Latest Records
Newest first across public DOJ and U.S. Attorney press releases.
28 September 2015
Former Heart Surgeon Convicted of Unlawfully Prescribing and Dispensing OxycodoneRead the Press Release
ROME, Ga. – James Earl Chapman, Jr., a doctor from Macon, Georgia, has been convicted after a two-week jury trial on 49 counts of drug trafficking for prescribing and dispensing controlled narcotics at a Cartersville, Georgia, “pill mill” pain clinic that served as a front for the mass distribution of addictive pain killers.
“A doctor’s first responsibility is to do no harm to others, but evidence at trial established that Dr. Chapman relentlessly and aggressively prescribed controlled pain killing medication to patients who were addicted to them,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Horn. “Many of those patients sold the pills for financial gain, and to finance return trips to the clinic. A jury has guaranteed that Chapman is no longer in a position to do harm.”
Daniel R. Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said of the case, “Removing and ultimately eliminating healthcare providers who unlawfully dispense pharmaceutical products for non-medical reasons is an important part of DEA’s mission. This medical doctor distributed copious quantities of opiate-based pills to scores of drug-seeking patients. At one point, Dr. Chapman received the largest number of Oxycodone pills of all doctors in the state of Georgia. Dr. Chapman will no longer be able to commit such unlawful acts due to the hard work and dedication put forth by our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts who made this investigation a success.”
“This conviction demonstrates the great work of law enforcement at all levels to investigate and prosecute the illegal distribution of prescription narcotics affecting Georgia and our surrounding states. The GBI remains committed to working with our local and federal partners in drug enforcement to address these types of crimes,” said Vernon Keenan, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“We are committed to ‘following the money trail’ to ensure that those who engage in these illegal activities are vigorously investigated and brought to justice,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot. “This verdict is a vital element in maintaining public confidence that these individuals and others who commit similar crimes will be held accountable.”
“We were glad to see the results of good police work in this case. We believe that the verdict in this case will send a strong message to those who prey on individuals with addiction will not be tolerated. I am pleased with the hard work that went into this case from the investigation to the successful prosecution. It proves to our communities that when law enforcement agencies work together for a common goal good things happens as demonstrated in this guilty verdict. From a local prospective we were grateful for all the assistance we received in investigating and prosecuting this case,” said Captain Mark Mayton, Commander, Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force.
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the indictment, and evidence presented in court: In May 2010, using information from the FBI/NW Georgia Criminal Enterprise Safe Streets Task Force, federal, state and local law enforcement agents joined together in investigation of Atlanta Medical Group, (“AMG”) after learning that the clinic, located in Cartersville, Georgia, was prescribing pain pills outside the bounds of legitimate medical practice. The investigation revealed that James Earl Chapman, Jr., served as the clinic’s primary doctor. Jason Votrobek and Roland Castellanos, both of whom were found guilty in a previous trial, financed and operated the clinic, along with Jesse Violante. Tara Atkins served as the office manager. Violante and Atkins previously pleaded guilty to charges related to their conduct at the clinic.
Chapman, while serving in his role at AMG, failed to fulfill a doctor’s basic obligations to conduct physical examinations of patients and verify medical histories before prescribing astronomical quantities of controlled substances. Significantly, in the first year the clinic opened, Chapman received the highest number of oxycodone pills of any doctor in the State of Georgia. Chapman continued to prescribe controlled substances in dangerous amounts and combinations even after he received notice that many pharmacies in the area were refusing to fill the prescriptions and that the medical board had subpoenaed his records to determine the propriety of his prescribing practices. Those patient records revealed that Chapman knew that at least some of his patients were drug addicts: the records contained information (from a nurse or the “patients” themselves) that those patients had previously purchased the drugs illegally.
In fact, more than 98% of the patients traveled to AMG from surrounding states in order to receive prescriptions for controlled substances. Furthermore, the evidence showed that Chapman was a drug user himself, and that he asked clinic employees to assist him in illegally obtaining narcotics for his own use. For example, on one day in particular, Chapman had another clinic employee fill out narcotics prescriptions for him to sign, as he was too intoxicated to do so himself. Still, his own drug use did not stop him from seeing “patients.”
James Earl Chapman, Jr., 64, of Macon, Georgia, will be sentenced on November 13, 2015, before the U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy.
Jason Cole Votrobek, 31, of Vero Beach Florida, and Roland Rafael Castellanos, 34, of Hollywood, Florida, the financiers and operators of AMG were previously convicted by a jury on March 26, 2014. They were both sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
A third financier and operator, Jesse Violante, 35, of Vero Beach, Florida, and AMG’s office manager, Tara Atkins, 36, of Cartersville, Georgia, each previously pleaded guilty to charges related to their conduct at the clinic. Violante was sentenced to four years, four months in federal prison. Atkins was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Bartow County Sheriff's Office, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. This case was initiated by the FBI/ Northwest Georgia Criminal Enterprise Safe Streets Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorneys G. Scott Hulsey, Cassandra J. Schansman, and Laurel R. Boatright prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.
Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit DismissedRead the Press Release
Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that U.S. District Court Chief Judge Rosanna Malouf- Peterson dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by Manuel Sanchez. Sanchez, who is currently a Federal prisoner, claimed that his civil rights were violated by a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent who shot him while he attempted to flee from arrest following a drug deal by intentionally driving a vehicle directly at the DEA Special Agent.
According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, DEA agents working with the drug task force in Yakima, Washington had set up several controlled buys from Sanchez. On July 26, 2012, a confidential source assisting the DEA met Sanchez in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Yakima. As soon as the drug transaction was complete, DEA and other task force members moved in to arrest Sanchez. Sanchez accelerated quickly in his Dodge van, striking the confidential source’s occupied vehicle, as well as a task force vehicle with two officers inside. Sanchez then circled around the parking lot looking for an escape route and drove directly at the DEA Special Agent, who was standing out in the open. The Special Agent fired into the van, striking Sanchez.
Sanchez was subsequently charged with Distribution of a Controlled Substance; Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute; and Assault on Federal Officers. In December 2012, Sanchez pleaded guilty to Distribution of a Controlled Substance and he was sentenced to Federal prison. During his change of plea hearing, Sanchez admitted he posed a substantial danger to the DEA Special Agent, the other officers on the scene, and the public. Nevertheless, Sanchez filed this civil suit, alleging his civil rights were violated when he was shot.
Chief Judge Malouf-Peterson found that the Special Agent was immune from prosecution because his decision to shoot at Sanchez did not violate a clearly established constitutional right given that Sanchez’s action posed a risk of death or serious bodily injury to the Special Agent and others on the scene. Chief Judge Malouf-Peterson also found that the shooting of Sanchez was reasonable under the United States Supreme Court’s 1989 analysis of constitutional rights violations.
Michael C. Ormsby stated, “Claims of civil rights violation are taken seriously. But, when meritless lawsuits are brought, this office will vigorously defend such lawsuits and protect the public purse.”
This case was defended by Rudy J. Verschoor, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Ex-San Fernando Valley Man Extradited from Mexico to Face Wildlife Trafficking Charges Related to Illegal Export of South American FishRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – Mexico has extradited an American citizen who formerly lived in West Hills to face federal charges related to the illegal trafficking of the world’s largest freshwater fish, a South American species known as Arapaima gigas.
Isaac Zimerman, 66, is expected to appear this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. He was extradited last week and arrived in the United States on September 24.
Zimerman was charged in a 13-count indictment with using his company, the Hawthorne-based River Wonders LLC, to import piranhas and river stingrays into the United States. Zimerman allegedly possessed those fish in California, and then they were advertised for sale, sold to customers, and shipped to states outside of California. The indictment also contains allegations that Zimerman engaged in additional criminal conduct related to the falsification of documents, obstruction of proceedings, false statements, and smuggling of protected Arapaima gigas from the United States while on pre-trial release.
Zimerman was initially charged in 2009, along with his company and his wife, Leonor Catalina Zimerman. While Leonor Zimerman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense in 2010, Isaac Zimerman fled the United States that same year after prosecutors filed additional charges alleging that he continued to illegally export fish while on bond. Special agents with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) tracked Zimerman’s movements through Europe, to Israel and eventually to Mexico.
On March 3, 2015, concluding a four-year manhunt, Zimerman was arrested near Metepec, Mexico. During his flight to avoid prosecution, Zimerman changed his appearance and took other steps to avoid detection and arrest.
The Mexican government permitted Zimerman to be extradited to the United States on two of the felony charges related to the illegal exportation of Arapaima gigas.
If he is convicted of the two charges in the indictment that were the subject of the extradition, Zimerman would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Leonor Zimerman pleaded guilty in 2010 to a misdemeanor count of illegal fish trafficking. She was sentenced by United States District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank in January 2011 to 21 months of probation and was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.
The arrest of Isaac Zimerman concluded a four-year manhunt led by FWS, which received assistance from the Mexico City attaché of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FWS Intel Unit, Interpol, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
Dorchester Gang Member Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking of MinorsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dorchester man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for sex trafficking of minors.
“Sex traffickers recruit young women from families across the economic spectrum,” said Carmen M. Ortiz, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “No family, no matter how well educated or well off is immune. Traffickers prey upon the vulnerabilities of impressionable young people, and while it is the job of law enforcement to bring traffickers to justice, it is the duty of all to shield young people from predators such as this defendant.”
“A recent trend among sex predators and traffickers is the evolving use of modern communications tools to ‘groom’ a potential victim,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre, of HSI Boston. “Mr. Pledger’s use of these tools to attempt to lure his child victims into sexual slavery tears at the very fabric of our community. Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work aggressively in cooperation with our federal, state and local partners to attack, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that harm the vulnerable members of society through such despicable means.”
Anthony Pledger, a/k/a “Polo,” “Polo B,” and “Jaden,” 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In February 2015, Pledger pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of two minor women after being indicted in February 2014.
In October 2013, Pledger brought 16 and 15-year-old girls from Massachusetts to Providence, R.I. intending to have them engage in prostitution. The minors were rescued by Rhode Island and Massachusetts police officers before any prostitution occurred.
Judge Young described Pledger’s convictions as “horrific crimes … that have so changed the lives of the victims that it’s impossible to predict.”
The indictment also charged Miriam Kizzie, 21, with sex trafficking of two other minors (identified as Minors 3 and 4) in July 2013. In May 2015, Kizzie was sentenced to 153 months in prison for causing a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, to be advertised online for prostitution and to engage in prostitution.
Court documents alleged that both Pledger and Kizzie were members of the Thetford Avenue Buffalos, a local Boston street gang. As part of Pledger’s sentence, Judge Young ordered that Pledger may not have contact with other alleged members of the gang during the five years of Pledger’s supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz, HSI SAC Etre, and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans made the announcement today. The case was also investigated by the Rhode Island State Police, Massachusetts State Police, and the Brookline, Providence, Brockton, and Dedham Police Departments. Significant assistance was provided by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, and Plymouth, Middlesex and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and Timothy E. Moran of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team.
District Man Sentenced to over 19 Years in Prison for Multiple Shootings During Summer of 2013Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Darious Scales, 21, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 19 years and nine months in prison for various crimes that took place in July and August of 2013, including a series of shootings that followed his escape from a District of Columbia youth rehabilitation center, Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. announced today.
Scales was sentenced on Sept. 18, 2015, by the Honorable Robert E. Morin of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In one case, Scales pled guilty in June 2015 to escape, tampering with a GPS device, assault with intent to kill, robbery, and possession of an unregistered firearm, for a series of crimes he committed in July and August 2013. In a second case, he was found guilty by a jury in July 2015, of committing two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and related weapons offenses in connection with a shooting on Aug. 21, 2013. Following his prison term, Scales will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence in the first case, Scales escaped from a Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) facility on July 26, 2013. Shortly afterward, he cut off his electronic, GPS-monitored ankle bracelet.
Less than two weeks after his escape, early Aug. 9, 2013, Scales was walking in a parking lot in the 4300 block of 3rd Street SE, together with several unidentified associates. Scales then spotted a Special Police Officer who was responsible for providing security at a local apartment complex. Scales approached that Special Police Officer and shot at her, in an attempt to kill her. Scales missed the Special Police Officer and then fled the area. Just three minutes later, while Scales and his associates were walking down 3rd Street SE, they encountered a local resident who was on his way home from work. Scales and his associates robbed this victim at gunpoint and ordered him to stay on the ground while they fled the scene of the robbery. However, when the robbery victim started to get up and gather himself, he faced a barrage of gunfire. The robbery victim was not struck, but the bullets did break the windows of vehicles parked nearby.
