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13 July 2017
Massachusetts Woman Pleads Guilty to Drug Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONCORD, N.H. – Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today that Leslie Aberle, 33, of Salisbury, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.
According to documents that were filed in court, on October 16, 2015, Aberle drove Mark Ross and Eve Tarmey to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in order to obtain a quantity of heroin. Ross obtained the drugs from a source in Lawrence while Aberle and Tarmey waited in Aberle’s car. After Ross acquired the drugs, the three returned to the Riviera Motel. Ross and Jazzmyn Rood also used a portion of the drugs and Ross provided a portion to Tarmey. The following morning, Tarmey was found dead in the motel room. The New Hampshire Medical Examiner later found that Ms. Tarmey died of acute fentanyl intoxication.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to working with our law enforcement partners to combat the distribution of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “Fentanyl and other opioids are responsible for the deaths of far too many citizens of the Granite State. We will continue to work each day with our law enforcement partners to prosecute those who are distributing these drugs in New Hampshire.”
“Opioid abuse is at epidemic levels in New Hampshire,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson. “Fentanyl and heroin are causing overdose deaths across the Granite State in record numbers, and DEA is committed to aggressively pursue anyone who distributes these poisons in order to profit and destroy people’s lives. This investigation demonstrates the strength and continued commitment of our local, state and federal law enforcement partners.”
A sentencing hearing is set for August 22, 2017. Under the terms of a plea agreement, both parties are recommending a sentence of 60 months in prison.
The case was investigated by the Rochester Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration assisted in the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Feith.
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Massachusetts Man Pleaded Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud the IRS Using Stolen IDs of Puerto Rico Residents to Claim Tax RefundsRead the Press Release
A Lawrence, Massachusetts man pleaded guilty today during his trial in the District of Massachusetts to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), access device fraud, theft of government property, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb for the District of Massachusetts.
According to the evidence presented at trial, from 2008 through 2015, Furvio Flete-Garcia, 45, obtained the personal identification information of Puerto Rico residents and, without their knowledge or consent, paid others to prepare and file tax returns with the IRS in their names. These returns listed fake income and tax withholdings and sought fraudulent refunds. Flete-Garcia would pick up the tax refund checks from addresses he controlled and cashed them with co-conspirators for a percentage of their face value. In total, he negotiated millions in fraudulent refund checks at two different check cashing businesses in Lawrence.
Flete-Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25 by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin. Flete-Garcia faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy, 10 years in prison for each count of theft of government property and access device fraud, 20 years in prison for each count of money laundering and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. Flete-Garcia’s co-defendant, Juan Santiago, pleaded guilty in April 2016 to conspiracy to defraud the IRS, access device fraud, conversion of government property and aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Weinreb thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Senior Litigation Counsel Corey Smith and Trial Attorney Sean Green of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg also thanked the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Secret Service, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts for assisting in the investigation and prosecution.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Kinderhook Podiatrist Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud, Pays $410,000 to Resolve False Claims Act LiabilityRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Podiatrist Perrin D. Edwards, age 64, of Kinderhook, New York, pled guilty on Tuesday to health care fraud for illegally charging Medicare and private insurance companies for services that he never provided. Edwards has also paid $410,000 to the United States to resolve his civil liability for his submission of false claims for payment to the Medicare program.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Edwards’s guilty plea was entered as part of a nationwide law enforcement operation targeting health care fraud, announced today by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other officials in Washington, D.C. (see news release).
As part of his guilty plea, Edwards admitted that he operated a podiatry practice with offices in Hudson and Albany, New York, and caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and private insurance companies for podiatric medical services that he had not performed or that he knew would not be covered by insurance.
Edwards admitted that he performed routine foot care services that were not covered by insurers, and falsely represented that nail debridement services were performed for some patients. Nail debridement is the process of removing dead and diseased portions of a toenail in order to significantly reduce its thickness and length, with the aim of allowing the patient to move around without pain.
Edwards also submitted claims to insurers for the trimming of normal toenails for patients Edwards knew did not suffer from any systemic condition such that Medicare and other insurers would cover his services. In connection with these fraudulent claims, Edwards caused false information to be entered into the patients’ medical records indicating that the patients suffered from systemic conditions and had reported symptoms that were not present.
Edwards faces up to 10 years in prison, up to 3 years of post-imprisonment supervised release, and the possibility of a fine, when he is sentenced by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino on November 14, 2017. 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.
As part of the civil settlement, Edwards has paid $410,000 to the United States and admitted that he submitted, or caused others to submit, false claims for payment to the government representing that he had performed toenail debridements. Edwards also admitted that he submitted, or caused others to submit, false claims for payment for trimming toenails of patients that he knew did not suffer from conditions covered by Medicare.
This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey C. Coffman. The United States was represented in the civil case by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Katz.
KC Man Sentenced for Marriage FraudRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in leading a marriage fraud conspiracy.
Delmar Dixon, 49, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to three years in federal prison without parole.
Dixon pleaded guilty on March 8, 2017, to leading a conspiracy to assist African nationals in circumventing immigration laws by arranging fraudulent marriages. Dixon also pleaded guilty to falsely swearing in an immigration matter.
Dixon admitted that he arranged 30 to 40 fraudulent marriages, including his own. Dixon charged the African nationals $1,000 upfront for his services, which included providing them U.S. citizen spouses. The African nationals were additionally required to pay $500 to the spouse at the time of the wedding, and an additional $500 immediately after completion of the wedding. They were required to pay their spouses $250 each month after the weddings until the immigration process was complete. The African nationals were coached by Dixon on how to make their marriages appear legitimate.
In addition to arranging fraudulent marriages, Dixon engaged in a fraudulent marriage himself. Dixon obtained a marriage license on March 19, 2008, and married a Kenyan national who had entered the United States as a B2 nonimmigrant visitor but overstayed her visa.
Co-defendant Traci R. Porter, 45, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced to two years in federal prison without parole. Co-defendant Tierra Ofield, 24, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. Co-defendants Kakeland Barnes, 37, Shakeisha Harrison, 37, and Stephanie Harris, 22, all of Kansas City, Mo., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the marriage fraud conspiracy and await sentencing.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Moore. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fraud Detection and National Security.
Justice Department Files Sexual Harrassmnet Lawsuit Against Owner and Seller of North Carolina HomesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Robert N. Hatfield, who rents, sells, and finances homes in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The lawsuit alleges that Hatfield sexually harassed actual and prospective female residents and borrowers in violation of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, alleges that for over ten years Hatfield has committed egregious acts of sexual harassment against multiple women who have lived in or inquired about his homes. According to the complaint, Hatfield operates some of his homes as rental properties, which he manages, and offers and provides financing to purchasers of his other homes. The suit alleges that Hatfield’s conduct has included making unwelcome sexual comments and advances, engaging in unwanted sexual touching and groping, offering tangible housing benefits in exchange for sex acts, and taking or threatening to take adverse housing actions against women who object to his harassment.
“Sexual harassment in housing and lending is unacceptable, and indeed is illegal,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Every woman has the right to feel safe in her home, and the Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce the federal civil rights laws to hold accountable those who violate this basic right.”
“The victims in this case merely wanted to rent or buy a home, a place of sanctity and safety,” said U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina. “Unfortunately, the process became sordid when Hatfield used the critical need for housing as leverage to make unwanted and aggressive sexual advances. This lawsuit should serve as fair warning that Mr. Hatfield’s actions were not only unlawful, but repugnant to the citizens of Western North Carolina - and this office will work vigorously to protect the women, families and other vulnerable individuals harmed by this type of conduct.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate victims, a civil penalty, and a court order barring further discrimination and requiring additional preventive measures. The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must be proven in federal court.
Individuals who believe they may have been victims of housing or lending discrimination by Robert Hatfield or who have information about this matter can contact the Justice Department by phone at 1-800-896-7743, mailbox number 3, or by e-mail at [email protected]. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt.
Justice Department Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit against Owner and Seller of North Carolina HomesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Robert N. Hatfield, who rents, sells, and finances homes in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The lawsuit alleges that Hatfield sexually harassed actual and prospective female residents and borrowers in violation of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, alleges that for over ten years Hatfield has committed egregious acts of sexual harassment against multiple women who have lived in or inquired about his homes. According to the complaint, Hatfield operates some of his homes as rental properties, which he manages, and offers and provides financing to purchasers of his other homes. The suit alleges that Hatfield’s conduct has included making unwelcome sexual comments and advances, engaging in unwanted sexual touching and groping, offering tangible housing benefits in exchange for sex acts, and taking or threatening to take adverse housing actions against women who object to his harassment.
“Sexual harassment in housing and lending is unacceptable, and indeed is illegal,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Every woman has the right to feel safe in her home, and the Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce the federal civil rights laws to hold accountable those who violate this basic right.”
“The victims in this case merely wanted to rent or buy a home, a place of sanctity and safety,” said U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina. “Unfortunately, the process became sordid when Hatfield used the critical need for housing as leverage to make unwanted and aggressive sexual advances. This lawsuit should serve as fair warning that Mr. Hatfield’s actions were not only unlawful, but repugnant to the citizens of Western North Carolina - and this office will work vigorously to protect the women, families and other vulnerable individuals harmed by this type of conduct.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate victims, a civil penalty, and a court order barring further discrimination and requiring additional preventive measures. The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must be proven in federal court.
Individuals who believe they may have been victims of housing or lending discrimination by Robert Hatfield or who have information about this matter can contact the Justice Department by phone at 1-800-896-7743, mailbox number 3, or by e-mail at [email protected]. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt.
Jury Finds Mother Guilty of Smuggling Methamphetamine and Cash Inside Car SeatsRead the Press Release
LITTLE ROCK—Patrick C. Harris, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Matthew Barden, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Little Rock District Office, announced today that a federal jury found Elsa Solis, 38, of Batesville, guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and misprision in a case that involved smuggling 2.5 kilos of methamphetamine and $19,000 cash inside two car seats.
United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker presided over the three-day trial, which concluded Wednesday with the jury verdict finding Solis guilty on all counts. Solis will be sentenced by Judge Baker at a later date.
“It is reprehensible that a mother would use her children to attempt to conceal her methamphetamine smuggling,” Harris said. “This conspiracy involved multiple kilos of methamphetamine intended to poison our communities, and the hard work of everyone involved ensured a jury verdict which completes the successful dismantling of this dangerous drug trafficking organization.”
Solis is the final member of the charged conspiracy to be convicted. The individuals charged in the conspiracy included Solis and her boyfriend, Ivan Pedraza, as well as six others. Pedraza previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The other six defendants also previously pleaded guilty to various charges associated with the case.
Testimony during the trial established that prior to the discovery of the loaded car seats on July 19, 2015, Homeland Security Investigations and the DEA intercepted two packages which contained 18 kilograms of methamphetamine that were mailed from Mexico and addressed to the addresses of individuals involved in the conspiracy.
Evidence at trial included recorded wiretap phone calls between Pedraza and Solis. The phone calls were in Spanish and translations were provided to the jury. DEA Special Agent LeAnn Bakr explained to the jury how a wiretap is obtained, how calls are monitored, and that 11 such calls were selected and translated for the trial.
In the recorded calls the jury heard Solis agreeing to buy acetone, which is used by methamphetamine traffickers to rid the substance of impurities before sale. The recorded calls also documented a trip to Dallas taken by Pedraza, Solis, and her two children in July 2015. The jury heard calls that discussed how Pedraza and Solis needed to buy new car seats, since the others were left in Batesville. One call recorded Pedraza talking about how one car seat left behind was still loaded with “stew.” Former DEA Task Force Officer Ryan Temple, now with North Little Rock Police Department testified that “stew” was a code word for methamphetamine.
