Middle District of Florida

Fort Myers, FL – 21st Century Oncology LLC, has agreed to pay $19.75 million to the government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by billing federal health care programs for laboratory tests that were not medically necessary, the Justice Department announced today.  21st Century is a nationwide provider of integrated cancer care services that is headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. 

“Today’s settlement demonstrates our unwavering commitment to protect the Medicare trust fund against unscrupulous providers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Providers who waste taxpayer dollars by billing for unnecessary services will face serious consequences.”

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that 21st Century submitted claims to Medicare and Tricare for fluorescence in situ hybridization, or “FISH,” tests that were not medically necessary.  FISH tests are laboratory tests performed on urine that can detect genetic abnormalities associated with bladder cancer.  The government alleged that 21st Century submitted claims for unnecessary FISH tests that were ordered by four of its urologists, Dr. Meir Daller, Dr. Steven Paletsky, Dr. David Spellberg and Dr. Robert Scappa, all of whom practiced in the Fort Myers area.  The government also alleged that 21st Century encouraged these physicians to order unnecessary FISH tests by offering bonuses that were based in part on the number of tests referred to 21st Century’s laboratory.  Today’s settlement resolves the civil liability of 21st Century only. 

“Charging the government for clearly unnecessary medical services squanders taxpayer dollars,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III of the Middle District of Florida.  “Our office will continue to pursue health care providers who defraud the United States, thereby threatening the viability of government health care programs, such as Medicare.”

“These tests were ordered to increase profits, not improve the healthcare of patients,” said Special Agent in Charge Shimon Richmond of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “This kind of unvarnished fraud is an attack on Medicare by unscrupulous providers and the OIG and its federal partners will take whatever steps are necessary to stop them.”

“This settlement demonstrates the commitment of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the U.S. military health care program (TRICARE) against fraudulent claims for medical services, said Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin of DCIS’s Southeast Field Office.”

The settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.  The whistleblower, a former 21st Century Oncology LLC medical assistant, will receive $3.2 million as her share of the recovery in this case.

The investigation was handled by Trial Attorney Arthur Di Dio from the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle S. Cohen from the Fort Myers Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida with assistance from HHS-OIG, DCIS and the FBI. 

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $26.7 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $16.8 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.  

The lawsuit is captioned United States, State of Florida, ex rel. Mariela Barnes v. Dr. David Spellberg, 21st Century Oncology and Naples Urology Associates, Civil Action No. 2:13-cv-228-FtM-38DNF (M.D. Fla.).  The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. 

 

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Desrick Gordon (23, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms 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 March 11, 2016. Gordon was indicted on August 21, 2015.

According to evidence presented at trial, Gordon was part of a drug distribution ring that imported cocaine into the United States from Roatan, Honduras using cruise ship employees at several ports in the United States. Gordon, along with five other crewmen from Norwegian Cruise Line, received packages of cocaine from a source of supply in Honduras while the cruise ship was docked there. The packages ranged from 750 grams to a full kilogram of cocaine.

Once the ship had docked in Tampa, the crewmen gathered at a restaurant near the port to remove their secreted cocaine packages. They then met with two local drug traffickers, who had ties to the Honduran source of supply, to provide them with the packages of cocaine. The two local traffickers were stopped by law enforcement after leaving the Channelside District. Agents seized 10 packages of cocaine with a total weight of more than 7.5 kilograms. In addition, agents also seized more than $50,000 from the crewmen.  

The five other cruise ship employees, Jason Carmichael, Teffan Delice, Johnson Cherubin, Alfred Ince, and Arkine John, previously pleaded guilty for their roles in this case.  They will be sentenced in January 2016.  

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shauna S. Hale and Gregory Nolan.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Eyad Farah (42, Barrington, TX) to three years and one month in federal prison for conspiring to export firearms without a license, exporting firearms without a license, and smuggling firearms from the United States.  The Court also ordered him to forfeit seven firearms that are traceable to the offenses.  Farah pleaded guilty on September 22, 2015.

According to court documents, Farah was part of a network of individuals involved in smuggling firearms from the United States to the Middle East. The firearms were concealed in vehicles that had been purchased at used car auctions in Central Florida.  The vehicles were then scheduled for export to Jordan.

Farah’s co-conspirator, Mahmoud Abdel-Ghani Mohammad Assaf, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and is currently awaiting sentencing. Yasser Ahmad Obeid, a defendant in a related case, has also pleaded guilty.  In December 2014, he was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Josephine W. Thomas and Adam M. Saltzman.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging Mark White (40, Tampa) with knowingly aiming a laser at an aircraft. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

According to the indictment, on October 11, 2015, White knowingly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at a Tampa Police Department helicopter that was on aerial patrol.

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.

On February 14, 2012, President Barack Obama signed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which modernizes the nation's aviation system. This Act establishes a new criminal offense for aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft. The statute was enacted in response to a growing number of incidents of pilots being distracted or even temporarily blinded by laser beams.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Jones.

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Ricardo Lamont Irvine (42, Evansville, Indiana) has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender after traveling from Indiana to Florida.  He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Irvine was arrested in Jacksonville on September 22, 2015, and has remained in federal custody.  A sentencing date has not yet been set.     

According to the indictment, on or about November 4, 1996, Irvine was convicted of child molestation in Evansville, Indiana. Subsequent to his conviction, and between June 8, 2015, and September 14, 2015, Irvine traveled from Indiana to Florida but failed to register as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the United States Marshals Service, to assist state and local authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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

The Justice Department announced today that Southwind Village LLC, the owner and operator of Southwind Village Mobile Home Park in North Fort Myers, Florida, has agreed to pay $60,000 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against African Americans in violation of the Fair Housing Act.  The settlement was approved today by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The government’s complaint, filed on Sept. 30, 2015, alleges that Southwind Village’s then-manager, Carl Bruckler, refused to rent recreational vehicle lots to African Americans.  According to the complaint, Bruckler falsely told African Americans who inquired about residing in the park that no lots were available or that there was a waiting list, and discouraged African Americans from making future inquiries at the park.  The lawsuit is based on the results of testing conducted by the department’s Fair Housing Testing Program, in which individuals pose as renters to gather information about possible discriminatory practices. 

 “Discrimination on the basis of race or color in housing will not be tolerated,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division.  “We appreciate Southwind Village’s willingness to resolve these serious allegations promptly.”

“All citizens, regardless of their race or color, have the right to equal and fair treatment when choosing where to live,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III of the Middle District of Florida.  “We will continue to fight illegal discrimination, wherever it might exist.” 

Under the terms of the agreement, which is in the form of a consent order, Southwind Village will establish a settlement fund in the amount of $35,000 to compensate victims of their discriminatory practices and pay a civil penalty of $25,000 to the United States.  The agreement further requires Southwind Village to take steps to ensure that African Americans are no longer restricted from renting recreational vehicle lots at Southwind Village Mobile Home Park, located at 1269 River Road in North Fort Myers, and to provide periodic reports to the government.  The settlement does not resolve the government’s lawsuit against Carl Bruckler.

Individuals who have information about, or who believe they may have been harmed by, the defendants’ conduct should contact the Justice Department toll-free at 1-800-896-7743, option 9992, or e-mail the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov.  The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.  More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.

Southwind Village Consent Decree

Southwind Village Order Granting Consent Decree

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced David W. Griffin (44, Lutz) to three years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and making a false statement during a bankruptcy proceeding.

According to court documents, Griffin operated a foreclosure rescue scheme through his companies, Bay2Bay Area Holding, LLC and Business Development Consultants, LLC.  The purpose of the scheme was to obtain quitclaim or warranty deeds from distressed homeowners facing foreclosure in return for false promises to rescue their homes from foreclosure by negotiating with creditors, renting the properties back to the homeowners to obtain rental income, and falsely promising that the homeowners could repurchase the properties from Griffin. To maximize his rental income, Griffin also prevented creditors and guarantors, including the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Housing Administration, from pursuing lawful foreclosure and eviction actions against homeowners who had defaulted on their mortgages. This was accomplished by filing, and causing to be filed, fraudulent bankruptcies in the names of the homeowners without their knowledge or consent. 