The second case involved a shooting that took place on the evening of Aug. 21, 2013. Scales, armed with a 9-mm handgun and still in escape status with DYRS, went into the 4200 block of 4th Street SE, looking for individuals he believed were verbally harassing and threatening a friend of his. He found two of those individuals, at least one of whom was already armed himself, and engaged in a gun battle with them. During the resulting exchange of gunfire, Timothy Dawkins, 24, was fatally shot, most likely by a bullet fired by a person at whom Scales was shooting. No one else was struck by gunfire during that incident.
Scales was arrested on Oct. 1, 2013.
In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Lynette Briggs and Sandra Lane; Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling; Victim/Witness Advocate James Brennan; Victim/Witness Security Specialist David Foster; and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Liebman, Kondi Kleinman, Demian S. Ahn, Tejpal Chawla, Jin Park, and Katherine Earnest, who investigated and prosecuted these cases.
Detroit man sentenced to 57 months in Federal prison for role in heroin conspiracyRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Detroit man who participated in a heroin conspiracy that funneled multiple kilograms of heroin into the Huntington area in 2012 and 2013 was sentenced today to 57 months in federal prison, announced U. S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Darius Jerome Perry, 32, previously pleaded guilty in federal court in Huntington in February of 2015 to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
From the summer of 2012 to August of 2013, Perry conspired with other individuals to distribute heroin in the Huntington area. During the conspiracy, shipments of heroin were frequently made from Michigan to Huntington. Perry and other co-conspirators used multiple residences in Huntington to prepare, store and distribute heroin.
On August 21, 2013, agents executed a search warrant at a residence in the 200 block of 8th Avenue in Huntington. During the search, agents seized over 130 grams of heroin and over $10,000 in cash. On August 22, 2013, agents executed a second search warrant at the same residence where they located and seized an additional $3,000 in cash concealed in a television. Perry admitted to selling heroin from the home and that the heroin seized from the agents was his.
Perry is the last defendant to be sentenced for his involvement in the conspiracy. Others previously sentenced include Christopher Jermaine Taylor of Detroit who received 138 months in federal prison, Bryant Donavan Taylor of Detroit who received 78 months in federal prison, Kenneth D. Bowden of Detroit who received 97 months in federal prison, Robert Lamar Payne of Detroit who received 87 months in federal prison, Derrick Wayne Goodwin of Detroit who received 74 months in federal prison, and Lakeisha Sherrell Williams of Detroit who received 37 months in federal prison.
The Huntington FBI Drug Task Force and Huntington Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
- Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews
Department of Justice Awards $150,000 to the City of New Orleans to Develop and Strengthen Criminal Justice and Community Partnerships to Address Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and StalkingRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced today that, as part of 44 awards totaling over $26 million in funding through the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women’s Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program, the City of New Orleans was awarded $150,000 grant. The City will use the grant to continue an established process to evaluate and assess the criminal justice system’s response to domestic violence criminal cases and a unified agreed upon protocol that will hold accountable a system response that adheres to the six foundational principles of the Blueprint for Safety model.
The Blueprint for safety is a set of plans for interagency case processing in the criminal justice system, anchored in six foundational principles:
- Adhere to an interagency approach and collective intervention goals;
- Build attention to the context and severity of the abuse into each intervention;
- Recognize that most domestic violence is a patterned crime requiring continuing engagement with victims of abuse and offenders;
- Ensure sure and swift consequences for continued abuse;
- Use the authority of the criminal justice system to send messages of help and accountability; and
- Act in ways that reduce unintended consequences and the disparity of impact on victims and offenders.
“Sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are serious crimes that require a robust criminal justice system response in coordination with community based organizations and victim service providers,” said Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. “This program challenges the whole community to work together to identify barriers and develop solutions that enhance victim safety and hold offenders accountable.”
“I thank the Office on Violence Against Women for this grant award,” stated U.S. Attorney Polite. “It will assist the City of New Orleans in its efforts to combat domestic violence, which often appears as a root cause of the city’s larger violence issues.”
About the Office on Violence Against Women:
Created in 1995, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides federal leadership in developing the Nation’s capacity to reduce violence against women through the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent legislation. OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. To learn more, visit www.justice.gov/ovw.
Defense Contractor Agrees to Pay $4.63 Million to Settle Overcharging AllegationsRead the Press Release
L-3 Communications Corporation, Vertex Aerospace LLC and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (collectively L-3) have agreed to pay $4.63 million to resolve allegations that they inflated labor hours for time spent by independent contractors at the military’s Continental U.S. Replacement Centers (CRC) in Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Bliss, Texas, preparing to deploy to overseas posts to support U.S. military operations abroad. The CRCs prepare individuals for deployment by providing orientation briefings, training, health screenings, payroll processing and addressing other administrative matters.
“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously pursuing all those who knowingly submit false claims under government contracts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Contractors that seek taxpayer funds must be scrupulous in their billing, and invoice only for work and amounts permitted by their contracts.”
L-3 performed rotary aviation maintenance and support services for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and Kuwait under contracts with the U.S. Air Force. The United States alleges that from 2006 through November 2011, L-3 knowingly overcharged the government for time their independent contractors spent at the CRCs by billing for each individual not based on the actual time that individual spent at the CRC, but based instead on the earliest arrival or latest departure time of any other individual who also processed through the center that same day.
“Contractors owe a duty to the taxpayers to accurately bill the United States for the actual work performed,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn of the Northern District of Georgia. “This settlement demonstrates our commitment to hold contractors accountable for false billing and restore wrongfully taken funds to the military.”
“This collaborative investigative effort reflects the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s commitment to protecting American taxpayers’ interests by ensuring integrity and accountability throughout the Defense contracting system,” said Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Southeast Field Office.
“Today’s settlement is a testament to the hard work of our special agents and also highlights the importance of the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act,” said Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “In this particular case, a concerned citizen wasn’t afraid to speak up, alerted the proper authorities, and helped save the U.S. government millions of dollars.”
The allegations settled today arose from a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower, Robert A. Martin, a former L-3 independent contractor, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. Mr. Martin will receive $798,675 from the recovery announced today.
This case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, with the assistance of DCIS, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit and the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Martin v. L-3 Communications Corp., et al., 1:10-CV-1622-CAP (N.D. Ga.). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Defense Contractor Agrees to Pay $4.63 Million to Settle Overcharging AllegationsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - The United States Attorney’s Office announced that L-3 Communications Corporation, Vertex Aerospace LLC and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (collectively L-3) have agreed to pay $4.63 million to resolve allegations that they inflated labor hours for time spent by independent contractors at the military’s Continental U.S. Replacement Centers (CRC) in Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Bliss, Texas, preparing to deploy to overseas posts to support U.S. military operations abroad. The CRCs prepare individuals for deployment by providing orientation briefings, training, health screenings, payroll processing and addressing other administrative matters.
“Contractors owe a duty to the taxpayers to accurately bill the United States for the actual work performed,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This settlement demonstrates our commitment to hold contractors accountable for false billing and restore wrongfully taken funds to the military.”
“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously pursuing all those who knowingly submit false claims under government contracts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Contractors that seek taxpayer funds must be scrupulous in their billing, and invoice only for work and amounts permitted by their contracts.”
L-3 performed rotary aviation maintenance and support services for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and Kuwait under contracts with the U.S. Air Force. The United States alleges that from 2006 through November 2011, L-3 knowingly overcharged the government for time their independent contractors spent at the CRCs by billing for each individual not based on the actual time that individual spent at the CRC, but based instead on the earliest arrival or latest departure time of any other individual who also processed through the center that same day.
“This collaborative investigative effort reflects the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s commitment to protecting American taxpayers’ interests by ensuring integrity and accountability throughout the Defense contracting system,” said John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, DCIS-Southeast Field Office.
“This settlement is a testament to the hard work of our special agents and also highlights the importance of the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act,” said Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “In this particular case, a concerned citizen wasn’t afraid to speak up, alerted the proper authorities, and helped save the U.S. government millions of dollars.”
The allegations settled arose from a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower, Robert A. Martin, a former L-3 independent contractor, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. Mr. Martin will receive $798,675 from the recovery announced.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit, with assistance from the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The civil settlement was reached by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Huber and Trial Attorneys from the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Martin v. L-3 Communications Corp., et al., 1:10-CV-1622-CAP (N.D. Ga.). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.
Columbia Man Indicted for Drug Trafficking, Firearm Found in Bed with InfantRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for drug trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm. At the time of his arrest, law enforcement officers discovered illegal drugs and several firearms at this residence, including a firearm hidden under a pillow on a bed where an infant lay.
Ramelus D. Bradley, 34, of Columbia, Mo., was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Bradley on Aug. 21, 2015.
The federal indictment charges Bradley with one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute. Both offenses allegedly occurred on Aug. 21, 2015.
Today’s indictment also alleges that Bradley was in possession of a Ruger 9mm pistol on Aug. 21, 2015.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Bradley has two prior felony convictions for distributing a controlled substance, two prior felony convictions for trafficking drugs, two prior felony convictions for resisting arrest and a prior felony conviction for possessing a controlled substance.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officers conducted surveillance on Bradley and executed a search warrant at his residence on Aug. 21, 2015. After officers knocked on the front door, announced their presence with a state search warrant, and received no response, a forced entry was made into the residence. Officers immediately saw Bradley (the sole adult occupant of the residence) standing in the living room in his underwear. Officers later determined that Bradley had been within arm’s reach of three firearms at the time of their entry into the residence. Officers observed approximately 22 grams of marijuana at Bradley’s feet on the living room floor in plain sight. During a protective sweep of the residence, officers discovered two infants in an upstairs bedroom.
During their search of the residence, officers discovered and seized three firearms and ammunition from the living room, and one firearm under a pillow on the bed in the upstairs master bedroom. One of the infants was laying on this bed, and the other infant was in a baby swing in the same room. Officers also seized $12,258 from a pocket of Bradley’s shorts, and approximately 22 grams of marijuana from the living room floor.
Officers also discovered approximately 6.5 ounces of cocaine, numerous unidentified pills, and marijuana, all of which had been pre-packaged for sale, as well as a digital scale with cocaine residue, inside the center console of Bradley’s pick-up.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Bradley to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including $12,258 that was seized by law enforcement officers.
Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart J. Zander. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
Colorado Man Sentenced for Illegally Trafficking in PaddlefishRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Colorado man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally trafficking in paddlefish caviar after being caught in an undercover operation in the Warsaw, Mo., area.
In support of Missouri’s paddlefish conservation efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted a covert investigation, “Operation Roadhouse,” centered on an area known as the Roadhouse in Warsaw. As part of the covert operation, state and federal officers operated a paddlefish snagging business. Covert officers also sold paddlefish to people who were interested in buying them.
Felix Baravik, 49, of Aurora, Colorado, was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. The first three months of probation will be served as home detention, and Baravik shall not fish, or accompany anyone fishing, anywhere in the world during the term of his probation. Baravik must also perform 500 hours of community service.
On Aug. 20, 2014, Baravik pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally trafficking in paddlefish, in violation of the Lacey Act.
Baravik admitted that he traveled from Colorado to Missouri on April 16, 2012. On that day, he and his co-conspirators met with covert Fish and Wildlife Service agents posing as fishermen who had a boat, which they were going to use to fish for paddlefish. During that conversation, conspirators exchanged telephone numbers with the covert agents and Baravik told the covert agents to call if they caught a paddlefish. Conspirators purchased two female paddlefish from the covert agents. Conspirators also purchased three more female paddlefish from other sources and harvested paddlefish in excess of the Missouri take and possession limits. They processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.
Co-defendants Arkadiy Lvovskiy, 54, of Aurora, Colo., and Dmitri Elitchev, 49, of Centennial, Colo., have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to illegally traffic in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act. Co-defendant Artour Magdessian, 48, of Lone Tree, Colo., pleaded guilty to trafficking in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act.
Lvovskiy and Elitchev admitted that in April 2011 they traveled to Warsaw, where they illegally purchased five female paddlefish and a container of paddlefish eggs. They processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado. Lvovskiy and Elitchev also admitted that they returned to Warsaw in March 2012 and purchased eight more female paddlefish. They processed the eggs into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado. Lvovskiy, Elitchev, and Magdessian again traveled to Warsaw in April 2012 with Baravik.
The retail value of the paddlefish caviar at issue in this case is estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000.
The Lacey Act
The Lacey Act is a federal statute which makes it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase fish that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any state, or to attempt to do so. Such conduct constitutes a felony crime if the defendant knowingly engaged in conduct involving the purchase or sale, offer to purchase or sell, or intent to purchase or sell, fish with a market value in excess of $350, knowing that the fish were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, a law or regulation of any state.
