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26 September 2014
El Departamento de Justicia Resuelve una Demanda contra una Empresa de Autobuses en Texas por Discriminar contra Trabajadores en los EE.UU.Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que llegó a un acuerdo con Autobuses Ejecutivos, LLC, operando como Omnibus Express, una compañía de autobuses con sede en Houston, Texas. El acuerdo resuelve una demanda presentada en agosto del 2013 por el departamento bajo la provisiόn antidiscriminatoria de la Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad (INA por sus siglas en inglés). La demanda alegό que la compañía discriminaba en contra de trabajadores en los Estados Unidos ya que prefería contratar a trabajadores con visas temporales H-2B para las posiciones de operadores.
Según el acuerdo, Omnibus Express establecerá un fondo de $208,000 para compensar a los individuos que fueron víctimas de sus prácticas discriminatorias, le pagará $37,800 a los Estados Unidos en forma de sanciones civiles, y también estará sujeto a un período de monitoreo de sus prácticas de contratación y reclutamiento por el departamento por dos años. Los individuos que solicitaron una posición de operador con Omnibus Express entre Agosto del 2012 y Febrero del 2013 y no fueron contratados deben comunicarse con Joann Sazama al (202) 307-3092, o con Ryan Thompson al (202) 616-5557.
“La ley federal prohíbe que los empleadores discriminen durante la contratación y reclutamiento por motivo de estatus de ciudadanía,” dijo Molly Moran, Sub-Procuradora General Interina para la Divisiόn de Derechos Civiles. “El departamento se compromete a investigar y combatir las preferencias discriminatorias durante la contratación que impiden que los ciudadanos estadounidenses y los individuos con autorización de trabajo compitan igualmente por el empleo.”
La Oficina del Consejero Especial para Prácticas Injustas en el Empleo Relacionadas a la Inmigración es la oficina responsable por hacer cumplir con la provisión antidiscriminatoria de la INA. Entre otras cosas, la ley prohíbe discriminación por estatus de ciudadanía o del origen nacional durante la contrataciόn, el despido, el reclutamiento o la referencia por comisiόn, las prácticas injustas de documentación, represalias, e intimidación. Para más información sobre las protecciones contra discriminación en el empleo según las leyes migratorias, llame a la línea directa de OSC para trabajadores al 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidad auditiva), llame a la línea directa de OSC para empleadores al 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidad auditiva), o para registrarse para un seminario gratis ofrecido a través del internet visite www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/webinars.php, envíe un correo electrónico al [email protected], o visite el sitio de Internet www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc.
Los solicitantes o empleados que consideren que fueron sujetos a (1) diferentes requisitos de verificación por su estatus de ciudadanía, estatus migratorio u origen nacional, o (2) discriminación por estatus de ciudadanía, estatus migratorio, u origen nacional con relación a la contratación, el despido y el reclutamiento o la referencia por comisión, deberán comunicarse a la línea dedicada a los trabajadores anteriormente citada para poderlos ayudar.
District Man Pleads Guilty to Charges in Shooting That Killed Two Victims, Injured AnotherDefendant Shot Victims Inside Car Off North Capitol StreetRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Jimmie Fleming, 36, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to charges stemming from a shooting in which two people were killed and another was wounded while in a car in Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Fleming pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to two counts of voluntary manslaughter while armed for the deaths of Donchell Thomas and Derek Price, and one count of aggravated assault while armed, for the shooting of the third victim. The plea, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for a prison term of 36 years.
Fleming is to be sentenced on Dec. 12, 2014, by the Honorable Robert E. Morin.
According to the government’s evidence, on July 13, 2014, at about 1 a.m., Fleming and a juvenile approached a blue Honda Accord near North Capitol and T Streets NW. Mr. Price, 20, was the driver of the car, and Mr. Thomas, 21, was in the back seat. A second passenger was in the front seat. Mr. Price agreed to drive Fleming and the juvenile down the street.
Fleming and the juvenile entered the back seat, joining Mr. Thomas. As Mr. Price drove the car, Fleming pulled out a gun and fired it at all of the occupants inside the car. This shooting was unprovoked and without any warning. Mr. Price and Mr. Thomas were both shot in the head and died from their respective injuries. The front seat passenger, who survived the incident, was shot multiple times in his torso and arm. The juvenile was not hit by the gunfire.
Due to the shooting, the car crashed at the intersection of North Capitol and T Streets. Fleming fled from the car on foot and ultimately ran to a nearby house, where he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department. A search of the home was conducted later that morning. Among other things, the police found a bag of ammunition in the defendant’s room.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of the detectives of the Criminal Investigations Division, crime scene officers, and the Fifth Police District of the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica Vaughn and Paralegal Specialist Fern Rhedrick. He also praised the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana L. Fulton, who prosecuted the case.
14-219Defendant Sentenced in $19 Million Tax Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that Maximo Amparo-Vazquez, a/k/a Japhet Soto Santiago, a/k/a Luis Angel Cortez, a/k/a “Kiki”, 27, a citizen of the Dominican Republic formerly residing in Alaska, was sentenced to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Amparo-Vazquez pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government with respect to claims on July 2, 2014. In addition to his prison sentences, Amparo-Vazquez was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $559,755 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Amparo-Vazquez was also sentenced to concurrently serve 24 months of imprisonment for pleading guilty to concealing and not making known to law enforcement the felony conduct of a drug trafficking organization.
According to court documents, from January 2010 to March 2012, Amparo-Vazquez , acting with Joel Santana-Pierna, Abel Santana-Pierna and others, conspired to use stolen Puerto Rican identities to file income tax returns for the purpose of obtaining fraudulent income tax refunds.
Conspirators in the income tax fraud scheme obtained the stolen identities of more than 2,600 individuals, including people’s names and Social Security numbers. Most of these stolen identities were from citizens of Puerto Rico. Found on a laptop computer that Amparo-Vazuez consented to being searched by the government, were approximately 804 personal identities and approximately $6.375 million in prepared fraudulent tax refund claims. In all, the amount of the conspiracy’s sham returns totaled over $19 million.
Joel Santana-Pierna, Abel Santana-Pierna, Misael Polanco-Villa, Nicolas Jimenez-Sanchez, Isaac Amparo-Vazquez, and Randin Paredes Henriquez, Wedys Ramirez-Javier, Samuel Peguero, Fatima Aguilar Martinez, Melissa Duran-Muniz and Hilda Josephine Hernandez McMullen were also indicted as conspirators in the scheme. All of the indicted but Samuel Peguero and Wedys Ramirz-Javier have been sentenced. Samuel Peguero is awaiting trial, while Wedys Ramirez-Javier remains a fugitive.
Before the imposition of sentence, Defense Attorney Peter Camiel requested Judge Timothy M. Burgess consider that a search of Amparo-Vazquez’s apartment found no drugs and no weapons when determining an appropriate sentence. Judge Timothy M. Burgess responded that Amparo-Vazquez’s apartment metaphorically contained a weapon, a computer, which was used to assault the taxpayers of America.
Addressing the Court through an interpreter, Amparo-Vazquez apologized and said his intent was never to come to America and commit crimes. He came to find work to help his father in the Dominican Republic. Amparo-Vazquez shared that while he would be in jail his eighty-year-old father would probably pass away and that not seeing his father again was worse than time in jail.
Following the imposition of sentence, Judge Timothy M. Burgess addressed Amparo-Vazquez and advised him that a lot of people come here as immigrants and take advantage of the opportunities available to them in a positive way and make themselves and this country better, but Amparo-Vazquez did not do that and would now be paying the price.
The case was jointly prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas C. Bradley, James Barkeley, and Stephanie C. Courter of the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Additional assistance was provided by the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of New Jersey, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Southern District of New York.Cranston Tax Preparers Charged with Allegedly Stealing and Selling the Identities of Minors for Use as Tax Deductions on Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Court documents unsealed in federal court in Providence today reveal an alleged scheme by the owners and operators of NBP Multiservices (NBP), a tax preparation business in Cranston, R.I., to steal personal identifying information of minors named as dependents on legitimate tax returns their company prepared and selling the information to other tax filers for use on their tax returns in order to increase tax refunds, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation; and Ted A. Arruda, Resident Agent in Charge of the Providence Office of the U.S. Secret Service.
Evelyn Nunez, 40, of Providence, and Tashia Bodden, 37, of Warwick, were arrested earlier today by agents from IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service on federal criminal complaints charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, false claims to the United States and aggravated identity theft. They were released on unsecured bond following initial appearances before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan.
According to court documents, the Scheme Development Center, a division of the IRS, conducted an analysis of tax returns prepared by individuals working at NBP and identified questionable use of children being claimed as dependents. The alleged use of the dependents led to the refunding by the IRS of hundreds of thousands of dollars under the Earned Income Credit available to low income taxpayers.
According to court records and information presented to the court, an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that between January 2008 and February 2012, taxpayers allegedly purchased false dependents for approximately $600 - $700 per dependent. Research of the use of dependents allegedly showed that the defendants falsely claimed dozens of children to be foster children, nieces and nephews of the taxpayers when, in reality, they had no relation to the taxpayer.
It is alleged that the scheme defrauded the IRS of more than $1.34 million dollars and defrauded the State of Rhode Island of more than $65,500 dollars.
A third defendant in this matter, Wendy Molina, 39, of Cranston, has been charged by way of an information with one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. She is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on October 1, 2014.
A criminal complaint and an information are merely allegations and are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
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To assist the media and the public, a glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357
[email protected]Convicted Felon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Possession of A FirearmRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges yesterday sentenced Ish’Mael M. Cassells (31, Ocala) to 15 years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. He pleaded guilty on July 24, 2014.
According to court documents, from April 22, 2014, through May 8, 2014, Cassells sold firearms, including .380 and .40 caliber pistols and a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle, and prescription pain pills to a confidential informant working with law enforcement.
On May 23, 2014, agents executed a federal search warrant at Cassells’s residence in Ocala. During an interview with law enforcement at the residence, Cassells admitted that he was a convicted felon, and that he had sold both drugs and firearms to the confidential informant. As a previously convicted felon, Cassells was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. In addition, his numerous state convictions for sales of cocaine qualified him for an enhanced penalty under the federal Armed Career Criminal statute.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.
This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Trevor Velinor, Acting Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy to reduce violence in communities.
Conspirator in Bank Fraud Scheme Sentenced to over Two Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Antonio Holmes, age 29, of Washington, DC, today to 30 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit bank fraud and for aggravated identity theft. Judge Titus also ordered Holmes to pay restitution of $363,738.71.The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Michalko of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office; and Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.
According to his plea agreement, from January 2010 to May 2012, Holmes conspired with Lateef Akande and others to defraud financial institutions. As part of the scheme, Lateef Akande recruited Holmes and other individuals to provide personal bank information regarding existing bank accounts in their names, or to open new accounts in their own names. Akande and others then caused third-party checks to be deposited into those bank accounts. For any of the checks that cleared, the co-conspirators would withdraw monies from those accounts.
For example, on January 28, 2010, Holmes deposited a fraudulent check drawn on the account of a victim, and made payable to Holmes in the amount of $34,450.90. On January 30, 2010, Holmes cashed a check for $3,900, drawn on the same victim’s account and made payable to Holmes.
Holmes admits that as a result of his participation in the fraud scheme the loss or intended loss is at least $400,000.
Lateef Akande, age 37, of Bladensburg, Maryland, was sentenced on July 14, 2014, to 175 months in prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Judge Titus also ordered Akande to pay restitution of $418,042.58.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys David I. Salem and Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.Columbia, Mississippi Woman Sentenced for Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Hattiesburg, Mississippi – Rebecca Sue Carpenter, 56, of Columbia, Mississippi, was sentenced on September 25, 2014 to 82 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for filing false federal income tax returns with the IRS, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and Special Agent in Charge Gabriel L. Grchan with IRS Criminal Investigation. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $809,337.15.
Carpenter previously pled guilty to two counts of filing false federal income tax returns. In 2008, she falsely claimed a tax refund of $392,804, and in 2009 she falsely claimed a tax refund of $399,493, all based upon fraudulent withholdings listed on fictitious forms.
