Northern District of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today charged the former lead technician at a central Alabama pharmacy with tampering with vials of opioid painkillers used in the compounding of intravenous fluid bags intended for hospice and homecare patients. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Special Agent in Charge Justin D. Green announced the charge.

            Prosecutors filed a one-count information charging JOHNATHON WILLIAM CLICK with tampering with consumer products in reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to that risk. Between December 2014 and September 2016, Click, 30, of Bessemer, removed morphine sulfate and hydromorphone hydrochloride from vials intended for use in mixing IV bags. Click replaced the drugs with another liquid, knowing the diluted vials would be dispensed to patients, according to the charge.

            In conjunction with the information, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Click in U.S. District Court. According to the plea agreement, Click worked at Birmingham-based ContinuumRx of Central Alabama. CRX primarily distributes IV bags containing morphine and hydromorphone for palliative care.  Click, as the lead pharmacy technician, prepared the vast majority of CRX’s IV bags until the company ended his employment in September 2016.

            “This defendant was willing to subject terminal cancer patients to intolerable pain in order to feed his own addiction,” Town said. “This is one more aspect of the epidemic problem America has with abuse of prescription opioids. It also is a testament to law enforcement’s commitment to fight the illegal diversion of these drugs. In this case, people who desperately needed the prescribed drugs for their intended purpose of controlling intense and prolonged pain instead suffered at the hands of a man who knew the misery he could cause.

 

“It is disappointing when assumed professionals, like pharmacy technicians, are engaged in the diversion of controlled substances,” Hamilton said. “Anyone who can deliberately deny medication to legitimate patients and violate their duties as a professional will be held accountable for allowing these good medicines to get into the wrong hands. The charge and plea agreement in this case are the result of DEA’s continued commitment to work with our law enforcement partners and hold accountable those who participate in illegally diverting controlled substances in our communities,” Hamilton said.

 

“FDA is fully committed to the vigorous criminal investigation and prosecution of any individual who threatens the safety and security of the U.S. drug supply,” Green said. “The plea agreement in this case sends a clear signal that this kind of illicit tampering activity will not be tolerated.”

            According to the plea agreement, Click diverted quantities of morphine and hydromorphone from CRX’s locked inventory by surreptitiously removing vials, withdrawing drugs from the vials and replacing the withdrawn amount with saline or sterile water. He subsequently would return the adulterated and diluted vials to the inventory, undetected, and later used those vials to compound IV bags that were distributed and administered to homecare and hospice patients. CRX’s primary customers are Alacare Home Health & Hospice, New Beacon Hospice, Lakeview Homecare & Hospice, Comfort Care Hospice and Kindred Hospice.

            Former patients or family members of patients treated at any of those homecare or hospice providers between December 2014 and September 2016 may receive updates on the case by visiting the U.S. Attorney’s Office website at http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/us-v-johnathon-william-click or calling the toll-free number: 1-866-480-8230.

The maximum penalty for tampering with consumer products is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Click must appear before a federal judge to formally enter a guilty plea.

DEA, FDA and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting.

BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury on Friday convicted an Atlanta-area woman on 13 tax-related counts following a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey.

            The jury convicted PATRICE ANDERSON, 37, of Fayetteville, Ga., for using her Birmingham-area tax preparation business, Queen’s Fast Tax, to file tax returns on behalf of others in 2010 and 2011 that she knew contained false information. The jury found Anderson guilty of 12 counts of aiding or assisting others to prepare and file false income tax returns and one count of filing her own false income tax return for 2010.

            According to evidence during the five-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor, Anderson filed tax returns that claimed refundable credits her clients were not entitled to so that they would receive inflated tax refunds from the government. In return, Anderson would charge the clients abnormally high fees to file their taxes. Anderson charged her clients up to $3,000 per fraudulent tax return, according to testimony.

Anderson testified during the trial that she included only information given to her by clients on the returns she prepared. The government presented evidence, however, that even Anderson’s own 2010, 2011 and 2012 tax returns contained some of the same false items that were characteristic of the fraudulent tax returns she filed for her clients.

            Anderson will face up to three years in prison.

            IRS, Criminal Investigation, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter prosecuted.

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HUNTSVILLE – A federal judge last week sentenced a Huntsville defense contractor on criminal charges of falsely obtaining Small Business Innovation Research contracts with the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin and Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John Khin.

            U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon ordered the contractor, Scientic Inc., to repay the full amount of the contracts with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and NASA, which totaled $250,000, and fined the company $30,000. Judge Kallon also placed Scientic on three years’ probation.

 “Bringing those to justice who defraud the United States is among my office’s highest priorities,” Town said. “We are already aggressively expanding our investigative oversight into this illicit behavior.”

“The NASA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those who defraud NASA programs and waste taxpayers' money,” Martin said. “The NASA OIG congratulates the investigative and prosecution team for their hard work and professionalism.”

“In concert with our partner agencies, DCIS aggressively investigates fraud and corruption that undermines the integrity of Department of Defense programs and contracts,” Khin said. “We must do all we can to preserve precious American taxpayer dollars while ensuring our national security.”

Scientic pled guilty in June to making a false statement in order to obtain research contracts with the DTRA and NASA. As part of its plea, Scientic agreed to the fine and restitution.

NASA OIG and DCIS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – The Jefferson County Department of Health will receive $300,000 from the Department of Justice to help support a resource recovery center in Birmingham, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Jefferson County Health Officer Mark E. Wilson.

The money is part of $58.8 million in grants the Justice Department announced last week aimed at strengthening drug court programs and addressing the nationwide opioid epidemic.

The $300,000 to Jefferson County comes from $24 million of the overall $59 million that was awarded to 50 cities, counties and public health departments to provide financial and technical assistance to state, local and tribal governments to create comprehensive diversion and alternatives to incarceration programs for those impacted by the opioid epidemic, according to the Justice Department’s announcement.

These funds, awarded under the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, also included funds from the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. This program helps regulatory, law enforcement, and public health agencies address prescription drug and opioid misuse; reduce crime, and save lives. The National Institute of Justice will award an additional $3.1 million for research and evaluation on drugs and crime. The research priorities are heroin and other opioids and synthetic drugs.

“The exceptional leadership at OJP has recognized Birmingham's need for exactly this type of assistance and responded with action,” Town said. “This is truly a force multiplier for the Northern District and I appreciate the confidence the department has in us to produce positive results for all of our citizens.”

“The Jefferson County Department of Health is very pleased to receive this financial and technical assistance from the DOJ to enhance our ongoing efforts to prevent overdose deaths,” Wilson said. “We have enjoyed strong partnerships with law enforcement, local substance abuse treatment and social service organizations, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Without them this work would not be possible.”

The Jefferson County Department of Health had already committed to funding a Recovery Resource Center for Jefferson County, which Birmingham’s Crisis Center will manage with in-kind support from local substance abuse treatment organizations and Cooper Green Mercy Health Services. The RRC will be a place for people seeking assistance with substance abuse to receive in-person assistance with information, assessment, referral and navigation to treatment resources. The Department of Justice funding, which JCDH will receive over three years, will enhance the work of the RRC by supporting the Center’s Peer Navigation Initiative, which is being developed to help reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths within the county. One goal of this initiative, according to the grant application, is to increase access to naloxone to survivors of non-fatal overdose, individuals at risk of overdose and family and friends of those individuals. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can reverse an overdose if administered immediately.

Other goals of the program include serving 600 survivors, at-risk individuals and their family and friends through recovery support services, providing overdose prevention education, and partnering with a researcher to develop strategies to address system gaps, monitor program performance and gauge the program’s effectiveness.

A peer navigator will be someone who has sustained recovery from opioid abuse and is knowledgeable of local treatment resources, according to the grant application. The peer navigator will work with survivors, users and their families and friends at the point of crisis, such as immediately following an overdose.

The Recovery Resource Center Peer Navigation Initiative is a collaborative effort of the Department of Health, Crisis Center, UAB Department of Emergency Medicine, Addiction Recovery Program of UAB, Fellowship House, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Service, Community Law Office, Northwest Alabama Methadone Clinic and UAB Substance Abuse Programs.

In 2016, nearly 60,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses, an increase from the 52,000 overdose deaths the year before, the Justice Department said in announcing the grant awards. The majority of these deaths can be attributed to opioids, including illicit fentanyl and its analogues, the Justice Department release said, noting that the country’s opioid epidemic is a public health crisis and a growing public safety crisis.

 Along with the Justice Department’s $24 million awarded under OJP’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, the department also is awarding more than $22.2 million to 53 jurisdictions to support the implementation and enhancement of adult drug courts and Veterans Treatment Courts. These diversionary courts serve as “one-stop-shops” to link veterans with services, benefits and program providers, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Service Organizations and volunteer veteran mentors.

Specific sites and funds awarded can be found online at: https://go.usa.gov/xRJWE.

The department is also awarding more than $9.5 million under several Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant programs, including the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Grant Program and the Family Drug Court Statewide System Reform Implementation Program. These programs help jurisdictions build effective family drug treatment courts and ensure current juvenile drug treatment courts follow established guidelines.

Specific sites and funds awarded can be found online at: https://go.usa.gov/xRJDf.

Finally, read more about the importance of these programs in a new blog by OJP Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson online at https://go.usa.gov/xRJBp.

The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART). More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 21 2017 - Kelli Hogue Mauro, 48, of Birmingham, Alabama, and former Executive Director of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, was sentenced yesterday to five years of probation and five months of home confinement for misapplication of property worth at least $5,000 from a federal program, announced U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.

Mauro also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,228.32 to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program and was fined $10,000. The Court also imposed the following requirements:  Mauro must complete a financial responsibility program under the supervision of the United States Probation Office and report back to the District Court Judge after completion of that program; Mauro must write an open letter of apology to the Birmingham Bar Association, the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Cumberland School of Law; and Mauro must complete 20 hours of community service work.

In pronouncing sentence, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre stated, “This crime was one I can only rationalize as being one of greed.” Judge Bowdre observed that Mauro’s license to practice law had been suspended and characterized Mauro’s offense as “a sin against the profession as a whole.”

The criminal information, filed on April 19, 2017, charged that between January 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012, Mauro misappropriated property owned by and under the control of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, an organization that received benefits in excess of $10,000 from grants made by the federal Legal Services Corporation through Legal Services Alabama.

 

According to the court documents, Mauro made approximately 100 transactions that benefitted herself and her family for a total loss to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program of $35,116. Court documents also reflect that Mauro previously repaid or returned property valued at $21,145 and  that Mauro was credited with $3,742.68 for expenses she incurred on behalf of the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program that were not previously reimbursed by the program. Mauro expressed her intention to immediately pay the $10,228.32 in restitution owed to the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program to the District Court Clerk before leaving the courthouse.

