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Tuesday 11 December 2018
Biloxi Resident Sentenced to Almost Nine Years in Prison for Trafficking in Marijuana and Illegally Possessing FirearmRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Duy-Sang Sam Nguyen, 19, of Biloxi, was sentenced on December 6, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, to a total of 106 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempting to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. Nguyen was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $7,500.00.
On June 6, 2018, FedEx Corporate Security notified Customs and Border Patrol about a suspicious package emitting a strong smell of marijuana. Upon opening the package, marijuana was located. The package was shipped to a home in Biloxi, Mississippi. On the same date, agents learned about another suspicious package shipping from the same address but destined for another home in Biloxi. Agents were able to intercept the second package and located more marijuana. Agents organized a controlled delivery of one of the packages. A female, later identified as Nguyen’s sister, took the package inside the home. Law enforcement detained Nguyen’s sister and she admitted that she picked up numerous packages for her brother. Upon learning this information, agents went to Nguyen’s home and he confessed to receiving at least four packages every month of marijuana from California. Nguyen further admitted to having an AR-15 in his bedroom and more marijuana. Agents located the AR-15, which was later forfeited. In total, agents determined that Nguyen was involved with at least 150 kilograms of marijuana being shipped to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Nguyen was indicted on May 2, 2018. On August 22, 2018, he pled guilty to attempting to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and the Biloxi Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.
Biloxi Man Convicted for Trafficking Methamphetamine and Illegally Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Andarius Cordero Thomas, 25, of Biloxi, pled guilty on December 4, 2018, before Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent-in-Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Biloxi Police Department conducted three undercover controlled buys of methamphetamine from Thomas on April 20, 2017, April 26, 2017, and May 18, 2017. A search of Thomas’ residence revealed 3 grams of methamphetamine, 1,300 grams of marijuana, 3 digital scales, 6 boxes of small plastic baggies, 2 partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, and a loaded 9mm pistol with ammunition, which Thomas used during his drug distribution.
Additionally, Thomas was stopped by Biloxi police on April 4, 2018, where he was the sole occupant in the vehicle and marijuana smoke was emanating from the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed marijuana, a digital scale, and a loaded 40 caliber pistol which had been stolen. A search of the area next to Thomas’ bed at his mother’s home revealed another 8 grams of marijuana.
Thomas will be sentenced by Judge Guirola on March 5, 2019, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine for the drug charge and a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the firearm charge.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the coordinated investigation by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and by the City of Biloxi Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.
Baltimore man found guilty of having shank in prisonRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Samuel Hogans, of Baltimore, Maryland, was found guilty today after a one-day trial of having a weapon, or shank, in prison, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Hogans, also known as Richard Hogans, also known as “Lex,” age 38, was found guilty of one count of “Possessing Contraband in Prison.” Hogans, an inmate at the Eastern Regional Jail in Berkeley County where he was being held on another federal charge, had a shank in August 2018.
Hogans faces up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Finucane is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The United States Marshal Service and the West Virginia Division of Corrections investigated.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Aurora Health Care, Inc. Agrees to Pay $12 Million to Settle Allegations Under the False Claims Act and the Stark LawRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger announced today that Aurora Health Care, Inc. (“Aurora”) has agreed to pay $12 million to the United States and State of Wisconsin to settle allegations that Aurora violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid in violation of the Stark Law. Aurora and its affiliates (“Aurora”) are part of Advocate Aurora Health, Inc., an integrated health care system that serves patients throughout eastern Wisconsin, Illinois, and the upper peninsula of Michigan.
The Stark Law provides that the government will not pay for designated health services ordered by physicians who have improper financial relationships with entities to whom they refer patients because such financial relationships can compromise the physicians’ professional judgment. The False Claims Act prohibits an entity from knowingly submitting claims for payment for such services.
The United States and State of Wisconsin allege that, during certain periods from 2008 to 2012, Aurora entered into compensation arrangements with two physicians that did not comply with the Stark Law because the compensation arrangements were not commercially reasonable and because the compensation exceeded the fair market value of the physicians’ services, took into account the physicians’ anticipated referrals, and was not for identifiable services. The United States and the State of Wisconsin allege that Aurora nonetheless submitted claims for services ordered by those physicians to Medicare and Medicaid, in violation of the False Claims Act.
“Each year, Federal and State governments spend over a trillion dollars on healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid,” said United States Attorney Krueger. “This settlement reflects the U.S. Department of Justice’s commitment to using all available legal tools to ensure those healthcare dollars are spent wisely.”
“Healthcare entities need to ensure that compensation arrangements with physicians are clear and appropriate,” said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Chicago Region (“HHS OIG”). “The practice of self-referring presents a conflict of interest and can lead to the overutilization of services which ultimately drives up the cost of health care. The OIG will continue to examine and investigate those relationships that violate federal statutes in an effort to protect vital taxpayer dollars.”
“This $12 million dollar settlement demonstrates how these violations have a significant and direct economic impact on the health care industry,” said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Justin Tolomeo. “Our priority is to protect consumers and hold accountable those in the healthcare system who misuse the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
The investigation that discovered the allegedly improper compensation arrangements resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Consequently, the whistleblowers will recover a share of the settlement amount. The whistleblowers’ complaint alleged different claims that are not the basis for the settlement agreement being announced today. The United States and the State of Wisconsin is not intervening in the whistleblowers’ lawsuit to pursue those claims. As part of the settlement, the United States, the State of Wisconsin, and the whistleblowers will ask the district court to dismiss the qui tam complaint.
The investigation was assisted by the FBI, HHS OIG, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud Control & Elder Abuse Unit. The settlement agreement states allegations only; Aurora does not admit liability for the allegations.
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For Additional Information Contact:
Public Information Officer Dean Puschnig 414-297-1700
Audiology Practice with Locations Throughout Central New York to Pay More Than $566,000 to Settle False Claims Act ClaimsRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Oviatt Hearing and Balance, LLC (Oviatt), which operates audiology practices in Syracuse, Camillus, Manlius, and Oswego, New York, has agreed to pay $566,263.08 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely billing the federal government for services rendered by unlicensed individuals and by inappropriately providing gift cards and other inducements to Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Region (HHS-OIG).
United States Attorney Jaquith said: “Oviatt Hearing and Balance provided improper inducements to attract patients, allowed audiology testing by unlicensed and unsupervised employees, and then falsely billed Medicare and TRICARE as if the exams had been done by professionally licensed audiologists. We are committed to protecting patients and holding providers accountable for dishonest practices that undermine the integrity of our health care system and thankful for the thorough investigation by HHS-OIG in this case.”
Today’s settlement resolves allegations that Oviatt violated the False Claims Act in two respects. First, Oviatt allowed unlicensed individuals, while working alone with no licensed audiologist or other qualified provider onsite, to perform audiology examinations on federal health care program beneficiaries. Oviatt then submitted claims for payment for those examinations to Medicare and TRICARE, which falsely identified licensed audiologists as the rendering providers. Second, Oviatt offered and provided kickbacks in the form of improper inducements to federal health care program beneficiaries so that they would come to Oviatt where services billable to the federal government were available. The inducements included entering beneficiaries into a contest for a free iPad, and offering beneficiaries free Butterball turkeys, $15 Visa gift cards, $15 Dunkin Donuts gift cards, and $30 Omaha Steaks gift cards.
As part of the settlement, Oviatt admitted that: “(i) on various occasions from July 2011 through January 2018, Oviatt offered and provided improper inducements in the form of gift cards, gift checks, iPads, and similar promotions to Federal health care program beneficiaries, and (ii) on various days from January 2016 through November 2016, Oviatt allowed two unlicensed individuals, who were alone in the office and unsupervised, to perform audiology tests on Federal health care program beneficiaries and then Oviatt billed those services to Medicare and TRICARE as though they had been rendered by a licensed provider.”
“Oviatt Hearing and Balance compromised the integrity of the Medicare program, and failed to ensure that quality health care services were provided to their patients,” said Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of HHS-OIG. “HHS-OIG is committed to holding providers accountable for their practices.”
This investigation was triggered by a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act, which allows private persons, known as “relators,” to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The relator in this case will receive $120,000 of the settlement proceeds. The case is docketed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York under number 5:16-cv-1217.
The investigation and settlement were the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York and HHS-OIG. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam J. Katz.
Auburn Woman Pleads Guilty to Heroin Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Sierrha Frisbie, 26, of Auburn, Maine, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin.
According to court records, between November 2015 and September 2017, the defendant conspired with others to acquire heroin in Massachusetts and New York and to distribute it in the greater Portland and Lewiston areas. In December 2015, she was arrested by troopers on the turnpike at the York toll plaza and found to have 38 grams of heroin in her possession.
The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine, and between five years and life on supervised release. She will be sentenced after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Portland and South Portland Police Departments, the Maine State Police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. The Cumberland and York County District Attorney’s Offices assisted with the prosecution. This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.
Ascension Parish Drug Dealer Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced today that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced ARTHUR JOHNSON, JR. a/k/a “Nelson Howard,” “Wood,” and “Dread,” age 42, of Gonzales, to 116 months in federal prison following his convictions of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin and unlawful use of a communications facility. The Court further sentenced JOHNSON to5 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment. JOHNSON was also ordered to forfeit $109,000.
JOHNSON was charged as a result of an extensive federal, state, and local investigation aimed at a drug trafficking network based in Ascension Parish and covering Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The drug trafficking organization, led by JOHNSON, distributed multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin in and around Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Ascension Parish Louisiana.
Throughout the period of the conspiracy, JOHNSON was the organizer and leader of a drug trafficking organization consisting of more than five participants. Under JOHNSON’s leadership, JOHNSON’s drug trafficking organization was responsible for the distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin in and around Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Ascension Parish, Louisiana. JOHNSON used public and private places and cell telephones to arrange and carry out the exchange of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and the proceeds from the sales thereof.
U.S. Attorney Fremin stated, “This conviction and sentence highlights our commitment to working with state and local law enforcement to remove dangerous criminals from our streets. It will continue to be a top priority for our office to prosecute organized drug dealers and disrupt and dismantle their organizations. I want to thank our prosecutors, the FBI Baton Rouge Area Gang Task Force, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Department, and the Baton Rouge Police Department.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Rommal stated, “The reign and terror of Arthur Johnson and his fellow co-conspirators ended today due to the hard work and dedication of all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies involved in this multi-state narcotics investigation. Their tireless efforts led to the removal of large amounts of crack cocaine, cocaine, and heroin, from Ascension Parish and surrounding areas which prevented countless overdose deaths.”
The investigation is another effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program which was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the United States Attorney General’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises. The OCDETF Program operates nationwide and combines the resources and unique expertise of numerous federal, state, and local agencies in a coordinated attack against major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.
This OCDETF operation was investigated by the FBI Baton Rouge Capitol Area Gang Task Force, which is an FBI Safe Street Task Force that includes the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department, with assistance from the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, the FBI Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Resident Agency, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi Police Department. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers, Jr.
Armed Robber Sentenced to 34 Years’ Imprisonment for Multiple Armed Robberies and Witness TamperingRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Shamir Kane, 29, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced today to 34 years’ imprisonment after a jury convicted him previously at trial of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, two armed Hobbs Act robberies, two counts of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of witness tampering. The Honorable Eduardo C. Robreno also sentenced the defendant to five years’ supervised release and ordered Kane to pay restitution in the amount of $15,384.62.
In August 2016, Kane committed two armed robberies of T-Mobile cell phone stores. On August 6, 2016, Kane and others committed a gun-point robbery of a T-Mobile store in Philadelphia. On August 22, 2016, Kane and others committed a second armed robbery of a T-Mobile cell phone store in Cheltenham, PA. During each of the armed robberies, Kane herded the T-Mobile employees to the back of the store at gunpoint. After committing these robberies, Kane encouraged the mothers of his children (one of whom had committed the August 6, 2016 armed robbery with Kane) to approach the victims of the armed robberies in an effort to scare, intimidate, and bribe them into not testifying. Both women then engaged in witness intimidation and are currently serving sentences in federal prison in connection with this illegal conduct.
“The complete disregard that Kane has for the safety of others is appalling,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The employees of these stores were simply doing their jobs, while Kane terrorized them so that he and his friends could make a buck off of stolen cell phones. And then he caused his family members to commit additional crimes to cover up his conduct. The streets are safer now that Kane will be spending the next few decades behind bars.”
