Middle District of Florida

Jacksonville, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Dino Ajloni (40, St. Augustine) has pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud in connection with his role in a fraudulent compound pharmacy scheme. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

 

According to the plea agreement, Ajloni was the operator of Wellness Pharmacy in St Augustine. He performed various jobs, including marketing prescriptions, recruiting physicians to write and fill prescriptions at Wellness Pharmacy, and other jobs.

 

Ajloni also relied on marketers to help recruit patients to get prescriptions filled at his pharmacy. One of these marketers brought his family in to become “patients” of Wellness Pharmacy. The pharmacy filled numerous prescriptions for the marketer’s family and received nearly $200,000 in government reimbursement. Ajloni admitted paying the marketer almost $50,000 for the referral of work, in violation of the Anti-Kickback statute.

 

Ajloni also recruited patients himself. For example, he offered patients access to “anything in the store” if they agreed to receive compound prescription drugs. At other times, he offered gift baskets, with chocolate, deodorant, nuts, and other accessories, to patients that accepted compounded prescriptions.

 

In 2016, TRICARE developed suspicions regarding the legitimacy of these compound prescriptions. Because the vast majority of Wellness Pharmacy’s claims were purportedly written by a doctor who had never separately billed for these patient visits, TRICARE asked Wellness Pharmacy to complete an audit. During the course of the audit, Ajloni and others made a variety of false and misleading statements. Among other things, Ajloni noted that all patients paid co-pays, no patient was offered anything of value to receive prescriptions, and that Wellness Pharmacy called the doctor prior to dispensing the prescriptions.

 

Ajloni received $1,916,206.97 in healthcare reimbursement that he was not otherwise entitled to receive.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Mehta.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury has found Ingrid McBride Rich (New Port Richey, 52) guilty of presenting a false claim to an agency of the United States and obstructing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of taxes. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison for the false claim charge and up three years in federal prison for the obstruction charge. Her sentencing hearing has been set for November 14, 2017.

 

Rich was indicted on December 13, 2013.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, in March 2009, Rich submitted a fraudulent tax return to the IRS for tax year 2008 that resulted in her obtaining a refund in the amount of $510,222. After obtaining the refund check, she deposited it into a new bank account, and then immediately began transferring the money into various accounts (in her name and in the name of entities she owned) using cashier’s checks and cash transfers to thwart the efforts of the IRS in recouping the funds. She also sent the IRS frivolous correspondence, including bogus money orders and tax documents, with the intent that such correspondence impede the IRS’s collection efforts. Due to Rich’s obstruction, the IRS was only able to recoup a nominal amount of the fraudulently obtained funds.

 

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Jones and Adam Saltzman.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the return of indictments charging Anner Javier Maldonado-Reyes (39, Largo) and Maria Guadalupe Maldonado (38, Largo) with illegal reentry into the United States. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

 

According to the indictments, Anner Maldonado-Reyes, who has operated under several aliases over the years, including “Jose Martinez-Reyes,” “Juan Martinez,” and “Pedro Vargas-Monteramos,” has previously been removed from the United States on at least two occasions: in February 1999 and in February 2008. His February 1999 removal came after a conviction in Los Angeles County, California for possession of cocaine base for sale.

 

Maria Guadalupe Maldonado, who also has had several aliases over the years, including “Stephanie Sanchez,” was removed from the United States in October 1996 following a conviction in Los Angeles County, California for transportation/sale of a controlled substance.

 

These individuals do not have legal status in the United States and have not received permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security to reapply for admission. Government records indicate that Anner and Maria Maldonado are the founders of, and employed as ministers in, the church Ministerio Internacional Jesucristo Es Mi Refugio located at 1550 Belcher Road South in Largo.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations, with assistance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced George Pena (42, Edinburg, TX) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. He pleaded guilty on May 24, 2017.

 

According to court documents, in October 2016, following a month-long investigation, special agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at a home where Pena was located and recovered 12.5 kilograms of cocaine, over $17,000, and a loaded firearm.

 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Michael O. Johnson (28, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He faces up to life in federal prison.

 

According to the plea agreement, Johnson sold six firearms to undercover agents over several months, including a Russian model SKS, 7.62x39-caliber rifle. He sold the guns even after being told that they would be trafficked and resold illegally in other markets in the United States, including New York.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

 

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, are coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline Strategy on reducing violent crime in communities.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Jorge Guerrero-Torres (29, Orlando) to 40 years in federal prison for production and possession of child pornography. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the cellphone that he had used to commit the offense. A federal jury found Guerrero-Torres guilty on May 16, 2017.

 

According to testimony and evidence presented during trial, Guerrero-Torres resided with a family in Fort Myers, including four children who Guerrero-Torres had known for several years. While living with the family, Guerrero-Torres used his cellphone to take sexually explicit photos of one of the children.

 

After moving out of the family’s residence in May 2016, Guerrero-Torres was questioned regarding a complaint of alleged inappropriate conduct related to one of the children. After learning that detectives from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office wished to further question him, Guerrero-Torres fled and discarded his cellphone. He was apprehended in Okeechobee while attempting to make arrangements to flee to Mexico. Guerrero-Torres’s cellphone was located in Orlando and a subsequent search revealed the sexually explicit images of the child. Guerrero-Torres acknowledged that he had taken the images while living with the child’s family.

 

This case was investigated by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Okeechobee Police Department, and the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Chief Assistant United States Attorney Jesus M. Casas and Assistant United States Attorney Charles Schmitz.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Rorn Sorn (34, St. Petersburg) to six years and five months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty on April 24, 2017.

 

According to court documents, on December 17, 2016, Sorn and another individual entered Club Lust in St. Petersburg and went into the restroom. A few moments later, a security guard heard a gunshot go off in the restroom and observed Sorn and another male as they were exiting the restroom. The security guard asked the men if they had fired a gun. Sorn replied, “It was an accident, man. I was just trying to take a selfie.” Nightclub employees observed a bullet hole in the bathroom mirror that went through the wall into the ladies’ room.