The criminal information was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama was recused from the matter to avoid any appearance of partiality in the prosecution of Mauro.

This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Legal Service Corporation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron M. Jones of the Middle District of Tennessee prosecuted the case.

 

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Cullman man to 90 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for producing child pornography involving seven minor victims, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town. 

 

U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced GREGORY JEROME LEE, 54, on four counts of production of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the charges in January. Lee’s 90-year sentence will run consecutively to a 25-year sentence he received on a separate state prosecution for molesting two other victims.

 

According to court documents, beginning in September 1996 and continuing for more than a decade until August 2007, Lee and his co-conspirators belonged to a group of sophisticated offenders who gathered in secret password-protected chat rooms to discuss their sexual interest in minors and the real-life sexual abuse of children being perpetrated by several group members. Lee and others also used these chat rooms to advertise, distribute, receive and possess child pornography. Court documents state that from September 1996 through December 2004, Lee sexually abused at least seven different minors and that he frequently produced images and videos depicting his sexual exploitation of these children, which he shared with his co-conspirators. 

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Fortune and Trial Attorney Ralph Paradiso of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case. 

 

The 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 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced an Atlanta man and co-owner of a promotions company to 10½ years in prison for a conspiracy to distribute thousands of MDMA pills, a drug commonly known as “ecstasy” or “molly,” through musical “raves,” concerts and music festivals he presented across the Southeast.

U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr., U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzales, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary of Law Enforcement Hal Taylor, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, and Helena Police Chief Pete Folmar announced the plea.

U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Haikala sentenced WOODIE LOUIS OCHLE, 40, on one count of conspiracy to distribute 3,4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, in Jefferson and Shelby counties between February 2015 and April 2016, and on one count of possessing with intent to distribute the drug on April 13, 2016, in Jefferson County. Ochle pled guilty to the charges in April this year. He is in custody.

“Woodie Ochle unlawfully enriched himself through an illicit drug network he devised at the expense of young people,” Town said. “Ochle is among our worst offenders because his exploitation of a combination of youth and willfulness, underscored by his criminal greed, created both addicts and victims. We have bed space reserved in our Bureau of Prisons for Mr. Ochle and those like him.”  

 “The Postal Service is in the business of delivering the mail and has no interest in being involved in the distribution of illegal drugs,” Gonzales said. “Postal Inspectors work tirelessly to rid the mail of illicit drugs, preserve the integrity of the mail and, most importantly, provide a safe environment for postal employees and Postal Service customers – the American public. I commend the hard work and countless hours put forth by all of the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation."

"HSI will continue to work with our state and federal partners to ensure illicit drugs are taken off our streets," Parmer said. "This sentencing should serve as a warning to other criminals that we will work tirelessly to investigate, arrest and prosecute you."

Ochle led an organization that distributed MDMA across the Southeastern United States, including Alabama and Georgia, according to court testimony. Through his Atlanta business, Freakstep Promotions, Ochle set up concerts or dance events and then distributed MDMA to people who attended the “raves.”

In 2016, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began investigating the large-scale smuggling and distribution of various controlled substances, including molly and ecstasy, from Europe into the U.S. through the U.S. Mail, according to evidence at Ochle’s and a co-defendant’s sentencing hearing.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized two inbound packages at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on April 7, 2016, that were destined for Bessemer and Chelsea, according to court testimony.

Each package contained 1,000 “Red Supreme” ecstasy pills, one addressed to Kenneth Howard in Chelsea and one to Jennifer Petitjean in Bessemer. HSI agents contacted ALEA and U.S. Postal inspectors and arranged controlled deliveries of the packages, according to testimony. Those deliveries led to subsequent controlled deliveries of the drugs to Howard’s cousin, Kevin Pederson, and to Ochle, who was identified as the leader of the drug-trafficking organization, according to testimony.

Investigators made a later controlled delivery to Shawn Perkins in Birmingham, for whom Petitjean said she was receiving package deliveries.

The confiscated drugs, which included the packaged pills, plus more ecstasy pills, xanax pills, the drug “molly,” LSD, cocaine and marijuana seized from Pederson’s vehicle, his Birmingham apartment, and from the U.S. Mail, were destined for Spring Weekend in Panama City Beach, Fla., for distribution, according to testimony. Spring Weekend is a beach music festival that caters to a college crowd. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 30 pounds of illegal drugs, including about 20,000 pressed ecstasy pills, and four pounds of crystal “molly”.

Pedersen, 28, Perkins, 22, Petitjean, 31, and Howard, 38, all have pled guilty to the conspiracy to distribute MDMA. All await sentencing, except for Howard who received eight weekends in custody.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-HSI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, ALEA, Alabama Attorney General’s Office and Helena Police investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.

An Alabama man was sentenced today to 90 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for production of child pornography involving seven minor victims, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama. 

 

Gregory Jerome Lee, 54, formerly of Cullman County, Alabama, pleaded guilty in January 2017 to four counts of production of child pornography.  U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins presided over the sentencing in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

According to court documents, beginning in September 1996 and continuing for over a decade, until August of 2007, Lee and his co-conspirators belonged to a group of sophisticated offenders who gathered in secret, password-protected, chat rooms to discuss their sexual interest in minors and the real-life sexual abuse of children being perpetrated by several group members.  Lee and others also used these chat rooms to advertise, distribute, receive, and possess child pornography.  Court documents state that from September of 1996 through December of 2004, Lee sexually abused at least seven different minors and that he frequently produced images and videos depicting his sexual exploitation of these children which he shared with his co-conspirators. 

 

Trial Attorney Ralph Paradiso of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama prosecuted the case. 

 

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 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and 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.

BIRMINGHAM – A former Alabama legislator pleaded guilty today in federal court to accepting bribes from a Birmingham lawyer and an Alabama coal company executive in exchange for advocating their employers’ opposition to EPA actions in North Birmingham. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the plea.

Former state representative OLIVER L. ROBINSON JR., 57, of Birmingham, entered his guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon to conspiracy, bribery and honest services wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Robinson in June for accepting a valuable contract between the Birmingham law firm Balch & Bingham and the Oliver Robinson Foundation to influence and reward Robinson for using his position as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, vice-chairman of the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation, and as an elected representative of citizens of Birmingham to pressure and advise public officials to oppose the Environmental Protection Agency’s prioritization and expansion of a North Birmingham EPA Superfund site.

Robinson represented Alabama’s House District 58 from 1998 until he resigned Nov. 30, 2016. As part of his plea, he agrees never again to seek elected office and to pay restitution and forfeiture in amounts to be determined. He is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 7 and remains free on bond.

“This lamentable pursuit of self-interest masquerading as beneficial for the little guy is more than a violation of our laws. This was a violation of the public trust and among the worst breaches of our social contract,” Town said. “All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.”

“The FBI’s stance on public corruption is that of zero tolerance and therefore it is one of our highest priorities,” Sharp said. “Public corruption is among the most serious of criminal violations and a betrayal of the public’s sacred trust. If allowed to spread unchecked, it can threaten the foundation of our government. The FBI continues to aggressively pursue those who participate in this type of crime.”

"The enforcement of tax administration is compromised with every attempt to undermine the tax system," Dorsey said. "Engaging in public corruption does not qualify as a tax exemption. The totalities of Mr. Oliver’s actions are egregious, devastating, and disappointing to the community in which he promised to serve."

Outside of the bribery charges, Robinson also pleaded guilty today to two counts of wire fraud for spending $17,783 of campaign contributions on personal items unrelated to his legislative campaigns. He pleaded guilty to a third wire fraud count for soliciting money from corporations, representing he would use it to publish a magazine or to defray costs for an annual Partnering for Progress Business Conference or the annual Alabama Black Achievers Awards Gala, which the Oliver Robinson Foundation sponsored. Robinson spent at least $250,000 of those contributions on personal items unrelated to the magazine or the annual events. Robinson also pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion for the 2015 calendar year.

According to Robinson’s plea, the bribery conspiracy occurred as follows:

EPA designated an area of North Birmingham, including the neighborhoods of Harriman Park, Fairmont and Collegeville, as a Superfund site after finding elevated levels of arsenic, lead and benzo(a)pyrene during soil sampling.

In September 2013, EPA notified five companies, including ABC Coke, a division of Drummond Company, that they could potentially be responsible for the pollution. A company determined to be responsible for pollution within the site, known as the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, potentially faced multi-million dollar clean-up costs and fines.

In July 2014, EPA began considering the petition of a Birmingham environmental advocacy group, GASP, to expand the Superfund site to the Tarrant and Inglenook neighborhoods. EPA granted that petition in October 2014 and contracted with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to perform the preliminary assessment.

In September 2014, EPA proposed adding the Superfund site to its National Priorities List, signaling that it required priority attention. Placement on the priorities list would allow EPA to use the federal Superfund Trust Fund to conduct long-term cleanup at the site, provided the State of Alabama agreed to pay 10 percent of the costs, which could equal millions of dollars. EPA’s decision on priority listing for the site remained pending throughout the scheme.

Balch & Bingham represented Drummond and ABC Coke in relation to the 35th Avenue site. A partner at Balch & Bingham, identified in the charges as “Attorney #1,” coordinated the response to EPA’s actions on behalf of ABC Coke and Drummond Company. A Drummond Company executive, identified as “Drummond Employee #1,” was involved with the attorney in responding to EPA. They formed the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy as a tax-exempt corporation in 2015 to raise money to help fund their opposition to the EPA actions, according to the charges.

The strategy employed by the attorney and the Drummond executive focused on protecting ABC Coke and Drummond from the tremendous potential costs associated with being held responsible for pollution within the affected areas. They sought to accomplish this goal by working to prevent EPA from listing the 35th Avenue site on the National Priorities List and expanding the Superfund site into Tarrant and Inglenook.

The plan included advising residents of North Birmingham and public officials to oppose EPA’s actions. As part of the overall strategy, Balch & Bingham paid Robinson, through his non-profit foundation, to represent Balch & Bingham’s and its clients’ interests, exclusively, in matters related to EPA’s actions in North Birmingham. Over the course of the contract in 2015 and 2016, Balch & Bingham paid $360,000 to the foundation.

One of the first tasks assigned to Robinson under the contract was to appear before the Alabama Environmental Management Commission and the director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in February 2015 to advance Balch & Bingham’s and its clients’ opposition to the Superfund proposals. In that appearance, Robinson said he was “really here today to try to protect the residents of north Birmingham.” He said, “[T]he thing that gets me and what is in the process of hurting the residents in that area is that the EPA has included five other corporations in on this process, but there have been no reports stating that these individuals are culpable in any way. And where that hurts the residents is the fact that we will have decades of litigation that will occur because of these five companies being added.”