Officer Temple also provided surveillance during Solis and Pedraza’s trip to Dallas. He testified that Solis, Pedraza, and her two children drove to Dallas in a Honda Pilot on a Friday, and arrived in the Dallas area after midnight, only to leave early on Sunday morning less than 36 hours later.
Calls intercepted during the Dallas trip recorded Solis asking Pedraza if he had “fixed” everything while she had waited at the hotel pool and arcade with her children. Agents also overheard Pedraza planning the delivery with other co-conspirators and discussing how much methamphetamine was ready to be delivered when he returned to Arkansas.
Officer Temple testified that he and his surveillance team witnessed Pedraza receive the methamphetamine at the hotel after agents intercepted a call that stated that the co-conspirator would arrive at the hotel with a blender box.
After the Honda left the Dallas area that early Sunday morning, Arkansas State Police Trooper Timothy Callison performed a traffic stop on the vehicle as it entered Saline county. The trooper located methamphetamine, which totaled to 2.5 kilos, and $19,000 in cash, in the bottom of the car seats, which he noticed were abnormally heavy. The trooper was able to remove the bottoms of the car seats—discovering the methamphetamine and cash—with a drill that was also located in the vehicle. The trooper testified that the drill had only one bit, and it fit perfectly with the car seat screws, needing no adjustments. More than $1,700 cash was later found in Solis’ purse when she was in custody.
Law enforcement later located approximately $40,000 and more methamphetamine in subsequent search warrants executed on two homes related to the conspiracy in Batesville and one home in Little Rock.
The statutory penalty for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and for possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine is not less than 10 years’ imprisonment, not more than life, a $10,000,000 fine, or both, and not less than five years of supervised release. The statutory penalty for misprision, which makes it a crime to have knowledge that a crime is being committed while taking a step to conceal and not report the crime, is not more than three years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and one year of supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA, with assistance from the Arkansas State Police and other local agencies. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Erin O’Leary and Allison Bragg.
Jury Convicts Two of Federal Charges Relating to the Distribution of Drugs That Resulted in OverdosesRead the Press Release
The case involved a cluster of overdoses, in Montgomery County, caused by carfentanil.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Today, a federal jury convicted Robert Shields, of Cincinnati, and Wesley Hamm, of Mount Sterling, Ky., of one count of conspiracy to distribute carfentanil, fentanyl, and heroin; one count of distribution of carfentanil resulting in death; and one count of distribution of carfentanil resulting in serious bodily injury. The charges involved a cluster of drug overdoses, within a 12-hour period, in Montgomery County, in August of 2016. The jury returned its verdict after an hour and twenty minutes of deliberation, following four days of trial.
“These defendants were illegally distributing extremely dangerous drugs; and all too predictably, that resulted in overdoses and an unnecessary death,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Carfentanil is designed for large mammals – not humans – and presents a grave danger to the public. These defendants brazenly risked the lives of the people in Montgomery County and our office remains committed to using the severe penalties available to punish drug trafficking resulting in overdoses under federal law. The great work of our local and federal law enforcement partners made this case possible and helps make our Overdose Prosecution Initiative such a success.”
Both men face a minimum of twenty years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
Acting United States Attorney Shier; Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Division of the DEA; Fred Shortridge, Montgomery County Sheriff; and David Charles, Chief of the Mount Sterling Police Department, jointly announced the verdict.
Formal sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for November 17, 2017. The investigation was conducted by DEA, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mount Sterling Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government.
Jury Convicts Two Latin Kings Gang Members of Witness RetaliationRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that, following a week-long trial, a federal jury has convicted Jose Escalera, a/k/a Tank, 41, of Buffalo, NY, and Giovanni Cotto, a/k/a Monte, 36, of Springfield, Massachusetts, of retaliating against a witness. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Felicetta and Meghan A. Tokash, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that in 2014, the defendants ordered the assault of a witness testifying for the Government at a federal trial that involved a murder. One of the defendants in that case was a member of the Latin Kings Gang. Escalera and Cotto, also members of the Latin Kings Gang, ordered the assault against the witness for testifying against their Latin King brother.
Back in 2014, the witness, after completing three days of testimony, was returned to the Cattaraugus County Jail where he was being detained. The following day, while in the recreation yard at the jail, the witness was viciously assaulted. The assault included multiple contusions and a broken jaw. The injuries resulted in the witness undergoing surgery and having his jaw wired shut, preventing him from completing his testimony for several weeks.
Evidence presented by the Government included the testimony of the assailant who was also charged and convicted for his role in the assault.
The verdict is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb.
Escalera is scheduled to be sentenced on October 18, 2017, at 12:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, who presided over the trial of the case. Cotto will be sentenced on October 20, 2017, at 12:30 p.m.
Judge Sentences Houston Man for Attempted Importation of MethRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 52-year-old Houston man has been sentenced in Laredo federal court to a 94-month-term of imprisonment for attempting to import 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Octavio Gomez-Solis pleaded guilty March 6, 2017.
Today, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana imposed the sentence which will be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the defendant’s criminal history and stated that a lengthy prison sentence was needed to deter such conduct.
On Dec. 20, 2016, Gomez-Solis arrived at the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge and applied for admittance to the United States. At that time, a K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics and Gomez-Solis was referred to secondary inspection. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents then discovered 12 bundles concealed within the radiator of the vehicle. The bundles of methamphetamine weighed a total of 17.52 kilograms.
Gomez-Solis admitted he knew he was transporting something “illegal,” but was not sure what type of drug it was.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and CBP conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfredo De La Rosa prosecuted the case.
Jamaican National Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail FraudRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ANDREW O’NEIL BOWYER, age 26, a resident of Jamaica, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to a one-count Indictment for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud.
U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier sentenced BOWYER to 78 months incarceration, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. A hearing on restitution is set for October 5, 2017.
According to court records, on or before August 2013, BOWYER and others operated a scheme to contact elderly individuals and people with diminished capacity who would be susceptible to being scammed. The scheme involved contacting victims by telephone through Voice Over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) and informing them they had won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes or similar lottery and needed to pay BOWYER and others monies by cash, check, wire, and other methods in order to claim their lottery winnings.
BOWYER and others obtained names, addresses, and other biographical information from an unknown source. They used the information to identify victims, telephone them, or direct others to telephone them, to represent that they had won the sweepstakes and inform them they would need to send him or others money in order to claim their winnings.
It was part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that on or around March 30, 2015, BOWYER employed false representations and promises in order to convince V.L., an elderly person, into believing she had won a sweepstakes, causing V.L. to send money via the United States Postal Service to CC-1, a co-conspirator living in New Orleans. V.L. sent the money to CC-1 in reliance on BOWYER’s false representations and promises that if she sent the money to CC-1, she would be awarded sweepstakes winnings. Immediately after receiving the funds in the mail from V.L., CC-1 deposited the money into his bank account in New Orleans, and initiated a wire transfer of the funds from the account to BOWYER’s account in Jamaica.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, United States Secret Service, and the United States Department of Homeland Security in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharan E. Lieberman was in charge of the prosecution.
Insys Regional Manager Pleads Guilty to Kickback ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Karen Hill, the former Insys Therapeutics Regional Manager for the southeastern United States, has pled guilty to conspiring to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors in exchange for their prescribing the instant-release fentanyl drug Subsys.
In June 2012, Karen Hill was hired by Insys Therapeutics to be a sales representative in Florida for the instant-release fentanyl drug Subsys. Prior to coming to Insys, Hill was a sales representative for Cephalon, Inc. where she gained experience selling another instant-release fentanyl drug under the brand name Actiq. During the course of her employment at Cephalon, Cephalon agreed to pay $425 million to the Department of Justice to resolve allegations of illegal marketing practices involving Actiq.
Subsys is only FDA approved for “the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients 18 years of age and older who are already receiving and who are tolerant to opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain.” Despite this very limited FDA indication, Insys initially tasked Hill with getting pain management doctors in Florida to prescribe Subsys to their patients. As a sales representative, Hill was initially responsible for working directly with doctors in Florida, particularly in the Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami metro areas.
During her time as a sales representative, Hill taught other sales representatives how to entice doctors to prescribe Subsys. In one recorded conversation, Hill told another sales representative that the key to getting doctors to prescribe Subsys was not selling them on the drug itself, but rather finding out what motivated the doctor. She gave examples that some of her doctors were motivated by money, chocolate, and spending time with her. When the sales representative asked Hill how to identify doctors who were financially motivated to prescribe Subsys, Hill explained that she looks for doctors that are “money hungry,” and went on to describe how to figure out if a doctor has a “light in their eyes” and is willing to “play ball.”
In August 2013, Hill was promoted to be the Insys Regional Director for a territory that covered Florida and Mobile, Alabama. In this role, she oversaw and facilitated the payment for speaking programs to certain doctors, including Dr. Xiulu Ruan and Dr. John Patrick Couch. These payments were made as an inducement, and in exchange for, these doctors continuing to prescribe Subsys to their patients. Hill was a manager at various levels in the southeast region during the rest of her career at Insys.
For certain high prescribing doctors, Hill admitted that she conspired with others within Insys to pay these doctors illegal kickbacks in the form of speaking fees. The way the scheme worked was that doctors who were prescribing high volumes of Subsys, or those who had the ability to do so in short order, were signed up by Insys as “speakers.” The doctors would put on short presentations about the drug and then would receive an honorarium ranging typically ranging from $1,600.00 to $3,000.00. As part of her plea, Hill admitted that the speaking programs were merely a pretext through which Insys could line the pockets of certain doctors.
In February 2017, Dr. Ruan and Dr. Couch, who practiced in Mobile, Alabama, were convicted by a federal jury in Mobile of numerous charges related to their pain management practice, including receiving illegal kickbacks from Insys. During that trial, former Insys sales representative Natalie Perhacs testified against the doctors. Prior to her testimony, Perhacs had pled guilty to conspiring to pay illegal kickbacks to Dr. Ruan and Dr. Couch in exchange for their prescribing Subsys. Dr. Ruan and Dr. Couch were sentenced to 21 years and 20 years in federal prison, respectively. Perhacs still awaits sentencing.
Hill is just one of several former Insys employees that have pled guilty to felony charges in several different districts. She is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2018.
Following Hill’s guilty plea, Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler stated, “This is a very important development in this ongoing case. Ms. Hill was a high-level manager within Insys, and was a key player in the conspiracy to pay doctors illegal kickbacks in exchange for prescribing Subsys to their patients. As we saw during the trial of Dr. Ruan and Dr. Couch, Subsys is an extremely potent drug that can have devastating consequences if it is prescribed to patients who should not be taking instant-release fentanyl.”
DEA ASAC, John (Bret) Hamilton, stated, “The evidence was overwhelming that the motivation for this crime was financial gain. The DEA will continue to target corrupt individuals in the medical industry with vigor. Americans should not have to worry whether or not their doctors have been influenced to prescribe a life-altering drug without a legitimate need. They should be able to trust the advice and prescriptions they are given are for their best health, not the financial gain of others.”
FBI SAC, Rob Lasky stated, “This case is a testament to the dedicated men and women who have investigated and prosecuted this case. This particular case would have placed a strain on any one agency’s resources but with the inter agency cooperation that was so evident here these defendants have been put on notice that this type of behavior in the medical community will not be tolerated.”
This OCDETF case was jointly investigated by the DEA-Mobile and FBI-Mobile, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Bodnar and Deborah Griffin.
Indiana Livestock Broker Charged with Fraud, Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI– A federal grand jury has charged Brian D. Jones, 38, of Vevay, Indiana with defrauding investors in his livestock brokerage business.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Office, announced the indictment which was unsealed today.
The indictment alleges that Jones operated a business buying bull calves from dairy farms in Wisconsin and selling them to cattle ranches in Texas and Missouri. He began soliciting investors in 2015, promising sizable returns for the investments.