 

Officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department arrested Sorn a short time later. A .40 caliber firearm, a gun magazine, marijuana, and Xanax pills were recovered from his pockets. Sorn, a member of the Asian Pride Gang, has prior convictions for burglary of a dwelling and attempted first-degree murder and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shauna S. Hale.

 

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

 

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a grand jury has returned an indictment charging Ryan Elton Devore (30, Satsuma) with one count of transporting and two counts of possessing child pornography. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, up to 60 years, in federal prison.

 

According to the criminal complaint and information presented in court, on July 18, 2017, federal agents and local officers executed a search warrant at Devore’s residence in connection with a child exploitation investigation involving online users of a file sharing program. Agents recovered a custom-built computer tower and a cellphone that belonged to Devore. A preview of the devices revealed that they contained numerous depictions of child pornography. Shortly after, agents located videos of minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct that had been arranged and maintained in several folders on the computer, at which time Devore was arrested.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

 

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell today sentenced Michael Pirolo (48, Palm Harbor) to four years and two months in federal prison for wire fraud. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $594,000, the proceeds of the criminal conduct. Pirolo pleaded guilty on April 10, 2017.

 

According to court documents, Pirolo served as the president of Government Contract Registry, Inc. (“GCR”), doing business as FEMA Contract Registration. He employed telemarketers who, during communications with victim-companies, falsely claimed that, for a fee, GCR would “register” the companies with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enable them to receive preference in obtaining contracts from FEMA. The GCR telemarketers’ communications were based on instructions and scripts that they had received from Pirolo. In particular, the telemarketers falsely and fraudulently stated that for a one-time fee of $500, the customer would be registered with FEMA, and that this registration would place the customer on a list of preferred vendors. When the need for a vendor arose, the GCR telemarketer falsely stated that FEMA would bypass the contract acquisition process, contact the registered victim-company, and then offer a no-bid contract. At times, Pirolo also instructed GCR telemarketers to go back to victim-companies that had already paid the $500 one-time fee and seek renewal and payment of another fraudulent $500 fee.

 

To further the scheme, the GCR telemarketers provided victim-companies with an online GCR form that requested the same information as a form on FEMA’s website. FEMA does not charge a fee to companies to complete its form, which assists the agency with market research and does not “register” companies. Completing this form is not part of the United States government’s contract acquisition process. Once GCR telemarketers received the victim-companies’ information, GCR completed and submitted the online FEMA form that then enabled emails to then be sent from FEMA to the victim-companies, giving the appearance that the companies had been “registered.” The FEMA emails gave GCR the appearance of legitimacy.

 

Approximately 1,200 victim-companies were misled by this scheme, paying GCR at least $604,500.

 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General and the General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam M. Saltzman.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Robert F. Stout (51) and Kasey N. Riley, a/k/a Kasey Stout (33), both of Windermere, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and copyright infringement relating to the sale of illegal activation keys for Microsoft products. If convicted on all counts, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The defendants have also been notified that the United States is seeking a money judgment in the amount of $1,480,227, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.

 

According to court documents, Stout and Riley advertised Microsoft software products for sale online, using a variety of sham business names. They purchased unauthorized activation keys from various websites and provided them, in exchange for PayPal payments, to at least 13,000 customers throughout the United States. They received at least $1.4 million from customers in exchange for providing them with the unauthorized, and often invalid, activation keys. Even after receiving customer complaints that specific activation keys were not functioning properly, Stout and Riley continued to sell them. For example, between September 2013 and June 2014, Stout and Riley sold one specific activation key approximately 880 times.

 

The Better Business Bureau received at least 140 complaints from customers who purchased the unauthorized software from the sham businesses. Over the course of two years, Stout and Riley also received – and ignored at least four warnings to stop from Microsoft.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christina R. Downes, on assignment from the Office of Principal Legal Advisor, ICE, in the Middle District of Florida, and Assistant United States Attorney Wayne A. Myers from the Northern District of New York.

 

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces today the return of an indictment charging Charles Cory Thornton (36, Yulee) with production and attempted production of child pornography; receipt, transportation, and attempted transportation of child pornography; and possession of child pornography. He faces potential cumulative penalties of not less than 45 years, up to 140 years, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervision. Thornton was arrested on July 28, 2017, and has been detained pending trial.

 

According to the criminal complaint and information provided in court, on July 20, 2017, FBI agents and local officers executed a search warrant at Thornton’s residence based on suspected online child exploitation activity. Thornton was not at home, but he was located and interviewed later that day at Naval Air Station Jacksonville where he worked as a machinist. During an interview, Thornton admitted that he had been searching for child pornography for several years using a file sharing program, that he knew that other users were able to download images and videos from his computer, and that he was a “pedophile” and was sexually attracted to children. In subsequent interviews, Thornton admitted that he had used a small camera hidden in a digital clock in a bathroom to surreptitiously film videos of children during 2008 and 2009. Agents recovered this camera from Thornton’s home. A search of his electronic media revealed numerous images of at least two children in various stages of undress in a bathroom taken from several different vantage points, as well as images of Thornton setting up the hidden camera.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

 

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Brian Author Thomas (27, Port Charlotte) to 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography. The Court also ordered him to forfeit his laptop computer and cellphone, which were used to commit the offense.

 

Thomas was found guilty on February 23, 2017.

 

According to court documents, FBI agents were able to download approximately 14 images and 2 videos depicting child pornography from Thomas’s computer between January 18, 2016, and March 2, 2016, using a peer-to-peer file sharing program. Agents executed a search warrant at Thomas’s residence on March 30, 2016, and seized his laptop computer and cellphone.

 

During an interview with agents, Thomas admitted that he had been downloading images and videos of child pornography for a few years. Thomas stated that he lived in the residence with a minor and her parents and that he had taken numerous videos of the minor while she was sleeping in her bed at night. He also admitted that he had started video recording the minor when she was nine years old.