Paddlefish Trafficking
The American paddlefish (Polydon spathula), also called the Mississippi paddlefish or the “spoonbill,” is a freshwater fish that is primarily found in the Mississippi River drainage system. Paddlefish eggs are marketed as caviar. Paddlefish were once common in waters throughout the Midwest. However, the global decline in other caviar sources, such as sturgeon, has led to an increased demand for paddlefish caviar. This increased demand has led to over-fishing of paddlefish, and consequent decline of the paddlefish population.
Missouri law prohibits the transportation of paddlefish eggs which have been removed or extracted from a paddlefish carcass. Missouri law also prohibits the sale or purchase, or offer of sale or purchase, of paddlefish eggs. There are also several restrictions on the purchase and possession of whole paddlefish in Missouri.
This case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney James B. Nelson of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. It was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation, with assistance by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
City of Compton Becomes Part of Justice Department-Sponsored Violence Reduction NetworkRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker and Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell today announced that the City of Compton has been selected to become part of the Violence Reduction Network, a Justice Department program that focuses on providing effective assistance to cities most affected by chronic violence.
Compton becomes part of the second group of cities to become part of VRN, which was launched last year to create opportunities for cities to directly engage with the United States Department of Justice in developing strategies to combat chronic, violent crime. The two-year program will enable Sheriff’s Department officials at the Compton Station to work closely with the Department of Justice and city officials to address 12 key areas, including gang violence and prevention, human trafficking, mental illness and homelessness, at-risk youth and trust-building in the community.
“This initiative presents a unique opportunity to work in partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office, our federal law enforcement partners, community leaders, and the City of Compton as we work together to develop enhanced strategies for violence reduction” said Sheriff McDonnell. “While we have made many great strides over the years in addressing violent crime in the Compton community, we know all too well that challenges remain and we owe it to the men, women and children of Compton to develop new thinking that will enable us to be doing more on their behalf. I am confident that today’s launch will not simply improve public safety in the City of Compton, but also make crime reduction strategies in Compton a model for other cities around the nation.”
United States Attorney Decker commented: “For decades, Compton has been deeply affected by violence linked to gangs and other criminal activity. The residents of Compton deserve safe neighborhoods and parks where their children can play. We are committed to helping city officials and Sheriff McDonnell make meaningful and long-lasting improvements to the daily lives of Compton residents.”
Compton is one of five cities selected today by the Justice Department as partners in the fight against chronic violence (see: http://go.usa.gov/3zbtR).
As part of the Violence Reduction Network, an Assistant United States Attorney has been designated to work out of the Sheriff’s Department’s Compton Station to coordinate resources. The United States Attorney’s Office also will work closely with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to coordinate criminal prosecutions in federal and state courts.
Four Justice Department agencies have committed significant resources and will work closely with the Sheriff’s Department. Those agencies are the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Violence Reduction Network will provide the Sheriff’s Department with technical assistance and access to resources as part of a robust violent crime strategy that will be supported by federal law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department program seeks to maximize resources to ensure that cities dealing with chronic violence have a strategic way to access resources such as training and exposure to evidence-based best practices across the country. Compton was selected to be part of VRN, in part, because of LASD Sheriff McDonnell’s recognition of the value and benefits presented by this unique opportunity, as well as the deep commitment of LASD and local government officials to partnerships and civic engagement aimed at crime reduction.
For the next two years, the Sheriff’s Department and the City of Compton will benefit in a number of ways. The core components of the Violence Reduction Network include expedited access to subject matter experts who can provide training and insight into the critical issues – such as use of force, community trust-building and information sharing with peer-to-peer exchanges – that can provide a more thorough understanding of what drives violent crime and what solutions have worked in other cities.
In addition to access to training and evidence-based solutions to community-building and crime reduction, the Violence Reduction Network also enables Compton Station’s gang enforcement, narcotics detectives and cyber-crimes teams to strategically partner with Justice Department components on intelligence gathering, sharing, warrants service and major operations.
Caldwell Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
BOISE –Marcus Emilio Villarreal, 27, of Caldwell, Idaho, was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Villarreal to serve five years of supervised release following his release from prison. Villarreal pleaded guilty on July 6, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, Villarreal admitted that he began working with others to distribute methamphetamine in approximately October 2013. The coconspirators provided Villarreal with methamphetamine that he would sell before receiving additional methamphetamine. Law enforcement officers seized 123 grams of methamphetamine from a coconspirator in November 2013. Villarreal is a documented gang member and during the court hearing today, Judge Winmill ordered Villarreal to have no contact with gang members upon release from prison.
The case was investigated by the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force, the Caldwell Police Department, and the Idaho State Police. The Metro Task Force is comprised of federal, state and local agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Boise Police Department; Ada County Sheriff’s Office; Caldwell Police Department; Nampa Police Department; Meridian Police Department; Canyon County Sheriff’s Office; and the Idaho Department of Correction.
The case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Treasure Valley Partnership and the State of Idaho to address gang crimes. The Treasure Valley Partnership is comprised of a group of elected officials in southwest Idaho dedicated to regional coordination, cooperation, and collaboration on creating coherent regional growth. For more information, visit treasurevalleypartners.org.
Buffalo Man Charged with Assaulting A Probation OfficerRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that John Hunt, 39, of Buffalo, NY, was charged by criminal complaint with assault of a federal officer. The charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.Assistant U.S. Attorney Caleb J. Petzoldt, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on September 11, 2015, two U.S. Probation officers went to the defendant’s home on Sweet Avenue in Buffalo to conduct an unscheduled home visit. While attempting to make contact with Hunt, one of the officers noticed a strong smell of gas and a gas shutoff notice on the porch. The officer asked the defendant to step put on the porch to talk. The Buffalo Police and Fire Departments were also called to investigate the smell of gas coming from the residence.
The complaint further states that when Buffalo Police and Fire arrived, Hunt became agitated. As a result, one of the officers attempted to handcuff the defendant but Hunt refused the order to place his hands behind his back and attempted to go back into the residence. In doing so, the defendant struck one of the officers twice in the face, once on the side of the head and once in the mouth. As a result, the officer suffered a scalp bruise and an injured jaw.
The defendant made an initial appearance this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and is being detained.
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, and Buffalo Fire Department, under the direction of Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.
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.
Billings Man Sentenced for Child PornRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Billings, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.
James Hayden McClelland, 22, of Billings, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to five years in federal prison without parole.
On May 19, 2014, McClelland pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at McClelland’s residence on Aug. 16, 2012, and discovered videos and images of child pornography. McClelland admitted that he used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to download child pornography over the Internet.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the FBI and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Bakersfield, California, Man Indicted for Racial Intimidation and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today against Justin Whittington, 24, of Bakersfield, California, charging him with interfering with a person’s housing rights because of his race, color or national origin by use of force or threat of force, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm and making a false statement to a special agent of the FBI, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and U. S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California.
According to court documents, on Dec. 19, 2012, Whittington shouted racist slurs at a Latino man outside the Latino man’s home in Oildale, California, and fired a sawed off shot gun in an attempt to intimidate and interfere with the victim’s occupancy of his home because of his race, color or national origin.
This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and the Kern County, California, Sheriff’s Office. Trial Attorney Samantha Trepel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney of the Eastern District of California are prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Whittington faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Bakersfield Man Arrested for Hate Crime, Firearm, and False Statement ChargesRead the Press Release
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Justin Whittington, 24, of Bakersfield, was arrested today charged with interfering with a person’s housing rights because of his race, color, or national origin by use of force or threat of force, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm, and making a false statement to a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.
On September 24, 2015, a federal grand jury returned the four-count indictment, which was unsealed after Whittington’s arrest. According to the indictment, on December 19, 2012, Whittington shouted racist slurs and fired a sawed-off shotgun at a Latino man while the man and his family were standing outside their home in Oildale. The indictment alleges that Whittington took these actions in an attempt to intimidate and interfere with the victim’s occupancy of his home because of the victim’s race, color or national origin.
The indictment further states that Whittington later made false statements to an FBI agent when he falsely claimed that on the evening of the incident, he had been paid by someone to keep the sawed-off shotgun in the trunk of his car.
“The use of racially motivated violence and threats of violence to intimidate persons in connection with their choice of housing is a criminal act,” said United States Attorney Wagner. “Investigating and prosecuting those who violate the civil rights of others will continue to be one of the core missions of this office.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trial Attorney Samantha Trepel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
If convicted, Whittington faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Amarillo Men Face Lengthy Federal Prison Terms After Admitting They Trafficked Large Quantity of Liquid MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
AMARILLO, Texas — Richard Madrigal, 42, and Damian Erik Alcala, 37, both of Amarillo, Texas, appeared this morning in federal court before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson and each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Each has been in federal custody since his arrest this summer on a related federal criminal complaint. Each faces a statutory penalty of not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison and a $10 million fine. A sentencing date was not set.
According to documents filed in the case, law enforcement learned that a green Chevy Blazer, with Chihuahua registration, was to arrive in Amarillo from El Paso, Texas, and that the vehicle was transporting a methamphetamine solution concealed in its fuel tank. On July 17, 2015, law enforcement observed Alcala, driving a white Toyota Camry, and Madrigal, driving a green Chevy Blazer, arrive at a residence on Houston Street in Amarillo. Shortly thereafter, both left the residence in the white Camry. Several minutes later, they returned to the residence and Madrigal left in the white Camry. When officers with the Amarillo Police Department arrived to secure the residence, Alcala fled on foot. Officers with the Amarillo Police Department apprehended Madrigal and brought him back to the residence.
During the subsequent execution of a search warrant at the residence, law enforcement found three Tupperware containers containing crystal methamphetamine in the kitchen. Two semi-automatic pistols were also found in the residence.
When law enforcement searched the green Chevy Blazer that was parked in the garage, they removed its fuel tank and extracted approximately 84 pounds of liquid methamphetamine from the fuel tank.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Amarillo Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto is in charge of the prosecution.
# # #
Alleged Members of the Gangster Disciples Indicted for Roles in Attempted Murder of Five TeensRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Several alleged members of the Gangster Disciples have been indicted federally for their roles in the attempted murder of five teenagers in South Memphis.
U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III; Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich; Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong; Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham; Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Steven Gerido; and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Todd McCall announced the superseding indictment today.
According to the superseding indictment, Ranito Allen, aka Nito, 35; Florence Anthony, aka Nikki, 36; Edwin Carvin, aka Ren, 38; Brandon Milton, aka Lil Folk, 30; and Erik Reese, aka E, 35, all of Memphis, were charged with five counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, among other offenses. Candies Wesley, 29, also of Memphis, was charged with being an accessory after the fact of attempted murder in aid of racketeering.
Alleged gang member Robert Mallory, aka Rambo, 33, was previously charged in this case. He remains charged in the superseding indictment.
As the superseding indictment alleges, all seven defendants are members of the Gangster Disciples, which is a nationally-known organized street gang that originated in the Chicago area and spread to other regions of the United States, including Memphis and surrounding areas. The Gangster Disciples are responsible for committing multiple acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault. The gang is also responsible for distributing large quantities of narcotics and trafficking firearms.
In June 2014, the defendants allegedly participated in the attempted murder of five teenagers in South Memphis for the purpose of gaining entrance to, maintaining or increasing their position in the Gangster Disciples.
Six of the defendants – Ranito Allen; Florence Anthony; Edwin Carvin; Brandon Milton; Robert Mallory; and Erik Reese – were charged with five counts of attempted murder. They each were also charged with five counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, aiding and abetting.
Mallory, Allen, and Carvin have all also been charged with being felons in possession of firearms.
This case is being investigated by the FBI, which is a part of the Multi-Agency Gang Unit (MGU). MGU is also comprised of the Memphis Police Department; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office; and the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry Kitchen and Sam Stringfellow and David N. Karpel of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, in cooperation with the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office.
The charges contained in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Alleged Members of Gangster Disciples Indicted for Roles in Five Attempted MurdersRead the Press Release
Six alleged members of the violent Gangster Disciples Gang have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in the attempted murders of five teenagers in South Memphis, Tennessee. Three alleged gang members previously had been charged in this case.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III of the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement.
Ranito Allen, aka Nito, 35; Florence Anthony, aka Nikki, 36; Edwin Carvin, aka Ren, 38; Brandon Milton, aka Lil Folk, 30; and Erik Reese, aka E, 35, all of Memphis, Tennessee, were charged in a superseding indictment unsealed today with five counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and related firearms offenses. In addition, Candice Wesley, 29, of Memphis, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
According to the superseding indictment, the defendants are members of the Gangster Disciples, which is a nationally-known organized street gang that originated in the Chicago area and spread to other regions of the United States, including the greater Memphis area. The superseding indictment alleges that members and associates of the Gangster Disciples engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault, as well as narcotics distribution and other criminal activities.