Rather than invest the funds, the indictment alleges, Jones used the funds for his personal benefit such as gambling at casinos. The indictment also alleges that Jones used the investment funds to pay “returns” back to earlier investors as if the funds had actually generated income through investment in his business. By the end of 2015, the indictment says, Jones had squandered funds from the cattle purchasers and was in debt with his suppliers and purchasers. Investigators are still calculating the number of investors and the amount of money involved in the alleged fraud.
“The indictment alleges that Jones fabricated bank documents to show that he had sizable business deposits that would soon be ‘released’ by the bank,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “He also allegedly sent checks to investors including some in the Southern District of Ohio for investment returns, only to have the checks bounce due to insufficient funds in his account.”
Jones faces four counts of wire fraud, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he’s convicted. The indictment also charges him with four counts of money laundering. Three are punishable by up to ten years in prison. One money laundering charges carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison. Two additional counts seek forfeiture of all property and proceeds of any crimes of which Jones is convicted.
FBI agents arrested Jones in southern Indiana today. Jones appeared U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman for an initial appearance and to schedule further court dates.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Timothy S. Mangan, who is prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Houston man pleads guilty to distributing cocaineRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a Houston man pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing with intent to distribute cocaine after the drug was found in his car.
Isidro Badillo, 22, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. According to the guilty plea, Lake Charles police stopped Badillo’s vehicle August 8, 2016 on Interstate 10. Police searched the vehicle and found 5 kilograms of powder cocaine in the trunk. Badillo knew of the cocaine and said he was driving to an unspecified location outside of New Orleans for delivery and later distribution.
Badillo faces 10 years to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a $10 million fine. The court set sentencing for October 11, 2017.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Lake Charles Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti is prosecuting the case.
Guatemalan National Sentenced for Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Guatemalan national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for a federal immigration crime.
Jose Sanchez-Alarcon, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of illegally reentering the United States after being deported before U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who sentenced Sanchez-Alarcon to time served. Sanchez-Alarcon will be subject to deportation.
Sanchez-Alarcon was deported in February 2011, and in May 2017, federal agents discovered Sanchez-Alarcon in Boston and determined him to be illegally present in the United States.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Great Falls Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – Robert David Linn, Jr., a 52-year-old resident of Great Falls, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Linn’s plea could result in a term of life in prison and his sentence can be no less than 15 years.
In late 2015, the Russell Country Drug Task Force began investigating the defendant, Robert David Linn, Jr., for trafficking methamphetamine in Great Falls, Montana. Through further investigation, law enforcement learned that the defendant typically sold a pound of methamphetamine for $15,000, or an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,250. On occasion, the defendant sold smaller quantities of heroin. Law enforcement also acquired information that the defendant frequently traded methamphetamine for stolen property.
Throughout 2016 and 2017, law enforcement seized approximately five pounds of actual methamphetamine from various individuals in Great Falls who had all received their methamphetamine directly from the defendant. On April 8, 2017, law enforcement arrested the defendant after receiving information that he had recently received approximately 30 pounds of methamphetamine through delivery by a shipping company.
Following the defendant’s arrest, law enforcement executed numerous search warrants. First, law enforcement went to a home in Great Falls where agents had information that the defendant stored his methamphetamine supply. There, agents seized 4359.2 grams, or approximately ten pounds, of actual methamphetamine from a concealed location in the home. Agents also seized 13 firearms located in extremely close proximity to the methamphetamine. These firearms included two semi-automatic rifles, four revolvers, and seven semi-automatic pistols. Upon further examination, two of the firearms possessed obliterated serial numbers, and agents discovered three of the firearms were stolen. Law enforcement also seized 202.2 grams of actual methamphetamine from the defendant’s truck. Lastly, in addition to the methamphetamine seizures, agents recovered over $250,000 in cash proceeds from the defendant and his associates.
Linn is detained pending his sentencing on October 19, 2017 in front of U.S. District Judge Brian Morris.
Gloucester Seafood Executive Sentenced for Tax ChargeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A senior sales executive at a seafood processing company in Gloucester was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for tax fraud.
Richard J. Pandolfo, 71, of North Andover, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year of probation with six months to be served in home confinement, a fine of $5,000, and restitution of $25,879. In April 2017, Pandolfo pleaded guilty to one count of making and subscribing a false tax return.
From 2008 to 2012, Pandolfo received substantial supplemental income for his work at a seafood processing company in Gloucester from the company’s president. Some of those payments were made directly to Pandolfo or to his spouse, but Pandolfo did not report or pay taxes on any of those payments. Other payments were made by a corporate entity controlled by the seafood processor’s president to a purported interior design company set up in the name of Pandolfo’s spouse. Pandolfo did report that income, but improperly deducted personal expenses from that income as business expenses, thereby improperly reducing the taxes he owed. In total, Pandolfo failed to pay $25,879 in taxes, which he agreed to pay in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service as part of his plea agreement.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen E. Frank and Brian A. Pérez-Daple of Weinreb’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Four Individuals Charged in Healthcare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced today the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving 412 charged defendants across 41 federal districts, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $1.3 billion in false billings. Of those charged, over 120 defendants, including doctors, were charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. Thirty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s arrests. In addition, HHS has initiated suspension actions against 295 providers, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
As part of that enforcement, Erik Bugen, 42, Jody Sheffield, 43, Matthew Hawrylak, 41, and Britt Hawrylak, 38, were charged by information for their role in a $36 million fraud scheme involving unnecessary and improperly prescribed toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests which were billed to TRICARE, announced the United States Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas.
Each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the one-count felony charge filed yesterday, from May 2014 and continuing to July 2017, Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted for health care benefits. The false and fraudulent claims were for toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests that were not legitimately prescribed, not needed, not provided as billed, and which were the product of kickbacks.
Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak operated ADAR Group, located in Killeen, Texas solely to achieve the objective of their scheme to defraud and to unlawfully enrich themselves by submitting false and fraudulent claims for health care benefits. Britt Hawrylak operated Tiger Racing Team, located in Fort Worth, Texas and Matthew Hawrylak operated Zorin Holdings, also located in Fort Worth, Texas. The Hawrylak’s received payments from Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab for referring testing orders for TRICARE beneficiaries. Britt Hawrylak and Matthew Hawrylak then split payments from Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab between themselves and Bugen and Sheffield.
According to the information filed in the case, Bugen and Sheffield would give Wal-Mart gift cards in exchange for urine and saliva specimens. These specimens were then mailed to Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab for unnecessary toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests and billed to TRICARE by Cockerell Dermatopathology, a laboratory specializing in the evaluation of dermatologic disorders and located in Dallas, Texas. Bugen and Sheffield disguised the gift cards as a food assistance program for low-income beneficiaries. ADAR Group employees collected urine and saliva samples from as many as 200 beneficiaries per day.
Bugen and Sheffield paid doctors a flat fee per month to sign orders for toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests. The doctors never saw the patients and had no doctor-patient relationship with the patients. Beneficiaries did not receive the results of their tests. ADAR employees obtained signature stamps from the doctors and stamped the doctors’ signatures on testing orders before sending the forms to Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab. ADAR Group employees also placed false diagnosis codes on TRICARE claim submissions to make it appear that the beneficiary needed the testing. This was done to ensure that TRICARE would accept, and pay, the claim.
Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak caused to be submitted to TRICARE, at least approximately $36 million in false and fraudulent claims. TRICARE paid Cockerell approximately $4.8 million as payment for those claims.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Veteran’s Affairs- Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne Frazior is in charge of the prosecution.
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Four Charged in Counterfeit Body Building Steroid ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Four individuals were charged yesterday in federal court in Boston for their roles in a conspiracy to traffic counterfeit steroids, including testosterone and trenbolone, to bodybuilders.
Tyler Bauman, a/k/a “musclehead 320,” 32, of Shrewsbury, and Philip Goodwin, 36, of Lynn, were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit drugs, one count of trafficking counterfeit drugs, one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Kathryn Green, a/k/a Katie Green, a/k/a Katy Green, 30, of Shrewsbury, and Brian Petzke, 49, of Saugus, were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
All four defendants were previously arrested and charged by complaint on April 12, 2017, along with two other co-defendants, Robert Medeiros and Melissa Sclafani. Medeiros pleaded guilty in June and will be sentenced on Sept. 21, 2017.
According to court documents, from approximately May 2015 until April 12, 2017, the conspirators manufactured steroid products - made from raw materials purchased overseas - in Goodwin’s home, and marketed them as “Onyx” steroids using “Onyx” labels that were also ordered from overseas suppliers. Onyx, now owned by Amgen Inc., is a legitimate pharmaceutical company that does not manufacture steroids.
The defendants allegedly sold the steroids to customers across the United States using email and social media platforms, collected payment through money remitters, such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and used false identifications and multiple remitter locations to pick up the proceeds. Some of the defendants laundered proceeds from the steroid sales through Wicked Tan LLC, a tanning business located in Beverly, which they owned and operated specifically to launder the proceeds of the steroid operation.
The charges of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit drugs and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances provide for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss of the conspiracy. The charge of possession of a controlled substance provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss of the conspiracy. The charge of trafficking in counterfeit drugs provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $5 million. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or loss of the conspiracy. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and David J. D’Addio of Weinreb’s Cybercrime Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 125 Months ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – The Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Clifford D. Johnson, announces that, Eddie Martin, Jr., age 18, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced before United States District Court Judge Theresa Springmann for robbery under the Hobbs Act along with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Martin was sentenced to 125 months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $1,586 in restitution to the victims of the offense.
According to documents filed in this case, on or about November 19, 2016, Martin took U.S. currency from an employee of Pizza by Vito’s using physical force and violence and the threatened use of force, violence and the fear of injury and in doing so brandished a firearm.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Wayne Police Department and was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.
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Former Newark Watershed Conservation Official Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison in Bribery and Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A former high-ranking employee of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. (NWCDC) was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for accepting $956,948 in kickback payments for his and the former executive director’s assistance in awarding work to contractors, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Donald Bernard Sr., 69, of West Orange, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares to Counts 9 and 10 of a 20-count indictment returned in December 2014, charging him with the use of interstate facilities to promote and facilitate bribery in violation of the Travel Act, and Count 1 of an information that charges him with making and subscribing a false personal tax return for the 2009 tax year. Judge Linares imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in these and other cases and statements made in court:
Bernard served as a consultant to the NWCDC (from 2008 to January 2010) and then as a salaried employee (from January 2010 to March 2013). From 2008 to March 2013, Bernard was part of a corrupt arrangement with former NWCDC Executive Director Linda Watkins Brashear to solicit $956,948 in cash kickbacks from certain NWCDC contractors in exchange for providing them work and other assistance. Bernard and Brashear facilitated NWCDC payments to contractors to fund cash kickbacks to themselves, knowing payments were inflated above the amount of any work performed. They knew that in numerous instances no work at all had been performed. Bernard and Brashear used their email accounts to facilitate this scheme.
Two contractors from whom Bernard and Brashear obtained substantial cash kickbacks were Jim P. Enterprises and New Beginnings Environmental Services, both companies hired to perform landscaping, snow removal, clean-up and sign-posting services, which were affiliated with Bernard but purportedly operated by James Porter. Bernard admitted receiving $409,823 in bribes and kickbacks from Porter’s companies, funded by inflated and fraudulently obtained payments from the NWCDC, during the period January 2008 to December 2012. Bernard also admitted receiving approximately $85,000 from Essex Home Improvements, a contracting company operated by DeRosa, during the period January 2008 to March 2013, which he received either directly or indirectly through companies Bernard controlled.
Bernard also admitted filing a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, for tax year 2009, which did not include approximately $314,000 in unreported income he received in kickbacks.
A co-defendant, Giacomo “Jack” DeRosa, 60, of Clinton Township, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to laundering a portion of $85,000 he provided to Bernard from January 2008 to August 2012 in connection with roofing work that Bernard facilitated for DeRosa with the NWCDC. DeRosa was sentenced on Oct. 25, 2016, to six months in prison.