 

A subsequent forensic analysis of Thomas’s laptop computer and cellphone revealed that from at least July 18, 2012, through March 30, 2016, he had collected in excess of 6,000 images and 35 videos depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Thomas’s cellphone contained approximately 11 videos that he had produced between May 1, 2014, through June 12, 2014, depicting the identified minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

 

Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Susan Marie Kort (61, Ocala) today pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with theft of government funds. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and will be required to pay $35,577.60 in restitution to the Social Security Administration (SSA). A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

According to court documents, Kort’s elderly father passed away at his Lake County residence in approximately November 2011. After discovering the body, she buried her father in the backyard of her Eustis home. Kort never reported the death to authorities. Over the next two years, she used forged checks and a power of attorney for her father’s financial affairs to withdraw and spend the SSA benefit payments that were being direct-deposited into his bank account. The SSA eventually suspended these benefit payments in December 2013, when they were unable to contact Kort’s father.

 

Inquiries into the father’s well-being by other relatives prompted a law enforcement investigation in late 2016. When confronted by investigators, Kort admitted to hiding her father’s body and to defrauding the SSA by unlawfully taking his benefit payments. Kort eventually led investigators to her father’s grave at her residence. Subsequent DNA testing confirmed the identity of the remains as Kort’s father.

 

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration—Office of the Inspector General and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced David R. Rivenbark (39, Las Vegas, Nevada) to 20 years in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for transportation and possession of child pornography. He was found guilty by a federal jury on April 13, 2017.

 

According to the trial evidence, Canadian law enforcement authorities initiated an international investigation into individuals using chatrooms within a social media website to trade child pornography. In August 2014, Rivenbark, then a resident of Oviedo, Florida, posted a link within the social media website directing its users to a Dropbox location that contained 111 videos of child pornography. A Canadian agent preserved the evidence and referred the investigation to U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Orlando. In November 2014, HSI agents contacted Rivenbark at his residence. Rivenbark admitted that he had posted the link to a child pornography website and that he had searched for and viewed child pornography on his computer.

 

A forensic examination of Riverbark’s computer subsequently revealed 462 images and 2 videos containing child pornography in the deleted space. Additional forensic evidence showed that Rivenbark had actively searched for and viewed child pornography, which he later deleted using cleaning software.

 

“While this sentence cannot restore the lost innocence of the children depicted in these images, it should serve as a warning to those who engage in this behavior — HSI and our law enforcement partners, like the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, will be relentless in our pursuit of online predators," said HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.

 

This case was investigated by the York Regional Police Service (Ontario, Canada) - Special Victims Unit, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the return of a superseding indictment charging Roderick Randolph Lester (38, Jacksonville) with robbery of a Jacksonville tire store, brandishing a firearm during the robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Lester that the United States intends to forfeit the Taurus semiautomatic pistol he used during the robbery.

 

According to the indictment, on September 26, 2016, Lester robbed Glover’s New and Used Tires, in Jacksonville, of a Michelin-brand tire while brandishing a firearm. Lester had been previously convicted of seven felonies, including manslaughter, burglary, and two previous convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Additionally, he was subject to federal supervision by the U.S. Probation Office when he committed the recent robbery and related offenses.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor.

 

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury today found Juan Escudero (36, Weslaco, Texas) guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of cocaine; and distributing and possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of cocaine. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 17, 2017.

 

Escudero was indicted on November 29, 2016.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, Escudero brokered a deal on behalf of the Gulf Cartel to mail approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine and one kilogram of cocaine from Texas to Tampa. Unbeknownst to Escudero, he sent those drugs to a confidential source (CS) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). DEA agents intercepted the package of drugs, which Escudero believed had been delivered. Escudero then instructed the CS to pay for the drugs by depositing money into his wife’s and others’ bank accounts. Escudero also sent a money courier from Texas to pick up $30,000 from the DEA source. When the courier met the undercover detective to retrieve the money, he was arrested. Escudero subsequently sold additional methamphetamine to an undercover DEA agent over several additional months.

 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Taylor G. Stout and Christopher Murray.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. has sentenced D. Anda Norbergs to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for receipt and delivery of misbranded drugs, smuggling goods into the United States, health care fraud, and mail fraud. As part of her sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $848,671.19, the proceeds of the criminal conduct. A federal jury found Norbergs guilty on November 18, 2016.

According to testimony and evidence presented during the nine-day trial, Norbergs, a licensed physician in Florida, was the head doctor, owner, and operator of East Lake Oncology (“ELO”), a cancer treatment clinic located in Palm Harbor. Beginning in at least May 2009, she ordered, and directed others at ELO to order, drugs from foreign, unlicensed distributors, including Quality Specialty Products (“QSP”). The drugs sold to ELO by QSP and other foreign, unlicensed distributors were not FDA-approved. In fact, QSP had reportedly sold counterfeit versions of a chemotherapy medication that did not have the key ingredient in the drug. Norbergs learned of this news from other sources yet continued to have QSP drugs administered to patients. When QSP shut down, Norbergs switched to buying drugs from another foreign, unlicensed distributor. Many of the drugs were shipped directly to ELO from a location outside the United States, usually from the United Kingdom. The packaging and documents shipped with the drugs showed that they were manufactured and packaged for distribution in foreign countries, such as Turkey, India, and Germany.

Unbeknownst to patients, these misbranded drugs were then administered at ELO. After administering these drugs to patients, ELO submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicare. In submitting those claims, Norbergs falsely represented that the FDA-approved versions of the drugs had been administered, when she knew that unapproved and misbranded versions had been given to patients. In so doing, Norbergs intended to generate profits from the difference between the Medicare reimbursement rates for the FDA-approved drugs and the discounted prices of the misbranded versions of those drugs purchased from foreign distributors.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Adam M. Saltzman and Jay Trezevant.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Darrell Bryant (48, Jacksonville) and Roshawn Anderson (34, Atlanta) each to six years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Bryant pleaded guilty on December 13, 2016. Anderson pleaded guilty on January 24, 2017.

 

According to court documents, in August 2016, Bryant and Anderson arranged to sell almost a kilogram of heroin to an individual in Jacksonville. Bryant brokered the deal locally and Anderson brought the heroin from Georgia. On August 31, 2016, while driving to deliver the heroin, Bryant and Anderson were stopped on Norwood Avenue, near I-95, by troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol who were working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Anderson attempted to flee on foot but troopers caught up with him. He had approximately one kilogram of heroin hidden on his person.