Robinson asked the AEMC to help narrow the list of potentially responsible parties if there were no reports or tests implicating the corporations. Concluding, Robinson told the AEMC that if the areas of North Birmingham are designated as a Superfund site or listed on the NPL, the residents are “considered to live in a dump and nothing can happen there until it’s either cleaned up and after that, it will take tremendous investment to get it to move forward.”

Robinson concealed from AEMC and the ADEM director that Balch & Bingham and Drummond were paying the Oliver Robinson Foundation to represent their interests exclusively.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bribery is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for tax evasion is five years imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, together with the costs of prosecution.

The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Martin, Robin Beardsley Mark and John B. Ward are prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Tuscaloosa man for illegally possessing a firearm because of several previous felony convictions, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges HOWARD ALLEN JEMISON JR., 32, as a convicted felon in possession of a Sarsilmaz (Sar Arms) 9mm pistol on June 27 in Tuscaloosa County. According to the indictment, Jemison has the following prior felony convictions: unlawful possession of a controlled substance and first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, 2005, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court; third-degree robbery, 2007, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court; felon in possession of a firearm, 2011, U.S. District Court Northern District of Alabama; first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, 2012, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court; and first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, 2017, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.

The maximum penalty for felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Royster is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted three inmates at the women’s Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville for assaulting other inmates, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.

The grand jury returned separate indictments involving two assaults at the prison in May. One three-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MIREYA GARCIA-ROMO, 34, and MARIBEL GOMEZ-MEZA, 31, in connection with a May 13 assault on another inmate using a weapon made of razor blades. Garcia-Romo and Gomez-Meza are charged with acting in concert to commit an assault that resulted in serious bodily injury, committing an assault with a dangerous weapon that resulted in serious bodily injury, and possessing contraband for having a handmade object consisting of four razor blades wrapped together and secured with tape.

A second three-count indictment charges MICHELLE VASQUEZ-YADO, 35, for assaulting a fellow inmate on May 17 with a broken piece of mirror designed for use as a weapon. The indictment charges Vasquez-Yado with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with a dangerous weapon that resulted in serious bodily injury and possessing contraband by having the mirror fragment intended for use as a weapon.

The maximum penalty for assault resulting in bodily injury is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing contraband in prison is five years, which must be served consecutively to the sentence being served when the crime was committed, and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Meadows is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a former postal clerk for corrupting the sale of U.S. Postal Money Orders for her personal benefit, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MITESHIA SHONTA PRITCHETT, 33, of Bessemer, with two counts of misappropriating postal funds while she worked as a clerk at the Shannon Post Office in 2016. The indictment also charges Pritchett with six counts of issuing money orders without receiving full payment for their face value so that she and others could fraudulently receive money from the Postal Service.

On both July 27, 2016, and Aug. 1, 2016, Pritchett converted to her own use $2,600 given to her as a Postal Service employee for money order purchases, according to the indictment. On other dates in July 2016, Pritchett issued three money orders to herself, one to Alabama Child Support and one to JEM, LLC, without receiving full payment for them, according to the indictment. Those six money orders totaled $2,797.

The maximum penalty for misappropriating U.S. Postal funds is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for improperly issuing money orders is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Hoover man on fraud charges connected to a scheme to create “synthetic identities” to obtain and use multiple fraudulent credit cards around the Birmingham metro area, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JERICHO ANTONIO PARKER, 26, with 21 wire fraud counts and one count of using unauthorized access devices as part of the wire fraud between June 1, 2016, and Aug. 30, 2016.

According to the indictment, Parker worked with other people, whom the document does not identify, to carry out the scheme to create numerous synthetic identities by combining fictitious names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers and then using those identities to apply for Discover credit cards.

Discover approved many of the applications and sent credit cards to Birmingham through the U.S. Postal Service. Parker received and activated cards and then used them in Jefferson, Shelby and St. Clair counties to get cash at ATMs or to make or attempt to make purchases, according to the indictment.

The 21 wire fraud counts represent occasions when Parker used the fraudulent Discover cards to get $300 cash advances from ATMs inside drug stores in Moody, Homewood, Birmingham and Hoover, or when he used or attempted to use the cards to make purchases, according to the indictment.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Decatur man on drug-trafficking and firearms charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and federal Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JESSIE SANCHEZ, 24, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Morgan County between November 2015 and Dec. 14, 2016.

The indictment also charges Sanchez with possessing with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine in two locations in Morgan County on June 9, 2016, and possessing cocaine on that date with intent to distribute it. The indictment further charges Sanchez with possessing a Ruger 9mm pistol on June 9, 2016, in furtherance of the drug possession on that date and the overall drug conspiracy.

On Dec. 14, 2016, Sanchez possessed with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Morgan County and possessed a Taurus 9mm pistol in furtherance of that drug possession and the larger drug conspiracy, the indictment charges.

The penalty for conspiracy to distribute and for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. The maximum penalty for possession with intent to distribute cocaine is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense carries a minimum five-year prison sentence, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the crime, and a maximum $250,000 fine.

DEA investigated the case in conjunction with the Decatur Police Department and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Stuart Burrell is prosecuting the case.

An indictment carries only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM –Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will be the keynote speaker for the opening session of the 2017 annual Conference on Civil Rights and Law Enforcement sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Birmingham Division, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

The two-day conference will focus on hate crimes. The program begins at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, with Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein delivering his address at 4 p.m.

The conference continues on Monday, Sept. 18, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include a case study on the 2015 hate-crime massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., from a federal prosecutor and investigators who worked the case. The gunman, a 21-year-old white supremacist, killed nine people during a Bible study at the church. The speakers will include Nathan Williams, who prosecuted the case, Brian Womble, supervisory FBI Special Agent, and Gregory Mullen, the recently retired Charleston Chief of Police. Each will speak about the role he played in the tragic event.

The conference is free, but registration for each day is required at www.bcri.org.

“Hate crimes have devastating effects beyond the harm inflicted on any one victim,” stated Andrea L. Taylor, BCRI President and CEO. “They reverberate through families, communities, and the entire nation.”

“Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI's civil rights program and the objective of this conference is to create open, honest dialogue between law enforcement officials and the community, promote cooperation, and share with the community what a federal hate crime is and how to report it,” said FBI Birmingham Division Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.

 

Monday’s session will begin with Dr. Andrew Baer, assistant professor, Department of History, University of Alabama at Birmingham, who will speak about the history of hate. Dr. John Gampher, UAB Department of Psychology, will follow with his presentation, “Inside the Mind of Hate.”

Dr. Shay DeGolier, Outreach and Organizing Specialist with the Southern Poverty Law Center, will deliver Monday’s luncheon address.

Monday’s program also will include a panel discussion addressing what hate looks like from the perspective of various minority communities within the Greater Birmingham metro area. Dr. G. Christine Taylor, Vice President and Associate Provost, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, at the University of Alabama, will moderate the panel.

1. Special Agent Gerome Lorrain, Jackson Division, will conclude Monday’s session with a case study on the 2015 death of Mercedes Williamson, which resulted in the first conviction on federal hate crime charges arising from the murder of a transgender woman.

For more information on the conference, contact Paul Daymond, at pedaymond@fbi.gov or (205) 279-1457, or Charles Woods III, at cwoods@bcri.org or 205-328-9696 x246.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Honduran national to nearly seven years in prison for being in the United States illegally and possessing firearms, one that was used in a 2016 homicide at a Bessemer nightclub, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALTER ALONSO MARTINEZ-CHANDIAS, 27, to six years and nine months in prison on one count of possession of a firearm by an alien illegally in the U.S. Martinez-Chandias pled guilty to the charge in March.

Following an Oct. 23, 2016, homicide at a nightclub in Bessemer, Birmingham Police identified Martinez-Chandias as a suspect, according to his guilty plea. Birmingham officers arrested him following a traffic stop near his Bessemer residence when they saw an AR-style .223-caliber pistol on the front passenger seat next to Martinez-Chandias and a Taurus PT-111 Pro 9mm pistol on the driver’s seat next to his leg, according to the plea. Martinez-Chandias was the only person in the car.

He later admitted to detectives that he possessed the Taurus pistol in connection to the nightclub shooting, according to his plea. Immigration records confirmed that Martinez-Chandias was in the country illegally.

Martinez-Chandias faces state charges in connection to the Bessemer homicide. Judge Hopkins ordered that his federal prison sentence run concurrently with any sentence that might be imposed for the state crime.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Shutt prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – A Birmingham man pled guilty today in federal court to selling heroin last year that caused the death of one person and seriously injured another, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

MICHAEL DEWAYNE “Big Boi” JOHNSON, 32, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala and pled guilty to one count of distributing heroin in Jefferson County on July 28, 2016, and that a 31-year-old Cullman man died as a result of using that heroin. Johnson also pled guilty to distributing heroin that day that caused serious bodily injury to a then 18-year-old Cullman man who overdosed from using the drug. Johnson pled guilty to one count of distributing heroin in Jefferson County on Aug. 3, 2016. Johnson is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 13.

“The opioid epidemic continues to cause overdose deaths and near deaths in our communities,” Town said. “This guilty plea today sends a very loud message that if you are dealing in heroin or fentanyl, we are coming for you and will bring you to justice. Enforcement of drug-trafficking laws is a top priority of the Department of Justice and we are working in partnership with federal, state, and local law enforcement to bring the most serious available charges against the most dangerous drug dealers.”

“Heroin-related overdoses are becoming a national epidemic, including here in Birmingham, as people addicted to prescription pills become desperate to feed their addictions,” Hamilton said. “DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to make it a priority to ban together to identify and investigate those who distribute drugs that result in overdose and death. This case should send a message to anyone who would illegally distribute drugs that behind every overdose, law enforcement is looking for the drug dealer responsible.”

The penalty for distributing heroin that causes death or serious bodily injury is 20 years to life in prison and a maximum $2 million fine. The maximum penalty for distributing heroin is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

DEA investigated the case, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM –A Tuscaloosa man pleaded guilty today in federal court to robbery of a federally insured bank and taking of hostages during the robbery in the Northern District of Alabama.

U.S. Attorney Jay Town, and FBI Special Agent in Charge, Johnnie Sharp announced the plea.