Brashear pleaded guilty on Dec. 21, 2015, to devising a scheme to defraud the NWCDC as well as filing a false tax return by failing to report substantial income she received in connection with the kickback scheme. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 11, 2017. Among the approximately $1 million in kickbacks that Brashear admitted receiving were approximately $260,000 from Porter and $27,000 from DeRosa. Porter pleaded guilty in January 2015 to conspiracy to defraud the NWCDC of honest services, money and property through the use of interstate wire transmissions, as well as tax evasion for his role in the kickback scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 20, 2017.
DeRosa admitted that from January 2008 to August 2012 he provided Bernard with a stream of payments totaling approximately $85,000 for Bernard’s action and assistance in procuring NWCDC roofing work for DeRosa’s company. DeRosa provided these payments to Bernard either directly, or to Bernard’s consulting firm, or to a Newark-based civic organization run by Bernard, the African American Heritage Parade Committee. DeRosa also admitted to laundering $20,000 of the money by having it paid to Bernard indirectly through intermediaries in order to disguise DeRosa or Essex Home Improvements as the source of the funds. Two intermediaries DeRosa admitted to using to launder funds provided to Bernard included a subcontractor doing work for DeRosa’s company and Porter.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Bernard to three years of supervised release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; IRS – Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Newark office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi, as well as criminal investigators of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas. Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick also thanked the N.J. Office of the State Comptroller, under the direction of State Comptroller Philip James Degnan, for its assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacques Pierre and Senior Litigation Counsel Leslie Schwartz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.
Former Lancaster Pharmacist Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Columbia, South Carolina------United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Gregory S. Boone, age 47, of Lancaster, South Carolina, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for willful failure to pay over taxes, in violation of Title 26, United States Code Section 7202.
According to information presented during his guilty plea, Boone owned both the Lancaster Pharmacy and the Medicine Shoppe pharmacy in Rock Hill. While the owner, Boone withheld federal income taxes from his employees’ wages and kept the money for himself. In addition, facts presented during the hearing showed that Boone had failed to pay his income taxes since the year 2000. Based on IRS calculations, Boone failed to pay over $350,000 in federal income taxes.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Charlotte Field Office Criminal Division working cooperatively with the IRS Civil Enforcement Division and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson of the Columbia office.
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Former Honeywell Employee Sentenced for $50,000 Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Honeywell employee was sentenced in federal court today for engaging in a fraud scheme that caused a loss of more than $50,000.
Trent L. Christie, 37, of Olathe, Kan., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. Christie has also fully paid $50,480 in restitution to Honeywell.
Christie was employed at the Kansas City branch of Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, a management and operating contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is the agency under the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science.
On Dec. 15, 2016, Christie pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud. Christie admitted that, in his capacity as a Honeywell employee with purchasing authority, he submitted purchase orders for approximately 129 pieces of equipment, all without the permission or knowledge of either Honeywell or the NNSA. None of the equipment was classified.
Christie engaged in his fraud scheme from June 15, 2010, to Aug. 27, 2014. The costs to Honeywell and subsequently to the NNSA of the unnecessary equipment was approximately $50,480.
After receiving the equipment, Christie advertised the items for sale on eBay. If sold, he removed the items from the Honeywell facility and shipped them, often from his personal residence, to the purchaser. Total sales by Christie netted him approximately $20,847.
This case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gregg R. Coonrod. It was investigated by the Department of Energy, Office of the Inspector General.
Former Aurora Business Owner Indicted for $26 Million Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former Aurora, Mo., business owner has been indicted by a federal grand jury today for fraud schemes by which he stole more than $26 million, as well as money laundering and other charges.
Russell Grundy, 48, of Hilton Head Island, S. Carolina, formerly of Aurora, was charged in a 30-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. Grundy was arrested today.
Grundy was the owner of several companies that focused on advanced technologies, ranging from software development to computer security to addressing the software and hardware technological needs of its clientele. Grundy’s companies included Innovative Objects, LLC, PILR Technology, LLC, Choice Technologies, LLC, Wyerless, LLC, and Audio Input, LLC.
Land O’Lakes/Nutra Blend Fraud Scheme
Grundy (through his company Innovative Objects) was contracted by Land O’Lakes, Inc., and its subsidiary, Nutra Blend, LLC, from January 2004 to Sept. 27, 2015, to create propriety software to inventory, track, and coordinate the disbursement of products. Grundy also contracted with Land O’Lakes and Nutra Blend to provide equipment and technical support for the use, upkeep and maintenance of the software.
The indictment alleges that Grundy falsely told Land O’Lakes and Nutra Blend that third party software programs were built into that proprietary software and were essential to the successful operation of the software. Grundy allegedly claimed that some of the payments made to Innovative Objects were remitted to third party license holders. In reality, the indictment says, there were no third party licensee fees; instead, Grundy kept those payments for his personal or unrelated expenses.
The indictment charges Grundy with six counts of wire fraud related to a series of payments from August 2013 to April 2015, totaling $862,856.
Miami Nations Enterprise Fraud Scheme
Grundy engaged Miami Nations Enterprise in negotiations to provide financial assistance in the form of loans, and for Miami Nations Enterprise to purchase a controlling interest in all of Grundy’s technology-based companies.
According to the indictment, Grundy falsely told Miami Nations Enterprise that his companies had been awarded a $3.5 million contract from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to develop and provide information technology services. Grundy allegedly presented numerous e-mails, invoices, conditional award letters and other documents to support his false claims. From May 19, 2014, to June 24, 2015, Miami Nations Enterprise loaned Grundy the money to cover the costs associated with software and hardware purchases and training necessary to obtain the $3.5 million Wal-Mart contract.
On Aug. 24, 2014, Miami Nations Enterprise paid an additional amount to purchase a 70 percent interest in Grundy’s companies.
Officials with Miami Nations Enterprise later discovered that neither Grundy nor any of his companies had been awarded any contract with Wal-Mart, and determined that the e-mails, conditional contract award, invoices and bank deposits Grundy had used to support his claims were fraudulently created.
The indictment charges Grundy with 10 counts of wire fraud related to a series of payments from May 19, 2014, to April 12, 2015, totaling $5,990,000.
Additional Charges
In addition to the wire fraud schemes, the indictment charges Grundy with four counts of making a false statement on a loan application. Grundy applied for three loans from UMB Bank on Oct. 17, 2014, totaling $11,390,800. Grundy applied for a $1,850,000 loan from the People’s Bank of Seneca on Aug. 27, 2015. Grundy allegedly made material false statements in each of those loan applications.
Grundy is also charged with 10 counts of money laundering.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Grundy to forfeit to the government any property obtained as a result of the alleged wire fraud violations, including a money judgment of at least $26,060,000.
Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Carney and Casey Clark. It was investigated by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Executive Office for Immigration Review Swears in Immigration JudgeRead the Press Release
FALLS CHURCH, VA - The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the investiture of a new immigration judge. Chief Immigration Judge MaryBeth Keller presided over the investiture during a ceremony held this afternoon at EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, Va.
After a thorough application process, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed James M. McCarthy to his new position.
"We welcome Judge McCarthy to the ranks of immigration judges at EOIR," said Acting Director James McHenry. "EOIR is committed to reducing its significant pending caseload, and Judge McCarthy’s presence augments our ability to do that in one of our highest-volume courts."
Biographical information follows.
James M. McCarthy, Immigration Judge, New York City Immigration Court
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed James M. McCarthy to begin hearing cases in July 2017. Judge McCarthy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1983 from St. John’s University and a Juris Doctor in 1995 from Brooklyn Law School. From 2014 to 2017, he served as a senior attorney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York, N.Y. From 2011 to 2014, he served as a deputy chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, ICE, DHS, also in New York. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a senior attorney for ICE, DHS, in Eloy, Ariz. From 2004 to 2009, he served as an assistant chief counsel for ICE, DHS, in Eloy and Florence, Ariz. From 2000 to 2004, he served as an examining attorney for the Mayoral Commission to Combat Police Corruption, New York City Department of Investigations. From 1995 to 2000, he served as an assistant district attorney, and later as a senior assistant district attorney, at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Judge McCarthy is a member of the New York State Bar.
Eleven Charged, Including Two Businesses, in Western District of Kentucky, as Part of the National Health Care Fraud TakedownRead the Press Release
National health care fraud takedown results in charges against over 412
individuals responsible for over $1.3 billion in fraud losses
Largest health care fraud enforcement action in Department of Justice history
LOUISVILLE, Ky. –United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. today announced the results of a health care fraud sweep in the Western District of Kentucky as part of the national health care fraud takedown led by the Justice Department. The takedown, in the Western District of Kentucky, resulted in charges against two businesses, and nine individuals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes.
“We trust the medical community to do no harm – certainly no intentional harm,” stated United States Attorney John Kuhn. “Unfortunately, health care fraud harms our health insurers, public agencies, and ultimately patients and taxpayers. Alarmingly, we often see health care fraud combined with other crimes such as unlawful dispensing of opioids, which does even more harm. Today we announce the cooperative efforts of multiple agencies, working to stop the illegal practices by a small segment of the medical community in an effort to restore safety for patients. Investigating and prosecuting health care fraud is one of the Department of Justice’s highest priorities.”
U.S. Attorney Kuhn was joined in the announcement by:
Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Louisville Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation. “To those prioritizing profit over their oath to honestly provide for the public health, the message should be clear that the collective resources of local, state and federal law enforcement will identify your illegal activity and bring you to justice.”
“Healthcare providers that prescribe controlled substances illegally will continue to be a DEA priority,” said Chicago Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Wichern. “Too many lives have been lost and too many families forever scarred due to prescription drug abuse.”
“We expect doctors and other medical professionals who bill Medicare and Medicaid to provide quality services to those served by the programs, not rip off scarce government health care funds," said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “Coordinating with our law enforcement partners, our agents work hard to ensure those who steal from federal health care programs are brought to justice.”
Office of Kentucky Attorney General, General Andy Beshear. “The single greatest threat to Kentucky is our drug epidemic, and as attorney general, I am committed to holding accountable any individual or company that carelessly overprescribes opioids to our citizens, many of them battling addiction,” Beshear said. “This national takedown is a critical step to stop this activity and stop fraud to our Medicaid program to better protect our most vulnerable senior citizens and children. I appreciate the efforts of the task force and my Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse to hold providers accountable.”
“This coordinated enforcement effort emphasizes the seriousness of healthcare fraud and the detrimental impact it has on our community. We will continue to partner with other state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate those who perpetrate fraud against federal and state governments, private insurance companies and individual citizens,” said Tracey D. Montaño, Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Field Office of IRS, Criminal Investigation.”
Office of Indiana Attorney General, General Curtis Hill. “Medicaid fraud is not a victimless crime,” said Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill. “When licensed professionals and organizations target those who rely on Medicaid, they’re also putting taxpayers on the hook. These actions truly impact all of us. The culmination of these investigations is extremely rewarding for the investigators and lawyers in our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit who work tirelessly to bring these offenders to justice. I applaud their efforts.”
Anthony S. Gooden, Senior Supervisory Agent, Louisville Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Today’s challenging economy makes it critical that we safeguard the nation’s mail stream against criminal misuse and protect USPS customers from criminal attack through use of the mails. We as Postal Inspectors are dedicated to protecting the public and helping them guard their hard-earned money from fraudulent activity.”
Gregory C. Burns, Jr. Lt. Colonel with LMPD. “With the scourge of opioid addiction going on across America today, it is more important than ever that local law enforcement and federal law enforcement continue to engage in collaborative partnerships together to fight this epidemic on all levels. A multi-faceted approach must also be maintained in order to sustain long term success in this effort.”