“The defendant in this case stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in income tax refunds to which she was not entitled,” U.S. Attorney Davis said. “No matter how sophisticated, tax fraud is pure theft. Her actions victimized all members of the public and we will relentlessly pursue those who attempt to undermine the integrity of our tax system.”
Gabriel L. Grchan, Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation, stated, “Rebecca Carpenter thought she could get away with cheating the government by filing fraudulent tax returns requesting falsely inflated tax refunds. Well, she was wrong, and today she was sentenced to prison for her actions. On behalf of IRS – CI, I would also like to thank the United States Attorney’s Office and AUSA Carla Clark for their work toward the prosecution of this case.”
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carla J. Clark.If you believe you have been a victim of fraud from a person or an organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of storm victims, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at:
(866) 720-5721
You can also fax information to:
(225) 334-4707
or e-mail it to:
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Cleveland Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – On Sept. 25, 2014, Richard Vatilla, 44, of Cleveland, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier, U.S. District Judge. Vatilla pleaded guilty in June 2014 to distribution of child pornography. Upon his release from prison, he will be subject to 10 years of supervised release by the U.S. Probation Office. Vatilla will also be required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
In the plea agreement on file with the U.S. District Court, Vatilla admitted to downloading and trading child pornography, and making child pornography available for downloading through a peer to peer file sharing program. He also admitted that he went online to teen chat rooms, talked to people he believed to be juveniles, and asked them to send him pictures of themselves.
The indictment and subsequent conviction of Vatilla was the result of an investigation conducted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Department of Homeland Security Investigations Division, and Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra L. Bay represented the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by 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.”
Chicago Fraudsters Sentenced to Federal Prison for Convictions on Fraud and Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Anthony Fields, 49, Phillip Bush, 53, and Yolanda Michelle Winston, 45, all of Chicago, Ill., were sentenced yesterday to federal prison terms for their convictions on fraud and conspiracy charges.
Fields, Bush and Winston were arrested on Sept. 10, 2013, on a seven-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleged that between Oct. 2, 2012 and Nov. 22, 2012, the defendants conspired with each other to steal credit cards from wallets of unsuspecting victims, use the credit cards to purchase gift cards at retail stores, and purchase items for themselves with the gift cards.
According to court filings, defendants perpetuated their fraudulent scheme in a number of states, including Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico and Texas. For example, on Oct. 6, 2012, the trio created a diversion while leaving a restaurant in Albuquerque which allowed one of the defendants to remove a wallet from a victim’s purse. Later that day, Winston used the victim’s credit cards to purchase six pre-paid gift cards for $2,000 each along with other items, for a total of $12,074.88 in transactions. The defendants later used the gift cards to make purchases in Texas, Arizona and Illinois.
On April 11, 2014, Bush and Winston each entered guilty pleas to charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Fields entered a similar guilty plea on April 25, 2014.
Yesterday, the defendants were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Fields was sentenced a 62-month prison term; Bush was sentenced to a 74-month prison term; and Winston was sentenced to an 84-month prison term. Each defendant will be on supervised release for three years after his or her prison sentences.
The defendants also were ordered jointly to pay restitution to the victims of their fraudulent conduct: $8,074.88 to U.S. Bank, $4,000.00 to HSBC, and $10,141.79 to Bank of America. Fields also was ordered to forfeit $58,961.42 from two bank accounts. Bush and Winston each was ordered to pay a money judgment of $4021.39.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI with assistance from the Chicago Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Paige Messec.
Charlotte Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for His Role in A Mortgage Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Defendant Received More Than $500,000 In Mortgage Fraud Proceeds
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Former NFL football player Jimmy Hitchcock was sentenced on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, to serve 46 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, for his role in a multi-million mortgage fraud conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins.
U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, Thomas J. Holloman III, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI).
Hitchock, 43, of Clemmons, N.C., pleaded guilty in June 2013 to one count of mortgage fraud conspiracy, one count of bank bribery conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. In sentencing Hitchcock yesterday, Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney found that Hitchcock was the leader or organizer of this mortgage fraud conspiracy and further that Hitchcock had engaged in a sophisticated scheme by, among other things, creating bogus “official checks” that could be used to make it appear as if buyers had made down payments when in fact they had not. According to court documents, Hitchcock created other false documents to support the mortgage fraud transactions and recruited a bank insider to assist in the fraud, by paying her bribes to provide bogus verifications of deposit to support the mortgage fraud transactions.
According to information presented at the sentencing hearing, the losses incurred by financial and lending institutions associated with the mortgage fraud transactions that Hitchcock participated in were approximately $4.5 million. Additionally, Hitchcock personally received more than $500,000 from the loan proceeds fraudulently obtained by the conspiracy during the sixteen months it operated.
Hitchcock has been in federal custody since his September 2012 arrest in on these charges.
Hitchcock was one of six defendants charged in a second superseding bill of indictment for their role in this mortgage fraud conspiracy, and is the fourth in this conspiracy to be sentenced. The other defendants sentenced to date are:
• Christopher T. Belin, 35, of Norfolk, Va. - Real estate agent and promoter was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
• Mitzi Jackson, 41, of Mint Hill, S.C. - Bank insider, sentenced to nine months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release with nine months home detention.
• Coley Scagliarini, 40, of Charlotte - Mortgage broker, sentenced to 46 months in prison, followed by two years supervised release.Co-defendant Michelle Mallard, 47, of Montgomery, Ala. is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2014. A sentencing date has not yet been set for co-defendant James E. Fink, 44, of Waxhaw, N.C.
Ninety-one (91) people have been charged to date in Operation Wax House. To date, eighty-four (84) defendants have pleaded guilty and three have been found guilty at trial. Operation Wax House in the Western District of North Carolina is being handled by the Charlotte Division of the FBI and the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS for the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, along with the Securities Division of the North Carolina Secretary of State with respect to a separate prosecution. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Kurt W. Meyers and Maria K. Vento.
The President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit http://www.stopfraud.gov
Caremark Will Pay $6 Million to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
Caremark L.L.C., a pharmacy benefit management company (PBM), will pay the United States $6 million to settle allegations that Caremark knowingly failed to reimburse Medicaid for prescription drug costs paid on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries who also were eligible for drug benefits under Caremark-administered private health plans, the Justice Department announced today. Caremark is operated by CVS Caremark Corporation, one of the largest PBMs and retail pharmacies in the country.
“It is vitally important that cash-strapped Medicaid programs receive reimbursement for the costs they incur that should properly have been paid for by other insurers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We are committed to protecting the integrity of state Medicaid programs.”
When an individual is covered by both Medicaid and a private health plan, the individual is called a “dual eligible.” Under the law, the private insurer, rather than the government, must assume the costs of health care for dual eligibles. If Medicaid erroneously pays for the prescription claim of a dual eligible, Medicaid is entitled to seek reimbursement from the private insurer or its PBM. A PBM administers and manages the drug benefits for clients who offer drug benefits under a health insurance plan.
Caremark served as the PBM for private health plans who insured a number of individuals receiving prescription drug benefits under both a Caremark-administered plan and Medicaid. According to the government, Caremark’s RxCLAIM computer platform allegedly failed to pay the full amount due on certain claims because it improperly deducted certain co-payment or deductible amounts when calculating payments. The government alleged that Caremark’s actions caused Medicaid to incur prescription drug costs for dual eligibles that should have been paid for by the Caremark-administered private health plans rather than Medicaid.
The allegations settled today arose from a lawsuit filed by Donald Well, a former Caremark employee, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. The United States may intervene in the lawsuit, as it did here. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. Well will receive $1.02 million plus interest.
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $22.4 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $14.2 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
This case was jointly handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of
Texas, the Justice Department’s Civil Division, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
The case is captioned United States ex rel. Well v. CVS Caremark, Inc., Civil Action No. SA:11-CV-00747 (W.D. Tex.). The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Barrington Bank Robbery Getaway Driver Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison; Co-defendant Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Prison for Armed Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – David Lasseque, 33, of Providence, convicted of being the getaway driver during the armed robbery of a Barrington, R.I., bank in July 2013, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 140 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Barrington Police Chief John M. LaCross, East Providence Police Chief Christopher J. Parella and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the FBI.
Lasseque was convicted by a federal court jury in June 2014 of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery. At sentencing, Lasseque was also ordered to serve 3 years supervised upon completion of his prison term.
A co-defendant in this matter, Pierre S. Rheau, 34, of Providence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith in September 12, 2014, to 63 months in federal prison to be followed by 3 years supervised release. Rheau pleaded guilty in May 2014 to one count each of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and armed bank robbery.
According to court documents and the government’s evidence presented at Lasseque’s trial, at approximately 5:00 p.m. on July 12, 2103, members of the Barrington Police Department responded to a report of an armed bank robbery at the County Road branch office of Bank of America. Witnesses told police that an individual armed with a black firearm approached tellers demanding they give him all the money. The evidence showed that the robber fled the bank with $4,871 in cash.
According to the government’s evidence, in response to a police dispatch about the bank robbery, a Barrington Police Sergeant positioned himself on Rte. 114. A short time later, the sergeant saw a vehicle traveling in a northerly direction away from the bank by an individual who fit the general description of the bank robber. The sergeant began to follow the vehicle and attempted to affect a traffic stop. However, after stopping briefly, the vehicle fled the area at a high rate of speed.
According to the government’s evidence, the suspect vehicle was pursued by police into an East Providence residential neighborhood. The vehicle came to a stop after crashing into an East Providence police cruiser traveling in the opposite direction, with its lights and siren engaged, injuring the officer.
According to the government’s evidence, the driver, David Lasseque, fled on foot but was quickly apprehended by Barrington and East Providence officers. A second individual, Pierre Rheau, later identified as the gunman who robbed the bank, was discovered lying on the back seat. From the back seat area, officers recovered a pile of loose cash, a black Daisy .177 caliber BB gun, and clothing and accessories described by witnesses as having been worn by the armed bank robber.
The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela E. Chin.
Warren and Seekonk, Mass., Police and the Rhode Island State Police assisted Barrington Police, East Providence Police and the FBI in the investigation of this matter.
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To assist the media and the public, a glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357
[email protected]Attorney's Secretary Pleads Guilty to Fraud of over $150,000Read the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – Mandie Marie Bishop, age 33, of Jonesville, Virginia, pled guilty yesterday, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to two counts of bank fraud and one count of making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the United States.
Evidence was presented at yesterday’s hearing that Bishop worked as a secretary and assistant in a law office located in Lee County, Virginia. Bishop’s employer, an attorney in Lee County, Virginia, became conservator of an elderly woman’s assets in late December 2011. Bishop’s employer allowed Bishop to access the elderly woman’s bank accounts at Farmers and Miners Bank and Lee Bank and Trust Company, but Bishop did not have signature authority on the accounts. As early as January 17, 2012, Bishop began fraudulently issuing and cashing checks from the elderly woman’s accounts.
Between January 17, 2012, and May 16, 2013, Bishop caused $106,672 to be fraudulently obtained from the elderly woman’s bank account at Lee Bank and Trust Company. Between June 29, 2012 and May 16, 2013, Bishop caused at least $11,382 to be fraudulently obtained from the checking account at Farmers and Miners Bank. On May 16, 2013, after Farmers and Miners Bank made her employer aware of the fraudulent activity at the bank, her employer deposited $10,558 into the account to replace a portion of the missing funds.
Bishop continued in her role as a secretary and assistant with the same employer and between May 17, 2013, and December 10, 2013, caused at least an additional $50,341 to fraudulently be obtained from the elderly woman’s checking account.
In addition to fraudulently issuing and cashing checks, Bishop caused over $7,000 to be used from the conservator accounts for unnecessary expenses. As a part of Bishop’s scheme to defraud, she also caused certificates of deposit to be cashed and caused money to be transferred from an interest bearing savings account to a non-interest bearing checking account, thereby causing the elderly woman to be deprived of accumulated interest that she otherwise would have received.