CEDRICK LAMAR COLLINS, 19, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge L. SCOTT COOGLER today to one count of robbery of a federally insured bank, the Alabama Credit Union, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Collins also pleaded guilty to a second count of taking hostages during the commission of the bank robbery. The maximum prison penalty for bank robbery is 20 years. The charge of taking a hostage while attempting to flea a bank robbery carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence. The charge of taking someone hostage to force a specific government action carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The robbery of Alabama Credit Union occurred on January 17, 2017. The University of Alabama Police Department received a call concerning suspicious activity at the credit union. As SWAT teams from the Tuscaloosa Police Department and Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department arrived on the scene, COLLINS had taken a number of bank employees hostage after demanding money. Officers attempted to make entry into the bank and encountered COLLINS in the stairwell with a hostage in front of him. COLLINS threatened to start shooting unless law enforcement moved back. Officers later made entry into the bank and safely secured COLLINS, without any of the hostages being injured. COLLINS’ suspected firearm was determined to be a BB gun.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.

 

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TUSCALOOSA – A sales representative for a Haleyville, Ala.-based compounding pharmacy pleaded guilty today in federal court to participating in a conspiracy to generate prescriptions and defraud health care insurers and prescription drug administrators out of tens of millions of dollars in 2015.

U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the plea.

BRIDGET McCUNE, 41, of Destin, Fla., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud and to conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks in return for referring prescriptions under Medicare and TRICARE, a U.S. Department of Defense health care program. McCune also pleaded guilty to four counts of health care fraud, and to two counts of money laundering for spending proceeds of the crimes. She remains out on bond pending sentencing, which is not yet scheduled.

McCune worked for Northside Pharmacy, an Alabama company doing business as Global Compounding Pharmacy. Global’s compounding and shipping facility was in Haleyville. The pharmacy did its prescription processing, billing and customer service at its “call center” in Clearwater, Fla.

Global hired sales representatives, including McCune, who were located in various states and were responsible for generating prescriptions from physicians and other prescribers. To bill insurance providers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Medicare and TRICARE, for these prescriptions, Global contracted to enter the pharmacy networks of their third-party administrators, known as “pharmacy benefit managers” or “PBMs. These PBMs included Prime Therapeutics, Express Scripts Incorporated and CVS/Caremark.

McCune’s plea agreement with the government describes a conspiracy at Global that centered on generating and billing PBMs for fraudulent, often high-reimbursement prescriptions. To generate prescriptions, Global hired sales representatives who were married or related to doctors and other prescribers. Global also encouraged sales representatives to volunteer at doctors’ offices where they would review patient files and push Global’s products to patients. Global executives also frequently instructed employees to obtain high-reimbursing prescriptions that Global would fill and bill for reimbursement. The plea agreement describes a Global executive instructing sales representatives to obtain certain prescriptions and, shortly after, McCune obtained those prescriptions for herself and her dependents.

When billing, Global engaged in various fraudulent practices, including splitting drug quantities to evade PBM billing safeguards and automatically refilling and billing for prescriptions regardless of patient need, according to court documents. Global routinely waived co-pays to encourage patients to accept unnecessary medications and refills.

As part McCune’s plea, she agrees to forfeit $401,628 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.

Global paid McCune a base salary plus a monthly commission for prescriptions that she obtained, according to court documents.

McCune began as a sales representative for Global’s Florida region in September 2014, working from Destin. Global promoted her to national field trainer in January 2015, but she also continued to function as a sales representative until she left the company in July 2016. McCune had a “close familial relationship” with a Florida physician, according to her plea agreement, and the “overwhelming majority of prescriptions she obtained” were issued under her family member’s signature.

At the same time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama charged McCune, it separately charged another Global sales representative, KELLEY NORRIS, also known as KELLEY NORRIS-HARTLEY, 41, of Tuscaloosa. Norris faces the charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud, as well as charges of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent prescription reimbursement claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Norris also entered a plea agreement with the government.

The charges against McCune and Norris followed charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May against Global sales representative Robin Gary Lowry, 49, of Columbus, Miss. Lowry was charged with conspiracy to defraud BCBS of Alabama and Prime Therapeutics. She also faced three counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to BCBS of Alabama.

Lowry pleaded guilty to the charges in June. She is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 7.

FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Shelby County woman to a probationary sentence of 2 years for accepting a bribe to deliver marijuana in the U.S. Mail as part of a conspiracy to distribute the drug, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, Houston Division, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor sentenced DEANN MARCHETT DIXON STEVENSON, 43, of Birmingham, AL, to a 2-year probationary sentence today.

Stevenson was a mail carrier at the Meadowbrook Post Office in Birmingham, Alabama. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Jefferson and Shelby counties between January 2016 and September 2016. Court documents do not name her co-conspirators, but the investigation involved the receipt of U.S. currency in exchange for delivering packages to other co-conspirators. Stevenson was also sentenced in a separate count for her conduct of accepting a bribe to deliver U.S. mail.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton is prosecuting.

 

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BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town began work today in the Northern District of Alabama after taking his oath of office from Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre.

“I am incredibly proud to inherit an extraordinarily capable and competent office with such great potential,” Town said. “The Northern District already is endowed with a full spectrum of law-enforcement of sincere mettle and great devotion. We are all eager to undertake the worthy cause of the ambitious priorities of the Attorney General and this administration.”

Town is one of the first three U.S. Attorneys nominated by President Donald J. Trump to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

A former judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, Town comes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office from a senior prosecutor’s role in the Madison County District Attorney’s Office in Huntsville, where he lives. Town worked as an assistant district attorney in the Madison County office from 2005 until the Senate confirmed his appointment as U.S. Attorney in July.

Before moving to Alabama, he was outside counsel at a large firm in New Jersey focused on commercial defense of major pharmaceutical, commercial and surety companies involved in litigation with federal agencies.

Town served in the Marine Corps for 12 years and was honorably discharged in 2008, attaining the rank of major. He has remained committed to veterans’ issues and was instrumental in forming the Madison County Veterans Court, one of the first such diversionary courts in Alabama dedicated to the physical and mental health needs of veterans in the criminal justice system.

He has served on several charitable boards, to include the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, a national organization promoting educational, patriotic and veterans’ initiatives directed by the living Medal of Honor recipients. He also serves as a director for America’s Warrior Partnership, which is a national organization that empowers communities to empower veterans through community integration. The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution awarded Town the Medal of Honor for his many charitable activities.

Town has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville in the Department of Political Science with the curriculum focused on executive war powers and the Geneva Conventions.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Government & International Relations from the University of Notre Dame in 1995 and received his Juris Doctor from the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1998.

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GADSDEN – Three Gadsden men were arrested today on federal charges of distributing heroin or fentanyl, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp.

A federal grand jury in July returned separate indictments charging each man with multiple counts of distributing the opioid drugs. A four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MICHAEL ANTONIO FIKES, 29, with three counts of unlawfully distributing fentanyl and one count of unlawfully distributing heroin in January 2017. The indictment against DEQUAVIOUS MARKELL JONES, 26, charges him with three counts of unlawfully distributing heroin in March and April 2016. The indictment against DEVON SHONDALE RUSSELL, 29, charges him with three counts of unlawfully distributing heroin in September 2016.

“Heroin and opioid use in the Northern District of Alabama has reached epidemic proportions and the results from abusing these drugs are devastating and often deadly,” Posey said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to prosecuting those who put these highly addictive substances on our streets and into the hands of addicts and abusers,” he said.

“The availability of heroin and other deadly drugs are a threat to our communities and today's arrests are only the beginning,” Sharp said. “I want the citizens of north Alabama to know that the FBI and our partners on the North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force will continue to bring those who poison our communities with illegal drugs to the bar of justice."

“The opioid crisis is an epidemic that is daily taking lives in Etowah County,” said Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin. “We are committed to the aggressive enforcement of state laws in an effort to keep dangerous drugs off the street. I appreciate the cooperation between multiple agencies to find those responsible for heroin distribution, which is so quickly endangering our communities.”

The maximum penalty for the distribution of a mixture and substance containing detectable amounts of heroin and fentanyl is 10 years in prison and $1 million fine for each count.

The FBI and North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Hodge is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Calera man to 15 years and eight months in prison as an armed career criminal, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced VAUGHN ALEXANDER CROPPER, 29, for possessing a pistol after previously being convicted of a felony.

 

According to evidence at his April trial, Birmingham police arrested Cropper in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 2016, in the parking lot of the USA Economy Lodge on Crestwood Boulevard in Irondale. Officers were responding to a complaint of a disturbance involving a man with a gun. The police, who were wearing body cameras, captured video of the defendant reaching into his pocket before officers seized the gun and placed him under arrest.

 

Cropper has multiple drug-trafficking felonies and qualified as an armed career criminal, thus facing a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

 

The ATF and Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Dimler prosecuted.

 

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced William Merriweather Jr. to life in prison for robbing a Bessemer Bank in 2007 and intentionally shooting four tellers, killing two and seriously wounding the others, during the crime, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp.

In a series of hearings today, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor found Merriweather, 41, competent to stand trial, then accepted his guilty pleas and sentenced him to prison for the rest of his life.

“The victims of Merriweather’s brutal crime and the families of the victims whom he killed have endured a long wait for him to be convicted and punished,” Posey said. “Today that wait ends, and Merriweather will never again walk free.”

“Merriweather's utter disregard for human life is beyond comprehension,” Sharp said. “I applaud the sentence handed down today, as Merriweather will now spend the rest of his life behind bars as a consequence for his heartless actions.”

Repeated court-ordered mental evaluations prompted many delays in Merriweather’s prosecution since he robbed the West Bessemer branch of Wachovia Bank on May 14, 2007, shooting and killing tellers Eva Hudson and Sheila Prevo and wounding tellers Anita Gordon and Latoya Freeman. Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Merriweather outside the bank after he exited holding a gun to the bank manager’s head and using him as a shield.

As part of a plea agreement between Merriweather and federal prosecutors, the government agreed to withdraw its pursuit of the death penalty in exchange for Merriweather’s guilty pleas. He pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery resulting in death, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of causing a death by using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Merriweather’s deadly bank robbery took place as follows, according to his guilty plea:

Merriweather, wearing a green baseball cap, shirt, tie and slacks, entered the Bessemer bank shortly after it opened and moments later, without saying a word, walked up behind a customer at Hudson’s teller window and shot both Hudson and Prevo in the head. Prevo died instantly. Hudson died soon after.

Merriweather then grabbed Freeman and began looking for the vault and demanding the vault key and money. When Gordon attempted to hand keys to Merriweather, he shot her in the face at point-blank range.

Merriweather then turned the gun on Freeman and fired a shot at her head. Freeman was standing near Merriweather, her hands up in front of her face, and the bullet deflected off her hand, severing part of her right index finger.

After shooting the four tellers, Merriweather walked past the teller windows, grabbing about $11,255 and stuffing it into a plastic bag. Merriweather started to leave the bank but a customer who had darted out the door when the shooting began was armed and waiting beside his car for the robber to exit. Several sheriff’s deputies also had arrived and taken positions in the parking lot.