 

 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.

Jacksonville, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Vernon Stroman (40, St. Augustine) has pleaded guilty to violating the anti-kickback statute. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

 

According to the plea agreement, Stroman was a marketer and consultant for Wellness Pharmacy in St. Augustine. In this role, he was responsible for finding patients that had TRICARE insurance and could be referred to the pharmacy. Beginning on January 27, 2015, Stroman referred his parents to the pharmacy and provided them with prescriptions for several creams – including a “scar/post-op” cream and a “general pain/inflammation” cream. Neither of his parents had received a physician order attesting to the medical necessity of the cream. By submitting the prescriptions to Wellness Pharmacy, Stroman knew that the pharmacy intended to fill the prescriptions and submit claims for reimbursement.

 

Approximately one week after Stroman submitted the prescriptions to the pharmacy, he picked up the creams and purportedly paid the $102.00 in copayments. Stroman later admitted that he never paid these copayments; instead, he received $3,000.00 for “consulting services.” In total, from February to May 2015, Stroman received $50,461.75.

 

As a result of Stroman’s actions, Wellness Pharmacy submitted 18 claims for reimbursement for his parents. TRICARE paid Wellness Pharmacy a total of $178,193.40 for these prescriptions.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Mehta.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza has sentenced Angel N. Rodriguez (39, Miami) to four years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit access device (credit card) fraud. He pleaded guilty on May 18, 2017.

 

According to court documents, Rodriguez and his co-conspirators used stolen identification information to obtain credit at retail stores throughout central Florida. When Rodriguez and others were arrested in late 2014, they were found in possession of 6 fake Florida driver licenses, 8 credit cards obtained using the fake licenses, folders with the personal information of identity theft victims, and 21 large items purchased through fraud - including washers, dryers, and refrigerators. In total, the group purchased more than $80,000 in merchandise using stolen identities in 2014 and early 2015.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nathan W. Hill.

Tampa, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced Victoriano Ruyan-Juarez (36), a Guatemalan national, to 18 months in federal prison for illegal reentry after deportation for a felony, and for failure to register as a sex offender, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

 

Ruyan-Juarez pleaded guilty on April 27, 2017.

 

According to court documents, in April 2014, Ruyan-Juarez was convicted in Manatee County for traveling to entice a child to commit a sex act, as well as using a computer to do the same. Following the completion of his state sentence in February 2015, immigration officials deported him to Guatemala. He illegally reentered the United States in August 2015, settling in Florida, but he failed to register as a sex offender as required by state and federal law.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and the U.S. Marshals Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

Tampa, Florida– Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Anthony Sanchez (25, Bradenton) today pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute carfentanil and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

According to the plea agreement, Sanchez sold an undercover agent a stolen Sig-Sauer 9mm caliber pistol and ammunition at the Desoto Square Mall, in Bradenton, Florida. He also sold the agent 10.85 grams of carfentanil. During the sale, Sanchez possessed a loaded .22 caliber revolver.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

 

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Fort Myers, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the return of an indictment charging Miguel Jiminez Borda (38) and Alejandra Maria Mayo (34), both of Naples, with two counts of attempting to smuggle firearms from the United States to Bolivia. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison per count. The indictment also notifies the couple that the United States intends to forfeit the firearms that they attempted to smuggle.

 

According to court documents, on June 27 and 28, 2017, Jiminez Borda and Mayo paid nearly $6,000 in cash to ship five boxes from the United States to Bolivia. The couple provided Federal Express with a fictitious sender name and labeled the box contents as “documents.” Federal agents searched the boxes and found more than 15 firearms hidden within hardened foam insulation, many of them AK-47 and AR-15 type weapons. The couple has allegedly shipped an estimated 50 such boxes to Bolivia since August 2016.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.

Orlando, FL – Andre Bernard, of Mount Kisco, New York, pleaded guilty today for his participation in a multi-state scheme to defraud biodiesel buyers and U.S. taxpayers by fraudulently selling biodiesel credits and fraudulently claiming tax credits, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow.

 

According to his plea, Bernard conspired with Thomas Davanzo, of Estero, Florida, Robert Fedyna, of Naples, Florida, and Scott Johnson of Pasco, Washington in a scheme to defraud biodiesel credit (known as “RIN” credits) buyers and U.S. taxpayers. The conspiracy involved having Gen-X Energy Group (Gen-X), headquartered in Pasco, Washington, and its subsidiary, Southern Resources and Commodities (SRC), located in Dublin, Georgia, generate fraudulent RINs and tax credits multiple times on the same material.

 

Bernard and his co-conspirators operated several shell companies that claimed to purchase and sell the renewable fuel. The co-conspirators also cycled the funds through these shell companies’ bank accounts to perpetuate the fraud scheme and conceal its proceeds.

 

From March 2013 to March 2014, the co-conspirators generated at least 60 million RINs that were based on fuel that was either never produced or was merely re-processed at the Gen-X or SRC facilities. The co-conspirators received at least $42 million from the sale of these fraudulent RINs to third parties. In addition, Gen-X received approximately $4,360,724.50 in false tax credits for this fuel.

 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

Fort Myers, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Twaski Jackson (38, Lee County) today pleaded guilty to a two count information charging him with stealing and embezzling thousands of dollars from the City of Fort Myers Housing Authority and the Lee County Housing Authority. Both agencies receive federal funds to further their mission of providing affordable housing to low income families. Jackson faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

According to the

plea agreement , Jackson served as the Director of Client Services for both housing authorities from 2012 until 2016. As part of his position, he had the authority to approve credit card disbursements and checks written on behalf of the agencies. Jackson used that authority to approve expenditures that benefited himself and his friends. Various personal charges were made, including payments of his own college tuition and personal trips. He also improperly paid a “vendor” (actually Jackson’s friend) who performed no services for the agencies, without authorization. The two then split the money.

 

Over a three-year period, Jackson bilked the agencies for over $86,000. Jackson’s plea agreement requires him to forfeit the proceeds of his crime and to repay his victims.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore today sentenced Anthony J. Klatch II (36, previously of Tampa) to nine years and seven months in federal prison for wire fraud. The Court also ordered that he serve this sentence consecutive to a 39-month sentenced imposed in December 2016, in the Southern District of Florida for access device fraud and identity theft. Klatch also must pay $516,754.94 in restitution to the victims of his investment scheme.

 

According to court documents, in or around 2011, Klatch pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in the Southern District of Alabama. In December 2014, after his release from federal prison, he began serving a term of supervised release in Tampa.

 

While on supervised release, Klatch directed the establishment of and controlled a company called Assurance Capital Management, LLC (“ACM”) and maintained a bank account opened in that name. Between June 2015 and September 2015, Klatch used ACM to represent to investors and potential investors that ACM was a company with over $18 million in client assets under management and that ACM and those working for ACM engaged in profitable online stock trading on behalf of its investors. In truth, ACM was a shell company used by Klatch to induce and defraud investors.

 

In executing his scheme, Klatch would often disguise his true identity and tell investors that his name was “Larry Heim,” ACM’s fund manager. Klatch, often posting as “Larry Heim,” provided investors and potential investors false and fraudulent financial statements and other investment materials showing that ACM was profitable and had more than $18 million in online trading accounts and that its funds were profitably traded. In reality, ACM had few if any funds “under management,” and the funds ACM did have were either lost by Klatch during trading or used by him for personal expenditures. In total, Klatch defrauded investors out of more than $516,000.

 

In early 2016, while serving a nine-month sentence for violating his supervised release in the Alabama case, but before being charged in this case, Klatch absconded from a halfway house. He was rearrested approximately six months later in Miami. At the time of his arrest, he had approximately eight stolen identities in his possession that he had used to generate counterfeit credit cards to purchase such things as luxury automobiles and resort memberships.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.

 

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Julis Denson (Orlando, 30), Marquis Denson (Orlando, 31), Capree Patterson (Orlando, 26), Alvin Kendrick (Orlando, 42), and Isaac Tolbert (Orlando, 38) have pleaded guilty to robbery and brandishing a firearm in relation to the robbery of a Cash America Pawn store in Orlando. In addition to the armed robbery, Marquis Denson has also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The sentencing dates have not yet been set.

 

According to the plea agreement, on December 7, 2016, Kendrick drove Marquis Denson, Julis Denson, Patterson, and Tolbert to the Cash America Pawn store in the Pine Hills area of Orlando. Marquis Denson took a .45 caliber pistol into the store, brandished it, and demanded that the employees empty the cash registers. Meanwhile, Patterson used a sledgehammer to break the glass display cases so that he, Julis Denson, and Tolbert could take the jewelry. Shortly after, Marquis Denson, Julis Denson, Patterson, and Tolbert exited the store with 99 pieces of jewelry, worth nearly $35,000, and $949 cash. They then jumped into the car that Kendrick had waiting and fled to a home several miles away. Law enforcement officers arrived at the home shortly after and arrested Patterson and Marquis Denson as they fled on foot. The remaining individuals were arrested several days later.

 

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Andy William Bosch (42, Orlando) with two counts of enticement of a minor. If convicted, he faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.

 

According to the indictment, between March 10 and March 16, 2016, Bosch enticed a minor to travel from the Philippines to the United States to engage in sexual activity. Then, from October 20, 2016, to February 15, 2017, he used a cellphone to coerce the same minor into engaging in sexual activity. Bosch also has pending state charges for interference of custody and providing false information to a law enforcement officer, stemming from the same alleged incident.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christina R. Downes, on assignment from the Office of Principal Legal Advisor, ICE.

 

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

 

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich today sentenced Isabel Colmenares (56, Tampa) to a year and a day in federal prison for receiving misbranded items with the intent to defraud. The Court also ordered her to pay $15,500 in restitution to a victim who suffered adverse medical conditions from the injections.

 

Colmenares pleaded guilty on October 17, 2016.

 

According to court documents, in December 2015, Colmenares offered to provide buttocks injections to an undercover officer claiming to use purified hyaluronic acid in the injections. Instead, Colmenares planned to use silicone that she had purchased from an individual who imported it from Colombia, falsely labeling it as “mineral oil” to avoid inspection. Colmenares, who is not licensed in Florida to perform injections on any kind, had previously offered the same silicone injections for money.

 

This case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the arrest of Charles Cory Thornton (36, Yulee) on a criminal complaint charging him with transporting and attempting to transport child pornography over the Internet. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison. His detention hearing is scheduled for August 2, 2017.

 

According to the criminal complaint, on July 20, 2017, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Thornton’s residence based on suspected online child exploitation activity. Thornton was not at home, but he was located and interviewed later that day at Naval Air Station Jacksonville where he worked as a machinist. During the interview, Thornton admitted, among other things, that he had been searching for child pornography for several years using a particular file sharing program, that he knew that other users were able to download images and videos from his computer, and that he was a “pedophile” and was sexually attracted to children. In subsequent interviews over the next two days, Thornton admitted that he had used a small camera hidden in a digital clock in a bathroom to produce videos of child pornography depicting three children during 2008 and 2009. Agents recovered this camera from Thornton’s home.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

 

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Ft. Myers, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury today found Brown Laster, Jr. (37, Tampa), also known as “AB” and “Rooster;” Jerry Browdy (44, Riverview), also known as “JB,” “Red,” and “Cuz;” and Wesley Petiphar (30, Davenport), also known as “Wildman,” guilty of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Each faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 25 years, up to life, in federal prison. The sentencing hearings are scheduled for October 30, 2017.

 

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Laster, Browdy, and Petiphar were part of a conspiracy to ship kilograms of methamphetamine from Sacramento, California to various hotels in Florida and Georgia via Federal Express. The evidence showed that, throughout 2015, the men had sent approximately 40 packages of methamphetamine through the mail per week. The packages were delivered to coconspirators who had been recruited to wait at the hotels for the packages of methamphetamine to arrive. The packages were then delivered to local drug traffickers. In addition, witness testimony revealed that the men enforced the conspiracy through violence, including one incident where a cooperating witness had a gun placed in his mouth with such force that the gun knocked out some of his front teeth.