Griffin also lied under oath in sworn testimony before the Office of the United States Trustee.  Under penalty of perjury, Griffin stated that he had no knowledge of a bankruptcy petition filed in the name of his company, Bay2Bay Area Holding Group. In fact, Griffin prepared the petition and directed another individual to sign and file the petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Griffin has agreed to make full restitution to the Clerk for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The losses are approximately $25,125. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Housing Finance Agency - Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General. The Office of the United States Trustee in Tampa also provided substantial assistance.  It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II has sentenced William Henry Keehn, II (52, Eustis) to 37 years and 6 months in federal prison for sexually exploiting children by producing and receiving child pornography. The Court also ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $2,020 to the victims. Keehn pleaded guilty on June 30, 2015.

According to court documents, beginning as early as 2005, Keehn hid video cameras in the bathrooms of his former residence in order to obtain naked images of four minors in his custody. In 2014, Keehn sexually assaulted another minor in his custody and recorded that abuse using his computer. Keehn also received and collected hundreds of images depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of minors from at least 2008 until the day before his arrest, on February 17, 2015.

“The sentencing in this case reflects the dedication and teamwork between FDLE’s Cyber Crimes Task Force and HSI,” said Danny Banks, special agent in charge of FDLE’s Orlando Regional Operations Center. “It is so important to ensure that individuals prosecuted for child exploitation and abuse are brought to justice, our job is to make sure that happens.”

"As this sentence makes clear, those who abuse our children face serious consequences," said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. "The reality is, every time a photo or a video of an innocent child being sexually exploited is viewed, that victim is violated again. That is why we owe it to all children affected by these cases to work tirelessly to seek answers, and ultimately – justice."

This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Cyber Crimes Task Force and 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.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Stephen Farris Underwood (47, Tampa) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity. 

According to court documents, Underwood traveled from Tampa to Missouri to meet a minor with whom he had been corresponding online.  Underwood picked the boy up from a Missouri shopping center and transported him to his residence in Florida.  It was Underwood’s intent that he and the minor would live together as a couple in Tampa.  Underwood engaged in numerous sex acts with the minor while he was at his home.  The parents of the minor, who was 15 at the time, did not give Underwood permission to leave the state with their son. 

This case was investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Mountain View (Missouri) Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacie B. Harris.

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 – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Marsha C. Weisse (56, Tampa) today pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Social Security Administration. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. In her plea agreement, Weisse also agreed to make full restitution to the Social Security Administration Program (SSA) or its designee.  

According to court documents, the Hillsborough Achievement and Resource Centers (HARC), formerly the Hillsborough Association for Retarded Citizens, was established in 1953 to positively impact the future for people living with developmental disabilities, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. HARC opened and operated group homes that served its target client population. HARC also spearheaded various community programs for its clients focused on inclusion activities for youths, adults, and seniors with disabilities.

Many of the HARC clients received SSA benefits due to various developmental disabilities. For certain HARC clients who lacked the capacity to manage their own SSA benefits, SSA approved one or more HARC officials to act as a “Representative Payee” to receive a particular client’s benefits and to use them exclusively for that client’s benefit. As a Representative Payee, the HARC official was required to complete and submit to the SSA a “Representative Payee Report” that included certain information about each HARC client’s living situation and the financial benefits received and expended on behalf of that client.

Weisse began working at HARC in 2008 as a comptroller, reporting to the CFO. While working in that capacity, she became aware that HARC clients’ SSA funds purportedly allocated solely for the HARC clients’ personal needs and use had been wrongfully diverted by HARC executives from the clients for other purposes. Weisse raised the wrongful diversion of the clients’ funds with the CEO, who acknowledged the conduct. Notwithstanding, the CEO instructed Weisse to continue transferring funds from the HARC Endowment Account to the operating account, which she did.

During the fall of 2009, in an effort to conceal that the client funds were being wrongfully diverted, Weisse was instructed by HARC executives—including the HARC CEO and CFO—to secure signatures from the HARC clients on a document backdated to 2007. Weisse did as instructed, knowing that many of the developmentally disabled clients who signed the document did not have the capacity to understand the full import of the document.

Weisse was promoted to the position of HARC CFO in March 2011. Thereafter, she supervised another HARC employee, Sandra Shepherd, who routinely assisted her in completing and submitting Representative Payee Reports, or Form SSA-6234s, to the SSA. In August 2011, Weisse signed a Form SSA-6234 that stated that $5,128 of SSA benefits had been spent solely for W.C., a developmentally disabled HARC client, during the period August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2011, for such items and services as clothing, education, medical and dental expenses, recreation, or other personal items, when Weisse knew that was not the case. Instead, only approximately $1,013.06 had been used for such items and services for W.C., and the remaining difference had been wrongfully diverted by the HARC executives for other purposes.

After reviewing and signing the false and misleading Form SSA-6234 for W.C., Weisse gave the form to Shepherd for submission to the SSA. Weisse has also acknowledged that she completed and submitted additional false and fraudulent Form SSA-6234s, relating to other clients, to the SSA.

Weisse is the second person to enter into a plea agreement with the government in the ongoing HARC investigation. In October 2015, Shepherd pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Social Security Administration. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 30, 2015.

In June 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a Verified Complaint for Forfeiture In Rem in a related case (Case No. 8:13-Cv-1601-T-17TBM), seeking the forfeiture of $87,000 held in a Synovus Bank account. That complaint raised like allegations—that HARC clients’ SSA benefits had been wrongfully diverted from the clients and used by HARC for other purposes—and was supported by facts contained in the sworn affidavit of a special agent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General. On September 30, 2013, the district court entered a Default Judgment of Forfeiture in which the court ordered the forfeiture of the $87,000 to the United States.

“Taking advantage of developmentally disabled Floridians to receive unwarranted Social Security payments is reprehensible, and I want to thank United States Attorney Lee Bentley and all the government agencies involved in investigating this important case. After numerous discussions between our offices, we determined the U.S. Attorney’s Office was best situated to handle this case and we are pleased with today’s announcement."

“Social Security payments are a lifeline for many Americans.  The Office of the Inspector General has no higher priority than the investigation and prosecution of those who violate the public trust of vulnerable beneficiaries,” stated Special Agent-in-Charge Margaret Moore-Jackson, SSA-Office of the Inspector General. “I’m grateful that the U.S. Attorney’s Office shares our determination to ensure the integrity of SSA’s programs.”

"Stealing government checks meant to cover the personal expenses of developmentally delayed clients in your care just to enrich yourself is a serious betrayal of trust," said Special Agent in charge Shimon R. Richmond. "Our agency is dedicated to ensuring the integrity of taxpayer-funded programs and the well-being of the often vulnerable beneficiaries of those programs."

“This is an appalling example of someone who betrayed the trust of HARC’s clients, their families, and all of Florida’s taxpayers,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. “Stealing the funds designed to help Floridians with developmental disabilities is a crime that deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and I’m pleased to see the work of many agencies come together to hold her accountable.”

This case is being investigated by the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with the State of Florida’s Department of Financial Services - Office of Fiscal Integrity. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay G. Trezevant.

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Edik Asadorian (43, Queens, NY) guilty of interstate transportation for prostitution and interstate violation of a protective order against domestic violence. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 29, 2016.

Asadorian, an Iraninan national, was indicted on May 15, 2015.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on November 13, 2014, Asadorian engaged in domestic violence against a woman in Queens. Evidence showed that he punched and choked the woman, threw her against a wall and onto the floor of an apartment the two shared, causing visible injuries. A New York court issued an order of protection directing Asadorian to stay away from the woman and to have no contact with her whatsoever.

Rather than complying with that order, Asadorian transported the woman to Florida, with the intent that she engage in prostitution. Less than 24 hours after arriving in Jacksonville, an ad for the woman was placed on the Internet site Backpage.com. Asadorian also obtained multiple hotel rooms in the Jacksonville area to be used for the illegal activities. Within hours of placing the ad, the woman began prostituting and scheduling appointments for the following day. Asadorian later transported the woman to a person he and the woman believed was a customer, but turned out to be an undercover detective with the Orange Park Police Department. The detective was participating in a prostitution and anti-human-trafficking sting coordinated by the Clay County Sheriff’s office. When the woman arrived, she had gel, lingerie, and other items Asadorian had provided to her for prostitution.

This case was investigated by the Orange Park Police Department, the New York City Police Department, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mac D. Heavener, III.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Ledale Johnson (51, Bradenton) has pleaded guilty to knowingly filing a false income tax return on behalf of another and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the tax return count, to be followed by a consecutive two-year term for the aggravated identity theft count. 

According to the plea agreement, Johnson participated in a scheme involving the filing of false tax returns claiming tax refunds from the IRS totaling more than $250,000. Nearly $60,000 was downloaded to prepaid debit cards, in other people’s names, as a result of those filings.  On several dates between October 2011 and March 2012, Johnson was found to be in possession of unauthorized and counterfeit debit cards that had been loaded with fraudulently obtained tax refunds filed using stolen identities. Johnson also had filed a fraudulent tax return in his name and the name of another individual.

In November 2011, when law enforcement officers searched Johnson’s residence, officers seized personal identifying information belonging to others, multiple computers, and more than 100 user identification numbers associated with electronically filing tax returns.

This case was investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Bradenton Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.

Orlando, Florida– United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint charging Hamid Mohamed Ahmed Ali Rehaif (25, Melbourne, and a citizen of the United Arab Emirates) with possession of ammunition by an unlawful or illegal alien. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. 

According to the complaint, Rehaif was admitted into the United States in 2013 under a student visa. He had been enrolled at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, but was terminated as a student in the fall of 2014. When Rehaif failed to leave the country within 30 days of his termination as a student, he became an unlawful alien. Yesterday, law enforcement agents made contact with Rehaif at a hotel in Melbourne, where he had been living for the last two months, paying more than $11,000 in cash for room fees. Rehaif admitted to possessing several firearms, but said that he had recently sold or disposed of them. He also admitted to firing those weapons at two local gun ranges. Agents located rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition in his hotel room and in a storage unit that he had rented, but they did not locate any firearms.

A complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of one or more federal criminal laws, 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.

UPDATE: Hamid Mohamed Ahmed Ali Rehaif is currently in federal custody. He has waived his detention hearing, and will have his preliminary hearing  in U.S. District Court in Orlando at 10 AM on Monday, December 14, 2015, before United States Magistrate Judge David Baker.

Fort Myers, Florida – U. S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Michael J. Ronga (44, Cape Coral) to six years in federal prison for deprivation of civil rights under color of law and obstruction of justice. Ronga was convicted by a federal jury on September 1, 2015.

According to evidence presented during the six-day trial, on May 5, 2013, Ronga, a deputy with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), provided a courtesy transport to victim R.L.C. Ronga subsequently assaulted R.L.C., causing bodily injury. He also robbed the victim of his cash and cellphone. R.L.C. reported the assault and robbery to the LCSO, and an investigation ensued. During the course of the investigation, Ronga lied to law enforcement about his interaction with the victim.

This case was investigated by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Chief Assistant United States Attorney Jesus M. Casas and Special Assistant United States Attorney Amira D. Fox.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore today sentenced David Brooks (40, Ohio) to four years in federal prison for mail fraud. The Court ordered that this sentence be served consecutive to a seven-year state sentence in Ohio for a violation of probation, based on the same underlying conduct. As part of his federal sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $792,851, the proceeds of the fraud scheme.

Brooks pleaded guilty on September 17, 2015.

According to court documents, in October 2011, Coastal Orthopedics and Sports Medicine of Southwest Florida (“Coastal”), located in Bradenton, hired Brooks as its Financial Accounting Manager. While working for Coastal, Brooks was convicted of theft, money laundering, and other fraud-related offenses in Ohio. When Coastal discovered this information in June 2013, they fired Brooks and commenced a review of its books and records to which Brooks had access. 

Employees for Coastal discovered that between approximately January 2012 and June 19, 2013, Brooks had used company accounts to purchase more than $700,000 worth of American Express gift cards. Brooks then used the giftcards to pay for personal expenses, including multiple hotel stays, plane tickets, legal fees for his Ohio criminal case, and a 2012 Jeep Liberty. A review of Coastal’s financials also revealed that Brooks, without authorization, had diverted payroll funds, which resulted in him receiving double his salary per pay period. 

In total, Coastal suffered a loss of $792,851.79 a result of Brooks’s efforts to defraud the medical practice.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Bradenton Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.

Fort Myers, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele today sentenced Sean F. Desa (29, Naples) to 10 years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. The Court also ordered him to serve a life term of supervision and to register as a sex offender following his release from prison. He pleaded guilty on September 14, 2015.

According to court documents, Desa used an Internet file sharing program to receive and distribute child pornography. After a search warrant was executed at his residence, Desa was found to be in possession of hundreds of child pornography videos and images, including some depicting children in bondage. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Chief Assistant United States Attorney Jesus M. Casas.

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. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announced today that the Middle District of Florida collected more than $136 million for taxpayers this fiscal year (FY). In FY 2015, which ended on September 30, the Office’s Civil, Criminal, and Asset Forfeiture Divisions collected these monies through civil and criminal actions.

The Office’s Civil Division, led by Randy Harwell, recovered $101,247,920 from affirmative civil enforcement cases, most alleging health care fraud. Our civil Assistant United States Attorneys recovered $47,593,934 as a result of investigations conducted in this district. An additional $53,653,986 was recovered as a result of joint investigations with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and other United States Attorneys’ offices. This latter figure includes an installment payment of $21,651,246 from an earlier settlement of a large health care fraud case, United States ex rel. Hellein v. Wellcare Health Plans, Inc.  

The Office’s Asset Recovery and Victims’ Rights Division, led by Anita M. Cream, recovered more than $34.9 million. Of this amount, the Division’s Financial Litigation Unit recovered $11,498,617 in criminal cases, most of which was in the form of criminal fines, special assessments, and restitution. Providing restitution for the victims of crime is a top priority of our office. Working with partner agencies, the Division’s Asset Forfeiture Section recovered more than $23.4 million in criminal and civil forfeitures. Depending on the type of case, forfeited assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or the Department of Treasury’s Assets Forfeiture Fund. Consistent with Departmental policy, in cases where a defendant lacks the means to pay restitution, assets can be forfeited from that defendant and restored to crime victims. In addition, approximately $5.6 million in forfeited funds was shared with state and local law enforcement agencies.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on December 3, 2015, that the Justice Department collected $23.1 billion in civil and criminal actions this fiscal year. This total represents more than seven and a half times the approximately $2.93 billion of the Justice Department’s combined appropriations for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions in that same period.  

"The Department of Justice is committed to upholding the rule of law, safeguarding taxpayer resources, and protecting the American people from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  “The collections we are announcing today demonstrate not only the strength of that commitment, but also the significant return on public investment that our actions deliver.  I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this achievement possible, and to reiterate our dedication to this ongoing work.”

The U.S. Attorneys’ offices, along with the Department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct, or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Education.

Middle District of Florida Affirmative Case Highlights

The False Claims Act is the government’s primary civil remedy to redress false claims for government funds and property under government contracts, including national security and defense contracts, as well as under government programs as varied as Medicare, veterans’ benefits, federally insured loans and mortgages, highway funds, research grants, agricultural supports, school lunches, and disaster assistance.  In 1986, Congress strengthened the Act by amending it to increase incentives for whistleblowers to file lawsuits on behalf of the government. Most false claims actions are filed under the Act’s whistleblower, or qui tam, provisions that allow individuals to file lawsuits alleging false claims on behalf of the government.  If the government prevails in the action, the whistleblower, also known as the relator, receives up to 30 percent of the recovery. 

Compounding Pharmacy Fraud Initiative

Our district has taken the lead in a nationwide effort to pursue recovery, under the False Claims Act, against compounding pharmacies that have engaged in a systemic fraud against TRICARE, the military’s healthcare program. The most persistent fraud scheme identified involves improper relationships between marketing firms, physicians, and compounding pharmacies to induce the referral of prescriptions for medically unnecessary compounded pain and scar creams to the pharmacies. 

In July 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office settled claims against Blanding Health Mart Pharmacy. Between February and April, Blanding sought reimbursement for compounding pharmaceutical prescriptions that were not medically necessary and had been written by physicians that had never actually seen the patients. These claims were resolved for $8,441,107.

Kevin Powers, former Chief Executive Officer of QMedRX, a compounding pharmacy in Maitland, paid $6,529,077 to satisfy his responsibility arising from bills submitted to federal healthcare programs for services that were not reimbursable. Between January 1, 2013, and January 22, 2014, QMedRX submitted claims for compounded prescriptions that violated the Anti‐Kickback Statute because the marketers who obtained the prescriptions from physicians were paid through improper and illegal incentive compensation arrangements.

Another compounding pharmacy, Med Match Pharmacy, LLC, paid $4,736,133.63 to resolve concerns that it had paid kickbacks to marketers, that it had filled prescriptions it knew or should have known were not legitimate, and that it had sent prescriptions to states in which it did not have a valid license.

MediMix, a Jacksonville-based compounding pharmacy, resolved claims that it had an improper referral relationship with its top-referring physician – Dr. Ankit Desai. TRICARE alleged that between January 2009 and December 2014, Dr. Desai sent hundreds of prescriptions to MediMix that were not reimbursable because he was married to a Senior Vice President at MediMix. Healthcare providers are generally prohibited from referring business to entities where they have a financial interest. The government agreed to accept $3,775,458 to resolve these allegations.

Shortly after the close of FY15, the MDFL reached settlements with a host of other compounding pharmacies, bringing the total recovery on behalf of the TRICARE program to more than $35 million.

United States ex rel. Yandell v. Advanced Homecare, Inc.

A former employee of a Jacksonville home health company filed a qui tam case against her employer, Advanced Homecare, contending that, from April 2009 until April 2012, the company had created a set of “neurocare protocols” wherein the company accepted home health referrals from two neurologists. The government alleged that through these protocols, Advanced Homecare had accepted and treated patients who were not actually homebound and did not have a valid physician certification of home health need, as required by Medicare. Further, the government alleged that Advanced Homecare recklessly had allowed its employees to aggressively market its home health services to this neurology practice, and that those marketing employees had gained direct access to the practice’s patient files, completed referral forms, and used the doctors’ signature stamps to sign orders, in order to circumvent the physician certification requirement. The government resolved these allegations for $1,293,169.

United States ex rel. Doe v. Recovery Home Care

The relator in this case is a former sales representative for a home health care provider who alleges that the defendant entered into consulting agreements with physicians. These physicians agreed to refer at least 10 patients a month to the defendant in exchange for compensation ranging from $2,000 to $2,500 per month. The consulting agreements referred to the physicians as either “medical directors” or “medical consultants.” Prior to October 2009, Recovery Home Care employed two medical directors. By January 2012, the defendant had contracts with 18 medical directors, and had “consulting agreements” with 32 physicians during the course of the scheme. The relator alleged that these agreements violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statutes and Stark Statute. Following a lengthy investigation, the United States intervened in the case. Claims against Recovery Home Care have been resolved for $1 million. A settlement of the claims against the individual defendant is still being finalized.

United States ex rel. Wells v. Baptist Health System, et al.

This qui tam case was filed by a former administrator of the Baptist Health hospital chain who alleged that a neurologist employed by the hospital intentionally had misdiagnosed his patients with various neurological disorders and then had billed government healthcare programs for medically unnecessary services, tests, and treatments. In addition, she alleged that the defendant hospital chain did not return overpayments it had received as a result of the misdiagnoses, after discovering the neurologist’s scheme. In FY2014, we settled our claims against the hospital for $2.5 million. This fiscal year, we reached an ability to pay settlement for $150,000 with the physician defendant. 

United States ex rel. Yerger et al. v. IND-MAR Services, Inc., et al.

The relator filed this case in May 2011, alleging that North Florida Shipyards created a sham corporation, IND-MAR Services, Inc., falsely claiming that IND-MAR was a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOB). North Florida Shipyards did so in order to appear qualified to bid on certain solicitations issued by the Coast Guard, which were set aside contracts for SDVOBs. After a lengthy investigation, we opened settlement discussions that led the defendant to invoke its ability to pay. In FY2015, the Department of Justice approved the defendant’s offer to pay $1,000,000 to settle these claims. 

United States ex rel. Macdonald v. Walter Investment Mgmt. Corp., et al.   

The former Chief Financial Officer of a loan servicing company, RMS, filed a qui tam complaint against his former employer and its parent, Walter Investments. The complaint alleged that the defendants had defrauded the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) reverse mortgage insurance program by failing to take certain actions required by HUD regulations, after HUD insured loans became due and payable. Specifically, the relator alleged that RMS had failed to disclose to HUD on numerous occasions that it did not obtain an appraisal within the required 30 days after the loan became due, and that it did not take “first legal action” within six months of the due date. By not self-disclosing on the HUD insurance claim that these event-specific deadlines were missed, the relator alleged that RMS filed false claims with HUD that resulted in HUD paying additional interest on claims that it should not have paid. These claims were settled for $29.63 million.

CVS

This case was a civil penalty referral by the Drug Enforcement Administration arising from the conduct of two CVS pharmacies in Sanford, Florida. The two pharmacies were accused of distributing controlled substances based on prescriptions that had not been issued for legitimate medical purposes by a health care provider in the usual course of professional practice. When confronted with the investigative findings, CVS acknowledged that its retail pharmacies had dispensed certain controlled substances in a manner not fully consistent with their compliance obligations under the Controlled Substances Act and the related regulations. CVS ultimately agreed to pay a civil penalty of $22 million. At the time of settlement, this was the highest penalty of its kind ever paid by a nationwide pharmacy chain. 

United States ex rel. Valenti v. Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products, Inc.

This qui tam was filed by the CEO of an exporter that competes with the defendant in the aluminum extrusion industry. He alleged that the defendant had avoided paying anti-dumping and countervailing duties owed on aluminum extrusions by misrepresenting the country of origin for the products as Malaysia, rather than the Peoples Republic of China. The investigation confirmed these allegations, as well as other deceptive practices. In FY2014, a settlement was reached with the defendant, Basco, for $1.1 million. In FY2015, settlements were negotiated with defendants C.R. Laurence Co. Inc., Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc., and Waterfall Group LLC for $2.3 million, $650,000 and $100,000, respectively, as well as for $385,000 and $50,000, on an ability to pay basis with individual defendants Robert Wingfeld and William Ma. The aggregate settlement recovery for this case was $4.585 million.

United States ex rel. Pelletier v. Liberty Ambulance Service, Inc., et al. and United States ex rel. Pelletier v. Century Ambulance Service, Inc., et al.

A former employee of two Jacksonville area ambulance companies filed two qui tam lawsuits in federal court against his former employers, alleging that the companies had submitted false claims to Medicare and other federally subsidized health programs for services that were “upcoded” and/or were medically unnecessary. Specifically, the whistleblower alleged that the companies had sought reimbursement for transportation of patients who did not qualify for basic life support transportation. In addition, the whistleblower alleged that several Jacksonville area hospitals had furthered the scheme by providing false certificates of medical necessity to justify the services. These allegations were investigated over a three and a half year period, which corroborated the relator’s core allegations. Ultimately claims were settled against one ambulance company (Century Ambulance) for $1.25 million and against three Jacksonville area hospital chains (Baptist Hospital, HCA, and Shands Healthcare) for $2.88 million, $2.4 million, and $1 million, respectively, for a total recovery of $7.53 million. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has intervened in the qui tam case against Liberty Ambulance and is currently litigating the claims against that defendant.

United States ex rel. Milstein v. Family Dermatology, et al.

Family Dermatology P.C. owns and operates a dermatopathology laboratory in Georgia and a number of dermatology practices throughout the Eastern United States. The relator, a board certified dermatologist and an independent contractor for Family Dermatology, claimed that the defendants had defrauded the United States by knowingly billing Medicare for lab work that violated the Stark Statute. The Stark Statute restricts the financial relationships that health care providers may have with doctors who refer patients to them.  Family Dermatology employs a number of dermatologists as independent contractors and it routinely required them to use Family Dermatology’s in-house pathology lab, which operated under the name Nelson Dermatopathology, for their pathology services.  The relator alleged that Family Dermatology’s financial relationships with a number of these physicians did not comply with the requirements of the Stark Statute, and that company had improperly billed Medicare for dermatopathology analyses performed by Nelson Dermatopathology on specimens that had been sent to the laboratory by these employed physicians. This case overlapped with another previously filed case in the Northern District of Georgia and was subsequently transferred there. Our district continued to assist in the investigation that resulted in a settlement of all claims for $3,247,935. 

United States ex rel. Montejo v. Adventist Health System, et al.

A physician formerly employed by Florida Oncology Network alleged that his former employer, the exclusive provider of radiation oncology services for Adventist Health System’s Florida Hospital chain, had provided radiation therapy services to patients without the proper physician supervision required by Medicare reimbursement regulations. He further alleged that the defendants had submitted false claims for evaluation and management services that were required to be performed by radiation oncologists, but were instead performed by non-physician providers. After investigating these claims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office negotiated a settlement of the claims against the defendant hospital chain for $5.5 million.

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday today sentenced Moises Linares-Pantaleon (62, Tampa) to five years and five months in federal prison for credit card fraud and identity theft. The Court also ordered him to pay $174,336.22 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. He pleaded guilty on September 10, 2015.

According to court documents, Pantaleon used stolen credit and debit card account numbers to manufacture counterfeit credit cards. He then used those counterfeit credit cards at various retailers throughout Hernando, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties to purchase gift cards and other items. Pantaleon was captured by surveillance cameras making purchases with counterfeit credit cards more than 40 times between 2012-2014.

In April 2013, investigators learned of a debit card breach at the Tyndall Federal Credit Union (FCU) in Bay County. According to Bay County Sheriff’s deputies, 12 account holders from FCU suffered fraudulent charges on their debit cards. These charges were made at Target stores in Pasco County. Tyndall FCU sustained a loss of more than $168,000 as a result of its customers’ debit card information being stolen.  Deputies from the Pasco County Sherriff’s Office obtained video and still images from the locations where the Tyndall FCU debit cards had been used. In those images, Pantaleon can be seen using cloned credit cards with the stolen account numbers from five of the compromised Tyndall FCU accounts.

On December 20, 2013, agents executed a federal search warrant at Pantaleon’s residence. Among other things, the agents seized 25 gift cards, a counterfeit driver’s license, 6 counterfeit credit cards, and a thumb drive containing 15 unauthorized credit and/or debit card numbers. The software for running a magnetic card/writer, a square credit card reader, and approximately $2,045 in cash were also seized from the home.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Tampa Police Department, the Pasco County Sherriff’s Office, and the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office as part of the USSS’s Financial Investigative Strike Team (FIST). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.

Tampa, Florida – United States District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Mark Yaffe (55, Tampa) to 20 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  As part of the sentence, the Court also ordered Yaffe to pay $3,049,581 in restitution to the bank he had defrauded.    

According to court documents, Yaffe was vice-president and principal of National Gold, Exchange, Inc. (NGE), a Tampa-based company in the business of warehousing, retailing, and trading rare coins.  NGE entered into a series of loan agreements with Sovereign Bank in which Sovereign agreed to lend up to approximately $35 million to NGE, secured by NGE’s assets.  Yaffe signed the loan agreements in his capacity as vice-president of NGE. 

The loan agreements put a limit on how much of the $35 million NGE could borrow at any given time, using a formula that considered the value of NGE’s assets.  To make the calculation of the formula possible, NGE was required to submit a monthly borrowing base report, along with back-up documents, regarding the value of its assets.  The loan agreements also gave Sovereign the right to perform unannounced audits of NGE to verify that NGE had sufficient collateral.

On July 10, 2009, Sovereign began an unannounced audit at NGE.  In connection with the audit, on July 11, 2009, Yaffe provided members of Sovereign’s audit team with a false and fraudulent borrowing base report, falsely inflating the value of NGE’s assets.  Yaffe included in this report fictitious sales to entities that he knew did not exist, including $2,221,975 in false sales to Rifkin Management, Inc., and $2,623,308 in false sales to Tudor Trust.  Yaffe also submitted false invoices to Sovereign purporting to evidence these fictitious sales, and provided contact information for Rifkin and Tudor Trust that was false.  An NGE employee reported that Yaffe had instructed the employee to lie to Sovereign officials about the fictitious customers and sales.  Yaffe then caused approximately $3,049,581 to be transferred out of two NGE bank accounts that were part of Sovereign’s collateral for the loan agreements, and could have been used to repay NGE’s debts.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Timothy Loper and Assistant United States Attorney Rachelle DesVaux Bedke. 

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Colin Campbell Joseph Knight (25, Port St. Lucie) to two years and six months in federal prison for dealing in firearms without a license.  He pleaded guilty on September 14, 2015. 

According to court documents, between June 23, 2013, and August 22, 2014, Knight and his father, who is also named Colin Knight, collectively sold 113 firearms and made approximately $63,137 from these sales. During this period, neither Knight nor his father had a Federal Firearms License (FFL) authorizing them to lawfully engage in the business of dealing in firearms. In April 2014, law enforcement agents visited the Knights at their home in Kissimmee and informed them that their firearms activity appeared to be in violation of federal law. Both men also signed written notices advising them to cease and desist in the business of dealing in firearms until they obtained the appropriate FFL. Despite these warnings, they continued selling firearms.

On August 22, 2014, agents executed a federal search warrant at the Knights’ Kissimmee residence and recovered 26 firearms, along with records and bills of sale confirming that they were engaging in the ongoing sale of firearms without licenses.

On October 30, 2015, Judge Mendoza sentenced Knight’s father to one year in federal prison for dealing in firearms without a license.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy.  United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is another example of ATF’s Frontline Strategy to impact violent crime within our communities.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Charles Martin Eberlen (61, Palm Bay) to 10 years in federal prison for attempted sexual enticement of a minor.  In addition, the Court ordered him to serve a five-year term of supervision, and to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. Eberlen pleaded guilty on September 14, 2015. 

According to court documents, in February 2015, Eberlen communicated online with an individual he believed was a 14-year-old boy, but who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.  During one of the exchanges, Eberlen asked for a nude photograph of the “child.”  On February 12, 2015, Eberlen agreed to meet the “child” in a convenience store parking lot in Brevard County so that he could have oral sex with him.  When Eberlen arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested by agents. 

This case was investigated by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.

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 – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced James Steven Hall (47, Lake City) to 24 months in federal prison for manufacturing and passing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes. As part of the sentence, the Court ordered Hall to pay restitution to the various businesses he had defrauded.    

According to court documents, in March 2015, law enforcement received information that Hall had possessed counterfeit currency in his hotel room in Columbia County. On March 25, 2015, officers from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service went to the hotel and made contact with Hall, who allowed the officers to search his room. The search revealed counterfeit $10 and $20 bills that had been hidden between the mattress and box spring. Supplies for manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes, including a paper cutter, an ink jet printer, blank paper, a laptop computer, and used ink cartridges, were also found in the room. Hall later admitted to manufacturing a few thousand dollars in counterfeit notes, and to passing some of them at local businesses in the Lake City area.

This case was investigated by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service - Jacksonville Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Orlando, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II has sentenced Mark Gardner (29, Osteen) to seven years and three months in federal prison for his role in the operation of a boiler room. He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution to his victims. Gardner pleaded guilty on August 17, 2015.

According to court documents, Gardner and his codefendant, Tammie Lynn Cline (33, Leominster, MA), operated a boiler room in Central Florida. Along with the telemarketers who worked at their call center, they would make unsolicited calls to owners of timeshare properties located throughout the United States. During those calls, they claimed that they worked for Universal Timeshare Sales Associates (UTSA) out of Beaverton, Oregon; that UTSA had a purchaser who was interested in buying a timeshare; and that the timeshare owner just needed to pay a fee between $1,600 and $2,200 for the sale to proceed.

In order to convince timeshare owners to pay the fee, the conspirators would sometimes claim that an interested purchaser was present in the showroom ready to buy a timeshare, that a buyer had already deposited money into an escrow account for the sale, or that the sale would take place in about 90 days. Those representations were false. The timeshares were not sold as had been promised, and members of the conspiracy would deny or ignore requests for refunds, and would dispute chargebacks with the credit card companies.

In total, victims lost more than $1.2 million as a result of the scheme.

In May 2013, the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Attorney General’s Office filed a civil action against Gardner, Cline, and others in federal court. In June 2014, the district court entered a permanent injunction against them related to certain telemarketing practices.

Cline was also prosecuted for her role in the conspiracy. On October 30, 2015, she was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. She was also ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution to her victims. 

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.

Jacksonville, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Henry Lee Adams has sentenced Joe Eugene Loving (47, Texas) to five years and five months in federal prison for manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes, false representation of a Social Security number, and aggravated identity theft. As part of the sentence, the Court also ordered Loving to pay restitution to the businesses he had defrauded. 

According to court documents, on February 2, 2015, the Green Cove Springs Police Department received information that two individuals, later identified as Loving and John Thomas Humphreys (46, Texas), were manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes in their room at the Astoria Hotel in Clay County. The two men had active arrest warrants for parole violations in Texas and were subsequently arrested at the hotel by deputies from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. Loving was in possession of a counterfeit $100 bill at the time of his arrest.

During an interview with law enforcement, Humphreys and Loving stated that they had been involved in a drug deal in Texas in December 2014 and had been on the run ever since. They estimated printing and passing at least $10,000 in counterfeit currency. In addition, they admitted using the identities of others to do so.  

During a subsequent search of their hotel room, agents located a box of personal identification information and financial documents belonging to other individuals, a printer/scanner/copier with counterfeit checks lying on top of it, counterfeit currency, and various computer media that had been used to manufacture the counterfeit currency.

On November 10, 2015, Humphreys was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison for his role in this case. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the businesses he had defrauded.

A third individual, Paul Corbin Pennington, Jr., was also charged in this case for passing counterfeit currency. Pennington, a maintenance worker at the Astoria Hotel, loaned Loving and Humphreys his computer. Loving and Humphreys then used the computer to print counterfeit checks. Pennington confessed to law enforcement that he had passed counterfeit currency in Clay County. On October 13, 2015, Pennington was sentenced to 141 days in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution to the businesses he had defrauded.

This case was investigated by the Green Cove Springs Police Department, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Secret Service, Jacksonville Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint charging Oran Orval Dawsey (37, Cocoa) with making threats to destroy a building using an explosive device. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.   

According to the criminal complaint, on the morning of September 22, 2015, an individual made a telephone call to the Moore Justice Center, a state court building in Brevard County, and stated that a bomb was located inside the courthouse. In response, the building was evacuated and bomb squad officers from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office searched the building for an explosive device. Although no such explosive were located, all official business in the court building was suspended.

Investigators later determined that, on the morning the bomb threat was made, Dawsey failed to appear for a scheduled court appearance at the Moore Justice Center in a criminal case for which he was facing a possible prison sentence. Dawsey was later identified as the person who made the bomb threat and, on October 1, 2015, he confessed to investigators that he had called in the bomb threat in order to get his court date postponed.    

A criminal complaint 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.  It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that the United States has settled allegations against several pharmacies and their owners for fraudulently billing TRICARE, the military’s healthcare program. These settlements reflect a wide range of conduct targeting military personnel and the healthcare programs they depend on. The allegations resolved included liability under the False Claims Act. In addition to those detailed below, the United States has also reached settlements with additional individual owners and physicians totaling more than $6 million. 

MedMatch Pharmacy, based in Jacksonville, has agreed to pay more than $4.7 million to resolve concerns that it paid kickbacks to marketers, that it filled prescriptions it knew or should have known were not legitimate, and that it sent prescriptions to states in which it did not have a valid license. 

Auburndale-based OHM Pharmacy has agreed to pay $4.1 million to resolve allegations that it knew, or should have known, that it was filling prescriptions from a doctor who was writing them outside the ordinary course of practice.  The United States contends that OHM knew, or should have known, this because the sheer magnitude and volume of prescriptions exceeded any other provider. In addition, the prescriptions were for the same compounded prescription substance, despite the patient’s age, condition, or health record.

Jacksonville-based WELL Health Pharmacy and its owner have agreed to pay more than $3 million, as well as 50% of its net profits for five years, to resolve concerns that it knowingly filled prescriptions that were written by referral sources that had a financial interest in the prescriptions.  While these referring physicians were purportedly participating in a “research study” related to compounded prescriptions, the government contends that this research study was a sham and that the compensation far exceeded fair market value.

Topical Specialists, a pharmacy based in Jacksonville, Florida, has agreed to pay the government more than $2.2 million for its role in submitting prescriptions that were tainted by so-called “research fees,” which was an elaborate guise for paying physicians to write prescriptions. This settlement is directly related, and in addition to, the WELL Health settlement described above.   

Durbin Pharmacy, based in Jacksonville, has agreed to pay $2.1 million, plus 50% of its net profits for five years, for submitting prescriptions that were tainted by kickbacks.  The government also contends that Durbin knew, or should have known, that the prescriptions it was filling from three local physicians were not legitimate because there was no bona fide patient/physician relationship.

North Beaches Pharmacy, also based in Jacksonville, has agreed to pay $10,000, plus 50% of its net profits for five years, for filling compound prescriptions that the government contends were tainted by illegal kickbacks. North Beaches’ top prescriber – a doctor in Fort Wayne, Indiana who wrote more than $600,000 in prescriptions–was paid over $70,000 in speaker’s fees that the government contends were nothing more than kickbacks for prescriptions. 

“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to tackling healthcare fraud and protecting the TRICARE program,” said U.S. Attorney Bentley. “We will use every tool in our arsenal to hold accountable those who seek to profit by taking unfair advantage of military families.”

These settlements involve false claims submitted to the TRICARE program.  These cases were developed as part of a broader effort to identify and target unscrupulous compounding pharmacies. The Middle District of Florida has collected more than $40 million in recoveries related to compounded pharmacies since March 2015.

"I applaud the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida's office for holding these pharmacies and physicians accountable for their actions," said Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency. "Their egregious actions targeted American service members, veterans and their families, and in many cases offered them products with little or no substantiated evidence that they would improve health outcomes. The Defense Health Agency will continue working closely with the Justice Department and other state and federal agencies to investigate all those who participated in these nefarious, fraudulent practices."

"The Defense Criminal Investigative Service is committed to protecting the integrity of TRICARE, the U.S. military health care program, so that it continues to provide quality medical care to America's Warfighters and their families, while ensuring that health care facilities and providers comply with Federal laws and regulations," said John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Southeast Field Office.  "Through joint investigations with our law enforcement partners, DCIS will fully pursue both civil remedies to recover taxpayer dollars and criminal prosecutions to bring violators to justice."

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered more than $26.2 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $16.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

These cases were investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. They were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Mehta. 

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. 

Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return by a federal grand jury of indictments charging Edrey Santo Rojas (30) and Henry Alberto Fernandez Gomez (29), both of Cape Coral, with credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft. Rojas is also charged with possession of a credit card skimming device. If convicted on all counts, each faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the credit card fraud and a consecutive term of 2 years for each aggravated identity theft charge. Rojas also faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment for possession of the credit card skimming device. 

According to the indictment, on or about May 23, 2014, in Lee County, Rojas possessed, with intent to defraud, a credit card skimmer. The indictment also alleges that between December 9, 2014, and August 8, 2015, he used one or more credit card numbers assigned to another person, without permission, to obtain something of value in excess of $1,000. Rojas also used three counterfeit and unauthorized access devices with account numbers belonging to financial institutions and individuals.       

According to a separate indictment, between December 30, 2014, and April 13, 2015, Fernandez Gomez used one or more credit card numbers assigned to another person, without permission, to obtain something of value in excess of $1,000. He also used counterfeit and unauthorized access devices with account numbers belonging to financial institutions and individuals, without lawful authority. 

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

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Cape Coral Police Department, with assistance from the United States Secret Service and the State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David G. Lazarus.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Demetrius Wright to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, aggravated identify theft, wire fraud, filing false claims, and theft of government funds. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $165,317, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Wright pleaded guilty on August 6, 2015.

According to court documents, from as early as February 1, 2012, through on or about December 19, 2014, Wright participated in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. During a search his home, law enforcement found notebooks containing the personally identifying information (PII) of others, none of who had provided that information to Wright. Also found in Wright’s home were documents from the Tampa Veterans Affairs hospital, which contained additional PII. As part of the scheme, over 500 tax returns were filed from laptops associated with Wright, requesting more than $3.6 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Donald Bethell was also prosecuted for his role in this scheme. On August 31, 2015, he was sentenced to four months in federal prison for theft of government funds.

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam M. Saltzman.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging Ernest L. Chambliss (44, Englewood) with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Chambliss has been charged as an Armed Career Criminal and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. The indictment also notifies him that the United States intends to forfeit the firearm used in the offense.

According to the indictment, Chambliss possessed a 9 millimeter pistol on or about April 16, 2015. Prior to the incident, he was previously convicted of cocaine trafficking, resisting an officer with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

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

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory T. Nolan.

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy to reduce violence in our communities.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Orental James Allen, Jr. (23, Ft. Myers) to 10 years in federal prison for armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm and ammunition. The Court also ordered him to forfeit a .40 caliber Sig Sauer P229 pistol and ammunition. Further, as part of his sentence, the Court entered a money judgment in the amount of $5,499, the proceeds of the armed bank robbery. 

Allen pleaded guilty on August 19, 2015.

According to court documents, on December 23, 2013, three individuals, including Allen, entered the Fifth Third Bank located at 2068 Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers, Florida. All three carried firearms and two of them jumped over the bank teller counter. The three then took money from the teller drawers and Allen forced a bank employee to accompany him at gunpoint from an office, to the lobby of the bank. The amount of money stolen during the robbery was $5,499.

On January 18, 2014, Fort Myers Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for a traffic infraction, and Allen was the front passenger. A trained canine alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. Officers subsequently located a plastic Wal-Mart grocery bag, which contained a black Hogue firearm grip, numerous empty white pill capsules, and numerous small clear plastic Ziploc baggies inside the glove box of the vehicle. Due to the vehicle’s driving pattern, officers conducted a search of the area where the vehicle had traveled and located a .40 caliber Sig Sauer P229 loaded with ammunition. The firearm, magazine, and ammunition were processed and identified as belonging to Allen.

Allen was a previously convicted felon and, therefore, is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under state law. The State of Florida Office of Executive Clemency certified that his civil rights had not been restored, specifically not the authority to own, possess, or use firearms. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Fort Myers Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Yolande G. Viacava and Michael Baggé-Hernández.

A Tampa, Florida, woman pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and issuing false bomb threats, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III of the Middle District of Florida announced today.

Jacqueline Numata, 27, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony E. Porcelli of the Middle District of Florida to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of communicating false bomb threats to the U.S. Air Force Air Base in Misawa, Japan, while she was an Army and Air Force Exchange Service employee in Misawa.  Numata’s sentencing will be set at a later date.

According to the plea documents, during a period of three months beginning in January 2015, Numata accessed and downloaded about 80 images of child pornography and uploaded the images to a blog she created in her estranged husband’s name.  She then used a fake Facebook profile to link those images to the Misawa Air Base Facebook community page, visible to all members of the site.  Numata also created and distributed in Misawa a flyer advertising the sale of children for sex, child pornography and marijuana that included her estranged husband’s name and additional child exploitation images that she downloaded.  Numata used another fake Facebook profile to post a photo of the flyer on the Misawa Air Base Facebook page.  During this period, Numata admitted that she communicated false bomb threats to Misawa Air Base on two occasions claiming to be from her estranged husband in order to frame him.  As a result of the threats, the buildings in the affected areas on base were evacuated and the security posture was increased.

As part of her plea agreement, Numata must register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

This case was investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jay Bauer of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Jones of the Middle District of Florida.  

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich today sentenced Rita Girven (33, Tampa) to 12 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She pleaded guilty on March 16, 2015.

According to court documents, from an unknown date, through at least May 2013, Girven participated in a scheme to defraud the IRS. As part of the scheme, Girven, together with others, obtained the personally identifiable information of others without their knowledge from a variety of sources, including online ancestry websites and from individuals who had access to law enforcement databases. The information was then used to file fraudulent federal income tax returns. The fraudulent tax refunds were then wired onto reloadable debit cards obtained by Girven, or to bank accounts she had opened, often in the names of others. Girven participated in the filing of false tax returns in the names of more than 500 victims, claiming more than $3.6 million in refunds that she shared with her co-conspirators.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mandy Riedel and Megan Kistler.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced John Francis Williams (69, Blytheville, SC) to 10 years in federal prison for using the Internet to attempt to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. Williams was found guilty on August 31, 2015, after a four day jury trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, in October 2012, while visiting his vacation home in Port Orange, Florida, Williams responded to a Craigslist ad. The ad had been placed by an undercover officer posing as the mother of a 14-year-old girl who was looking for a man to teach her child about sex. After a series of emails and phone calls with the “mother,” Williams drove to a house where he intended to have sex with the teen. He brought an overnight bag containing condoms, lubricants, and vibrators. At the time, Williams was a practicing cardiac anesthesiologist.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.

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 – Senior United States District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges has sentenced Robert Lawrence Brown (32, Clermont) to two years in federal prison for accepting a bribe as a public official.  He pleaded guilty on September 4, 2015.

According to court documents, beginning in January 2015, Brown used his position as a Correctional Officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex to smuggle contraband to inmates in exchange for monetary payments.  On June 18, 2015, federal agents monitored a meeting between Brown and a cooperating witness.  During that meeting, Brown accepted $2,600 for items that he had already smuggled into the prison. When confronted by investigators, Brown admitted that he had illegally negotiated $7,100 in cash payments in return for smuggling cellphones, prescription pills, tobacco, and other items to federal inmates.

This case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

Jacksonville, Florida B U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that the United States has settled allegations that a hospice company located in Lecanto, Florida knowingly billed the government for medically unnecessary and undocumented hospice services.  The allegations resolved included liability under the False Claims Act.

The government has reached a settlement with Hospice of Citrus County (“HOCC”).  In reaching this settlement, the parties resolved allegations that HOCC knowingly submitting false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary hospice care of certain patients who had lengths of stays greater than 1,000 days. Typically, federal healthcare programs only pay for hospice care when patients are in a terminal condition and are expected to live for less than six months. Despite this principle, HOCC treated more than 50 patients for lengths of stays in excess of 3 years. 

Specifically, between June 1, 2009, and March 15, 2015, HOCC treated at least 52 patients with lengths of stay in excess of 1,000 days.  The government contends that for those 52 patients, HOCC either knowingly or recklessly failed to document a valid basis for the initial start of hospice care and/or subsequent hospice coverage.  The failure in documentation included no support for the length of hospice services; patient files that failed to document basic patient characteristics; and patient records that were either unsigned or signed with inconsistent practitioner information. 

In some cases, patients were admitted to HOCC simply because their spouse was in hospice care.  In other cases, patients were admitted to HOCC under the pretense of having a terminal illness, but then cleared for multiple, lengthy, out-of-state trips over the course of five years.  The government has agreed to accept $3,022,000 to resolve these allegations.

“Unfortunately, some healthcare providers seek to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by billing for unnecessary hospice services,” stated U.S. Attorney Bentley. “Left unchecked, this misconduct would deplete funds available for terminally ill patients desperately in need of the relief that hospice care provides.”

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered more than $26.2 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $16.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

"Sticking taxpayers with a bill for unnecessary health care services such as hospice care will never be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.  “Working shoulder to shoulder with our law enforcement partners, we will tirelessly pursue health care companies that threaten the integrity of Federal health care programs.” 

This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Jason Mehta. 

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. 

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury yesterday found Shannan Lee Winemiller (21, Orlando) guilty of knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at a Southwest Boeing 737 aircraft and an Orange County Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Rolando Espinoza (23, Orlando), who requested a bench trial, was also found guilty of the same offenses by United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. Both men face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for February 1, 2015.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, during the late evening hours of July 6 and the early morning hours of July 7, 2015, Espinoza and Winemiller were having a competition with two green laser pointers to see who could strike the most aircraft. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., they struck the cockpit of a Southwest Boeing 737 passenger aircraft on approach to the Orlando International Airport. About an hour later, they struck the cockpit of an Orange County Sheriff’s Office helicopter that was in search of them. Both individuals were arrested by 1:00 a.m. on July 7, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany L. Cummins.

On February 14, 2012, President Barack Obama signed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which modernizes the nation's aviation system. This Act establishes a new criminal offense for aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft. The statute was enacted in response to a growing number of incidents of pilots being distracted or even temporarily blinded by laser beams.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging Shawn Eugene Conrad (47), a transient found in Tampa, with failure to register as a sex offender. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. 

According to the indictment, Conrad was convicted of statutory rape in Missouri in October 2010, and was as therefore required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) to register with law enforcement in Missouri or in any other place he traveled to. In August 2015, Conrad was in found in Tampa and had not registered as a sex offender.

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act also provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshals Service, to assist states in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.

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

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.

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 – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and charging by criminal complaint of Clayton Junior Thornburg (53, Luka, Mississippi) for attempted child enticement and transportation of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. 

According to the criminal complaint, beginning in August, 2015, and continuing through November 18, 2015, Thornburg communicated online with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations special agent who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. During the online communications, Thornburg graphically discussed the illegal sexual activities that he wanted to engage in with the “child” and sent the “child” an image of his penis. Additionally, he sent the “child” both child and adult pornography, including videos that were sadistic in nature.

This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.

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 – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announced today that a federal jury in Jacksonville today found William Roland Baker (64, Jacksonville) guilty of two counts of possessing child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison on each count, and a potential life term of supervision. Baker is a registered child sex offender who was previously convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child on November 22, 1995. He has been in custody since his arrest on November 4, 2013 in Jacksonville, and had previously worked as a civil traffic engineer. 

According to testimony and evidence introduced during the trial, in early 2013, an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was able to download several images and a video of child pornography over the Internet from a computer using an Internet Protocol address that was traced back to Baker’s Jacksonville residence. On May 29, 2013, a federal search warrant was executed at this residence, where law enforcement seized two laptop computers from Baker’s bedroom. A forensic examiner was able to recover images of child pornography from Baker’s computers, even though Baker had used an eraser program on the evening before the search.  During an interview, Baker claimed that he did not download child pornography.  However, the forensic analysis of his laptop computer showed that he had used particular terms to search for child pornography in a file sharing program.  Baker’s computers contained a total of 338 images depicting the sexual abuse of young children.       

This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and 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 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 Elizabeth A. Kovachevich has sentenced Pedro Ramirez (40, Tampa) to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender.  He pleaded guilty on July 23, 2015.

According to court documents, in 2002, Ramirez was convicted of sexual battery in Hillsborough County and, as a result, is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Following his conviction, Ramirez moved to Connecticut. In June 2013, he moved back to Hillsborough County and failed to register in Florida as a sex offender. While in Florida, he committed another sex offense against a minor.

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshals Service, to assist states in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.

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.  

Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges has sentenced Reginald Wardell Howard, Jr. (37, Ocala) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. A federal jury found him guilty of the offense on June 17, 2015. 

According to evidence presented at trial, officers from the Ocala Police Department were called to a disturbance at a store on November 28, 2014. Officers were told that a man later identified as Howard was in the bathroom with a gun. Officers confronted Howard and a subsequent search revealed a loaded, 9mm handgun inside his left rear pocket. Howard stated that he had the firearm for protection. Witnesses reported that Howard had threatened them while displaying the pistol.

Prior to this incident, Howard had been convicted of numerous felony drug violations. As such, he qualified for an enhanced sentence as an Armed Career Criminal under federal law. At the time of this offense, Howard was under federal supervision and prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Ocala Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy.  United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, 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 – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging Thomas Allen Vaughn (33, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida) with attempted enticement of a child for sexual activity. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Vaughn that the United States intends to forfeit any property that he used during the commission of the offense. 

According to the indictment, between October 23, 2015, and October 28, 2015, Vaughn used a cellphone and computer to attempt to entice a minor to engage in sex.

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 U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.  It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.

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 Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Nicole Caudill (28, St. Petersburg) to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess and distribute crack and powder cocaine.  She pleaded guilty on December 29, 2014.

According to court documents, from March 2013 to October 2014, Caudill and a another individual sold a variety of illegal narcotics, including crack and powder cocaine, to a confidential informant. A search warrant executed at her residence revealed, among other items, two firearms, crack and powder cocaine, and prescription pills. Law enforcement officers also seized more than $100,000 in unlawful drug proceeds (in the form of cash and jewelry) from various safe deposit boxes belonging to Caudill and a co-conspirator.

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

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Peter Bonfiglio (28, North Port) to two years and one month in federal prison for making and possessing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes. He pleaded guilty on August 19, 2015.

According to court documents, Bonfiglio, together with his co-defendant, Jaret Santa, was arrested by deputies from the Sarasota County Sherriff’s Office after Bonfiglio tried to pay for merchandise at a retail store using a counterfeit $100 bill. Santa had supplied the note to Bonfiglio, who then tried to pass it at another store before deputies arrested them both. Following their arrests, the deputies located approximately $4,600 in counterfeit $100 bills in their car. Further investigation revealed that between January 5, 2015, and February 2, 2015, the pair had passed approximately $5,500 in counterfeit $100 bills at various stores and businesses.

Santa has previously pleaded guilty for his role in this case.  His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 6, 2016.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service with assistance from the Sarasota County Sherriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hoffer.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Gabriel Leon-Torres (Tampa, 33) to seven years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty on August 13, 2015.

According to court documents, between February and April 2015, Leon-Torres sold two firearms and a variety of illegal narcotics, including crack cocaine, to a confidential informant. A search warrant executed at his residence revealed, among other items, a stolen Miami-Dade police ballistic vest, crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and a variety of prescription narcotics.  Leon-Torres has multiple prior felony convictions and therefore is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Jones.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy to reduce violent crime and improve the quality of life where law enforcement efforts are focused.

 

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and issuance of a criminal complaint charging Martin Alan Schnitzler (43, Seminole) with making a telephonic threat to kill, injure, or intimidate using fire or an explosive.  If convicted, Schnitzler faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, during the evening of November 13, 2015, Schnitzler left a voicemail message at the telephone number for the Islamic Center of Pinellas County, which is located in Pinellas Park.  During that voicemail, Schnitzler said he was calling in reference to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and stated, among other things, that he was going to go to the Islamic Center and “firebomb you and shoot whoever is there.” Agents with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Schnitzler earlier today.

A criminal complaint is merely a 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.  It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel George.

Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Roger Eugene Hagood (44, Fort Myers) today pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud.  He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on each count.

According to the plea agreement, Hagood operated Coral Palm Auto Sales, a used car dealership.  Coral Palm Autos Sales received financing through a third-party lender to purchase automobiles.  Vehicle titles were provided as security to procure the loans, and loan payments were made using proceeds from the vehicle sales.  Once each loan was paid in full, the third-party lender would release the vehicle titles used to secure the loan back to Coral Palm Auto Sales.   

In November and December 2011, Hagood engaged in a check-kiting scheme by writing 13 checks, totaling $1,592,121.00, on his business checking account, made payable to the third-party lender, knowing that the account lacked sufficient funds to cover the checks.            As a result, the third-party lender wrote new loan checks on its account, made payable to Coral Palm Auto Sales, based on Hagood’s worthless checks.  According to the plea agreement, Hagood’s scheme caused federally insured financial institutions to suffer significant financial losses.

On March 29, 2015, Hagood attempted to surreptitiously dispose of 20 banker’s boxes of records and documents pertaining to Coral Palm Auto Sales by throwing them in a dumpster located about a mile and a half from his residence.  A video surveillance camera partially captured Hagood attempting to dispose of the boxes.  These boxes were retrieved by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and turned over to the FBI.  A portion of the records and documents Hagood tried to destroy were responsive to a federal subpoena previously served on him on March 24, 2015.       

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey F. Michelland.

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza today sentenced Douglas Scheels (43, Sanford) to 50 years in federal prison for producing and receiving child pornography.  He pleaded guilty on June 18, 2015.

According to court documents, from at least June 2014, and until his arrest on January 11, 2015, Scheels sought out, identified, communicated with, and sexually exploited several minor victims. He enticed two teenage girls from his neighborhood into producing child pornography, and sought out others. Using online communications, Scheels persuaded a minor to produce and send him explicit photos. He also communicated online with at least eight additional minors for the same purpose.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sanford Police Department.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Bishop Ravenel.

This 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 – United States District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Heidi Y. Calonge (34) to 18 months in federal prison, followed by 6 months of home detention, for bank fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay $150,371.10 in restitution to her victims. A forfeiture money judgment was also entered in the amount of $150,371.10, representing the proceeds of the fraud. She pleaded guilty on August 13, 2015.

According to court documents, Calonge was employed as the lead agent and manager of a small insurance company located in Plant City – “Express Insurance of Plant City.” In that capacity, she devised a scheme to defraud the owners out of bonus and commission checks from various insurance companies with whom the company did business. Calonge falsely posed as the company’s owner by opening a post office box in a similar corporate name, filing corporate paperwork, registering a similar fictitious name, and opening a personal bank account in that fictitious name in order to deposit checks rightfully owed to the true owners of the company. Calonge spent the fraud proceeds on personal items benefitting herself and her family, and to open another competing insurance agency.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Leon White (30, Orlando) has pleaded guilty to passing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.White has also agreed to forfeit the monetary proceeds he obtained by passing the counterfeit notes, as well as the computer media he used to manufacture them. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in January 2015, White and his co-defendants, Marcos Rogelio Blake (24, New York) and Ralph Darel Lipsey (28, Miramar), passed or attempted to pass counterfeit bills at multiple businesses in Nassau County. Law enforcement officers subsequently issued an alert for the three individuals’ vehicle. On January 17, 2015, a deputy from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office stopped the vehicle with the three men inside. Blake, who was driving the vehicle, was detained due to a suspended license. During a search, the deputy found genuine and counterfeit bills on Blake. An inventory search of the vehicle yielded additional counterfeit notes and a lock box containing computer equipment used to manufacture counterfeit bills. A follow-up investigation connected White and Lipsey to more than $1,600 in counterfeit Federal Reserve notes. 

On September 30, 2015, Blake pleaded guilty to manufacturing and passing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes, and possessing counterfeit business checks. Lipsey pleaded guilty to manufacturing and passing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes on October 26, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service, Jacksonville Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.