On May 8, 2014, Bishop’s employer deposited $82,246 into the elderly woman’s Lee Bank and Trust Company bank account and on August 19, 2014, her employer caused $7,285 to be deposited into the elderly woman’s Lee Bank and Trust Company bank account.
As part of the plea agreement, Bishop agreed to have restitution ordered for all funds directly taken as well as amounts paid for services not rendered and for unnecessary expenses that were incurred.
United States District Judge James P. Jones scheduled sentencing for December 15, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. At sentencing, Bishop faces a statutory maximum sentence of 65 years in prison and a fine of $2,250,000. The sentencing guidelines will call for a sentence significantly less than the statutory maximum.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Attorney General Holder, Secretary Jewell Announce $554 Million Settlement of Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Lawsuit Filed by Navajo NationRead the Press Release
Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Navajo Nation regarding the U.S. government’s management of funds and natural resources that it holds in trust for the Navajo Nation. The settlement resolves a long-standing dispute, with some of the claims dating back more than 50 years, and brings to an end protracted litigation that has burdened both the Navajo Nation and the United States.
Secretary Jewell joined Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resource Division Sam Hirsch, and numerous tribal officials at a commemorative signing ceremony held in Window Rock, Arizona today.
“This historic agreement resolves a longstanding dispute between the United States and the Navajo Nation, including some claims that have been sources of tension for generations,” said Attorney General Holder. “The Department of Justice has made it a top priority to honor and foster the trust relationship between the United States and American Indian tribes. This landmark resolution ends protracted and burdensome litigation. It will provide important resources to the Navajo Nation. And it fairly and honorably resolves a legal conflict over the accounting and management of tribal resources. This demonstrates the Justice Department’s firm commitment to strengthening our partnerships with tribal nations -- so we can expand cooperation, empower sovereign tribes, and keep moving forward together with mutual respect and shared purpose.”
“This settlement reflects our continuing commitment to upholding the federal trust responsibility to Indian Country and to building strong, prosperous and resilient tribal communities,” said Secretary Jewell. “The historic agreement strengthens the government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Navajo Nation, helps restore a positive working relationship with the Nation’s leaders and empowers Navajo communities. The landmark Cobell settlement and resolution of 80 other tribal trust management lawsuits under President Obama has opened a new chapter in federal trust relations with tribes and individual Indian beneficiaries.”
The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian tribe in the United States, with over 300,000 members. The Nation has the largest reservation in the United States, encompassing over 27,000 square miles of land in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The reservation includes more than 14 million acres of trust lands, which are leased for various productive uses, including farming; grazing; oil, gas, and other mineral development; businesses; rights-of-way; timber harvesting; and housing. The Navajo Nation also owns or has ownership interests in over 100 trust accounts.
Under the agreement, the United States will pay the Navajo Nation $554 million in settlement of its claims. In return, the Navajo Nation will dismiss its current lawsuit and forego further litigation regarding the United States’ historic management or accounting of Navajo funds or resources held in the trust by the United States. The Navajo Nation and the United States will undertake prospectively information-sharing procedures that will lead to improved communication concerning the management of Navajo’s trust funds and resources, and also the parties will abide by alternative dispute resolution procedures to reduce the likelihood of future litigation.
In addition to the negotiations that led to this historic settlement with the Navajo Nation, the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and the Treasury have been diligently engaged in settlement conversations involving other litigating tribes. On April 11, 2012, the United States announced settlements with 41 tribes for about $1 billion. Since that time, the federal government has focused considerable dedicated effort on the remaining tribal trust accounting and trust mismanagement cases and has been able to resolve “breach of trust” claims, without the need for further extended litigation, of almost 40 additional tribes, for over $1.5 billion.
The United States will continue settlement discussions in numerous other cases that are still pending and is committed to resolving the litigating tribes’ trust accounting and trust mismanagement claims in a manner that is fair and reasonable to the tribes and the United States.
“From his first days in office, President Obama has worked to honor the government-to-government relationships between the United States and tribal governments," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch. "This settlement is yet another example of the Administration’s promise to strengthen the ties between the United States and the Navajo Nation. And it reflects my personal commitment to resolving long-standing lawsuits rather than wasting the time and resources of both the United States and Indian tribes in contentious litigation.”
Area Women Plead Guilty to Medicaid Funds FraudRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsStephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on September 25, 2014, Tamekia Hall, 38, of East St. Louis, Illinois, pled guilty to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. The investigation determined that Hall was falsifying time sheets in order receive personal assistant payments during times when the customer was actually in the hospital. Also, on today’s date, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Maketa Davis 33, of East St. Louis, Illinois, pled guilty to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. The investigation determined that Davis was falsifying time sheets in order receive personal assistant payments during times when she was actually working at Lessie Bates Home.
Both of these cases resulted from United States Attorney Wigginton’s emphasis on targeting those involved in the blatant theft of funds from cash-strapped programs designed to help persons in need. “These are just another two prosecutions in the long line of successes stemming from these operations, dubbed, ‘Home Alone.’ While not representing enormous thefts, the importance of these cases lies in the recovery of the funds and in the message sent to potential thieves – do so at your peril.” United States Attorney Wigginton noted.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Illinois State Police’s Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. These cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hallock.
25 September 2014
Washington State Man Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Failing to Register as A Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Deveron Lyons, 24, of Rodeo, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 15 months in prison for failing to register as a sex offender, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, as of June 2007, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Lyons was required to register as a sex offender in Washington State and to register as a sex offender whenever he moved to a new state. In late 2012, Lyons moved to California, but he did not register as a sex offender with California authorities. On February 1, 2013, Lyons encountered a Napa County Sheriff’s Deputy, who told Lyons to register as a sex offender. Lyons still did not register as a sex offender in California. For a time, he lived in Vallejo, California. More than one year later, on March 12, 2014, Lyons was indicted for failing to register as a sex offender. One week later, Lyons registered as a sex offender with California authorities.
This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Christiaan Highsmith prosecuted the case.Virginia Man Sentenced to 24 Years for “Sextortion” of Minors on FacebookRead the Press Release
RICHMOND, Va. – Cameron Scot Bivins-Breeden, 21, of King George County, Virginia, was sentenced today to 288 months in prison, followed by a life term of supervised release, for using Facebook to entice and attempt to entice 38 minor victims to produce sexually explicit photographs of themselves and send to him over the internet. In multiple instances, Bivins-Breeden used the threat of sending the sexually explicit images to friends and family of the victims to extort additional pictures from the victims.
Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark Herring, Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney General; and Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney.
Bivins-Breeden pled guilty on June 23, 2014, to one count of production of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251, and one count of enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422. In a Statement of Facts submitted in support of his pleas, Bivins-Breeden admitted that he contacted 38 juvenile females across the country, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old, via Facebook on his iPhone. Posing as a juvenile female, he enticed or attempted to entice them to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves. When the victims refused to produce additional child pornography images for him, Bivins-Breeden threatened to send the previously obtained images to the victims’ friends, family, and schoolmates on Facebook. In total, Bivins-Breeden admitted to sending 95 child pornography images in an effort to convince victims he was in fact a juvenile female and caused victims to produce 45 child pornography images.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert and Commonwealth of Virginia, Office of the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General and Special United States Attorney Samuel Fishel prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:14-cr-57.
United States Attorney’s Office Announces Sentence in Department of Veterans Affairs TheftRead the Press Release
Woman sentenced for theft of $90,000 over six year period
INDIANAPOLIS – Josh J. Minkler, the Acting United States Attorney, announced today the sentencing of a former Indianapolis woman for theft of government money. Rhonda F. Reddy, 59, was sentenced to five months in the Bureau of Prisons, then five months on home detention by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
“When individuals steal from the organization that represents our veterans, who selflessly give to the service of our country, it gravely concerns me,” said Minkler. “My office will not sit idly by and allow this sort of theft to go unpunished.”
Rhonda F. Reddy held a joint bank account at Chase Bank in Indianapolis with her mother, Dorothy M. Reddy. who was an authorized Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spousal benefits recipient. Dorothy was entitled to VA benefits until her death based upon the circumstances of the death of her veteran husband. These benefits are not transferrable to anyone else and expired upon Dorothy’s death.
When Dorothy died in December 2007, Rhonda Reddy did nothing to notify the VA of the death and accordingly, the benefits continued to be transmitted into the bank account on a monthly basis. Reddy began using the funds for herself and continued to do so until September 2013, when the VA conducted a death match based upon Social Security Administration data and verified the death of the mother. The loss to the VA is $90,600, based upon the funds received by Rhonda Reddy from after her mother’s death until the VA terminated payments.
According to James M. Warden who prosecuted this case for the government, Reddy must serve two years of supervised release after her prison sentence.
Two Men Convicted of Providing Material Support to Terrorists and Plotting to Kill American Targets in AfghanistanRead the Press Release
RIVERSIDE, California – Two men were found guilty today of federal charges related to plots to provide material support to terrorists and to kill American personnel.
Following a 6½-week trial, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts against the two defendants, one a United States citizen and one who was residing in California on a “Green Card.”
The two men convicted today are Sohiel Omar Kabir, 36, a naturalized United States citizen who was born in Afghanistan and who until late 2011 resided in Pomona; and Ralph Deleon, 25, of Ontario, a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the Philippines.
The jury found that Kabir and Deleon together were guilty in relation to two specific plots: conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to kill officers and employees of the United States Government.
As a result of these convictions, Kabir and Deleon each face life without parole when they are sentenced on February 23 by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.
Additionally, the jury found Kabir guilty of participating in two additional schemes: conspiring to provide material support and resources to Al-Qa’ida, a designated foreign terrorist organization; and conspiring to receive military-type training from Al-Qa’ida.
Deleon was additionally found guilty of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, or maiming overseas, for which he also faces a possible life sentence.
“This case shows that the appeal of extremist ideologies can reach from Afghanistan to America, demonstrating the clear need for continued vigilance in rooting out homegrown violent extremists who plot terrorist acts both here and abroad,” said United States Attorney Stephanie Yonekura. “The fine work of the FBI agents, other members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the prosecutors on this case shows how we can identify, infiltrate and dismantle terrorist cells bent on striking America and the American military.”
“The threat posed to America’s security by individuals within the United States who support terrorists is very real,” said Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This case demonstrates the process by which individuals living in the United States were groomed and radicalized toward an extremist ideology and, ultimately, planned the murder of American and coalition forces. The FBI and our partners on the Joint Terrorism Task Force are committed to identifying and thwarting support for terrorism before irreversible damage is inflicted on the innocent.”
Two other defendants who were indicted in the case in 2012 – Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales and Arifeen David Gojali – previously pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing.
The evidence presented during the trial showed Kabir introduced Deleon and Santana to radical Islamic ideology in 2010. Kabir left the United States in the final days of 2011, arriving in Afghanistan in July 2012. While in Afghanistan, Kabir continued to communicate with Santana and Deleon, encouraging them to join him in Afghanistan. Kabir told Santana and Deleon that he had made contacts with terrorist organizations, and, when they arrived, all three would join “the students” – the Taliban – and “the professors” – Al-Qa’ida.
In February 2012, an FBI source met Deleon and Santana. They discussed radical Islamic views, and in the spring of 20112 Deleon revealed the plan to travel overseas to engage in “violent jihad,” which would include attacking American military personnel and bases. Deleon told the source he wanted to be on the front lines or use explosives, and Santana said he wanted to be a sniper.
In September 2012, Deleon and Santana recruited Gojali to join them and to travel overseas to commit violent jihad. Deleon, Santana and Gojali made plans to join Kabir in Afghanistan to engage in violent training. As part of their planning, Santana, Deleon and Gojali conducted preliminary training in southern California at firearms and paintball facilities to prepare for terrorist training overseas.
Deleon, Santana and Gojali were arrested by the FBI on November 16, 2012 after leaving a Chino apartment. The three were planning to drive to Mexico, from where they would fly to Afghanistan. Kabir was taken into custody by American military personnel in Afghanistan.