Specifically, the superseding indictment charges the defendants with participating in the attempted murders of five teenagers in South Memphis on or about June 21, 2014. According to the superseding indictment, the defendants did so for the purpose of gaining entrance to, or maintaining or increasing their positions in, the Gangster Disciples.
Tony Coburn, aka Blue, 26; Robert Mallory, aka Rambo, 33; and Almeda Burgess, aka Big Heavy, 28, previously were charged in this case. Mallory remains charged in the superseding indictment. Coburn pleaded guilty on July 28, 2015, to his role in the shootings, and Burgess pleaded guilty on Sept. 9, 2015, to being an accessory after the fact.
The charges and allegations in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by a multi-agency task force consisting of the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Memphis Multi-Agency Gang Unit; the Memphis Police Department; the Shelby County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office and the Atascosa County, Tennessee, District Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by David N. Karpel of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry Kitchen and Sam Stringfellow of the Western District of Tennessee. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has provided substantial assistance.
Mallory et al Superseding Indictment
4 Involved in Inland Empire Loan Modification Scam that Targeted Financially Distressed Homeowners Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
RIVERSIDE, California – Four people who worked at a Rancho Cucamonga business that offered bogus loan modification programs to thousands of financially distressed homeowners – victims who lost more than $7 million when they paid for services that were never provided – were sentenced today to federal prison, with one of the leaders of the scheme being ordered to spend 20 years in custody.
The Southland residents sentenced today were convicted of federal fraud charges for their roles in a telemarketing operation known under a series of names – including 21st Century Legal Services, Inc. – that bilked more than 4,000 homeowners across the nation, many of whom lost their homes to foreclosure.
The defendants sentenced today by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips were:
• Christopher Paul George, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga, a co-owner of 21st Century, who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison;
• Crystal Taiwana Buck, 40, of Long Beach, a sales “closer” who persuaded numerous victims to pay fees to 21st Century, who received a sentence of five years;
• Albert DiRoberto, 62, of Fullerton, who handled both sales and marketing – which included making a commercial for 21st Century and preparing talking points to respond to negative publicity – was sentenced to five years in prison; and
• Yadira Garcia Padilla, 38, of Rancho Cucamonga – who handled client complaints and refund requests, and who posted bogus positive reviews about 21st Century on the Internet – was sentenced to four years in prison.
George, Buck and DiRoberto were sentenced after being found guilty by a federal jury in June on various fraud charges. Padilla pleaded guilty in 2013.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Phillips today ordered George to pay $7,065,117 in restitution to victims of the scam. Buck, DiRoberto and Padilla were ordered to return to court next month for restitution hearings.
A total of 11 defendants linked to 21st Century have been convicted of federal fraud charges as a result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; IRS - Criminal Investigation; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP); and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General.
During a 15-month period that began in the middle of 2008, a Rancho Cucamonga woman – Andrea Ramirez, 47, who previously pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Phillips of November 15 – operated 21st Century, which defrauded financially distressed homeowners by making false promises and guarantees regarding 21st Century’s ability to negotiate loan modifications for homeowners. Employees of 21st Century made numerous misrepresentations to victims during the course of the scheme, including falsely telling victims that 21st Century was operating a loan modification program sponsored by the United States government. Victims were generally instructed to stop communicating with their mortgage lenders and to cease making their mortgage payments.
In addition to being a co-owner of 21st Century, George acted as a sales manager, and he ran his own sales office there for several months. George instructed 21st Century employees to make misrepresentations to distressed homeowners, including guaranteeing that 21st Century would obtain loan modifications and telling homeowners that payments made to 21st Century would go towards homeowners’ mortgages.
21st Century employees contacted distressed homeowners through cold calls, newspaper ads and mailings, and the company controlled websites that advertised loan modification services. Once they contacted the distressed homeowners, 21st Century employees often falsely told clients that the company was operating through a federal government program, that they would be able to obtain new mortgages with specific interest rates and reduced payments, and that attorneys would negotiate loan modifications with their lenders. 21st Century employees regularly instructed financially distressed homeowners to cease making mortgage payments to their lenders and to cut off all contact with their lenders because they were being represented by 21st Century. On some occasions, 21st Century employees told homeowners that 21st Century was using the fees paid by the homeowner to make mortgage payments, when Ramirez, George and their co-defendants simply were pocketing the homeowners’ money.
In addition to Ramirez and the four sentenced today, six other defendants previously pleaded guilty. They are:
• Michael Bruce Bates, of Moreno Valley, who is scheduled to be sentenced on October 19;
• Michael Lewis Parker, of Pomona, who is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19;
• Catalina Deleon, of Glendora, who is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14;
• Hamid Reza Shalviri, of Montebello, who is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7;
• Mindy Sue Holt, of San Bernardino, who is scheduled to be sentenced on October 26; and
• Iris Melissa Pelayo, of Upland, who has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.
$2.6 Million Recovered Through Settlement of False Claims Act Allegations Against American Access CareRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), New England Region, announced today that American Access Care Holdings, LLC, (AAC) which handled billings and claims submitted by a vascular access center formerly operated by AAC in Providence, R.I., has agreed to pay $2.6 million dollars to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act as a result of conduct at its Providence access center.
Among other services, access care facilities address complications with dialysis access for patients with kidney disease. In this case, the Government alleged that AAC violated the False Claims Act through its knowing submission of three types of claims: (1) billing Medicare for percutaneous transluminal angioplasties (PTAs) that were medically unnecessary under Medicare guidance; (2) billing for more PTAs per patient encounter than permitted; and (3) billing for medically unnecessary procedures during follow-up visits.
“Doctors and companies that choose to collect federal healthcare dollars must do so with a clear understanding that those dollars come with responsibilities – first and foremost, that all care is billed because it’s necessary for the patient, not the bottom line,” announced U.S. Attorney Neronha. “Today’s settlement is a reminder that we will continue to vigorously police compliance with program standards to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent only in the appropriate manner.”
“Health care providers will not be permitted to provide unnecessary medical procedures – in this case, invasive procedures -- on patients and then pocket the improper payments they receive as a result," said Special Agent in Charge Philip Coyne of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “Our agency is dedicated to investigating health care fraud schemes that divert scarce taxpayer funds meant to provide for legitimate patient care.”
The government’s case was resolved under the federal False Claims Act, which allows the United States to recover federal funds that are paid out as a result of knowingly false or fraudulent claims, along with multiple damages. The Rhode Island settlement is concluded simultaneously with the resolution of claims against AAC by the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and follows a third settlement against this company in the Southern District of Florida, in the case United States ex rel. Souza v. American Access Care of Miami, LLC (S.D. Fla.).
Former AAC facilities, including the one in Providence, are now operated by Fresenius Vascular Care, Inc. The conduct addressed by the settlement agreement took place prior to the merger between the two entities.
The investigation of this matter is the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island and HHS-OIG.
The matter was litigated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Cunha and Mary E. Rogers.
###
Contact:
Jim Martin (401) 709-5357
email: [email protected]
on Twitter @USAO_RI
26 September 2015
U.S. Attorney’s Office Joins DEA for 10th National Prescription Drug Take-BackRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – This Saturday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will join the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for its 10th National Prescription Drug Take-Back. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and Michael Stanfill, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Atlanta Field Division – Memphis Resident Office, announced the collaboration today.
"Prescription drug abuse constitutes one of the greatest public safety and public health epidemics of our time, inflicting devastating, long-term effects on individuals – and destroying families, neighborhoods, and entire communities. Join our fight against this issue by ridding your medicine cabinets of any unneeded prescription drugs."
The Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place in West Tennessee and nationwide Saturday, September 26th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Collection sites will be set up throughout local communities for residents to safely dispose their unused, unwanted, and/or expired prescription drugs. Residents can visit
www.dea.gov to view the sites for every local community. New take-back locations will be added to the website on a continuous basis.
The nine Take-Backs that have occurred over the last four years have produced substantial results: More than 4.8 million pounds (2,411 tons) of prescription drugs have been collected by law enforcement. The last Take-Back event in September 2014 garnered 617,150 pounds (309 tons) of unwanted medicine across the country. In Tennessee, there were 11,510 pounds of prescription drugs disposed of by residents during last year’s take-back.
"Prescription drug abuse is a huge problem, and this is a great opportunity for folks around the country to help reduce the threat," Stanfill said. "Please clean out your medicine cabinet and make your home safe from drug theft and abuse."
Prescription drug abuse has grown into a nationwide epidemic over recent years. It's the fastest-growing illicit drug issue in the country, according to the DEA's "National Drug Threat Assessment." Two and a half times more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than those using cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants combined. Furthermore, a significant amount of people suffer accidental poisonings and overdoses due to overconsumption of prescription drugs.
Launched in 2010, the Prescription Drug Take-Backs are a way to spread awareness of, and help suppress, pharmaceutical-controlled substance abuse, distribution, and theft across the country. Studies have revealed that many of those who abuse prescription drugs obtain them from family and friends. Furthermore, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
In addition to dea.gov, other websites adults and children can visit to educate themselves on the dangers of legal and illegal drugs are
www.justhinktwice.com and www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com.
25 September 2015
Yakima Man Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment for CarjackingRead the Press Release
Spokane – Today, Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Samuel Luis Gutierrez, age 33, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, on November 10, 2014, at approximately 5:34 p.m., a female parked her vehicle at the Harmon Senior Center located in Yakima, Washington. The female subsequently exited the vehicle. Gutierrez observed the female in the parking lot. He approached the victim from behind and demanded the keys to the vehicle. The victim turned around and observed that Gutierrez was brandishing a firearm. He again demanded the keys to the vehicle. Gutierrez stole the vehicle and several personal items belonging to the victim. The incident was immediately reported to the Yakima Police Department. Officers quickly responded to the area and observed the vehicle. As the events unfolded, Gutierrez exited the stolen vehicle and attempted run away. Officers later found Gutierrez outside of a residence. Personal property belonging to the victim was found on his person.
As the investigation proceeded, it was determined that Gutierrez had previously been convicted of Third Degree Rape of a Child, Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Delivery/Manufacture of Marijuana, and Assault with Intent to Cause Injury. Due to the nature of the offense as well as Gutierrez’s lengthy criminal history, the Yakima Police Department contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
On June 4, 2015, Gutierrez pled guilty to Brandishing of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence. Today, Senior United States District Court Judge Lonny R. Suko sentenced Gutierrez to 15 years imprisonment to be followed by 5 years of court supervision.
Michael C. Ormsby said, “The United States Attorney’s Office prosecutes aggressively those who engage in violent criminal behavior. The Yakima Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives worked together to successfully build a strong case. The hard work of the investigating officers/agents resulted in Gutierrez being removed from our community for the next 15 years.”
This investigation was conducted by the Yakima Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Tom Hanlon, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Westlake cardiologist convicted of overbilling for $7 million worth of unnecessary proceduresRead the Press Release
A Westlake cardiologist was convicted of performing unnecessary catheterizations, tests, stent insertions and causing unnecessary coronary artery bypass surgeries as part of a scheme to overbill Medicare and other insurers by $7.2 million, law enforcement officials said.
Dr. Harold Persaud, 56, was convicted of one count of health care fraud, 13 counts of making false statements and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from criminal activity. He was acquitted on one count of making a false statement.
“The evidence presented at this trial was troubling,” said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach. “Inflating Medicare billings alone would be bad enough. Falsifying cardiac care records, making an unnecessary referral for open heart surgery and performing needless and sometimes invasive heart tests and procedures is inconsistent with not only federal law but a doctor’s basic duty to his patients.”
“This doctor violated the sacred trust between doctor and patient by ordering unnecessary tests, procedures and surgeries to line his pockets,” said Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office. “He ripped off taxpayers and put patients’ lives at risk.”
“Medical providers have a duty and obligation to provide only those services that are medically necessary and are in the best interests of the patients under their care,” said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Chicago Region. “This conduct shows a disregard for patient needs in exchange for financial gain at taxpayer expense. The OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to identify fraudulent health care schemes and hold individuals accountable for their actions.”
Persaud had a private medical practice at 29099 Health Campus Drive in Westlake and had hospital privileges at Fairview Hospital, St. John’s Medical Center and Southwest General Hospital, according to court documents and trial testimony.