“This investigation and sentence is another example of ATF acting on its mission to fight violent crime along with our outstanding law enforcement partners. We were able to apprehend and successfully prosecute a violent and dangerous individual who posed a significant threat to the public,” said ATF Philadelphia Field Division Special Agent in Charge, Donald Robinson. “The hard working citizens of our communities deserve to feel safe and secure at their workplaces. The sentence should reassure the citizens of Philadelphia that we will find, prosecute, and ultimately remove those from the community who place others in danger through their violent acts.”
"Shamir Kane terrified the employees of the stores he robbed, making demands and marching them to back rooms at gunpoint," said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. "Those employees didn't know whether they'd make it out alive. On top of that, he later sought to intimidate victims out of testifying in the case. Our FBI Violent Crimes Task Force will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who find armed robbery a viable way to make money."
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Cheltenham Police Department, and the Plymouth Township Police Department, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Salvatore L. Astolfi and Thomas Zaleski.
This case was brought as 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 has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Alaska Man Sentenced for Role in Large Scale Drug Trafficking Conspiracy in Southeast AlaskaRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that an Alaska man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a large scale drug trafficking conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the small community of Craig, Alaska, and the surrounding communities of Prince of Wales Island.
Bradley Payton Grasser, 63, of Craig, Alaska, was sentenced yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to serve 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. In July 2017, Grasser pleaded guilty to methamphetamine conspiracy, and agreed to forfeit all rights to $89,703 in U.S. currency and 11 firearms, among other items, named in the forfeiture allegation.
According to court documents, starting in at least January 2014 and continuing until January 2017, Grasser coordinated and directed the distribution of methamphetamine on Prince of Wales Island for the conspiracy, as well as, collection of drug proceeds from co-conspirators. Specifically, Grasser arranged for methamphetamine to be mailed to co-conspirators at various addresses on Prince of Wales Island and in Ketchikan, from his source of supply in Washington State. Grasser would then use the drug proceeds to obtain more methamphetamine from his source of supply, for subsequent distribution on Prince of Wales Island. During the course of the conspiracy, Grasser directed at least five individuals to either receive the drug packages and/or send drug proceeds back to his source of supply in Washington State.
The total amount of methamphetamine seized during the conspiracy was 1133.7 grams intended for distribution on Prince of Wales Island and in Ketchikan. Additionally, the investigation revealed that Grasser was in possession of $89,703 in drug proceeds and property that he obtained from his drug trafficking activities, which included 11 firearms, artwork, vessels, tenders, motorcycles, utility trailers, containers, and gun safes.
“Protecting the citizens of rural Alaska is a high priority for my office and our law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Schroder. “According to the 2010 U.S. Census Borough, the population of Craig is 1,201, which means the amount of drugs seized from Grasser would be enough for nearly one gram of methamphetamine, or approximately 10 dosage units for every single person in the community. The citizens of Craig, including the young people, are safer because of the efforts of the law enforcement agencies that investigated this case.”
“Alaska State Troopers take the trafficking of illicit drugs seriously,” said Major Andrew Greenstreet, Acting Director of the Alaska State Troopers. “We’re grateful for the partnership with other law enforcement agencies on this case, and will continue efforts to prevent dangerous drugs from hitting our streets.”
“Postal Inspectors worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement in Southeast Alaska and the surrounding area on this investigation,” said Seattle Division Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. We take drug trafficking crimes very seriously and will continue to vigorously protect the U.S. Mail, communities, and customers against all forms of criminal attack and misuse.”
The Alaska State Troopers (AST), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Craig Police Department, and Klawock Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt.
Active Shooter Incident Training for Houses of WorshipRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In the aftermath of the deadly shooting that occurred at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 27, 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, and the Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento have brought together faith leaders to discuss strategies to deal with active shooter incidents in houses of worship. Over 100 are expected to attend today’s presentation.
The Active Shooter training features a lecture by FBI Special Agent Glenn Norling that will teach attendees how to be better prepared, recognize reaction options when faced with a critical situation, and what to expect from a law enforcement response.
The last hour of the training will feature a panel consisting of U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, FBI Special Agent Glenn Norling, and Sacramento County Sheriff Lieutenant Orrlando Mayes
U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott stated, “Any time an individual decides to attack those gathered in the peaceful exercise of their religion, the congregants are the true first responders. Today’s training brings together community leaders to discuss these tragic events and to learn how to prepare their congregations for an incident that we hope and pray will never happen in our district. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with the community and its law enforcement partners to prevent such attacks and to taking appropriate action if such a tragedy occurs here.”
“The FBI is committed to providing information to houses of worship to better prepare congregations for security planning to prevent violent incidents and for active shooter response if and when a violent incident occurs,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “Today’s seminar is only one facet of our outreach and commitment to the community. As part of our ongoing efforts, the FBI conducts hundreds of seminars, workshops, and training sessions annually for local law enforcement, minority and religious organizations, and community groups to promote cooperation, reduce civil rights abuses, and provide education about civil rights statutes.”
William Recht, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region stated: “In light of the Pittsburgh massacre of 11 Jews in October, the Jewish Federation wanted to move into action and provide practical tools and training to our synagogue and organizational leaders to make sure we are taking every precaution to keep our community safe. We are grateful for the leadership and partnership of the U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement representatives.”
Edrine Ddungu, President of the Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento stated: “Crimes motivated by a hatred of a religion are particularly chilling. Through programs like today’s Active Shooter Training, we can plan for the unthinkable and make sure our churches, synagogues, mosques and gurdwaras are free of violence. We are committed to working with law enforcement agencies to prevent or respond to attacks on our places of worship.”
4TH Florida Man Pleads Guilty in Connection to Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Against Xerox CorporationRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced that Jason Haynes, of Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing a false tax return in connection with a scheme to defraud the Xerox Corporation of more than $20,000,000. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant, along with Kyle Haynes, David Haynes and Bryan Day, owns Haynes Brother Furniture in Daytona Beach, Florida, where defendant resides. Co-conspirator Robert Fisher’s company, RBM Imaging, was an authorized reseller of Xerox office equipment.
Xerox, which has a location in Webster, NY, sells and leases office equipment, including printers. Xerox sells or leases the office equipment directly to end-user customers or to authorized resellers, like Fisher, who then resell or lease the office equipment to end-user customers, like the defendants. The office equipment requires toner and other products to operate. End-user customers order the toner for their printers from Xerox. Rather than pay Xerox upfront for the toner, the end-user customers pay Xerox based on the number of prints made with the toner. However, at all times, the toner belongs to Xerox until consumed by the end-user customers. At no time may the end-user customers sell the toner.
The Haynes’ set up a sham company, HDH Graphics, to obtain approximately 63 Xerox printers from Fisher. Although HDH Graphics made few, if any, prints with the printers, the defendants fraudulently represented to Xerox that HDH Graphics was making prints using much more toner than the industry average, which deceived Xerox into shipping approximately $25,000,000 worth of toner to HDH Graphics. The Haynes’ then sold the fraudulently obtained toner for approximately $11,000,000 to an individual in Miami, Florida. The Haynes’ and Fisher shared the profits from the fraudulent sale of the Xerox toner.
In executing the scheme, the Haynes’ repeatedly misrepresented to Xerox that they were making millions of prints with the toner, even though they never took most of the printers out of their boxes. The Haynes’ provided Xerox with false usage profiles from the printers and false print samples that made it appear that the defendants were making the millions of prints and using much more toner than the industry average for each print.
Jason Haynes also filed false personal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for the years 2008 through 2013. His personal tax returns failed to report net income HDH Graphics earned from the fraudulent sale of the Xerox toner. Because HDH Graphics was a partnership, all of its net income flowed through to the Haynes’ personal tax returns. Therefore, the underreporting of the net income on HDH Graphics tax returns resulted in the underreporting of the income on the defendant’s personal tax returns.
The Haynes’ underreported the net income earned by HDH Graphics by falsely claiming that they had personally paid and incurred travel and shipping expenses on behalf of HDH Graphics. They then had HDH Graphics reimburse them for the falsely claimed expenses and falsely reported such expenses as deductions on HDH Graphics tax returns. The falsely reported deductions on HDH Graphics tax returns were approximately $265,154, resulting in approximately $265,154 less in net income being reported on the corporate returns. As a result, approximately $66,288.50 should have flowed through as income to the defendant’s personal tax returns.
The defendant also agreed to forfeiture of assets that were previously seized by the government.
Kyle Haynes, David Haynes, and Bryan Day were previously convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Charges remain pending against Robert Fisher. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The plea is the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigation, Buffalo Office, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of James Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 13, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.
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16 Convicted in Large-Scale Conspiracy Involving Local ABT Gang RingRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A total of 16 South Texas residents have been convicted of charges including conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) which also involved methamphetamine distribution, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced James Randall Lee Ross, 45, OF Corpus Christi, aka “Silver” to 292 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Previously sentenced were Corpus Christi residents David Wayne Frost aka Spider, 47, Michael Lee Craig aka Rooster, 44, Mark Clairborne Pennington aka Shiloh, 59, Brian Russell Campbell aka Iceman aka Loyalty, 35, Johnny Glenn Voiles aka Panhead, 47, Jimmy Curtis Mullenax III aka Curt, 40, Kenneth Brandenburh aka K-Dog, 44, Matthew Jay Thompson aka Pie Face, 33, Pedro Campos aka Pete, 59, Abby Telge, 28, Johnny Hagensick, 49, Randy Stasney, 60, Allen Saunders, 35, Blanca Blanche Sandoval, 40, and Sue Campbell, 34.
They received terms of imprisonment ranging from 120 to 292 months in federal prison.
All defendants and others known and unknown, were members and associates of the ABT, a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in the illegal trafficking of controlled substances, extortion, murder, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapons and other acts of violence. The organization operated throughout Texas, including Corpus Christi.
One of the purposes of the criminal enterprise was to keep victims in fear of the enterprise and in fear of its leaders, members and associates through threats of violence and actual violence. Ross, Frost, Craig, Pennington, Campbel, and Voiles were convicted of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity involving ABT between 1995 and 2017. Ross, Frost and Craig were also convicted of violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity occurring in September 2015. All 16 were also convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine between July 2012 to 2017.
Evidence was discussed and presented during the multiple plea and sentencing hearings in this case regarding the extent of this criminal organization. The ABT is a powerful race-based Texas state-wide organization operating inside and outside state and federal prisons throughout the State of Texas and the United States. ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). It modeled itself after and adopted many of the precepts and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang formed in the California prison system during the 1960s. ABT offers protection to white inmates if they join the criminal enterprise. They adhere to the motto that "God Forgives, Brothers Don't." Membership is for life. The only way out of the gang is by death. ABT members refer to the gang as the "Family" and promote "whites as the superior race."
The ABT operate with a strict chain of command and a defined militaristic ranking structure. The hierarchy of each faction is broken up into five separate TDCJ regions. Each region has the following chain of command: general, major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant-at-arms and soldier. The ranking structure remains constant; however, frequent personnel changes (promotions, demotions, terminations) occur within the rank structure. The "Wheel," a five-person steering committee, governs each faction of the ABT. Each Wheel member is a general who is responsible for appointing his subordinate within his respective regions. Each Wheel member also appoints an inside major (in-custody gang member) and outside major (referring to someone in the "free world") in each of his respective region. These majors, in turn, are responsible for appointing their subordinate captains and lieutenants who, in turn, appoint their sergeants. Wheel members typically remain in place regardless of custody status unlike other ranking members who typically lose rank when their custody status changes.
The ABT has been involved in racketeering activities almost since its inception. Identity theft, counterfeiting and check fraud constitute the most prevalent non-violent crimes committed by ABT members/prospects/associates. Through the commission of these offenses, along with the distribution of narcotics, the ABT generates income for the enterprise.
ABT members take a "blood oath" to obey superiors. Failure to obey may result in a severe beating or death, which is carried out by other ABT members/prospects/associates. ABT members/prospects/associates that cooperate with law enforcement authorities are also subject to murder.
Multiple defendants were also convicted of a large-scale drug-trafficking conspiracy involving kilogram quantities of pure methamphetamine that had been trafficking in the Corpus Christi area since at least 2012 and continuing to 2018.
Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Texas Department of Public Safety; Nueces County Sheriff’s Office; Corpus Christi Police Department; and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the joint investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lance Watt and Julie K. Hampton are prosecuting the case.