Merriweather moved away from the door into the bank’s interior and found the manager crouched behind his desk. Merriweather grabbed the man, put a gun to his head and walked out of the bank, holding the manager in front of him. When Merriweather tripped at the corner of the building, the manager broke free and a deputy fired one shot at Merriweather, striking him in the leg and groin and putting him on the ground.

The FBI, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Bessemer Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – A Shelby County woman pleaded guilty today in federal court to fraud charges for falsely claiming she had terminal cancer in order to get money from family and friends and to solicit donations through an online fund-raising site, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Posey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.

JENNIFER FLYNN CATALDO, 37, of Sterrett, entered her guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. The judge scheduled Cataldo’s sentencing for Nov. 8. As part of Cataldo’s plea agreement with the government, she pledges to pay $79,629 in restitution to victims of her fraud who have been identified and verified. Cataldo fraudulently collected a total of $264,163 in checks and cash deposited into her personal checking account, according to the plea agreement.

A federal grand jury indicted Cataldo in May. According to the indictment and her plea agreement, she carried out her fraud as follows:

From 2014 to about May 2017, Cataldo misrepresented to friends and family that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In person, online and via text messages, she solicited contributions from friends, family and others and received the more than $200,000 in donations for expenses including utilities and living, medical, insurance and funeral costs. In January 2016, Cataldo also created an account on the GoFundMe website titled, “Mom has Terminal Cancer Disney Trip,” with the stated goal of raising $4,000 to take her young child to visit Disney before she died. The account featured a photo of the child on the cover and a statement from Cataldo that she had “had cancer for two years and was just told it was inoperable! I would like to experience this with my [minor child] before I die within the year.” That account raised more than $10,000.

In September 2016, a friend who believed Cataldo was suffering from terminal cancer created a second GoFundMe account titled, “Jenny Flynn Cataldo Medical Care,” with a $20,000 fund-raising goal. The medical GoFundMe account featured a photo of Cataldo, her husband and their child. The accompanying story related that Cataldo had been battling cancer for three years, that it was no longer treatable and “the primary goal of medical care at this point is to give Jenny as much time as possible” with her husband and child.

Between September 2016 through May 2017, Cataldo repeatedly re-posted the medical GoFundMe account link to her Facebook page with messages thanking people for their contributions, giving false updates on her condition, and requesting more donations. The medical account raised more than $25,000. Cataldo withdrew $27,755 and deposited it into her personal banking account.

In addition to the two GoFundMe accounts, Cataldo solicited funds on Facebook, in person, and by phone, e-mail and text message to friends, family and organizations, including churches. Some of those individuals paid third-party vendors on Cataldo’s behalf.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

The FBI and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Senate today confirmed Jay E. Town as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

Town was in the first wave of U.S. Attorneys nominated by President Donald J. Trump and is one of the first three to be confirmed by the Senate. He will take office next week.

Town, 43, a former judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, has been a prosecutor in the Madison County District Attorney’s Office since arriving in Huntsville in 2005. He leaves that office as a senior prosecutor focused on prosecuting a full catalogue of crimes, including capital murder, murder, robbery and burglary. Town assisted the district attorney and the Alabama D.A.’s Association in a variety of administrative, training and legislative functions. Town also was instrumental in forming the Madison County Veterans Court, one of the first such diversionary courts in Alabama dedicated to the physical and mental health needs of veterans in the criminal justice system.

“I am humbled and honored to continue to serve the great people of Alabama as United States Attorney for the Northern District,” Town said. “I am grateful for the special trust and confidence shown me by President Trump, Attorney General Sessions, Senator Shelby, Senator Strange, and all of those who supported me throughout this process. I inherit a very capable office and look forward to joining them in continuing to do great things.”

Town served in the Marine Corps for 12 years and was honorably discharged in 2008, attaining the rank of major. Before moving to Alabama, he was outside counsel at a large firm in New Jersey focused on commercial defense of major pharmaceutical, commercial and surety companies involved in litigation with federal agencies, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Town has sat on several charitable boards, to include the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, a national organization promoting educational, patriotic and veterans’ initiatives directed by the living Medal of Honor recipients. He also served as chairman of the Audit Committee, President’s Advisory Group, and was a member of the Foundation’s Executive Committee. He also serves as a director for America’s Warrior Partnership which is a national organization which empowers communities to empower veterans through community integration. He is an original board member of The Bennie Adkins Foundation which provides scholarships to veterans in Alabama. He also was chairman of the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama for two years and a board member for nearly a decade.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution awarded Town the Medal of Honor for his many charitable activities.

Town has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville in the Department of Political Science with the curriculum focused on executive war powers and the Geneva Conventions.

He is a former member of the Huntsville Committee of 100 and a graduate of Leadership Alabama.

Town earned a bachelor’s degree in Government & International Relations from the University of Notre Dame in 1995 and received his Juris Doctor from the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1998. He is a member of the State Bars of Indiana, New Jersey and Alabama, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Marion County man for methamphetamine distribution and gun charges, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JASON LAMAR McSHERIDAN, 45, of Hamilton, with possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on Feb. 5, 2016, in Marion County. The indictment also charges McSheridan as a convicted felon possessing three firearms on that date, a Ruger .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, a Taurus .45-caliber pistol and a Winchester .30-30 caliber rifle.

McSheridan’s prior convictions are first-degree burglary, 2005, and unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, 2011, both in Calhoun County Circuit Court, according to the indictment.

The penalty for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $10 million fine.

The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF investigated the case, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted three men on gun charges connected to an April burglary at a Tarrant pawnshop, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges GABRIEL NATHANIEL POWELL, 18, of Center Point, with stealing 17 guns from Scott’s Jewelry and Pawn, a licensed firearms dealer, on April 5, and with selling or trading the 17 stolen guns. The indictment lists the firearms as three Century Arms model NPAPM70 rifles, one Leader Arms model AR 12 shotgun, one Sig Sauer model 716 rifle, six .40-caliber Glock pistols, one .45-caliber Glock pistol, three 9mm Glock pistols and two 10mm Glock pistols.

In separate indictments, the grand jury charged RYAN ARTHUR JOHNSON, 23, and REGINALD LAMAR BONNER, 37, both of Birmingham, with possessing stolen firearms on April 5. Johnson’s indictment charges him with possessing a stolen 10mm Glock model 20 Gen4 pistol. Bonner’s indictment charges him with possessing two stolen Glock handguns, one a 9mm pistol and one a 10mm pistol.

Bonner’s indictment also charges him as a convicted felon in possession of firearms for the two Glock pistols. According to the indictment, Bonner has the following prior convictions: possession of a controlled substance, Jefferson County District Court, 2008; possession of a controlled substance by fraud, Jefferson County Circuit Court, 2009; third-degree burglary and possession of burglar’s tools, Jefferson County Circuit Court, 2011.

The grand jury indicted five other men, in separate indictments, as convicted felons in possession of firearms. Those charges are as follows:

CHASTAN DACE MORROW, 34, of Arab, for possessing a Hi-Point .380 handgun on Oct. 16, 2015, in Marshall County, after being convicted in Humphreys County, Tenn., in 2006, for initiating the manufacture of methamphetamine, and for second-degree assault in Cullman County in 2007.

ANTOINE DORMAN, 29, of Oxford, for possessing a Hunter Arms 20-gauge double-barrel shotgun on Aug. 16, 2016, in Calhoun County, after being convicted of third-degree burglary and third-degree robbery in Calhoun County Circuit Court in 2008, and of third- and second-degree burglary and first-degree receiving stolen property in 2009, also in Calhoun County Circuit Court.

DONTERIO NAVELL KEITH, 27, of Talladega, for possessing a Davis Industries .380-caliber pistol on Jan. 1, 2017, in Talladega County, after being convicted in Talladega County Circuit Court of second-degree receiving stolen property in 2011 and of third-degree burglary in 2012, and being convicted in Clay County Circuit Court of third-degree and first-degree theft of property in 2014.

LOGAN MILAM, 22, of Childersburg, for possessing a Rohm .22-caliber revolver after being convicted of third-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance in Talladega County Circuit Court in 2016.

MICHAEL JUSTIN PARKER, 30, of Lincoln, for possessing a Taurus 9mm pistol after being convicted in Talladega County Circuit Court of second-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance in both 2012 and 2009.

The maximum penalty for stealing weapons from a licensed firearms dealer is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing a stolen firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Fairfield man for an armed car-jacking in Birmingham’s Avondale community in March, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MANUEL ALI TOWNS, 28, with taking a Nissan Altima from an individual on March 14 by force, violence and intimidation, and with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. The indictment identifies the victim of the carjacking by the initials, B.M.D.

The indictment’s second count charges Towns with discharging a firearm during the carjacking.

The maximum penalty for carjacking is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence is a minimum of 10 years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the crime. The charge carries a maximum $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted 10 men for being in the United States illegally after previous deportation, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.

Of the 10 indicted for illegal re-entry after deportation or removal, six had been removed from the country following a felony conviction.

Those six are ARMANDO ISRAEL ESCOBAR-JACKES, 39, MARGARITO MARTINEZ-MARTINEZ, 29, NESTOR DANIEL MORALES-GUTIERREZ, 39, SILVINO SANTOS-GARCIA, 39, and JESUS VELASQUEZ-GARCIA, 32, all Mexican nationals, and JULIO GASPAR-RODRIGUEZ, 38, a Guatemalan national.

According to the separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court, the men were removed from the United States as follows:

• Escobar-Jackes in 2007, 2008, 2009, twice in 2011 and, subsequent to a felony conviction, in 2012. He most recently was found in Jefferson County on May 25.

• Martinez-Martinez in 2014 following an aggravated felony conviction. Found in Tuscaloosa County on June 11.

• Morales-Gutierrez in 2009 following a felony conviction. Found in Jackson County on June 19.

• Santos-Garcia in 2015 following a felony conviction. Found in Madison County on July 12.

• Velasquez-Garcia, twice in 2012, one following a felony conviction. Found in Shelby County on July 5.

• Gaspar-Rodriguez in 2001 and, following an aggravated felony conviction, in 2010 and 2011. Found in Jackson County on June 22.

The four other defendants indicted for re-entry after previous removal are WILMER ESEQUIAS DIAZ-DELEON, 34, LEONARDO LUNA, 31, TIMOTEO MONTEJO-SANCHEZ, 40, and CLEIDER ALEX ROJAS-ROULRO, 32, all Mexican nationals.

According to their separate indictments, each previously was removed from the country as follows:

• Diaz-Deleon in 2013. He most recently was found in Morgan County on June 30.

