for the United States. Sentencing is scheduled before Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell on October 19, 2021, in the U.S. Gene Snyder Courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky, at 10:00 a.m.
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Broome County Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Enticement and Coercion of a MinorRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Richard C. O’Hara, age 32, of Broome County pled guilty today to attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct with him. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of his guilty plea, O’Hara admitted that in July and August 2020 he exchanged multiple sexually explicit messages online with an undercover officer posing a 10-year-old girl, in an attempt to entice the child into having sex with him. O’Hara also admitted that on August 5, 2020 he traveled to a house where he believed the child lived, intending to engage in sex acts with her that day.
O’Hara faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. Sentencing is scheduled for November 3, 2021 in Binghamton, New York before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. O’Hara also will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
O’Hara’s case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as a part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Brockton Business Owner Sentenced for Tax Fraud and Workers' Compensation Insurance FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The owner of a Brockton construction company and related businesses was sentenced yesterday on charges that he paid employees under-the-table payroll wages that defrauded the government, workers compensation insurance carriers and the state unemployment benefits program of more than $1.6 million.
Richard McLaughlin, 61, of Quincy, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution of approximately $747,781 to the IRS, $207,572 to workers’ compensation insurance carriers and $731,188 to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance. McLaughlin was also ordered to forfeit $207,572 to the federal government. In December 2020, McLaughlin pleaded guilty to five counts of filing false tax returns and three counts of mail fraud.
During tax years 2005 through 2010, McLaughlin paid wages in cash to employees under-the-table totaling more than $2.9 million, for which McLaughlin did not collect, account for or pay over to the IRS income and FICA taxes as required by law. The cash payments to employees were funded through off-the-books accounts McLaughlin created and used solely to pay the under-table wages. By failing to pay the required taxes on the $2.9 million, McLaughlin evaded nearly $750,000 in federal taxes.
McLaughlin was also required by state law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. The insurance premiums were based on an audit of his payroll records to determine actual wages paid. By failing to disclose the wages paid under-the-table, McLaughlin underreported the wages for which he owed more than $200,000 in insurance premiums.
In addition, McLaughlin instructed employees to apply for unemployment benefits while they were working for him. When McLaughlin falsely verified that employees had been laid off and concealed the fact that he was paying them wages, those employees received more than $725,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Anthony DiPaolo, Chief of Investigations of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
Atlanta Area Man Convicted of Armed Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
LONDON, Ky. – An Ellenwood, Georgia man was convicted late Thursday, by a federal jury sitting in London, of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Following a four-day trial before United States District Judge Robert E. Wier, the jury convicted 36-year-old Quinton Troy Hall of engaging in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The jury also found that Hall had a previous, final conviction for a serious violent felony, specifically Aggravated Assault.
The evidence at trial established that Hall traveled from Atlanta into Corbin, Kentucky to distribute methamphetamine. Hall supplied several different methamphetamine dealers in Whitley, Knox, and Laurel Counties. Records established Hall moved drug proceeds through Western Union wire transfers, Green Dot cards, and Money Gram. Four eyewitnesses testified that Hall was armed when dealing in the Eastern District of Kentucky. According to testimony at trial, Hall engaged in violent debt collection tactics, including assaulting co-conspirators with firearms. On January 24, 2020, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office Gang Suppression and Vice Unit executed a warrant at Hall’s Georgia residence. Officers seized a Sig Sauer p250, Taurus GZC 9mm, Taurus Judge pistol, Keltec subgun 2000 rifle, Aero Precision X15 rifle, and Radom Pioneer Arms Hellpup. Hall attempted to flee by climbing up into the attic.
Hall was indicted in May 2020 along with eleven co-conspirators, all of whom have been convicted. The case ultimately involved the seizure of 13 firearms, over $10,000 in U.S. Currency, and several kilograms of methamphetamine. The conspiracy involved the following convictions:
- Angelia Hammons, 47, of Corbin, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on July 28, 2020.
- Larry Tyler Hammons, 25, of Corbin, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on December 21, 2020.
- Glennis Reed Nantz, 49, of Woodbine, Kentucky, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking on December 14, 2020.
- Tramone Horne, 36, of Buffalo, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on December 17, 2020.
- Alexander Lebeau, 27, of London, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense on January 26, 2021.
- Krysten Powell, 27, of Corbin, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on December 9, 2020.
- Johnathon Ray Proffitt, 29, of London, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and felon in possession of a firearm on December 2, 2020.
- Dustin Walters, 37, of Woodbine, Kentucky, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on December 14, 2020.
- Larry Elkins, 39, of Calhoun, Georgia, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
- Jennifer Folgman, 41, of Corbin, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on July 6, 2020.
- Glennis Kody Nantz, 26, of Corbin, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in a related indictment on May 28, 2020.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Robert S. Morrow, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Louisville Field Division; and Chief Rusty Hedrick, Corbin Police Department, jointly made the announcement.
The investigation was conducted by the ATF and Corbin Police Department, with assistance from Georgia’s Henry County Sheriff’s Office. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna E. Reed.
Hall will appear for sentencing on October 29, 2021. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life imprisonment. However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal sentencing statutes before imposing its sentence.
This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide, crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities. It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts. In the Eastern District of Kentucky, Acting U.S. Attorney Shier coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement.
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