 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office (Georgia), the Placer County Sheriff’s Office (California), the Lakeland Police Department, and the Miami-Dade Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Baeza and Mike Leeman.

 

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Natalie Panko (57, Tampa) was arrested today on a four-count indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit theft of government property, identity theft, and theft of government property. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count and 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the three theft of government property counts. Panko made her initial appearance in federal court today and was released on bond.

 

According to the indictment, Panko and others knowingly processed debit and credit cards in other people’s names containing federal income tax refunds generated by fraudulent tax returns through Square Inc. accounts. Square Inc. is a merchant processor that provides terminals to businesses to process credit/debit card payments. Panko and others set up Square Inc. merchant accounts related to a restaurant located in the Middle District of Florida. The Square Inc. accounts associated with the restaurant were used to process credit and debit card transactions for both legitimate restaurant-related sales, as well as for tax fraud transactions using prepaid debit cards like Green Dot. After the payments were processed, Square Inc. electronically transferred the funds to bank accounts controlled by Panko and to the accounts of others, where the proceeds were shared with others and used for personal items.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Johnny Dawson (38, Sarasota) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the firearm and ammunition seized during his arrest.

 

Dawson pleaded guilty on April 26, 2017.

 

According to court documents, on August 7, 2016, law enforcement officers responded to a call reporting an individual who had a firearm wrapped inside of a t-shirt. The responding officer observed Dawson walking away, holding a t-shirt. As the officer approached, Dawson moved the shirt behind his back, and the officer could see the outline of a firearm within the shirt. Dawson then put the shirt down and fled. The officer apprehended Dawson, seized the shirt, and recovered a loaded gun wrapped inside with the hammer cocked back. Dawson later admitted to possessing the loaded firearm. At the time of the offense, Dawson had multiple prior felony convictions and therefore is prohibited from carrying a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

 

This case was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Sarasota Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kaitlin R. O’Donnell.

 

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, are coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury has found Anthony Carl Spence (45, Jamaica) guilty of transporting and possessing child pornography. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison; his sentencing hearing is October 12, 2017.

 

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on February 6, 2017, Spence arrived at the Orlando International Airport from Jamaica with a smartphone. During a routine border search of the phone, agents located a video depicting an adult male sexually abusing a toddler. Later, agents located a second video that depicted a child between the ages of seven and nine engaged in sexually explicit conduct. During an interview with law enforcement, Spence admitted that he had shared the videos with multiple people in Jamaica but claimed that he thought he had deleted the videos before he came to the United States.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. has sentenced Cordera Hill (27, Tampa) to 24 months in federal prison for conspiracy and offering to pay and paying illegal kickbacks in connection with a federal health care benefit program. The Court also ordered Hill to forfeit more than $43,830.70, the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, in October 2014, Hill, a former member of the United States Army, agreed to become a sales representative for Centurion Compounding, Inc., a marketing firm in Wesley Chapel that utilized sales representatives as independent contractors to market compounded medications, including creams for pain and scars, to TRICARE beneficiaries. These creams had very high reimbursement rates, ranging from approximately $4,000 to $17,000 for a one-month supply. Centurion focused its promotional efforts on TRICARE beneficiaries because they knew TRICARE would pay claims for these compounded creams.

 

Hill paid, and conspired to pay, TRICARE beneficiaries to go to clinics at, among other places, a cosmetics store in a strip mall. Hill also paid for beneficiaries to fly to Tampa from Colorado and Hawaii for the purpose of visiting clinics to obtain compounding creams. The beneficiaries, who had access to free healthcare on base, would visit the cosmetics store after hours and on weekends to obtain prescriptions. Many of the beneficiaries did not need the creams and discarded them in the trash. Hill received $43,830.70 in commission payments from Centurion for referring TRICARE beneficiaries to doctors to obtain the creams. TRICARE paid out $728,909.82 for claims submitted on behalf of patients that Hill had recruited.

 

This case was investigated by the Department of Defense, Criminal Investigative Service; the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, Major Procurement Fraud Unit; the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mandy Riedel, Megan Kistler, Charles D. Schmitz, Simon Eth, and Rachelle DesVaux Bedke.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Patrick D. Cummings (44, Pinellas County) has pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the robbery charge, followed by a mandatory minimum consecutive prison term of seven years, up to life, on the firearm charge.

 

According to court documents, at approximately 4:09 a.m., on March 24, 2017, Cummings entered a Walgreens pharmacy in St. Petersburg, pressed a handgun against a cashier, and demanded all of the money from her register. Cummings repeatedly threatened to shoot the cashier. He then stole approximately $374 and ran away.

 

This case was investigated by the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, as part of the St. Petersburg Violent Crime Reduction Initiative. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher F. Murray.

 

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, are coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Rigaud Colin (49, Apopka) has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and making a false claim to the United States. He faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

According to court documents, Colin was the owner and operator of Rigaud Investment Group, Inc., a tax preparation business in Orange County. Using his business, he executed a scheme to defraud the IRS by preparing and filing false and fraudulent income tax returns for residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands who were not eligible to receive tax refunds from the IRS. Specifically, Colin included false and fraudulent addresses and education tax credit claims in tax returns that he electronically filed with the IRS on behalf of the Virgin Islands residents. As a result of Colin’s scheme, the IRS sustained a loss of $1,393,097.

 

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Gary Paul Moorman (34, Cincinnati, Ohio) has pleaded guilty to interstate prostitution. Under the terms of the

plea agreement , Moorman will be sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, the statutory maximum penalty for this offense.

 

According to court documents, Moorman systematically and violently abused multiple victims to induce them, against their will, into prostitution for his own financial gain. He also induced the victims to travel between Florida, Ohio, and elsewhere to engage in sexual acts. In furtherance of his criminal activity, Moorman took provocative photos of the victims to post prostitution ads on the Internet. After the victims provided these services, Moorman demanded and took all of the proceeds.

 

This case was investigated by the FBI - Tampa Division (Pinellas Resident Agency), with support from the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Clearwater Police Department. Substantial assistance was provided by the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office and the Cincinnati Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stacie B. Harris and Kristen A. Fiore.