In addition to the guilty verdicts, the jury acquitted Kabir of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, or maiming overseas (the count which Deleon alone was guilty of). The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on two charges against Deleon – conspiring to provide material support and resources to Al-Qa’ida, a designated foreign terrorist organization; and conspiring to receive military-type training from Al-Qa’ida (the two charges which Kabir alone was found guilty of).
The investigation into this terrorism scheme was conducted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Riverside, California. The Riverside JTTF is comprised of members from the following agencies: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office; Riverside Police Department; San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department; Beaumont Police Department; Ontario Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Release No. 14-129
Two Illegal Aliens Charged with Immigration ViolationsRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), announced that separate criminal charges were filed yesterday against two illegal aliens.
Fausto Cruz-Lopez, age 33, in the United States illegally was charged in a one-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg yesterday. The indictment alleges that Cruz-Lopez, previously arrested and deported from the United States in March 2013, knowingly and unlawfully reentered the United States and was apprehended in York County, Pennsylvania.
If convicted, Cruz-Lopez faces a maximum sentence of up to 2 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Estuardo Arana-Tobar, age 32, in the United States illegally was charged in a one-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg yesterday. The indictment alleges that Arana-Tobar, convicted in May 2006 of statutory sexual assault, previously arrested and deported from the United States in May 2007, knowingly and unlawfully reentered the United States and was apprehended in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
If convicted, Arana-Tobar faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The investigations were conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and are being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Alice Song Hartye.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Topeka Man Indicted on Federal Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Topeka man was indicted Wednesday on a federal charge of conspiring to buy firearms and unlawfully transfer them to a buyer in another state, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Donald Gene Garst, 52, who is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, is charged with one count of conspiring to unlawfully transfer firearms. The indictment alleges that on Aug. 16, 2013, Garst was referring to firearms when he told an unindicted co-conspirator that there was a lot of money to be made in “women’s shoes” and that they should acquire all the “women’s shoes” they could.
On Sept. 13, 2013, another unindicted co-conspirator rented space at Quality Storage Facility, 426 E. 6th in Holton, Kan. The next day, she took out a loan of $1,500 and purchased a Cobra Model FS380 pistol and a New Frontier Armory Model LW-15 rifle. She put them in a suitcase belonging to Garst for delivery to the storage facility. She gave Garst the combination to the storage locker so that he could pass it on to a person from another state who would retrieve the firearms and leave $2,800 in an envelope marked “Barney” to pay for the firearms. On Sept. 19, 2013, the purchaser entered the storage locker and retrieved the firearms.
If convicted, Garst faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag is prosecuting.
OTHER INDICTMENTS
Six Kansas City, Kan., men are charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and other counts. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Jan. 1, 2014, to Sept. 5, 2014, in Kansas City, Kan.
Among those charged are the following: Jesus Octavio Valdez-Acguirre, Kansas City, Kan.
Mario Saucedo-Avalos, 39, Kansas City, Kan.
Jessie Joe Silva, 38, Kansas City, Kan.
Roberto Lara-Mojica, 20, Kansas City, Kan.
Ramon Espinoza, 68, Kansas City, Kan.
Juan Manuel Lopez-Garcia, Kansas City, Kan., 25, Kansas City, Kan.The indictment seeks a forfeiture money judgment of $148,000, representing the proceeds of the crimes.
Upon conviction, the crimes alleged in the indictment carry the following penalties: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine: Not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million.
Distributing methamphetamine: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine: Not less than 10 years and a fine up to $10 million on each count.
Unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the United States: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken is prosecuting.
Six Kansas men are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and other counts. The crimes are alleged to have occurred from October 2013 to Sept. 5, 2014, in Wyandotte County, Kan.
Among those charged are the following: Vicencio Olea-Monarez, 36, Kansas City, Kan.
Gabriel Agustin Lopez, 28.
Rosalio Chinchilla, 44, Kansas City, Kan., Jose Luis Silva-Cardona, 24, Kansas City, Mo.
Joshua Thomas Alvarez, 25, Kansas City, Kan.
Lee Thomas Faulkner, 40, Topeka, Kan.The indictment alleges members of the conspiracy maintained residences at 719 Lyons Ave. in Kansas City, Kan., and 1201 Gilmore Ave. in Kansas City, Kan., in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Upon conviction, the crimes alleged in the indictment carry the following penalties: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 1,000 marijuana plants, distributing methamphetamine, attempt to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine: Not less than 10 years and a fine up to $10 million on each count.
Possession with intent to distribute cocaine: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $500,000.
Possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking: Not less than five years and a fine up to $250,000.
Unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.
Juan Lopez-Morales, 40, a citizen of Mexico, is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported. He was found July 6, 2014, in Sedgwick County, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement Removal Operations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
Tonawanda Man Arrested; Charged with Production and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Buffalo, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jason M. Smith, 34, of Tonawanda, NY, has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Allen, Jr., who is handling the case, stated that, according to the complaint, on April 11, 2014, the Lancaster Police Department executed a search warrant at Smith’s residence on Byron Avenue in Tonawanda. During the search, officers seized an external hard drive. Subsequent examination by the Western New York Regional Forensic Laboratory determined the hard drive contained child pornography. Further investigation determined that the defendant was producing some of the child pornography at his residence. Some of the images depicted Smith engaged in sexual contact with what appears to be a minor, under the age of 10.
Smith was in court today before U.S Magistrate Judge Jerimiah J. McCarthy for a detention hearing. The defendant is being held.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lancaster Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald J. Gill, Jr., and the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Zack.
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.Statements on the Departure of Attorney General Eric HolderRead the Press Release
STATEMENT FROM ETHEL KENNEDY REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Eric Holder has vigilantly defended an ideal Bobby strongly believed -- that the Justice Department must deliver justice for all Americans. Especially our most vulnerable, who live in the very communities where justice can be hardest to find.”
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STATEMENT FROM MYRLIE EVERS REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“There has been no greater ally in the fight for justice, civil rights, equal rights, and voting rights than Attorney General Holder. As a fierce consequential defender of the right to vote, the Attorney General has worked tirelessly to ensure that every American has the right, the ability and the opportunity to cast their vote and let their voice be heard.
“Attorney General Holder never shied away from the issues that greatly affect us all. From lobbying Congress to reduce prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders, to cracking down on abuse by police departments and to working to ease racial tension throughout the United States, the Attorney General was always there ready to correct injustices and offer common sense reforms to better our nation.
“I am honored to call the Attorney General a friend, and have had the distinct pleasure of working very closely with him throughout his tenure as AG and prior to his appointment. Just last year, when we celebrated the life of my husband Medgar, Attorney General Holder was the first to offer his assistance to honor Medgar and vowed to continue his pursuit for justice for all Americans, just as Medgar did.
“I wish AG Holder continued success, and look forward to continuing our work together to ensure that that this country stays on the path to greatness, righteousness and equality that we both have dedicated our lives to.”
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STATEMENT FROM MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“On behalf of the City of Chicago, I want to thank Attorney General Eric Holder for more than five and a half years of extraordinary service as our nation’s Attorney General. Whether it’s reducing gun violence on our streets or supporting restorative justice in our schools so more children can stay on track to graduate, the City of Chicago has had a strong partner in Attorney General Holder. He has been a great champion for keeping our streets safer, making our communities stronger, and making our criminal justice system fairer. We are a better nation because of Attorney General Holder’s outstanding service.”
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STATEMENT FROM THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS CEO WADE HENDERSON REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Attorney General Holder has presided over one of the most forward-thinking and visionary Justice Departments in memory. Remembering only his historic confirmation as the first African-American attorney general would not do justice to his tenure over the past six years, which was one of the most successful in modern American history.
"Under his leadership, the Department of Justice has put forth groundbreaking reforms to our broken criminal justice system, championed the right to vote, defended the Affordable Care Act, protected homeowners from predatory lending, defended the federal government from state overreach on immigration laws, and backed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
"His tenure is even more remarkable considering that he was victim to an unprecedented witch hunt and abuse of power by House Republicans. Their attempt to stain the office by issuing the only contempt citation against a sitting cabinet member in modern history only validated Attorney General Holder’s effectiveness and commitment to promoting the civil and human rights of all Americans.
"Attorney General Holder came to the job as the one of the most well-prepared nominees ever considered for the post, and he has surpassed even those high expectations. We commend his service to our nation and will work to confirm a successor that will continue Justice’s commitment to the advancement of civil and human rights.”
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STATEMENT FROM THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. today lauded the stellar leadership of departing Attorney General Eric Holder, who announced his resignation this morning. LDF also emphasized the need for continued vigilance in the protection of civil rights.
“When Attorney General Holder took the helm of the Department of Justice in 2009, he vowed to make the Civil Rights division the department's ‘crown jewel,’ and he has more than fulfilled that mission,” said Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of NAACP LDF. “When the history of his tenure is written, Eric Holder will ultimately be recognized as one of the finest Attorneys General this country has ever known. In the field of civil rights there are few who could even claim to rival this Attorney General's dedication, strategic focus and commitment."
“General Holder's vision for the Civil Rights Division was one of restoration and transformation, from his leadership on voting rights, to legal services for the poor, to criminal justice reforms and, in recent weeks, to his forceful response to the tragic events in Ferguson,” Ifill added.
Ifill expressed particular support for the Attorney General’s forceful and courageous willingness to speak openly about the problem of mass incarceration in this country. “The ‘Smart on Crime’ initiatives he announced last year are a quintessential example of Attorney General Holder’s vision and boldness,” she said.
In 2013, Ifill noted, when the Supreme Court invalidated key portions of the Voting Rights Act in a devastating decision, Attorney General Holder immediately deployed the full litigation strength of the Justice Department in places like Texas and North Carolina to protect voters of color who had been made even more vulnerable to voting discrimination. Most recently, his Justice Department attorneys stood side-by-side with LDF lawyers in a Texas courtroom to challenge that state’s discriminatory photo ID law. A decision in that case, United States v. Texas, is expected in the next few weeks.
“It is hard to overstate the impact of General Holder’s tenure – but we are confident that his initiatives will endure, even under new leadership,” said Leslie Proll, Director of LDF’s Washington Office. “At this critical time for America, we can’t afford to lose momentum on civil rights. Certainly the next nominee will have big shoes to fill, but we trust and expect that his replacement will be up to the task.”
Attorney General Holder began his storied legal career as an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund while at law school. Earlier this year, he was the keynote speaker at LDF’s 60th anniversary celebration of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. View his remarks online here.
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STATEMENT FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality, today praised the distinguished service of Eric Holder upon learning that he will be stepping down as U.S. Attorney General pending confirmation of his successor. HRC believes that the President should use this opportunity to appoint the nation’s first out LGBT cabinet member.
"Some Attorneys General wait for history, others make history happen. Attorney General Holder made history for the LGBT community,” said Chad Griffin, President of HRC. “He was our Robert F. Kennedy, lightening the burden of every American who faces legal discrimination and social oppression. We owe him a profound debt of gratitude for his legacy of advocacy and service."
Attorney General Holder has been a staunch advocate for civil rights for LGBT Americans throughout his career in public life. As U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia, he formed the first hate crimes task force, which has become a model for U.S. Attorneys throughout the country. He spearheaded the administration’s decision to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. Under his leadership, the FBI and Civil Rights Division began actively investigating and prosecuting hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity with the implementation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
His leadership is without comparison in the swift implementation of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Windsor v. United States. Attorney General Holder declared that the ruling meant that, “Americans in same-sex marriages are entitled to equal protection and equal treatment under the law.” From this historic statement, more than 1,000 federal rights and benefits of marriages have begun to flow to same-sex couples across the country.
HRC continues to advocate for the historic appointment of an openly LGBT cabinet member to the Obama administration.
"President Obama faces a historic opportunity in light of Attorney General Holder's departure,” said Chad Griffin, President of HRC. “The President has expressed a commitment to appointing a cabinet that reflects the full diversity of the American people, and there are many richly-qualified candidates available to serve as the first openly-LGBT cabinet secretary. It would be a natural extension of this administration's enduring commitment to equality to send a message of visibility and inclusion by nominating such a candidate to serve in this historic role."