Monday 10 December 2018
West Palm Beach Police Department in Southern District of Florida to Receive Project Safe Neighborhoods AwardRead the Press Release
On December 6, 2018, during the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced that sixteen Project Safe Neighborhoods Awards will be distributed nationally. The West Palm Beach Police Department in the Southern District of Florida will be a recipient of one of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Awards. These awards recognize individuals and groups for their dedication and contribution to the success of PSN.
One year ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of PSN, the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy. 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.
"Project Safe Neighborhoods is making our prosecutions more targeted and more effective—and that makes the American people safer," said Acting Attorney General Whitaker. "Today the Department recognizes 16 examples of those who go above and beyond the call of duty in using PSN to reduce violent crime. We had a lot of impressive nominees, but even with tough competition, these 16 stood out. I want to thank each one of them for their service and congratulate them on a job well done."
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office applauds the tremendous community engagement initiatives and law enforcement partnerships that the West Palm Beach Police Department has cultivated to serve and protect our local residents,” stated U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida. “The West Palm Beach Police Department’s commitment to the success of Project Safe Neighborhoods is to be commended.”
A Project Safe Neighborhoods Award, for Outstanding Local Police/Sheriff Department Involvement, will be bestowed upon the West Palm Beach Police Department in the Southern District of Florida. The West Palm Beach Police Department’s commitment to the core principles of the reinvigorated PSN has had, and continues to have, a dramatic effect in the Southern District of Florida. West Palm Beach officers serve full-time as task force officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to combat violent crime. In 2018, the West Palm Beach Police Department created a “Real Time Crime Center” that uses intelligence from a number of sources to generate current and actionable law enforcement leads. In addition to enforcement activity, the West Palm Beach Police Department has also made a commitment to community engagement and successfully built bridges between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The West Palm Beach Police Department’s community engagement initiatives are extensive, and include not only national programs, but also local programs like “R.I.P.” program that interacts weekly with juvenile offenders arrested for gun and violent crimes, and “Cops and Scholars,” which champions kids in vulnerable communities. West Palm Beach Police Department also serves as a partner to many outside organizations and programs. All of these efforts are contributing to the success of PSN in local West Palm Beach communities.
Virginia man admits to firearms chargeRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Chance Allen Good, of Stanley, Virginia, has admitted to a firearms charge, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Good, age 25, pled guilty to one count of “Possession of a Stolen Firearm.” Good admitted to having a stolen .22 caliber rifle in Mineral County in March 2018.
Good faces up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
This case was brought as 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 Attorney General’s Office has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, the Attorney General’s Office announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, The West Virginia State Police, and the Potomac Highlands Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force investigated.
The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Unlicensed Dentist Convicted of Healthcare Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Healthcare Fraud, and Conspiracy to Violate the Anti-Kickback StatuteRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that LUIS OMAR VARGAS, an unlicensed dentist, was convicted last Friday, after a two-week jury trial, for defrauding health insurance companies by billing for false claims, billing for claims performed by him as an unlicensed provider, and for conspiring to pay kickbacks to his patients. The trial was presided over by United States District Judge Ronnie Abrams.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Luis Omar Vargas defrauded taxpayer-funded health insurance plans and his patients by posing as a dentist licensed to practice, when he was not. Vargas billed for services he never performed and induced his patients to visit his dental clinic by providing them kickback payments. Now, for his fraud and abuse of the system, Vargas stands convicted of three crimes and faces a substantial term in prison.”
According to allegations in the Indictment and evidence introduced at trial:
From in or around 2012 through at least November 2017, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, VARGAS and others conspired and participated in a scheme to defraud insurance providers of more than $2 million. Vargas and others induced patients to be seen at a dental clinic on the Upper West Side of Manhattan by offering patients a $25 cash kickback. Once the patients were in the door, VARGAS and his coconspirators charged insurance companies for services that were never performed and for services performed by VARGAS that he was not licensed to perform.
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VARGAS, 46, of Roselle, New Jersey, was convicted of one count of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. VARGAS will be sentenced on April 5, 2019, by Judge Abrams.
Other members of the conspiracy, including Dr. Mehmet Dikengil, 70, and Anna Jones, 60, previously pled guilty to related offenses.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General in this investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexandra N. Rothman, Ryan B. Finkel, and Kristy J. Greenberg are in charge of the prosecution.
United States Secret Service Case Results in Former Bay Minette Accountant Sentenced to 8 Months for Theft of over $60,000.Read the Press Release
United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced today that United States District Court Senior Judge Callie V. S. Granade sentenced Karen Dawn Gurvitz on December 6, 2018 to 8 months imprisonment and ordered her to pay restitution in the amount of $63,205.
Karen Gurvitz pled guilty on August 22, 2018, in accordance with a plea agreement with the United States to the crimes of Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud. She worked as the bookkeeper/accountant for the Bay Minette-based company, S & K Machineworks for nearly three years. During her employment, specifically between January 2015 through October 2017, Gurvitz made close to $62,000 in personal purchases using an S&K company credit card.
In order to keep her criminal activity concealed from her employers at S &K, Gurvitz would change the business mailing address of S&K on all invoices dealing with her fraudulent purchases to that of her home address. Some of the purchases made included gift cards, along with other goods, intended for her sole personal use. In total, Gurvitz was ordered to pay $63,205 to S & K Machineworks in restitution.
Brian O’Neil, Resident Agent in Charge for the United States Secret Service Mobile Field Office stated, “The U.S. Secret Service plays a pivotal role in securing the nation’s critical infrastructure, specifically in the areas of cyber, banking and finance. Today’s sentencing is one of many examples of the working relationship among law enforcement in bringing justice to victims along the Gulf Coast.”
The United States Secret Service, Mobile Field Office investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Baugh prosecuted the case for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
United States Reaches $9 Million Settlement for Damages Caused by Forest FireRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kernen Construction Co. and Bundy & Sons Logging have collectively agreed to pay $9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the United States for damages resulting from a 2012 wildfire that burned more than 1,600 acres of national forest land, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today.
The fire, known as the “Flat Fire,” ignited on July 11, 2012, along the side of Highway 299 west of Weaverville, California. Logging equipment owned by Bundy & Sons was being hauled by Kernen Construction when it became unsecured and dragged along the highway, causing sparks that ignited dry vegetation. By the time the fire was suppressed, 1,688 acres had been burned, almost all of which was located within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The fire cost more than $4.6 million to suppress and damaged environmental resources, including habitat for sensitive species such as the Northern Spotted Owl.
The United States sought to recover damages from Kernen Construction and Bundy & Sons for their failure to properly secure the equipment that started the fire. Under the settlement announced today, Kernen Construction will pay $6 million to settle the dispute, and Bundy & Sons will pay $3 million. Defendants deny liability for the fire.
“This settlement goes a long way toward compensating the public for the expense of fighting the fire and the damage to public lands,” U.S. Attorney Scott said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively pursue recovery against those whose carelessness damages our precious national resources.”
“This is a reminder that the public has a major role to play in fire safety,” said USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore. “Everyone must remain vigilant, especially during our extended fire season. We thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work in this case.”
Since 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California has secured settlements in more than 25 different cases involving wildfire damage to federal lands, with total settlements valued at nearly $200 million.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colleen M. Kennedy and Benjamin J. Wolinsky handled the case.
United States Attorney’s Office Sponsors Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Training for USVI and Puerto Rican Prosecutors and for Law EnforcementRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Gretchen C.F Shappert announced today that the Virgin Islands U.S. Attorney’s Office is sponsoring training this week for prosecutors from the USVI and Puerto Rico and federal agents here in the Territory who are dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of large-scale narcotics and organized crime targets. According to Shappert, "The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program was established by the Department of Justice in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the Department’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises."
The OCDETF Program operates nationwide and combines the resources of federal agencies and local law enforcement in a coordinated attack against major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. OCDETF participants include the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Criminal and Tax Divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous State and local agencies. The OCDETF strategy focuses federal law enforcement resources on reducing the flow of illicit drugs and drug proceeds by identifying and targeting the major trafficking organizations, eliminating the financial infrastructure of drug organizations by emphasizing financial investigations and asset forfeiture, redirecting federal drug enforcement resources to align them with existing and emerging drug threats, and conducting expanded, nationwide investigations against all the related parts of the targeted organizations.
"Prosecutors and agents in the Caribbean region represent the tip of the spear in America’s efforts to combat transnational drug trafficking organizations," Shappert said. "For that reason, we must continuously train and educate our OCDETF partners to address the emerging threats associated with drug cartels and organized crime. We are proud to support our OCDETF partners and to host this important training."
United Nations Musical Director Arrested on Federal Wire Fraud Charge Alleging $750,000 Embezzlement from a Charity ConcertRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A professional drummer who has served as a musical director for the United Nations and the Arsenio Hall television show has been arrested on a felony wire fraud charge for allegedly embezzling $750,000 from a charity concert for homeless children and using the pilfered money to buy his ex-wife a house in Calabasas.
Robin DiMaggio, 47, of Woodland Hills, was arrested Friday afternoon. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court.
According to the criminal complaint that led to his arrest, DiMaggio said he would assist the Peace for You Peace for Me Foundation, a Bulgaria-based non-profit organization, with organizing a charity concert in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia that was designed to raise money for and raise awareness of homeless and displaced children from conflict zones throughout the world. DiMaggio allegedly told the Foundation in a series of communications that he would be able to secure several celebrities to perform at the charity concert.
On August 5, 2016, the foundation’s financial sponsor allegedly wired $750,000 to a DiMaggio-controlled account as a guarantee for future payments related to artists performing at the charity concert. Prior to the money transfer, DiMaggio allegedly represented that he would not spend the money, which he would place in an escrow account and only later use to pay artists who would perform at the concert.
DiMaggio never set up the escrow account, the complaint alleges. Instead, several days later, he deposited the $750,000 into his personal bank account and used the money to make payments on cars, credit card debt and his living expenses. Within weeks of the wire transfer, DiMaggio allegedly used $251,370 of the funds to purchase a Calabasas home for his ex-wife. He also wired $150,000 of the funds to a bank account in the name of his company, DiMagic Entertainment, Inc. None of the transfers was sent to artists or their management in connection with the charity concert in Bulgaria, according to the complaint.
On August 10, 2016 – the day after he allegedly put the $750,000 into his personal bank account – DiMaggio emailed the foundation’s financial sponsor, stating that “an entire group of managers” believed the charity concert in Bulgaria should be postponed from October 1, 2016 to December 1, 2016, during the Bulgarian winter. When the foundation’s financial sponsor demanded the $750,000 back, DiMaggio wrote back that he had sent the deposit to the artists as agreed and that he would return the funds when the deposits were returned.
The financial sponsor sued DiMaggio in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December 2016 and during deposition DiMaggio testified that a third party had used DiMaggio’s email account to contact the foundation about the concert and had been responsible for the withdrawal of most of the funds, court papers state. However, DiMaggio also admitted at the deposition that he used $251,370 in funds to buy the Calabasas home for his ex-wife as a partial settlement of his spousal support.
Nine months later, DiMaggio filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. During DiMaggio’s bankruptcy court proceedings, the financial sponsor and his company, which also had filed claims against him in that court, were awarded $1.2 million.
A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
If he were to be convicted of the wire fraud charge, DiMaggio would face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
This case has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Poonam G. Kumar of the Major Frauds Section.
Two Middle Tennessee Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Exploitation CrimesRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – December 10, 2018 – Kendall Carter, 24, of Milton, Tennesee and Curt Cannamela, 41, of Hartsville, Tennessee, were sentenced on Friday in U.S. District Court for separate child exploitation crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Kandall Carter was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Jr., to 30 years in prison, to be followed by lifetime supervision. Carter was indicted in 2015 and pleaded guilty in December 2017 to production of child pornography; two counts of extortion; and possession of child pornography.
According to documents filed with the court, Carter used a variety of online usernames to talk with multiple females online, including minor females. He would befriend underage girls online, exchange nude images with them, and then use a different on-line persona to threaten to expose the girls to others unless the girls took increasingly more graphic images including images of themselves engaging in sexual acts. The victims included a 16 year-old girl living in Germany, where her father was serving on active duty in the military and a 12-year-old girl living in South Dakota. During on-line exchanges with the 12-year-old, Carter represented himself to be a 14-year-old boy from Tennessee.
In 2014, investigators determined that the IP address of the person communicating with these victims belonged to Kendall Carter who was communicating with the girls from Tennessee.