In the Western District of Kentucky, three separate cases were indicted on June 27, 2017, and an additional case was charged in a superseding indictment that was unsealed yesterday. The charges included unlawful distribution and dispensing of controlled substances, health care fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
Specifically, in United States v. Jeffrey Campbell, Mark Dyer, Dawn Antle and Physicians Primary Care, PLLC, the defendants, from Jefferson County, Kentucky, were charged with one count unlawful distribution and dispensing of controlled substances-conspiracy, four counts of unlawful distribution and dispensing of controlled substances-schedule II, two counts of unlawful distribution and dispensing of controlled substances-hydrocodone, one count health care fraud conspiracy, 11 counts health care fraud – fraudulent coding, one count health care fraud-physical therapy, and one count health care fraud Proove biosciences. The charges stem from the defendant’s intentionally distributing and dispensing controlled substances to patients allegedly without a legitimate medical purpose and outside of the usual course of professional medical practice. Further, the defendants allegedly fraudulently billed various health care benefit programs by coding physical therapy, counseling and exercise services, using evaluation and management codes in order to obtain a higher rate of reimbursement and fraudulently billing various health care benefit programs for physical therapy services, using evaluation and management codes as if a physician performed a service on the patients, but in reality, a non-physician and non-physical therapist performed the services on patients. Also the defendants caused Proove Bioscience, Inc. to falsely and fraudulently bill various health care benefit programs for genetic tests administered to Physicians Primary Care patients that were not medically necessary and never interpreted.
In United States v. Claudia Lopez, defendant Lopez, of Jefferson County, Kentucky, was charged by grand jury indictment with one count health care fraud-fraudulent billings, and three counts of mail theft. The charges stem from the defendant’s role in a scheme while operating the Top Care Chiropractic and Wellness Center Corporation, fraudulently billing United Health Care for medical services never provided.
In United States v. Janice Patterson, Tanesha Washington, and Katerrell Kennedy , the defendants, from Jefferson County, Kentucky, were charged with one count unlawful distribution-conspiracy, fifteen counts health care fraud, two counts health care fraud-conspiracy, eight counts money laundering, and three counts aggravated identity theft. The charges stem from their alleged role in a scheme to knowingly and intentionally distribute and dispense scheduled and controlled substances. Defendant Patterson, while operating the JM Autism Foundation Trust is charged with falsely and fraudulently billing Anthem, Inc. for autism services never performed. Further defendants Patterson and Kennedy, while operating Total Spectrum Autism Services, LLC, falsely and fraudulently billed Anthem, Inc. for autism services never performed. Further, Patterson is charged with aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Patterson allegedly used the identification of providers and created accounts and fraudulently billed for services. The money laundering counts total over $150,000.
In United States v. Med1st of Evansville, P.C., Karen Poeling, and Mitchel Stukey the named defendants were charged in a superseding indictment. They are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, two counts of conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from the defendants’ role in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs, in connection with the delivery of or payment for benefits, services by causing the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicaid, Medicare, Anthem and other insurance carriers. Med1st is alleged to have directed staff to falsely bill for medically unnecessary facet block injections, billing for conscious sedation, which was never performed, providing back braces which were not medically necessary and performing unnecessary tests. Further defendant Stukey conspired with others to illegally distribute and dispense controlled substances. Conspirator A signed blank prescription pads and permitted individuals acting at the direction of Stukey, to conduct evaluations of patients and to use pre-signed pads to prescribe medication to patients. Further, all defendants are charged with committing money.
These cases are being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys, Joe Ansari, Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, and Jessica Malloy. U.S. Attorney Kuhn acknowledged and credited the law enforcement agencies investigating these cases: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Indiana and Kentucky Medicaid Fraud Control Units, the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Earlier today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving over 412 charged defendants across 41 federal districts, including over 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving over $1.3 billion in false billings. Of those charged, today’s action also involved charges against over 120 defendants, including doctors, for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. Thirty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s arrests. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is suspending payment to 295 providers, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
East Chicago Man Found Guilty After 3-Day Jury TrialRead the Press Release
HAMMOND – Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Clifford D. Johnson, announced that Mauricio Portes, age 49, of East Chicago, Indiana was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine after a three-day jury trial before United States District Court Philip P. Simon.
According to documents filed in this case, Mauricio Portes was part of a conspiracy that was distributing cocaine within the Northern District between January 1, 2015 and May 28, 2015.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. McGrath and Special Assistant United States Attorney Armando Salinas.
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Dominican National Sentenced for Firearms and Identity Fraud OffensesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for a firearm offense and using a false social security number.
Leudy Enrique Rodriguez Mojica, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to time served (approximately 16 months) and three years of supervised release. Rodriguez Mojica will be subject to deportation. In April 2017, Rodriquez Mojica pleaded guilty to one count of being an alien unlawfully present in the United States in possession of a firearm and one count of falsely representing a social security number to be his.
On March 23, 2016, Rodriguez Mojica was encountered in Lawrence by law enforcement who recovered a loaded 9mm pistol from the defendant. In addition, on an earlier occasion, Rodriguez Mojica used the name, date of birth, and social security number of a United States citizen to obtain a Massachusetts identification card.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistance was also provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Lawrence Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Dominican National Charged with Identity Theft and Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national was charged today in federal court in Boston with stealing the identity of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico.
Jhonny Emilio Pimentel Aybar, 34, a Dominican national residing in Everett, was charged by indictment with three counts of misuse of a Social Security number and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
On three occasions, Aug. 8, 2012, Aug. 15, 2013, and Aug. 20, 2014, Aybar misrepresented his social security number and identity when registering as a sex offender with the Everett Police Department.
The charge of Social Security fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, to be served consecutively to any sentence imposed on the Social Security fraud count. Aybar will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant United States Attorney Anne Paruti of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
District Man Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder While Armed in 2015 Slaying in Southeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Eugene Burns, 25, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder while armed and related weapons offenses for killing a man in a Southeast Washington apartment, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced today.
Burns was found guilty by a jury on July 12, 2017, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Hiram E. Puig-Lugo scheduled sentencing for Sept. 29, 2017. Burns faces a potential sentence of life in prison for the crimes.
According to the government’s evidence, Burns had been in a drug-related dispute with the victim, Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III, of Woodland Hills, Calif., and began planning to kill him. On Nov. 14, 2015, Mr. Osuchukwu flew into the Washington, D.C. area. That day, Burns lured Mr. Osuchukwu to Burns’s mother’s apartment in the 2900 block of Second Street SE. He confronted Mr. Osuchukwu and shot and killed him before fleeing the scene.
The next day, the defendant, along with two relatives, returned to the apartment and Burns supposedly “discovered” that his best friend had been killed. After a call to 911, Mr. Osuchuwku, 24, was found on the living room floor with multiple gunshot wounds. An investigation led to Burns’s arrest in December 2015, and he has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the detectives, officers, and mobile crime technicians who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington Division, the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Michael Ambrosino, Special Counsel for DNA and Forensic Evidence Litigation; Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Sharon Newman; Paralegal Specialists Kelly Blakeney and Lashone Samuels; Diana Lim, David Foster; M. Laverne Perry, Tanya Via and Debra Cannon, all of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Litigation Technology Specialists Leif Hickling, and William Henderson; former Litigation Technology Specialist Aneela Bhatia; Forensic Operations/Program Specialist Benjamin Kagan-Guthrie; Computer Forensics Criminal Investigator John Marsh, and Law Clerk Alexandra Maher.
Finally, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Willoughby, Jr. and Kevin Flynn, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Cross Lanes felon sentenced to federal prison for gun crimeRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Cross Lanes man was sentenced today to four years and nine months in federal prison for a gun charge, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Fred Wallace Hammon, Jr., 36, previously pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Hammon admitted that on September 1, 2016, he possessed a Remington, Model 742 Woodsmaster, .30-06 caliber rifle. Hammon was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of felony convictions in Kanawha County Circuit Court in 2000 for two counts of aggravated robbery and in 2011 for wanton endangerment, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possessing a firearm on the grounds of an educational facility.
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Charleston Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Clint Carte is responsible for the prosecution. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
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Criminal Complaint Charges North Carolina Resident with Firearms, Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE – A North Carolina resident arrested by Rhode Island State Police on June 20, 2017, following a traffic stop which resulted in the seizure of a cache of loaded, high-powered firearms, camouflage equipment, night-vision goggles, and 443 grams of suspected methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, with street names of Molly and Ecstasy) was charged today by way of a federal criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Providence with firearms and drug trafficking charges.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch and Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, announced today the filing of a federal criminal complaint charging Anthony Mondrez Thompson, 39, of Charlotte, NC, with being a felon in possession of firearms, possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of MDMA, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to an affidavit filed with the court in support of the criminal complaint, during the traffic stop it is alleged that Thompson, the only person in the vehicle, denied having firearms or illicit drugs in the vehicle, and denied having been previously convicted of a crime. During a check of the driver’s license and car registration provided by Thompson, and a criminal history check, the trooper learned that in fact Thompson has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions in federal and state courts in North Carolina on firearms and drug trafficking charges.
According to the affidavit, after agreeing to exit the vehicle and while being questioned by a trooper outside of the rear of the vehicle, it is alleged that Thompson shoved a trooper into a travel lane of the highway, and then he ran into the highway and began running in a travel lane opposite the direction of oncoming traffic. After ignoring verbal warnings to stop and repeated warnings of the possible use of a Taser, the trooper discharged his Taser causing Thompson to fall to the ground where he was placed under arrest.
According to the affidavit, it is alleged that searches of the vehicle at the scene of the traffic stop and later at the State Police barracks troopers discovered and seized eight high-powered pistols, a revolver, two AR-15-style assault rifles, numerous high-capacity rifle and pistol magazines, boxes of ammunition, military-issued smoke grenades, holsters, camouflage gear and masks, night vision goggles and a Taser. It is alleged that troopers also seized approximately 443 grams of MDMA.
Thompson, who is presently being held in state custody on firearms, drug, assault and resisting arrest charges, will make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court at a later date.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch and Colonel Ann C. Assumpico thank the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Rhode Island Department of Attorney General for their assistance with this matter.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah.
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Covington Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DARRELL RICKS, age 66, of Covington, pled guilty today to crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
According to court documents, beginning at an unknown time to on or about October 21, 2016, RICKS knowingly downloaded and received images and videos depicting the sexual victimization of minors.
RICKS faces a maximum sentence of up to twenty years imprisonment, followed by up to a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown will sentence RICKS on October 19, 2017.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana State Police, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Section Chief, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
Chicago Resident Convicted of Conspiring to Manufacture Marijuana in Rockford WarehouseRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A Chicago man was found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana following a four-day jury trial in federal court in Rockford.
YOUSIF Y. PIRA, 64, was found guilty of conspiring to manufacture, possess and distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants.
The conviction was announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Celinez Nunez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Derek Bergsten, Chief of the Rockford Fire Department; and Anthony Scarpelli, Chief of the Skokie Police Department. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit and the Rockford Police Department Narcotics Unit assisted in the investigation.
According to the indictment and the evidence at trial, between Jan. 2, 2013, and Jan. 6, 2015, Pira conspired with JEREMIAH N. CLEMENT, 39, of Des Plaines, GEORGE H. BACUS, 53, of Niles, JUSTIN T. PAGLUSCH, 36, of Ingleside, SHLIMON SHIMON, 49, of Chicago, and CASEY WILLIAMS, 30, and DESTINY FREEMAN, 23, both of Great Falls, Mont., to illegally grow, store and distribute marijuana in a warehouse at 1916 11th Street in Rockford. The warehouse was destroyed by a fire on Jan. 6, 2015.
As part of the conspiracy, among other things, Pira purchased grow lights and other equipment and supplies for the illegal operation to grow marijauna in the warehouse, and installed wiring for the lights used to grow marijuana.