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STATEMENT FROM U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“It has been a true honor to work with Eric Holder, and I know he will remain an ally in the fight for justice and equal opportunity for every student in America. Eric understands - at a very deep, personal level - the costs to families, communities and our country when students do not have equal access to educational opportunities. I am grateful for Eric’s partnership on so many issues, among them: addressing disparities in school discipline, enforcing civil rights laws in education, keeping schools and college campuses safe from violence, and ensuring value and service for students who borrow money for college. I am so grateful to Eric, Sharon and their family for their commitment to equality for all. I look forward to continuing this work with the next Attorney General.”
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STATEMENT FROM U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR THOMAS E. PEREZ REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Eric Holder is a man of extraordinary conscience and competence. It was a unique honor to serve with him at the Justice Department, and I am enormously grateful for his unwavering commitment to the cause of civil rights and to reinvigorating the Civil Rights Division in particular.
“I am confident that when objective historians write about America’s most critical moments, Eric Holder will go down as one of the preeminent attorneys general in our nation’s history – whether it’s his support of LGBT equality and his indispensable role in the president’s decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act; or his aggressiveness in ensuring the right to vote; or his commitment to sentencing reform; or his tough crackdown on hate crimes, financial fraud and racial profiling.
“The Justice Department is stronger for his quarter century of service there. The nation is stronger for his lifetime of work on behalf of justice and equal opportunity.”
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STATEMENT FROM SENATOR BILL NELSON REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“I have found Attorney General Holder to be an outstanding public servant with whom I’ve had the privilege to work with on a number of issues. Among them, he has led the fight to protect the right to vote for all citizens and that includes his recent letter warning Florida’s governor against any future efforts there to suppress the vote. And he also has been very supportive of scientists’ efforts to unlock the secrets of potential abuse at a now-shuttered reform school in North Florida. The president will miss his counsel.”
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STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Attorney General Eric Holder has delivered the utmost distinguished service during his tenure in the Obama Administration. As the first African American to serve as Attorney General, Mr. Holder has shown vigorous dedication to the American people and advancing civil rights for all.
“As the fourth longest serving Attorney General in U.S. history, his devotion to the pursuit of justice is unparalleled and has comforted the nation during great times of turmoil. I appreciate that he will remain in his post until a successor is named. I wish him well in all his future endeavors and thank him for his tireless efforts over the past six years and more.”
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STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“It is heartbreaking for me to see the Attorney General leave the administration, but it is understandable that, after six years of outstanding work on domestic and international legal issues, he would desire to return to private life,” Norton said. “We in the District of Columbia are especially proud and grateful that it was his outstanding record as U.S. Attorney here that first brought Eric to the attention of President Clinton and, ultimately, to President Obama. This morning, we discussed his exceptional work to avoid the harshness of federal mandatory minimum sentencing in selected cases, when the results would have been particularly unfair, by using the local courts. This was possible because of the U.S. Attorney’s dual local and federal jurisdiction. His work influenced the changes now underway with federal mandatory minimums that are reducing the sentences of thousands of low-level drug offenders.”
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STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Over the past six years, Attorney General Holder has worked to improve our nation’s broken justice system, enforce civil rights laws, ban racial profiling, rekindle trust between law enforcement and communities of color, restructure sentencing guidelines, and identify constructive alternatives to incarceration. In the process, he has improved how our courts and law enforcement officers do their jobs.
“As the first-ever African American to serve in this position, Attorney General Holder has promoted equal protection under the law by building bridges across ideology, race, gender, and class. His capacity to fight for the rights of every American has been boundless, and his plan to continue many of those battles beyond his tenure at the Department of Justice is a testament to his character.
“In his 26 years of public service, he has built a legacy of which he can be extremely proud, and I wish him the best as he moves on to new endeavors.”
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STATEMENT BY REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
"I am deeply saddened to learn today that the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, is stepping down. His resignation is a great loss for any American seeking justice in our society. He became the symbol of fairness, an embodiment of the best in the federal government.
He has been a persistent and consistent leader in the struggle for civil and human rights. That legacy is in his bones. It is written on his heart, and his intelligence and committed leadership will be hard to replace.
In my conversation with him today, I thanked the Attorney General for his years of service to this nation. He and his family have been a blessing, and his leadership will be sorely missed."
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STATEMENT BY SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Attorney General Holder has been an extraordinary leader of the Department of Justice, and is to be congratulated for his service. Under his leadership, the Department has had remarkable success in convicting terrorists and disrupting threats to national security, while upholding the Department’s mission of keeping our communities safe from crime and fighting fraud. I particularly appreciate how Attorney General Holder has restored the Civil Rights Division to its historical mission. His dedication to defending Americans’ voting rights, at a time when these constitutional rights are under attack, has been supremely important. Attorney General Holder has demonstrated his commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans with his thoughtful implementation of both the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. His recent focus on the need for sentencing reform and programs to reduce recidivism have brought to the fore an important conversation we as a nation must have. I thank Attorney General Holder for his service, and I wish him and his wife Sharon the very best in the future.”
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STATEMENT BY SENATOR BARBARA A. MIKULSKI REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“During his six years as Attorney General, Eric Holder Jr., supported our federal law enforcement agents in the fight against criminals and terrorists and was a strong advocate for civil rights and criminal justice reform.
“In the dark days of sequester and shutdown, Attorney General Holder worked closely with me in my role as CJS Chairwoman to keep DOJ and its people on the job and on the case.
“As one of the longest serving members of President Obama’s cabinet, he has served his nation and his President well.
"I thank him for his dedicated service to our country and wish him well in the future.”
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STATEMENT BY SENATOR BILL NELSON REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“During his six years as Attorney General, Eric Holder Jr., supported our federal law enforcement agents in the fight against criminals and terrorists and was a strong advocate for civil rights and criminal justice reform.
“In the dark days of sequester and shutdown, Attorney General Holder worked closely with me in my role as CJS Chairwoman to keep DOJ and its people on the job and on the case.
“As one of the longest serving members of President Obama’s cabinet, he has served his nation and his President well.
"I thank him for his dedicated service to our country and wish him well in the future.”
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TWEET BY REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“I deeply saddened to learn today that the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, is stepping down.”
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TWEET BY SENATOR SHELDON WHITEHOUSE REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Thank you, Attorney General #Holder, for restoring confidence & morale and bringing honor & dignity to @TheJusticeDept for the last 6 years.”
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TWEET BY SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“Will talk with Andrea Mitchell @mitchellreports @MSNBC in a few minutes, about Eric Holder.”
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TWEET BY SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“AG Holder was like ‘Horatius at the Bridge’ preventing or slowing down the regressive march to take away people’s hard-earned rights.”
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TWEET BY SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM REGARDING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
“I appreciate AG Holder’s service to our country even though we had strong disagreements at times. I wish him well in future endeavors.”
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Statement of U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan on Service of Attorney General Eric H. Holder, JrRead the Press Release
Today, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Attorney General will be resigning. For six years Attorney General Holder has led the Department of Justice with honesty, integrity and a profound commitment to justice. He has worked tirelessly to keep our country and our people safe. It has been my privilege to work with Attorney General Holder for five years. I am grateful for his service and wish him well as he returns to private life and new challenges.
St. Thomas Man Sentenced to 120 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI - District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez today sentenced Jace Antonio Edwards, 41, to 120 months in prison for attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
After a three-day jury trial, on March 19, 2014, Edwards was convicted of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Evidence at trial established that on October 22, 2011, Edwards attempted to retrieve six kilograms of sham cocaine that he believed had been shipped to Atlanta from St. Thomas as part of a drug conspiracy. Leayle Benjamin, Jr., Aben Marrero and Michael Samuels, all of whom were convicted in a separate trial, conspired to smuggle cocaine through the Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas to Atlanta, Georgia. Benjamin and Marrero were employees of the Virgin Islands Port Authority assigned to the maintenance division. The cocaine was passed to a co-conspirator under the partitions in the bathroom of the Cyril E. King Airport. The co-conspirator was arrested at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia after arriving on board a flight from St. Thomas with 7.025 kilograms of cocaine in his carry-on suitcase. The co-conspirator agreed to cooperate with the government and made consensually monitored telephone calls that resulted in theapprehension of Edwards. During his trial, Edwards was acquitted of the conspiracy count. The coconspirator pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Georgia to importation of cocaine, and testified in the Edwards trial.
In addition to 120 months in prison, Edwards was sentenced to five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $100 special assessment and forfeit $113,400 to the United States. Edwards was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nelson L. Jones prosecuted the case.
St. Paul Attorney Sentenced for Failure to Pay TaxesRead the Press Release
Ronald A. Cimino, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, Tax Division, Andrew M. Luger, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, and Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of the St. Paul Field Office Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Criminal Investigation, announced today that BARRY VAUGHN VOSS of St. Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced to serve three years of probation with 90 days in a halfway house, perform 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $244,922. In May 2013, VOSS was disbarred from the practice of law by the Supreme Court of Minnesota after being a practicing attorney for more than thirty years.
VOSS pleaded guilty in May to a one-count felony Information charging him with failure to pay over income, Medicare and Social Security taxes for the fourth quarter of 2008. These taxes were withheld from the salaries of employees of his law firm, Barry V. Voss, P.A. According to the plea agreement, VOSS filed quarterly employment tax returns with the IRS from July 2007 through December 2010 which reflected taxes withheld from the salaries of the employees of his law firm, including VOSS’s own salary, but failed to timely pay over to the IRS the full amount of the taxes due and owing totaling just under $160,000. VOSS admitted that he intentionally failed to pay these taxes to the IRS.
This case is the result of a long-term investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Lori A. Hendrickson of the Department of Justice, Tax Division, and Assistant United States Attorney Karen Schommer.
Defendant Information: BARRY VAUGHN VOSS, 62
St. Paul, MN
Convicted: • Failure to Account for and Pay Over Withheld Taxes, 1 count
Sentenced: • 3 years probation
• 300 hours community service
• $244,922 restitution###
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
South Carolina State Former Counsel Sentenced in Connection with Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Nancy Wicker (803) 929-3000
Charleston, South Carolina ---- Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Edwin Donald Givens, age 51, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court after earlier pleading guilty to misprision of a felony in connection with a kickback scheme related to the 2011 South Carolina State University homecoming concert, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4.
United States District Judge David C. Norton sentenced Givens to 6 months probation. The Government recommended the probationary sentence because of Givens’ cooperation and substantial assistance in the case of United States v. Jonathon Pinson.
Evidence presented at the plea hearing established that Givens had actual knowledge of the commission of a federal felony offense involving the solicitation, receipt and payment of kickbacks by others involved with the concert, and that he failed to disclose such knowledge and took affirmative steps to conceal such information from federal law enforcement agents investigating the scheme, both prior to and during a November 14, 2011, interview with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS-CI). This case and its companion cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy C. Wicker, Jane B. Taylor, DeWayne Pearson and J.D. Rowell.Seven Defendants Indicted and Three Other Defendants Plead Guilty for Their Roles in $56 Million Medicare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A New Orleans grand jury today indicted seven defendants for their roles in a $56 million Medicare fraud scheme that operated in New Orleans and surrounding communities. Thirteen defendants have now been charged in this case, three of whom pleaded guilty to their conduct yesterday.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana, Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
Paige Okpalobi, 57, of Slidell, Louisiana; Joe Ann Murthil, 57, of New Orleans; Latausha Dannel, 34, of Laplace, Louisiana; Dr. Winston Murray, 62, of Hammond, Louisiana; Dr. Divini Luccioni, 53, of Kenner, Louisiana; Christopher White, 48, of Destrehan, Louisiana; and Beverly Breaux, 66, of New Orleans, were charged in connection with their roles in a home health care fraud scheme involving thousands of Medicare recipients. Mark Morad, 51, of Slidell; Dr. Barbara Smith, 65, of Metairie, Louisiana; and Dr. Roy Berkowitz, 68, of Slidell, had been previously charged for their participation in the scheme, and today’s indictment added new charges against them.