A subsequent forensic examination of the Carter’s iPhone and iPad revealed that he was in possession of more than 100 sexually explicit images of other minor females.
In a separate and unrelated case, Chief Judge Crenshaw sentenced Curt Cannamela to 188 months in prison, to be followed by lifetime supervision. Cannamela was charged in a criminal information in November 2017 and pleaded guilty in January to enticement of a minor; receipt of child pornography; and distribution of child pornography.
In March 2016, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) began investigating Cannamela after discovering email communications between Cannamela and what appeared to be an underage female. After exchanges of child pornography were discovered, agents posed as a 14-year-old female. Cannamela disclosed that he was actually 39 years old and lived in Hartsville, Tennessee. Cannamela requested that they move their conversation to another platform and then moved their conversation to KIK, an instant messaging application. Cannamela then sent images depicting child pornography to whom he believed to be a minor female and expressed his desire to travel to Laredo, Texas to meet her.
In August 2017, Cannamela purchased an airline ticket for whom he thought was the 14-year-old female, to fly from Laredo, Texas to Nashville. HSI agents later executed a federal search warrant at Cannamela’s residence in Hartsville and seized laptops and other electronic media, which contained evidence of other victims of child pornography and child predators. Agents were able to verify Cannamela had distributed child pornography through his KIK application and email accounts.
These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey.
Two Arizona Men Sentenced for Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute HeroinRead the Press Release
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced that on December 6, 2018, 39 year-old Richard Ortiz and 34 year-old Gerardo Alatorre Quintero were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose. Ortiz was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Alatorre Quintero was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Ortiz pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance on July 6, 2018. Alatorre Quintero pled guilty to the same charge on August 7, 2018.
On November 17, 2017, Ortiz and Alatorre Quintero were driving a U-Haul truck when they were stopped by a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputy for speeding. Ortiz gave the deputy permission to search the U-Haul, and the deputy located 25 packages hidden inside tires inside the U-Haul. The heroin weighed 6.97 kilograms, and the fentanyl weighed 15.62 kilograms.
This matter was investigated by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement (DNE). This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Towson Pharmacist Sentenced to 40 Months in Federal Prison for Distributing Oxycodone in Exchange for Sexual FavorsRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander today sentenced Richard Daniel Hiller, age 64, of Owings Mills, Maryland, formerly a licensed pharmacist, to 40 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, and for distributing oxycodone. Judge Hollander also ordered Hiller to pay a fine of $15,000.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; and Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department.
“Hiller abused his position of trust and exploited women who were addicted to oxycodone to obtain sexual favors. Those who divert pharmaceutical drugs for illegal purposes further the tragic cycle of addiction and the epidemic of opioid overdose deaths,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.
According to his plea agreement, Hiller was a licensed pharmacist working at a pharmacy in Towson, Maryland. Hiller admitted that he filled fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone for several women in return for sexual favors. On numerous occasions between January 2014 and February 2017, Hiller directed two of the women to come to the pharmacy where he worked prior to the opening of the pharmacy. Hiller would make them engage in sexual intercourse or perform other sexual acts in the rear area of the pharmacy prior to filling their fake prescriptions for oxycodone.
Beginning in 2014, Hiller also distributed oxycodone to a third woman. In return for distributing oxycodone to her, often without any valid prescription, Hiller would ask the woman to send him nude photos and sexual videos of herself, and allow him to grope and kiss her. This woman would sometimes use different names to simultaneously obtain oxycodone prescriptions from two doctors. Hiller would fill both prescriptions knowing they had been fraudulently obtained. When the woman rejected one of Hiller’s advances, he called the woman’s doctors to notify them that she was fraudulently obtaining prescriptions from both of them.
Hiller filled these prescriptions knowing they were fraudulent and outside the usual course of professional practice. Hiller would permit the women to fill additional prescriptions for oxycodone before the previous 30-day window had expired. In an effort to hide the conspiracy, some of the fraudulent prescriptions listed fake names and names of family members. The women were addicted to oxycodone and would resell many of the pills they obtained from Hiller to maintain their addiction. Over the course of the conspiracy, Hiller distributed approximately 20,500 15 milligram oxycodone pills.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the DEA and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in these investigations. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Burden H. Walker, who prosecuted the case.
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Toledo woman charged after she purchased black powder and screws that she believed were going to be used to make a bomb as part of a terrorist attackRead the Press Release
A Toledo woman was arrested and charged in federal court after she purchased black powder and screws that she believed were going to be used to make a bomb as part of a terrorist attack.
Elizabeth Lecron, 23, was charged with one count of transportation of explosives and explosive material for the purposes of harming others and property.
“This defendant bought black powder and hundreds of screws that she expected would be used to make a bomb,” said Justin E. Herdman, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “Through her words and actions, she demonstrated that she was committed to seeing death and destruction in order to advance hate. This case demonstrates terrorism comes in many guises and we will remain vigilant to protect all Americans.”
FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeff Fortunato said: “Removing Elizabeth Lecron from the ranks of civilized society by virtue of arrest and prosecution thwarts her explicitly stated desire to engage in acts of death and destruction. This case is a testament to the value of an ever vigilant public, which had the courage to alert law enforcement as to the evil goals and intentions of this suspect."
According to an affidavit filed in the case:
Lecron came to the attention of law enforcement earlier this year after one of her associates expressed a desire to conduct a violent attack. Further investigation revealed Lecron frequently posted voluminous photographs and comments on social media glorifying mass murderers, including the Columbine shooters and Dylann Roof.
After her Tumblr account was shut down because of offensive content, Lecron started a new profile -- “CharlestonChurchMiracle,” -- where she continued to post photos and comments about mass casualty attacks.
Lecron and an associate flew to Denver in order to visit Columbine High School. Around this time, she also began corresponding with Roof and attempted to send him Nazis literature.
Earlier in August, undercover FBI agents and confidential sources communicated with Lecron. In August, she stated she and an associate 1 had devised a plan to commit an “upscale mass murder” at a Toledo bar. She stated she knew the bar only had two ways in or out, which could be a tactical advantage when police arrived.
Later that month, Lecron stated she wanted to meet other anarchists in order to form a team. She stated she wanted to damage a livestock farm to set livestock free. She later confirmed she was willing to sabotage anything that harms the environment.
A week later, on August 28, she reiterated she wanted to attack a farm that raises pigs or cows. The next day, Lecron stated she could not locate such a farm and was going to focus on something else.
In September, Lecron met with undercover FBI agents and stated she and an associate started to make a pipe bomb. She stated she “definitely want(ed) to make a statement up here” and thought the place where she worked could be a good target because she believed they were polluting the river behind the plant.
On December 4, Lecron has discussions with an undercover agent regarding a pipeline bombing. Lecron agreed to buy black powder needed to make a bomb.
On December 8, Lecron met with a source at a retail sporting good stores, where she entered the store by herself and purchased two pounds of Hodgson Triple Seven Muzzleloading Propellant. She then went to a larger retailer in Perrysburg, where she purchased 665 screws of various sizes, some as large as three inches.
Lecron said to the source: “So I guess I’ll talk to you when the deed is done?” She later said: “I’m very excited...stick it to him man…be safe.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of members of the FBI, Homeland Security and Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Toledo Police Department, is leading the ongoing investigation. They were assisted by the FBI’s office in Denver. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant's role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
A charge is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.Three Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Roles in Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that three men have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy to import and distribute methamphetamine in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Neptali Yadao Dadia, 41, of Ketchikan, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to serve 10 years in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to methamphetamine conspiracy. At the time of the offense, Dadia was on supervised release from a previous federal drug conviction.
Dadia’s co-conspirators were each sentenced in September 2018 for their roles in the conspiracy, after previously pleading guilty to methamphetamine conspiracy. Matthew Steven Speers, 28, of Ketchikan, was sentenced to serve five years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. Jaypee Tolsa Lorenzo, 33, of Ketchikan, was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Dadia coordinated and directed the distribution of drugs, as well as, collection of drug proceeds from co-conspirators in Ketchikan, and for payment of drugs obtained from Nevada. A federal investigation was launched after a suspicious package was identified on Aug. 18, 2017, that originated from “Ivy Si” in Las Vegas, Nevada, to be delivered to Speers in Ketchikan, Alaska. A search warrant was obtained and executed on the package, and located inside was a teddy bear containing 53.92 grams of methamphetamine.
The investigation revealed that Dadia contacted a co-conspirator outside of the United States, and arranged for the purchase and shipment of two ounces of methamphetamine to Nevada, and then to Speers in Alaska. Dadia coordinated with Speers to receive the drug packages in Ketchikan, where Speers would take half of the drugs for distribution before giving the remaining half to Lorenzo. Lorenzo would then deliver the remaining drugs, along with Speers’ drug proceeds, directly to Dadia for further distribution. The investigation further revealed that Dadia had previously arranged a two-ounce shipment of methamphetamine, utilizing the same methods and co-conspirators in July 2017.
The Alaska State Troopers (AST) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt.
Three Men Sentenced for Four Carjackings in Central FloridaRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul Byron has sentenced Jeffrey Noel (25, Orlando), Herichie Paul (21, Orlando), and Awetu Megersa (23, Orlando) to 25, 16, and 13 years in federal prison, respectively, for carjacking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
According to court documents, Noel, Paul, and Megersa were part of a carjacking crew that carjacked four victims at gunpoint in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties during the first week of January 2017. One victim, a fast-food delivery driver, was confronted by the defendants and others while attempting to deliver food to an abandoned apartment in Orange County. The defendants forced the victim into the apartment at gunpoint and then removed the victim’s clothing, cellphone, wallet, and the keys to his minivan. A few days later, another victim was carjacked at gunpoint as he was returning from work.
This case was investigated by the FBI. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nathan W. Hill.
Three Charged with Violating Federal Anti-Kickback Laws and Committing More Than $4.7 Million in Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla.— A grand jury returned an indictment today charging three men, including two physicians, with violations of the federal anti-kickback statute as well as conspiring to commit health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
“Health care fraud is not a victimless crime. It has a costly effect on the taxpayer and beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, TRICARE, and workers compensation coverage under the Federal Employees Compensation Act,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “The Justice Department will not stand idly by while physicians exploit federal programs designed to help American families. I encourage the public to report suspicious health care practices and billing to federal authorities. We will investigate and bring to justice those defrauding our system for their personal benefit.”
The criminal indictment alleges that since November 2012, Christopher Parks, 57, and Dr. Gary Lee, 58, both of Tulsa, engaged in a conspiracy to unlawfully pay kickbacks and bribes to physicians in order to induce the physicians to write compounding prescriptions to pharmacies with whom the two were affiliated, including OK Compounding LLC in Skiatook, One Stop RX LLC in Tulsa and NBJ Pharmacy LLC and Airport McKay Pharmacy, both in Houston. The defendants then allegedly submitted large claims for payment to federal health care programs and private insurers and divided the profits.
Dr. Jerry Keepers, 65, of Kingwood, Texas, is also named as a defendant in the indictment. He is charged with soliciting and receiving over $860,000 in illegal bribe and kickback payments from Parks and Lee and also conspiring with the two men to commit healthcare fraud.
Compounding prescriptions is a practice in which a pharmacist or physician combines, mixes or alters ingredients of a drug or multiple drugs to create a medication that is tailored to the specific needs of a patient. These medications are prescribed when standard Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs are unsuitable for the patient. They are also more expensive and reimbursed at a far higher rate by federal and private insurance companies. Compounded drugs are not to be mixed or marketed in bulk.
The indictment alleges physicians were provided pre-printed prescription pads that listed compounding formula choices. Participating physicians allegedly checked a box with their preferred selection and then faxed it directly to the associated pharmacies, rather than writing a prescription tailored to the patient who could then take it to a pharmacy of their choice.
Payments to physicians were disguised through various sham business arrangements, according to the indictment. For example, physicians would allegedly enter into agreements with a pharmacy to serve as “medical directors.” However, the physicians would provide no actual services as medical directors, according to the charges. Instead, physicians were allegedly paid kickbacks for writing prescriptions for medications whether or not their patients needed them and sending the prescriptions to pharmacies affiliated with Parks and Lee. As a result of Parks and Lee’s scheme, federal health care programs suffered a total estimated loss of at least $4.7 million.
Conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute carries a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while violating the anti-kickback statute carries up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 possible fine. A conviction of health care fraud without injury or death carries also carries a possible maximum of 10 years in prison, but if resulting in injury or death, the maximum penalty climbs to 20 years or life in prison, respectively.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melody N. Nelson and Richard M. Cella are prosecuting the case. The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General (OIG), IRS - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Service-OIG, FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services-OIG conducted the investigation.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
Texas Businessman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice in Connection with Venezuela Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
A former procurement officer of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to obstruct an investigation relating to bribes paid by the owner of U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials in exchange for securing additional business with PDVSA and payment priority on outstanding invoices.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston made the announcement.
Alfonso Eliezer Gravina Munoz (Gravina), 56, of Katy, Texas, who previously worked for PDVSA in Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt of the Southern District of Texas in Houston to one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Gravina is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19, 2019 before Judge Gary H. Miller. He was charged by indictment on Nov. 15.
Gravina pleaded guilty on Dec. 10, 2015 to one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of making false statements on his federal income tax return. Gravina’s plea agreement in that case was a cooperation plea agreement, and it contemplated the possibility that the United States would make a motion to reduce his sentence based on his cooperation. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Gravina agreed to participate in interviews as requested by the United States, and to provide “truthful, complete and accurate information” to government agents and attorneys.
According to admissions made in connection with Gravina’s plea in this case, after his plea in December 2015, Gravina met periodically with HSI special agents to provide information regarding corruption at PDVSA. Despite knowing that U.S. government authorities were investigating corruption at PDVSA, and, specifically, that at the beginning of 2018 the government was focusing on bribes paid by companies controlled by an individual referred to as Co-Conspirator 1 in the indictment in this case, Gravina concealed facts about Co-Conspirator 1’s bribe payments to PDVSA officials in his interviews with the government. In addition, Gravina informed Co-Conspirator 1 that U.S. government authorities were investigating Co-Conspirator 1, and provided Co-Conspirator 1 with information about the investigation, including the topics discussed in Gravina’s meetings with the government. This passing of information led to the destruction of evidence by Co-Conspirator 1 and others, and to Co-Conspirator 1’s attempt to flee the country in July 2018.
Gravina becomes the latest individual to plead guilty as part of a larger, ongoing investigation by the U.S. government into bribery at PDVSA. Including Gravina, the Justice Department has announced the guilty pleas of a total of 15 individuals in connection with the investigation.
HSI Houston is conducting the ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI in Boston and Madrid, as well as from IRS Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Sarah E. Edwards and Sonali D. Patel of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. Pearson and Robert S. Johnson of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristine Rollinson of the Southern District of Texas is handling the forfeiture aspects of the case.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Texas Businessman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice in Connection with Venezuela Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A former procurement officer of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), pleaded guilty today. Alfonso Eliezer Gravina Munoz (Gravina), of Katy, admitted to his role in a scheme to obstruct an investigation relating to bribes paid by the owner of U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials in exchange for securing additional business with PDVSA and payment priority on outstanding invoices.
U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston made the announcement.
Gravina, 56, previously worked for PDVSA in Houston. He pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt to one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Gravina is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19, 2019, before Judge Gary H. Miller. He was indicted Nov. 15, 2017.
Gravina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of making false statements on his federal income tax return. Gravina’s plea agreement in that case was a cooperation plea agreement which contemplated the possibility the United States would make a motion to reduce his sentence based on his cooperation. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Gravina agreed to participate in interviews as requested by the United States and to provide “truthful, complete and accurate information” to government agents and attorneys.
According to admissions made in connection with Gravina’s plea in this case, Gravina met periodically with HSI special agents to provide information regarding corruption at PDVSA. Gravina knew U.S. government authorities were investigating corruption at PDVSA and that at the beginning of 2018, the government was focusing on bribes paid by companies controlled by an individual referred to as co-conspirator 1. However, Gravina concealed facts about co-conspirator 1’s bribe payments to PDVSA officials in his interviews with the government. In addition, Gravina informed co-conspirator 1 that U.S. government authorities were investigating co-conspirator 1 and provided that person with information about the investigation, including the topics discussed in Gravina’s meetings with the government. This passing of information led to co-conspirator 1 and others destroying evidence and co-conspirator 1 attempting to flee the country in July 2018.
Gravina becomes the latest individual to plead guilty as part of a larger, ongoing investigation by the U.S. government into bribery at PDVSA. Including Gravina, the Justice Department has announced the guilty pleas of a total of 15 individuals in connection with the investigation.
HSI Houston is conducting the ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI in Boston and Madrid, as well as from IRS - Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) John P. Pearson and Robert S. Johnson of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorneys Sarah E. Edwards and Sonali D. Patel of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. AUSA Kristine Rollinson is handling the forfeiture aspects of the case.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Tampa Woman Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy Related to IRS Impersonation ScamsRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Brenda Dozier (54, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Dozier faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Pursuant to her plea agreement, Dozier has agreed to pay approximately $225,000 in restitution to the victims of the conspiracy and has consented to a forfeiture money judgment in the same amount. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, from July 2015 through at least November 2015, Dozier laundered money that had been extorted from U.S. residents by conspirators residing in the states and overseas. India-based conspirators extorted money by impersonating IRS officers and misleading multiple victims to believe that they owed money to the IRS and would be arrested and fined if they did not immediately pay their alleged back taxes. As part of the conspiracy, Dozier opened bank accounts, which she used to receive the fraud proceeds, typically via interstate wire transfers. Once Dozier had retrieved the proceeds, she provided the money to her co-conspirators. Dozier was paid for opening the accounts and conducting the transactions.
On October 11, 2018, three co-conspirators, Nishitkumar Patel, Hemalkumar Shah, and Sharvil Patel were charged in a related case with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and extortion, and with individual counts alleging wire fraud, extortion, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft for their roles in this scheme. Their trials are scheduled to begin in April 2019.
This case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel K. Jones.
South Bend Man Sentenced to 70 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
SOUTH BEND – Bernard Pinkerton, 27 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Pinkerton was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by 1 years of supervised release.
According to documents in the case, on June 23, 2018, Pinkerton was driving a stolen car with a friend; in the vehicle was marijuana, a scale, plastic baggies, $1,100 cash, and a loaded 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen. Pinkerton was initially charged federally by compliant. Pinkerton confessed to possessing the gun and drugs. He had prior felony convictions in Cook County, Illinois involving drugs and a firearm.
This case was part of our Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program. The program brings 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. Learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods.
This case was investigated by the ATF with assistance from the South Bend Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joel Gabrielse.
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Sex Offender Sentenced to 14 Years for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida –U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced David Gilbert (53, Merritt Island) to 14 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. Gilbert had pleaded guilty on September 20, 2018.
According to court documents, on March 30, 2018, Gilbert, a sex offender, had more than 400 images of child pornography, including videos, in his possession. The images involved young children, some as young as two or three years old, engaging in sex acts, including bondage and bestiality. Gilbert also possessed nude photos of a 13-year-old girl, who was identified by law enforcement as the child of Gilbert’s ex-girlfriend.
During an interview with law enforcement officers, Gilbert admitted to downloading child pornography, and stated that he “could not help himself.” Gilbert has prior convictions for committing lewd and lascivious acts in the presence of a child and for possessing material depicting sexual conduct by a child.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kara M. Wick.
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 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.
Richland County, Illinois Man Sentenced on Methamphetamine Related ChargesRead the Press Release
Robert A. Harden, 45, of Calhoun, IL, was sentenced today to federal prison on methamphetamine related charges, Steven D. Weinhoeft, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today.
On December 10, 2018, Harden was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment and four years’ supervised release following his imprisonment. Harden had previously pleaded guilty to two counts in a federal indictment.
Count 1 charged that from on or about 2016, until on or about August 2017, in Richland County, Harden conspired to knowingly and intentionally distribute more than 5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, commonly referred to as "Ice." Count 2 charged that on or about January 20, 2017, in Effingham County, Harden knowingly and intentionally possessed with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
Richard Brega, Owner of Rockland County Bus Companies, Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Bribery and FraudRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICHARD BREGA was sentenced today to 50 months in prison for bribery, fraud, and theft from a program receiving government funds. BREGA was found guilty of these crimes on May 2, 2018, by a jury at the conclusion of a three-week trial. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Kenneth M. Karas.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “The successful prosecution of Richard Brega demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to rooting out corruption and fraud in Rockland County and throughout the Hudson Valley. The taxpayers and the schoolchildren and their families there deserve far better than the criminal scheming Brega gave them. The sentence imposed today serves a stern reminder that the criminal path Brega chose leads to one place: prison.”
The evidence at trial showed, among other things, the following:
BREGA defrauded a school district – Rockland BOCES – by falsely claiming to maintain the district’s buses, which BREGA knew were used to transport special-needs students, and bribing a Rockland BOCES employee to approve the false invoices for payment. As a result, Rockland BOCES transported special-needs students on deteriorating, unmaintained buses as BREGA got paid.
In particular, BREGA owned and controlled vehicle repair and transportation companies in Rockland County, including Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp. (“Brega DOT”), a fleet-maintenance repair shop. Rockland BOCES serves eight school districts in Rockland County. Among the services that Rockland BOCES offers to its students – particularly children with special physical, intellectual, and emotional needs – is transportation, for which it has a fleet of buses and other vehicles (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Rockland BOCES buses” and “bus fleet”), some of which are specially equipped for students with physical disabilities. Rockland BOCES receives federal funding each year, often in excess of $1 million.
From in or about 2008 or 2009, through in or about 2015, Brega DOT provided vehicle repair service and maintenance for Rockland BOCES bus fleet, including regular preventive maintenance (“Preventive Maintenance”), which is supposed to involve a thorough and detailed inspection and testing of the buses at Brega DOT’s facility, designed to ensure that the buses are defect-free and safe to operate with children aboard. Brega DOT would fix any problems with the buses that it found during Preventive Maintenance inspections before releasing the buses back to Rockland BOCES. Brega DOT also created invoices documenting the work done and provided those invoices to Rockland BOCES for payment. Rockland BOCES’ director of transportation, William Popkave, would then approve the invoice as accurately stating work that was performed on Rockland BOCES buses, and Rockland BOCES would mail payment to Brega DOT.
From in or about 2012 through in or about 2014, BREGA stole money from Rockland BOCES by, among other things, billing Rockland BOCES for Preventive Maintenance inspections that were never performed. To do so, BREGA directed his employees to prepare fraudulent invoices, as well as fraudulent supporting documentation, giving the false appearance that his company had performed regular Preventive Maintenance inspections on certain buses, when in fact those buses were not even brought to Brega DOT and Preventive Maintenance inspections were not performed.
To create the fraudulent invoices, and to obtain payment from Rockland BOCES for work that was never performed, BREGA bribed Popkave – who oversaw upkeep and maintenance of its buses – with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of free personal vehicle repairs. Popkave sent BREGA lists of buses and their mileages so that BREGA could create fraudulent invoices and supporting documentation, and thereafter approved payment of the fraudulent invoices at Rockland BOCES, even though Popkave and BREGA knew that the buses had not even been to Brega DOT on the days for which Brega DOT billed Rockland BOCES, and had not received Preventive Maintenance inspections.
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BREGA, 51, of Rockland County, was convicted of three counts: (1) mail fraud, (2) bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, and (3) theft from a program receiving federal funds.
Popkave, 62, of Rockland County, New York, pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy on January 24, 2017, to five counts: (1) conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; (2) mail fraud, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; (3) theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison; (4) bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison; and (5) obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.
The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentencing of Popkave will be determined by the judge at a future date.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. Mr. Berman also thanked the United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, for its assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Maimin and Benjamin Allee are in charge of the prosecution.
Realtor sentenced for stealing millions from clientsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Emily Moerdermo Fu, a metro Atlanta realtor and businesswoman who defrauded clients out of over $22 million dollars over a two-year period, has been sentenced to seven years, three months for mail fraud.
“While Fu was a well-respected real estate and financial professional, she took advantage of her reputation and clients’ trust to defraud them,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “In some cases she created fictitious closings and then pocketed the money. In other instances, she went through with the closing and used the property as collateral for unauthorized loans for her own benefit, meanwhile embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in managing such properties.”