Persaud devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money from Medicare and other insurers. The scheme took place between Feb. 16, 2006, through June 28, 2012. According to according to court documents and trial testimony, his activities in furtherance of the scheme included:
- Persaud selected the billing code for each customer submitted to Medicare and private insurers, and used codes that reflected a service that was more costly than that which was actually performed;
- Persaud performed nuclear stress tests on patients that were not medically necessary;
- He knowingly recorded false results of patients’ nuclear stress tests to justify cardiac catheterization procedures that were not medically necessary;
- Persaud performed cardiac catheterizations on patients at the hospitals and falsely recorded the existence and extent of lesions (blockage) observed during the procedures;
- He recorded false symptoms in patient records to justify testing and procedures on patients;
- Persaud inserted cardiac stents in patients who did not have 70 percent or more blockage in the vessel that he stented and who did not have symptoms of blockage;
- He placed a stent in a stenosed artery that already had a functioning bypass, thus providing no medical benefit and increasing the risk of harm to the patient;
- He improperly referred patients for coronary artery bypass surgery when there was no medical necessity for such surgery, which benefitted Persaud by increasing the amount of follow-up testing he could perform and bill to Medicare and private insurers;
- Persaud performed medically unnecessary stent procedures, aortograms, renal angiograms and other procedures and tests.
As a result of this scheme, Persaud overbilled and caused the overbilling of Medicare and private insurers in the amount of approximately $7.2 million, of which Medicare and the private insurers paid approximately $1.5 million, according to the indictment.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael L. Collyer and Chelsea Rice following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General
Wellpinit Man, the Last of Three Individuals Involved in a Violent Assault, Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that that the last of three individuals involved in a drug-related violent assault was sentenced on September 22, 2015. Darryl Russell Flett (aka Darryl Carden), age 21, of Wellpinit, Washington, was sentenced after having previously pleaded guilty on April 13, 2015 to one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Indian Country. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza sentenced Flett to a 24-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of court supervision after he is released from Federal prison.
According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, in August 2012, Melissa Suszka solicited others to assault a victim to whom she had previously provided prescription pills. Suszka had inadvertently given the victim more pills than she intended, and the victim refused to return them when Suszka confronted him. Suszka then solicited the assault. Flett was one of several individuals that actually carried out the assault.
This case follows the previous sentencing’s of Richard Peone, who was sentenced to 39 months in 2014, and Melissa E. Suszka, who was sentenced to 37 months in August, 2015, for their participation in the assault.
Michael C. Ormsby stated, “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington is, and will continue to be, committed to prosecute aggressively violent assaults that occur within federal jurisdiction, including the Indian reservations in this District. I cannot be more clear -- drug-related violence will not be tolerated.”
This investigation was conducted by FBI and the Spokane Tribal Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Rudy J. Verschoor, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Waldorf Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Richard Spivey, age 52, of Waldorf, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to distribution of child pornography. After Spivey’s guilty plea, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel ordered that he be immediately detained and Spivey was taken into custody.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Spivey’s plea agreement, between January 29 and 30, 2014, Spivey used a file sharing program to distribute over 2,000 files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A search warrant was executed at Spivey’s residence on June 18, 2014, and law enforcement seized numerous electronic devices, including a desktop computer, a laptop computer and two external hard drives. A forensic review of the electronic devices found thousands of image files and hundreds of movie files containing child pornography. Some of the files portrayed sadistic and masochistic conduct and other depictions of violence, as well as images of infants and toddlers.
In addition, law enforcement found videos on Spivey’s electronic devices that he produced, depicting a prepubescent female in different stages of undress. Spivey admitted that he surreptitiously recorded the child while she was undressing, using a hidden camera. These videos constitute child pornography. Finally, Spivey also admitted surreptitiously producing videos of an adult female, while that person was in the bathroom in various stages of undress.
As part of his plea agreement, Spivey must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Spivey and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Spivey will be sentenced to between 150 and 240 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for January 25, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
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.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicolas A. Mitchell and Kristi A. O’Malley, who are prosecuting the case.
Ville Platte man sentenced to 70 months in prison for possessing, receiving child pornographyRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Ville Platte man was sentenced Thursday to 70 months in prison for possessing and receiving more than a thousand images of child pornography using an internet file sharing program.
Bradley Smith, 60, of Ville Platte, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on two counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. A federal jury found Smith guilty after deliberating for 40 minutes after a two-day trial that ended on July 14, 2015. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that in September of 2012, law enforcement detected Smith using an internet file sharing program to download child pornography. The software is used to trade files on the internet among its members. Law enforcement searched Smith’s residence on September 24, 2012 and seized his computer and computer hard drives. After a forensic examination of the hardware, a total of 40 videos and 1,100 images of child pornography were found.
The FBI and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Those concerned may also leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 232-2164.
U.S. Attorney’s office urges public to participate in Drug Take-Back DriveRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley urges the public to get out this weekend and throw out unused prescription drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 4,200 national, tribal and community law enforcement partners nationwide promote National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day with events all across the nation this weekend. The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse and abuse. The DEA reports that almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. More Americans died in 2010 from overdoses of prescription medications (22,134, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers) than from motor vehicle accidents, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies show that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.
“Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high,” Finley stated. “The DEA reported that last April that Americans turned in 2,411 tons of prescription drugs, and since the DEA’s first National Drug Take-Back event in September of 2010, consumers have disposed of more than 4.8 million pounds of unwanted medication.”
The DEA will have collection sites across the country on Saturday, September 26th, for those who are interested in bringing their unused or expired prescription drugs for proper disposal. Only pills and other solids, like patches, can be brought to the collection sites – liquids and needles or other sharp objects will not be accepted. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Prescription drugs can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at the following sites:
Shreveport
- Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, 8910 Jewella Avenue,
Bossier City
- Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office Viking Drive Substation, 2510 Viking Drive,
- Louisiana State Police Troop G office, 5300 Industrial Drive, Extended,
Monroe
- Monroe Police Department, 700 Wood St.,
- Louisiana State Police Troop F office, 1240 Highway 594,
Alexandria
- Louisiana State Police Troop E office, 1710 Odom St.,
Broussard
- Broussard Police Department at Walgreen’s Parking Lot, 105 St. Nazaire,
Lake Charles
- Lake Charles Police Department at the Lake Charles Civic Center Parking Lot, 900 Lakeshore Drive,
- Louisiana State Police Troop D office, 805 Main St.,
The public can also find a nearby collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and following the links to a database where they enter their zip code or they can call 800-882-9539.
U.S. Attorney urges Western District residents to register to voteRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley urged residents of the Western District of Louisiana to register to vote in observance of National Voter Registration Day.
National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is dedicated to ensuring every American is registered to vote at their current address in time for the next election. National Voter Registration Day is celebrated on the fourth Tuesday of every September by thousands of volunteers, celebrities, organizations, businesses and elected officials from all over the country. More than 600 voter registration events were hosted nationwide as part of this year’s NVRD. To find out more about NVRD, visit nationalvoterregistrationday.org.
In Louisiana, registering can be done in person, by mail or online and is open throughout the year. Registration to be eligible to vote in the October 24th election has ended, but registration to be eligible to vote in the November 21st election is open until October 22nd. Eligibility to register to vote in an election ends 30 days before that election. To find out more, call the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office at 225-922-0900.
Upcoming elections for Louisiana are October 24th for the primary and November 21st for general. Early voting is October 10th to October 17th (except Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the October 24th primary election, and November 7th to November 14th (except Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the November 21st general election. Residents should contact their local Registrar of Voters’ Office to determine their voting location. Download a sample ballot or obtain other election information by visiting the Louisiana Secretary of State’s web page at www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting.
“The right to vote is essential to maintaining our system of democracy,” Finley stated. “One of the Department of Justice’s most sacred responsibilities is ensuring access to the ballot box for every eligible American in the Western District of Louisiana.”
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.
Complaints of election fraud or voting rights violations should be directed to the FBI, who will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations. The local FBI field offices can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: Shreveport at 318-861-1890, Lafayette at 337-233-2164, Monroe at (318) 387-0773, Alexandria at (318) 443-5097 and Lake Charles at (337) 433-6353. For a complete list of FBI field offices in Louisiana visit www.fbi.gov/neworleans/contact-us/territory-jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney’s Office can be reached by the public at 318-676-3600 (Shreveport) or 337-262-6618 (Lafayette).
Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can also be made directly to the Civil Rights Division=s Voting Section in Washington, D.C., at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767. The division’s email address is [email protected], and voter complaints also can be filed online at www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake.
The Civil Rights Division=s Voting Section enforces six federal statutes. They are the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. For more information on the acts that the division enforces, visit www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/overview.php.
U.S. Attorney Promotes National Prescription Drug Take-Back DayRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will sponsor drop off sites where unused and unneeded prescription drugs can be disposed of by the public at locations all over the United States on Saturday September 26, 2015 from 10 am to 2 pm as part of National Prescription Drugs Take-Back Day, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and DEA Resident Agent In Charge James Burns. Unused prescription drugs will be accepted at locations across the nation.
"This is a safe and convenient way to dispose of unneeded prescription drugs," said United States Attorney Hartunian.
This is the tenth DEA prescription drug take back. The last time the DEA accepted unused prescription drugs in November 2014, the public dropped off over 309 tons of unused pharmaceuticals.
Locations where unused prescription can be dropped off may be found at:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/index.html
U.S. Attorney and Dea Announce Take-Back Initiative to Safely Remove Prescription Pills from Local HomesRead the Press Release
Fifty-five locations this Saturday where Kentuckiana residents can safely and anonymously rid their homes of unwanted and expired medications
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentuckiana residents have an opportunity this Saturday to safely and anonymously rid their homes of unused, unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription medications, today announced U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Thomas J. Gorman. The 10th National Prescription Take-Back Day, held during the past five years, will take place this Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 55 locations across Kentuckiana. During this one-day event, federal and local law enforcement will once again partner to increase awareness of prescription drug abuse and provide an opportunity to reduce the availability of prescription pain medications in local homes.
U.S. Attorney Kuhn and ASAC Gorman are encouraging families to clean out medicine cabinets and safely rid their homes of unwanted and expired prescription medications. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, abuse and theft. Studies show that two-thirds of all teenagers who abuse prescription narcotics first obtain the drugs from family and friends; often from their home medicine cabinet.
Further, many Americans are unsure of how to properly dispose of their unused medications and often flush them down the toilet or throw them away. This poses safety and environmental hazards.
USA Kuhn and ASAC Gorman also stated that the Take-Back is a great opportunity to begin a dialogue with children to educate them on the dangers of obtaining pharmaceuticals for illicit use.
Prior DEA Prescription Take-Backs have been extremely successful. Last year, Kentuckiana residents dramatically reduced the risk of pain pill and other medication abuses by ridding their homes of 80,073 pounds of unused prescription medications. Kentucky remains among the nation’s most medicated states.
The Prescription Drug Take-Back is part of a nationwide effort sponsored by the DEA. Containers where unwanted and expired prescription medications may be safely disposed will be at 55 locations across Kentucky, on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. A complete list of locations and the assisting law enforcement agency may be found in the attachment, at www.dea.gov or by calling 800-882-9539.
More information on how to properly dispose of unused medicines can be found on the Food & Drug Administration website:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm
Two Texas Men Sentenced to Prison in Stolen Polysilicon CaseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Judge Kristi K. DuBose sentenced Wasi Ismail Syed, age 38, of McKinney, Texas, to serve 24 months in prison, and sentenced Syed’s brother-in-law Shahab Uddin Mir, age 35, of Frisco, Texas, to serve 3 months in prison, and ordered them to make restitution, for their respective roles in criminal offenses involving a scheme to buy and sell stolen polysilicon and to launder the proceeds from these transactions.
Co-defendants William Short of Loxley, Alabama, George Welford of Gautier, Mississippi, and Darlene Row of Dallas, Texas, will be sentenced on October 9, 2015.
William Short and George Welford are former employees of the Mitsubishi Polysilicon manufacturing plant located in Theodore, Alabama. The plant produces exceptionally high-grade polysilicon, which is a material used in the manufacturing of computer chips that control high-tech devices from supercomputers, to hospital equipment, avionics, and weapons systems. The polysilicon produced at the Theodore plant is ultra-pure. There are only four plants in the United States, and approximately a dozen worldwide, that produce this type of high-grade polysilicon.
In late 2008, Short and Welford began stealing polysilicon rods from the Mitsubishi plant. Using reinforced backpacks and lunch pails, Short and Welford walked several rods per day out of the plant and into their vehicles. Before long, Short and Welford had stolen so much polysilicon that they needed a storage unit, and ultimately a warehouse to house the stolen material. Since the rods were stolen very shortly after coming out of the reactors, they were not etched or vacuum-sealed in a clean room like the finished rods coming out of the plant. Consequently, the rods lacked the normal specification sheets that are attached to the packaging.