Conspiring to manufacture 1,000 or more marijuana plants carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and a statutory mandatory minimum sentence ten years’ imprisonment. The charge also carries a term of supervised release following imprisonment of at least five years and up to life, and a maximum fine of $10 million.
Clement pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on June 3, 2016. Pagluach pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on June 23, 2016. Bacus, Williams and Freeman have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. An arrest warrant was issued for Shimon, who is still at large.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph C. Pedersen and Margaret J. Schneider.
Charleston felon sentenced to over six years in federal prison for assault and gun crimeRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man was sentenced today to six years and three months in prison for a gun charge and assaulting a federal officer, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Taurean Amadeus Johnson, 30, previously pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and assaulting a federal officer after a court appearance.
Johnson admitted that on January 16, 2017, law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence and on a vehicle parked in front of his residence. Officers found a Lorcin L380 semiautomatic pistol in the vehicle. Johnson admitted that the gun belonged to him. Johnson also admitted in a statement to law enforcement that he acquired at least two other handguns, which were also recovered. Johnson was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of convictions in Cabell County Circuit Court in 2009 for first degree robbery, transporting a controlled substance into the state, and delivery of crack.
Johnson further admitted to assaulting a federal officer. On January 17, 2017, Johnson appeared before the United States Magistrate Judge in Charleston for an initial appearance. When the hearing ended, Johnson became combative leaving the courtroom. Johnson admitted that while being placed in a holding cell, he began choking a deputy of the United States Marshals Service by pulling on his neck tie. The Marshals Service regained control of Johnson through physical restraint.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess is in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
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Charges Filed Against Northern California Physician for Unlawfully Dispensing OxycodoneRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO — Christopher Owens, a physician licensed to practice in California, was indicted on Tuesday with unlawfully prescribing oxycodone, announced U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin. The indictment alleges that between September of 2012 and June of 2015, Owens, 50, now of Indianapolis, IN, intended to act outside the course of usual professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose when he prescribed oxycodone on numerous occasions. In sum, Owens is charged with 36 counts of distributing oxycodone, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C).
Owens was arrested on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, in Indianapolis, Ind., and is currently scheduled to appear in Indiana before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for a detention hearing on Monday, July 17th.
An indictment merely alleges a crime has been committed. Owens, as well as all defendants, must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Armbrust is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the University of California San Francisco Police Department.
Earlier today, federal officials joined in Washington to announce the scope of the recent enforcement actions. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, Inspector General Daniel Levinson of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), IRS-Criminal Investigations Chief Jon Fort, CMS Administrator Seema Verma, and Deputy Director Kelly P. Mayo of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) described the program. The enforcement actions were led and coordinated by the Criminal Division and staffed by the Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit in conjunction with its Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF) partners, a partnership between the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the FBI and HHS-OIG. In addition, the operation includes the participation of the DEA, DCIS, and State Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Of the more than 412 people charged, over 120 defendants, including doctors, were charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
Cape Cod Man Sentenced for Heroin Trafficking and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Hyannis man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for trafficking heroin and money laundering.
Christian Chapman, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to eight years in prison and four years of supervised release. In March 2017, Chapman pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
During an investigation in 2015 and 2016, law enforcement determined that Chapman and over a dozen co-conspirators were responsible for a significant quantity of the heroin being distributed on Cape Cod. A wiretap investigation led to their arrests and indictments.
Chapman obtained heroin from suppliers in New Bedford and other areas and distributed the heroin to numerous drug dealers on Cape Cod. In total, Chapman accepted responsibility for distributing between 400 and 700 grams of heroin. Chapman rented a home in Hyannis where he stored his narcotics, and in order to pay the rent, Chapman wired money to the individual whose name was on the lease.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe; and Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen and Miranda Hooker of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
California Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Offense for Illegally Entering White House GroundsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Jonathan Tran, 27, of Milpitas, Calif., pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from an incident earlier this year in which he illegally entered the grounds of the White House, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Brian J. Ebert, Special Agent in Charge, Washington Field Office, U.S. Secret Service.
Tran pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The charge carries a statutory maximum of a year in prison and a potential fine. The parties agreed to recommend to the Court that any period of supervised release or probation include conditions, including a prohibition barring Tran from entering the District of Columbia while he is under supervision, except for court appearances and meetings with his lawyer. He also would be required to participate in interviews with the Secret Service to assist in determining potential current and future risks.
The Honorable James E. Boasberg scheduled sentencing for Sept. 25, 2017. Tran remains free on personal recognizance pending the sentencing.
“This guilty plea holds Jonathan Tran accountable for illegally entering the grounds of the White House and putting himself and others at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “Thanks to the Secret Service, he was arrested and no one was hurt in this defendant’s reckless and potentially dangerous act.”
“The safety and security of the President, the First Family and all staff and visitors to the White House complex is the Secret Service’s first priority,” said Special Agent in Charge Ebert. “Any attempt to breach security and gain unauthorized access is a serious criminal offense and will be dealt with as such. The Secret Service continuously strives to improve and adapt our protective methodologies and security features to meet the ever growing and evolving threat.”
According to the government’s evidence, on March 10, 2017, at about 11:35 p.m., an officer with the U.S. Secret Service’s Uniform Division saw Tran walking from the east side of the south grounds of the White House complex. Tran, who was wearing a hooded sweater or jacket and carrying a backpack, was approaching the South Portico entrance to the White House. When Tran saw the officer, he altered course and began heading toward the South Lawn. The officer confronted Tran, who claimed to be “a friend of the President.” In a search incident to arrest, two cans of pepper spray were found on Tran, including one inside his jacket pocket.
This case was investigated by the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Mudd of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
California Man Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Arson of Popcorn Store and ExtortionRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A California man was convicted by a jury on Wednesday of conspiring with others to burn down a Henderson popcorn business and threatening to injure the business owners, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.
Following a three-day jury trial, Joel Kenneth Ausbie, 53, of Fontana, Calif., was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit arson and one count of committing extortion by force or threat of injury. United States District Judge James C. Mahan presided over the trial and scheduled sentencing for Oct. 18, 2017. Ausbie faces the maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the indictment and court related documents, Ausbie and co-defendant Calvin Robinson paid co-defendant Joseph A. Strickland to set fire to Las Vegas Kettle Corn & Special Events, LLC, in Henderson. Robinson met Strickland in Victorville, Calif., and provided Strickland with directions as well as a note for Strickland to tape to the front window of the business. The note read: “I still don’t have my money. This is the last warning! Next time someone is going to be dead.” On Oct. 30, 2015, Strickland set fire to the business and as a result the business was closed. After the building fire, Robinson met Strickland and paid him for the act. Strickland also admitted to shooting at a private residence during the relevant conspiracy.
Robinson, 41, of Pomona, Calif., pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 10, 2017, and Strickland, 35, pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28, 2017.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa Cartier-Giroux and Cristina D. Silva.
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Buffalo Man Sentenced on Cocaine ChargeRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Phillip Keomongkoun, 30, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine, was sentenced to two years’ probation by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel L. Violanti, who handled the case, stated that between July 2012 and January 18, 2013, the defendant participated in a conspiracy, alleged to have been led by Steven Bennett, to distribute cocaine in the Buffalo area. The investigation into the conspiracy included the court ordered interception of telephone calls and text messages. Those included calls between Keomongkoun and Bennett during which the two discussed cocaine prices and deals. During the calls, the defendant arranged to purchase at least one ounce of cocaine from Bennett, which he then sold to others in the Buffalo area.
On January 18, 2013, Keomongkoun was arrested at 580 Niagara Street in Buffalo and approximately 1.5 ounces of cocaine were seized from his residence.
Charges are pending against Steven Bennett. 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 sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.Bronx “YGz” Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Stomping Murder of 16-Year-OldRead the Press Release
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANTHONY REDDICK, a/k/a “Ant Flocka,” pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to his involvement in the “Young Gunnaz” or “YGz” gang by participating in the murder of Moises Lora, 16, during which REDDICK and several other YGz gang members stomped Lora to death in a courtyard in the Melrose housing projects in the Bronx on April 16, 2012. REDDICK is scheduled to be sentenced later this year by United States District Judge Valerie E. Caproni, before whom REDDICK pled guilty.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Moises Lora was only 16 years old when Anthony Reddick and his fellow gang members brutally stomped Lora to death in a vicious attack. Thanks to the tireless work of law enforcement, Reddick has now admitted his role in this brutal murder. Although we cannot bring Lora back, we hope that his family will find some small measure of solace in today’s guilty plea.”
According to the Indictment and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during REDDICK’s guilty plea and other court proceedings in this case:
REDDICK was a member of the Bronx-based street gang known as the YGz. From 2005 to 2016, members and associates of the YGz enriched themselves by committing robberies and by selling drugs, such as crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, and committing acts of violence, including the murder of rival gang members, rival drug traffickers, and innocent bystanders.
As part of his involvement in the YGz gang, REDDICK and several other YGz gang members murdered Lora, a member of a rival gang, on April 16, 2012, in the South Bronx. Specifically, on the date of the murder, a group of YGz members, including REDDICK, got drunk, and began arguing among themselves about who had done the most for the YGz. This group of YGz members went to the territory of a rival gang in the Melrose housing projects to settle their dispute. Upon arriving at the Melrose projects, REDDICK and other members of the YGz saw Lora and attacked him. During the attack, Lora’s skull was fractured in several places. REDDICK and the group left Lora to die. Following the stomping, REDDICK and several of his confederates bragged to fellow YGz members about what they had done.
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REDDICK, 22, of the Bronx, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. REDDICK is the third defendant in United States v. Kareem Lanier, et al., 15 Cr. 537 (VEC), to plead guilty to participating in the stomping murder of Lora.
Mr. Kim praised the outstanding work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the New York City Police Department in the investigation of this case. He also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for their support in this case.
This case is being handled by this Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Samson Enzer, Gina M. Castellano, and Andrew C. Adams are in charge of the prosecution.
Boylston Man Indicted for Distributing and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boylston man was indicted today on child pornography charges.
Randy Alan Chaplis, 33, was indicted on one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor and a minor who had not attained 12 years of age. Chaplis was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on March 16, 2017, and has been detained since his arrest.
According to court documents, on Feb. 9, 2017, Chaplis sent two emails to an undercover law enforcement officer that included dozens of images of child pornography, including prepubescent girls engaged in sex acts with adult men. In other email communications with the undercover officer, Chaplis stated that he likes three-to-10 year olds, and that he has “fun” with his girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter when her mother is not home. Chaplis emailed graphic descriptions of the sexual acts he purportedly performed on his girlfriend’s child starting when the child was two-years-old. He asked whether the undercover officer intended to have sexual intercourse with the undercover officer’s infant daughter once she turned three or four. The complaint also alleges that Chaplis bragged to another internet user about having sexual intercourse with a four-year-old girl.
On March 15, 2017, federal agents executed a search warrant at Chaplis’ residence and seized an external hard drive and a desktop computer that included multiple images of child pornography.
The charging statutes provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely of Weinreb’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Boston Man Charged with Failing to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boston man was arrested and charged yesterday in federal court in Boston for failing to register as a sex offender.
Rodney Anderson, 45, was arrested and charged with one count of failing to register as a sex offender and was detained following an initial appearance yesterday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell. A probable cause and detention hearing is set for Monday, July 17, 2017.
Anderson is required to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts based on a North Carolina state court conviction for second degree rape in 1986. Shortly following his release from custody for that conviction in 2014, Anderson left North Carolina for Massachusetts. When he arrived, he failed to report to authorities, but was tracked to a residence in Boston.
Failing to register as a sex offender provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; U.S. Marshal John Gibbons of the District of Massachusetts; and Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Weinreb’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Birmingham Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Selling Fentanyl that Caused 20-Year-Old’s DeathRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid painkiller, that caused the death of a 20-year-old Pelham woman, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.