"This announcement serves as a reminder to scam artists who blatantly commit fraud that they will be held accountable through the judicial system,” said Scott D. Fix, Acting U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division. “Postal Inspectors are committed to pursuing those individuals who violate the public’s trust and encourage customers to keep a watchful eye on their investments.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: Fu operated Capital Management in Suwanee, Georgia, which offered a wide range of services to investors in commercial properties around metropolitan Atlanta, including investment recommendations, property financing and acquisition, and management services. From 2004 to 2017, Fu established several investment companies for a group of clients for the supposed purchase of commercial real estate in Forsyth, Gwinnett, Fulton, and other metro counties.
In November 2017, the investors discovered irregularities in the books of some of the investment companies and confronted Fu, who admitted to having embezzled around $930,000. Through queries of county property databases and other investigations, it was determined that Fu had never followed through on several commercial real estate purchases, each valued in the millions of dollars. The properties included medical and shopping centers in Atlanta and across the northern metro area. Fu represented to her victims that she had completed the closings and was managing the properties, when in fact she had diverted the loans and investment funds for these “ghost purchases” to her own purposes. Fu had been a prominent real estate professional before she committed the fraud.
Emily Moerdermo Fu, 58, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story to seven years, three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $22,043,640.67. Fu pleaded guilty to mail fraud on July 12, 2018.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pearce prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Pittsburgh Drug Conspirator Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court on Friday to a term of imprisonment of four years and nine months, to be followed by three years of supervised release, on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute an analogue of fentanyl, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Senior United States District Court Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Calvin Armstrong, 32, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA.
According to information presented to the court, from May 2017 to August 2017, Calvin Armstrong conspired with others to conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cyclopropyl fentanyl, an analogue of fentanyl. Lynell Guyton purchased large quantities of fentanyl analogues from overseas purveyors, which he distributed in Western Pennsylvania.
From late August 8th through the early morning of August 9th, Armstrong packaged large amounts of cyclopropyl fentanyl with other individuals. On August 9, 2017, law enforcement executed a search warrant at 7 Bond Street. Guyton was found on the first floor along with Armstrong and two other individuals. Large amounts of narcotics and packaging paraphernalia were present in the house. A table with powder narcotics was overturned during the initial SWAT entry into the home, causing large amounts of opioids to become airborne. SWAT officers exposed to the airborne narcotics were sent to Mercy for evaluation–everyone was medically cleared and no one was harmed. Law enforcement also executed a search warrant at 1268 Lakewood Avenue and found another individual and opioids at the residence. A total of 235 grams of cyclopropyl fentanyl was recovered from both residences. Armstrong admitted to packaging narcotics.
Assistant United States Attorneys Rachael L. Dizard and Shanicka L. Kennedy prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE)/ Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), assisted by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, including the Pittsburgh Police SWAT Team, conducted the investigation leading to the prosecution of this case.
Pinellas Men Plead Guilty in Telemarketing ScamRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Gary Kinard (40, St. Petersburg), Martin Steele (46, Largo), and Mark Boring (47, St. Petersburg) have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy and a minimum mandatory consecutive term of 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft.
Pursuant to their plea agreements, Kinard has agreed to pay restitution to the scheme’s numerous victims in the amount of $1,555,860.21; Steele has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1,768,163.60; and Boring has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $853,392.03. Each has also consented to a forfeiture money judgment of $75,000.
According to the plea agreements, from 2016 through at least 2018, Kinard, Steele, and Boring conspired with each other and others to take money from victims throughout the United States who wanted to sell their timeshare properties or other land parcels. The conspirators placed telephone calls to these victims impersonating real estate professionals. They misled the timeshare owners to believe that the conspirators had identified buyers for the victims’ timeshares and other properties. The conspirators further advised the victims that the timeshare and property sales could be consummated if the victims made one or more advanced payments to the conspirators for various fees purportedly associated with the sales, such as closing costs, courier services, title searches, transfer and legal fees. Once the victims agreed to pay the bogus advance fees, the conspirators directed the victims to send funds via wire transfers to one of the conspirators. That conspirator then withdrew the fraud proceeds and shared them with the others, based upon each conspirator’s role in the fraudulent transaction. The conspirators often repeatedly re-contacted their victims and fraudulently advised them that additional fees were needed in order to complete the sales, and they continued to dupe the victims into sending bogus advance fees until the victims either ran out of money or became aware of the scam.
After the victims had depleted their assets or recognized that they had been defrauded, Kinard, Steele, and other conspirators evolved their scheme. In this second stage, Kinard, Steele, and/or other conspirators re-contacted their victims via email and, now posing as helpful attorneys, told the victims that they had been defrauded in a timeshare scam. They then offered to “represent” the victims against their “first attorneys,” and to obtain settlements on their behalf. Once Kinard, Steele, and/or other conspirators regained the trust of the timeshare victims, they directed the victims to forward additional bogus fees purportedly associated with the cost of litigation, settlement expenses, and other related expenses. Some victims paid the conspirators hundreds of thousands of dollars for the purported “litigation.” Over the course of the conspiracy, the conspirators received in excess of $1.5 million via wire transfers from more than 40 victims.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel K. Jones.
Pawtucket Man Charged with Manufacturing Counterfeit MoneyRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE - A Pawtucket man, previously convicted and incarcerated for producing counterfeit casino coins, was arrested at his Pawtucket residence on Friday and made an initial appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on charges that he allegedly possessed equipment used to manufacture counterfeit U.S. currency and that he manufactured counterfeit $100 bills.
Louis B. Colavecchio, 76, was arrested by United States Secret Service agents as the agents, assisted by Coventry and Pawtucket Police, executed a federal court-authorized search of his residence. The U.S. Secret Service seized, among other items, electronic media and presses used in the production of counterfeit U.S. currency, including the simulation of security features on U.S. currency. Agents also seized approximately $24,000 in counterfeit $100 bills.
Colavecchio’s arrest on charges of intent to defraud by falsely making or forging obligations or other securities of the United States; intent to defraud, pass, publish or sell counterfeit U.S. currency; and selling, buying or transferring counterfeit U.S. currency is announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Stephen Marks, Coventry Police Chief John S. MacDonald, and Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves.
According to Court documents, Coventry Police developed information relating to Colavecchio’s alleged counterfeiting activity. Between June and November 2018, it is alleged that Colavecchio had numerous recorded telephone conversations monitored by law enforcement in which he discussed plans to manufacture counterfeit currency. He also spoke of technology he said he developed which replicates security features of U.S. currency, including how genuine currency reacts to UV light.
It is alleged that Colavecchio repeatedly insisted that the counterfeit currency he produced not be passed in Rhode Island. In one conversation monitored by law enforcement, Colavecchio allegedly stated that, if arrested, his “defense” would be that he was working as a counterfeit detection specialist.
Colavecchio was released on $10,000 unsecured bond following his appearance on Friday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond.
According to court records, Colavecchio was convicted in U.S. District Court in New Jersey in October 1997, and sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for manufacturing counterfeit casino coins. He was convicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and scheme to defraud: counterfeit securities.
At the time of his arrest on Friday, Colavecchio was serving a Rhode Island state court 7 year suspended sentence with probation for possessing 5 kilograms or more of marijuana. He was convicted in Rhode Island State court and sentenced in January 2015.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose.
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Omaha Man Sentenced for Armed Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Warren Dwayne Vasser, 45, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, by Senior United States District Judge Laurie Smith Camp, for the crimes of armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm. Senior Judge Smith Camp sentenced Vasser to 132 months’ imprisonment, a five-year term of supervised release, and ordered Vasser to make restitution in the amount of $20 to the bank.
On November 15, 2017, Vasser and two others, Warren Copeland and Angelo Douglas, all possessing firearms, entered the First State Bank located at 1005 East 23rd St. in Fremont and took $84,135 in bank funds. After a high speed chase into Omaha, all three were arrested and all but $20 of the $84,135 was recovered. Copeland and Douglas were sentenced to prison terms of 12 and 11 years respectively earlier this year.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fremont Police Department, and the Nebraska State Patrol.
Omaha Man Sentenced for RobberyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Jonathan A. Valentine, age 40, was sentenced in federal court Monday in Omaha, Nebraska, for one count of interference with commerce by robbery. The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Valentine to 10 years in prison, ordered him to pay $1,256.50 in restitution, and three years of supervised release after he is released from prison.
On July 20, 2017, Valentine went into the Baker’s Supermarket at 5555 North 90th Street, with a stocking over his head that concealed his face and a gun that was later determined to be a toy. He pointed the gun at a clerk in the customer service area and demanded she put money in a bag he brought in. During the robbery, Valentine placed his hand on the counter leaving his DNA. A tip led law enforcement to Valentine and his DNA was compared to that left on the counter. He was confronted and admitted his involvement in the crime.
During the time period that included the date of the robbery, Valentine was on federal supervised release for a prior conviction of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. As a result of his robbery conviction, his supervised release was revoked and Senior U.S. District Judge Smith Camp ordered him to serve an additional two years, three months in prison in addition to the 10-year robbery sentence.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Great Plains Violent Crimes Task Force and Omaha Police robbery unit.
Omaha Company Sentenced for Making False Statements to the U.S. Department of LaborRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced today that Chief United States District Court Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC, an Omaha-based construction company, to a three-year term of probation and ordered restitution in the amount of $75,666 following the company’s felony conviction for making false statements to a federal agency.
During an investigation conducted by Special Agents with the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, it was determined that between 2012 to 2014, Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC was awarded $1,530,503 in five Department of Transportation subcontracts to perform work on highway and road projects in Iowa and Nebraska. The projects were each federally funded requiring compliance with federal reporting requirements.
As part of the Department of Transportation subcontracts, Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC was required to pay its employees a prevailing wage. Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC was also required to submit weekly certified payroll records to the General Contractor of each project certifying that prevailing wages were in fact paid to the company’s employees. Certified payroll records submitted to the General Contractors were relied upon by the United States Department of Labor for processing payments to Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC under the Department of Transportation subcontracts.
Between 2012 and 2014 Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC submitted false certified payroll records relied upon by the United States Department of Labor. The certified payroll records falsely represented Perkins & Perkins Co., LLC paid the required prevailing wage to its employees, when company employees were paid less than the prevailing wage.
“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and United States Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor and Wage and Hour Division to protect the integrity of United States Department of Labor programs and to ensure workers are paid proper wages for the work they perform,” stated Steven Grell, Special Agent-in-Charge, Dallas Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
This case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
Olympus Medical Systems Corporation, Former Senior Executive Plead Guilty to Distributing Endoscopes After Failing to File FDA-Required Adverse Event Reports of Serious InfectionsRead the Press Release
Olympus Medical Systems Corporation (Olympus) and a former senior executive in Japan pleaded guilty today in Newark, New Jersey, to failing to file required adverse event reports involving infections connected to duodenoscopes, and to continuing to sell the duodenoscopes in the United States despite those failures, the Justice Department announced today.
Olympus, which is located in Tokyo, Japan, and Hisao Yabe, 62, of Japan, both entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark Federal Court: Olympus to three counts, and Yabe to one count, of distributing misbranded medical devices in interstate commerce in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Judge Chesler also imposed sentence on the company today – fining Olympus $80,000,000 and ordering $5,000,000 in criminal forfeiture, consistent with a plea agreement between Olympus and the Justice Department. Olympus must also abide by an agreement with the Justice Department requiring Olympus to enact extensive compliance reforms.
Yabe is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Chesler on March 27, 2019. Yabe faces a maximum potential penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense.
Olympus admitted that it failed to file with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required adverse event reports in 2012 and 2013 relating to three separate events involving infections in Europe connected to Olympus’s TJF-Q180V duodenoscope (Q180V): the infection of approximately 22 patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands in early 2012; the infection of three patients with Escherichia coli at Clinique de Bercy in France in November 2012; and the infection of five patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa at Kremlin Bicetre in France in July 2012.
Yabe admitted his own personal responsibility for the failure to file the necessary information with FDA relating to the Erasmus Medical Center infections. At the time, Yabe was Olympus’s Division Manager for the Quality and Environment Division – Olympus’s top regulatory official, whose responsibilities included adverse event reporting in the United States.
“Medical devices, such as the Olympus duodenoscope that is used in 500,000 procedures per year in the United States, can extend and improve the quality of life for many people,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “But when a device manufacturer becomes aware of risks that could lead to illness, injury, or death, there is a statutory obligation to report that information to the FDA in a timely manner. By failing to do so, Olympus and Mr. Yabe put patients’ health at risk.”