• Luna in 2016 and three times in 2012. Found in Blount County on June 25.

• Montejo-Sanchez four times in 2011. Found in Jefferson County on July 14.

• Rojas-Roulro in 2016. Found in Marshall County on June 10.

   

ICE investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced two men for conspiring to traffic nearly $2 million worth of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl in Jefferson County, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced FERLANDO CARMISE MIMS, 19, of Birmingham, to 15 years and one month in prison, and MARAHAI ARDIZO ENRIQUEZ, 25, of Phoenix, Ariz., to four years and nine months in prison. Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, acknowledging their involvement in the distribution of multiple kilograms of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl between September 2015 and October 2016.

“Overdoses from heroin and fentanyl in Birmingham and across Northern Alabama have become epidemic,” Posey said. “To combat the rising death toll we work closely with DEA and other law enforcement partners to identify the most serious drug-trafficking threats and conduct joint enforcement actions like the one that took down this large-scale opioid distribution organization.”

Two of the nine defendants in the case remain to be sentenced. They are ANTHONY LEVY WARD, 36, of Chelsea, on Sept. 28, and JOSE AGUSTIN GUTIERREZ, 31, of Phoenix, on Nov. 9.

The amount of fentanyl trafficked in the conspiracy was about 4.6 kilograms, or nearly 233,000 user doses of the drug. The total amount of heroin trafficked was about 5 kilograms, or approximately 50,000 user doses.

Enriquez was responsible for trafficking 8.8 kilograms of cocaine and Mims with trafficking one kilogram of heroin.

The DEA investigated the case in conjunction with the Birmingham and Hoover police departments and the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting the case.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Texas man to six years and three months in prison for a scheme to steal more than $650,000 from a retirement account after the account owner and his designated beneficiary both died, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced DWAYNE ELLIS BAPTISTE, 44, on four counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Baptiste pled guilty to the charges in February. He is in the custody of U.S. Marshals.

“Baptiste went to great lengths to exploit the deaths of two people so he could steal a man’s life-long savings,” Posey said. “In calculated steps, he formed a company, faked a power of attorney, created bank accounts and used stolen identifying information and a forged signature to carry out his scheme.”

“The actions taken by Baptiste to steal from the dead are unconscionable acts of greed,” Archey said. “I applaud the sentence handed down today and the work of my agents to bring Baptiste to the bar of justice.”

Baptiste lived in Huntsville in 2011 and was acquainted with Ralph Swinehart, who along with his father, Ronald Swinehart, also lived in Huntsville. Ronald Swinehart was a retired employee of Lockheed Martin Corporation and had a retirement savings account through the company. The retirement account was held at ING Institutional Plan Services.

In September 2011, according to Baptiste’s plea and the government’s sentencing memorandum, Ronald Swinehart signed and executed a durable power of attorney naming his son, Ralph Swinehart, as his agent. Ronald Swinehart died on Oct. 11, 2011; his son died on Oct. 23, 2011.

The court documents show Baptiste carried out a scheme to divert the $678,309 in Ronald Swinehart’s retirement account to an account he controlled. He conducted that scheme as follows:

Baptiste filed a fraudulent power of attorney with the Madison County Probate Court in October 2011 appointing himself as Ronald Swinehart’s agent. He also created a company, Swinehart Investment Solutions, in which he fraudulently claimed Ronald and Ralph Swinehart — both deceased — were members.

In December 2011, Baptiste opened two commercial accounts in the name of Swinehart Investment Solutions at BBVA Compass Bank. Baptiste also changed the beneficiary designation on Ronald Swinehart’s retirement account from Ralph Swinehart to himself, and the bank account information to one of the BBVA accounts he controlled. Baptiste then contacted ING, pretending to be Ronald Swinehart, and received instructions on how to withdraw money from Ronald Swinehart’s retirement account. Baptiste used Ronald Swinehart’s name, Social Security number, and address in that process, committing mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Baptiste then committed wire fraud by directing four transfers, totaling $678,309, from the retirement account to his BBVA account. After withholding for federal taxes, Baptiste received $545,670 for himself. He took repeated steps to conceal his fraud, using withdrawals and cashier’s checks to move the money through different accounts he controlled.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Ward and Manu Balachandran prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM –A woman who falsely claimed to be a naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to defrauding patients at a Hoover clinic in 2015, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Posey and U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer.

ISABEL KESARI GERVAIS, 60, using the alias, Dr. Rose Starr, defrauded patients at the Euro Med Klinic by lying about more than her name. She lied about her credentials, her experience and her license to practice medicine, according to her guilty plea. Gervais pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala to one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of making false statements. She also agreed to forfeit $108,146 as proceeds of illegal activity. Gervais is scheduled for sentencing in November.

As part of Gervais’ plea agreement, she acknowledged that over the last 15 years she operated multiple clinics in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Kansas using her current name and various aliases that often employed different spellings of the name Debra Lynn Goodman. The clinics included Sagewood Medical Clinic in Montgomery, the Chiron Clinic in Marietta, Ga., and DRI Enterprises in Atlanta. At all the clinics, Gervais falsely represented herself as a licensed doctor with extensive experience and various degrees who used naturopathic medicine to cure people of various illnesses, including cancer.

“For years this defendant lied about her credentials and took advantage of desperately ill people,” Posey said. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did great work in uncovering this fraud and finding the evidence to make this case.”

Gervais had no legitimate medical degrees or training, but she had operated the clinics in Alabama and Georgia, as well as in Fayetteville and Springdale, Ark., and Leawood, Kan. Because of her fraudulent activity, she was investigated by the Alabama and Arkansas medical boards, was prosecuted by Arkansas state authorities and faced civil monetary claims and actions, according to her guilty plea. To avoid legal action and detection, she had abandoned rental properties, changed locations, changed business names and adopted aliases.

Gervais opened the Euro Med Klinic in Hoover in 2015 as Dr. Starr, claiming she had years of experience and was licensed to practice medicine in Alabama and throughout the world. She promised patients, including cancer sufferers, at the Hoover clinic that she could provide various medical services, including DNA tests that she did not have the technology to conduct, according to her plea. Gervais ran some tests on patients, prescribed various substances and, through her misrepresentations about licensure and qualifications, fraudulently induced patients to pay her thousands of dollars, according to her plea.

Gervais misappropriated the identity of one patient at the Hoover clinic in order to charge the patient’s credit card without consent, according to her plea. She also misappropriated the identity of another individual and used it fraudulently to set up a post office box.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud affecting a financial institution is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Aggravated identity fraud carries a two-year mandatory minimum prison sentence to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed. The maximum penalty for making a false statement is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Barnes is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced former Jefferson County Schools’ human resources director and Hueytown Middle School principal to more than 30 years in prison for enticing a minor to engage in prostitution and possessing child pornography. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven D. Anderson and Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler announced the sentence.

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced BRETT WILLIAM KIRKHAM, 41, of Tuscaloosa, to 30 years and five months in prison. Kirkham pleaded guilty to the enticement and child pornography charges in March. Judge Coogler granted Kirkham credit for 13 months of time served since his arrest.

“Sexual predators often abuse a position of trust to meet, exploit and sexually abuse children,” Posey said. “Parents and education professionals should be alert to the possibility of improper relationships developing at school or online.”

According to court documents, Kirkham’s sexual conduct underlying the child enticement spanned years. The victim had been a student of Kirkham’s at Hueytown Middle School. Kirkham began sending the child messages on social media in 2011, where he solicited nude photos and sent pictures of his own genitalia in return, according to Kirkham’s plea agreement. Two years later, after the child turned 16, Kirkham again reached out through social media. He and the child met several times and engaged in sex acts, for which Kirkham paid the child hundreds of dollars, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Among the more than 700 images and nearly 200 videos of child pornography that Kirkham possessed were images of Kirkham’s enticement victim and another of his former students, according to the sentencing memorandum. Other child pornography he possessed involved three children in Mississippi.

The FBI and the Tuscaloosa and Hueytown police departments investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Ward and Jacqueline Hutzell prosecuted.

In an unrelated child exploitation case, former University of Alabama music professor NIKOS PAPPAS, 41, of Tuscaloosa, pleaded guilty today to charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Pappas entered his plea before Judge Coogler. His sentencing date has not been set.

The penalty for receiving child pornography is five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated Pappas’ case, which Ward is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge this week sentenced a Mississippi man to nearly six years in prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to steal more than $1 million from the Birmingham surgical practice where she worked, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced ANTHONY T. MICHAEL, 43, of Jackson, Miss., to five years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Michael pleaded guilty to the charges in March. The judge ordered him to pay $1.2 million in restitution and to forfeit the same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.

Michael conspired with Anntwine Moss, 51, of Bessemer, to steal from Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Alabama between 2006 and 2013. Moss was office manager for the practice during that time and she and Michael were romantically involved.

U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced Moss in May to three years and five months in prison on five counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion in the case. The judge ordered Moss to pay $987,375 in restitution to the practice and to forfeit the same amount to the government.

According to court documents, Moss stole from the surgical practice by using her authority as office manager to write unauthorized checks to herself and to Michael, make unauthorized direct deposits into her account, and use the company's credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases for herself and Michael. Moss had authority over several key functions at the surgical practice including payroll, accounting, bookkeeping and managing the office's budget. She falsified her personal tax returns for several years by failing to report to the IRS the illicit income she stole from the practice.

The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced the former president of the Communications Workers of America, Local 3901, in Oxford, Ala., to one year and a day in prison for embezzling from the organization, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Investigator Hollis Lindley Jr.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced MICHAEL LACKEY, 44, of Bremen, Ga., on five counts of bank fraud and one count of embezzlement and theft of union funds. Lackey pleaded guilty to the charges in January. The judge ordered Lackey to repay $69,193 to the local and to forfeit that same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. He must report to prison Sept. 11.

Local 3901 members elected Lackey president in October 2008 and he remained in that position until October 2014. As president, Lackey exercised control over the local’s finances, including its accounts at Wells Fargo and Regions banks.

According to his guilty plea, Lackey executed a scheme to defraud the banks and Local 3901 between February 2010 and October 2014 by using his position as Local 3901 president and acting treasurer to conduct unauthorized transactions to take money from the CWA local’s bank accounts and use it for his personal benefit. Those transactions included writing checks to himself from Local 3901 accounts for unauthorized or nonexistent travel expenses, using debit cards he obtained on accounts for the local at both Regions and Wells Fargo for personal expenses, and making cash withdrawals from Local 3901 accounts at both banks for his personal use.

Lackey attempted to conceal his theft by failing to maintain records of his unauthorized transactions and by failing to seek approval for expenditures, as required by federal law and the Local 3901 constitution and bylaws.

Local 3901 members began to suspect in summer 2014 that Lackey had stolen money from the union when a union check bounced. About the same time, Lackey told a national CWA AFL-CIO representative that he had taken out a personal loan using the union’s bank accounts and assets as collateral, and had failed to make the loan payments, leading the bank to collect from the union’s finances, according to court documents.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday charged two sales representatives for a Haleyville, Ala.,-based compounding pharmacy for participating in a conspiracy to generate prescriptions and defraud health care insurers and prescription drug administrators out of tens of millions of dollars in 2015.

Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge, Houston Division, Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the charges as part of a nationwide Department of Justice Health Care Fraud Takedown.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, M.D., earlier today announced the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving 412 charged defendants across 41 federal districts, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving about $1.3 billion in false billings. Of those charged, more than 120 defendants, including doctors, were charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. Thirty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s nationwide arrests. In addition, HHS has initiated suspension actions against 295 providers, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

In the Northern District of Alabama, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed separate informations charging KELLEY NORRIS, also known as KELLEY NORRIS-HARTLEY, 41, of Tuscaloosa, and BRIDGET McCUNE, 41, of Destin, Fla., with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. McCune’s information also charges her with conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks in return for referring prescriptions under Medicare and TRICARE, a U.S. Department of Defense health care program, and with money laundering for spending proceeds of the crimes. Both women face various counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent prescription reimbursement claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.

In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors also filed plea agreements with Norris and McCune.

“In this case, a pharmacy used a marketing scheme that increased sales of expensive medications without regard for patient need or medical necessity,” Posey said. “Schemes like this defraud Medicare and other health insurance systems by pushing unnecessary medications and driving up the costs of health care.”

Norris and McCune both worked for Northside Pharmacy, an Alabama company doing business as Global Compounding Pharmacy. Global’s compounding and shipping facility was in Haleyville. The pharmacy did its prescription processing, billing and customer service at its “call center” in Clearwater, Fla.

Global hired sales representatives, including Norris and McCune, who were located in various states and were responsible for generating prescriptions from physicians and other prescribers. To bill insurance providers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Medicare and TRICARE, for these prescriptions, Global contracted to enter the pharmacy networks of their third-party administrators, known as “pharmacy benefit managers” or “PBMs. These PBMs included Prime Therapeutics, Express Scripts Incorporated and CVS/Caremark.

The court documents describe a conspiracy at Global that centered on generating and billing PBMs for fraudulent, often high-reimbursement prescriptions. To generate prescriptions, Global hired sales representatives who were married or related to doctors and other prescribers. Global also encouraged sales representatives to volunteer at doctors’ offices where they would review patient files and push Global’s products to patients. Global executives also frequently instructed employees to obtain high-reimbursing prescriptions that Global would fill and bill for reimbursement. Each of the plea agreements describes a Global executive instructing sales representatives to obtain certain prescriptions and, shortly after, Norris and McCune obtained those prescriptions for themselves and their dependents.

When billing, Global engaged in various fraudulent practices, including splitting drug quantities to evade PBM billing safeguards and automatically refilling and billing for prescriptions regardless of patient need. Global routinely waived co-pays to encourage patients to accept unnecessary medications and refills.

As part of their plea agreements, Norris and McCune agree to forfeit money to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. Norris agrees to forfeit $287,698 and McCune $401,628.

Global paid the defendants a base salary plus a monthly commission for prescriptions that they obtained, according to court documents.

Norris worked out of Tuscaloosa as a sales representative for Global’s Alabama region from August 2014 to July 2016. She was closely related to an Alabama physician. That relative and a second physician, described in her plea agreement as a family friend, wrote a significant number of the prescriptions Norris obtained for Global to fill.

McCune began as a sales representative for Global’s Florida region in September 2014, working from Destin. Global promoted her to national field trainer in January 2015, but she also continued to function as a sales representative until she left the company in July 2016. McCune had a “close familial relationship” with a Florida physician, according to her plea agreement. “The overwhelming majority of prescriptions she obtained” were issued under her family member’s signature, her plea agreement states.

The charges against Norris and McCune follow charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May against Global sales representative Robin Gary Lowry, 49, of Columbus, Miss. Lowry was charged with conspiracy to defraud BCBS of Alabama and Prime Therapeutics. She also faced three counts of health care fraud for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to BCBS of Alabama.

Lowry pleaded guilty to the charges in June. She is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 7.

FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Nicole Grosnoff are prosecuting.

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid painkiller, that caused the death of a 20-year-old Pelham woman, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced RODRIGUS LEE PEARSON, 31, for illegally distributing fentanyl that resulted in a death in January 2016 in Jefferson County. She also sentenced Pearson for distributing heroin on Feb. 8, 2016, distributing fentanyl on Feb. 23, 2016, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine on March 30, 2016, and for being a felon illegally possessing a gun – an H & K .40-caliber pistol – on March 30, 2016. Pearson pleaded guilty to the charges in March. His previous felony conviction was for unlawful possession of a controlled substance in Jefferson County Circuit Court in September 2014.

As part of Pearson’s sentence, the judge ordered him to pay $22,893 in restitution to the family of Ashlynn Bailey to cover her funeral expenses.

Bailey, a former University of Alabama student, died after purchasing fentanyl from Pearson. Police found her in a house on Jefferson Avenue in Birmingham on Jan. 30, 2016, after responding to a call of a suspected drug overdose death. Witnesses said Bailey had been purchasing heroin from Pearson and that he likely substituted the fentanyl, which was found in her system, for heroin.

“In those cases where we can prove a death resulting from an illegal sale of drugs, we will pursue an enhanced sentence as we did in this case,” Posey said. “When the use of an illegally-sold controlled substance results in the overdose death of the consumer, federal law provides for a minimum 20-year sentence for the dealer. The rapid rise of overdose deaths in our communities requires that we use all available means to disrupt and punish those who sell these deadly drugs,” he said. “We also encourage our state and local law enforcement partners to consider federal prosecution when they have a death-resulting case in their jurisdiction.”

“Ashlynn Bailey, the victim who died from taking the drugs that Pearson sold her, wasn’t given a chance to plead,” Hamilton said. “She was sentenced to death when Pearson delivered the fentanyl-laden drugs. If you are a drug dealer, you may soon become a murderer and you will be caught and prosecuted.”

According to Pearson’s guilty plea, a taxi driver called Birmingham Police after finding Bailey unresponsive at the western Birmingham house. The taxi driver had left her there the night before and returned to pick her up the next morning to take her to a business on U.S. 280 in Birmingham where Bailey said she worked and could get cash to pay cab fare she owed.

Bailey had borrowed the taxi driver’s cell phone and placed calls the night before. Police later determined that one of the two numbers she called was to a phone Pearson used for drug transactions.

The two drug distribution charges Pearson pleaded guilty to resulted from controlled purchases that a DEA confidential source made from Pearson after contacting the dealer at the same number Bailey had called from the taxi driver’s phone the night she died. On the first occasion, DEA agents obtained heroin from Pearson. On the second, agents received fentanyl despite having attempted to buy heroin. A third charge of possession with the intent to distribute heroin stems from Pearson being found in possession of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and the .40-caliber pistol, as well as drug paraphernalia, following a traffic stop.

DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory R. Dimler and Jim Weil prosecuted.

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HUNTSVILLE – The man whose celebratory New Year’s 2017 gunfire killed a five-year-old child in Athens, Ala., pleaded guilty today in federal court to illegally possessing the gun because he was in the United States illegally. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Hernandez announced the plea.

FIDEL RODRIGUEZ-CANCHOLA, 34, of Mexico, pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon to one count of possessing a firearm by an illegal alien. His sentencing is scheduled Oct. 12.

According to Rodriguez-Canchola’s plea, he celebrated New Year’s in the early morning hours of Jan. 1 by firing a Harrington & Richardson 900 .22-caliber revolver into the air outside his Athens residence. One of the rounds he fired struck a fire-year-old who died shortly after.

When Limestone County Sheriff’s deputies found Rodriguez-Canchola a few hours later, he admitted to firing the weapon but “insisted that he had not seen the child until she fell,” according to his plea agreement.

Rodriguez-Canchola was a native and citizen of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States at the time of the shooting, according to his plea.

The maximum penalty for possessing a firearm by a prohibited person is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF, Immigration and Customs Enforcement HSI and the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa K. Atwood is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors today charged the former town clerk of Wilton with embezzling from the Shelby County town, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

In a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged APRIL PRICE ROMERO, 31, of Thorsby, with embezzling $8,752 from Wilton between Jan. 1, 2016, and May 17, 2016, while she was the town clerk.

“Whether they are elected or appointed, public officials are servants of the public's interest,” Archey said. “While the vast majority of public officials are honest, those who are not should know that there is no acceptable level of corruption, and my office is dedicated to rooting out corruption at every level. If you have information about public corruption, call our tip line at 844-404-TIPS, and tell us what you know."

In conjunction with the information, prosecutors also filed a plea agreement with Romero in which she acknowledges the charges and pledges to plead guilty to them.

As town clerk, Romero had access to and signature authority on all of the Town of Wilton’s bank accounts. According to her plea agreement, Romero stole from the town by making unauthorized disbursements from the town’s accounts and converting the money to her personal use.

As part of the plea agreement, Romero will pay $17,216 in restitution to the town and forfeit $8,752 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity.

The maximum penalty for embezzlement is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Meadows is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Thursday indicted an Odenville man for possessing a pipe bomb, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges EDWARD SHANE DEMPSEY, 39, with possessing the destructive device, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law. Dempsey possessed the pipe bomb on Aug. 24, 2016, in St. Clair County, according to the indictment.

The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney James Weil is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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TUSCALOOSA – A Hoover man pleaded guilty to fraud charges today in federal court for stealing money from two former employers and a non-profit organization that supported the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

RANDALL SHO WOODS, 33, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler to two counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. Woods sentencing is scheduled Oct. 12 in Tuscaloosa.

Ingram’s Accounting & Financial Management Inc. in Tuscaloosa previously employed Woods as a staff accountant. While working at the business, Woods fraudulently charged more than $30,000 on corporate credit card accounts for personal expenses, according to the charges and Woods’ plea. Another company, Birmingham-based State Traditions, previously employed Woods as an account clerk. While at State Traditions, Woods engaged in numerous fraudulent activities, including stealing from the company’s Pay-Pal account and forging the endorsement of one of State Traditions’ owners on multiple checks. Combined, Woods stole more than $150,000 from State Traditions, according to his plea. Finally, while Woods served as treasurer of the Million Dollar Band Association, he stole more than $28,000 by writing checks payable to himself, according to his plea.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum prison sentence for bank fraud is 30 years.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Thursday indicted a Georgia man for possessing multiple counterfeit credit or debit cards in Calhoun County in April, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.