The second superseding indictment comes one day after Dr. Alvin Darby, 58, of Slidell; Demetrius Temple, 54, of New Orleans; and Nicole Oliver, 44, of Napoleonville, Louisiana, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for their roles in the scheme. Sentencing for each is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2015 before U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The indictment alleges that the defendants operated a number of companies in and around New Orleans that purported to offer home health services and durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries. The companies, Interlink Health Care Services Inc., Memorial Home Health Inc., Lakeland Health Care Services Inc., Lexmark Health Care LLC, Med Rite Pharmacy Inc. and Medical Specialists of New Orleans, billed Medicare claiming that they provided home health services and durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries, but the vast majority of these services and equipment were not medically necessary or not provided.
The indictment further alleges that Morad and Okpalobi owned and directed operations at these companies. Morad allegedly paid kickbacks to patient recruiters, including Temple and Oliver, to provide Medicare beneficiary numbers that were then used to bill Medicare. To conceal these kickbacks, Morad allegedly laundered Medicare money through a separate company he owned.
Court documents also allege that Okpalobi instructed doctors, including Smith, Berkowitz, Murray, Luccioni, and Darby, to falsely certify that beneficiaries were qualified for home health services, and to prescribe durable medical equipment that was not medically needed. These false certifications and prescriptions were then used to bill Medicare for the unnecessary services and equipment.
Murthil and Dannel were office managers who allegedly oversaw daily operations at the home health companies. White allegedly performed accounting services for these companies, and helped conceal the scheme by fabricating false tax and employee records. Breaux was a registered nurse who is alleged to have falsely certified that home health clients were homebound, and that she had provided home health care services when she had not.
From 2007 through 2014, the companies allegedly involved in the scheme submitted more than $56 million in claims to Medicare, the majority of which are allegedly fraudulent. Medicare paid approximately $50.7 million on those claims.
The charges contained in this indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney William G. Kanellis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Harris Sullivan of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
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Seven Defendants Indicted and Three Other Defendants Plead Guilty for Their Roles in $56 Million Medicare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A New Orleans grand jury today indicted seven defendants for their roles in a $56 million Medicare fraud scheme that operated in New Orleans and surrounding communities. Thirteen defendants have now been charged in this case, three of whom pleaded guilty to their conduct yesterday.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana, Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
Paige Okpalobi, 57, of Slidell, Louisiana; Joe Ann Murthil, 57, of New Orleans; Latausha Dannel, 34, of Laplace, Louisiana; Dr. Winston Murray, 62, of Hammond, Louisiana; Dr. Divini Luccioni, 53, of Kenner, Louisiana; Christopher White, 48, of Destrehan, Louisiana; and Beverly Breaux, 66, of New Orleans, were charged in connection with their roles in a home health care fraud scheme involving thousands of Medicare recipients. Mark Morad, 51, of Slidell; Dr. Barbara Smith, 65, of Metairie, Louisiana; and Dr. Roy Berkowitz, 68, of Slidell, had been previously charged for their participation in the scheme, and today’s indictment added new charges against them.
The second superseding indictment comes one day after Dr. Alvin Darby, 58, of Slidell; Demetrius Temple, 54, of New Orleans; and Nicole Oliver, 44, of Napoleonville, Louisiana, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for their roles in the scheme. Sentencing for each is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2015 before U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The indictment alleges that the defendants operated a number of companies in and around New Orleans that purported to offer home health services and durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries. The companies, Interlink Health Care Services Inc., Memorial Home Health Inc., Lakeland Health Care Services Inc., Lexmark Health Care LLC, Med Rite Pharmacy Inc. and Medical Specialists of New Orleans, billed Medicare claiming that they provided home health services and durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries, but the vast majority of these services and equipment were not medically necessary or not provided.
The indictment further alleges that Morad and Okpalobi owned and directed operations at these companies. Morad allegedly paid kickbacks to patient recruiters, including Temple and Oliver, to provide Medicare beneficiary numbers that were then used to bill Medicare. To conceal these kickbacks, Morad allegedly laundered Medicare money through a separate company he owned.
Court documents also allege that Okpalobi instructed doctors, including Smith, Berkowitz, Murray, Luccioni, and Darby, to falsely certify that beneficiaries were qualified for home health services, and to prescribe durable medical equipment that was not medically needed. These false certifications and prescriptions were then used to bill Medicare for the unnecessary services and equipment.
Murthil and Dannel were office managers who allegedly oversaw daily operations at the home health companies. White allegedly performed accounting services for these companies, and helped conceal the scheme by fabricating false tax and employee records. Breaux was a registered nurse who is alleged to have falsely certified that home health clients were homebound, and that she had provided home health care services when she had not.
From 2007 through 2014, the companies allegedly involved in the scheme submitted more than $56 million in claims to Medicare, the majority of which are allegedly fraudulent. Medicare paid approximately $50.7 million on those claims.
The charges contained in this indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney William G. Kanellis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Harris Sullivan of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
(Download Factual Basis - Alvin Darby )
(Download Factual Basis - Demetrius Temple )
(Download Factual Basis - Nicole Oliver )
(Download Superseding Indictment )
Sacramento Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nicholas Perry, 37, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 10 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, in 2012, an undercover detective with the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force began communicating with Perry and offered to introduce Perry to a minor girl. Perry agreed to meet a fictional father and daughter in order to have sex with the daughter. When Perry arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested.
This case was investigated by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.
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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.
Rochester Man and Woman Sentenced in Oxycontin Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jimmie Lee Simmons, 60, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of acquiring Oxycodone through fraud, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to six months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $367.55. In addition, Shantel Williams, 37, also of Rochester, who was convicted of conspiring to fraudulently obtain and distribute Oxycodone, was sentenced by Judge Larimer to 12 months and ordered to pay restitution totaling $11,135.70.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who handled the case, stated that Shantel Williams wrote fraudulent prescriptions for OxyContin, which she then sold to Jimmie Lee Simmons and James Marsh. Simmons located individuals willing to participate in the scheme by sharing their Medicaid information with him. Simmons provided the Medicaid information to Williams, who wrote fraudulent scripts using this information, and sold them to Simmons for $860 each. Simmons then took the named beneficiaries to local pharmacies to fill the prescriptions, and paid them $100 for each prescription. From July 2008 to March 2010, Williams wrote and sold at least 20 fraudulent OxyContin prescriptions.
Williams and Simmons were arrested along with five others in December 2012. All seven defendants have been convicted.
The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and Investigators of the New York State Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, under the direction of Acting Director Amy Held.Rochester Man Sentenced on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Kenyatta Hubbard, 33, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to five years probation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who handled the case, stated that Hubbard worked at McFarland Tax Company which was owned by co-defendant Chauncee McFarland who has also been convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States. Between January 2010 and February 2012, Hubbard worked with McFarland to prepare dozens of false income tax returns for clients, including fake Forms W-2, in order to fraudulently increase the size of the refunds claimed. As a result of the scheme, the Internal Revenue Service paid more than $400,000 in improper refunds.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Acting Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Office.Remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder Announcing His Plans to Depart Justice DepartmentRead the Press Release
I come to this moment with very mixed emotions. Proud of what the men and women of the Department of Justice have accomplished over the last six years and, at the same time, very sad that I will not be a formal part of the great things that this department and this President will accomplish over the next two.
I want to thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity you gave me to serve and for giving me the greatest honor of my professional life. We have been great colleagues, but the bonds between us are much deeper than that. In good times and bad, in things personal and professional, you have been there for me. I am proud to call you my friend. I am also grateful for the support you have given me and the department as we have made real the visions that you and I have always shared. I often think of those early talks between us and our belief that we might help to craft a more perfect Union. Work remains to be done – but our list of accomplishments is real. Over the last six years, our Administration has made historic gains in realizing the principles of the founding documents, and fought to protect the most sacred of American rights: the right to vote. We have begun to realize the promise of equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters and their families. We have begun to significantly reform our criminal justice system and reconnect those who bravely serve in law enforcement with the communities they protect. We have kept faith with our belief in the power of the greatest judicial system the world has ever known to fairly and effectively adjudicate any cases that are brought before it, including those that involve the security of the nation we both love so dearly. We have taken steps to protect the environment and make more fair the rules by which our commercial enterprises operate. And we have held accountable those who would harm the American people either through violent means or the misuse of economic or political power.
I have loved the Department of Justice ever since, as a young boy, I watched Robert Kennedy prove during the Civil Rights Movement how the department can – and must – always be a force for that which is right. I hope that I have done honor to the faith you placed in me, Mr. President, and to the legacy of all those that served before me.
I would also like to thank the Vice President, who I have known for so many years and in whom I have found great wisdom, unwavering support, and a shared vision of what America can, and should, be. I want to recognize my good friend Valerie Jarrett, whom I’ve been fortunate to work with from the beginning of what started as an improbable, idealistic effort by a young senator from Illinois who we were both right to believe would achieve greatness. I have had the opportunity to serve in your distinguished Cabinet and worked with a White House staff, ably led by Denis McDonough, that has done much to make real the promise of our democracy. And each of the men and women who I have come to know will be lifelong friends.
Whatever my accomplishments, they could not have been achieved without the love, support, and guidance of two people who are not with me today. My parents, Eric and Miriam Holder, nurtured me and my accomplished brother William and made us believe in the value of individual effort and the greatness of this nation.
My time in public service, which now comes to an end, would not have been possible without the sacrifices – too often unfair – made by the best three kids a father could ask for. Thank you, Maya, Brooke, and Buddy.
And finally I want to thank the woman who sacrificed the most and allowed me to follow my dreams. She is the foundation of all that our family is and the basis of all that I have become. My wife, Sharon, is the unsung hero and my life partner. Thank you for all that you have done. I love you.
In the months ahead, I will leave the Department of Justice – but I will never leave the work. I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals. I thank the dedicated public servants who form the backbone of the United States Department of Justice for their tireless work over the past six years, for the efforts they will continue, and for the progress they made that will outlast us all.
And I thank you all for joining me on a journey that now moves in another direction, but that will always be guided by the pursuit of justice and aimed at the North Star.
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE USE THE CONTACTS IN THE MESSAGE OR CALL THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT 202-514-2007.
Pittsburgh Man to Serve 5 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute HeroinRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Khalid Kareem, of Pittsburgh, Pa., was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to distribute over 100 grams of heroin, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Kareem, 30, was sentenced in Pittsburgh by United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer. Judge Fischer directed the sentence to run consecutive to a state prison sentence that was imposed in 2012 for heroin trafficking. Judge Fischer also imposed a five-year term of supervised release to follow the federal prison sentence.
During 2011 and 2012, Kareem, also known as “S Money”, was on bond in a state court case for heroin trafficking. While on bond in the state case, Kareem supplied hundreds of grams of heroin to other heroin dealers in Western Pennsylvania on multiple occasions. Kareem would acquire the heroin from an out-of-state source of supply he was connected with. Kareem would also invest in the heroin re-supply ventures of a large-scale heroin trafficking organization with several members from or associated with Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood.
Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Administration in Pittsburgh and New York, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Allegheny County Police Department, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the Wilkins Township Police Department, the East Pittsburgh Police Department, the New York Police Department, the Blair County District Attorney's Office, and the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office conducted the investigation leading to the conviction and sentence in this case.
Pennsylvania Priest Charged with Child Exploitation CrimesRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest was charged Thursday with engaging in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pittsburgh.
Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., 69, a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, was charged by criminal complaint with engaging in illicit sexual activity in Central America, and with possessing child pornography at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church. Maurizio made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday and was ordered held until his detention hearing on Monday.
According to the complaint, it is alleged that every year between 1999 and 2009 Maurizio traveled from Pennsylvania to Honduras to assist a non-profit organization that provides services to children there. Each trip lasted two to three weeks.
The HSI Pittsburgh Investigation that began in February revealed that during the timeframe in which he traveled to Honduras, Maurizio engaged in various and numerous unlawful sexual activities with minors. However, after the charged illicit sexual conduct occurred in March of 2009, Maurizio did not engage in any foreign travel again until July of 2011. From July 2011 through the present, foreign travel records indicate that Maurizio has made approximately 10 separate trips to various Central American countries. On September 12, search warrants were executed at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania, and a farm owned by Maurizio in Windber. Dozens of pieces of evidence were seized from the rectory including four computers, a laptop, hundreds of CDs, a loose hard drive, camera, floppy disks, thumb drives, VHS tapes and media cards. Suspected Images of child pornography were found on the loose hard drive.
HSI requests that anyone with information about this person contact the agency by calling the 24-hour HSI Tip line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. The public can also submit an online tip at www.ice.gov/tips/ or by downloading the Operation Predator smartphone app and submitting a tip via the app. All tips will remain anonymous.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended HSI Pittsburgh for their investigation in this case and encouraged citizens with information to call the Tip line or submit a tip online or through the app.
This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
Owner of Home Health Agency Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Structuring $1.8 Million in Cash Withdrawals to Conceal a $4.5 Million Healthcare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
The owner of a home health services company was sentenced to serve five years in prison for his leading role in a conspiracy to structure over $1.8 million in bank withdrawals to conceal a $4.5 million healthcare fraud scheme.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cruz of the Houston Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge William Fergus of the Chicago Regional Office of the United States Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General (RRB-OIG), Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake of the Southern District of Texas imposed the sentence.
On April 16, 2014, Felix Maduka, 59, of Richmond, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiring to structure more than $1.8 million in cash withdrawals and eight counts of structuring cash withdrawals from bank accounts where his company, Joystar Home Health Services LLC, received fraudulent payments from Medicare. His wife and co-defendant, Stella Maduka, 49, was Joystar’s Director of Nursing. In addition to the structuring charges, she also pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of making false statements.
According court documents, Felix and Stella Maduka withdrew just under $10,000 in cash from Joystar bank accounts on nearly 300 occasions to avoid the bank’s mandatory reporting requirements of cash transactions involving more than $10,000 in cash. They engaged in this structuring scheme to conceal the monies used to pay illegal kickbacks to recruiters in exchange for referring Medicare beneficiaries to Joystar and to doctors for authorizing home health services that were not medically necessary nor provided. To further conceal the scheme, Felix and Stella Maduka fabricated patient records to support the fraudulent Medicare billing.
The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG, IRS-CI, RRB-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District Texas. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney William S.W. Chang of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristine Rollinson of the Southern District Texas.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
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North Adams Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A North Adams man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Springfield to possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.
Wade Galli, 47, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni. On May 29, 2013, Galli possessed numerous digital files containing child pornography. Galli told investigators that he also filmed girls aged 13 to 20 at beaches in Pittsfield and Vermont, and he surreptitiously filmed videos at a nude beach in Vermont about a dozen times.Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2015.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Galli has agreed to be sentenced to between 36 and 108 months in prison, and 10 years of supervised release.United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was investigated with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police and the North Adams Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.
New York City Housing Authority Employee Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Embezzling Tenants’ Rent PaymentsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark G. Peters, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the arrest of KISHAWN SCARBORO, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”), for theft of government funds. SCARBORO, while employed as a NYCHA Housing Assistant, allegedly embezzled over $90,000 in tenant rent payments owed to NYCHA, and hid her embezzlement by manipulating tenant records in NYCHA’s computer system. SCARBORO voluntarily surrendered to DOI investigators this morning, and was presented this afternoon in Manhattan federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox. She was released on her own recognizance.
According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
NYCHA is a New York City public entity that provides housing to low and moderate income New York City residents. NYCHA’s operations are funded, in part, by grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). Each year, HUD provides millions of dollars in grants to NYCHA. In addition to grants from HUD, NYCHA is funded through monthly rental payments made by individuals residing in NYCHA housing. NYCHA maintains a computerized rent collection system which creates an account ledger for each tenant. Each NYCHA housing development is managed by a Housing Manager, who is responsible for reviewing and approving all rent changes and credits. Housing Assistants are NYCHA employees assigned to a particular building or set of tenants for whom they act as the primary point of contact with NYCHA.
From at least June 2010 until September 2013, SCARBORO, using her position as a Housing Assistant at the Jefferson Houses in Harlem, Manhattan, obtained rent checks and money orders from NYCHA tenants and deposited them in her personal bank account by double-endorsing the instruments and/or altering the payee information. Then, using the username and password of her supervisor at the Jefferson Houses, SCARBORO hid her embezzlement by entering false credits and rent adjustments into NYCHA’s computerized rent collection system. SCARBORO deposited approximately $94,884 in checks and money orders into her personal bank account over the course of more than three years.
SCARBORO, 42, of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, is charged with one count of theft or bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Bharara thanked and praised the DOI for its work in this investigation, which he noted is ongoing.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica K. Feinstein is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Kishawn Scarboro Complaint
Nevada Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Child PornRead the Press Release
Project Safe Childhood
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Nevada, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for receiving and distributing child pornography.
James D. Stevens, 50, of Nevada, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Stevens to forfeit to the government a laptop computer, a tablet computer, various hard drives, nearly a thousand CDs and DVDs and other electronic memory devices, all of which were used to commit the offense.
On April 26, 2014, Stevens pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. According to court documents, law enforcement officers identified Stevens’s computer as repeatedly distributing and receiving numerous videos and images of child pornography. On six separate occasions during their investigation, law enforcement officers received videos containing child pornography from Stevens’s computer through a file-sharing program, with up to 10 videos of child pornography received on each occasion. The videos contained images of children, from eight to 14 years old, being sexually exploited, molested, raped and abused. Additional videos of child pornography were discovered on Stevens’s computers after they were seized and examined.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by 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."Monroe County Man Charged with Heroin Trafficking OffenseRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the filing of an Information in U.S. District Court in Scranton today charging a Monroe County man with conspiracy to distribute heroin.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Eric Rabb, age 45, of East Stroudsburg, Monroe County, is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in Monroe, Wayne and Lackawanna Counties in October of 2013.
The investigation was conducted by the Lackawanna County Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is imprisonment for twenty years, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public, and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Moldovan National Pleads Guilty to Passport FraudRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Vasile Leu, 34, of Chisinau, Moldova, pleaded guilty to using a fraudulent Czech Republic passport before U.S. District Judge Charles P. Siragusa. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the matter, stated that Leu entered the United States in 2012. Over a period of months, the defendant opened bank accounts at different banks in Wisconsin and California using false Czech Republic passports issued to him under various aliases. The bank accounts were used to receive proceeds from an internet fraud that targeted online purchasers of motor vehicles. Leu then transferred the proceeds of the fraud back to Eastern Europe.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 6, 2015, at 3:15 p.m. before Judge Siragusa.Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Interstate StalkingRead the Press Release
Contact: Darcie N. McElwee
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that
William McBroom-Stees, 42, of Springfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in U.S.
District Court to interstate stalking. The defendant was indicted on June 3 and a superseding indictment was returned on September 10.According to the superseding indictment and evidence introduced at the plea hearing, between November 9 and November 21, 2013, McBroom-Stees made threatening telephone calls from Missouri to his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child while she was driving from Illinois to
Rockland, Maine, where she was relocating. In the calls and text messages, McBroom-Stees threatened to kill and harm her, her immediate family, and others. On November 13, McBroom-
Stees threatened that if she did not return to Missouri by their child’s birthday, he would “start the worst f***ing bloodbath in America” and dared the police to come after him. That call was recorded by the victim with the help of a Knox County Sheriff’s Office detective. Phone records revealed McBroom-Stees placed hundreds of calls and sent numerous text messages to the victim, many of which were threatening, causing substantial emotional distress to the victim and her family.
McBroom-Stees faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, the Rockland
Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Minnesota Business Owner Stole More Than $1 Million in Real Estate InvestmentsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the indictment of MICHAEL JOHN MANGAN, 43, owner of multiple Minnesota-based businesses, on four counts of Wire Fraud and three counts of Mail Fraud. MANGAN is charged with stealing over $1 million of investment funds and loans which he claimed would be used to fund and grow his various real estate-oriented businesses.
According to documents filed in court, from October 2009 until at least November 2011, MANGAN was the principal officer of High Point Construction & Remodeling LLC, High Point Property Management LLC, High Point Group World Wide LLC, High Point Education LLC and Fortune Forward Education. As part of the scheme, MANGAN allegedly used these businesses to solicit thousands of dollars in investments and loans in various real estate-oriented projects.
During the indicted period, MANGAN was able to defraud his investors by lying about, among other things, the success and profitability of his businesses and providing investors with false financial statements to that effect. Other solicitation tactics that MANGAN used included the promise of company shares, employment and leadership positions on the board of directors of his companies and falsely representing that the companies’ business operations would generate returns on their investments.
According to the indictment, MANGAN used some of investors’ money to fund his own lifestyle, pay personal expenses and make Ponzi-type payments to other investors. When investors demanded repayment or threatened to report him to law enforcement, MANGAN would attempt to buy more time by making lulling payments or issuing checks he knew to be worthless.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle E. Jones.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Defendant Information: MICHAEL JOHN MANGAN, 43
Charges: • Wire Fraud, 4 counts
• Mail Fraud, 3 counts###
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Medical Center Inmate Sentenced to 19 Years for Assaulting Federal EmployeeRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an inmate at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield was sentenced in federal court today for assaulting a federal correctional counselor at the facility.
Willard Begay, 34, an inmate at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 19 years and seven months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Begay to pay $2,476 in restitution for the medical injuries of the victim.
On June 12, 2014, Begay was found guilty at trial of punching a counselor in the face and throwing a computer printer at the counselor’s face.
A counselor at the prison facility met with Begay on Oct. 1, 2012, to discuss the friction Begay was having with fellow inmates and to move Begay to another unit in order to eliminate the brewing conflict between Begay and fellow inmates. At the conclusion of their meeting, the counselor was attempting to secure Begay to move him to the new unit. The counselor grabbed Begay’s left arm in order to handcuff him, when Begay abruptly turned toward the counselor and punched him in the face with a closed fist. The counselor lost his balance and fell back a few feet. While he was still dazed from the punch, Begay removed a printer from a table in the office, raised it above his head, and smashed the printer onto the counselor’s face.
The counselor radioed for assistance and correctional officers entered the room and handcuffed Begay after a struggle. The counselor was transported to the hospital emergency room. A physician determined that he sustained an orbital floor fracture. The physician closed the wound with sutures and recommended the counselor to follow up with a plastic surgeon.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abram McGull, II and Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the FBI.
Mastermind of Online Counterfeit Card Retail Shop Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
Fakeplastic.net Responsible for More than $30 Million in Fraud
NEWARK, N.J. – The mastermind of a one-stop online shop selling counterfeit payment cards and holographic overlays used by criminals to create fake driver’s licenses admitted today to running the fakeplastic.net website, which was responsible for an estimated $30 million in fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Sean Roberson, 39, of Palm Bay, Florida, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III in Newark federal court, to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with authentication features.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
The fakeplastic.net website was a one-stop online shop operated by Roberson and used by criminals across the country to purchase customized counterfeit credit and debit cards used for unauthorized transactions with stolen payment card data, and holographic overlays used to make fake driver’s licenses.
During his guilty plea proceeding, Roberson admitted he began selling counterfeit cards and related items as early as April 2011 and launched the fakeplastic website in June 2012. Roberson owned and operated the website with the assistance of Vinicio Gonzalez and Hugo Rebaza. Roberson admitted that he and his conspirators fulfilled orders for approximately 69,000 counterfeit payment cards, more than 35,000 holographic stickers used to make counterfeit cards appear more legitimate and more than 30,000 state identification card holographic overlays. The orders – more than 3,600 parcels – were shipped through the U.S. mail.
Law enforcement estimates the losses associated with just the counterfeit payment cards trafficked by Roberson and his conspirators at more than $30 million. During his guilty plea, Roberson admitted he personally made more than $1.7 million from the scheme.
The fakeplastic website was used by various groups of criminals across the country often referred to as “carding” or “cash out” crews. These crews bought stolen payment card numbers and related information – referred to as “track data” or “dumps” – which typically appear on the magnetic stripe on the back of legitimate payment cards. Illegal vendors of that information usually get it through hacking or skimming operations involving the installation of specialized equipment at ATM locations or point-of-sale terminals. The stolen data was ultimately put on a counterfeit payment cards, purchased from Roberson, and used to make unauthorized transactions.
Both Gonzalez and Rebaza have pleaded guilty to charges in the Western District of North Carolina relating to their activity in connection with the website.
The conspiracy to commit wire fraud count carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with authentication features count carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. A date for sentencing has not yet been determined.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; and inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates for the investigation leading to Roberson’s guilty plea.
The Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina have been partners in the prosecution.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Pak of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section and Barbara Ward of the office’s Asset Forfeiture and money laundering unit.
14-343Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender Patrick McMahon Esq., Newark
Roberson, Sean Information
Mastermind of Multi-Million Dollar Advance Fee and Alaskan Gold Mine Investment Schemes Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
Earlier today, William C. Lange, 66, a resident of Gig Harbor, Washington, pleaded guilty to two counts charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud for his leadership role in two separate schemes. In the first scheme, Lange, the founder and President of Harbor Funding Group, Inc. (“HFGI”), defrauded developers and their clients seeking to rebuild regions of the South devastated by Hurricane Katrina of more than $9 million through false representations, including that HFGI had the funds to provide millions of dollars in private financing in exchange for a ten percent down payment.
In the second scheme, Lange, the founder and secret controller of Black Sand Mine, Inc. (“BSMI”), induced investors to purchase stock in BSMI by lies about, among other things, the qualifications and experience of BSMI’s officers and directors, and by concealing, among other things, his leadership role with BSMI.
Pursuant to his plea agreement with the government, Lange has agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $10 million and to forfeit his claim to three Harley Davidson motorcycles purchased using proceeds from the fraud. When sentenced, Lange faces up to 20 years in prison and the payment of approximately $10 million in restitution to the victims of his frauds. In March 2014, co-defendants Brad Russell and Kristofor Lange were convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn, following a six-week trial, on all charged counts. The trial of co- defendant Frank Perkins is scheduled to begin on September 22, 2014.1
The guilty verdicts were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector in Charge, New York Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and Frank Montoya, Jr., Special Agent in Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Seattle Field Office (FBI).
Lange, the orchestrator of the advance fee scheme, told land developers and their clients that HFGI had lenders and millions of dollars in funds available to provide financing for their real estate projects. As a condition for financing, HFGI required investors to place ten percent of the loan amount in an attorney escrow account. Contrary to Lange’s representations, HFGI did not have lenders or funds available to finance the loans. As soon as the money was placed in escrow, Lange and his co-conspirators stole it, at times through the use of a sham escrow agreement. Through this scheme, Lange and his co-conspirators stole more than $9 million from approximately 300 individuals. The $9 million was spent on, among other things, salaries, fishing and hunting trips for Lange and his son, remodeling and landscaping for Lange’s new house, and other business ventures started by Lange.
After the $9 million was spent, Lange and his co-conspirators moved on to BSMI and the gold mine investment scheme. BSMI claimed that it would mine gold and other precious metals on Sitkinak Island in Alaska. Through the use of in-person presentations, cold calls, and “webinars,” Lange and his co-conspirators convinced investors to purchase BSMI stock by lying to them about the credentials of BSMI’s officers and directors, BSMI’s assets and liabilities, the intended use of investor funds, and by concealing their prior involvement in HFGI. Lange also concealed his own tarnished name and his leadership role in BSMI. Almost $1 million collected from investors in BSMI was spent on salaries and other personal expenses for Lange and his co- conspirators.
“Lange exploited the demand for housing caused by the destructive force of Hurricane Katrina to execute his devious advance fee scheme. Hiding behind his Brooklyn- based attorney, Lange deceived investors to the tune of $9 million with false representations and assurances that were not worth the price of the paper used to print the phony documentation. His voracious appetite for easy money then led him to bilk another million dollars from investors in the gold mine scheme. He will now be held to account for his crimes,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. Ms. Lynch thanked the USPIS and the FBI for their hard work and dedication through the course of this five-year investigation and prosecution. Ms. Lynch also extended her grateful appreciation to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington for its assistance in the case.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys
Winston M. Paes, Alixandra E. Smith, and Melanie Hendry.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
The Defendant:
WILLIAM C. LANGE Age: 66
Residence: Gig Harbor, Washington
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 10-CR-968 (DLI)
___________________________________________________________________________
1 The charges against Frank Perkins are merely allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Man Sentenced for Illegal Re-EntryRead the Press Release
Mauricio Nieves-Radilla, 36, of Mexico, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on September 24, 2014, for illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien into the United States. Nieves-Radilla was arrested in Casper, Wyoming. He received 16 months imprisonment, was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and is subject to deportation upon release from custody. This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mammoth Lakes Man Sentenced to over 15 Years in Prison for Enticement of A MinorRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gene Wayne Harris, 42, of Mammoth Lakes, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 15 years, and eight months in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, on March 1, 2013, a woman from Mammoth Lakes received an unsolicited Facebook friend request from Harris. Before accepting the request, she looked up Harris and learned that he was a registered sex offender, having previously been convicted in Inyo County of sexual battery. At law enforcement’s direction, she responded to Harris through Facebook and an Internet-based text messaging service, and told him that she was only 14 years old. Harris acknowledged the statement that she was 14, commenting that her Facebook post says she is older. Harris also told her he could get in trouble if anyone found out they were talking.
Law enforcement assumed control of the woman’s account. During this time, Harris’s communications turned sexual, including requests by Harris for sexually explicit pictures of her. Plans were made for a meeting and on March 8, 2013, Harris checked in to a Mammoth motel and waited for the purported 14-year-old girl to arrive. While waiting, Harris communicated through text with law enforcement (posing as the girl), texting at one point that he could “get in trouble for what I am about to do, but it is worth it.” Law enforcement sent Harris a text while he was at the motel asking him to get something to drink and a candy bar. Harris was arrested while walking back to the motel from a convenience store with the drink and candy bar. Located in the motel room were condoms and alcohol.
At sentencing, Judge England said that the sentence imposed would “serve to protect the public from future conduct” by the defendant, and “be a deterrent for others who engage in this type of conduct.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Mono County District Attorney’s Office, and the Mammoth Lakes Police Department. Assistance was also provided by the Mono County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.Louisville Physician Charged with Prescribing Medications That Resulted in the Death of A PatientRead the Press Release
– Charges Include Multiple Counts Of Unlawful Distribution Of Controlled Substances, Health Care Fraud And Money Laundering
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Louisville physician was charged today, by a federal grand jury, with prescribing medications that resulted in the death of a patient, as well as multiple counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances, health care fraud and money laundering announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
According to the superseding indictment, George Kudmani, age 69, between July 29, 2009 and May 3, 2010, executed a scheme to defraud Medicare that ultimately resulted in a patient’s death on May 5, 2010. According to the charge, Kudmani fraudulently submitted claims for medically unnecessary services and dispensed medically unnecessary controlled substance prescriptions to the patient, in exchange for money, knowing that the patient would fill her prescriptions at pharmacies and pharmacies in turn would submit claims to health care programs for reimbursement. It’s alleged that those prescriptions ultimately resulted in the patient’s death.
Further, defendant Kudmani is charged with a second count of health care fraud for falsely and fraudulently billing Kentucky Medicaid (Passport) and other medical benefit programs by submitting claims for medically unnecessary Transvaginal Ultrasounds (TVS), TVSs not performed, and billing for TVS reports that were never prepared for patients, between January 2009 through September 2012.
The superseding indictment charges Kudmani with eleven additional counts, (for a total of 22) of unlawful distribution and intentionally distributing and dispensing controlled substances, not for a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of a professional medical practice, between July 2009 and September 2012. The controlled substances allegedly prescribed were Oxycodone, a schedule II controlled substance, and Hydrocodone, a schedule III controlled substance.
In addition, Kudmani is charged with one count money laundering for purchasing a 2012 Honda Accord with $15,000 in cash and a $5,971.63 check from money derived from an unlawful activity, that is the unlawful dispensing and distribution of controlled substances and health care fraud.
Beginning in December of 1980, Kudmani operated an obstetrician/gynecological medical practice located at 9702 Stonestreet Road, in Louisville, Kentucky. The practice did not employ any other individual with medical training. A typical first-time patient would pay $75 for a gynecological exam, and each visit thereafter, the patient would typically pay $35 in cash and receive a Schedule II-V controlled substance prescription without a physical examination.
Kudmani was initially charged in a 14 count indictment on December 4, 2013. If convicted at trial, Kudmani faces a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, a fine of $14,500,000, and a 5 year period of supervised release.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Ansari and Lettricea Jefferson-Webb and was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kentucky Medical Fraud Control Unit and Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).
The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Last Individual Sentenced in Cuban Alien Smuggling ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich yesterday sentenced Yoel Emilio Baez-Hernandez (41, Hialeah) to five years in federal prison for conspiring to bring 73 illegal Cuban aliens to the United States and for bringing 13 illegal Cuban aliens to the United States. The Court also ordered Baez-Hernandez to pay a $73,000.00 fine and to forfeit an outboard motor go-fast vessel, a 2006 BMW vehicle, a liquor store license, equipment, and inventory that are traceable to proceeds of the offenses. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $730,000.00, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. A federal jury found Baez-Hernandez guilty on July 2, 2014.
According to court testimony and documents, Baez-Hernandez and his cousin, Edel Mesa-Hernandez (36, Miami), approached Carlos Velazquez-Roman (41, North Port) in late 2006 or early 2007, and suggested they start smuggling Cubans into the United States for profit, using a duel outboard engine go-fast vessel that Baez-Hernandez had purchased for that purpose. Between March 2007 and December 2009, at least 73 illegal aliens were smuggled into the United States. The smugglers charged an average of $10,000 per alien smuggled. One of the last trips made before Baez-Hernandez left the conspiracy was in May 2009, when Velazquez-Roman and Baez-Hernandez traveled to Cuba and smuggled 13 Cuban aliens into the United States, including Baez-Hernandez’s aunt. The conspiracy continued after December 2009, when Velazquez-Roman purchased another go-fast vessel. He and Mesa-Hernandez made additional trips to Cuba to smuggle more aliens into the United States. The last such trip took place in October 2013.
Altogether, the conspiracy accounted for more than 150 illegal Cuban aliens being brought into the United States between 2007 and 2013. Also assisting in this conspiracy were Jasmine Santos-Martinez (41, North Port), the spouse of Velazquez-Roman, Mario Emilio Tamayo-Mejias (52, Port Charlotte), who assisted Velazquez-Roman on a smuggling trip in May 2013, and Amable Gonzalez-Mandin (56, Hialeah), who made arrangements for two illegal Cuban aliens to be smuggled into the United States in May 2013.
Carlos Velazquez-Roman pleaded guilty on June 6, 2014. He was sentenced on September 10, 2014, to four years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $1.53 million. In addition, he was ordered to forfeit his residence and other property, a vehicle, his go-fast vessel, and $30,000.00 that was found in his home.
Jasmine Santos-Martinez pleaded guilty on May 21, 2014. She was sentenced on September 10, 2014, to time served--approximately six months and five days. She was also ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $1.53 million, in addition to forfeiting her residence and other property, a vehicle, the go-fast vessel, and $30,000.00 found in her home.
Mario Emilio Tamayo-Mejias pleaded guilty on June 6, 2014. He was sentenced on September 10, 2014, to five years’ probation and ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $50,000.00.
Amable Gonzalez-Mandin pleaded guilty on May 27, 2014. He was sentenced to five years’ probation on September 10, 2014.
Edel Mesa-Hernandez pleaded guilty on April 29, 2014. He was sentenced on August 1, 2014, to one year and one day imprisonment, and ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $1.53 million.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald L. Hansen.