“Olympus and Yabe failed to file important FDA reports regarding adverse events,” Attorney for the United States Rachael Honig, District of New Jersey, said. “It is especially troubling that they remained quiet when they received additional information from an independent expert questioning the safety of Olympus’ device. Patient safety must always be a paramount concern for medical device companies, and these defendants simply failed to treat that concern with the gravity it deserves. Today’s resolution is a reminder that this office will act whenever patient safety is put at risk by a quest for profits.”
“Medical device adverse event reporting requirements are designed to protect Americans by providing FDA with a tool to detect potential safety issues. When device manufacturers fail to report adverse events, unsuspecting patients are placed at risk,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “We take our patient safety mission very seriously and we remain fully committed to aggressively pursuing those who jeopardize public health by subverting FDA’s regulatory requirements.”
Olympus’s and Yabe’s Failure to File Required Adverse Event Reports
To enable FDA and others to identify and monitor adverse events, the FDCA requires medical device manufacturers to file adverse event reports – known as Medical Device Reports (MDRs) – when the manufacturer becomes aware of information that reasonably suggests that the manufacturer’s device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury. The FDCA also requires manufacturers to file supplemental MDRs if they subsequently obtain information about the event that was not known or available when the initial MDR was filed.
Olympus today admitted that it failed to make the required initial MDR filing regarding the Kremlin Bicetre infections, and failed to file required supplemental MDRs relating to the Erasmus Medical Center and Clinique de Bercy infections, for which Olympus had filed initial MDRs. Under the FDCA, devices for which required MDRs and supplemental MDRs have not been filed are deemed misbranded, and it is a crime to ship such devices in interstate commerce. Between August 2012 and October 2014, Olympus shipped hundreds of misbranded duodenoscopes in the United States, generating approximately $40 million in revenue and approximately $33 million in total gross profit. Olympus’s payment of $85 million is more than 2½ times Olympus’s total profit from sales of the misbranded duodenoscopes.
Yabe admitted today that he was aware of Olympus’s obligation to file supplemental MDRs and was involved in Olympus’s failure to file a supplemental MDR regarding the Erasmus Medical Center infections and a report Olympus received prepared by an independent expert of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. That expert report – which Olympus obtained in the summer of 2012 – noted numerous problems with the Q180V, including that the Q180V’s tip had various cracks, corners, and crevices that could harbor bacteria and could be cleaned only with great difficulty. The report recommended immediate further investigation of all such scopes, updating the cleaning instructions, and improving the quality of the seals.
Additional Compliance Measures
As part of its plea agreement with the Justice Department, Olympus has agreed to: retain an independent MDR expert to inspect and review Olympus’s policies and procedures to determine their compliance with the MDR requirements of the FDCA and its implementing regulations; periodic review by the MDR expert of Olympus’s continued compliance with the MDR requirements of the FDCA and its implementing regulations; and conduct a review and audit of the device classification and market pathway for all endoscope device types manufactured by Olympus that are intended for use in the sterile body cavity and that are currently sold in the United States. The MDR expert will report back to FDA and the Justice Department periodically for three years. In addition, the President of Olympus and Olympus’s Board of Directors will periodically conduct a review of Olympus’s MDR compliance measures and classification/marketing pathway review and provide certifications to FDA and the Justice Department relating to those reviews. Olympus also is obligated to inform health care providers in the United States who received Q180Vs between August 2012 and October 2014 of Olympus’s plea today, and to provide information to those health care providers regarding Olympus’s failure to file the required MDRs.
In March 2016, Olympus Corp. of the Americas and Olympus Latin America, two separate subsidiaries of Olympus Corp., entered into deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and civil settlements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Justice Department’s Civil Division to resolve criminal and civil charges and civil claims relating to schemes between 2006-2011 to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals in the United States and violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Latin America. The DPAs are scheduled to expire in March 2019. While the unlawful conduct at issue in today’s resolution terminated in October 2014 – a year and a half before the government entered into the DPAs – conduct relating to violations of the FDCA and failure to file MDRs was specifically not covered by the March 2016 resolution, as the investigation into the FDCA violations was ongoing at that time.
The guilty pleas are the culmination of an investigation conducted by special agents from FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey J. Ebersole of the New York Field Office, along with special agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, and special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie.
The government is represented in the criminal case by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob T. Elberg and R. David Walk, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Health Care and Government Fraud Unit, and Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Jasperse of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Senior Counsel Shannon M. Singleton of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, visit its website at www.justice.gov/usao-nj.
Olympus Medical Systems Corporation, Former Senior Executive Admit Distributing Endoscopes after Failing to File FDA-Required Adverse Event Reports of Serious InfectionsRead the Press Release
Corporation to Pay $85 Million, Enact Compliance Reforms
NEWARK, N.J. – Olympus Medical Systems Corporation (Olympus) and a former senior executive in Japan pleaded guilty today in Newark, New Jersey, to failing to file required adverse event reports involving infections connected to duodenoscopes, and to continuing to sell the duodenoscopes in the United States despite those failures, the Justice Department announced today.
Olympus, which is located in Tokyo, Japan, and Hisao Yabe, 62, of Japan, both entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark Federal Court: Olympus to three counts, and Yabe to one count, of distributing misbranded medical devices in interstate commerce in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Judge Chesler also imposed sentence on the company today – fining Olympus $80,000,000 and ordering $5,000,000 in criminal forfeiture, consistent with a plea agreement between Olympus and the Justice Department. Olympus must also abide by an agreement with the Justice Department requiring Olympus to enact extensive compliance reforms.
Yabe is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Chesler on March 27, 2019. Yabe faces a maximum potential penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense.
Olympus admitted that it failed to file with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required adverse event reports in 2012 and 2013 relating to three separate events involving infections in Europe connected to Olympus’s TJF-Q180V duodenoscope (Q180V): the infection of approximately 22 patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands in early 2012; the infection of three patients with Escherichia coli at Clinique de Bercy in France in November 2012; and the infection of five patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa at Kremlin Bicetre in France in July 2012.
Yabe admitted his own personal responsibility for the failure to file the necessary information with FDA relating to the Erasmus Medical Center infections. At the time, Yabe was Olympus’s Division Manager for the Quality and Environment Division – Olympus’s top regulatory official, whose responsibilities included adverse event reporting in the United States.
“Medical devices, such as the Olympus duodenoscope that is used in 500,000 procedures per year in the United States, can extend and improve the quality of life for many people,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “But when a device manufacturer becomes aware of risks that could lead to illness, injury, or death, there is a statutory obligation to report that information to the FDA in a timely manner. By failing to do so, Olympus and Mr. Yabe put patients’ health at risk.”
“Olympus and Yabe failed to file important FDA reports regarding adverse events,” Attorney for the United States Rachael Honig, District of New Jersey, said. “It is especially troubling that they remained quiet when they received additional information from an independent expert questioning the safety of Olympus’ device. Patient safety must always be a paramount concern for medical device companies, and these defendants simply failed to treat that concern with the gravity it deserves. Today’s resolution is a reminder that this office will act whenever patient safety is put at risk by a quest for profits.”
“Medical device adverse event reporting requirements are designed to protect Americans by providing FDA with a tool to detect potential safety issues. When device manufacturers fail to report adverse events, unsuspecting patients are placed at risk,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “We take our patient safety mission very seriously and we remain fully committed to aggressively pursuing those who jeopardize public health by subverting FDA’s regulatory requirements.”
Olympus’s and Yabe’s Failure to File Required Adverse Event Reports
To enable FDA and others to identify and monitor adverse events, the FDCA requires medical device manufacturers to file adverse event reports – known as Medical Device Reports (MDRs) – when the manufacturer becomes aware of information that reasonably suggests that the manufacturer’s device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury. The FDCA also requires manufacturers to file supplemental MDRs if they subsequently obtain information about the event that was not known or available when the initial MDR was filed.
Olympus today admitted that it failed to make the required initial MDR filing regarding the Kremlin Bicetre infections, and failed to file required supplemental MDRs relating to the Erasmus Medical Center and Clinique de Bercy infections, for which Olympus had filed initial MDRs. Under the FDCA, devices for which required MDRs and supplemental MDRs have not been filed are deemed misbranded, and it is a crime to ship such devices in interstate commerce. Between August 2012 and October 2014, Olympus shipped hundreds of misbranded duodenoscopes in the United States, generating approximately $40 million in revenue and approximately $33 million in total gross profit. Olympus’s payment of $85 million is more than 2½ times Olympus’s total profit from sales of the misbranded duodenoscopes.
Yabe admitted today that he was aware of Olympus’s obligation to file supplemental MDRs and was involved in Olympus’s failure to file a supplemental MDR regarding the Erasmus Medical Center infections and a report Olympus received prepared by an independent expert of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. That expert report – which Olympus obtained in the summer of 2012 – noted numerous problems with the Q180V, including that the Q180V’s tip had various cracks, corners, and crevices that could harbor bacteria and could be cleaned only with great difficulty. The report recommended immediate further investigation of all such scopes, updating the cleaning instructions, and improving the quality of the seals.
Additional Compliance Measures
As part of its plea agreement with the Justice Department, Olympus has agreed to: retain an independent MDR expert to inspect and review Olympus’s policies and procedures to determine their compliance with the MDR requirements of the FDCA and its implementing regulations; periodic review by the MDR expert of Olympus’s continued compliance with the MDR requirements of the FDCA and its implementing regulations; and conduct a review and audit of the device classification and market pathway for all endoscope device types manufactured by Olympus that are intended for use in the sterile body cavity and that are currently sold in the United States. The MDR expert will report back to FDA and the Justice Department periodically for three years. In addition, the President of Olympus and Olympus’s Board of Directors will periodically conduct a review of Olympus’s MDR compliance measures and classification/marketing pathway review and provide certifications to FDA and the Justice Department relating to those reviews. Olympus also is obligated to inform health care providers in the United States who received Q180Vs between August 2012 and October 2014 of Olympus’s plea today, and to provide information to those health care providers regarding Olympus’s failure to file the required MDRs.
In March 2016, Olympus Corp. of the Americas and Olympus Latin America, two separate subsidiaries of Olympus Corp., entered into deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and civil settlements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Justice Department’s Civil Division to resolve criminal and civil charges and civil claims relating to schemes between 2006-2011 to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals in the United States and violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Latin America. The DPAs are scheduled to expire in March 2019. While the unlawful conduct at issue in today’s resolution terminated in October 2014 – a year and a half before the government entered into the DPAs – conduct relating to violations of the FDCA and failure to file MDRs was specifically not covered by the March 2016 resolution, as the investigation into the FDCA violations was ongoing at that time.
The guilty pleas are the culmination of an investigation conducted by special agents from FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey J. Ebersole of the New York Field Office, along with special agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, and special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie.
The government is represented in the criminal case by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob T. Elberg and R. David Walk, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Health Care and Government Fraud Unit, and Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Jasperse of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Senior Counsel Shannon M. Singleton of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Ohio man arrested and charged in federal court after planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo areaRead the Press Release
Damon M. Joseph, 21, of Holland, Ohio, was charged today in federal court with one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, for allegedly planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo, Ohio area. Joseph was arrested Friday evening after he took possession of two semi-automatic rifles.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S Attorney Justin E. Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeff Fortunato of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
“Damon Joseph was allegedly inspired by ISIS’ call to violence and hate. He planned to attack the victims, based on their religion, at a Toledo-area synagogue in the name of ISIS, and hoped that it would lead to the deaths of many and spread fear,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “His alleged actions would be an assault on the liberties and respect for humanity we hold so dear. We will continue to make every effort to prevent such attacks from occurring. I commend the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who identified the threat posed by this defendant and took action to protect the public from his plans.”
“This man spent months planning a violent terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS here in the United States, and eventually targeted a Jewish synagogue in the Toledo area,” said U.S. Attorney Herdman. “The charges describe a calculated man fueled by an ideology of hatred and intent on killing innocent people. The FBI, our police and Justice Department employees are to be credited for working to stop the defendant before he could act.”
“In a matter of months, Damon Joseph progressed from radicalized, virtual jihadist to attack planner,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Fortunato. “He ultimately decided to target two Toledo-area synagogues for a mass-casualty attack in the name of ISIS. Joseph will now be accountable in a court of law for his pursuit of a violent act of terrorism upon our fellow citizens attending their desired house of worship.”
According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo:
Earlier in 2018, Joseph drew the attention of law enforcement by posting photographs of weapons and various messages in support of ISIS on his social media accounts, as well as a photograph originally distributed by the media wing of ISIS. This activity led to multiple interactions between Joseph and undercover FBI agents.