Soon after they started stealing the polysilicon rods, Short and Welford began looking for a purchaser. Using the aliases William Smith (Short) and Butch Cassidy (Welford), the pair found Horizon Silicon online. The Dallas, Texas-based company was owned and operated by brothers-in-law Wasi Syed and Shahab Mir, and Darlene Row worked as a secretary.
Short and Welford negotiated with Syed and Row for the price and amount of polysilicon to be sold. During the course of the initial negotiations, Syed flew to Pensacola, Florida, to see the polysilicon for himself. This meeting, in which Syed tested the polysilicon with a resistivity meter to check its purity level, occurred at night in a Krystal’s parking lot.
After testing the buckets of polysilicon, Syed agreed to buy the polysilicon from Short and Welford for a price well below the market value. One condition of the deal was that payments were to be made in cash and in person.
Between February 2009 and March 2014, Short and Welford stole, and then subsequently sold, approximately 40 metric tons of Mitsubishi polysilicon rods to Syed. Typically, Syed would find a buyer for the polysilicon he was purchasing from Short and Welford, then Row would arrange for the polysilicon to be picked up and delivered to a port city on the west coast. Finally, Mir would fly or drive to Mobile, Alabama, and other locations along the Gulf Coast, with either backpacks or suitcases full of cash to pay Short and Welford.
The stolen polysilicon, valued at approximately $2.4 million, was exported from the United States after Syed sold the polysilicon to other buyers. While the final destination for all of the stolen polysilicon rods is not clear, at least some of the material ended up in the People’s Republic of China.
In early 2014, Short and Welford were caught by Mitsubishi. Syed, Mir, and Row were subsequently arrested in Texas in May 2014.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigations in Mobile, Alabama, with assistance from the Dallas, Texas office of these agencies. The case was prosecuted by Donna B. Dobbins and Christopher J. Bodnar, Assistant United States Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
Two Postal Service Contract Employees Sentenced for Mail TheftsRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan today sentenced Jacksonville residents Victor Antinio Burks (28) and Yamil Sanchez (33) for stealing mail from a U.S. Postal Service contract facility. Burks was sentenced to 79 days’ imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service. Sanchez was sentenced to two years’ probation, a $500 fine, and 100 hours of community service. Both individuals pleaded guilty in June 2015.
According to court documents, Burks and Sanchez worked at a Jacksonville mail distribution facility operated by a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service. Between March and November 2014, Burks stole numerous items from the mail including 7 televisions, a tablet computer, 15-20 cellphones, 20-25 purses, and a videogame console. He admitted to agents that he had pawned the televisions and the tablet, and sold the rest of the items, estimating that he had made about $2,500 to $3,000.
Sanchez stole items from the mail for about two years, ending in the summer of 2014. He admitted that he had stolen a laptop computer, a compound bow, and a set of golf clubs, all of which he pawned. Sanchez also admitted to stealing a television that he later sold at a flea market.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.
Three Members of Violent Minneapolis-Based Gangs Indicted on Federal Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced a federal indictment charging three members of the Minneapolis-based Taliban gang and the Young N’ Thuggin’ (YNT) gang. All three defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition, ROBERT WINFIELD ANDERSON, a/k/a “Rob Moe,” 26, and ROBERT LEVELLE FRELIX, a/k/a “Lil Rob,” 24, were charged with possession of firearms and ammunition by a felon, and SHANE JAMAL JACKSON, a/k/a “Sunny,” 23, was charged with possession of firearms by a felon. All three defendants made their initial appearances yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven E. Rau. Detention hearings are set for Monday morning.
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, from at least June 2011 through at least June 2015, the defendants participated in the activities of two closely associated street gangs, the Taliban and the YNT (“Taliban/YNT”). The Taliban/YNT are organized for the purpose of making money for the gang members by trafficking in illegal drugs, armed robberies and thefts. In addition to making money through criminal activity, the purpose of the Taliban/YNT is to obtain and use firearms. All three defendants have prior felony offenses that make them ineligible to possess firearms.
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, an ongoing gang war between the Taliban/YNT and their rivals, the 1-9 Dipset and Stick Up Boys gangs, has resulted in the shooting deaths of numerous gang members on both sides of the conflict. Due to the ongoing gang war, and the need for weapons to conduct other illegal activity, the three defendants and other members of the Taliban/YNT conspired to illegally obtain and jointly possess firearms. As an example, on September 21, 2014, FRELIX, JACKSON and another gang member engaged in a gun battle with rival gang members near 24th Street and Aldrich Avenue in North Minneapolis. Following the shootout, law enforcement recovered one Glock .40 caliber pistol and two Glock 9mm pistols from the scene.
This indictment is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Safe Streets Task Force.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.
Defendant Information:
ROBERT WINFIELD ANDERSON, a/k/a “Rob Moe,” 26
Minneapolis, MN
Charges:
- Conspiracy – Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition, 1 count
- Felon in Possession of a Firearm, 3 counts
- Felon in Possession of Ammunition, 1 count
ROBERT LEVELLE FRELIX, a/k/a “Lil Rob,” 24
Minneapolis, MN
Charges:
- Conspiracy – Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition, 1 count
- Felon in Possession of a Firearm, 3 counts
- Felon in Possession of Ammunition, 1 count
SHANE JAMAL JACKSON, a/k/a “Sunny,” 23
Unknown
Charges:
- Conspiracy – Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition, 1 count
- Felon in Possession of a Firearm, 1 count
###
Additional news available on our website.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Thomas Keith of Bennington Sentenced to 41 Months on Heroin and Cocaine ChargesRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Thomas Keith, 42, of Bennington, Vermont, was sentenced on September 24, 2015 in United States District Court in Rutland to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Keith also forfeited $1,084 in connection with his drug distribution activities. This sentence followed Keith’s conviction on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford also ordered Keith to pay a $200 special assessment. In March 2011, law enforcement intercepted a package addressed to Keith that contained approximately 367 grams of cocaine and 80 grams of heroin. Subsequently, as part of a Vermont Drug Task Force investigation, law enforcement conducted three controlled purchases of heroin from Keith in April and May 2014. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Keith’s Bennington residence on May 16, 2014, finding 75 bags of heroin, drug paraphernalia, and $1,084 in cash. This matter was investigated by the Vermont Drug Task Force, with the assistance of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bennington Police Department, the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. Doyle handled the prosecution in this matter. Keith was represented by Assistant Federal Defender Elizabeth K. Quinn.Third Person Sentenced in Las Vegas for International Biofuel Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Alex Jariv, 28, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced today in federal court to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in illegal schemes to generate and sell fraudulent biodiesel credits, marking the culmination of nearly four years of investigations and prosecutions for this complex international fraud scheme. Alex Jariv pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, make false statements and launder monetary instruments. Jariv was ordered to forfeit $491,061 in previously seized cash, an SUV, real estate and the contents of several bank accounts in the United States and abroad that were some of his proceeds of the conspiracy.
Alex Jariv is the third person to be sentenced for their role in the scheme. James Jariv, 64, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced in August to ten years in prison for his role in the illegal schemes to generate fraudulent biodiesel credits and for his role in exporting biodiesel without providing biodiesel credits to the United States. James Jariv was also ordered to make restitution in the amount of $6,345,830 and to forfeit between $4 to $6 million in cash and other assets.
Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia, was sentenced to two years in prison in April for his role in both conspiracies and ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution and to forfeit of $4 million in cash. James Jariv and Stoliar both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements under the Clean Air Act.
“We simply will not tolerate and will vigorously prosecute schemes like this one, that defraud a program designed to strengthen our nation’s petroleum independence and improve our air quality,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“Mr. Jariv is the third defendant sentenced to prison in this complex and egregious scheme to defraud fuel suppliers and the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden for the District of Nevada. “Through the tenacious work of our investigators and prosecutors, we also were able to seize and forfeit millions of dollars from numerous bank accounts, as well as real property in Nevada and California, jewelry and other assets.”
“The Renewable Fuel Standard helps reduce the nation’s impact on climate change and lessens our dependence on foreign oil and this case shows that EPA takes seriously its responsibility to bring violators of this important program to justice,” said Special Agent Jay Green, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Nevada. “In order to ensure a level playing field, it’s vital that companies following the law don’t have to compete with those that break it.”
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created a number of federally-funded programs that provided monetary incentives for the production and use of renewable fuels such as biodiesel in the United States. Biodiesel producers and importers can generate and attach credits known as renewable identification numbers (RINs) to the gallons of biodiesel they produce or import. Because certain companies, such as companies that sell transportation fuel in the United States, need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have significant market value. They are routinely bought and sold in the marketplace.
Beginning around September of 2009, James Jariv and Stoliar operated and controlled a company – City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – that represented itself as a producer of biodiesel from “feedstocks” such as animal fat and vegetable oils. James Jariv and Stoliar also formed a company called Canada Feedstock Supply – that represented itself as City Farm’s supplier of feedstocks necessary to produce biodiesel. James Jariv operated and controlled a company based in Las Vegas called Global E Marketing (GEM).
Alex Jariv worked for and on behalf of these companies. Using these three and other closely-held companies, the three defendants claimed to produce biodiesel at the City Farm facility and to import and sell biodiesel to GEM and then generated and sold RINs based upon this claimed production, sale and importation. In reality, no biodiesel produced at City Farm was ever imported and sold to GEM as claimed. The Jarivs and Stoliar used GEM to claim to blend the biodiesel with petroleum diesel, allowing them to sell the RINs separately from any actual biodiesel. Using this scheme, the three men falsely claimed to import, purchase and blend more than 4.2 million gallons of biodiesel. They then sold the RINs, and fraudulently generated more than $7 million.
James Jariv and Stoliar also purchased and resold RIN-less B-99 biodiesel as B-100 biodiesel, which allowed them to charge substantially more for this product than if it has been accurately labeled. They exported significant amounts of the RIN-less B-99 they bought in the United States to Canada and Australia. They then sold the biodiesel in those countries and conspired to not acquire and provide RINs to the United States for these exports as they were required to do by law. In doing so, James Jariv and Stoliar failed to give to the United States RINs worth in excess of $34 million, keeping this money for themselves instead.
Finally, James and Alex Jariv and Stoliar conspired to launder the proceeds of their crimes, utilizing foreign banking institutions and complex financial transactions to promote their illegal schemes and distribute the proceeds of their crimes. Accounts were utilized in Canada, Nevada and Australia and transactions between the defendants’ closely-held companies were described as other legitimate transactions involving biodiesel, when in reality they were not.
The investigation into the Jarivs’ and Stoliar’s activities was the result of collaborative work by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, with assistance from the United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The case was prosecuted by Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Crane M. Pomerantz and Daniel D. Hollingsworth of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada and Assistant Deputy Chief Darrin L. McCullough of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Third Person Sentenced in Las Vegas for International Biofuel Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Alex Jariv, 28, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced today in federal court to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in illegal schemes to generate and sell fraudulent biodiesel credits, marking the culmination of nearly four years of investigations and prosecutions for this complex international fraud scheme. Alex Jariv pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, make false statements and launder monetary instruments. Jariv was ordered to forfeit $491,061 in previously seized cash, an SUV, real estate and the contents of several bank accounts in the United States and abroad that were some of his proceeds of the conspiracy.
Alex Jariv is the third person to be sentenced for their role in the scheme. James Jariv, 64, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced in August to ten years in prison for his role in the illegal schemes to generate fraudulent biodiesel credits and for his role in exporting biodiesel without providing biodiesel credits to the United States. James Jariv was also ordered to make restitution in the amount of $6,345,830 and to forfeit between $4 to $6 million in cash and other assets.
Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia, was sentenced to two years in prison in April for his role in both conspiracies and ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution and to forfeit of $4 million in cash. James Jariv and Stoliar both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements under the Clean Air Act.
“We simply will not tolerate and will vigorously prosecute schemes like this one, that defraud a program designed to strengthen our nation’s petroleum independence and improve our air quality,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“Mr. Jariv is the third defendant sentenced to prison in this complex and egregious scheme to defraud fuel suppliers and the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden for the District of Nevada. “Through the tenacious work of our investigators and prosecutors, we also were able to seize and forfeit millions of dollars from numerous bank accounts, as well as real property in Nevada and California, jewelry and other assets.”
“The Renewable Fuel Standard helps reduce the nation’s impact on climate change and lessens our dependence on foreign oil and this case shows that EPA takes seriously its responsibility to bring violators of this important program to justice,” said Special Agent Jay Green, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Nevada. “In order to ensure a level playing field, it’s vital that companies following the law don’t have to compete with those that break it.”
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created a number of federally-funded programs that provided monetary incentives for the production and use of renewable fuels such as biodiesel in the United States. Biodiesel producers and importers can generate and attach credits known as renewable identification numbers (RINs) to the gallons of biodiesel they produce or import. Because certain companies, such as companies that sell transportation fuel in the United States, need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have significant market value. They are routinely bought and sold in the marketplace.
Beginning around September of 2009, James Jariv and Stoliar operated and controlled a company – City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – that represented itself as a producer of biodiesel from “feedstocks” such as animal fat and vegetable oils. James Jariv and Stoliar also formed a company called Canada Feedstock Supply – that represented itself as City Farm’s supplier of feedstocks necessary to produce biodiesel. James Jariv operated and controlled a company based in Las Vegas called Global E Marketing (GEM).
Alex Jariv worked for and on behalf of these companies. Using these three and other closely-held companies, the three defendants claimed to produce biodiesel at the City Farm facility and to import and sell biodiesel to GEM and then generated and sold RINs based upon this claimed production, sale and importation. In reality, no biodiesel produced at City Farm was ever imported and sold to GEM as claimed. The Jarivs and Stoliar used GEM to claim to blend the biodiesel with petroleum diesel, allowing them to sell the RINs separately from any actual biodiesel. Using this scheme, the three men falsely claimed to import, purchase and blend more than 4.2 million gallons of biodiesel. They then sold the RINs, and fraudulently generated more than $7 million.
James Jariv and Stoliar also purchased and resold RIN-less B-99 biodiesel as B-100 biodiesel, which allowed them to charge substantially more for this product than if it has been accurately labeled. They exported significant amounts of the RIN-less B-99 they bought in the United States to Canada and Australia. They then sold the biodiesel in those countries and conspired to not acquire and provide RINs to the United States for these exports as they were required to do by law. In doing so, James Jariv and Stoliar failed to give to the United States RINs worth in excess of $34 million, keeping this money for themselves instead.
Finally, James and Alex Jariv and Stoliar conspired to launder the proceeds of their crimes, utilizing foreign banking institutions and complex financial transactions to promote their illegal schemes and distribute the proceeds of their crimes. Accounts were utilized in Canada, Nevada and Australia and transactions between the defendants’ closely-held companies were described as other legitimate transactions involving biodiesel, when in reality they were not.
The investigation into the Jarivs’ and Stoliar’s activities was the result of collaborative work by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, with assistance from the United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The case was prosecuted by Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Crane M. Pomerantz and Daniel D. Hollingsworth of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada and Assistant Deputy Chief Darrin L. McCullough of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Texas Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Attempting to Provide Material Support to TerroristsRead the Press Release
Rahatul Ashikim Khan, 24, of Round Rock, Texas, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin Jr. of the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Christopher H. Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division made the announcement.
On July 2, 2014, Khan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The conspiracy occurred between March 2011 and January 2012. During this time frame, Khan identified an individual in an Internet chatroom and began assessing that individual for overseas violent jihadist travel. That individual was actually an FBI confidential source. After Khan screened the confidential source, he made arrangements to insert him into an al-Shabaab pipeline controlled by Gufran Ahmed Kauser Mohammed and Mohamed Hussen Said. Mohammed and Said both pleaded guilty to material support offenses in the Southern District of Florida and have been sentenced to terms of 15 years’ imprisonment respectively.
According to court records, Khan also led a group of individuals in the Austin, Texas, area who pledged loyalty to the now-deceased Taliban and terrorist leader, Mullah Omar. Michael Todd Wolfe, 24, was a part of Khan’s group. Wolfe was arrested by FBI agents on June 17, 2014 in Houston, as he was about to board a plane as a first step towards his goal of joining and fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Wolfe was sentenced to 82 months in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIL.
“Rahatul Khan conspired to provide material support to terrorists by screening and recruiting potential foreign fighters located in the United States to wage violent jihad in various locations overseas, including Somalia,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”
“I would like to thank the men and women serving on the Central Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force, who conducted an exceptional investigation in this case, and continue to work tirelessly, 365 days a year, to keep our community safe,” said Special Agent in Charge Combs.
This case resulted from a Central Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregg N. Sofer and Michael Galdo of the Western District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Josh Parecki and Michael Dittoe of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Round Rock Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Attempting to Provide Material Support to TerroristsRead the Press Release
In Austin this afternoon, 24-year-old self-proclaimed “jihadi” Rahatul Ashikim Khan (a.k.a. “Rahat Khan,” “Authentic Tauheed 19,” and “AT19”) was sentenced to ten years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists, announced John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Richard L. Durbin, Jr., United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, and Christopher Combs, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Division.
On July 2, 2014, Khan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The conspiracy occurred between March 2011 and January 2012. During this time frame, Khan identified an individual in an Internet chatroom and began assessing that individual for overseas violent jihadist travel. That individual was actually an FBI confidential source. After Khan screened the confidential source, he made arrangements to insert him into an al-Shabaab pipeline controlled by Gufran Ahmed Kauser Mohammed and Mohamed Hussen Said. Mohammed and Said both pleaded guilty to material support offenses in the Southern District of Florida and have been sentenced to terms of 180 months’ imprisonment respectively.
According to court records, Khan also led a group of individuals in the Austin area who pledged loyalty to the now-deceased Taliban and terrorist leader, Mullah Omar. Michael Todd Wolfe, 24, was a part of Khan’s group. Wolfe was arrested by FBI agents on June 17, 2014, in Houston, as he was about to board a plane as a first step towards his goal of joining and fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Wolfe was sentenced to 82 months in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIL.
“Rahatul Khan conspired to provide material support to terrorists by screening and recruiting potential foreign fighters located in the United States to wage violent jihad in various locations overseas, including Somalia,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”
This case resulted from a Central Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation together with the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Army Intelligence, Austin Police Department, Round Rock Police Department, Killeen Police Department, University of Texas Police Department, Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Office of the Texas Attorney General and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
“I would like to thank the men and women serving on the Central Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force, who conducted an exceptional investigation in this case, and continue to work tirelessly, 365 days a year, to keep our community safe,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs.
Assistant United States Attorneys Gregg N. Sofer and Michael Galdo, together with Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section trial attorneys Josh Parecki and Michael Dittoe, prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Rockwall Man Admits Producing, Transporting and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Christian C. Winchel, 49, of Rockwall, Texas, appeared today before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to multiple child pornography offenses involving prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, Winchel pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography; one count of transporting and shipping child pornography; and one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 70 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine. Winchel has been in custody since his arrest on a related federal criminal complaint in early February 2015. Sentencing is set for January 15, 2016, before Judge Fitzwater.
Winchell admitted he has downloaded child pornography since approximately 1994. He thought he would be able to trade child pornography with others if he produced his own material. He had access to an 18-month-old child, and took sexually explicit photos of himself with the child. He also admitted using a spy cam to capture minor girls using the bathroom when they were in his home and a nanny cam to capture minor girls in various stages of undress in his home.
Winchell moved to Rockwall from Indiana in 2013, transporting the videos he had recorded of minor girls from Indiana to Texas. He admitted that when children visited for sleepovers at his home in Rockwall, he filmed himself engaging in sexually explicit activity while in proximity of the minor children who were asleep.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home in February 2015 and seized several media items. The investigation revealed that as of August 20, 2015, there were 2700 images and videos of child pornography contained on the media examined. Through this forensic analysis, law enforcement has determined that some of the images and a video, involving an eight-year-old minor victim, were produced just over one year ago, in late July 2014. Law enforcement has found evidence that Winchel produced child pornography and images and videos of five minor victims.
Anyone who knows of someone who may have been victimized in this case is asked to contact the FBI at 972-559-5000.
The FBI’s Dallas Child Exploitation Task Force is conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.
# # #
Ringleader of $24 Million Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud Ring Sentenced to 15 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
9,000 Identities Stolen from the U.S. Army, Alabama State Agencies and Georgia Companies
A resident of Newnan, Georgia, was sentenced today to prison for her role as the ringleader of a $24 million stolen identity tax refund fraud (SIRF) conspiracy, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama.
Keisha Lanier was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Kristi K. DuBose of the Southern District of Alabama to serve 15 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $5,811,406. She was also detained following the sentencing hearing. On May 19, Tamika Floyd, a defendant in a related case, was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison. On June 25, Tamaica Hoskins, a co-defendant charged in the same indictment, was sentenced to serve 145 months in prison. And on Aug. 7, the following sentences were imposed on Lanier’s other co-defendants:
- Tracy Mitchell, of Phenix City, Alabama, was sentenced to serve 159 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $329,242, which was seized in cash from her residence;
- Talarius Paige, of Phenix City, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $762,512 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
- Mequetta Snell-Quick, of Columbus, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 24 months and one day in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $199,471 in restitution to the IRS;
- Latasha Mitchell, of Phenix City, was sentenced to serve 36 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $513,821 in restitution to the IRS;
- Dameisha Mitchell, of Phenix City, was sentenced to serve 65 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $440,176 in restitution to the IRS;
- Sharonda Johnson, of Phenix City, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $440,176 in restitution to the IRS;
- Patrice Taylor, of Midland, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $28,783 in restitution to the IRS; and
- Cynthia Johnson, of Phenix City, was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $5,047 in restitution to the IRS.
“Today’s sentence brings to a close an extensive criminal network led by Keisha Lanier and designed to victimize U.S. citizens and defraud the U.S. Treasury of over $20 million in fraudulent refund claims,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “The substantial sentences imposed on Ms. Lanier and her co-defendants send a clear message that those who chose to engage in such criminal conduct will pay a very heavy price.”
According to information in court documents and at the sentencing hearings, between January 2011 and December 2013, Lanier and Tracy Mitchell led a large-scale identity theft ring in which Lanier, Tracy Mitchell and their co-defendants filed more than 9,000 false individual federal income tax returns that claimed more than $24 million in fraudulent claims for tax refunds. The IRS paid out close to $10 million in refunds on these fraudulent claims. The defendants obtained the stolen identities from various sources, including from the U.S. Army, several Alabama state agencies, a Georgia call center and employee records from a Georgia company. Mitchell worked at the hospital located at Fort Benning, Georgia, where she had access to the identification data of military personnel, including soldiers who were deployed to Afghanistan. She stole the personal information of soldiers and used that information to file false tax returns.
“Today’s sentencing of Keisha Lanier, who conspired with others to use the identities of American service members and hospital patients to enrich themselves by stealing tax refunds, demonstrates the depths of how far criminals will stoop and the extent to which IRS-CI will go to fight identity theft,” said Chief Richard Weber of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “We will use every available resource in collaboration with our law enforcement partners to combat these serious crimes.”
“This sentencing demonstrates our firm commitment to hold accountable those who commit fraud or otherwise steal from our government,” said Director Daniel Andrews of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s (CID) Computer Crime Investigative Unit. “Special agents from our Computer Crime Investigative Unit, along with our federal law enforcement counterparts, are unwavering in our commitment to seek out and hold responsible all those who conduct criminal activity against the United States Army and the American taxpayer.”
Floyd stole personal information from two Alabama state agencies and provided those names to Lanier. Lanier provided those names to Tracy Mitchell, Latasha Mitchell, Paige and others to file false tax returns. Lanier also obtained stolen identities from the Alabama Department of Corrections. Paige and Taylor worked in a call center for a payment-processing company in Columbus and stole identities. Paige, in turn, used those identities to file false tax returns, some of which he filed from Tracy Mitchell’s residence. Tracy and Latasha Mitchell also obtained employee files from a Columbus company and used those identities to file false tax returns.
To file the false tax returns, the defendants obtained several IRS Electronic Filing Numbers in the names of sham tax businesses. On behalf of those sham tax businesses, the defendants applied for bank products from various financial institutions. Under the guise of a legitimate business account, the institutions mailed blank check stock to the defendants’ homes. The defendants directed the IRS to pay anticipated tax refunds to prepaid debit cards, in U.S. Treasury checks and to financial institutions, which in turn issued the tax refunds via prepaid debit cards or checks. When the refunds were sent through the financial institutions, the defendants simply printed out the refund checks from the check stock that had been sent to their homes.
After a period of time, the financial institutions stopped permitting the defendants to print out the tax refund checks. To continue the scheme, Tracy Mitchell and members of her family recruited U.S. Postal Service employees. The corrupt postal employees specified addresses along their postal routes to have the U.S. Treasury checks mailed, then obtained those checks and turned them over to the defendants for a fee.
The scheme also involved a complex money laundering operation. Nearly $10 million in fraudulent tax refund checks were cashed at several businesses located in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky. To coordinate this massive check cashing scheme, the defendants communicated using text messages and maintained detailed records. For instance, Sharondra Johnson worked at the Walmart money center in Columbus, where she cashed checks for customers as part of her job. Dameisha Mitchell recruited Sharondra Johnson to cash tax refund checks that were fraudulently issued in the names of other individuals. Sharondra Johnson agreed to cash the checks and communicated with Dameisha and Tracy Mitchell via text messages. In an attempt to conceal the crime from Walmart, the defendants had multiple individuals deliver the tax refund checks to Johnson for her to cash them.