U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced RODRIGUS LEE PEARSON, 31, for illegally distributing fentanyl that resulted in a death in January 2016 in Jefferson County. She also sentenced Pearson for distributing heroin on Feb. 8, 2016, distributing fentanyl on Feb. 23, 2016, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine on March 30, 2016, and for being a felon illegally possessing a gun – an H & K .40-caliber pistol – on March 30, 2016. Pearson pleaded guilty to the charges in March. His previous felony conviction was for unlawful possession of a controlled substance in Jefferson County Circuit Court in September 2014.
As part of Pearson’s sentence, the judge ordered him to pay $22,893 in restitution to the family of Ashlynn Bailey to cover her funeral expenses.
Bailey, a former University of Alabama student, died after purchasing fentanyl from Pearson. Police found her in a house on Jefferson Avenue in Birmingham on Jan. 30, 2016, after responding to a call of a suspected drug overdose death. Witnesses said Bailey had been purchasing heroin from Pearson and that he likely substituted the fentanyl, which was found in her system, for heroin.
“In those cases where we can prove a death resulting from an illegal sale of drugs, we will pursue an enhanced sentence as we did in this case,” Posey said. “When the use of an illegally-sold controlled substance results in the overdose death of the consumer, federal law provides for a minimum 20-year sentence for the dealer. The rapid rise of overdose deaths in our communities requires that we use all available means to disrupt and punish those who sell these deadly drugs,” he said. “We also encourage our state and local law enforcement partners to consider federal prosecution when they have a death-resulting case in their jurisdiction.”
“Ashlynn Bailey, the victim who died from taking the drugs that Pearson sold her, wasn’t given a chance to plead,” Hamilton said. “She was sentenced to death when Pearson delivered the fentanyl-laden drugs. If you are a drug dealer, you may soon become a murderer and you will be caught and prosecuted.”
According to Pearson’s guilty plea, a taxi driver called Birmingham Police after finding Bailey unresponsive at the western Birmingham house. The taxi driver had left her there the night before and returned to pick her up the next morning to take her to a business on U.S. 280 in Birmingham where Bailey said she worked and could get cash to pay cab fare she owed.
Bailey had borrowed the taxi driver’s cell phone and placed calls the night before. Police later determined that one of the two numbers she called was to a phone Pearson used for drug transactions.
The two drug distribution charges Pearson pleaded guilty to resulted from controlled purchases that a DEA confidential source made from Pearson after contacting the dealer at the same number Bailey had called from the taxi driver’s phone the night she died. On the first occasion, DEA agents obtained heroin from Pearson. On the second, agents received fentanyl despite having attempted to buy heroin. A third charge of possession with the intent to distribute heroin stems from Pearson being found in possession of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and the .40-caliber pistol, as well as drug paraphernalia, following a traffic stop.
DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory R. Dimler and Jim Weil prosecuted.
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Baton Rouge-Based Medicare Fraud Strike Force Announces Charges Against Four More Individuals for Health Care Fraud and Related OffensesRead the Press Release
BATON ROUGE, LA – Acting United States Attorney Corey R. Amundson announced today the unsealing of two federal grand jury indictments charging four individuals with health care fraud and related offenses. The cases were unsealed as part of the 2017 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, during which federal, state, and local law enforcement partners announced charges of more than 400 defendants across 41 different federal judicial districts.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is part of the joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid fraud through enhanced cooperation. In December 2009, a Medicare Fraud Strike Force team was deployed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Strike Force teams bring together the resources of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division—Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and other law enforcement agencies, including, in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Over the past seven years, the team has continued working in Baton Rouge and expanded across southern Louisiana.
Louisiana Spine & Sports
In the first case, a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging John Eastham CLARK, M.D., age 65, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Charlene Anita SEVERIO, age 54, of Walker, Louisiana, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud. The charges stem from Dr. CLARK and SEVERIO’s role in a $4.4 million fraud scheme in which Dr. CLARK and SEVERIO allegedly submitted false claims to Medicare and private insurance companies on behalf of Louisiana Spine & Sports LLC, a pain management clinic in Baton Rouge co-owned by Dr. CLARK. Namely, according to the indictment, Dr. CLARK, and SEVERIO, his billing supervisor, falsified claims to indicate that certain minor surgical procedures occurred on separate days as patient visits, and then instructed employees to create false records substantiating those claims. The indictment also alleges that the defendants submitted false claims seeking reimbursement for medically unnecessary quantitative urinalysis tests. The indictment charges both defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, and charges Dr. CLARK with an additional two counts of health care fraud. This ongoing investigation is being handled by Dustin Davis, who serves as Assistant Chief of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division—Fraud Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Ptashkin, and Jared Hasten of the Fraud Section.
Express ACA
In the second case, a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Keaton L. COPELAND, age 32, of Miramar, Florida, and Dorothy V. DELIMA, a/k/a Dorothy V. Copeland, age 45, of Davie, Florida, with a scheme to submit fraudulent health insurance applications to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana and other private insurers. According to the indictment, the defendants owned and operated Express ACA, LLC, a health insurance brokerage company in Florida, and they devised a scheme to submit fraudulent health insurance applications to various insurers for health insurance plans that would satisfy the Affordable Care Act’s “minimum essential coverage” requirement. Specifically, according to the indictment, the defendants submitted numerous fraudulent applications for so-called “bronze plans,” the premiums for which were fully subsidized by the U.S. Government, without the named applicants’ knowledge, consent, or authorization. The indictment charges both COPELAND and DELIMA with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud, and the indictment also charges COPELAND with additional counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. This ongoing investigation is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Brady Casey and Ryan R. Crosswell.
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Since its inception, the Baton Rouge-based Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged more than 80 defendants with health care fraud and related offenses, achieving a 95% conviction rate and sending nearly 50 of those defendants to federal prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson stated, “Our medical providers spend countless hours caring for our everyday ailments, improving and extending our lives, and often fighting for us in our most desperate hours. They are rightly viewed as some of the most trusted and respected members of our society. Too often, the few dishonest providers hijack this well-earned respect and trust to line their own pockets through fraud. My office, which has sent nearly 50 healthcare fraud defendants to federal prison since the inception of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, will continue to work tirelessly with our outstanding federal, state, and local partners to root out these bad actors. I greatly appreciate all those who have contributed to this important and successful law enforcement effort.”
“The indictments returned in both of these cases affirm our commitment to protecting the integrity of our nation’s health insurance programs,” said Special Agent-in-Charge C.J. Porter of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Dallas Regional Office. “These investigations are also indicative of our continuing efforts to work closely with our Federal and State law enforcement partners to identify and bring to justice those who deliberately manipulate health insurance systems to fraudulently obtain money from Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded health care programs.”
Jeffrey S. Sallet, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New Orleans Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, stated, “Countless Americans rely on the Medicare and Medicaid programs for essential health coverage. The New Orleans Division of the FBI, along with its local, state and federal partners, will continue to identify and pursue any individuals or entities who would seek to harm and diminish these programs through fraud.”
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry stated, “The success of this initiative shows that collaboration between law enforcement agencies at all levels combats crime. Our investigators work around the clock to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid. My office and I are committed to doing all we can to save taxpayer money and protect this program for the people in our State that need it the most. I am proud of the results our team achieved during this operation and what we do daily to reduce Medicaid fraud.”
NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.
Baltimore County Man Sentenced to 36 Months in Federal Prison for Money Laundering and Bankruptcy FraudRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4885
Baltimore, Maryland – On July 11, 2017, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Eric Myles Gordon, age 49, of Baltimore County, Maryland, to 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Gordon was also ordered to pay restitution of $545,875. On April 7, 2017, a jury convicted Gordon of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and falsification of records in bankruptcy.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and U.S. Trustee Judy Robbins and the Baltimore office of the United States Trustee Program.
According to evidence presented at the three-week trial in April 2017, Gordon opened two businesses in 2009, the Gordon Institute for Sports Performance and the Gordon Institute for Human Performance. By May of 2012, Gordon filed a petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 for GISP, and on August 9, 2012, filed a joint petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 7 on behalf of himself and his wife. The petition sought the discharge of over $2 million in both secured and unsecured debt.
In this same time frame, Gordon and co-conspirator, Saleh Stevens, discussed a way for Gordon to get funds that were “tainted,” would not “pass the smell test,” and had to be “kept off the government’s radar.” These funds were stolen by Stevens from his employer, Hanover Insurance.
In total, $545,875 was funneled through Gordon’s business bank account, with Gordon realizing approximately $36,000 as his fee for laundering the funds for Stevens. Ultimately, over $500,000 of these funds were provided to an individual who ran a NASCAR racing team.
In connection with the Chapter 7 petitions in bankruptcy, Gordon was required to produce bank records, which showed the deposits in September of 2012 totaling $545,875. In an effort to falsely explain the movement of funds, Gordon provided a pdf file styled as a “bridge loan” agreement, along with an explanation for the deposit of $545,875 and nearly immediate dissipation of funds in the account. This document purported to be executed on September 13, 2012, but was signed by Gordon as the borrower on September 10, 2012; the document was not signed by the lender. The bridge loan agreement was drafted after the fact by Stevens as part of the false story crafted by Gordon to explain the movement of funds through his bank account.
Stevens pled guilty in August 2014 to mail fraud and is awaiting sentence.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, and the United States Trustee’s Baltimore Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Judson T. Mihok and P. Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.
Attorney Involved in Scheme that Targeted Distressed Homeowners Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRADFORD BARNEYS, 51, of Odenton, Maryland, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervise release, for conspiring with Timothy W. Burke in a long-running fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners throughout Connecticut. BARNEYS was an attorney licensed to practice in Connecticut and has an office in Bridgeport.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately 2010 and November 2015, Timothy W. Burke, formerly of Easton, engaged in a scheme to defraud individuals, mortgage lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by falsely representing to homeowners who were in, or facing, foreclosure on their homes that he would purchase their homes and pay off their mortgages. The distressed homeowners agreed to sign various documents that Burke presented to them on the understanding that, by signing the documents, they would be able to walk away from their homes without the burdens of their mortgage or other costs associated with home ownership. Burke also told homeowners that the process of negotiating with the lenders can take time and that, in the meantime, to ignore any notices regarding foreclosure. After he gained control of these houses, Burke rented out the properties to tenants by advertising the properties on craigslist.com and other means and falsely representing to tenants that Burke owned the property.
Burke or one of his agents then collected rent from tenants, and Burke used the funds for his own benefit. He also failed to negotiate with the homeowners’ mortgage lender or pay expenses associated with the home, including the homeowner’s mortgages and property taxes, and he failed to pay any rental income he was collecting to the homeowners. Many of the properties Burke purportedly purchased were ultimately foreclosed upon by the mortgage lender.
Burke undertook extensive efforts to disguise his true identity, and hide his criminal past, from his victims through the use of multiple aliases and business entities, and to conceal the sources of and expenditures from his criminal proceeds.
Between approximately 2011 to at least 2014, BARNEYS participated in dozens of meetings with Burke and with homeowners at BARNEYS’ law offices in Bridgeport. At the meetings, Burke represented to homeowners that he would purchase their properties and presented to the homeowners quitclaim deeds, management agreements, indemnification agreements, and third party authorizations.
BARNEYS was paid more than $72,000 in fees and other monies for his participation in the fraud.
At some point after BARNEYS began representing Burke in these meetings with homeowners, BARNEYS knew that Burke had no intention of buying the properties and paying the outstanding mortgages on the properties. Nevertheless, BARNEYS continued to participate in these meetings and represented that these transactions were legitimate. When questioned by homeowners about the status of their sales, BARNEYS would assure them that their sales to Burke or one of his companies were progressing as Burke promised. BARNEYS also knew that, once Burke obtained the properties from the homeowners, he would rent them out to tenants.