Tampa, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. has sentenced Moses Wilcox to three years and four months’ imprisonment for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme. The Court also entered a money judgment for $129,854.17, the amount of fraudulent income tax refunds that Wilcox had received directly into a bank account in his name.

 

Wilcox pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft of government funds charges on February 27, 2017.

 

According to court documents, the conspiracy involved the filing of false and fraudulent income tax returns in the names of deceased individuals and other unwitting taxpayers. In these returns, the conspirators represented that they were entitled to receive the refunds for those unknowing taxpayers and requested that the IRS direct refunds in varying amounts to accounts that Wilcox and others had established at local financial institutions in their own names. As a result of this activity, the conspirators caused the IRS to issue fraudulent and unauthorized refunds totaling $389,479.07. In addition, the conspirators sought to obtain an additional $562,791.29 in fraudulent refunds that the IRS was able to block before payment was made.

 

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Jonathan Pates (28, Rockledge) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography while on federal supervised release. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the smart watch he used to commit the offense, and to serve 20 years of supervision following his release from prison.

 

Pates pleaded guilty on April 25, 2017.

 

According to court documents, on January 6, 2010, Pates was convicted of receiving child pornography and sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Eight months after his release from federal prison and while on supervised release, Pates obtained a smart watch with an SD card and transferred 3 videos and 76 graphics depicting the sexual abuse of young children to the watch. His probation officer saw him wearing the watch during a sex offender treatment meeting and arranged to inspect it later. Pates abandoned the watch, but two individuals found it discarded in a park and turned it into law enforcement.

“This repeat offender criminal did not learn his lesson after his first prison term for child pornography,” said acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Tampa Ivan J. Arvelo. “This sentence stops this predator from continuing to cause harm to children.”

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton has sentenced Derek Coleman Corker (27, Orlando) to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

 

He pleaded guilty on April 25, 2017.

 

According to court documents, on January 3, 2017, Corker posted an ad for sex on Craigslist that included a graphic photo of himself. An undercover agent responded to the ad, posing as the father of a 13 year-old girl. During their conversations, Corker repeatedly expressed explicit interest in having sex with the “daughter.” He told the “father” during a cellphone conversation that “cute little girls kinda always been a thing I’ve always wanted to try and do.”

 

On January 4, 2017, Corker traveled to Brevard County to meet the “father” and have sex with the “daughter.” When he arrived at the location, he was arrested. Agents recovered 10 condoms and a cigarette package containing 3 small baggies of marijuana from inside his vehicle. Corker later admitted that he was the one who posted the Craigslist ad.

 

“This predator tried to harm a child,” said acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Tampa Ivan J. Arvelo. “HSI special agents, along with our partners at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, ensured that instead, he will be behind bars for that crime.”

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christina R. Downes, on assignment from the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, ICE.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II has sentenced Roy Thomas Phillips (47, Orlando) to 60 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the electronic devices he had used to commit the offense.

 

Phillips pleaded guilty on February 10, 2017.

 

According to court documents, from 2013 until his arrest in 2016, Phillips paid individuals in the Philippines to sexually abuse children and to livestream the abuse over the Internet. Phillips directed the live sexual molestations and recorded screen shots of the abuse from his office in Orlando. During a one-year period, Phillips wire transferred a total of $16,700 to one of the individuals in the Philippines to pay for the live sex acts perpetrated on children. The child victims were between the ages of 3 and 13.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced four Tampa men to federal prison for engaging in a conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, credit card fraud, and identity theft. Brandon Lewis (22) and Terrance Cobb (22) were each sentenced to 5 years and 1 month in federal prison; Dontae Williams (24, Tampa) was sentenced to a term of 5 years and 10 months; and Davon Smith (21, Tampa) was sentenced to 5 years and 5 months’ imprisonment. The Court also ordered them to pay restitution of $113,490.54, which is traceable to proceeds of the offenses, and for Lewis and Williams to forfeit funds equal to the value of automobiles they purchased with the proceeds from the offenses.

 

On April 28, 2017, Lewis and Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device (credit card) fraud and aggravated identity theft, while Cobb and Smith pleaded guilty to access device (credit card) fraud and aggravated identity theft.

 

According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least January 2015 through November 2016, Lewis, Cobb, Smith, and Williams, along with others affiliated with the “Manche Boy Mafia” or “MBM” organization, conspired to commit credit card fraud and identity theft in the Tampa Bay area. Investigators learned that these individuals had purchased stolen credit and debit card account numbers online from various websites, including some that used bitcoins as their currency. The conspirators then purchased or stole reloadable gift cards and scratched off or otherwise damaged the magnetic strips on the back of the cards so that they could not be read by merchants’ point of sale (POS) terminals. The conspirators used an embosser to emboss the stolen account numbers and their own names onto the front of these altered gift cards. In some cases, the conspirators used a label maker to affix the Card Verification Value (CVV) security code associated with the stolen account to the back of the counterfeit cards. The conspirators then used these counterfeit credit cards at various retailers around the Tampa Bay area. When the retailers’ POS terminals could not read the damaged magnetic strips, the conspirators advised the clerks to manually enter the stolen account information embossed on the front of the counterfeit cards to make the purchase. The conspirators typically purchased gift cards and electronics, which they kept or sold for cash.

 

Investigators determined that these individuals had engaged in hundreds of successful transactions with counterfeit credit cards and had used and possessed thousands of stolen account numbers from individuals across the United States. In total, these individuals were held responsible for more than $600,000 in intended or attempted purchases.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.

Tampa, FL  – Dr. James Norman, the owner and operator of James Norman, MD, PA, a/k/a James Norman, MD, PA Parathyroid Center, d/b/a Norman Parathyroid Center (collectively, Norman) has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by knowingly engaging in various unlawful billing practices with respect to Medicare and other federal health care programs and their beneficiaries.

 

Specifically, the government alleges that, from April 2008 through December 2016, Dr. Norman submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for pre-operative examinations performed on the day before or the day of surgery, and charged and collected extra fees from federal health care beneficiaries for services for which he had already received payment from the government. These extra fees ranged from $150 to $750 for Florida residents, to $1,750 or more for patients who lived out-of-state. Collectively, Dr. Norman and his practice pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of these illicit billing practices.