A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MARVIN ELIOTT GERMAIN, 22, with possessing more than 15 of the counterfeit cards on April 12.

The maximum penalty for possessing more than 15 unauthorized and counterfeit access devices is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Secret Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica W. Barnes is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury this week indicted five men for being in the United States illegally after previous deportation, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.

Separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court charge DANIEL ESTEBAN-MATEO, 48, MARIANO MARTINEZ-DIEGO, 31, both of Guatemala, and JACIEL JIMENEZ-CAMPUSANO, 34, MISAEL AGOSTTINI-OTERO, 32, and CELEDONIO CONTRERAS-PACHECO, 32, all of Mexico, with illegal re-entry into the United States after previous deportation or removal.

According to their individual indictments, the charges are as follows:

Esteban-Mateo was voluntarily in the U.S., in Jefferson County, on June 2 after having been removed from the country to Guatemala in September 1996 following a conviction for an aggravated felony.

Martinez-Diego was found in Marshall County on May 14. He previously was removed from the U.S. in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Jimenez-Campusano was found in Madison County on May 26 after being removed to Mexico in November 2011.

Agosttini-Otero was in Jefferson County on May 25 after being removed to Mexico in 2009, five times in 2010, and twice in 2012.

Contreras-Pacheco was in Shelby County on June 10 after being removed from the U.S. in May 2010.

The maximum penalty for illegal re-entry after deportation is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ICE investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Thursday indicted two men, both with multiple prior felony convictions, for illegally possessing firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

Separate and unrelated indictments filed in U.S. District Court charge ARTHUR McCALL JR., 42, of Birmingham, and TERRY ROY WILLIAMS, 45, of Jackson County, with being convicted felons in possession of firearms.

According to McCall’s one-count indictment, he possessed a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol on June 3, 2016, in Jefferson County. McCall’s prior felony convictions listed in the indictment are: unlawful possession of a controlled substance, June 2007, Shelby County District Court; second-degree assault, March 2011, Shelby County District Court; first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, December 2004, Morgan County Circuit Court; and, all in Jefferson County Circuit Court, unlawful possession and receiving a controlled substance, July 1996, third-degree robbery, February 1999, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, June 2005, and first-degree possession of marijuana, July 2010.

Williams’ two-count indictment charges him with possessing a destructive device, similar to an explosive grenade, on July 6, 2016, in Jackson County. Williams’ prior felony convictions listed in the indictment are: bank robbery, February 1994, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma; third-degree burglary and second-degree property theft, January 1995, Etowah County Circuit Court; first-degree property theft, August 1999, Jackson County Circuit Court; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, November 2002, Jackson County Circuit Court.

A second count in Williams’ indictment charges him with possessing a destructive device that he did not register with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. The device he possessed should have been registered because it expelled a projectile by explosive discharge and it had a barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, according to the indictment.

The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing an unregistered firearm is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

ATF investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury late Thursday indicted an Athens, Ala., man for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and illegally possessing a firearm, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

A five-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges VALENTINE NAVA, 35, with conspiring with others, who are not named in the indictment, to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Limestone County between November 2013 and November 2016.

The indictment also charges Nava with two counts of possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, once on Nov. 7, 2015, and again on Nov. 4, 2016. The indictment further charges Nava with possessing a firearm, a Beretta .40-caliber pistol, on Nov. 4, 2016, in Limestone County, in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense. It also charges that Nava was a convicted felon when he possessed the gun.

According to the indictment, Nava was convicted in Limestone County Circuit Court in September 2012 for shooting into an occupied vehicle, and was convicted in Madison County Circuit Court in June 2015 for possession of a controlled substance.

The maximum penalty for the conspiracy and the possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine charges is 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. The minimum prison penalty for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime is five years in prison, which must be served after completion of any other sentence related to the crime. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

DEA investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Stuart Burrell is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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BIRMINGHAM –Three Birmingham area men have pleaded guilty in federal court to a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in the Northern District of Alabama, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

JOEL PATRICK McCARN, 43, entered his plea Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon to one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jefferson County between May 2016 and March 2017.

Two other men, MIGUEL GONZALEZ-JIMINEZ, 41, and MATTHEW HEATH RYAN, 39, pleaded guilty to the same charge last week.

The men were part of a ring distributing methamphetamine in northern Alabama. Their May indictment seeks a money judgment as part of their sentence for $64,000, which represents the proceeds of the methamphetamine sold.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Felton prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Tennessee man to 14 years in prison for enticing and coercing two young women into prostitution and for being a convicted felon with a gun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

CHRISTOPHER TYLER RICHARDS, 26, used physical violence, intimidation and even sexual abuse to coerce the two women to travel among the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama to prostitute themselves and give the money they made to him, according to government documents. One of the women, identified in court documents as “Victim 1,” was 18 years old. “Victim 2” was 25.

“This defendant preyed on the vulnerabilities of troubled young women and made his living by convincing them – through intimidation and physical assault – to engage in prostitution and turn the money over to him,” Posey said.

“This case shows that human trafficking exists in our backyard, not just in major metropolitan areas,” Archey said. “I am extremely proud of the work done by the Human Trafficking Task Force to bring Richards to justice and hold him accountable for his crimes.”

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced Richards on two counts of enticement and coercion of a person for prostitution and one count of being a felon in possession of a gun. Richards pleaded guilty to the charges in March. He already is in custody.

Richards’ plea agreement lists prior felony convictions of possession of a controlled substance in January 2012, and in August 2013, failure to appear in court on a felony case and intentionally evading arrest in an automobile. All three convictions were in state court in Shelby County, Tenn.

Richards victimized the women from mid-December 2014 through mid-February 2015 before Homewood Police arrested him after receiving a call from the father of the 18-year-old who texted him that she had been beaten and “possibly trafficked,” according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Richards first met Victim 1 when she was 13 years old, according to Richards’ plea agreement. They lost touch, but met again in 2014 near Memphis when the girl was 17. Shortly after she turned 18, according to the plea agreement, Richards convinced her to go with him to Texas, but on the way there changed the destination to New Orleans. It was there that he first pressured her to prostitute herself and began beating her.

Richards also met Victim 2 in New Orleans. He took photos of both of the women and began advertising them for prostitution on the website Backpage.com. At one point, upon learning that Victim 2 would not agree to a certain sex act with customers, Richards sexually assaulted her, forcibly performing the act, according to court documents.

The FBI and the Northern District of Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter Sr. prosecuted.

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BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced the former controller for a Birmingham-based fitness center franchise and a subsequent retail store to 1½ years in prison for defrauding the companies out of more than $100,000, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced REBECCA FRITH, also known as Rebecca Wilson, 44, on two counts of wire fraud. Frith pleaded guilty to the charges in March. As part of her sentence, she must pay $102,806 in restitution. Frith was living in Texas when she was indicted and arrested in December. She must report to prison Aug. 28.

For more than two years while Frith worked as controller at Iron Tribe Fitness between 2014 and 2016, she fraudulently charged personal expenses to the company’s corporate bank and credit card accounts. She established automatic drafts to pay personal monthly utility bills and used Iron Tribe credit cards to pay unauthorized personal expenses including furniture purchases, pet care, car payments, taxes, flights, hotels and vacations, according to court records.

Frith resigned from Iron Tribe in June 2016 and began work as controller at The Pants Store in July 2016. Within her first month at the retail store, she set up automatic drafts from the company’s business bank account to pay her $1,650 apartment rent.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark prosecuted.

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WASHINGTON – As the Department of Justice continues its efforts to fulfill President Trump’s commitment to reducing violent crime in America, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that 12 cities are joining the Department’s newly organized National Public Safety Partnership (PSP). The announcement came during the opening session of a national summit organized by the Attorney General’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. The summit convened federal, state and local law enforcement to discuss how to support and replicate successful local violent crime reduction efforts.

 

A list of the cities is posted at www.nationalpublicsafetypartnership.org.

 

“Turning back the recent troubling increase in violent crime in our country is a top priority of the Department of Justice and the Trump Administration, as we work to fulfill the President’s promise to make America safe again,” said Attorney General Sessions. “The Department of Justice will work with American cities suffering from serious violent crime problems. There is no doubt that there are many strategies that are proven to reduce crime. Our new National Public Safety Partnership program will help these communities build up their own capacity to fight crime, by making use of data-driven, evidence-based strategies tailored to specific local concerns, and by drawing upon the expertise and resources of our Department.”

 

“The partnership of federal, state and local law enforcement in Birmingham has already gained national prominence for our efforts in combating violent crime with the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative and as one of the pilot cities of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice,” said acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey for the Northern District of Alabama. “For us to be included in this National Public Safety Partnership means that we will get additional support from the Department of Justice for our ongoing and future efforts. This is further recognition of the fine work being done by the Birmingham Police Department, the City of Birmingham, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies working to find innovative solutions to the violent crime problem in Birmingham,” he said.

 

The Justice Department created PSP and the task force in response to President Trump’s February 9, 2017, Executive Order charging the agency with leading a national effort to combat violent crime. The partnership provides a framework for enhancing federal support of state, local and tribal law enforcement officials and prosecutors as they aggressively investigate and pursue violent criminals, specifically those involved in gun crime, drug trafficking and gang violence.

 

Twelve sites have been selected to receive this significant assistance:

 

• • Birmingham, Alabama

  • Indianapolis, Indiana

  • Memphis, Tennessee

  • Toledo, Ohio

  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  • Buffalo, New York

  • Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Houston, Texas

  • Jackson, Tennessee

  • Kansas City, Missouri

  • Lansing, Michigan

  • Springfield, Illinois

     

We anticipate announcing additional sites this calendar year.

The Justice Department agencies involved in PSP are the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Office of Justice Programs; the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Office on Violence Against Women; and the Office of Community Oriented Policing.

 

For more information about the Department of Justice’s work to reduce violent crime and enhance public safety:

 

Attorney General Announces Crime Reduction and Public Safety Task Force

 

Attorney General Sessions Directs Federal Prosecutors to Target Most Significant Violent Offenders

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Initiatives to Advance Forensic Science and Help Counter the Rise in Violent Crime

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Actions to Support Law Enforcement and Maintain Public Safety in Indian Country

 

Department of Justice Releases Report Detailing the Prosecutions of Transnational Criminal Organizations and their Subsidiaries

 

Attorney General Sessions Issues Charging and Sentencing Guidelines to Federal Prosecutors