At sentencing, the government offered victim impact statements from several individuals whose identities were stolen, from family members, and from companies and governmental agencies where the identity theft breaches occurred. One agency representative noted that the identity theft was not only devastating financially, but that it also impaired the agency’s ability to serve the residents of this state. The mother of a U.S. Army soldier whose identity was stolen submitted a statement describing the consequences of the fraud on her and her family:
While [my son] was fighting for our country and all back home[,] I received a very disturbing phone call from [an] Agent [] from the IRS that my son[,] while at Ft. Benning training to defend our country[,] the land of the free[,] had his identity stolen and fraudulent tax returns were filed with his social security number. This news was devastating to think that my [] 19-year-old son[,] who was defending the very freedom this country stands [for] [,] was wronged by one of those people [he] was willing to die for. My whole family could not believe what was happening. We now had to worry about this terrible act by one of our own. As I tried my best to keep composed and handle all of the gruesome mounds of paperwork to get this straightened out with the IRS, [my son] was then denied his tax refund. This created a financial hardship on [him]. We were too afraid to tell [him] while he was deployed because we did not want to worry him and we wanted him to focus only on getting home alive and not have to worry about such an atrocious act by someone who did not even know [him].
“No sentence is too strong for those who prey on our fighting men and women,” said U.S. Attorney Beck Jr. “War is hell on the home front, too, and the family left behind holding things together must be strongly protected.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Beck Jr. commended special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Army-CID, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Gregory P. Bailey of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd A. Brown, Jonathan S. Ross and Kevin P. Davidson of the Middle District of Alabama, who prosecuted the case. Ciraolo and Beck Jr. also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Georgia for their assistance in the case.
Private Investigator Williamson sentenced to 78 months in prison on charges in bribery caseRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that private investigator Robert Williamson was sentenced to 78 months in prison on charges related to his role in a pay-for-plea scheme that garnered favorable treatment for defendants charged with OWI and various state crimes.
Williamson, 67, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery and one count of Social Security fraud. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $77,677.20 in restitution. According to the June 8, 2015 guilty plea, Williamson, who is not licensed to practice law, was part of a conspiracy from March 2008 to February 2012 that solicited thousands of dollars from individuals with pending criminal charges in the 15th Judicial District. Williamson promised favorable resolutions to pending felony and misdemeanor cases, the majority of which were OWI cases.
Williamson paid bribes in cash and other things of value to personnel within the District Attorney=s Office for the 15th Judicial District and employees with other organizations associated with the OWI program, including Acadiana Outreach. Williamson also obtained false and fraudulent certifications from Acadiana Outreach, which certified that his clients completed court-ordered community service, when in fact the individuals had not. Williamson would obtain fraudulent driver safety training certificates showing that Williamson=s Aclients@ completed court-mandated driver improvement programs when they had not. Some of those monies were for fines, penalties and other expenses. During the course of the scheme, Williamson also received approximately $77,677.20 from the Social Security Administration that he was not entitled to receive.
“The public good was circumvented by the greed and lies perpetrated by Williamson and his associates,” Finley stated. “People who should have been dissuaded from drunk driving by receiving jail time and other penalties were instead given a pass to endanger lives again and again. The damage that this conspiracy has wrought cannot be quantified. We hope that this sentence brings an end to this type of practice and serves as a warning to anyone who would try to conduct a similar scam and circumvent the legal process.”
Co-defendants Barna D. Haynes, 61; Greg Williams, 47; and Sandra Degeyter, 64, all of Lafayette, were sentenced July 10, 2015 by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Co-defendants Denease Curry, 49, of Broussard, and Elaine Crump, 62, of Lafayette, were also sentenced by Foote July 10, 2015 on one count of misprision of a felony for failure to report bribes offered and received by employees of the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Haynes received 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Williams, Degeyter, Curry and Crump received two years of probation. Additionally, Williams and Degeyter were sentenced to six months of home confinement. Hanyes, Williams and Curry are former employees of the District Attorney’s Office. Degeyter and Crump are former employees of Acadiana Outreach.
The FBI and the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.
Pontoon Beach Gas Station Robber Sentenced to More Than 7 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Hero citizens gave chase and subdued robber until police arrived on scene
Shawn M. Bequette, 23, of Pontoon Beach, Illinois, was sentenced on September 24, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, to a term of 92 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for the October 6, 2014 robbery of a Conoco Phillips gas station in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.
Evidence showed that in the early morning hours of October 6, 2014, Bequette robbed the Pontoon Beach gas station with a BB gun that resembled a real firearm, threatening the store clerk and demanding money from the cash register, along with the clerk’s wallet. As Bequette fled the scene, two witnesses to the crime – who had arrived as the robbery was in progress – chased Bequette down and pinned him to the ground until Pontoon Beach police arrived to arrest him.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pontoon Beach Police Department, and prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Shane B. Kelbley.
Owner of Florida Mortgage Company Sentenced to over 11 Years in Prison for Orchestrating $64 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
The owner of a Florida mortgage company was sentenced today to serve 135 months in prison for orchestrating a $64 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Nadine Gurley of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) Atlanta Region made the announcement.
Hector Hernandez, 57, of Miami, Florida, the owner and operator of Great Country Mortgage Bankers (Great Country), a mortgage lender in Miami, was sentenced for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. He was also ordered to pay $64,508,141 in restitution and to forfeit $8,000,000 in illicit profits.
In the same case, a real estate developer for Great Country, Aleida Fontao, 62, of Miami, was sentenced today to serve 41 months in prison, and ordered to pay $7,131,952 in restitution and $400,000 in forfeiture. An underwriter for Great Country, Olga Hernandez, 59, of Lake Mary, Florida, was sentenced yesterday to serve 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $24,512,755 in restitution. Hector and Olga Hernandez both pleaded guilty on July 13, 2015, while Fontao pleaded guilty on July 7, 2015. Hector Hernandez was the last defendant to be sentenced in the case. All 24 defendants charged in this case, which included loan officers, loan processors and underwriters, were convicted of participating in the scheme.
According to admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas, from at least 2006 and continuing through at least September 2008, Hector Hernandez was the owner and operator of Great Country which specialized in approving Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. The loans were primarily for buyers of condominiums at complexes where Hector Hernandez was a part owner – however, the buyers were unqualified borrowers, due to insufficient income, high levels of debts, and outstanding collections. Hector Hernandez admitted that his company employed loan officers, loan processors and underwriters, including Olga Hernandez and Fontao, whom he knew approved and submitted false and fraudulent FHA mortgage loan applications and accompanying documents to HUD on behalf of the unqualified borrowers. These documents included false pay stubs, false verification of employment forms, and fictitious letters from the borrowers.
According to admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas, closing costs were paid on behalf of the unqualified borrowers through an interstate wire transfer of funds. The borrowers were also paid to purchase the condominium units as an unreported inducement to purchase. After the loans closed, the loans were sold to financial institutions. When the unqualified borrowers failed to meet their monthly mortgage obligations, they defaulted on the loans causing losses both to the financial institutions and to HUD which insured the loans. Hector Hernandez admitted that the loss from the fraudulent conduct was at least $64 million.
This case was investigated by HUD-OIG as participants in the Miami Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel David A. Bybee and Trial Attorneys Mike O’Neill and William Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Office Manager Indicted for Stealing More Than $980,000 from Birmingham Surgical PracticeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted the office manager of a Birmingham surgical practice on charges related to the theft of more than $987,375 from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Internal Revenue Service and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.
A nine-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges ANNTWINE MOSS, 49, of Bessemer, with five counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion for stealing more than $987,375 from Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Alabama between 2006 and 2013.
According to the indictment, Moss executed a scheme to defraud the surgical practice by using her authority as office manager to write unauthorized checks to herself, make unauthorized direct deposits into her account, and use the company's credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases. As office manager, Moss had authority over several key functions including payroll, accounting, bookkeeping and managing the office's budget. The indictment also charges that she falsified her personal tax returns for several years by failing to report to the IRS the illicit income she stole from TCVSA.
The maximum penalty for each wire fraud count is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the tax evasion count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Northern Minnesota Man Found Guilty of Sexually Abusing Two Women on the Red Lake Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the conviction of WILLIAM ANDREW CLARK, 66, of Blackduck, Minn., for sexually abusing two women on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. On May 12, 2015, CLARK was indicted on one count of Aggravated Sexual Abuse and one count of Sexual Abuse involving these two women. On September 24, 2015, following a two-day trial, United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank found CLARK guilty on all counts.
As proven at trial, in the fall of 2013, CLARK sexually assaulted a woman on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The woman was intoxicated and unconscious when CLARK raped her. On September 11, 2014, CLARK forcibly sexually assaulted another woman, having driven the victim to a remote part of the Red Lake Indian Reservation and raping her.
U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank will sentence CLARK at a later date, yet to be scheduled.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw is prosecuting this case.
Defendant Information:
WILLIAM ANDREW CLARK, 66
Blackduck, Minn.
Convicted:
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse, 1 count
- Sexual Abuse, 1 count
###
Additional news available on our website.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Northern District of Indiana Grand Jury Returns A 36 Count Superseding IndictmentRead the Press Release
HAMMOND- United States Attorney David Capp announced today that a federal grand jury returned a 36 count superseding indictment charging Jack Weichman, 63, of Dyer, Indiana; Ari Weichman, 35, of Schererville, Indiana; James Schaefer, 65, of Lowell, Indiana; and William Bercaw, 68, of Munster, Indiana with participation in several schemes in violation of federal law. The previous indictment charged nine counts of bank fraud, fourteen counts of bankruptcy fraud, two counts of money laundering, four counts of wire fraud, and five counts of filing false federal income tax returns. The new indictment adds a count of conspiracy to conceal assets in a bankruptcy proceeding, and an additional count of concealment of assets. The new indictment also adds three additional defendants. It charges Ari Weichman, son of defendant Jack Weichman, and James Schafer, Accounting/Tax Manager for the Weichman and Associates accounting firm, in the concealment of assets conspiracy. It also adds William Bercaw, a CPA employed at Weichman and Associates, as a defendant in the wire fraud counts.
The new charge of conspiracy to conceal assets alleges that Jack Weichman conspired with Ari Weichman and James Schafer to conceal assets from the bankruptcy court in an effort to hide Jack Weichman’s true financial condition. The indictment alleges James Schafer filed monthly reports with the bankruptcy court that disguised assets, in the amount of $790,000.00, as business expenses in the form of payments to Ari Weichman as an employee of Weichman and Associates and of MMDS, another Jack Weichman owned and operated medical billing company, when in fact Ari Weichman never worked for either company.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Diane L. Berkowitz and David Nozick.
The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
# # #
New Haven Man Charged with Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment yesterday charging JAMES DOUGLAS, also known as “Sucky,” 23, of New Haven, with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
As alleged in the indictment, on May 26, 2015, DOUGLAS possessed a .32 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. Prior to that date, DOUGLAS had sustained felony convictions, including second degree burglary, third degree larceny and carrying a pistol without a permit.
It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
If convicted, DOUGLAS faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
DOUGLAS has been detained in state custody since his arrest on May 26, 2015.
U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Haven Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Laraia.
New Britain Bakery Operator Sentenced for Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARIAN KOBRYN, 63, of Farmington, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to one day of imprisonment, time already served, and one year of supervised release, for filing false tax returns. KOBRYN also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and more than $425,000 in back taxes, interest, and penalties.
According to court documents and statements made in court, KOBRYN and his wife own and operate Kasia’s Bakery in New Britain. Until recently, Kasia’s Bakery routinely operated on a “cash only” basis. During the 2010 through 2013 tax years, KOBRYN diverted $730,860 in cash that the business received, deposited the money into his and his wife’s personal bank accounts, and failed to pay $242,889 in federal taxes on the income.
The investigation revealed that KOBRYN attempted to conceal the diverted cash proceeds by regularly traveling to several branches of Farmington Bank to make cash deposits in amounts under $10,000 in order to evade the bank’s currency transaction reporting requirements.
To date, KOBRYN has paid the $242,889 tax due, as well as $50,000 toward the interest and penalties. Judge Eginton ordered KOBRYN to pay the remaining interest and penalties before the expiration of KOBYRN’s term of supervised release.
Judge Eginton stated that he sentenced KOBRYN to time served in lieu of a longer term of incarceration based in part on KOBRYN’s serious health issues.
On June 2, 2015, KOBRYN pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement on a federal tax return.
This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Sheldon.