 

“Fraudulent billing of the government, while also charging Medicare and other federal health care beneficiaries extra fees for services that the government has already paid for victimizes taxpayers, military veterans, the elderly, and other members of our community, and will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “This lawsuit and today’s settlement demonstrates our office’s ongoing efforts to safeguard federal health care program beneficiaries from the effects of such illegal conduct.”

 

In addition to paying $4 million, Norman has also agreed to enter into an integrity agreement with the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

“Physicians who systematically overbill Federal health care programs and their vulnerable patients will be held responsible for this fraudulent behavior,” said Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of HHS-OIG. “Those who engage in such schemes can expect a thorough investigation and strong remedial measures such as those in the Integrity Agreement we signed with Dr. Norman.”

 

The settlement concludes a lawsuit originally filed by a former patient of Dr. Norman, Myra Gross, and her husband, Dr. David Gross, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. Act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in this case. Ms. Gross and her husband, Dr. Gross, will receive roughly $600,000 of the proceeds from the settlement with Norman.

 

The government’s action in this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

 

The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. It was handled Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tuite.

 

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Gross, et al. v. James Norman, MD, PA, et al., Case No. 8:14-cv-978-T-33EAJ. The settlement resolves the United States’ claims in that case. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

 

 

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the arrest and unsealing of an indictment charging Samika Garcia with five counts each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with income tax fraud. If convicted on the wire fraud counts, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count, with an additional two-year consecutive sentence for each aggravated identity theft charge.

 

Garcia was indicted on July 6, 2017, made her initial appearance in federal court yesterday, and was released on bond.

 

According to the indictment, Garcia electronically filed false and unauthorized tax returns in the names of others claiming fraudulent tax refunds that were deposited on debit cards in those person’s names. In doing so, she unlawfully used those individuals’ personally identifying information (PII), which she tracked using detailed ledgers.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. sentenced Steven A. Morrill (54, Sanford) to 20 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. The Court also ordered him to forfeit a cellphone that had been used in furtherance of the commission of the offense.

 

Morrill was found guilty on April 18, 2017, after a jury trial.

 

According to the evidence presented during the trial, between November 8, 2016, and November 17, 2017, Morrill engaged in communications with a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who was acting in an undercover capacity as the father of two minors, 9 and 11 years old. Morrill expressed his intent to engage both minors in illicit sexual activity, and he traveled to a location in Lake Mary to meet the children. As a result, Morrill was arrested and confessed to the crime.

 

During the sentencing hearing, the judge found that Morrill had engaged in a pattern of prohibited sexual conduct against minors and emphasized the seriousness of Morrill’s intended offense.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury yesterday found Fred Joseph Turner, M.D. (59, Sarasota) and Rosetta Valerie Cannata (60, Osprey) guilty of one count of conspiring to dispense controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of medical practice, four counts of dispensing controlled substances, and one count of conspiring to smuggle an alien into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each of the controlled substance counts, and up to 10 years’ imprisonment on the alien smuggling charge. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

Turner and Cannata were indicted on July 23, 2015.

 

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, from March 2011 through July 2015, Turner, an orthopedist, and Cannata, a former anesthesiologist, operated Gulfshore Pain and Wellness Centre, a pain management clinic with offices in Tampa and Punta Gorda. Turner and Cannata rarely conducted physical or diagnostic examinations of their patients and ignored results of patient drug screens when they prescribed excessive amounts of opiates, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and morphine.

 

During the investigation, several law enforcement officers entered the clinic in undercover capacities as patients. On one occasion, Turner and Cannata asked the undercover agent to smuggle a Hungarian national into the United States. In return, Turner prescribed the agent an increased amount of oxycodone and hydromorphone, and Cannata paid him $5,000 in cash. To justify the increase in prescribed medication, Turner and Cannata instructed the agent to fabricate an injury and walked him through the process of falsifying his patient history.

 

This case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carlton C. Gammons and Taylor G. Stout.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Richard Lueck (62, Satellite Beach) to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the electronic devices he had used to commit the offense, and to serve 10 years of supervision following his release from prison.

 

Lueck plead guilty on April 14, 2017.

 

According to court documents, the FBI identified Lueck through a nationwide investigation of “Playpen,” a child pornography website that operated as a hidden service on the Dark Net - an area of the Internet only accessible through an encrypted browsing platform. Lueck downloaded child pornography from the illicit site until March 4, 2015, when it was shut down by the FBI. Pursuant to a search warrant, agents seized Lueck’s electronic devices and located 143 images of child pornography. Lueck admitted that he had obtained child pornography from the Dark Net for six years, and that he had used an encrypted browser to conceal his illegal conduct from law enforcement.

 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell has sentenced George A. Frampton (63, Brandon) to seven years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. The Court also ordered him to pay $5,300 in special assessments and to serve 15 years on supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

 

Frampton pleaded guilty on April 13, 2017.

 

According to court documents and information presented at the sentencing hearing, Frampton’s offenses involved the receipt and possession of 383 videos of child pornography, some of which involved prepubescent children and sadistic conduct. The offenses were committed in May 2016.

 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory T. Nolan.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the return on an indictment charging Jose Carlos Terra Izquierdo (23, Amarillo, TX) with credit card fraud. If convicted, he faces an enhanced penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and forfeiture of his computer media.

 

According to the indictment and information presented in court, Izquierdo was in possession of multiple credit card account numbers from Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, Citibank, and City Credit Union. He was previously convicted of credit card fraud in 2016 in the District of Nebraska and sentenced to federal prison. As part of his sentence, he was required to turn himself into law enforcement on March 17, 2017, to begin serving his sentence. He was also limited in his ability to travel. In violation of these conditions, Izquierdo traveled to Florida and engaged in credit card fraud. Federal authorities in Nebraska subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest. He faces the enhanced penalty as a result of his prior fraud conviction.

 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

 

This case was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol and the U.S. Secret Service - Jacksonville Field Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.