BARNEYS also represented Burke and his companies in eviction proceedings against tenants.
The investigation further revealed that BARNEYS engaged in separate fraud scheme similar to the scheme that Burke engineered. BARNEYS assisted two Maryland residents in purchasing a commercial property located on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport. BARNEYS then acted as a purported landlord for the property, executed long-term lease agreements with at least two tenants, and collected tens of thousands of dollars of rent without the actual owners’ knowledge or authorization and kept the funds for his own use.
On February 21, 2017, BARNEYS pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire a fraud.
BARNEYS’ law license was temporarily suspended by state authorities after he pleaded guilty, with additional proceedings scheduled to determine whether further discipline is warranted. Judge Shea ordered BARNEYS not to apply for reinstatement of his law license, and not to engage in any business related to real estate, while he is on supervised release.
On January 24, 2017, Burke pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion. On April 28, 2017, he was sentenced to 108 months of imprisonment.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, with the critical assistance of the Middletown, Plainville, Easton and Coventry Police Departments, the Connecticut State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Huang and Sarah P. Karwan.
As Part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown, Federal Prosecutors in Los Angeles Charge 14 Defendants in Fraud Schemes that Allegedly Cost Public Healthcare Programs nearly $150 MillionRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – In the largest-ever health care fraud enforcement action by federal prosecutors, 14 defendants – including doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals – have been charged in the Central District of California for allegedly participating in health care fraud schemes that caused approximately $147 million in losses.
The defendants charged locally are among hundreds of people charged across the United States in cases that cumulatively allege approximately $1.3 billion in false billings. The nationwide sweep includes charges against more than 120 defendants – some of whom are doctors – who allegedly prescribed and distributed opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
In the Central District of California, 14 defendants were charged for their roles in schemes to defraud health insurance programs such as Medicare. The cases allege health care fraud and kickback schemes involving compounded drugs, home health services, physical therapy, acupuncture, Medicare Part D prescription drugs, diagnostic sleep studies and hospice care.
“Health care fraud schemes such as these threaten the vital trust between a patient and his or her health care provider, undermine the integrity of our health care system, and cost all Americans billions of dollars,” said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown. “Today’s announcement serves as a clear warning that we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable health care professionals who commit these crimes.”
The defendants charged locally include four physicians, including Dr. Jeffrey Olsen, who was charged with illegally prescribing controlled substances, including the opiate oxycodone.
The 57-year-old Olsen surrendered to authorities on Tuesday after being indicted last week by a federal grand jury on 34 counts of illegally prescribing controlled drugs, including oxycodone, and one count of false statement on a DEA registration application. Olsen, a resident of Laguna Beach, allegedly sold prescriptions to addicts and drug dealers in exchange for fixed cash fees, without any medical basis for the prescriptions.
During the investigation, Olsen also sold hundreds of prescriptions to addicts in other states, such as Oregon, without ever seeing the “patients” for an in-person examination. In text messages to these out-of-state customers, Olsen allegedly told customers that, in exchange for exorbitant fees as high as $3,000, he would write prescriptions for whatever drug they wanted, and that he would never check whether they were actually taking the prescribed drugs or whether they were getting additional narcotic prescriptions from other doctors. Olsen allegedly sold more than 1.2 million pills of narcotics, which were almost entirely at maximum strength, in addition to hundreds of thousands of pills of other controlled drugs such as the sedatives Xanax and Soma. The case against Olsen is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ben Barron and Bryant Yang.
In another local case involving a physician, Dr. Thomas S. Powers and Anthony Paduano were arrested Tuesday on healthcare fraud charges that allegedly bilked TRICARE.
The indictment in this case alleges that Powers, of Santa Ana, authorized prescriptions for compounded medications for patients he never examined. Under an agreement, Paduano, of Newport Beach, allegedly paid Powers $200 for each prescription. Paduano received approximately $1.2 million for referring the prescriptions to a local pharmacy that billed TRICARE more than $4.8 million and was paid more than $3.1 million. This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Aveis, Paul Stern and Cassie Palmer.
“Americans already struggling with health care issues and rising premiums are further burdened with each dollar lost to fraud,” said Deirdre Fike, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The losses estimated in Los Angeles for this operation alone are staggering as the abundance of health care fraud schemes in southern California adds considerably to this nationwide crime issue. By collaborating with our partners, we will continue to hold accountable those who get rich by targeting federal health care programs with fraud.”
“Those who would enrich themselves through healthcare fraud – including billing for unnecessary services, accepting kickbacks, and billing for prescriptions that were never provided – are putting profits over patients, stealing from government health programs and taxpayers alike,” said Special Agent in Charge Christian Schrank, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “These operations show yet again our commitment to working with our federal and state law enforcement partners. In fighting this epidemic, we must all stand together.”
“IRS Criminal Investigation will not stand still while criminals line their pockets with illicit proceeds obtained from publicly funded health care programs,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge R. Damon Rowe. “It depletes scarce taxpayer dollars and will not be tolerated. IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners to bring justice to those individuals who prey on the nation's health care system for their own personal greed.”
“Our office, in partnership with our fellow investigative agencies, will continue to uncompromisingly investigate and bring to justice the people who perpetrate these criminal acts,” said Amtrak Inspector General Tom Howard. We will remain vigilant in protecting Amtrak employees, retirees, and their dependents, by ensuring our health care dollars are not wasted on fraudulent providers,"
“The Department of Labor – Employee Benefits Security Administration will continue to vigorously investigate wrongdoers committing health care fraud against employer sponsored health plans in Southern California which also impact TRICARE, Medicare, Medicaid” said Crisanta Johnson, DOL-EBSA’s Los Angeles Regional Office.
The other cases filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the nationwide sweep are:
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Aniceto Baliton, of Diamond Bar, co-owner and managing employee of Bliss Hospice in Glendora, was charged yesterday with one count of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal remunerations for health care referrals. The charge stems from Baliton’s role in a fraud scheme to pay kickbacks in exchange for Medicare beneficiaries referred to Bliss and billed by Bliss for hospice services. As part of the fraud scheme, Baliton and the co-owners of the hospice also agreed to generate cash for the illegal kickbacks by disguising such monies as payroll expenses. Based on the referrals that Baliton and his co-conspirators obtained through illegal kickbacks, Bliss submitted claims to Medicare and was paid approximately $2.4 million. The case is being handled by DOJ Trial Attorney Claire Yan.
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Aleksandr Suris and Maxim Sverdlov, co-owners and operators of Royal Care Pharmacy in Los Angeles, were arrested Monday on charges related to a scheme that allegedly brought in more than $41.5 million from Medicare and CIGNA. The indictment in this case charges Suris with two counts of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 10 counts of health care fraud, and Sverdlov with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud. The defendants allegedly submitted fraudulent bills for prescription drugs that were never filled by the pharmacy or were not provided to the person to whom the drug was prescribed. The case is being handled by DOJ Trial Attorney Robyn N. Pullio.
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Dr. Kanagasabai Kanakeswaran was indicted late last month on one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks for health care referrals and four counts of receiving kickbacks for health care referrals. The charges arise from a kickback conspiracy at a home health company called Star Home Health Resources. The owners and operators of Star allegedly paid kickbacks to referring physicians, including Dr. Kanakeswaran, in exchange for the physicians referring Medicare beneficiaries to receive home health services from Star. The indictment alleges that from May 2008 to May 2016, Star was paid $4,157,311 from Medicare based on home health services that Dr. Kanakeswaran referred to Star in exchange for illegal kickbacks. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Alex Porter and DOJ Trial Attorney Claire Yan.
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Jamen Oliver Griffith and Damon Glover were charged late last month with conspiring to solicit, receive and pay illegal kickbacks for health care referrals. The charges stem from defendants’ role in a scheme involving undisclosed payments for generating and steering prescriptions of compounded drugs to Valley View Drugs, Inc., a pharmacy located in La Mirada. As set forth in plea agreements that have been filed in court, Griffith and Glover owned and operated Western Medical Solutions, a “marketing” company that paid non-employee “marketers” to generate compounded drug prescription referrals for Valley View. Commission payments to “marketers” for prescription referrals were based on a percentage of the amount insurance companies reimbursed Valley View. Health insurers ultimately reimbursed Valley View $13,860,083 for prescriptions generated by WMS-affiliated marketers. In turn, Valley View paid WMS approximately $7,622,864 for the prescription referrals. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Ashwin Janakiram.
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Xiao “Kimi” Gudmundsen, a licensed acupuncturist and the owner of Healthy Life Acupuncture Center, Inc., which operated at two sites in Los Angeles and Riverside, was charged on June 22, with eight counts of health care fraud and three counts of money laundering. The charges arise from allegations that Gudmundsen recruited Amtrak employees to visit Healthy Life and then, among other things, billed the Amtrak health care plan for acupuncture and other services that were not actually provided. The indictment also charges that Gudmundsen laundered payments received from Amtrak for the false bills through various accounts, including accounts held in the names of relatives. Also charged in the indictment are Suzana Cortez, a Healthy Life employee (who faces five counts health care fraud) and Gladys Perez, an Amtrak employee (who faces two counts of health care fraud). This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Poonam Kumar.
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James Chen pleaded guilty on June 19 to a health care fraud charge related to his pharmacy processing and billing TRICARE for approximately $62 million for fraudulent prescriptions for compounded medications after Chen paid more than 50 percent in referral fees to marketers. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Aveis, Paul Stern and Cassie Palmer.
Indictments and criminal informations contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
The cases from the Central District of California are the result of investigations conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; IRS Criminal Investigation; the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General; the Veterans Administration, Office of the Inspector General; the Department of Labor - Employee Benefits Security Administration; the California Department of Insurance, Fraud Division; the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General; Amtrak’s Office of the Inspector General; the California Board of Pharmacy; California’s Department of Health Care Services; and the California Department of Justice.
The local cases were filed by Assistant United States Attorneys and Trial Attorneys with the Justice Department’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The Strike Force operations are part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.
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Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Prison for Conviction on Federal Fraud and Theft of Mail ChargesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jeremy L. Lara, 37, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on federal fraud and theft or mail charges.
Lara was arrested in May 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with theft of mail on May 19, 2016, in Sandoval County, N.M., after law enforcement officers found Lara in the process of stealing mail from a community mailbox. According to the complaint, officers recovered a counterfeited USPS arrow key as well as stolen mail from inside Lara’s vehicle.
Lara was subsequently charged in a ten-count indictment on June 14, 2016. Lara was charged with the following: three counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft on Nov. 11, 2015, Nov. 13, 2015, and Nov. 15, 2015; two counts of possession of a counterfeit postal key on Dec. 19, 2015 and May 19, 2016; and three counts of theft or receipt of stolen mail on Dec. 21, 2015 and May 19, 2016. The indictment alleges that the crimes took place in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties, N.M. The indictment includes forfeiture provisions requiring Lara to forfeit $4,870.28 to the United States.
On Oct. 13, 2016, Lara pled guilty to all counts of the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Lara admitted that he stole mail by using a counterfeit USPS arrow key that he created. Lara further admitted that he specifically sought out driver’s licenses, bank cards and other personal identifying information to access the bank accounts of legitimate card holders, and impersonated the account holders by using their bank cards and PIN numbers to withdraw cash from ATMs.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Rio Rancho Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Jon Ganjei prosecuted the case.
Akron man sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling fentanyl that resulted in fatal overdoseRead the Press Release
An Akron man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling fentanyl that caused a fatal overdose, law enforcement officials said.
Steven D. Daniels, 32, previously pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl that resulted in death.
Daniels sold fentanyl that caused the 2016 fatal overdose of a person identified as T.B. in Akron, according to court documents.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry F. DeBaggis following an investigation by the Akron Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration