Southern District of Florida

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announce that defendant Samuel George Brown, 49, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty today to charges of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c); and possessing a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(k).

Sentencing is scheduled for March 6, 2014 before U.S. District Judge Donald Graham in Fort Pierce, Florida. At sentencing, Brown faces a possible maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison, on the charge of possessing a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number; to be followed by a mandatory minimum five years consecutive sentence for the charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to statements made in open court and documents filed in the case, Brown was a dealer selling marijuana from his house in Fort Pierce. Following two separate drug sales by Brown to confidential informants working with local law enforcement, on June 8, 2013, officers obtained and executed a search warrant for Brown’s home. On arrival, the officers found on the kitchen counter, alongside marijuana, packaging material, and electronic scales for measuring drug sales, and a loaded Hi-Point .380 caliber handgun. The serial number on the .380 caliber handgun had been obliterated. In a post arrest interview, Brown admitted to keeping the handgun for his personal protection as part of his drug sales business.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, together with the Fort Pierce Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, announce the indictment of Quinton Jamal Mitchell, 31, from Sweeting’s Cay Settlement, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas, and LeRoy Anthony Edwards, 56, from Kingston, Jamaica. Mitchell and Edwards were arraigned on multiple counts before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. Edwards was detained as a risk of flight and a danger to the community.

Mitchell and Edwards are charged with conspiring to and importing 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952 (a), 963 and 960(b)(2)(G). They are also charged with conspiring to and possessing with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, in violation of with Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841 (a), 846 and 841(b)(1)(B)(vii). If convicted on either of the conspiracy charges, they face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to a maximum of 40 years in prison, four years to a lifetime of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $5,000,000. Mitchell is also charged with encouraging aliens to come to the United States, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in jeopardy in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(II) and 1324(a)(1)(B)(iii). If convicted, he faces up to a maximum of 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Edwards is also charged with being a removed alien after deportation, in violation of Title 8, United States Code Section, 1326(a)(1) and faces up to two years in prison, up to one year of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

According to the allegations in the criminal complaint, a vessel capsized in the waters off Jupiter Island, Florida, and three males swam to shore, including Mitchell. Upon arriving to shore, Mitchell ran away from the scene. A second male later identified as LeRoy Anthony Edwards, was rescued from the surf and resuscitated by a good samaritan. Quinton Mitchell was identified as the boat captain. Before running off, Mitchell told the good samaritan that there had been a total of four males on the boat.

Mitchell was later captured by Jupiter Island Police Department Officers and Martin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, who responded to the area and found the beach littered with white bales and blue gas cans, and the partially submerged boat approximately 200 feet from the shoreline.

Martin County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene investigators found that the recovered bales contained marijuana, weighing approximately 236 kilograms. Authorities are still searching for the other passengers that were on-board the boat.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, DEA, the Jupiter Island Police Department, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Florida Fish and Wildlife. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.

An indictment is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Two patient recruiters for Miami health care companies were sentenced today for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard in the Southern District of Florida.

Elizabeth Monteagudo, 33, of Miami, was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants. Cristobal Gonzalez, 39, of Miami, was sentenced to serve 46 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2 million in restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants

In September 2013, Monteagudo and Gonzalez each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to receive health care kickbacks. Monteagudo also pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.

According to court documents, Monteagudo and Gonzalez were patient recruiters who worked for Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp., and Gonzalez also worked for Good Quality Home Health Care Inc. Caring Nurse and Good Quality were Miami home health care agencies that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

According to court documents, from approximately January 2009 through approximately June 2011, Monteagudo and Gonzalez would recruit patients for Caring Nurse and/or Good Quality and would solicit and receive kickbacks and bribes from the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and/or Good Quality in return for allowing the agency to bill the Medicare program on behalf of the recruited patients. These Medicare beneficiaries were billed for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.

Monteagudo also admitted to her involvement with $7 million in fraudulent billings for Starlite Home Health Agency Inc., which she owned and operated.

In a related case, on Feb. 27, 2013, Rogelio Rodriguez and Raymond Aday, the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and Good Quality, were sentenced to serve 108 and 51 months in prison, respectively. Their sentencings followed their December 2012 guilty pleas each to one count of conspiring to commit health care fraud charged in an October 2012 indictment. According to that indictment, from approximately January 2006 through June 2011, Caring Nurse and Good Quality submitted approximately $48 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Medicare actually paid approximately $33 million for these fraudulent claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,700 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, Julie Leon, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Tampa/Orlando Field Office, Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Wayne Ivey, Sheriff, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, John A. Bolduc, Chief, Port St. Lucie Police Department, and Frank J. Kitzerow, Chief, Jupiter Police Department, announce that defendants Yubran Alvarez Vasquez, 21, of Bluffton, South Carolina, and Matthew Emmanuel Vasquez, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, on one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a), four counts of armed robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a), and four counts of possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii & iii).

The defendants are alleged to have targeted gas stations and hotels just off exits on I-95 from Melbourne to Jupiter. In one robbery spree on February 14-15, 2013, the defendants are alleged to have robbed at gunpoint two gas stations and two hotels. The defendants brandished guns in all of the robberies and during the robbery of the Holiday Inn Express in Vero Beach, a firearm was discharged. The defendants wore gloves and masks and changed hotels frequently in an attempt to avoid detection.

The defendants fled Florida with the stolen property, and due to a multi-agency effort, the defendants were apprehended. If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the Port St. Lucie Police Department, and the Jupiter Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell R. Killinger.

An indictment is only an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A former licensed mental health counselor at the defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN) pleaded guilty today in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for his role in a $63 million health care fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.

Ruben Busquets, 50, of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 20, 2014.

According to court records, Busquets was employed as a licensed therapist at HCSN, a mental health facility that purported to provide Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness. HCSN of Florida (HCSN-FL) operated community mental health centers at two locations. Court records indicate that Busquets was aware that HCSN-FL personnel were routinely fabricating patient medical records. Many of these medical records were created weeks or months after the patients were admitted to HCSN-FL for purported PHP treatment and were utilized to support false and fraudulent billing to government sponsored health care benefit programs, including Medicare and Florida Medicaid. During his employment at HCSN-FL, Busquets and his co-conspirators signed fabricated PHP therapy notes and other medical records used to support false claims to government-sponsored health care programs.

According to court documents, from 2004 through 2011, HCSN billed Medicare and the Florida Medicaid program approximately $63 million for purported mental health services.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Allan J. Medina of the Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,700 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Lester Fernandez, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General, Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas Caul, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Inspector General, Atlanta Field Division, Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Inspector General, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Region, announce that defendants Gloria Nereida Valle-Clas, 48, and Alexander Gonzalez, 40, of Loxahatchee, Florida, pled guilty today in West Palm Beach before U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Hopkins.

According to the indictment, and as the defendants admitted when pleading guilty, Valle-Clas obtained two social security numbers (SSN), one of which was originally associated with her birth name, “Nereida Valle,” and one of which was originally associated with the name “Gloria Lopes Clas.” From at least December 2003 to January 2013, she used the SSN for “Nereida Valle” to obtain federal housing, social security, food, cash, and medical benefits from HUD, SSA, USDA and HHS. At the same time, she used the SSN for “Gloria Lopes Clas” to buy real estate in both Broward and Palm Beach Counties, including over an acre of property in Loxahatchee, Florida on which she built an approximately 2,700 square foot residence. Her husband, Gonzalez, also bought real estate in Broward County. When applying for federal benefits, she failed to disclose her or her husband’s ownership of property, as well as other assets and income.

Valle-Clas, who formally changed her name from “Nereida Valle” to “Gloria Nereida Valle-Clas” in 2003, used approximately 12 aliases in perpetrating the scheme, most of which were variations on “Nereida Valle” and “Gloria Lopes Clas.”

Valle-Clas pled guilty to one count of conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and one count of making a false statement to HUD, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. Gonzalez pled guilty to one count of aiding and abetting Valle-Clas in making a false statement to HUD, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. The maximum penalties for each of the Section 371 conspiracy and Section 1001 HUD false statement counts are five years in prison, up to three years supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or not more than twice the gross gain or loss form the offense, whichever is greater.

Valle-Clas and Gonzalez are scheduled to be sentenced on February 21, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. in West Palm Beach before U.S. Senior District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of HUD-Office of the Inspector General, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the SSA-Office of the Inspector General, the USDA-Office of the Inspector General, and the HHS-OIG. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bell.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Major Camille Soverel, Regional Commander, South A Region, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), announce the filing of an information against Robert Jaques, 43, of Deerfield Beach. The information charges that Jaques sold or offered for sale two Largetooth Sawfish (Pristis perotteti) rostrums, an endangered species, in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 1538(a)(1)(F) and 1540(b)(1). The information also seeks the forfeiture of the Largethooth Sawfish rostrums.

According to the information, on or about June 27, 2013, in Palm Beach County and elsewhere, Jaques sold or offered for sale two Largethooth Sawfish rostrums. The list of species at Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 224.101 identifies the Largetooth Sawfish as an endangered species subject to the ESA. An endangered species is any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A Marra. If convicted, Jaques faces a possible sentence of up to one year in prison, the forfeiture of the Largethooth Sawfish rostrums, and a fine of up to $50,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and FWC. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman O. Hemming, III and Antonia Barnes.

An information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, announce that Lionell Sanders, a/k/a “Pistol,” a/k/a “Briscoe,” 19, of Miami, pled guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a), two counts of armed robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a), and two counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii).

Sanders admitted to robbing two Super Yellow Cab, Inc. drivers at gunpoint in August 2013. During both robberies, Sanders pointed a firearm to the victims’ heads, demanded all of their money, and told them that he would kill them if they resisted. Sanders’ fingerprints were found on the driver’s side door of one of the taxis. These robberies were a part of a series of armed robberies of taxi and food delivery drivers that Sanders organized and carried out in the City of Miami during the summer of 2013. In one of the armed robberies, a taxi cab driver was shot in the back as he tried to flee. Sanders not only bragged to his friends about committing these crimes, but also posted photographs of his firearms on his Facebook account, which was aptly named “Pistol.Slidda”.

The defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years in prison and a maximum sentence of up to life. Sanders’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 20, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

This case is, in large part, the result of the Violence Reduction Partnership, launched by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Through this Partnership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal and local law enforcement allies have sought to dismantle the most violent criminal networks in various neighborhoods, while simultaneously working with community leaders and concerned citizens to mentor at-risk youths, provide jobs and job training to young families, and help probationers and parolees successfully re-enter society.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the ATF and the City of Miami Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vanessa Singh Johannes and Seth Schlessinger.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that defendant Carlos Rodriguez, 40, of Miami Lakes, pled guilty yesterday to one count of structuring financial transactions with the intent to evade currency reporting requirements, in violation of Title 31, United States Code, Sections 5324(a)(3) and 5324(d)(2). Rodriguez is the former Chief Executive Officer of Rodri Rodri & Associates (“Rodri”), formerly located in Miami Lakes. Sentencing is scheduled for March 11, 2014 at 9:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams. At sentencing, Rodriguez faces up to ten years in prison and the forfeiture of property.

According to court documents and statements, financial institutions are required to report cash transactions in amounts over $10,000.00 to the IRS. From on or about January 4, 2012 through on or about March 22, 2012, Rodriguez was the Chief Executive Officer of Rodri, a tax preparation business. During that time, the defendant cashed or had cashed Rodri business checks in amounts under $10,000.00 at JPMorgan Chase Bank with the intent to evade the currency transaction reporting requirements of Title 31, United States Code, Section 5313(a). Pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, the amount of money involved in the structuring violations was between $400,000 and $1 million.

According to the evidence, the tax return preparation part of the business was supervised by the defendant’s late wife Jennifer Rodriguez. The defendant was primarily responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business such as paying employees, collecting fees for the preparation of tax returns, paying business expenses, and handling customers with questions, concerns, or complaints. Nonetheless, many of the tax returns prepared by Rodri were fraudulent and contained false credits, such as education and fuel credits that the taxpayers otherwise were not entitled to have. The structured cash was used to provide cash, for a fee, to taxpayer clients in exchange for their inflated tax refunds.

As further stated in court and in court documents, the proceeds generated by the tax preparation business are traceable to the purchase of the properties listed in the indictment, including a couple of parcels of real property. According to the plea agreement, Rodriguez agreed to forfeit said properties to the United States.

As further stated in the plea agreement, Rodriguez agreed to cooperate with the IRS in its civil examination, determination, assessment, and collection of income taxes related to the defendant’s 2009 through 2012 income tax returns and any related corporate tax returns, and further agreed not to conceal, transfer, or dissipate funds or property that could be used to satisfy such taxes, penalties, and interest.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elijah A. Levitt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), announce that David Rodriguez, 47, of Miami, and Rogny Jerez Lopez, 35, of Hialeah, were sentenced on December 4, 2013 for their role in a drug importation conspiracy involving the smuggling of cocaine aboard cargo ships operated by King Ocean Services. U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced David Rodriguez to 235 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and Rogny Jerez Lopez to 87 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

The investigation revealed that beginning in approximately 2005 through 2012, Rodriguez, the leader of a Miami-based drug-trafficking organization, and Jerez Lopez, a former King Ocean Services employee working at Port Everglades, were involved in the importation of millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine. Rodriguez, Jerez Lopez and their co-conspirators smuggled the cocaine into the United States by having it concealed inside cargo containers while King Ocean Services cargo vessels were docked at ports overseas. Once the vessels arrived at Port Everglades, Jerez Perez assisted in removing the narcotics from the cargo vessels and into the hands of drug traffickers under the direction of Rodriguez.

This case was the result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) led by ICE-HSI. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, the South Florida Money Laundering Strike Force, the Broward Sheriff's Office and the DEA. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aimee Jimenez.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), and R. Sean Baldwin, Chief, Fort Pierce Police Department, announce the arrest of William Evens Josma, 34, of Fort Pierce, for using the name, social security card, and employment authorization card of another person to obtain employment as a phlebotomist at local hospitals. Josma was arraigned in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

The complaint alleges that from January 7, 2013 to November 2013, Josma worked as a phlebotomist at Indian River Medical Center under a false name. Josma is a Haitian national, and does not have immigration authorization to work in the United States. Josma used the name, social security card and employment authorization card of another person to satisfy the employment verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act to obtain employment. Josma’s real identity was uncovered when he purchased a fraudulent immigration stamp from Haiti to make it appear that he had continued authorization to work in the United States. Josma also possessed a Florida driver’s license in the false identity, as well as a badge under that identity showing that he previously worked at Martin Memorial Health System as well.

The indictment charges Josma with two counts of making a false attestation on Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to satisfy a requirement of the employment verification system in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546(b)(3); two counts of using an identification document not issued to him to satisfy a requirement of the employment verification system in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546(b)(1); two counts of false representation of a social security number in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B); and two counts of aggravated identity theft in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A. If convicted, Josma faces up to five years in prison for the false attestation, use of an unlawful identification and false representation of a social security number counts, and a consecutive two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft count.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the Fort Pierce Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaniek Maynard.

A complaint and indictment are only accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that James C. Howard, III, 54, of Parkland, FL, the founder of Commodities Online LLC (COL), was sentenced on December 3, 2014 for his participation in a $21 million investment fraud scheme.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard sentenced Howard to 189 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The Court also ordered a forfeiture judgment of $21,631,466. The Court will also order restitution to be paid to the victims. The restitution hearing is set for February 24, 2014.

Howard pled guilty on September 16, 2013 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. According to court documents, Howard conspired with co-defendants Patricia S. Saa, Louis N. Gallo, III, and Michael R. Casey to defraud individuals who invested in COL. From approximately January 2010 through April 2011, Howard and his co-conspirators used material false and fraudulent representations and material omissions to obtain over $21 million from over 700 investors.

According to court documents, Howard and his co-conspirators used COL to sell COL ownership units, subscriptions to the COL website, and investments in purported transactions to buy and sell commodities. After receiving the funds for the COL ownership units, Howard and Saa diverted a large part of those funds for other purposes. In addition to selling COL ownership units, Howard and his co-conspirators caused certain purported “pre-sold” commodities contracts to be offered for investment via the COL website, stating a pre-determined percentage return on investment and the number of days by when investors would be paid. Howard and his co-conspirators also represented to investors that COL had a track record of profits. However, COL did not have profits. Any payments made to investors were made using funds received from newer investors.

Also according to court documents, Howard and his co-conspirators made material misrepresentations and omissions about the leaders of COL. After mid-2010, Howard and his co-conspirators represented that Howard was no longer President of COL and that co-defendant Casey, an attorney, was the President of COL. Howard and his co-conspirators represented that Howard was no longer managing COL, when in fact, Howard remained in charge. Also, Howard and his co-conspirators did not disclose to investors that both Howard and co-defendant Gallo had previously been convicted of federal felonies and that Gallo was still serving a term of supervised release.

The trial of Howard’s codefendants, Casey, Gallo, and Rita Balbirer who were charged in the same indictment is scheduled for March 10, 2014. Balbirer was charged with money laundering.

In addition to codefendants charged in the same indictment with Howard, other participants in the investment fraud conspiracy related to COL have been charged in separate Informations: Timothy B. Josselson, the Chief Operating Officer, Kathryn A. Josselson, the Comptroller, and Robert S. Lananna, the Director of Sales. Timothy Josselson pled guilty November 22, 2013. His sentencing is scheduled for January 30, 2014. Kathryn Josselson pled guilty November 14, 2013. Her sentencing is scheduled for January 23, 2014. Robert Lananna pled guilty November 14, 2013. His sentencing is scheduled for January 31, 2014.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the cooperative efforts of the Miami Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Three patient recruiters for a Miami health care company pleaded guilty yesterday for their participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.

Miami residents Marianela Martinez, 45; Omar Hernandez, 48; and Celia Santovenia, 49, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham in the Southern District of Florida to one count each of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 11, 2014.

According to court documents, Martinez, Hernandez and Santovenia were patient recruiters who worked for Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp., and Santovenia also worked for Good Quality Home Health Care Inc. Caring Nurse and Good Quality were Miami home health care agencies that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

From approximately January 2006 through June 2011, the defendants would recruit patients for Caring Nurse and/or Good Quality and would solicit and receive kickbacks and bribes from the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and/or Good Quality in return for allowing the agency to bill the Medicare program on behalf of the recruited patients. These Medicare beneficiaries were billed for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.

In a related case, on Feb. 27, 2013, Rogelio Rodriguez, 44, and Raymond Aday, 49, the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and Good Quality, were sentenced to serve 108 and 51 months in prison, respectively. The sentencings followed their December 2012 guilty pleas to one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud charged in an October 2012 indictment, which alleged that from approximately January 2006 through June 2011, Caring Nurse and Good Quality submitted approximately $48 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Medicare paid approximately $33 million for those fraudulent claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,700 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A patient recruiter of a Miami health care company was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison today for his participation in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.

Emilio Amador, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida. In addition to his prison term, Amador was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $24 million in restitution, jointly and severally with co-defendants.

In September 2013, Amador pleaded guilty before Judge Moreno to one count of conspiring to receive health care kickbacks and two counts of receiving health care kickbacks.

According to court documents, Amador was a patient recruiter who worked for Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp., a Miami home health care agency that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

From approximately January 2006 through June 2011, Amador would recruit patients for Caring Nurse, and in doing so would solicit and receive kickbacks and bribes from the owners and operators of Caring Nurse in return for allowing Caring Nurse to bill the Medicare program on behalf of the patients Amador had recruited. These Medicare beneficiaries were billed for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.

According to court documents, Amador also pleaded guilty to his involvement with fraudulent billings for Nation’s Best Care Home Health Corp. as relevant conduct. Amador was the owner, operator and president of Nation’s Best. The fraudulent billings for Nation’s Best totaled approximately $30 million.

In a related case, on Feb. 27, 2013, Rogelio Rodriguez, 44, and Raymond Aday, 49, the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and Good Quality, were sentenced to serve 108 and 51 months in prison, respectively. The sentencings followed their December 2012 guilty pleas to one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud charged in an October 2012 indictment, which alleged that from approximately January 2006 through June 2011, Caring Nurse and Good Quality submitted approximately $48 million in claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Medicare paid approximately $33 million for those fraudulent claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,700 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that a Miami federal jury convicted local attorney Anthony Livoti, Jr. of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sections 1349, 1956(h), and 1341, respectively, after nearly a three-month trial before U.S. District Robert N. Scola.

The verdict was the result of Livoti’s participation in a scheme to defraud approximately 30,000 victims who invested in the viatical and life settlement company Mutual Benefits Corp. (MBC). The Indictment alleged that Livoti and others, including Steven Steiner a/k/a Steven Steinger, and Michael McNerney, raised more than $1.25 billion from these investor-victims before being shut down by federal regulators in May 2004. Livoti is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Scola on February 21, 2014, at 8:30 a.m.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from approximately 1994 to May 2004, MBC purchased life insurance policies from the elderly, as well as persons suffering from AIDS and chronically ill. Thereafter, MBC sold fractionalized interests in insurance policy death benefits, known as “viatical settlements,” to approximately 30,000 investorv-victims. MBC told investors that its viatical settlements offered a fixed rate of return with low risk, and that investors’ principal and returns were paid by the insurance companies. Evidence presented at trial established that MBC misrepresented many important facts relating to its viatical settlements, including, for example, the estimated life expectancies of the insured persons, MBC’s fraudulent methods used to acquire life insurance policies, the risks associated with certain policies, the payment of premiums, and the source of funds used to pay investors.

Defendant Anthony Livoti, Jr., an attorney licensed by the State of Florida, was MBC’s premium trustee, and as a result was entrusted with millions of dollars of investor money placed in bank accounts under his control. Livoti was also the designated “trustee” of thousands of the insurance policies sold by MBC. Evidence showed that Livoti assisted MBC with the marketing of its fraudulent investment by meeting with investors in his Fort Lauderdale law office and encouraging them to purchase MBC investments.

Witnesses testified that new investor money was regularly used to pay premiums on life insurance policies purchased by earlier investors and to pay investors who requested their money back. In Ponzi-like fashion, Livoti and his co-conspirators were using new investor money to pay for earlier investor obligations. As the fraud continued, eventually investor money was required to prevent the MBC Ponzi from collapsing. Ultimately, investors lost more than $750 million.

Evidence at trial also showed that co-defendant Joel Steinger was the principal executive in charge of most major decisions made at MBC. Steinger’s trial in this case is currently set to begin April 2, 2014 before Judge Scola.

Defendant Steven Steiner, Joel Steinger’s brother, was also a founding principal of MBC, actively involved in MBC’s sales staff, and encouraged investors to buy MBC’s investments. On September 3, 2013, Steiner pled guilty to charges in this Indictment. His sentencing is set for December 16, 2013. Steiner was also found guilty by a federal jury in a related case, United States v. Steven Steiner, Case No. 11-20578-Cr-Williams. On August 16, 2013, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams sentenced defendant Steven Steiner to 15 years in prison in connection with money laundering and obstruction of justice related to the use and concealment of more than $15 million dollars in proceeds derived from the MBC fraud.

Michael McNerney pled guilty in this case and was sentenced to five years in prison for his criminal conduct. McNerney, an attorney licensed by the State of Florida, assisted MBC with the marketing of its fraudulent investment by meeting with investors in his Fort Lauderdale law offices and encouraging them to purchase MBC investments.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “For nearly ten years, Anthony Livoti, Jr. used the prestige of his law license to further this massive, multi-million dollar fraud scheme. It is outrageous that an attorney would prey on investors by promising them their money was safe and secure when in reality he was misappropriating their funds.”

“This is another case of an attorney who instead of doing the right thing was motivated by his personal greed and assisted in defrauding thousands of investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said William J. Maddalena, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “An important part of the FBI’s mission is to investigate such financial frauds and hold perpetrators accountable, regardless of how elaborate or complex their scheme is.”

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Miami Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which previously brought a civil action against MBC and its principals. This case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Rochlin and Roger Cruz.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, and Edward Grace, Deputy Assistant Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, announced that Richard Perrin, 80, formerly of Romulus, Michigan, pled guilty yesterday in federal District Court in Key West for conspiring with others to transport, sell, receive, acquire, and purchase fish and wildlife, Sea Fans (Gorgonia flabellum and Gorgonia ventalina), ornamental tropical fish, sharks, and alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), with a fair market value in excess of $350.00, knowing the wildlife was taken, possessed, transported, sold, and intended to be sold in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, in violation of Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), 3372(a)(4), and 3373(d)(1) and (2), all in violation of Title 18,United States Code, Section 371.

United States District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez, who accepted Perrin’s plea, set sentencing in the matter for March 25, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. in Key West. Perrin faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a criminal fine of up to $250,000. He also faces forfeiture of the vehicle used in the commission of the Lacey Act Violations. Perrin’s co-defendant, Joseph Franko, 35, also of Romulus, entered a guilty plea to the same charge on November 25, 2013 and faces the same possible sentence and fine.

According to the Indictment and Joint Factual Statements submitted to the Court, from approximately December 2008 through December 2011, Perrin and Franko engaged in a conspiracy to purchase, harvest, and transport marine life and reptiles from Florida to Michigan for sale through a business known as Tropicorium, Inc. Perrin was the owner Tropicorium, engaged in the day-to-day management and operation of the corporation, while Franko was an employee. Tropicorium was organized in 1993 under the laws of Michigan with its principal place of business in Romulus. Tropicorium was engaged in the purchase and retail sale of marine life and reptiles, including sharks, marine invertebrates, Sea Fans, ornamental tropical fish, and alligators.

The defendants admitted that they failed to acquire or possess the licenses required by Florida Statute for the marine life they harvested during multiple trips to the Florida Keys. Additionally, the Sea Fans taken by the defendants and sold in Michigan are prohibited from being harvested from the waters of the State or the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where they plied their trade. Richard Perrin and Franko also made stops while en route to the Keys in the area of Big Cypress National Preserve, where they illegally poached juvenile alligators to sell through Tropicorium. Unknown to the defendants, on one occasion they actually sold a baby alligator and illegal Sea Fans from a Florida harvesting trip to an undercover Special Agent of the Fish & Wildlife Service. They also utilized a facility on Grassy Key as maintenance base for their harvested marine life until they were ready to ship or transport the specimens to Michigan for sale.

Mr. Ferrer commended the joint investigative efforts of the Special Agents of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement who participated in the long-term investigation into the illegal harvesting and sale of marine life resources from the Florida Keys known as Operation Rock Bottom, and the assistance of the Officers of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald of the Economic & Environmental Crimes Section and Antonia Barnes of the Asset Forfeiture Division.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, and Edward Grace, Deputy Assistant Director U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, announce that Eric Pedersen, 51, and Serdan Ercan, 43, both formerly of Grassy Key, were sentenced today in federal District Court in Key West for conspiring to harvest, transport, and sell wildlife, including Live Rock and attached invertebrates, sea fans, bonnethead sharks, lemon sharks, and nurse sharks, with a fair market value in excess of $350.00, knowing the marine life were taken, possessed, transported, sold, and intended to be sold in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, contrary to the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), 3373(d)(1) and (2), and Title 18, United States Code, Section 554, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

Pedersen was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez to 24 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000. Additionally, Pedersen was barred by the Court from any employment during his supervised release that involves the possession, display, transportation, exhibition, purchase, or sale of wildlife. Pedersen was also the subject of an Order of Forfeiture which forfeited the vessel used in perpetrating the illegal harvesting activities. Ercan received a sentence of one year and a day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $6,000.

According to the Indictment, Joint Factual Statements submitted to the Court, and arguments at sentencing, from approximately March 2012 through November 2012, Pedersen and Ercan engaged in a conspiracy to illegally harvest and market marine life from the Florida Keys to wholesalers throughout the United States and abroad through a business located on Grassy Key known as Key Marine, Inc. At the time of the offenses charged, Pedersen was Vice President and Ercan was Secretary of Key Marine. In addition to ornamental fish, the wildlife included Live Rock, Ricordea florida, sea fans, and several species of sharks, which were subject to specific required Florida licensing requirements and bag limits which the participants in the harvesting and sales operations ignored. According to the Factual Statements, Pedersen and Ercan were aware of the requirements of the law, and took actions to conceal the scope and nature of their activities from authorities. Unknown to Pedersen and Ercan, federal agents had begun to monitor their harvest and sales activities, including covertly recording harvest operations and marking illegally acquired products to trace them through their interstate sales. Key Marine, Inc. was dissolved in the wake of the federal prosecution.

Mr. Ferrer commended the joint investigative efforts of the Special Agents of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement who participated in the long-term investigation into the illegal harvesting and sale of marine life resources from the Florida Keys known as Operation Rock Bottom, and the assistance of the Officers of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission who assisted the federal investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and Antonia Barnes, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney?s Office for the District of Idaho.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, and Edward Grace, Deputy Assistant Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, announced that Richard Perrin, 80, formerly of Romulus, Michigan, pled guilty yesterday in federal District Court in Key West for conspiring with others to transport, sell, receive, acquire, and purchase fish and wildlife, Sea Fans (Gorgonia flabellum and Gorgonia ventalina), ornamental tropical fish, sharks, and alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), with a fair market value in excess of $350.00, knowing the wildlife was taken, possessed, transported, sold, and intended to be sold in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, in violation of Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), 3372(a)(4), and 3373(d)(1) and (2), all in violation of Title 18,United States Code, Section 371.

United States District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez, who accepted Perrin’s plea, set sentencing in the matter for March 25, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. in Key West. Perrin faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a criminal fine of up to $250,000. He also faces forfeiture of the vehicle used in the commission of the Lacey Act Violations. Perrin’s co-defendant, Joseph Franko, 35, also of Romulus, entered a guilty plea to the same charge on November 25, 2013 and faces the same possible sentence and fine.

According to the Indictment and Joint Factual Statements submitted to the Court, from approximately December 2008 through December 2011, Perrin and Franko engaged in a conspiracy to purchase, harvest, and transport marine life and reptiles from Florida to Michigan for sale through a business known as Tropicorium, Inc. Perrin was the owner Tropicorium, engaged in the day-to-day management and operation of the corporation, while Franko was an employee. Tropicorium was organized in 1993 under the laws of Michigan with its principal place of business in Romulus. Tropicorium was engaged in the purchase and retail sale of marine life and reptiles, including sharks, marine invertebrates, Sea Fans, ornamental tropical fish, and alligators.

The defendants admitted that they failed to acquire or possess the licenses required by Florida Statute for the marine life they harvested during multiple trips to the Florida Keys. Additionally, the Sea Fans taken by the defendants and sold in Michigan are prohibited from being harvested from the waters of the State or the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where they plied their trade. Richard Perrin and Franko also made stops while en route to the Keys in the area of Big Cypress National Preserve, where they illegally poached juvenile alligators to sell through Tropicorium. Unknown to the defendants, on one occasion they actually sold a baby alligator and illegal Sea Fans from a Florida harvesting trip to an undercover Special Agent of the Fish & Wildlife Service. They also utilized a facility on Grassy Key as maintenance base for their harvested marine life until they were ready to ship or transport the specimens to Michigan for sale.

Mr. Ferrer commended the joint investigative efforts of the Special Agents of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement who participated in the long-term investigation into the illegal harvesting and sale of marine life resources from the Florida Keys known as Operation Rock Bottom, and the assistance of the Officers of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald of the Economic & Environmental Crimes Section and Antonia Barnes of the Asset Forfeiture Division.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, and David Pharo, Resident Agent in Charge U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Miami, announce that Ammon Covino, 40, formerly of Meridian, Idaho, and Christopher Conk, 40, of Middleton, Idaho, were sentenced today in federal District Court in Key West for conspiring to harvest, transport, and sell spotted eagle rays and lemon sharks, knowing the marine life were taken, possessed, transported, sold, and intended to be sold in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, contrary to the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), and 3373(d)(1) and (2), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

Covino was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez to one year and a day in prison, followed by a term of supervised release of two years. Additionally, Covino was barred by the Court from any employment during the period of supervised release that involves the possession, display, transportation, exhibition, purchase, or sale of wildlife. Conk, who cooperated with investigators, received a reduced sentence of four months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Conk was also the subject of an Order of Forfeiture which forfeited the motor vehicle used in perpetrating the crime. As part of his sentence, 180 days of the supervised release is to be served in home detention under electronic monitoring. Conk also received the specific employment prohibition during his period of supervised release, as Covino. In imposing the prison sentences, Judge Martinez stated that the defendants’ conduct “strikes to the very heart of this area and the economy of this area.”

According to the Indictment, Joint Factual Statements submitted to the Court, and argument at sentencing, during March 2012 through approximately November 2012, Covino and Conk engaged in a conspiracy to purchase and transport wildlife from the Florida Keys to Idaho for exhibit at the Idaho Aquarium in Boise. The wildlife included spotted eagle rays and lemon sharks, which required Florida licenses and permits never acquired by the participants in the deals. According to the Factual Statements, Covino and Conk were both at the time officers of the Aquarium, were individually advised of the requirements of the law, and nevertheless directed their Florida-based suppliers to ignore the law and make the shipments. Unknown to Covino and Conk at the time of the phone calls was the fact that the business owner was cooperating with federal authorities and the phone conversations and text messages were recorded. Payment for the various specimens was made by credit cards held in the Aquarium?s name. The defendants acknowledged that their illegal conduct was within the scope of their employment, and intended to benefit, at least in part, the Idaho Aquarium. In the same case, Idaho Aquarium, Inc. pled guilty to the same conspiracy count and is awaiting sentencing.

In a separate criminal proceeding, United States v. Peter C. Covino, IV, Case No. 13-10010-CR-Martinez, Peter Covino, the nephew of Ammon Covino, was tried, convicted, and sentenced for obstruction of justice in connection with his effort to persuade the supplier in the Florida Keys to destroy the invoices and messages related to the illegal purchases of marine life to prevent their use in Ammon Covino’s case, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1512(b)(2)(B). Testimony at the trial established that after Ammon Covino had been arrested on February 21, 2013 he induced Peter Covino to make the calls. During the sentencing proceeding, Judge Martinez specifically noted that Peter Covino would likely never have been involved in the criminal conduct but for the actions of his uncle.

Mr. Ferrer commended the joint investigative efforts of the Special Agents of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement who participated in the long-term investigation into the illegal harvesting and sale of marine life resources from the Florida Keys known as Operation Rock Bottom, and the assistance of the Officers of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald of the Economic & Environmental Crimes Section and Antonia Barnes of the Asset Forfeiture Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations, Miami Office announce that two health care clinic owners were sentenced today in connection with an $8 million health care fraud scheme involving the now-defunct home health care company Flores Home Health Care Inc.

Miguel Jimenez, 43, and Marina Sanchez Pajon, 29, both of Miami, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro. Jimenez was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison and Pajon was sentenced to serve 57 months in prison. Jimenez and Pajon pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Jimenez and Pajon, who are married, were owners and operators of Flores Home Health, a Miami home health care agency that purported to provide home health and physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

According to court documents, Jimenez and Pajon operated Flores Home Health for the purpose of billing Medicare for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided. Jimenez’s primary role at Flores Home Health involved controlling the company and running and overseeing the schemes conducted through Flores Home Health. Both Jimenez and Pajon were responsible for negotiating and paying kickbacks and bribes, interacting with patient recruiters, and coordinating and overseeing the submission of fraudulent claims to the Medicare program.

Jimenez, Pajon, and their co-conspirators paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in return for the recruiters providing patients to Flores Home Health for home health and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided. They also paid kickbacks and bribes to co-conspirators in doctors’ offices and clinics in exchange for home health and therapy prescriptions, medical certifications, and other documentation. Jimenez, Pajon, and their co-conspirators used the prescriptions, medical certifications, and other documentation to fraudulently bill Medicare for home health care services, which Jimenez and Pajon knew was in violation of federal criminal laws.

From approximately October 2009 through approximately June 2012, Flores Home Health was paid approximately $8 million by Medicare for fraudulent claims for home health services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney A. Brendan Stewart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, announce the arrest of Quinton Mitchell, 31, from Sweeting’s Cay Settlement, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas. Mitchell made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. A pre-trial detention hearing is scheduled for December 6, 2013.

Mitchell is charged with importation of controlled substances involving 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, in violation of with Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952 (a) and 960(b)(2)(G). If convicted, Mitchell faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to a maximum of 40 years, four years to a lifetime of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $5,000,000.

According to the allegations in the criminal complaint, a vessel capsized in the waters off Jupiter Island, Florida, and three males swam to shore, including Mitchell. Upon arriving to shore, Mitchell ran away from the scene. A second male, later identified as LeRoy Edwards, a Jamaican national, was rescued from the surf and resuscitated by a good samaritan. Quinton Mitchell, was identified as the boat captain. Before running off, Mitchell told the good samaritan that there had been a total of four males on the boat.

Mitchell was later captured by Jupiter Island Police Department Officers and Martin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, who responded to the area and found the beach littered with white bales and blue gas cans, and the partially submerged boat approximately 200 feet from the shoreline.

Martin County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene investigators found that the recovered bales contained marijuana, weighing approximately 236 kilograms. Authorities are still searching for the other passengers that were on-board the boat.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, DEA, the Jupiter Island Police Department, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Florida Fish and Wildlife. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.

A complaint is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Drew J. Breakspear, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, Bureau of Financial Investigations, announce that Daniel Paez, 27, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty today to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas, in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in Florida and several states. Paez faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for February 4, 2014 before Judge Dimitrouleas in Ft. Lauderdale.

According to court documents, Paez was the President of Fly High Investments, Inc., a Miami-Dade investment fund. From in or around September 2010, through in or around April 2012, Paez obtained more than $500,000 in funds from investors via telephone solicitations and through the Internet. Paez told investors that Fly High Investments was a hedge fund that managed more than $50 million, and he promised investors that their money would be invested in safe and secure investments. Paez also promised a fixed rate of return and that investors could withdraw their money whenever they wished. Instead, according to the Information, Paez spent the bulk of the money raised from investors at casinos, and also withdrew large amounts of cash for his personal benefit. Paez did invest certain investor monies in stocks and other securities, but often in high risk investments or penny stocks that were materially different than the specific investments promised to investors during their sales pitch.

When investors contacted Fly High Investments and Paez to inquire about the status of their funds, Paez misled investors into believing their money was safe and had been invested profitably. Paez ultimately stopped returning calls and ignored requests for the return of investor funds. According to the Information, there were approximately 17 victim investors who were located in Florida and other states, including California, South Dakota, New Jersey and Minnesota. None of these investors received any return on their investment and they lost all of the money they invested with Fly High Investments and Paez.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, Bureau of Financial Investigations. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerrob Duffy.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Hugo J. Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation (ICE-HSI), announce that thirteen defendants pled guilty to drug trafficking charges yesterday before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro. Sentencing for the defendants is scheduled for February 21, 2014.

The defendants that pled guilty are:

Jose Alberto Ontivero Monte de Oca, aka “Pariente,” aka “El Viejo,” aka “Papito,” 54, of Hialeah, Florida; Pedro Farach, 45, of Hialeah, Florida; Jaime Maldonado Ramos, aka “Oggie,” 46, of Homestead, Florida; Mitchael Cabanas, 43, of Miami, Florida; Jose Alfredo Villarreal, aka “Alfredito,” 40, of Naples, Florida; Roberto Perez, aka “Rodo,” 46, of Pembroke Pines, Florida; Juan Enrique Martinez, 50, of Miami, Florida; Alberto Arregoitia Lorenzo, aka “Lorenzo Arregoitia,” 61, of Miami, Florida; Miguel Angel Desdin, aka “Miguelon,” 59, of Hialeah, Florida; Vladimir Mir-Medina, aka “Vladimir Medina,” aka “Vladimir Mir,” 50, of Miami, Florida; Miguel Cruz, 49, of Hialeah, Florida; Manuel Bautista Alvarez, 53, of Miami, Florida; and
Hernan Rodriguez Alfaro, aka “Iran,” 40, of Cutler Bay, Florida.

Defendants Pedro Farach, Jaime Maldonado Ramos, Mitchael Cabanas, Juan Enrique Martinez, Alberto Arregoitia Lorenzo, Miguel Angel Desdin, Miguel Cruz, and Manuel Bautista Alvarez pled guilty to Count 1 of a Second Superseding Information charging them with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 500 grams of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. Defendants Vladimir Mir-Medina and Jose Alfredo Villarreal pled guilty to Count 2 of a Second Superseding Information charging them with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. Defendant Roberto Perez pled guilty to Count 8 of a Superseding Indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute over 500 grams of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). Defendant Hernan Rodriguez Alfaro pled guilty to Count 4 of a Superseding Indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). Lead defendant Jose Alberto Ontivero Monte de Oca pled guilty to Count 1 of the Superseding Indictment charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846.

At sentencing, defendants Pedro Farach, Jaime Maldonado Ramos, Mitchael Cabanas, Juan Enrique Martinez, Alberto Arregoitia Lorenzo, Miguel Angel Desdin, Miguel Cruz, Manuel Bautista Alvarez, and Roberto Perez face a minimum mandatory term of 5 years in prison and a maximum term of up to 40 years in prison. Defendants Vladimir Mir-Medina, Jose Alfredo Villarreal, and Hernan Rodriguez Alfaro face a maximum term of up to 20 years in prison. Lead defendant Jose Alberto Ontivero Monte de Oca faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of up to life in prison.

The other defendants charged in this case are Rayko Enrique Rubi, 40, of Davie, Florida; Ramon Martinez II, 37, of Hialeah, Florida; and Rafael Luis Ramos Lopez, aka “Lou,” 46, of Miami, Florida, and are scheduled to go to trial on January 13, 2014.

According to court documents, this conspiracy involved multiple kilograms of cocaine distributed in the Greater Miami area, specifically in the cities of Hialeah and Homestead, between September 2011 and September 2013. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized over two kilograms of cocaine, over $170,000.00 in U.S. currency, four firearms, and over ten vehicles.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the DEA, ATF and ICE-HSI. Mr. Ferrer also commended the U.S. Marshals Service, the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Coral Gables Police Department, the Hialeah Police Department, the Homestead Police Department, and the West Miami Police Department for their assistance in this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Castrolugo.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

The owner and operator of several Miami health care agencies was sentenced today to serve 120 months in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme involving defunct home health care company Trust Care Health Services Inc.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office; and Special Agent in Charge José A. Gonzalez of the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Roberto Marrero, 60, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida. In September 2013, Marrero pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to receive and pay health care kickbacks.

Marrero was an owner and operator of Trust Care, a Miami home health care agency that purported to provide home health and physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

Co-conspirators Sandra Fernandez Viera, 49, Patricia Morcate, 34, and Enrique Rodriguez, 59, all of Miami, have also pleaded guilty to related charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to receive and pay health care kickbacks. On Nov. 13, 2013, Fernandez Viera was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison; Morcate was sentenced to serve 60 months; and Rodriguez was sentenced to serve 57 months.

Together with Marrero, Fernandez Viera was an owner and operator of Trust Care. Morcate worked at and was an investor in Trust Care. Rodriguez served as a patient recruiter on behalf of Trust Care.

According to court documents, Marrero and his co-conspirators operated Trust Care for the purpose of billing the Medicare Program for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or were not provided.

Marrero primarily controlled Trust Care and, in light of that role, oversaw the schemes operating out of the company. Marrero was also responsible for negotiating and paying kickbacks and bribes, interacting with patient recruiters, and coordinating and overseeing the submission of fraudulent claims to the Medicare program.

Marrero and his co-conspirators paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in return for the recruiters providing patients to Trust Care for home health and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided. Marrero and his co-conspirators at Trust Care also paid kickbacks and bribes to co-conspirators in doctors’ offices and clinics in exchange for home health and therapy prescriptions, medical certifications and other documentation. Marrero and his co-conspirators used these prescriptions, medical certifications and other documentation to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for home health care services, which Marrero knew was in violation of federal criminal laws.

From approximately March 2007 through at least October 2010, Trust Care submitted more than $20 million in claims for home health services. Medicare paid Trust Care more than $15 million for these fraudulent claims.

Marrero and his co-conspirators have also acknowledged their involvement in similar fraudulent schemes at several other Miami health care agencies in addition to Trust Care with estimated total losses of approximately $50 million. Those agencies include A&B Health Services Inc., Centrum Home Health Care Inc., Global Nursing Home Health Inc., Lovable Home Health Services Corp., New Concepts In Health Inc., Nursemed Home Care Corp., R&M Health Care Inc., Ubieta Health System Inc., and Vital Care Home Health Services Inc.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, with the assistance of IRS-CI, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force initiative, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney A. Brendan Stewart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Pasquale Pappalardo, 60, of Coral Springs, FL, and Audwin Lovinsky, 35, of Tamarac, FL, were both convicted yesterday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. Pappalardo was also convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956. After the verdicts, defendants were remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. Defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2014.

In all, 41 defendants were charged for their involvement with a time-share resale telemarketing room called Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group, Inc., (TMMMG). The other defendants were charged in Case Nos. 11-60190-Cr-Cohn, 11-60247-Cr-Marra, 11-60268-Cr-Hurley, 12-60019-Cr-Scola, 13-60049-Cr-Dimitrouleas, 12-60149-Cr-Scola, 13-60154-Cr-Scola, and 13-60155-Cr-Dimitrouleas. Aside from the two defendants who were found guilty yesterday, thirty-six defendants previously pled guilty, two remain fugitives, and one is deceased.

According to the evidence presented at trial, in February 2009, Pasquale Pappalardo, also known to the witnesses as “Patsy Ubatz” and “Posh,” and Joseph Crapella, also known to witnesses as “Joey Cigars,” started a branch office of Time Share Market Pro (TMP), a time-share resale business. The testimony at trial was that they knew each other from a previous stint in federal prison. In June 2009, at the direction of Pappalardo and Crapella, their associates took customer files and the electronic database of TMP, among other items, without the knowledge of the owner of TMP.

Pappalardo and Crapella then took the employees and the documents seized from TMP and formed a second time share resale company called TMMMG. In November 2009 and January 2010, TMMMG hired salesmen who worked for other fraudulent telemarketing resale companies, including defendant Lovinsky, who used the phone name of Edwin Lovins. Among the lies they would tell timeshare unit owners, was that they had sold their time-share unit and that they needed to pay a refundable fee to secure the sale. The salesmen would then ask the time share unit owners for a fee of at least $1,996, and as much as $10,000. At no time were there any buyers for the time-share units. The testimony at trial was that both Pappalardo and Crapella were told about the lies being told by the salesmen, but Pappalardo and Crapella would not do anything to stop the salespeople from lying.

During the 10 months that TMMMG was in business, it fraudulently obtained approximately $5,000,000 from about 3,000 customers. Pappalardo received at least $300,000 in checks and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from the money sent by victims of TMMMG.

Pappalardo faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to the greater of $750,000 or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss. Lovinsky faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI in connection with the investigation of this matter. Mr. Ferrer would also like to recognize the assistance provided by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Ronald W. Sharpe, United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands, Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Vito S. Guarino, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Caribbean Division, and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), San Juan and U.S. Virgin Islands, announce the indictment of Dwight Iva Durant, 44, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Supervisor, and Shawn Dowe, 29, both of the Virgin Islands, for their alleged participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Defendant Durant was arrested yesterday in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, where he made his initial appearance in federal court today. Dowe was arrested in California and will make his initial appearance in federal court tomorrow. The indictment was returned in Miami, Florida, where the defendants will stand trial.

The indictment, filed on November 14, 2013, and unsealed yesterday, charges Dwight Iva Durant and Shawn Dowe, each, with conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846. If convicted, the defendants each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a possible statutory maximum sentence of life.

This case is a result of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the DEA West Palm Beach Task Force which is comprised of the following agencies: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Jupiter Police Department, Delray Beach Police Department, Boynton Beach Police Department, and North Bay Village Police Department. In addition, Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of DEA Miami, DEA San Juan, ICE-HSI, Sunrise Police Department, and U.S. Transportation and Security Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin M. Davis.

An indictment is only an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that defendant Annabel Cooper was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $687,475.00 in restitution. Cooper previously pled guilty to an Information that charged her with attempting to evade tax, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201.

According to court documents, between 2006 and 2009, Cooper evaded the payment of income taxes to the IRS by failing to accurately report her true income on her Form 1040. The total amount of income Cooper failed to report during the tax years in question was approximately $2,320,000. The resulting tax loss to the United States was approximately $687,475.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon M. Juenger.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Miami Field Office, John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Frank Robey, Director, Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU), U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, announce the indictment of defendant Stanley P. Phillips, 47, of Dothan, Alabama. Phillips is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. Phillips is scheduled for arraignment on November 20, 2013 in West Palm Beach before U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Hopkins.

According to the indictment, Phillips engaged in a scheme to defraud a subsidiary of Day & Zimmermann International, Inc. (D&Z) of over $600,000. D&Z was a military sub-contractor who had been engaged to build a Weak Acetic Acid Recovery Facility Plant, known as the WAARP Project, at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tennessee. Phillips was the D&Z Construction/Site Manager on the WAARP Project. Phillips used his position with D&Z to influence D&Z into hiring a small company called HSIII as a subcontractor on the WAARP Project. In turn, Phillips had HSIII hire a company called RGS Professional Services, Inc. (RGSPS) to ostensibly do work on behalf of HSIII on the WAARP Project. In fact, RGSPS had been incorporated by Phillips in Florida and was actually a nursing registry which was not capable of providing any services on the WAARP Project. Phillips did not disclose his ownership in RGSPS to HSIII, and made sure HSIII did not disclose RGSPS to D&Z. Phillips directed D&Z to pay HSIII monies which were earmarked for RGSPS, and which were ultimately used by Phillips for his personal benefit.

If convicted, the maximum penalties for each charge are twenty years in prison, up to three years supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or not more than twice the gross gain or loss form the offense, whichever is greater.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, DCIS and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bell.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that a federal jury convicted Rigoberto Cabrera, 37, of Miami-Dade County, on charges relating to his participation in a tax preparation fraud scheme.

Specifically, the jury convicted Rigoberto Cabrera on 29-counts, including one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 18 counts of making false claims to the IRS, four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of money laundering.

According to the indictment and evidence presented during the trial, defendant Cabrera and co-conspirator Carlos Perez, 34, also of Miami-Dade County, recruited individuals and offered to prepare their individual income tax returns with the promise that the defendants could obtain substantial tax refunds for the taxpayers. The recruited taxpayers agreed to pay Cabrera and Perez a percentage of the refunds they received. The defendants then prepared fraudulent 2008 and 2009 federal income tax returns on behalf of the recruited taxpayers, claiming tax credits or deductions to which the taxpayers were not entitled. After the taxpayers received the fraudulent refunds from the IRS, Cabrera and Perez collected a percentage of the funds from the taxpayers through checks payable to companies that the defendants controlled and shell companies.

Through this scheme, the defendants claimed approximately $1,458,905 in tax refunds from the IRS.

Defendant Carlos Perez pled guilty on September 19, 2013 to Counts 1 and 21 of the superseding indictment, which charges the defendant with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, and to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Sentencing for Rigoberto Cabrera has been scheduled for January 24, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. Sentencing for Carlos Perez has been scheduled for December 6, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. Both sentencing hearings are scheduled to take place before U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. At sentencing the defendants face up to ten years in prison for each count of conspiracy to defraud the government, making false claims, and conspiracy to commit money laundering; and up to twenty years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Bernstein and Alejandro O. Soto.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Manuel L. Maroño, 41, the former Mayor of the City of Sweetwater and Jorge L. Forte, 41, a lobbyist, both of Miami, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, for their participation in a scheme to personally benefit through the use of Maroño’s position as Mayor of Sweetwater.

Sentencing has been scheduled for January 23, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch. At sentencing, Maroño and Forte face a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “Today, the former Mayor of Sweetwater admitted under oath in court that he sold the power granted to him by the people of Sweetwater. It is vitally important that the people of South Florida have confidence in their elected officials and know that any abuse of their trust will not be tolerated. I hope that today’s timely resolution and guilty plea will make others think twice before lining their pockets with the greed of corruption.”

“Corrupt officials – either elected or appointed - are on notice; if they breach the public’s trust through stealing or accepting bribes in the course of their official duties, they will be vigorously investigated,” said Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “Public corruption remains a top priority for the FBI. We encourage anyone who may have information about corruption to come forward and report it. This information is vital to our work.”

On October 17, 2013, Maroño and Forte were charged by way of information with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 371.

According to the facts admitted at today’s guilty plea and publically available information, Maroño was the elected Mayor of the City of Sweetwater. In his elected position, Maroño served as the chief executive officer of the City of Sweetwater and was responsible for the management and administration of the city government. Forte, a lifelong friend of Maroño, was a lobbyist and business partner of Maroño.

Maroño and Forte admitted today that beginning in late November 2011, they agreed to aid a company known as Sunshine Universal to obtain federal grant funds for the stated reason of preparing an economic development study for Sweetwater, all in exchange for cash kickbacks to Maroño and Forte. Unknown to Maroño and Forte, Sunshine Universal was an undercover FBI entity. To aid the scheme, Maroño caused the passage of a resolution in Sweetwater that authorized the undercover agents’ company to apply for federal grant moneys using the authority of the City of Sweetwater. After the resolution was passed, Maroño and Forte personally met and negotiated with the undercover agents and accepted a series of cash payments in exchange for Maroño’s official actions in support of the grant scheme. During these negotiations and meetings, Forte acted as the front man for Maroño.

To further the scheme and avoid detection, Maroño also participated in what he believed to be audit telephone calls from the federal government to confirm the grantees’ performance on the grant. During two separate audit calls, both of which were recorded, Maroño lied to and misled the auditor, who was in fact an undercover FBI agent, about the actual use of the grant money and the grantee’s performance. For their corrupt actions, Maroño and Forte received $45,000. Both defendants have agreed to forfeit all of the monies they received as part of their plea agreements.

Mr. Ferrer commends the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force. This case is being prosecuted Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared E. Dwyer and Robert K. Senior.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Kimberly Wendell Rothstein, 38, and Stacie Weisman, 49, were sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum. Kimberly Rothstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Stacie Weisman was sentenced to three months in prison, to be followed by nine months of home detention and three years of supervised release. Forfeiture of the jewelry valued in excess of one million dollars and $515,000 was also ordered as to both defendants. Both defendants previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and to obstruct justice, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

Kimberly Rothstein and Stacie Weisman were charged, along with Scott F. Saidel, 45, in September 2012 in connection with certain crimes committed in furtherance of a plot to conceal and dispose of assets which were subject to forfeiture in connection with a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Scott W. Rothstein. At the same time, in September 2012, Eddy Marin, 50, and Patrick Daoud, 54, were also charged in a separate, but related, matter with obstruction of justice and perjury, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1512(k) and 1621.

According to the documents filed with the court, former Ft. Lauderdale attorney Scott W. Rothstein, who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA), used the funds obtained from the operation of a Ponzi scheme to purchase tens of millions of dollars of real estate, vehicles, vessels, business interests, luxury watches, jewelry and sports memorabilia for himself, his wife, Kimberly Rothstein, and others. As part of his plea agreement, Scott W. Rothstein agreed to forfeit to the government all assets acquired with funds derived from the aforesaid Ponzi scheme. On November 9, 2009, agents of the IRS-CI went to the Rothstein residence, where Kimberly Rothstein assisted the agents in retrieving what was believed to be all of the available cash, jewelry and luxury watches which had been purchased by Scott W. Rothstein with proceeds derived from the Ponzi scheme. However, according to court documents, before, during and after the aforesaid seizure by federal agents on November 9, 2009, Kimberly Rothstein, Stacie Weisman, and Scott F. Saidel knowingly took action to conceal certain items of jewelry, valued in excess of one million dollars, for the purpose of preventing the government from exercising its authority to take such property into its lawful custody and control. Thereafter, Kimberly Rothstein and Stacie Weisman sold and attempted to sell a portion of this jewelry to and through various persons, including Eddy Marin and Patrick Daoud.

The documents further allege that, in connection with civil proceedings instituted by the Trustee in bankruptcy for RRA, all of the defendants took steps to obstruct justice by concealing the true location of certain items of jewelry in order to prevent its availability for use in the bankruptcy proceedings. It is further alleged that Marin and Daoud committed perjury during depositions in connection with the bankruptcy proceedings, and that Kimberly Rothstein, Stacie Weisman and Scott F. Saidel sought to have Scott W. Rothstein testify falsely in connection with those proceedings.

Defendant Scott F. Saidel pled guilty on January 30, 2013. He was sentenced on October 7, 2013 to 36 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Defendants Eddy Marin and Patrick Daoud pled guilty on October 18, 2013. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for February 3, 2014.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence LaVecchio, Jeffrey Kaplan, Paul Schwartz and Evelyn Sheehan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, John A. Bolduc, Chief, Port St. Lucie Police Department, Kenneth Mascara, Sheriff, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, J. Michelle Morris, Chief, Sebastian Police Department, Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, announce the arrests of Raven Simone Sayers, 23, of Hallandale, Florida, Joe JR Desilien, 24, and Herbert LeNorris Smith, 36, both of West Palm Beach, Florida. Sayers, Desilien and Smith were arraigned on November 5, 2013 on a Second Superseding Indictment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. in Ft. Pierce, Florida, bringing the number of defendants charged in the series of PNC Bank armed robberies to eight. Trial has been set for January 27, 2014, in Ft. Pierce before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez.

The Second Superseding Indictment, filed October 31, 2013, charges the defendants with conspiracy to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951; with obstruction, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951; and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). If convicted of the Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy or Hobbs Act robbery, the defendants face a possible maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. If convicted of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, the defendants face a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison. In the case of a second or subsequent conviction, the defendants face a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison, up to a possible maximum sentence of life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

According to the criminal complaints filed in these matters, on July 8, 2013, the PNC Bank located in Ft. Pierce, Florida and the PNC Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida were robbed almost simultaneously at gunpoint by groups of black males wearing white clothing and white cloth masks. In each robbery, the groups of males fled in mini vans stolen earlier that morning. One group was apprehended after a police chase that ended near the intersection of Port St. Lucie Boulevard and Aster Road in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The driver Tomaleesha Jeffie Laqua McKeliver, and the three passengers, Anthony Isaac Johnson, Allan Demetrius Bradford, and Ivory Lee Robinson, III, were arrested.

The criminal complaints also state that shortly after two of the males fled the PNC Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the third male became momentarily trapped inside, and was observed removing clothing as he fled the bank. A bag containing money was recovered near the PNC Bank and defendant Paul Edward Moore was arrested nearby. With the exception of Moore, the other individuals involved in the Port St. Lucie bank robbery remained at large until the recent arrests of defendants Sayers, Desilien and Smith.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, Port St. Lucie Police Department, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Sebastian Police Department, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Port Orange Police Department, and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Scott J. Israel, Sheriff, Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO), and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), announce that Rafael Oscar Valdes and Tammy Lynn Valdes, of Miami, Florida, were found guilty by a federal jury of all counts charged in connection with the unlawful sale of hundreds of firearms without a federal firearms license.

After a two week trial and over 300 items of admitted evidence, the jury convicted Rafael Valdes with dealing in firearms without a license (18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A)), making a false statement to a federal firearms dealer (18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6)), interstate transportation of stolen property (18 U.S.C. § 2314), and filing false tax returns for years 2008 – 2011 (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1)). The jury also convicted Tammy Valdes with dealing in firearms without a license and filing false tax returns for years 2008 – 2011. At sentencing, Rafael Valdes faces a combined maximum statutory term of imprisonment of 37 years, as well as paying restitution to the City of Hialeah and possible fines. At sentencing, Tammy Valdes faces a combined maximum statutory term of imprisonment of 18 years and possible fines. Sentencing is scheduled for December 12, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.

According to the court record and evidence presented at trial, Rafael Valdes was employed as a police officer with the City of Hialeah, Florida since 2004. Tammy Valdes was also once employed as a police officer with the City of West Miami, Florida, from 2004 until 2008 and the Town of Golden Beach, Florida, from 2008 through 2009. Neither defendant ever possessed a federal firearms license.

The Valdeses were initially indicted on December 13, 2012, for dealing in firearms without a license. Starting as early as July 2005, and continuing through June 2012, the defendants sold hundreds of firearms. In November 2008, the defendants began buying and selling firearms under the fictitious name of Custom Weapons Systems. The defendants advertised and sold over 100 firearms via the Internet to persons across the nation. The defendants also attended over 100 gun shows in the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, during which they purchased over 400 firearms and sold over 500 firearms. At times, their purchase and subsequent sale of firearms took place on the same day. Additionally, the defendants sold nine firearms to undercover agents, solicited the purchase of firearms from undercover agents, and offered to acquire firearms for undercover agents on a repetitive basis.

As part of the initial indictment, Rafael Valdes was charged with making a false statement to a licensed firearms dealer in December 2008 when he purchased three AR-15 serialized lower receivers. Evidence admitted during trial proved that Rafael Valdes purchased those receivers for the sole purpose of building and selling completed rifles to three other officers after taking deposits. Rafael Valdes then falsely stated on an ATF Form 4473 that all three receivers were his, when in fact he was acquiring those receivers for other persons.

On July 31, 2013, a superseding indictment added tax charges against both defendants for filing false tax returns from 2008 – 2011, in that they failed to report their total income which included money derived from firearm sales. During trial, evidence was presented that the Valdeses failed to report over $350,000.00 in gross receipts during 2008 - 2011.

The superseding indictment also charged Rafael Valdes with transporting stolen firearm parts from the Hialeah Police Department where he was employed in the training section. During trial, the evidence showed that Rafael Valdes took apart firearms that were in evidence at the Hialeah Police Department and deemed to be destroyed. Rafael Valdes then advertised those parts for sale on the internet and later transported those parts to buyers located across the United States, including; New York, California, Utah, and Missouri. Rafael Valdes then deposited the proceeds into his personal bank account. In addition to selling parts of firearms that were once in evidence, Rafael Valdes also sold machine gun parts taken from six different Heckler and Koch, MP-5 machine guns which had been utilized by the Hialeah Police Department SWAT team.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative and cooperative efforts of ATF, IRS-CI, BSO, PBSO, Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami Beach Police Department, City of Miami Police Department, Virginia Gardens Police Department, Hialeah Police Department, FDLE, FBI and HSI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam McMichael and John McMillan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, Guy Fallen, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Steven Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, Larry Gomer, Interim Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, and Juan Santana, Chief, Miami-Dade Police Department, announce the filing of federal charges against 47 defendants in 30 separate cases, dealing with thousands of stolen identities and millions of dollars of fraudulent identity theft tax filings. Today’s cases reaffirm the joint federal and local commitment to crack-down on stolen identity tax refund fraud (SIRF) perpetrators.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Florida had the highest rate of identity theft in the United States in 2012. While identity theft in Florida ranks highest in the United States, the identity theft rate in Miami has reached near epidemic proportions. Florida’s rate of 361.3 complaints per 100,000 residents – the highest in the United States – is dwarfed by the Miami rate of 645.4 complaints per 100,000 residents.

Moreover, a September 2012 report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) determined that Florida has the highest rate of stolen identity tax refund fraud in the United States. The City of Miami’s per capita number of false returns based on identity theft was 46 times the national average, and its per capita SIRF dollar value was more than 70 times the national average. Worse still, this problem is projected to grow: the TIGTA report estimates that the IRS could issue as much as $21 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over the next five years.

In an attempt to combat the rising wave of stolen identity tax refund scams, and armed with recent directives from the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, making prosecutions faster and easier, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida established the South Florida Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force (Strike Force) in August 2012.

The members of the Strike Force, and participating agencies, include the United States Attorney’s Office, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Aventura Police Department, North Miami Beach Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, Town of Davie Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, Coconut Creek Police Department, Sunrise Police Department, Coral Springs Police Department, Miramar Police Department and North Miami Police Department.

Since the inception of the Strike Force, we have charged 273 defendants responsible for approximately $451 million in intended stolen identity refund fraud loss and in excess of $99 million in actual SIRF fraud loss. The Strike Force also worked proactively to hinder the efforts of SIRF defendants by attacking the fraudulent use of EFIN numbers in the Southern District of Florida. An EFIN number is a designated number issued by the IRS that allows individuals to file tax returns on behalf of other taxpayers. By analyzing fraudulent returns associated with certain of the EFIN numbers used in this District, the Strike Force, working closely in conjunction with IRS, revoked or suspended 70 of the worst offending EFIN numbers with which 53,900 returns were filed and stopped the flow of refunds associated with those numbers, saving the taxpayers untold millions of dollars.

Today, U.S. Attorney Ferrer, joined by members of the Strike Force, announce the most recent results of their investigative efforts. The cases announced today include:

1. United States v. Angelo Ponds and Sean Guillaume, Case No. 13-60242-CR-Cohn

Defendants Angelo Ponds, 32, of Miami Gardens, and Sean Guillaume, 31, of Miramar, were charged in a nine count indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme relating to a health care provider.

According to the indictment, Guillaume worked for a company that performed medical laboratory tests where he had access to medical records with names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers (personal identity information or “PII”) of individuals in the course of his employment with that company. During the conspiracy, Guillaume stole PII from the company and sold five thousand individuals’ PII to Ponds. Guillaume knew that Ponds would use the PII for the filing of fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns. Ponds caused other individuals to file false and fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking refunds using the PII provided by Guillaume.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims to the government, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.

2. United States v. Camilla Gonzalez and Patricia Alcime, Case No. 13-60249-CR-Scola

On October 3, 2013, defendants Camilla Gonzalez, 29, and Patricia Alcime, 29, both of Lauderhill, were charged in a 13 count indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $2 million in fraudulent refund claims.

According to the indictment, Gonzalez and Alcime, while operating the tax preparation company “Luxury Tax,” obtained personal identifying information of numerous identity theft victims, including their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. Upon receipt of the sensitive personal identifying information, they utilized this information to electronically file false, fictitious, and fraudulent federal income tax returns without the knowledge or authorization of the identity theft victims, utilizing the EFIN assigned to Luxury Tax Inc. and their individually assigned PTIN’s, and thereafter claimed refunds to which they were not entitled from the IRS. Defendants thereafter directed the IRS that the fraudulently claimed refunds be direct deposited into “Luxury Tax Inc.” bank accounts or onto pre-paid reloadable debit cards. Once the bank accounts or pre-paid reloadable debit cards had been funded by the Department of the Treasury, defendants withdrew the funds at local automated teller machines (ATM’s) or by utilizing their debit cards to make everyday purchases, including point of sale transactions at various local businesses and merchants. In total, they defrauded the IRS out of approximately $2,000,000.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims to the government, theft of public money, and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.

3. United States v. Ernest Archie, III, Case No. 13-20755-CR-Martinez

On October 4, 2013, defendant Ernest Archie, 21, of Miami, was charged in a two count indictment with mail theft offenses.

According to the indictment, the defendant, while working as a postal employee, delayed and embezzled articles of mail, including debit cards which were intended to be delivered by the defendant, all in connection with a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of mail by a postal employee and delay of mail by a postal employee. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Snyder.

4. United States v. Henry Dorvil et al., Case No. 13-60029-CR-Scola(s)

Defendants Corey Williams, 30, of Miami Gardens, Delvin Jean Baptiste, 29 of Miramar, and Ronald Gustave, 36, of Miami, were charged in a 41 count superseding indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme resulting in millions of dollars in fraudulent activity.

According to the superseding indictment, the defendants conspired to unjustly enrich themselves by recruiting knowing co-conspirators and unknowing victims to put businesses, bank accounts and Electronic Filing Identification Numbers in their names, through which fraudulent transactions would be conducted.

To accomplish this, the defendants used the personal identification information of individuals, many deceased, to prepare and file false and fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS. The defendants would obtain possession of fraudulently obtained refunds in the form of United States Treasury and Refund Anticipation Loan checks diverted to addresses or into bank accounts that they caused to be created and controlled. The defendants would then negotiate the fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds within each other’s businesses, and elsewhere, to avoid being detected.

According to the superseding indictment, defendant Williams, with others, caused the creation of Miami Gardens Check Cashing Store, LLC and Lucky Star Check Cashing Services, LLC, each opened for the purpose of cashing fraudulently obtained United States Treasury tax refund checks. From 2010, through early 2011, defendant Williams caused to be filed with the IRS 835 federal income tax returns, requesting refunds totaling $3,862,383; including 37 returns for deceased individuals totaling $155,802 in false claims.

Also according to the superseding indictment, in 2011, defendant Baptiste caused to be filed with the IRS 3,178 federal income tax returns, requesting refunds totaling $10,245,641; including 853 fraudulent returns for deceased individuals totaling $2,280,867 in false claims. And during 2012, defendant Gustave caused to be filed with the IRS 366 federal income tax returns, requesting refunds totaling $1,784,923; including 18 fraudulent returns for deceased individuals totaling $79,533 in false claims.

The defendants were each charged with a conspiracy to defraud the United States, commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft as well as two substantive counts of both wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Karadbil.

5. United States v. Marcelin Jean-Louis, Case No. 13-20738-CR-Cooke

Defendant Marcelin Jean-Louis, 40, of Homestead, was charged in an 11 count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme involving several million dollars in fraudulently obtained tax refunds.

According to the complaint, Jean-Louis agreed on a plan whereby he would take fraudulently obtained tax refund checks to Mahadeo Singh for cashing at Argo Check Cashing (“Argo”) in Homestead, Florida. Singh cashed over five million dollars in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks at Argo, several million of which came from Jean Louis. Jean Louis acknowledged to the owner of Argo that the checks were fraudulent and that he obtained them from people at the post office and from a tax preparer.

The defendant was charged with conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.

6. United States v. Michael Douarin and Odelson Georges, Case No. 13-20756-CR-Moore

On October 4, 2013, defendants Michael Douarin, 25, and Odelson Georges, 33, both of Miami, were charged in a five-count indictment for their participation in an identity theft tax refund fraud scheme.

According to the indictment, on March 24, 2011, Michael Douarin and Odelson Georges were caught in possession of personal identity information belonging to hundreds of people. Among the paperwork were computer screen-shot printouts displaying patients’ personal information from a local hospital in Miami Beach, Florida, numerous case sheet printouts from another facility, and handwritten ledgers listing social security numbers with corresponding names and dates of birth. Investigation revealed that co-conspirators filed fraudulent tax returns using some of these identities. The scheme involved the use of “Get it Now” debit cards, which are commonly used by tax preparers as a means to receive tax refunds.

The indictment charges the defendants with unauthorized possession of personal identification information, conspiracy to possess personal identification information, and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI, the North Miami Beach Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation (ICE-HSI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marton Gyires.

7. United States v. Carl Borgella and Paul Borgella, Case No. 13-20710-CR-Cooke

On September 20, 2013, defendants Carl Borgella, 31, of Hollywood, and Paul Borgella, 34, of North Miami Beach, were charged in a seven count indictment in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax return refunds.

According to the indictment, between January and September 2011, the defendants operated “TRCJ Asset Services,” a tax preparation company, and utilized two business accounts to receive fraudulently obtained United States Department of Treasury tax refunds, without the authorization of the filers. Once the bank accounts had been funded by the Department of the Treasury, the defendants would thereafter withdraw the funds by writing, and endorsing, checks to TRCJ Asset Services, making ATM withdrawals, and making debit card payments. In total, they defrauded the IRS out of approximately $412,000.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to steal government funds and theft of government funds. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service, the North Miami Beach Police Department, and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Perwin.

8. United States v. Ivory Covington and Tekia Jones, Case No. 13-20704-CR-Dimitrouleas

On September 20, 2013, defendants Ivory Covington, 26, of Miami Lakes, and Tekia Jones, 31, of Lauderhill, were charged in a nine count indictment in connection with a scheme to steal identities of current and former employees of a national fast food restaurant chain. According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to possess and possessed at least fifteen social security numbers, names and dates of birth belonging to persons who were formerly or presently employed with a national fast food restaurant.

The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the Aventura Police Department and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

9. United States v. Marquis Onigirin Moye and Angela Dione Rosier, Case No. 13-6462-CR-Hunt

Defendants Marquis Onigirin Moye, 24, of Pompano Beach, and Angela Dione Rosier, 41, of Coral Springs, were charged by criminal complaint for their participation in a stolen identity fraud scheme.

According to the complaint, Rosier worked for a company that performed medical laboratory tests where she had access to medical records with names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers (personal identity information or “PII”) of individuals in the course of her employment with that company. During the conspiracy, Rosier provided access to the company's database which allowed other coconspirators to steal PII from the company. Found on the computer of one of the coconspirators was the PII of over 1,300 individuals. Rosier knew that her co-conspirators would use the PII for fraudulent purposes. Moye also obtained information from the company's database, which he used to obtain credit cards and other identification in the name of a patient.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess fifteen or more unauthorized access devices. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, the IRS-CI, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, the Broward Sheriff's Office, and the Coconut Creek Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia R. Wood.

10. United States v. Robinson Calixte, Case No. 12-60250-CR-Graham

On September 13, 2013, defendant Robinson Calixte, 22, of Miami, was charged in a five count indictment for identity theft in connection with his unauthorized possession of at least fifteen social security numbers belonging to other individuals. Defendant was found with over 800 names, dates of birth and social security numbers of other individuals.

The indictment charges the defendant with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI, North Miami Beach Police Department, North Miami Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera R. Peoples.

11. United States v. Nolan McFarland, Case No. 13-20757-CR-Ungaro

On October 4, 2013, defendant Nolan McFarland, 34, of Opa Locka, was charged in a nine count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

According to the indictment, the defendant obtained and sold the personal identifying information of numerous identity theft victims, including their names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, to an individual who intended to utilize the information to electronically file false, fictitious, and fraudulent federal income tax returns without the knowledge or authorization of the identity theft victims, and thereafter claim refunds to which they were not entitled from the IRS. The intended loss to the IRS was approximately $295,000.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Snyder.

12. United States v. Ronald Walker, Case No. 13-60248-CR-Cohn

On October 3, 2013, defendant Ronald Walker, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, was charged in a 15 count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme involving approximately $1.2 million in stolen or otherwise fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks.

According to the indictment, Walker facilitated the negotiation of stolen and fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks by receiving the checks, forging the payees’ endorsements, and providing images of altered driver’s licenses to a check cashing store, American Quick Cash, in Oakland Park, Florida, where he cashed the stolen checks. Walker cashed approximately 23 U.S. Treasury checks worth approximately $1.2 million.

The defendant was charged with theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of U.S. Secret Service and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia Shick

13. United States v. Willy Toussaint, Case No. 13-60247-CR-Scola

On October 3, 2013, defendant Willy Toussaint, 43, of Lauderhill, was charged in a five count indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, persons whose identities are currently unknown to the Grand Jury obtained, possessed, and used stolen personal identifying information to submit to IRS false, fictitious, and fraudulent federal income tax returns claiming tax refunds to which they were not entitled. Defendant Willy Toussaint obtained counterfeit and fraudulent means of identification, including counterfeit State of Florida driver’s licenses, and thereafter caused multiple unauthorized personal and business bank accounts to be created at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., utilizing the personal identification information of unsuspecting identity theft victims. Once these bank accounts had been created at the direction of defendant Willy Toussaint, other persons either directed the IRS to electronically transmit or “direct deposit” the fraudulently claimed tax refunds to the bank accounts established at the direction of defendant Willy Toussaint, or other persons would deposit U.S. Treasury tax refund checks into these fraudulently established accounts. Once JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. received the tax refunds from the U.S. Treasury, other persons would unjustly enrich themselves by either “wiring” the money out of the fraudulently established accounts at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. or would utilize multiple automated teller machines (ATM) to withdraw the money in cash. As compensation for opening the fraudulent bank accounts at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., defendant Willy Toussaint thereafter paid bank employees between $2,000 and $10,000. In total, approximately $208,000 in fraudulently obtained income tax refunds were deposited into fraudulent bank accounts created at the direction of Willy Toussaint.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI, U.S. Secret Service, and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.

14. United States v. Monique Adelson, Case No. 13-20705-CR-Scola

On September 20, 2013, defendant Monique Adelson, 20, of North Miami, was charged in a five count indictment in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax return refunds. The tax fraud scheme involved individuals obtaining personally identifiable information (PII) from a combination of five websites, which included Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle's website www.GoRenew.com and a website that contained a Death Master File (DMF). The DMF is a list of social security numbers, dates of birth, and names of deceased individuals, which was used to guess a living individual's identity. The PII obtained from the five website combination was used to file fraudulent tax returns and have the refunds directly deposited into the defendant’s bank account.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of government funds. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the FBI and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

15. United States v. Marie Jean Baptiste, Case No. 13-20707-CR-Rosenbaum

On September 20, 2013, defendant Marie Jean Baptiste, 22, of Miami, was charged in a three count indictment in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax return refunds. The tax fraud scheme involved individuals obtaining personally identifiable information (PII) from a combination of five websites, which included Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle's website www.GoRenew.com and a website that contained a Death Master File (DMF). The DMF is a list of social security numbers, dates of birth, and names of deceased individuals, which was used to guess a living individual's identity. The PII obtained from the five website combination was used to file fraudulent tax returns and have the refunds directly deposited into the defendant’s bank account.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of government funds. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the FBI and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

16. United States v. Hans Velo-Germain, Case No. 13-20708-CR-Dimitrouleas

On September 20, 2013, defendant Hans Velo-Germain, 20, of North Miami, was charged in a six count indictment in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax return refunds. The tax fraud scheme involved individuals obtaining personally identifiable information (PII) from a combination of five websites, which included Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle's website www.GoRenew.com and a website that contained a Death Master File (DMF). The DMF is a list of social security numbers, dates of birth, and names of deceased individuals, which was used to guess a living individual's identity. The PII obtained from the five website combination was used to file fraudulent tax returns and have the refunds directly deposited into the defendant’s bank account.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of government funds. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the FBI and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

17. United States v. Richard Oliver, Case No. 13-20682-CR-Moreno

On September 13, 2013, defendant Richard Oliver, 54, of Miami Gardens, was charged in a three count indictment for theft of a U.S. Treasury check, forgery and aggravated identity theft in connection with defendant’s deposit of a stolen U.S. Treasury check into his personal bank account.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of government funds, forgery and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the U.S. Secret Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera R. Peoples.

18. United States v. Peter Michael Daniel, Case No. 13-20685-CR-Middlebrooks

On September 13, 2013, defendant Peter Michael Daniel, 29, of Sweetwater, was charged by indictment with access device fraud for his unauthorized possession of at least fifteen social security numbers belonging to other individuals.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to U.S. Secret Service, IRS-CI, and Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

19. United States v. Randy Sam Jackson and Braden Anthony Jones, Case No. 13-20770-CR-Zloch

On October 8, 2013, defendants Randy Sam Jackson, 27, of North Miami and Braden Anthony Jones, 28, of North Miami, were charged in a nine count indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme resulting in the recovery of over 653 stolen names, social security numbers and birthdates of individuals.

According to the indictment, on April 30, 2013, Randy Sam Jackson and Braden Anthony Jones had in their possession a notebook containing over 635 names, social security numbers, and dates of birth of individuals. They were apprehended by law enforcement while using a laptop computer to input a federal income tax return application in the name of one of those stolen identities using the tax filing service “Express1040.com.”

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the United States Secret Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Watson.

20. United States v. Moshi Barnard, Case No. 13-20684-CR-Cooke

On September 13, 2013, defendant Moshi Barnard, 28, of Hollywood, was charged in a seven count indictment for identity theft in connection with her unauthorized possession of at least fifteen social security numbers belonging to other individuals. Defendant was found with over 200 social security numbers, names and dates of birth of other individuals. The actual loss to the IRS was $56,987.

The indictment charges the defendant with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to U.S. Secret Service, Aventura Police Department, and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera Peoples.

21. United States v. Tiffany Charise Fields and Robert Howell, Case No. 13-60254-CR-Hurley

On October 3, 2013, defendants Tiffany Charise Fields, 33, of Pompano Beach, and Robert Howell, 37, of Miami, were charged in an eight count indictment for identity theft in connection with their fraudulent possession of at least 15 social security numbers belonging to other individuals, which resulted in an estimated intended loss of approximately $111,500.

According to the indictment, the defendants possessed and sold the social security numbers of other individuals to a confidential informant on three separate occasions in March and April 2013. The defendants sold the personal identifying information of other individuals knowing that it was intended to be used to commit fraud.

The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy R. Camacho.

22. United States v. Michael Leslie, Case No. 13-60253-CR-Zloch

On October 3, 2013, defendant Michael Leslie, 22, of North Lauderdale, was charged in a three count indictment for identity theft in connection with his fraudulent possession of at least 15 social security numbers belonging to other individuals, which resulted in an estimated intended loss of approximately $45,000.

According to the indictment, defendant possessed and sold the social security numbers of other individuals to a confidential informant. Defendant sold the social security numbers knowing that they were intended to be used to commit fraud.

The indictment charges the defendant with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy R. Camacho.

23. United States v. Andy Destin, Case No. 13-20761-CR-Huck

On October 4, 2013, defendant Andy Destin, 25, of Miami, was charged in a ten count indictment for theft of U.S. Treasury checks. The estimated loss to the IRS is $79,004.

According to the indictment, defendant knew that certain tax refund checks were obtained through fraud, and nevertheless deposited them into his bank account with the intent to convert the monies to his personal use.

The indictment charges the defendant with theft of government funds. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy R. Camacho.

24. United States v. Felicidy Butler, Case No. 13-20733-CR-Williams

On September 27, 2013, defendant Felicidy Butler, 26, of Miami, was charged in a three count indictment for her participation in an identity theft tax refund scheme resulting in over $175,000 in disbursed tax refunds, with an intended loss of over $440,000.

According to the indictment, Butler fraudulently possessed fifteen or more social security numbers of other persons. The indictment also alleges that the defendant possessed the means of identification, specifically, the names and dates of birth of two identity theft victims.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Sunrise Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elina Rubin-Smith.

25. United States v. Johny Dabrezil, Case No. 13-20765-CR-Graham

On October 4, 2013, defendant Johny Dabrezil, 28, of North Miami Beach, was charged in a four count indictment for his participation in an identity theft tax refund scheme. According to the indictment, the defendant fraudulently possessed the social security numbers of at least fifteen individuals. The indictment also alleges that the defendant stole the means of identification, specifically, the name and social security number, of three individuals.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

26. United States v. Roshawn Jermaine Davis, Case No. 13-20766-CR-Williams

On October 4, 2013, defendant Roshawn Jermaine Davis, 38, Miami, was charged in a six count indictment for his participation in an identity theft tax refund scheme. According to the indictment, the defendant fraudulently possessed the social security numbers of at least fifteen individuals. The indictment also alleges that the defendant stole the means of identification, specifically, the name and social security number, of five individuals.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI and the Miami-Dade Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

27. United States v. Wendy Sands. Case No. 13-20759-CR-Williams

On October 4, 2013, defendant Wendy Sands, 43, of Opa Locka, was charged in a three count indictment for her participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

According to the indictment, the defendant obtained and sold the personal identifying information of numerous identity theft victims, including their names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, to an individual who intended to utilize the information to electronically file false, fictitious, and fraudulent federal income tax returns without the knowledge or authorization of the identity theft victims, and thereafter claim refunds to which they were not entitled from the IRS. The intended loss to the IRS was approximately $32,000.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Snyder.

28. United States v. Donnavan Haynes, Case No. 13-20758-CR-Williams

On October 4, 2013, defendant Donnavan Haynes, 49, of Miami, was charged in a nine count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

According to the indictment, the defendant obtained and sold the personal identifying information of numerous identity theft victims, including their names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, to an individual who intended to utilize the information to electronically file false, fictitious, and fraudulent federal income tax returns without the knowledge or authorization of the identity theft victims, and thereafter claim refunds to which they were not entitled from the IRS. The intended loss to the IRS was approximately $214,000.

The indictment charges the defendant with unauthorized possession of personal identification information and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Snyder.

29. United States v. Jean-Elguentino Cayo, Case No. 13-20769-CR-Martinez

On October 8, 2013, defendant Jean-Elguentino Cayo, 26, of Miami Gardens, was charged in a single count indictment with access device fraud.

The indictment charges the defendant with trafficking in unauthorized social security numbers with intent to defraud. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Maderal.

30. United States v. Andrew Ware, et al., Case No. 13-60252-CR- Dimitrouleas

On October 3, 2013, defendants Andrew Ware, 27, David Tilus, 27, Jaqwayn Henry, 23, Alex Dontfred, 29, Fritznel Etienne, 24, Latanya Ware, 27, Latonya Ware, 27, and Sherika Rowe, 20, all of Lauderhill, were charged in a 48-count indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme and an access device fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of over $108,000 in fraudulent tax refund claims and over $48,000 in unauthorized access device purchases.

According to the indictment, Andrew Ware, David Tilus, Latanya Ware, Latonya Ware and Sherika Rowe obtained the personal identifying information (PII) of numerous identity theft victims, including their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. Upon receipt of the PII, they utilized this information to electronically file fraudulent federal income tax returns without the knowledge or authorization of the identity theft victims, and thereafter claimed refunds to which they were not entitled from the IRS. Defendants thereafter directed the IRS that the fraudulently claimed refunds be direct deposited onto pre-paid reloadable debit cards. Once these debit cards had been funded by the Department of the Treasury, defendants withdrew the funds by utilizing the debit cards to purchase gift cards and other merchandise, and make everyday purchases, including point of sale transactions at various local Walmart stores.

The conspiracy to commit access device fraud involved Andrew Ware, David Tilus, Jaqwayn Henry, Alex Dontfred and Fritznel Etienne in a plan to utilize victims’ access devices, without their authorization, to purchase merchandise totaling at least $1,000 in a single year. These defendants obtained credit card numbers from various victims and used these stolen access devices to purchase merchandise, gift cards and prepaid debit cards for later use.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service, IRS-CI and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry Wallace and Alicia Shick.

If convicted, the defendants face a possible maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud; 10 years in prison for conspiracy to make false claims against the United States; five to 15 years in prison for access device fraud; 10 years in prison for stealing government funds; and, two years in prison consecutive to any other term for aggravated identity theft.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce the unsealing of an indictment charging Krishna Tripuraneni, 55, of Palm Beach County, with three counts of filing false tax returns for 2006 through 2008, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1). The defendant is scheduled to be arraigned on November 22, 2013.

According to the indictment, Tripuraneni was the registered agent and manager of Palm Beach Surgery Center and other companies operating in Palm Beach County.

If convicted, Tripuraneni faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count of filing false tax returns.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark.

An Indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A former therapist for Biscayne Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, was sentenced yesterday to serve 120 months in prison for his participation in a $55 million Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Miami office made the announcement.

Jose Rojo, 39, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke in the Southern District of Florida. Rojo was convicted on Aug. 7, 2013, of one count of conspiring to commit health care fraud following a one-month jury trial. In addition to the prison term, Rojo was ordered to pay more than $11 million in restitution, jointly and severally with his co-defendants, and to serve three years of supervised release.

According to the evidence at trial, Rojo and his co-conspirators caused the submission of more than $55 million dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare through Biscayne Milieu, which purportedly operated a partial hospitalization program (PHP) – a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness. Instead of providing PHP services, the defendants devised a scheme in which they paid patient recruiters to refer ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Biscayne Milieu for services that were never provided. Many of the patients admitted to Biscayne Milieu were not eligible for PHP because they were chronic substance abusers, suffered from severe dementia and would not benefit from group therapy, or had no mental health diagnosis but were seeking exemptions for their U.S. citizenship applications.

The evidence at trial further showed that, as a therapist at Biscayne Milieu, Rojo conducted sham therapy sessions for patients he knew were ineligible for PHP treatment. Often Rojo showed up late for these sessions or not at all, but Medicare was still billed as if a full session took place. Rojo created fraudulent documents to help cover-up Biscayne Milieu’s massive fraud, including bogus treatment plans and phony group therapy notes that were copied from one document to the other. Deliberately inaccurate group therapy notes for different patients on different days – often years apart – were in many respects identical, including having the same descriptions of patients’ statements in group sessions and even the same misspelled words. Further, Rojo provided other therapists at the clinic with fake group therapy notes for a fee. Biscayne Milieu billed Medicare for tens of millions of dollars in PHP treatments for these patients.

Various owners, doctors, managers, therapists, patient brokers and other employees of Biscayne Milieu have also been charged with health care fraud, kickback violations, money laundering and other offenses in two indictments unsealed in September 2011 and May 2012. Biscayne Milieu, its owners, and more than 25 of the individual defendants charged in these cases have pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial. Antonio and Jorge Macli and Sandra Huarte – the owners and operators of Biscayne Milieu – were each convicted at trial and were sentenced in April 2013 to 30 years, 25 years and 22 years in prison, respectively.

This case was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of HHS-OIG and was brought by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marlene Rodriguez and James V. Hayes of the Southern District of Florida; Hayes was formerly a trial attorney of the Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that defendant William Potts, Jr., a/k/a William Freeman, a/k/a Lieutenant Spartacus, was arrested by the FBI today at Miami International Airport on charges of air piracy.

Potts was indicted in the Southern District of Florida in 1985 after diverting a Piedmont Airlines passenger aircraft to Havana, Cuba as the aircraft was approaching Miami International Airport. According to court documents, Potts threatened to blow up the airplane and shoot passengers if the plane landed in Miami. The pilot diverted the aircraft and landed in Havana, Cuba. After the plane landed in Havana, Cuban authorities boarded and escorted Potts off of the plane. Potts remained in Cuba until his return to Miami on November 6, 2013. Potts is scheduled to make his initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 2:00 p.m.

If convicted, Potts faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the assistance of the Diplomatic Security Service, Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration in securing Potts’s return to the United States. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria K. Medetis.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Attachment:

Indictment (PDF)

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A patient broker of a South Florida psychiatric hospital was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her participation in a $67 million Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations’ Miami Office made the announcement.

Gloria Himmons, 54, of Union Springs, Ala., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in the Southern District of Florida. In March 2013, Himmons pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks and one count of receiving a health care kickback. In addition to her prison term, Himmons was ordered to pay $14 million in restitution, joint and severally with her co-defendants.

According to court documents, Himmons was a patient broker at Hollywood Pavilion LLC (HP), a state-licensed psychiatric hospital in South Florida that purported to offer both inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Himmons would provide Medicare beneficiaries to HP in exchange for bribes and kickbacks, and she knew that the patients she provided to HP were not appropriate for inpatient psychiatric hospitalization or for outpatient mental health treatment. The patients she provided to HP included those who were not severely mentally ill, as well as substance abusers looking for rehabilitation programs. The patients did not have legitimate referrals from hospitals or doctors who had been treating acute-phase, severe mental illness.

From at least 2005 through September 2012, in exchange for bribes and kickbacks, Himmons knowingly and willfully provided to HP Medicare beneficiaries who did not need inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment. As a result of Himmons’s participation in this scheme, HP was improperly paid more than $7 million by Medicare. From at least 2003 through at least August 2012, HP billed Medicare approximately $67 million for services that were not properly rendered, for patients that did not qualify for the services being billed, and for claims for patients who were procured through bribes and kickbacks. Medicare reimbursed HP on approximately $40 million of those claims.

On Sept. 10, 2013, co-defendants Karen Kallen-Zury, Daisy Miller and Christian Coloma were sentenced on their June 2013 jury convictions. Kallen-Zury, the chief executive officer of HP, and Miller and Coloma were convicted on all counts at trial and sentenced to 300 months, 180 months and 144 months, respectively. Kallen-Zury and Miller were ordered to pay, jointly and severally with their co-defendants, nearly $40 million in restitution. Coloma was ordered to pay, jointly and severally, more than $20 million in restitution.

This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Miami. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Robert A. Zink and Trial Attorneys Andrew H. Warren and Anne McNamara of the Fraud Section.

Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

92 defendants have been charged to date in Operation Sledgehammer I-VI

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, Florida Department of Financial Services, and Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Office of the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, announce that defendants Aaron Freedlander, 51, licensed Chiropractic Physician, of Broward County, Florida, Luis Ivan Hernandez, 40, clinic owner, in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County, Florida, and Daviel Castro, 27, staged accident participant, check casher and recruiter, of Palm Beach County, Florida were sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra for their participation in an automobile insurance fraud scheme involving staged automobile accidents. Aaron Freedlander was sentenced to 40 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release; Luis Ivan Hernandez was sentenced to 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release; and, Daviel Castro was sentenced to 58 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. In addition, Freedlander was ordered to pay $900,697.92 in restitution; Hernandez was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,232,248.04; and, Castro was ordered to pay $1,359,208.73 in restitution. Freedlander will also be required to surrender his chiropractic license.

Each of the defendants previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; and multiple counts of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 2. In addition, Hernandez and Castro were charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). Hernandez was also charged with multiple counts of money laundering, and Castro was charged with one substantive count of money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii), and 2.

According to court documents, between approximately October 2006 and December 2012, the conspiracy members staged automobile accidents by recruiting individuals to participate in the accidents. Daviel Castro served as an accident participant and also recruited others to participate in staged accidents. The participants were referred to as “Perro” and “Perra” or “Macho” and “Hembra.” Thereafter, the clinic owners, including defendant Luis Ivan Hernandez, caused the submission of false insurance claims through chiropractic clinics that were controlled by members of the conspiracy. To execute the scheme, the true owners of the chiropractic clinics recruited individuals, who had the medical or chiropractic licenses required by the state to open a clinic, to act as “nominee owners” of the clinics. The co-conspirators also hired complicit chiropractors, including Aaron Freedlander, and therapists who prescribed and billed for unnecessary treatments and/or for services that had not been rendered. Thereafter, complicit clinic employees prepared and submitted claims to the automobile insurance companies for payment for these unnecessary or non-rendered services. Twenty-one clinics participated in this scheme. Luis Ivan Hernandez was the “true owner” of six of those clinics.

Furthermore, according to court records, once fraud proceeds were received from the insurance companies, the clinic owners, including Luis Ivan Hernandez also recruited individuals including Daviel Castro, to help the clinics launder the insurance proceeds. Sentencing documents showed that Castro cashed checks worth $27,899.35 in laundered proceeds.

Starting with Operation Sledgehammer I in June 2011 and including the defendants charged in Operation Sledgehammer VI, 92 defendants have been charged for their participation in this automobile insurance fraud scheme. Of those 92 defendants, 56 have been charged federally by the U.S. Attorney's Office, resulting in court-ordered restitution of more than $5 million to the defrauded insurance companies. Thirty-six defendants have been charged by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

Mr. Ferrer commended the efforts of the FBI, IRS-CI, the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, and the Greater Palm Beach County Health Care Fraud Task Force for their outstanding work in this case. Mr. Ferrer also recognized the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) for its collaboration and assistance in this investigation. The federal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Marie Villafaña and the state cases are being prosecuted by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), announce that defendant Chi Da Liu a/k/a Zhida Liao, 55, formerly of El Cerrito, California and Guatemala, has been arrested on charges of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1425(b).

Liu was arrested in Northern California on September 3, 2013, where a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered that he be detained and transported to the Southern District of Florida by the U.S. Marshals Service. Liu made his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in Miami before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman. Liu waived his right to grand jury indictment and agreed to proceed by information. The information charges that on or about October 4, 2010, in San Francisco County, California, Liu knowingly applied for and attempted to obtain U.S. citizenship and evidence of naturalization and citizenship, to which he was not entitled.

In 2011 and 2012, Liu was convicted in two separate cases in the Southern District of Florida of visa fraud, a currency-reporting violation, and alien smuggling. In a plea agreement, Liu agreed to leave the United States within five days of his release from prison and to voluntarily renounce his U.S. citizenship within 10 days thereafter. Liu was released from federal prison on July 15, 2013, and did not leave the country prior to his arrest on September 3, 2013.

If convicted, Liu faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as mandatory revocation of his U.S. citizenship and cancellation of his naturalization certificate.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert T. Watson.

An information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Two individuals charged in connection with the operation of a fraudulent lottery scheme were arrested today in south Florida following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on Oct. 31, 2013, the Justice Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Marshals Service announced. Althea Angela Peart and Charmaine Anne King were arrested on charges that they and their co-conspirators, some of whom operated from outside of the U.S., participated in a fraudulent lottery scheme. As alleged in the indictment, co-conspirators induced elderly victims in the U.S. to send thousands of dollars to Peart and King to cover fees for lottery winnings that victims had not won. The indictment, unsealed with Peart’s and King’s arrests, is part of the government’s crackdown on fraudulent international lottery schemes.

“As fraudsters from outside of the United States seek to take advantage of some of the most vulnerable in our community, they rely on co-conspirators in the United States for help,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo A. Ferrer. “As I have previously stated, we will continue to vigorously pursue and prosecute those responsible for these illegal schemes.”

“Operators of foreign lottery schemes often cannot succeed without the assistance of co-conspirators in the United States,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “These schemes can cause devastating financial harm to their victims, and the Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who engage in this criminal activity.”

From March 2012, Peart’s and King’s co-conspirators are alleged to have contacted victims in the U.S. and falsely informed them that they had won more than a million dollars in a lottery. According to the indictment, the co-conspirators sent letters to the victims from a purported sweepstakes company in the U.S. and included false and fraudulent cashier’s checks made out to the victims for thousands of dollars. As alleged in the indictment, these letters told victims to call “claims agents” who were actually co-conspirators, and when the victims called the purported claims agents, the agents informed the victims that they had to pay several thousand dollars in order to collect their purported lottery winnings. The claims agents allegedly told the victims to deposit the cashier’s checks in the victims’ bank accounts in order to purportedly cover the money they had to pay. The co-conspirators allegedly instructed the victims on how to send and wire this money to Peart and King.

The indictment charges that Peart and King each kept a percentage of the money they received from victims and sent the rest of the money to their co-conspirators. According to the indictment, because the cashier’s checks were false and fraudulent and had no value, any payments the victims sent to Peart and King were funded by their own money, and victims never received any lottery winnings.

Peart is charged with conspiracy, eight counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud and with committing these offenses via telemarketing. King is charged with conspiracy, four counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud and with committing these offenses via telemarketing.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to investigating fraudulent lottery schemes designed to defraud innocent victims,” said U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge in Miami Ronald Verrochio. “Combating international lottery fraud is a priority of the Postal Inspection Service given that a significant amount of the money in these frauds is sent through the U.S. mail. We are actively taking steps to educate Americans about the dangers of lottery frauds.”

“These arrests show that HSI is committed to stopping individuals who prey on our senior citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami Alysa D. Erichs. “We will continue to work with our international partners and other law enforcement agencies to put an end to these criminal organizations.”

“The U.S. Marshals Service is proud to be part of the team bringing scam artists such as these to justice,” said Acting U.S. Marshal Neil DeSousa. “These international lottery scams that prey on our elderly cannot be allowed to continue. The arrests of these two perpetrators are a testament to federal law enforcement’s dedication to protecting our citizens against all types of crimes.”

U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Director Jeffrey Steger and Trial Attorney Kathryn Drenning with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hugo J. Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), announce that Jose Nunez, 23, of Belle Glade, Florida, was sentenced to 228 months (19 years) in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra.

On March 20, 2013, PBSO Gang Detectives investigated a shooting that occurred in Belle Glade, Florida. Detectives determined that Jose Nunez was involved in a verbal confrontation with another individual that escalated once Nunez removed a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and pointed the firearm at the victim, firing one round into the ground. Gang detectives subsequently obtained a warrant for his arrest.

Agents of the PBSO Tactical Unit and U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Nunez due to an active warrant stemming from the shooting investigation. As the agents conducted a search incident to arrest they noticed that Nunez was wearing a bullet proof vest under his shirt and was in possession of cocaine, hydrocodone, morphine, alprazolam, marijuana, brass knuckles, and U.S. currency. The agents also located the semi-automatic pistol used in the March 20, 2013 shooting in Nunez’s possession.

A federal grand jury indicted Nunez on May 21, 2013, charging him with five counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. In July 2013, Nunez pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Today at his sentencing, the court found Nunez qualified as a career offender based on his prior felony convictions, and this status subjected him to enhanced penalties.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF, PBSO, and U.S. Marshal’s Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John McMillan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, announce that Lorin & Son, LLC, an art dealer based in Winter Park, Florida, and Francois B. Lorin, 74, of Winter Park, Florida, were each charged by Information with one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(c)(2), in connection with the importation of ancient Chinese artifacts that were interdicted by authorities at the Port of Miami. Lorin & Son, LLC faces a maximum $500,000 fine and up to five years’ probation, and Francois B. Lorin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Information also alleges forfeiture of the items in the shipment, including various artifacts that were the subject of the alleged obstruction conduct. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez.

Lorin & Son, LLC conducted business under the name “Asiantiques,” and bought and sold Asian art through a gallery in Winter Park, Florida, and at trade shows and other industry meetings in the United States and Hong Kong. According to court documents, this matter involved the importation from Hong Kong of approximately 488 items of Chinese fine arts in June 2011, including certain cultural artifacts, through the Port of Miami. Twenty-seven of these items were subject to a prohibition against importation because they pre-dated 907 A.D. constitute items of significant Chinese cultural heritage. Pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the People’s Republic of China entered into as of January 14, 2009 (the “MOU”), archaeological materials representing China’s cultural heritage from the Paleolithic Period (c. 75,000 B.C.) through the end of the Tang Period (A.D. 907) could not be imported into the United States absent specific prior government approval. If, however, such items were already in the United States as of the MOU date, the items could be re-imported without prior authorization.

According to court documents, invoices accompanying the shipment indicated that the entire contents had originated in Florida and were being returned to the United States after having been shipped to Hong Kong for a trade show. After the items were interdicted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officials, Francois B. Lorin and others created false documents to justify provenance for certain items in the shipment that were prohibited from entering the United States without such provenance. Thereafter, Lorin & Son, LLC and Francois B. Lorin, through counsel, filed a Petition for Remission with CBP and provided supporting materials, in which the defendants argued for release of the interdicted items by using false invoices and providing other false information. The invoices that were submitted were backdated, falsely claimed that items had been acquired from third-parties before the MOU date, and otherwise falsely claimed that these documents established “proof” that the items could be lawfully imported.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerrob Duffy. Forfeiture and repatriation is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Lehr.

An information is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Delery, Department of Justice Civil Division, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Ronald Verrochio, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Special Agent in Charge Alysa D. Erichs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Acting U.S. Marshal Neil DeSousa, U.S. Marshals Service announced that Oneike Mickhale Barnett pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court in Ft. Lauderdale to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Barnett, a Jamaican citizen, was charged in connection with a lottery scheme based in Jamaica that fraudulently induced elderly victims in the U.S. to send Barnett and his co-conspirators thousands of dollars to cover fees for lottery winnings that victims had not won.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s effort, working with federal and local law enforcement, to combat fraudulent lottery schemes in Jamaica preying on American citizens. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Americans have lost tens of millions of dollars to fraudulent foreign lotteries and sweepstakes.

“All too often, what appears to be an unexpected lottery win is in fact a pernicious lottery scam, and one that cheats unsuspecting Americans out of their hard-earned savings,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue our crackdown on those responsible for lottery schemes, particularly schemes that target the elderly.”

“As is evident by the prevalence of international lottery scams, fraudsters have no bounds,” said Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “While we will continue to combat fraud vigorously, and pursue and prosecute fraudsters using all legal means available to us, now more than ever, the public needs to be mindful of these schemes to avoid falling prey to them. As I have previously stated, so long as fraudsters continue to line their pockets with the hard earned money of our most vulnerable citizens, we will be there to prosecute them and bring them to justice.”

Barnett was arrested in Orlando, Fla., in August 2013 following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale on Aug. 9, 2012. As part of his guilty plea, Barnett acknowledged that, had the case gone to trial, the U.S. would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that, from 2008 through 2012, Barnett was a member of a conspiracy in which elderly victims were informed that they had won a large amount of money in a lottery and were induced to pay bogus fees in advance of receiving their purported lottery winnings. Barnett also acknowledged that the government would have proved that he knew the claims of lottery winnings were completely fabricated and that he, along with his co-conspirators, kept the victims’ money for their own benefit without paying any lottery winnings. Barnett also acknowledged that the government would have proved that, in an effort to convince the victims that the lottery winnings were real, the conspirators sent them written and electronic communications discussing their purported lottery winnings, which claimed to be from a genuine sweepstakes company and from federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve. In fact, these communications were not from a genuine sweepstakes company or from agencies of the United States.

“The United States Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to investigating and uncovering lottery fraud from Jamaica and combating such fraud,” said U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge for the Miami Division Ronald Verrochio.

“Lottery fraud from Jamaica against American citizens is a very challenging problem, but as this case demonstrates, law enforcement in the U.S. working with our partners in Jamaica will continue to aggressively pursue such scammers even if they base their operations outside of the U.S.,” said Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Miami Alysa D. Erichs.

“Working with our law enforcement partners at the Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, the Marshals Service was pleased to be able to help catch this defendant and bring him to justice,” said Acting U.S. Marshal Neil DeSousa.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer Assistant and Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service and Jamaica’s Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertha Mitrani and Consumer Protection Branch, Civil Division Assistant Director Jeffrey Steger and trial attorney Kathryn Drenning.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Daniel V. Garcia, Chief, Phoenix Police Department, and Michelle Morris, Chief, Sebastian Police Department, announce that U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham sentenced Alfred E. Daking Jr., 70, of Sebastian, Florida, to 180 months in prison, followed by a lifetime period of supervised release and a $100 special assessment.

According to court documents, Daking sent over 800 emails to a 13 year old boy from Phoenix, Arizona. Daking also attached child and adult pornography to some of the emails. During the Phoenix Police Department’s investigation, it was confirmed that the emails were sent from Daking’s residence located in Sebastian, Florida.

Upon execution of a federal search warrant at Daking’s residence, agents from HSI, the Sebastian Police Department and the Phoenix Police Department located a desk top computer. An on-sight forensic preview scan of the computer found approximately 20 images of child pornography. Daking admitted that the computer was his and that he exclusively used the computer. He identified his email address and admitted sending sexually suggestive emails to the minor in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, the Phoenix Police Department and the Sebastian Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana M. Acosta.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

92 defendants have been charged to date in Operation Sledgehammer I-VI

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, Florida Department of Financial Services, and Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Office of the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, announce that defendants Maykel Marquez, 32, of Jupiter, and Noelia Marichal, 52, of West Palm Beach, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra for their participation in an automobile insurance fraud scheme involving staged automobile accidents. Maykel Marquez was sentenced to 58 months of incarceration, followed by 2 years of supervised release and Noelia Marichal was sentenced to 48 months of incarceration, followed by 2 years of supervised release. Marquez was ordered to pay $1,177,775.04 in restitution and Marichal was ordered to pay $1,359,208.73 in restitution.

Each of the defendants previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; multiple counts of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 2; and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). Maykel Marquez also pled guilty to multiple counts of money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii), and 2.

According to court documents, between approximately October 2006 and December 2012, the conspiracy members staged automobile accidents by recruiting individuals, including these defendants, to participate in the accidents. The participants were referred to as “Perro” and “Perra” or “Macho” and “Hembra.” Thereafter, the clinic owners caused the submission of false insurance claims through chiropractic clinics that were controlled by members of the conspiracy. To execute the scheme, the true owners of the chiropractic clinics recruited individuals, who had the medical or chiropractic licenses required by the state to open a clinic, to act as “nominee owners” of the clinics. The co-conspirators also hired complicit chiropractors and therapists who prescribed and billed for unnecessary treatments and/or for services that had not been rendered. Thereafter, complicit clinic employees prepared and submitted claims to the automobile insurance companies for payment for these unnecessary or non-rendered services. Twenty-one clinics participated in this scheme.

Furthermore, according to court records, once fraud proceeds were received from the insurance companies, the co-conspirators also recruited individuals including these defendants, to help the clinics launder the insurance proceeds. Sentencing documents showed that Marquez cashed checks worth $568,517.23 and Marichal cashed checks worth $101,344.26 in laundered proceeds.

Starting with Operation Sledgehammer I in June 2011 and including the defendants charged in Operation Sledgehammer VI, 92 defendants have been charged for their participation in this automobile insurance fraud scheme. Of those 92 defendants, 56 have been charged federally by the U.S. Attorney's Office, resulting in court-ordered restitution of more than $5 million to the defrauded insurance companies. Thirty-six defendants have been charged by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

Mr. Ferrer commended the efforts of the FBI, IRS-CI, the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, and the Greater Palm Beach County Health Care Fraud Task Force for their outstanding work in this case. Mr. Ferrer also recognized the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) for its collaboration and assistance in this investigation. The federal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Marie Villafaña and the state cases are being prosecuted by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Manuel Orosa, Chief, City of Miami Police Department, and Sergio Velazquez, Chief, Hialeah Police Department, announce that Daniel Rodriguez, 28, and Louis Robinson, Jr., 35, both of Miami, were each sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga. Rodriguez and Robinson were convicted by a jury in August of a string of armed robberies of jewelry stores that resulted in the shooting of one victim and the theft of over $1 million across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.

According to trial evidence and testimony, between July and November of 2012, Rodriguez, Robinson, and their associates robbed four commercial establishments, armed with firearms and sledgehammers, and utilizing stolen luxury vehicles. Specifically, in July 2012, the defendants and their associates conducted an armed robbery of the ABC Jewelry Store in Hialeah, Florida, stealing over $400,000 in jewelry and watches. During the robbery, defendant Robinson shot and nearly killed the store’s owner. In August 2012, the defendants and their associates conducted an armed robbery of the AT&T store in Coconut Grove, stealing over $20,000 in merchandise, and victimizing store employees and customers. In September 2012, the defendants and their associates took over the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Boca Raton, stealing over $550,000 in jewelry and watches. In November 2012, the defendants and their associates conducted an armed robbery of the Jared’s Jewelry Store in Pembroke Pines, stealing over $100,000 in jewelry. At sentencing, Judge Altonaga determined that both Rodriguez and Robinson qualified as career offenders.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the members of the South Florida Violent Crimes Task Force, the FBI, the City of Miami Police Department, the Hialeah Police Department, and the Miami Beach Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth M. Schlessinger and Olivia S. Choe.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, and Rafael P. Hernandez, Jr., Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department announce today that a federal jury in Miami found defendants Frantz Pierre, 33, of Parkland, and Terry Pierre, 29, and Christmanie Bissainthe, 33, of Miami, guilty of charges relating to their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $2.2 million in fraudulent refund claims to the Internal Revenue Service.

Specifically, the jury convicted Frantz Pierre, Terry Pierre and Christmanie Bissainthe on 12 counts, including conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims to the government, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to trial evidence and testimony, 1,000 pre-paid debit cards were sent to Frantz Pierre’s business in the name of Tax Professors in May 2010. Co-conspirators subsequently caused approximately 338 fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns using stolen prisoners’ identities to be submitted to the IRS seeking $2.2 million in refunds for payment onto the Tax Professors’ debit cards. The IRS paid approximately $1.9 million in refunds in connection with these fraudulent returns to these debit cards. Evidence at trial included, among other things, video evidence of all three defendants withdrawing funds from these debit cards.

According to trial evidence and testimony, law enforcement executed a search warrant at defendant Frantz Pierre’s seven-bedroom residence in Parkland, Florida in July 2012. The evidence showed that this residence had been purchased primarily with fraudulent tax refund proceeds. After law enforcement announced their presence, an individual was observed tossing laptops from the second floor of Pierre’s residence towards the pool. Law enforcement found over 70 pre-paid debit cards and a thumb drive with over 2,000 people’s names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and IRS pin numbers in Frantz Pierre’s bedside dresser.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke. At sentencing, Frantz Pierre faces a maximum sentence of 41 years in prison, Terry Pierre faces a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison, and Christmanie Bissainthe faces a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to IRS-CI (Miami and St. Paul), the U.S. Secret Service, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael N. Berger and Cristina Moreno.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Matthew Boyd, Chief, Miami Gardens Police Department, and Larry Gomer, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, announce that defendant Serge St-Vil, 61, of Miami, was sentenced today for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $14 million in fraudulent refund claims. St-Vil was sentenced to 96 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $7 million forfeiture money judgment. St-Vil previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and one count of aggravated identity theft in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to court documents, in 2010, St-Vil, Muller Pierre, and Finshley Fanor were involved in a scheme to file fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns seeking refunds. During the course of the scheme, there were over 5,000 fraudulent and unauthorized returns submitted to the Internal Revenue Service seeking over $14 million in refunds. Nearly all of these returns were submitted in the names of deceased persons. St-Vil was responsible for the filing of thousands of these returns using an Electronic Filing Identification Number obtained by Fanor.

Court documents show that the Internal Revenue Service paid out $12.1 million in refunds into bank accounts controlled by the defendants and co-conspirators connected to the scheme. There was over $6 million in refunds deposited into accounts controlled directly by St-Vil and an additional $1.6 million deposited indirectly into St-Vil’s bank account from co-conspirators’ accounts. In addition, there was $600,000 in refunds deposited into accounts controlled by Pierre and an additional $1.7 million deposited indirectly into Pierre’s bank account from co-conspirators’ accounts.

On June 26, 2013, Muller Pierre, 62, of North Miami Beach, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Pierre pled guilty to wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. On May 22, 2013, Finshley Fanor, 34, of Lauderhill, was sentenced to two years of probation. Fanor pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to the IRS-CI, the U.S. Secret Service, the Miami Gardens Police Department, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and Rear Admiral John H. Korn, Commander, 7th Coast Guard District, announce the indictment of six defendants following last week’s vessel capsize that resulted in the deaths of four women.

The twenty-four count indictment returned today by a federal Grand Jury, charges Naaman Davis, 53, and George Lewis, 38, both of the Bahamas, with conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I), and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv). Davis is additionally charged with involuntary manslaughter, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1112, and illegal reentry into the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a). Lewis is also charged with illegal reentry into the United States by an aggravated felon, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a) and (b)(2).

In addition, three other individuals who were onboard the vessel, Matthew Williams, 30, Everton Jones, a/k/a “Everton Bryce,” 40, and Kenard Hagigal, 35, all of Jamaica, were charged with illegal reentry into the United States by an aggravated felon, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a) and (b)(2). A fourth passenger, Sean Gaynor, 37, of Jamaica, was charged with illegal reentry into the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a).

If convicted, Davis and Lewis face a maximum sentence of life in prison or death; Williams, Jones, Bryce, and Hagigal face a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison; and Gaynor faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the U.S. Coast Guard. This case is being handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Blackburn.

An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Attachment:

Indictment (PDF)

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.