During his communication with undercover agents, Joseph stated his support for ISIS and produced propaganda in support of ISIS recruitment. In September, Joseph made videos that he sent to the undercover agent, hoping they would be used to recruit people to ISIS. He also complained that the mosque he attended was critical of ISIS.
Joseph stated his support for violent attacks and operations. For example, on Oct. 21, Joseph expressed support for “martyrdom operations” and stated: “what must be done, must be done” and “there will always be casualties of war.”
On Oct. 30, Joseph and the undercover communicated regarding the mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh. Joseph stated: “I admire what the guy did with the shooting actually.” He added: “I can see myself carrying out this type of operation inshallah. They wouldn’t even [an attack] expect in my area...”
Over the next few weeks, Joseph continued stating he wanted to participate in an attack on behalf of ISIS. On Dec. 2 he forwarded a document that laid out his plans for an attack, using the name “Abdullah Ali Yusuf” for himself. In the document, he described plans to attack where the greatest number of people are gathered, inflict the most casualties during the attack and make sure no one escaped.
Joseph then stated that he did not see this necessarily as “a martyrdom operation” as his plan accounted for an escape and potential combat with law enforcement.
On Dec. 4, Joseph stated he was deciding between two synagogues in the area to attack. He stated the choice would depend on “Which one will have the most people, what time and what day. Go big or go home.”
The next day, Joseph met with an undercover FBI agent and discussed conducting a mass shooting at a synagogue. Joseph identified two synagogues he viewed as targets in the greater Toledo area, and discussed the types of weapons he believed would be able to inflict mass casualties.
Joseph made written notes about the firearms he wanted and provided them to the undercover agent, stating he wanted AR 15s, AK 47, Glocks and ammunition.
On Dec. 6, Joseph met with an undercover in the Toledo area and stated it would be ideal to attack two synagogues, but that it was probably more realistic to only attack one. Joseph also stated specifically that he wanted to kill a rabbi.
Also on Dec. 6, Joseph wrote the name and address of the synagogue where the attack was to occur. Joseph stated he had conducted research to determine when the Jewish sabbath was so that more people would be present. Joseph pulled up photographs of the inside of the synagogue and said he wanted the attack to begin in the sanctuary. Joseph told the undercover agent that he would hide two semi-automatic rifles at his house once the undercover purchased them.
Later that day, the undercover agent told Joseph that he purchased rifles for the attack. The two met on Dec. 7 at a predetermined location and Joseph took a black duffel bag containing two semi-automatic rifles, which had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement officers so that they posed no danger to the public. Joseph was then arrested.
A charge is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of members of the FBI, Homeland Security and Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Toledo Police Department, is leading the ongoing investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Baeppler of the Northern District of Ohio, and Trial Attorneys Josh Champagne and Kyle Phillips of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Ohio Man Arrested on Terrorism Charge After Planning Attack on Jewish SynagogueRead the Press Release
Damon M. Joseph, 21, of Holland, Ohio, was charged today in federal court with one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, for allegedly planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo, Ohio area. Joseph was arrested Friday evening after he took possession of two semi-automatic rifles.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S Attorney Justin E. Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeff Fortunato of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
“Damon Joseph was allegedly inspired by ISIS’ call to violence and hate. He planned to attack the victims, based on their religion, at a Toledo-area synagogue in the name of ISIS, and hoped that it would lead to the deaths of many and spread fear,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “His alleged actions would be an assault on the liberties and respect for humanity we hold so dear. We will continue to make every effort to prevent such attacks from occurring. I commend the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who identified the threat posed by this defendant and took action to protect the public from his plans.”
“This man spent months planning a violent terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS here in the United States, and eventually targeted a Jewish synagogue in the Toledo area,” said U.S. Attorney Herdman. “The charges describe a calculated man fueled by an ideology of hatred and intent on killing innocent people. The FBI, our police and Justice Department employees are to be credited for working to stop the defendant before he could act.”
“In a matter of months, Damon Joseph progressed from radicalized, virtual jihadist to attack planner,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Fortunato. “He ultimately decided to target two Toledo-area synagogues for a mass-casualty attack in the name of ISIS. Joseph will now be accountable in a court of law for his pursuit of a violent act of terrorism upon our fellow citizens attending their desired house of worship.”
According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo:
Earlier in 2018, Joseph drew the attention of law enforcement by posting photographs of weapons and various messages in support of ISIS on his social media accounts, as well as a photograph originally distributed by the media wing of ISIS. This activity led to multiple interactions between Joseph and undercover FBI agents.
During his communication with undercover agents, Joseph stated his support for ISIS and produced propaganda in support of ISIS recruitment. In September, Joseph made videos that he sent to the undercover agent, hoping they would be used to recruit people to ISIS. He also complained that the mosque he attended was critical of ISIS.
Joseph stated his support for violent attacks and operations. For example, on Oct. 21, Joseph expressed support for “martyrdom operations” and stated: “what must be done, must be done” and “there will always be casualties of war.”
On Oct. 30, Joseph and the undercover communicated regarding the mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh. Joseph stated: “I admire what the guy did with the shooting actually.” He added: “I can see myself carrying out this type of operation inshallah. They wouldn’t even [an attack] expect in my area...”
Over the next few weeks, Joseph continued stating he wanted to participate in an attack on behalf of ISIS. On Dec. 2 he forwarded a document that laid out his plans for an attack, using the name “Abdullah Ali Yusuf” for himself. In the document, he described plans to attack where the greatest number of people are gathered, inflict the most casualties during the attack and make sure no one escaped.
Joseph then stated that he did not see this necessarily as “a martyrdom operation” as his plan accounted for an escape and potential combat with law enforcement.
On Dec. 4, Joseph stated he was deciding between two synagogues in the area to attack. He stated the choice would depend on “Which one will have the most people, what time and what day. Go big or go home.”
The next day, Joseph met with an undercover FBI agent and discussed conducting a mass shooting at a synagogue. Joseph identified two synagogues he viewed as targets in the greater Toledo area, and discussed the types of weapons he believed would be able to inflict mass casualties.
Joseph made written notes about the firearms he wanted and provided them to the undercover agent, stating he wanted AR 15s, AK 47, Glocks and ammunition.
On Dec. 6, Joseph met with an undercover in the Toledo area and stated it would be ideal to attack two synagogues, but that it was probably more realistic to only attack one. Joseph also stated specifically that he wanted to kill a rabbi.
Also on Dec. 6, Joseph wrote the name and address of the synagogue where the attack was to occur. Joseph stated he had conducted research to determine when the Jewish sabbath was so that more people would be present. Joseph pulled up photographs of the inside of the synagogue and said he wanted the attack to begin in the sanctuary. Joseph told the undercover agent that he would hide two semi-automatic rifles at his house once the undercover purchased them.
Later that day, the undercover agent told Joseph that he purchased rifles for the attack. The two met on Dec. 7 at a predetermined location and Joseph took a black duffel bag containing two semi-automatic rifles, which had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement officers so that they posed no danger to the public. Joseph was then arrested.
A charge is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of members of the FBI, Homeland Security and Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Toledo Police Department, is leading the ongoing investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Baeppler of the Northern District of Ohio, and Trial Attorneys Josh Champagne and Kyle Phillips of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
New York Man Sentenced to Prison for Fentanyl ConspiracyRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A New York City man was sentenced today to over six years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
According to court documents, in February law enforcement observed Sheldon Myers, 56, exit a bus in Norfolk and enter a waiting vehicle with Virginia license plates. After conducting a traffic stop, law enforcement smelled marijuana and ordered both the driver and Myers to exit the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed approximately 313 grams of fentanyl concealed inside a graham cracker box. After waiving his Miranda rights, Myers admitted he had been recruited to transport the drugs on the bus from New York City to Norfolk.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, and Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darryl J. Mitchell prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-95.
Mobile County Man Receives 188 Month Sentence for CarjackingRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced today that Gary Michael Gilmore of Mobile, Alabama was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment for Carjacking before Judge Callie V.S. Granade.
On April 22, 2018, Gilmore took a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox from a person by force and violence and by intimidation with intent to cause death and serious bodily injury, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2119.
The victim was asleep in his vehicle in the parking lot of the Sahara Club on Schillinger Road, Mobile, Alabama when he was awaken with a knife to his throat. Gilmore was apprehended in Citronelle, Alabama with the stolen vehicle after he ran from police by jumping in a lake.Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations along with deputies of the Mobile, County, Alabama Sheriff’s office investigated the case and brought it to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution. The prosecutor assigned to the case is Assistant United States Attorney, Michael D. Anderson.
Missouri Man Who Sold Guns, Marijuana Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Raytown, Mo., man who peddled marijuana and guns on the street in Wyandotte County was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Antonio Rodriguez Robertson, Jr., 21, Raytown, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. In his plea, he admitted he sold marijuana and guns to investigators working undercover, including a 9 mm Glock Model 17 pistol for $450, a 9 mm Glock Model 19 pistol for $625, a Taurus 9 mm pistol for $450, a .40 caliber Glock pistol for $700, an AR rifle DPMS Model 15 rifle for $1,100. Robertson admitted he regularly smoked marijuana.
McAllister commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James Ward for their work on the case. This case was a Project Safe Neighborhood prosecution.
Minong Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Distributing MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. -- Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Rodney Kersten, 60, Minong, Wisconsin, was sentenced on Friday, December 7, by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 78 months in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. Kersten pleaded guilty to this charge on September 25, 2018.
Kersten was arrested after three controlled purchases of methamphetamine coordinated by law enforcement. Judge Peterson found that Kersten was responsible for distributing 276 grams of methamphetamine. Judge Peterson noted that the sentence was necessary because Kersten was a meaningful part of a system of drug dealing that is damaging the community.
The charge against Kersten was the result of an investigation conducted by the Washburn County Sheriff’s Department, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Halverson.
Mexican Citizen Sentenced for Illegal Re-entry into United StatesRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Alejandro Quintero-Marquez, age 34, and a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today to time served (135 days in jail), for illegal re-entry into the United States.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Thomas E. Feeley, Director of the Buffalo Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Quintero-Marquez has been previously removed from the United States to Mexico three times, the most recent removal taking place on July 30, 2010. On July 28, 2018, he was encountered and arrested by an ICE Officer in Walton, Delaware County, New York. A fingerprint check of Quintero-Marquez resulted in the discovery of the prior removals. Quintero-Marquez admitted that he returned to the United States without permission following the July 30, 2010 removal. Quintero-Marquez has never had lawful authority to enter or reside in the United States.
This case was investigated by ICE-ERO and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan.
Men Plead Guilty to Transportation of Illegal AliensRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Daniel Santana, age 49, of New York City, and Sandy Santana-Soto, age 35, of Kissimmee, Florida, each pled guilty today to transporting two illegal aliens within the United States.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Robert N. Garcia, Chief Patrol Agent, United States Border Patrol, Swanton Sector.
As part of their respective pleas, Santana and Santana-Soto each admitted that on June 13, 2018, they drove together to the Massena Port of Entry, New York, and entered the United States from Canada. Simultaneously, Manuela Marina Del Pillar Soto-Garcia and Manuel de Jesus Polanco-Feliz were being smuggled across the border by boat approximately 5 miles east of the Massena Port of Entry, avoiding United States immigration and customs inspection. Soto-Garcia and Polanco-Feliz were delivered to a restaurant parking lot near Hogansburg, New York, by an unidentified smuggler.
After entering the United States, Santana and Santana-Soto drove to the parking lot and picked up Soto-Garcia and Polanco-Feliz. Santana and Santana-Soto exited the parking lot and drove west on New York State Route 37 until they stopped at a gas station in Hogansburg. While at the gas station, Border Patrol approached the group, determined that Soto-Garcia and Polanco-Feliz were both aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and arrested all four individuals.
The passengers, Soto-Garcia and Polanco-Feliz, were prosecuted for the misdemeanor offense of entry without inspection.
Soto-Garcia, age 55, and a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was convicted on July 10, 2018 and sentenced to 35 days in jail. Polanco-Feliz, age 27, and a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was convicted on July 5, 2018, and sentenced to 22 days in jail and to pay a $200 fine.
As a result of their felony convictions, Santana and Santana-Soto each face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when they are sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy on April 16, 2019. 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.
These cases were investigated by Border Patrol and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan.