District Not Recorded

Saipan, MP – SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant Brian Galang Lizama, age 49, was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to 24 months imprisonment for Aggravated Identity Theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1).  The Court also ordered Lizama to pay $30,850 in restitution, serve one year of supervised release following imprisonment, perform 50 hours of community service, and pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.  

During December 2019, Lizama obtained a copy of his brother’s birth certificate from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation on Saipan.  He used the certificate to obtain an identification card in his brother’s name from the Saipan Mayor’s Office.  Lizama then used the identification card to make $30,850 in withdrawals from his brother’s Bank of Guam savings account.  Lizama’s brother discovered the theft upon later checking the balance of his savings account by phone.

U.S. Attorney Anderson stated, “Theft scams occur by many methods, including the unlawful use of identity documents.  The substantial loss in this matter warranted federal prosecution.  The public is urged to take precautions with their personal information and regularly monitor their financial accounts to combat this activity.  If someone suspects they may be a victim of identity theft, they should contact law enforcement immediately.  Additional assistance may be obtained at IdentityTheft.gov or by calling the Federal Trade Commission at (877) 438-4338.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the CNMI Department of Public Safety.  The case was prosecuted by Garth R. Backe, Assistant United States Attorney in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (Pilgrim’s), a major broiler chicken producer based in Greeley, Colorado, has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to pay approximately $107 million in criminal fines for its participation in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products, the Department of Justice announced today. 

According to the plea agreement entered in the U.S. District Court in Denver, from as early as 2012 and continuing at least into 2017, Pilgrim’s participated in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition for sales of broiler chicken products in the United States that affected at least $361 million in Pilgrim’s sales of broiler chicken products. 

The District Court accepted Pilgrim’s guilty plea and sentenced the company to pay a criminal fine of $107,923,572.

“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our unwavering commitment to prosecuting companies that violate the nation’s antitrust laws, especially when it involves something as central to everyday life as the food we eat,” said Richard Powers, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “This guilty plea is a direct result of the tireless efforts of our dedicated career prosecutors and staff, and partners at the FBI, Commerce Office of Inspector General (OIG) and USDA OIG.” 

“Today’s plea is another example of the FBI’s ongoing work to eliminate bid rigging and price fixing and hold those conducting these activities accountable for their actions,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “These criminal acts cheat American workers and consumers while harming competitive markets. This ongoing investigation has yielded charges against 10 individuals for their efforts to illegally manipulate broiler chicken prices, and the FBI is committed to continuing this important work alongside the Department of Justice and our partners.”

“This investigation demonstrates the government’s resolve to protect the integrity of free and open market competition,” said Peggy E. Gustafson, Inspector General of the Department of Commerce. “When competitor companies conspire to set prices that benefit themselves, American consumers are cheated. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to pursue such illegal activity and ensure perpetrators are held accountable. We greatly appreciate the efforts of the Department of Justice, FBI and USDA OIG on this investigation.”

“We appreciate the ongoing commitment and concerted efforts of our law enforcement partners at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, the FBI, and the Department of Commerce OIG to investigate a long running scheme affecting competition through the rigging of bids and price fixing of broiler chicken products,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) OIG. “During these uncertain times, USDA OIG will continue to dedicate resources and prioritize work that benefits hard working Americans through competitive prices for agricultural producers and fairness in pricing and quality of agricultural products for consumers.” 

Pilgrim’s is the first company to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products. Broiler chickens are chickens raised for human consumption and sold to grocers and restaurants. Ten executives and employees at major broiler chicken producers have also previously been charged. The investigation remains ongoing. 

A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

This case is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the broiler chicken industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Commerce OIG, FBI Washington Field Office, and USDA OIG. Special thanks to U.S. Attorney Jason R. Dunn and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hetal Doshi from the District of Colorado for their assistance. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the broiler chicken industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced Larry Wilkins to 75 months in prison today. The 38-year-old St. Louis, Missouri resident pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Beginning in October 2017, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents conducted an investigation into the distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, and identified Wilkins and three co-defendants as distributors. Investigators obtained court authorization to install a federal GPS tracking warrant for a vehicle driven by one of Wilkins’s co-defendants. The tracking device revealed the vehicle repeatedly traveled to a residence in the 24000 block of Sweet Lane in Waynesville, Missouri.

Agents’ observed multiple cars, including the one equipped with a GPS, made brief stops at the residence and departed shortly after, which is commonly associated with narcotics sales.  The court issued a search warrant for this residence on February 14, 2018 during which they seized a home surveillance system, various firearms, cell phones and narcotics and took one of Wilkins’s co-defendants into custody.

A search warrant obtained and executed on the seized home surveillance system revealed Wilkins and a co-defendant were using the home on Sweet Lane to distribute narcotics, including fentanyl, in Waynesville.

In October 2018, investigators learned Wilkins was distributing fentanyl in the parking lot of an apartment complex located in the 10000 block of Sheffingdel Court in in St. Louis. On October 30, 2018, investigators observed Wilkins drive a Cadillac STS Sedan onto the parking lot and park near a dumpster. A person got out of another vehicle and entered the front passenger seat of the Cadillac STS Sedan.

Investigators approached the Cadillac STS Sedan, saw a loaded Remington RP45 semi-automatic pistol between the driver’s seat and center console and forced open the driver’s door of the Cadillac STS Sedan. Wilkins and the passenger were removed from the vehicle and investigators discovered a clear plastic bag sticking out from a vent on the back of the console which contained 69 smaller plastic baggies containing fentanyl.

"Working together with other agencies pays off and helps rid our communities of drugs and illegal possession of firearms," said Pulaski County Sheriff Jimmy Bench. 

“The joint cooperation between local and federal agencies is imperative to the successful apprehension and prosecution of individuals who engage in continuing criminal activity,” said St. Louis County Police Chief Mary Barton.

The FBI, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Ogden is handling the case.

 

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Pamela Karlan, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, James P. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, and Stephen A. Belongia, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Buffalo Field Office, released the following statement:

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are aware that a grand jury empaneled by the New York State Attorney General’s Office has concluded its investigation of the various officers of the Rochester Police Department who encountered Daniel Prude on March 23, 2020, and determined that no charges would be filed.  We intend to review the comprehensive report issued by the New York State Attorney General, as well as any other relevant materials, and will determine whether any further federal response is warranted.” 

The wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, leader of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested today in Virginia on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, was arrested today at Dulles International Airport. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in federal court tomorrow in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia via video conference.

According to court documents, Aispuro is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the U.S. Additionally, Coronel Aispuro is alleged to have conspired with others to assist Guzman in his July 11, 2015 escape from Altiplano prison, located in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, Coronel Aispuro is alleged to have engaged in planning yet another prison escape with others prior to Guzman’s extradition to the U.S. in January 2017.

Guzman Loera was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2019 for his role as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Cornel Aispuro is charged in a one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the U.S.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office is investigating the case.

Acting Deputy Chief Anthony Nardozzi and Trial Attorney Kate Wagner of the Justice Department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The Justice Department announced today that a Puerto Rico man was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for felony violations of the Lacey Act that involved the trafficking and false labeling of protected reef creatures as part of an effort to subvert Puerto Rican laws designed to protect coral reef organisms.

In 2013 through 2016, Aristides Sanchez, of Arecibo, was the owner of the Arecibo-based saltwater aquarium business, Wonders of the Reef Aquarium. A large part of the business was devoted to the sale of native Puerto Rican marine species that are popular in the saltwater aquarium trade.

Sanchez sent live specimens to customers in the mainland United States and foreign countries by commercial courier services. One of the most popular items that Sanchez sent off-island was a coral-like organism from the genus Ricordea. These animals are known as “rics,” “polyps,” or “mushrooms” in the aquarium industry. Members of the genus form part of the reef structure and spend their adult lives fastened in place to the reef. These animals are colorful in natural light, but what makes them particularly interesting to aquarium owners is that they “glow” under the UV lights that are typically used in high-end saltwater aquariums.

It is illegal to harvest Ricordea, zoanthids, and anemones in Puerto Rico if the specimens are going to be sent off-island or otherwise sold commercially, nor is there a permit available to do so. Sanchez personally collected some of the Ricordea and other reef creatures that he sold off-island. Because Ricordea are attached to the reef substrate, Sanchez would utilize a hammer and chisel to break off the animals, and in doing so, take chunks of the reef with him. At other times, Sanchez would purchase the Ricordea from other sources, knowing or suspecting that the specimens had been harvested illegally.

In order to cover up the nature of his shipments and to avoid detection from governmental inspection authorities, Sanchez would falsely label each shipment. Sanchez would refer to living marine organisms as “pet supplies,” “aquarium supplies,” “LED lights,” or similar inanimate objects on shipping labels and invoices. At times, he used a fake name to cover his actions.

From January 2013 to March 2016, Sanchez sent or caused to be sent at least 130 shipments of falsely labeled marine species that were illegally harvested in the waters of Puerto Rico. While there is some variation in the price of Ricordea depending on coloration, size, and other factors, the retail value of Ricordea shipped by Sanchez typically ranges from $25 to $50 per item. From on or about Jan. 7, 2013, through on or about March 16, 2016, the retail value of the falsely labeled and/or unlawfully harvested marine invertebrates shipped personally by Sanchez or on his behalf with his knowledge, was at least $800,000.

In addition to the prison time, Sanchez was sentenced to a supervised release term of two years and 120 hours of community service. The court also banned Sanchez from collecting or procuring marine life, shipping marine life off-island and scuba diving and snorkeling in Puerto Rico.

To view pictures of the seized coral, click here: /media/911501/dl?inline.

This case was investigated as part of Operation Rock Bottom and Operation Borinquen Chisel by Special Agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with support from the USFWS Inspectors. The case is being prosecuted by Christopher L. Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Marquez of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

Today a Tennessee resident with German citizenship was removed to Germany for participating in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving as an armed guard at a Nazi concentration camp in 1945.

In February 2020, Friedrich Karl Berger, 95, was ordered removed from the U.S. based on his participation in Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard of concentration camp prisoners in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system (Neuengamme).

“Berger’s removal demonstrates the Department of Justice’s and its law enforcement partners’ commitment to ensuring that the United States is not a safe haven for those who have participated in Nazi crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses,” said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. “The Department marshaled evidence that our Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section found in archives here and in Europe, including records of the historic trial at Nuremberg of the most notorious former leaders of the defeated Nazi regime. In this year in which we mark the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg convictions, this case shows that the passage even of many decades will not deter the Department from pursuing justice on behalf of the victims of Nazi crimes.”

“We are committed to ensuring the United States will not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals,” said Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson. “We will never cease to pursue those who persecute others. This case exemplifies the steadfast dedication of both ICE and the Department of Justice to pursue justice and to hunt relentlessly for those who participated in one of history’s greatest atrocities, no matter how long it takes.”

Friedrich Karl Berger (1959)

In November 2020, the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld a Memphis, Tennessee, Immigration Judge’s Feb. 28, 2020, decision that Berger was removable under the 1978 Holtzman Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act because his “willing service as an armed guard of prisoners at a concentration camp where persecution took place” constituted assistance in Nazi-sponsored persecution. The court found that Berger served at a Neuengamme sub-camp near Meppen, Germany, and that the prisoners there included “Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians, and political opponents” of the Nazis. The largest groups of prisoners were Russian, Dutch and Polish civilians.

After a two-day trial in February 2020, the presiding judge issued an opinion finding that Meppen prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 in “atrocious” conditions and were exploited for outdoor forced labor, working “to the point of exhaustion and death.” The court further found, and Berger admitted, that he guarded prisoners to prevent them from escaping during their dawn-to-dusk workday, on their way to worksites and on their way back to the SS-run subcamp in the evening. 

At the end of March 1945, as allied British and Canadian forces advanced, the Nazis abandoned Meppen. The court found that Berger helped guard the prisoners during their forcible evacuation to the Neuengamme main camp – a nearly two-week trip under inhumane conditions, which claimed the lives of some 70 prisoners. The decision also cited Berger’s admission that he never requested a transfer from concentration camp guard service and that he continues to receive a pension from Germany based on his employment in Germany, “including his wartime service.”

In 1946, British occupation authorities in Germany charged SS Obersturmführer Hans Griem, who had headed the Meppen sub-camps, and other Meppen personnel with war crimes for “ill-treatment and murder of Allied nationals.”  Although Griem escaped before trial, the British court tried and convicted other defendants of war crimes in 1947.

The trial and appeal of the removal case were handled by Eli Rosenbaum, Director of Human Rights Enforcement and Policy in the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), HRSP Senior Trial Attorney Susan Masling, and attorneys from ICE New Orleans, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (Memphis), with assistance from HRSP Chief Historian Jeffrey S. Richter. Daniel I. Smulow, Senior Counsel for National Security in the Justice Department Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation has participated in the litigation of Berger’s appeal.

The investigation was initiated by the HRSP and was conducted in partnership with the Nashville HSI office.

Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson expressed gratitude for assistance provided by the FBI, our German colleagues, and by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Since the 1979 inception of the Justice Department’s program to detect, investigate, and remove Nazi persecutors, it has won cases against 109 individuals. Over the past 30 years, the Justice Department has won more cases against persons who participated in Nazi persecution than have the law enforcement authorities of all the other countries in the world combined. HRSP’s case against Berger was part of its ongoing efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals who engaged in genocide, torture, war crimes, recruitment or use of child soldiers, female genital mutilation, and other serious human rights violations. HRSP attorneys prosecuted the first torture case brought in the United States and have successfully prosecuted criminal cases against perpetrators of human rights violations committed in Guatemala, Ethiopia, Liberia, Cuba, and the former Yugoslavia, among others.

This removal was supported by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor as well as the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). The HRVWCC is comprised of HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit, ICE’s Human Rights Law Division, FBI’s International Human Rights Unit, and HRSP.  Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. The HRVWCC leverages the expertise of a select group of agents, lawyers, intelligence and research specialists, historians and analysts who direct the government’s broader enforcement efforts against these offenders.

To learn more about HRSP, visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-hrsp.  

The administrator of a Southern California hospice was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in prison for his role in a multimillion dollar hospice fraud scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Kristi K. Johnson of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Timothy B. DeFrancesca of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.

Antonio Olivera, 80, of Norwalk, was also ordered to pay $2,193,914 in restitution. Olivera pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in November 2020. Three co-conspirators have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

As part of his guilty plea, Olivera admitted that from 2011 to 2018, while acting as administrator for Mhiramarc Management LLC (Mhiramarc), a hospice located in Downey, California, Olivera and others paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters for the referral of hospice beneficiaries to Mhiramarc. Further, when clinical staff at Mhiramarc determined beneficiary referrals did not qualify to receive hospice services, Olivera overruled those determinations and nonetheless caused the beneficiaries to be put on hospice service.

Olivera and co-conspirators caused Mhiramarc to submit approximately $28 million in claims to Medicare, which resulted in the company being paid over $17 million. Olivera was personally responsible for $4,769,982 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, resulting in Medicare paying Mhiramarc $2,984,914 for medically unnecessary hospice services for beneficiaries, many of whom had been recruited through illegal kickbacks.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and HHS-OIG’s Los Angeles Regional Office. Trial Attorneys Justin Givens and Claire Yan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. 

The Fraud Section leads the Health Care Fraud Strike Force.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for nearly $19 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

WASHINGTON – A vessel operating company was sentenced today in Hagatna, Guam, for illegally discharging oil into Apra Harbor, Guam, and for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharges of oily bilge water from the vessel Kota Harum.

Pacific International Lines (Private) Limited (PIL), Chief Engineer Maung Maung Soe, and Second Engineer Peng Luo Hai admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Kota Harum directly into the ocean and into Apra Harbor, Guam, without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment. Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of machinery on the vessel. The defendants also admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

“This case was particularly egregious as it not only involved oily waste discharges out at sea, but also in the Port of Guam itself,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I’d like to thank the stevedores at the Port of Guam who reported the oil discharge to authorities. The Department of Justice and our partner agencies will continue to ensure that polluters who threaten our natural resources are held fully accountable under the law.”

“This case demonstrates our continued commitment to enforcing federal environmental laws in our districts,” said U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. “We will not allow our waters to be dumping grounds for vessel owners and their crews. The substantial penalties imposed by the court are a strong measure of accountability for these unconscionable acts.”

“This case is a strong example of how the U.S. Coast Guard environmental protection missions safeguard our shared natural resources,” said Josh Empen, Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Sector Guam. “We are very thankful to have an expert team of pollution investigators, port state control examiners, and Coast Guard Investigative Service agents who are dedicated to the mission and allowed referral of the case to the U.S. Attorney. I would also like to thank the professional men and women of the Port Authority of Guam who reported the illegal discharge to the National Response Center.”

Specifically, on Oct. 4, 2019, Hai, who was employed by PIL, used the Kota Harum’s emergency fire/ballast pump to discharge oily bilge water directly overboard, leaving an oil sheen upon the water of Apra Harbor. Additionally, Soe, who was also employed by PIL, admitted that excessive leaks in the vessel caused oily bilge water to accumulate in the vessel’s engine room bilge at a rate that exceeded the oil water separator’s (required pollution prevention machinery) processing capacity.

Rather than repairing these leaks before continuing to sail or storing the oily bilge water in holding tanks to be discharged to shore-side reception facilities, it was the routine practice onboard the Kota Harum to discharge the oily bilge water directly overboard into the ocean. Soe then failed to record these improper overboard discharges in the vessel’s oil record book. Additionally, Soe admitted that he altered the vessel’s sounding log so that it would appear as though oily bilge water was being stored in the vessel’s holding tank instead of being pumped overboard.

PIL pleaded guilty to five felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to accurately maintain the Kota Harum’s oil record book, and one felony violation of the Clean Water Act for knowingly discharging oil into a water of the United States in a quantity that may be harmful. The judge sentenced PIL to pay a total criminal penalty of $3 million and serve a four- year term of probation, during which all vessels operated by the company and calling on U.S. ports will be required to implement a robust Environmental Compliance Plan.

Soe and Hai previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years of probation and one year of probation, respectively. Additionally, both Soe and Hai are prohibited from serving as engineers onboard any commercial vessels bound for the United States during their respective terms of probation.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic P. David for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

A vessel operating company was sentenced today in Hagatna, Guam, for illegally discharging oil into Apra Harbor, Guam, and for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharges of oily bilge water from the vessel Kota Harum.

Pacific International Lines (Private) Limited (PIL), Chief Engineer Maung Maung Soe, and Second Engineer Peng Luo Hai admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Kota Harum directly into the ocean and into Apra Harbor, Guam, without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment. Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of machinery on the vessel. The defendants also admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

“This case was particularly egregious as it not only involved oily waste discharges out at sea, but also in the Port of Guam itself,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I’d like to thank the stevedores at the Port of Guam who reported the oil discharge to authorities. The Department of Justice and our partner agencies will continue to ensure that polluters who threaten our natural resources are held fully accountable under the law.”  

“This case demonstrates our continued commitment to enforcing federal environmental laws in our districts,” said U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. “We will not allow our waters to be dumping grounds for vessel owners and their crews. The substantial penalties imposed by the court are a strong measure of accountability for these unconscionable acts.”

“This case is a strong example of how the U.S. Coast Guard environmental protection missions safeguard our shared natural resources,” said Josh Empen, Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Sector Guam. “We are very thankful to have an expert team of pollution investigators, port state control examiners, and Coast Guard Investigative Service agents who are dedicated to the mission and allowed referral of the case to the U.S. Attorney. I would also like to thank the professional men and women of the Port Authority of Guam who reported the illegal discharge to the National Response Center.”

Specifically, on Oct. 4, 2019, Hai, who was employed by PIL, used the Kota Harum’s emergency fire/ballast pump to discharge oily bilge water directly overboard, leaving an oil sheen upon the water of Apra Harbor. Additionally, Soe, who was also employed by PIL, admitted that excessive leaks in the vessel caused oily bilge water to accumulate in the vessel’s engine room bilge at a rate that exceeded the oil water separator’s (required pollution prevention machinery) processing capacity.

Rather than repairing these leaks before continuing to sail or storing the oily bilge water in holding tanks to be discharged to shore-side reception facilities, it was the routine practice onboard the Kota Harum to discharge the oily bilge water directly overboard into the ocean. Soe then failed to record these improper overboard discharges in the vessel’s oil record book. Additionally, Soe admitted that he altered the vessel’s sounding log so that it would appear as though oily bilge water was being stored in the vessel’s holding tank instead of being pumped overboard.

PIL pleaded guilty to five felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to accurately maintain the Kota Harum’s oil record book, and one felony violation of the Clean Water Act for knowingly discharging oil into a water of the United States in a quantity that may be harmful. The judge sentenced PIL to pay a total criminal penalty of $3 million and serve a four-year term of probation, during which all vessels operated by the company and calling on U.S. ports will be required to implement a robust Environmental Compliance Plan.

Soe and Hai previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years of probation and one year of probation, respectively. Additionally, both Soe and Hai are prohibited from serving as engineers onboard any commercial vessels bound for the United States during their respective terms of probation.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic P. David for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement, through a court-supervised settlement agreement, with the State of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) to resolve a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the United States of America.

The settlement agreement, filed today in federal district court in Detroit, resolves allegations that the defendants have engaged in two unlawful employment practices that discriminate against female correctional officers at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV) because of sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The United States’ complaint, filed on June 13, 2016, alleged that the defendants violated Title VII by classifying four job assignments as female-only and by denying female correctional officers job transfers.

The lawsuit is based on charges of sex discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Detroit Area Office by 28 female correctional officers who work or worked at WHV. The EEOC investigated the charges and found that there was a reasonable basis to believe that violations of Title VII had occurred. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts by the EEOC, the charges were referred by the EEOC to the Department of Justice.

“The female correctional officers employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections will finally be able to work under conditions that are fair and consistent with equal employment opportunity principles,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This settlement agreement is an important first step in eliminating the sex discrimination that has so hampered the workplace for female correctional officers currently assigned to the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility.”

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which is subject to court approval, Defendants will pay $750,000 in compensatory damages to eligible female correctional officers who worked at WHV between 2009 and the present, including those who filed charges with the EEOC. Additionally, the State and MDOC will take a number of actions to remedy the alleged discrimination, including efforts to improve the recruitment and retention of female correctional officers at WHV, providing for a lift of the transfer freeze at WHV when the staffing level of female correctional officers reaches a certain level, allowing for a specific number of female correctional officers to transfer out of WHV to other MDOC facilities, and implementing a Title VII-compliant review process for female-only assignments.

“We must fight barriers to equal employment for women at all levels,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Saima S. Mohsin of the Eastern District of Michigan. “In those rare circumstances where gender is a bona fide occupational qualification, employers must ensure that it is narrowly applied and does not impose more onerous working conditions on women. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to continuing its role as a staunch defender of equality.”  

In a joint filing today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Justice Department, along with the State of Michigan and MDOC, moved for a court order provisionally approving the terms of the settlement agreement. The motion also asks the court to schedule a fairness hearing to provide an opportunity for individuals potentially affected by the proposed agreement to provide comments on the terms of the settlement.

The case was brought by Senior Trial Attorneys Taryn Wilgus Null, Nadia Said, and Jennifer Swedish of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section, as well as Susan K. DeClercq of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the jurisdiction of the Employment Litigation Section is available on its websites at www.justice.gov/crt/ and https://www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section.

Three Japanese nationals, including the president and chief executive officer  of Yokohama, Japan-based Kanto Kosan Co. Ltd. (Kanto Kosan) were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday in connection with an alleged long-running scheme to defraud the U.S. Navy and pollute Japanese waters by dumping contaminated water removed from U.S. Navy ships into the ocean.

Sojiro Imahashi, the president and CEO of Kanto Kosan, Tsuyoshi Ifuku, and Yuki Yamamiya, were charged with one count of conspiracy to make false claims, to commit ocean dumping, and to commit major fraud against the U.S.; four counts of major fraud against the U.S.; and six counts of submitting false claims.

“The defendants deceived the U.S. Navy by willfully failing to satisfy the company’s obligations under $120 million in contracts with the Department of Defense that were designed, among other things, to ensure the company not only delivered the required services to the Navy, but also complied with critical environmental safeguards,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division will continue its efforts to protect the integrity of military contracting and safeguard taxpayer dollars.”

“The defendants deserve to be held fully accountable for their alleged scheme to illegally dump wastewater as it threatened the integrity of the Department of the Navy procurement process, degraded the readiness of the warfighter, and squandered taxpayer dollars and valuable investigative resources,” said NCIS Far East Field Office Special Agent in Charge Tim Mahew. “NCIS remains committed to working with DCIS and our federal and international law enforcement partners to root out crime that threatens the communities where our DON personnel live and work.”

“The alleged conduct of the defendants in this case posed a threat to the critical strategic alliance between the United States and our valuable partner nation of Japan,” said Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Transnational Operations Field Office for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). “The dedicated special agents of the DCIS, along with our investigative partners of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, will tirelessly investigate and bring to justice anyone who swindles the Department of Defense and threatens U.S. military readiness.”

According to the indictment, from approximately 2007 to 2020, Kanto Kosan received contracts from the U.S. Navy valued at approximately $120 million, tens of millions of which related to the removal, treatment, and disposal of contaminated oily wastewater (OWW) generated by U.S. Navy ships in Yokosuka, Sasebo, and Okinawa. Under the terms of the contracts, Kanto Kosan was typically required to treat the OWW in accordance with Japanese environmental regulations prior to discharging it into the ocean.

The indictment alleges that Kanto Kosan, acting through the defendants, transferred OWW to treatment barges, on which Kanto Kosan was supposed to use various methods to treat and clean the OWW prior to discharging it into the ocean. To ensure that discharged OWW met Japanese environmental standards, the U.S. Navy contracts typically required Kanto Kosan to “conduct semiannually sampling and testing of effluent discharge from the treatment barge[s]. . . in a laboratory that is certified by the Japanese regulatory authority . . . and provide copies of the test results to [the U.S. Navy]. . . within five (5) working days of receiving results from the accredited Japanese laboratory.” Compliance with the environmental testing regime set out in the contracts was one of the standards by which Kanto Kosan’s performance was measured.

The indictment alleges that in approximately 2007, the defendants and others decided that, instead of properly treating the OWW, Kanto Kosan would minimally treat OWW to remove visible contaminates and then discharge the improperly treated or untreated OWW into the ocean. To circumvent the testing regime, the defendants directed that a storage tank on Kanto Kosan’s OWW treatment barges be kept filled with tap water, and then directed personnel from the environmental testing laboratories that Kanto Kosan engaged to take samples from the tanks filled with tap water. Kanto Kosan employees also added OWW to the tanks filled with tap water on occasion to avoid exposing the scheme. As a result, the U.S. Navy was deceived into believing Kanto Kosan was properly treating the OWW, and into paying its invoices.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

NCIS and DCIS investigated the case. Trial Attorney Michael P. McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case. 

The Fraud Section is the nation’s leading prosecuting authority for complex procurement fraud and corruption matters.

A former subcontractor for the U.S. Marines Corps was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for destroying records in connection with a federal investigation of bribery and procurement fraud at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL), located in Jacksonville, North Carolina, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.    

The former subcontractor, William Thompson, 56, of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, previously pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice.  According to documents filed with the Court, Thompson owned and operated C&D Painting and Construction, a construction company with its principal place of business in Sneads Ferry. Public Official 1 was a civilian employee of the U.S. Marine Corps who directed the procurement of information technology services and equipment to be used by the Marine Corps at MCBCL and elsewhere.

In March 2018, agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), FBI, and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) interviewed Thompson. During the interview, law enforcement agents informed Thompson that they were investigating an alleged bribery conspiracy concerning work that C&D Construction completed as a subcontractor at MCBCL, and about renovations that Thompson performed at Public Official 1’s residence. At the time of the interview, the investigation was covert and not known to all subjects, including Public Official 1.

On the same evening of the interview and the following morning, Thompson exchanged several text messages with Public Official 1 in which Thompson informed Public Official 1 that the FBI, NCIS, and IRS-CI were investigating Public Official 1’s involvement in contracting matters while Public Official 1 was employed by the Marine Corps. After informing Public Official 1 of the ongoing federal investigation, Thompson deleted the relevant text messages from his phone, despite knowing that the messages constituted evidence related to the federal investigation into bribery and procurement fraud at MCBCL.

This case was investigated by the FBI, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, NCIS, Naval Audit Service, and IRS-CI.

Trial Attorney Erica O’Brien Waymack of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section is prosecuting the case.

 

COLAS Djibouti SARL (Colas Djibouti) ­has agreed to resolve for $3.9 million civil allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by selling substandard concrete used to construct U.S. Navy airfields in the Republic of Djibouti, the Department of Justice announced today. Colas Djibouti, a French limited liability company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Colas SA, a French civil engineering company. 

The civil settlement announced today resolves allegations that Colas Djibouti knowingly provided contractually non-compliant concrete that did not meet gradation requirements, contained excessive alkali-silica reactive material, and contained elevated chloride content. These conditions had the potential to promote early-age cracking, surface defects, and the corrosion of embedded steel, and thus, could significantly impair the long-term durability of the concrete utilized on U.S. military bases. 

In addition to the civil settlement, U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer for the Southern District of California announced a separate Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Colas Djibouti pursuant to which Colas Djibouti will admit to the underlying facts and accept responsibility to a one-count information for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and pay a $12,542,002 monetary penalty, comprised of a fine, forfeiture, and restitution. The civil settlement will credit $1,957,998 of Colas Djibouti’s payment under the DPA, and require an additional payment of $1,957,998.

“Government contractors that supply substandard materials to our armed forces not only cheat the American taxpayers but also impose added costs and burdens on the military,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Today’s settlement demonstrates our commitment to ensure that those who do business with the government comply with their contractual obligations.” 

“Wherever our Navy goes, we go,” said Robert S. Brewer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. “We will continue to unwaveringly protect our American warfighters from fraud, graft and corruption as they protect us from enemies foreign and domestic.”

“Our Sailors and Marines depend upon high quality products and services from our Department of the Navy contractors in order to meet the department’s world-wide mission,” said acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Harker. “This outcome demonstrates that the Department of the Navy will continue to insist that our contractors must meet our high standards. This global settlement demonstrates the strong cooperation between the Department of the Navy and the Department of Justice in preventing fraud, no matter where in the world it happens.”

“Aircraft taxiways are essential to military operations, and therefore require concrete that conforms to the high standards and specifications of the Department of Defense” said Stanley A.  Newell, Special Agent in Charge for the DCIS Transnational Operations Field Office. “The DCIS along with our investigative partners will vigorously root out conduct like this that threatens U.S. military readiness and harms the integrity of the DoD procurement system.”

"Protecting Navy interests is a top priority of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Anyone considering defrauding the Navy and U.S. taxpayers should know NCIS will aggressively pursue all such allegations, in concert with our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice," said Todd Battaglia, Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Europe and Africs Field Office.

This civil settlement was the result of a coordinated effort among the Civil Division's Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the DCIS, the NCIS, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency - Operations Investigative Support Division.

Except as admitted in the DPA, the claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. 

Today, the Justice Department is announcing charges following a significant national security cyber investigation first disclosed publicly more than two years ago.

As laid out in today’s indictment, North Korea’s operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of sacks of cash, are the world’s leading bank robbers. The Department will continue to confront malicious nation state cyber activity with our unique tools and work with our fellow agencies and the family of norms abiding nations to do the same. We were together back in September 2018, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, with the assistance of the National Security Division, charged a North Korean programmer, who was working for the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), with conspiring to conduct some of the most damaging cyberattacks ever, including the:

• November 2014 destructive attack and hack-and-dump targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment over a comedy film they did not like;
• February 2016 cyber-enabled heist of $81 million from the Bank of Bangladesh and other heists; and
• May 2017 global Wannacry 2.0 attack.

The events as described in that complaint provided the first indications that the North Korean regime would become focused on, and adept at, stealing money from institutions around the world.

Today, the Department unseals an indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Central District of California, charging the same DPRK programmer, as well as two newly-identified DPRK conspirators, with a campaign of cyber heists and extortion schemes, targeting both traditional and cryptocurrencies. The indictment adds to the list of victims since 2018, including continued cyber-enabled heists from banks on four continents targeting over $1.2 billion. It also describes in stark detail how the DPRK cyber threat has followed the money and turned its revenue generation sights on the most cutting edge aspects of international finance, including through the theft of cryptocurrency from exchanges and other financial institutions, in some cases through the creation and deployment of cryptocurrency applications with hidden backdoors. The indictment refines the attribution of this crime spree to the DPRK military intelligence services, specifically the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB). Simply put, the regime has become a criminal syndicate with a flag, which harnesses its state resources to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a moment, you will hear more details about the charges and evidence in this case from the Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California, the FBI, and the United States Secret Service. But, I want to take a moment to highlight the significance of these charges for the Department, the United States, and the international community: As the description of victim entities in the indictment shows, the DPRK’s malicious activities are a global problem, requiring global awareness, condemnation, and cooperative disruption. With this indictment and related disruptions, the United States continues to do its part.

First, we  continue to shine a light on the global campaign of criminality being waged by the DPRK. Nation-state indictments like this are an important step in identifying the problem, calling it out in a legally rigorous format, and building international consensus.

Second, in addition to educating the U.S. public and international community about this activity, we are also targeting the networks through which the DPRK is cashing-out its ill-gotten gains. As will be described in more detail by my colleagues, the Department has obtained custody over a dual-U.S./Canadian national who organized the laundering of millions of dollars stolen by the DPRK hackers. He has admitted his role in these criminal schemes in a plea agreement, and he will be held to account for his conduct. This prosecution demonstrates the commitment of the Department to ensuring that those who conspire with the DPRK hackers will face justice. The Department was also able to seize and expects to ultimately return almost $2 million stolen by the DPRK hackers from a New York-based financial services company. This follows on similar seizure actions announced in March and August 2020, in which with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia seized and froze approximately $8.5 million of cryptocurrency. These cryptocurrency seizures and prosecution of a high-level money launderer collectively represent important steps in disrupting the DPRK hackers and their money laundering networks, and illustrate the Department’s commitment to repatriating stolen funds before they reach the DPRK.

Third, the United States is empowering network defenders. As you will hear about, the prosecutors and investigators have — throughout this investigation — worked closely with victims and intended victims of the DPRK hackers, and have provided these victims with information about avoiding and remediating infections. This work continues today. Accompanying this announcement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, with the assistance of the Department of the Treasury, are releasing a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory and Malware Analysis Report regarding the DPRK’s malicious cryptocurrency applications. The criminal investigation leading to today’s indictment obtained that information for distribution to network defenders. Further, the context provided in today’s indictment underscores the necessity of paying attention to this Advisory and its recommendation.

Fourth, the allegations in today’s indictment inform and empower the international community so that they can not only join us in condemning this activity, but also help stop it. In that regard, the European Union’s (EU) July 2020 sanctions related to the Lazarus group was a welcome development. We commend the EU for its initial efforts to impose consequences for state-sponsored malicious cyber activities. However, other nations that wish to be regarded as responsible actors on the international stage must also step up. These conspirators described in today’s indictment are alleged to have been working, at times, from locations in China and Russia. The DPRK has also utilized Chinese over-the-counter cryptocurrency traders and other criminal networks to launder the funds. Just as the United States has disrupted the DPRK’s crime spree through arrests, forfeitures, and seizures, the time is ripe for Russia and China, as well as any other country whose entities or nationals play a role in the DPRK revenue-generation efforts, to take action.

The Department’s criminal charges are uniquely credible forms of attribution — we can prove these allegations beyond a reasonable doubt using only unclassified, admissible evidence. And they are the only way in which the Department speaks. If the choice here is between remaining silent while we at the Department watch nations engage in malicious, norms-violating cyber activity, or charges these cases, the choice is obvious — we will charge them. 

Before I turn this over, I’d like to thank the agents at the FBI in Los Angeles, Charlotte, and Raleigh; the Secret Service in Savannah, Los Angeles, and D.C.; and the prosecutors in Los Angeles and at the National Security Division in D.C. for stepping up to the plate to play their part.

A North Carolina sport supplement company owner was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty to introducing unapproved new drugs into interstate commerce, the Department of Justice announced.

Brian Michael Parks, 47, of Apex, North Carolina, and MedFitRX Inc, now known as MedFit Sarmacuticals Inc., a sport supplement company based in Cary, North Carolina, previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to one count of distributing unapproved new drugs with the intent to mislead and defraud the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and consumers.

In pleading guilty, Parks admitted that from approximately June 2017 to September 2019, he and his company unlawfully distributed Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) and other substances that the FDA has not approved, including Ostarine (MK-2866), Ligandrol (LGD-4033), and Testolone (RAD-140). SARMs are synthetic chemicals designed to mimic the effects of testosterone and other anabolic steroids.

The FDA has long warned against the use of SARMs like those found in MedFit products, including stating in a publicly available 2017 warning letter to another firm that SARMs have been linked to life-threatening reactions including liver toxicity, and have the potential to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. In connection with his sentence, Parks also forfeited $350,000. 

“Bypassing the FDA drug approval process puts consumers at risk,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will continue to work with the FDA to investigate and prosecute the illegal distribution of supplements that contain dangerous ingredients.” 

“When Parks marketed drugs masquerading as dietary supplements that had not been approved by the FDA, he sidestepped important safeguards to protect the public, and committed a serious crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of the Western District of Virginia. “Our office will continue to closely partner with the FDA to ensure safety and effectiveness in our drug supply.”

“‘Sports supplements’ that are manufactured and distributed outside the FDA’s oversight and that contain unapproved and possibly toxic ingredients endanger the health of unsuspecting consumers,” said Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigations Catherine A. Hermsen, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations. “Today’s actions represent our continued commitment to pursuing and bringing to justice those who mislead the public and intentionally attempt to subvert the regulatory functions of the FDA through the distribution of unapproved and potentially dangerous products.” 

In pleading guilty, Parks also admitted that he intended to mislead and defraud the FDA and consumers by omitting ingredients on MedFitRX product labels, falsely claiming MedFitRX was licensed and registered to sell these new drugs, importing raw drug ingredients with the intent to avoid regulatory scrutiny, and misrepresenting MedFitRX products as “dietary supplements” or “sports supplements” to create the impression that they were safe and legal to use.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Speare Hodges of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch prosecuted the case. This matter was investigated by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.

 

The Justice Department announced today that Shepherd Hoehn, 51, pleaded guilty in federal court to making threats to intimidate and interfere with his neighbor, who is Black, because of the neighbor’s race and because the neighbor was exercising his right to fair housing, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3631. Hoehn also pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

According to documents filed in connection with the plea, on June 18, 2020, a construction crew began working at the direction of Hoehn’s neighbor to remove a tree from the neighbor’s property. Upon learning of the tree removal, Hoehn became angry and took several steps to threaten, intimidate and interfere with his neighbor and the construction workers. Specifically, Hoehn placed and burned a cross above the fence line facing his neighbor’s property; created and displayed a swastika on the outer side of his fence, facing his neighbor’s property; created and displayed a large sign containing a variety of anti-Black racial slurs next to the swastika; visibly displayed a machete near the sign with the racial slurs; loudly played the song “Dixie” on repeat; and threw eggs at his neighbor’s house. On July 1, 2020, the FBI executed a federal search warrant at Hoehn’s home. During the search, several firearms and drug paraphernalia were located.

“Hoehn’s hateful and threatening conduct, motivated by racial intolerance, is an egregious crime that will not be tolerated by the Justice Department,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pam Karlan of the Civil Rights Division. “Every person has a right to occupy, enjoy and feel safe in their homes, regardless of race, color or national origin. We will continue to protect the civil rights of all individuals and vigorously prosecute hate crime cases.”

“Threats and intimidation, condemnable at all times, are here made all the more reprehensible by Hoehn’s racial motivations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Childress. “The citizens of the Southern District of Indiana rightfully expect to be protected from such illegal conduct and expect that those who engage in it to be punished. The men and women of my office will meet those expectations.”  

“It’s unimaginable that harassment and intimidation such as this based on race, sexual identity or religious beliefs still exists in this day and age. Such incidents are intended to create fear and will not be tolerated by the FBI,” said Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan of the FBI Indianapolis Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to ensure that if a crime is motivated by bias, it will be investigated and the perpetrators held responsible for their actions. We encourage everyone to report such crimes to the FBI.”

Hoehn’s sentencing date has not been set at this time. Hoehn faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charged offenses.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Lawrence Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Shepard of the Southern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Katherine DeVar of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

 

 

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A doctor, formerly of Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to willful failure to pay employment taxes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to court documents, from 2011 through 2018, Arshad Pervez Cheema owned and operated Walk-In Medical Center PC, a medical practice located in Falls Church and Herndon, Virginia. Cheema was responsible for collecting and paying to the IRS payroll taxes, which consisted of Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes that had been withheld from his employees’ wages, as well as an employer portion. Over a four-year period from 2012 to 2016, Cheema willfully did not pay over $500,000 in payroll taxes. Instead, he used some of the withheld funds for other business ventures, including to open and run a restaurant in Washington, D.C. In addition, Cheema did not pay corporate taxes for Walk-In Medical Center PC, nor did he pay employment taxes for another doctor’s office, Falls Church Family Care PC, which he operated. In total, Cheema did not pay over $2 million in employment and corporate taxes.

U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga scheduled sentencing for June 23, 2021. At sentencing, Cheema faces a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. Cheema also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and a fine.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Parekh commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Casey S. Smith and Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell L. Carlberg, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that Lee Mouat, 42, has been indicted for federal hate crimes. Mouat is charged with two counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 249 by willfully causing bodily injury to a Black teenager and attempting to cause bodily injury to another Black teenager, through the use of a dangerous weapon, because of the teenagers’ race. Mouat was previously charged with the former count by criminal complaint in federal district court on Oct. 13, 2020.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mouat confronted a group of Black teenagers, including the victim, at a state park in Monroe, Michigan. Mouat repeatedly used racial slurs and said that Black people had no right to use the public beach where the incident occurred. Mouat then struck one of the teens in the face with a bike lock, knocking out several of the victim’s teeth and fracturing his jaw. According to the indictment, Mouat attempted to strike another teen with the bike lock.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, Mouat faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count.

This case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Carlson of the Eastern District of Michigan and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

 

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Two Louisiana tax preparers pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from January through April 2015, Morgan Antoine and Jennifer Austin conspired to file false tax returns for clients of Pelicans Income Tax and Payroll Service, a tax preparation business located in Kenner and Westwego, Louisiana. Antoine and Austin prepared client returns reporting false income and withholdings in order to generate larger tax refunds. In addition to preparing false returns for her clients, Antoine also filed a fraudulent personal return that claimed a false dependent. In total, Antoine and Austin caused a tax loss of more than $550,000.

U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance scheduled sentencing for May 26, 2021. At sentencing, Antoine and Austin each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Antoine and Austin also face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Strasser commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Jessica Kraft and William Montague of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter Guice, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Judge John A. Ross sentenced Amos Vonzell Blanchard, Jr. to 54 months in prison today. The 45-year-old Florissant, Missouri resident previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base and one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base.

Beginning in 2018, investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis County Police Department began an investigation into a group of cocaine and cocaine base distributors operating in and around St. Louis County. Blanchard, Jr., along with others, was obtaining cocaine and cocaine base for redistribution.

On January 15, 2019, investigators executed a search warrant at Blanchard, Jr.’s stash house in the 6400 block of Ridge Avenue. Detectives observed Blanchard, Jr. holding a black latex glove while trying to open a bedroom window from inside the residence. The glove was found to contain more than 66 individual clear plastic baggies of cocaine base, commonly known as “crack” cocaine, 52 tablets of methamphetamine and a small amount of powder cocaine.

This case was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Yemm is handling the case.

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Female genital mutilation (FGM) has broad implications for the health and human rights of women and girls, as well as societies at large.

International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation on Feb. 6 served as an opportunity to reflect on victims who have suffered from FGM, including those who have died or suffered lifelong health complications from the practice. Partners of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC) including the Department of Justice, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI, and the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division join foreign government partners, non-governmental organizations, and local communities to call for the eradication of the practice.

“In the United States there will be zero tolerance for those who subject girls to this harmful and traumatic practice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As the recent indictment shows, the Justice Department will seek to hold accountable all perpetrators of this heinous act and fully enforce all provisions of the STOP FGM Act.”

“On this day we remember the women and girls who have been impacted by this horrific practice and commit ourselves to working together to end it,” said Mark Shaffer, Chief of ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center. “FGM is a human rights violation and a crime that requires a global effort to address. We stand with our domestic and international partners as we work together to support survivors and prevent the victimization of more women and girls.”

“Every year, the FBI joins with our partners to acknowledge Zero Tolerance Day and raise awareness regarding Female Genital Mutilation,” said Section Chief David Scott of the FBI’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section. “However, our work investigating perpetrators of this terrible crime is not limited to February 6. The FBI is consistently and actively working to eradicate this human rights violation every day of the year. We reaffirm our commitment to our partners, to the victims, and to the world that the FBI is committed to protecting the rights of young women and children and bringing justice to those who would violate them.”

FGM is a serious human rights violation, and, since 1996, has been a federal crime. This year, on Jan. 5, the STOP FGM Act 2020 was signed into law, further clarifying the FGM crime and aligning the U.S. definition of FGM with the World Health Organization’s definition. Violations of this law may result in imprisonment and potential removal from the United States. Individuals suspected of FGM, including sending girls overseas to be cut, may be investigated by the HRVWCC and prosecuted by the Justice Department accordingly. Notably, STOP FGM 2020 aligned the definition of FGM with the World Health Organization’s definition and increased the statutory maximum term of imprisonment for violating the law from five to ten years. On Jan. 13, the Department of Justice indicted a Texas woman for allegedly transporting a minor out of the United States for FGM, the first indictment under the amended statute.

The Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center is the only government entity focused completely on investigating global atrocities and the perpetrators of human rights violations and war crimes. Initiated by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in 2008, the HRVWCC leverages the knowledge and expertise of a select group of special agents, attorneys, intelligence analysts, criminal research specialists and historians who are charged with preventing the United States from becoming a safe haven to individuals who engage in the commission of war crimes, genocide, torture and other forms of serious human rights abuses from conflicts around the globe. The center also brings together other Department of Homeland Security components and federal partners, to include the FBI and the Department of Justice, who work collaboratively alongside HSI to pursue human rights violators and war crimes investigations and prosecutions. In 2017, the HRVWCC initiated Operation Limelight USA, a program modeled on Operation Limelight, a joint initiative by the United Kingdom (U.K.) Border Force and police services across the U.K. In Operation Limelight USA, HSI, in partnership with non-governmental organizations, the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other partners worked together to educate passengers flying to or from high-risk countries, offering informational brochures and identifying potential victims and violators of FGM. 

According to UNICEF, more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, which refers to cutting and other procedures that injure the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. While primarily concentrated in north, west, and central Africa, as well as parts of the Middle East and Asia, FGM also occurs in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 500,000 women and girls in the United States are either victims of FGM or are at risk of being subjected to it. The practice is global in scope and found in multiple geographies, religions, and socioeconomic classes.

Anyone who has information about an individual who is suspected of assisting in this crime is urged to call the toll-free ICE tip line at (866) 347-2423 or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or complete the ICE online tip form or FBI online tip form. All are staffed around the clock, and tips may be provided anonymously.

For more information about the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting, view this Fact Sheet on FGM from the U.S. Department of State or visit the United Nations' Zero Tolerance Day website.

 

WASHINGTON – Continuing the practice of new administrations, President Biden and the Department of Justice have begun the transition process for the U.S. Attorneys.

“We are committed to ensuring a seamless transition. Until U.S. Attorney nominees are confirmed, the interim and acting leaders in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will make sure that the department continues to accomplish its critical law enforcement mission, vigorously defend the rule of law and pursue the fair and impartial administration of justice for all,” said Acting Attorney General Wilkinson.

Earlier this year, nearly all presidential appointees from the previous administration offered their resignations, though U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals were asked to temporarily remain in place. Prior to the beginning of this U.S. Attorney transition process, approximately one-third of the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices were already led by acting or interim leadership.

President Biden will make announcements regarding his nominations to the Senate of new U.S. Attorneys as that information becomes available.

Indian drug manufacturer Fresenius Kabi Oncology Limited (FKOL) has agreed to plead guilty to concealing and destroying records prior to a 2013 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plant inspection and pay $50 million in fines and forfeiture, the Department of Justice announced today.

In a criminal information filed in federal court in the District of Nevada and unsealed today, the United States charged FKOL with violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by failing to provide certain records to FDA investigators. As part of a criminal resolution, FKOL agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor offense, pay a criminal fine of $30 million, and forfeit an additional $20 million. FKOL also agreed to implement a compliance and ethics program designed to prevent, detect, and correct violations of U.S. law relating to FKOL’s manufacture of cancer drugs intended for terminally ill patients. 

“By hiding and deleting manufacturing records, FKOL sought to obstruct the FDA’s regulatory authority and prevent the FDA from doing its job of ensuring the purity and potency of drugs intended for U.S. consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “FKOL’s conduct put vulnerable patients at risk. The Department of Justice will continue to work with FDA to prosecute drug manufacturers who obstruct these inspections.” 

“Pharmaceutical companies that obstruct FDA inspections jeopardize patient safety,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada. “Maintaining the integrity of records and data is a critical part of drug manufacturing, and our office will continue prosecuting those that obstruct FDA inspections by destroying records or other means.”

“FDA inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities help ensure the strength, quality and purity of our medicines. Any attempt to obstruct or interfere with these inspections threatens the public health,” said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs of the FDA. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and present any such obstruction for prosecution.”

According to court documents, FKOL owned and operated a manufacturing plant in Kalyani, West Bengal, India, that manufactured active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in various cancer drug products distributed to the United States. The government alleges that prior to a January 2013 FDA inspection of the Kalyani facility, FKOL plant management directed employees to remove certain records from the premises and delete other records from computers that would have revealed FKOL was manufacturing drug ingredients in contravention of FDA requirements. Kalyani plant employees removed computers, hardcopy documents, and other materials from the premises and deleted spreadsheets that contained evidence of the plant’s violative practices.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Director Clint Narver and Trial Attorney Natalie Sanders of the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas D. Dickinson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Los Angeles Field Office, investigated the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation in India provided invaluable assistance to U.S. authorities in the investigation of this matter.   

A Rocky Mount, North Carolina, tax return preparer was sentenced to 50 months in prison today for conspiring to defraud the United States, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2009 and 2017, Adrienne Williams owned and operated Ultimate Tax Service, a return preparation business, which had an office in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. During that time period, Williams and at least two of her employees at Ultimate Tax Service prepared false tax returns for clients. The returns claimed fraudulent refunds by including, among other falsities, bogus federal income tax withholdings. In all, Williams and her co-conspirators sought to defraud the IRS of more than $3.5 million.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle ordered Williams to serve three years of supervised release and pay $4,830,723 in restitution to the IRS.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Higdon commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan B. Menzer, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.

Acting United States Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, FBI Director Christopher Wray and President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall represented the United States Government’s official delegation today at the funeral service for fallen FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Special Agent Alfin was killed in the line of duty along with FBI Special Laura Schwartzenberger on Tuesday, while executing a search warrant investigating violent crimes against children in Sunrise, Florida.  Four other FBI Special Agents were injured during the incident.  The service was held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and was attended by hundreds of law enforcement officials from throughout the country. 

“During his 12 years of service as an FBI Special Agent, Dan Alfin brought to the job passion and determination in all that he did,” said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson.  “It takes a person like Dan with highly specialized skills to investigate crimes involving violence against children day after day.  Countless children around the world are safer today because of Dan’s work and many child predators are behind bars where they can do no further harm.  Our DOJ family and the nation mourn the heartbreaking loss of one of the best the FBI had in its ranks, and our thoughts and sympathy are with Dan’s family, friends and fellow special agents from the Miami Field Office.”  

“FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin, like Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, was an American hero who dedicated his life to keeping our country, especially our children, safe," said Dr. Sherwood-Randall Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. "He worked tirelessly to protect the most vulnerable among us from unimaginably heinous acts. President Biden knows the toll of such sudden loss and is keeping the Alfin family in his heart. It was a privilege to join the moving services this weekend alongside Acting Attorney General Wilkinson and FBI Director Wray.  I want to express my deep thanks to everyone who participated in honoring the two noble special agents slain in the line of duty on February 2.”

Director Wray’s eulogy of Special Agent Alfin can be found at https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches

The delegation attended funeral services for FBI Special Agent Schwartzenberger in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. 

Acting United States Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, FBI Director Christopher Wray and President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall led a United States Government delegation to Fort Lauderdale, Florida today that attended the funeral service for fallen FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger. 

Special Agent Schwartzenberger was killed in the line of duty along with FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin on Tuesday, while executing a search warrant investigating violent crimes against children in Sunrise, Florida.  Four other FBI Special Agents were wounded during the incident.  The service was held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and was attended by hundreds of law enforcement officials from throughout the country. 

"During her 15 years as an FBI Special Agent, Laura Schwartzenberger was selfless, tireless, brave and committed to protecting some of society's most vulnerable: its children," said Acting Attorney General Wilkinson.  "Laura pursued justice and she did so with dedication and integrity.  We honor Laura's memory for all she gave to her country, to her colleagues and to the many others whose lives she touched and changed profoundly for the better.  The United States Department of Justice family and a grateful nation mourn this devastating loss alongside Laura's husband Jason, and two sons, Gavin and Damon."

“FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger was an American hero who dedicated her life to keeping our country, our citizens and especially our children safe,” said Dr Sherwood-Randall  Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. “Her courage is an inspiration for all of us and I know President Biden is praying for Laura and her loved ones as they grieve this profound loss.”

Director Wray’s eulogy of Special Agent Schwartzenberger can be found at https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/remembering-special-agent-laura-schwartzenberger-020621

The official delegation will attend funeral services for FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin Hard Rock Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 2:00PM ET.  Due to COVID-19, the funeral service is restricted to invited guests only but the public may view the service on a live webcast at Service - Hard Rock Stadium.

An Iowa woman pleaded guilty today for unlawfully using a former Department of Justice contractor’s government computer to access government records and to obtain sensitive, non-public law enforcement information, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

According to admissions made in connection with her guilty plea, Rachel Manna, 33, of West Des Moines, was acquainted with Danielle Taff, who was employed as a contractor paralegal by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. Taff was assigned to the office’s Civil Division, where she worked exclusively on matters related to civil forfeiture and was neither required nor authorized to access files and information related to the district’s investigation and prosecution of criminal cases. 

Manna admitted that in the spring of 2018, she asked Taff to obtain non-public information about certain defendants in a criminal investigation and prosecution being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As a result, on or about May 16, 2018, Taff used her U.S. Department of Justice computer to access criminal files stored on the district’s shared electronic data storage drive, including reports of law enforcement interviews with at least two individuals who cooperated with the district in a drug-trafficking investigation. Taff then used her cell phone to take approximately 30 photographs of the sensitive, non-public documents related to the drug-trafficking investigation.

After photographing the documents, Taff shared them with Manna, who subsequently shared the photographs with several individuals on Facebook. As a result, in October 2018, other individuals posted those photographs to a Facebook group dedicated to outing “snitches,” or law enforcement cooperators, in the Des Moines region. Among other sensitive information, the photographs taken by Taff and subsequently posted on Facebook identified at least two cooperators in the drug-trafficking investigation by name and other personal identifiers.

Taff pleaded guilty in November 2020 for her role in the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced March 9. Sentencing for Manna is scheduled for June 4.

The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Field Division, is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Erica O’Brien Waymack and Matthew Palmer-Ball of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

A Louisiana tax return preparer was sentenced to 24 months in prison today for conspiring to defraud the United States, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to court documents, Michegel Butler of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, owned Crown Tax Service LLC, a tax preparation business located in Kenner, Louisiana. From approximately January 2013 through April 2013, Butler and others conspired to defraud the United States by preparing returns that fraudulently inflated clients’ tax refunds. Some of the returns included false Schedule C business income and expenses, dependents, and dependent care expenses. To substantiate the false income and expenses, Butler and others directed clients to create bogus receipts. In total, Butler caused over $100,000 in tax losses.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier ordered Butler to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $90,856 in restitution to the United States.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Jessica Kraft of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dall Kammer, who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

The Justice Department today announced that it reached a settlement agreement with Service Minds Inc., dba Mister Sparky (Service Minds), a company that provides contract electrical services to residential customers in Florida and Alabama. The settlement resolves a claim that the company retaliated against a work-authorized job applicant, in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), when he and his wife challenged a U.S. citizens-only hiring rule that a recruiter had wrongly claimed was the company’s policy.

“Employers should not retaliate against workers for speaking up when they are told they cannot get a job because they are not a U.S. citizen,” said Gregory B. Friel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. “We are grateful that the applicant and his wife objected to what would have been an unlawful practice when they learned about it.”

The department initiated its investigation after a woman filed a charge on behalf of her husband, an electrician in Ocala, Florida, who applied for a job with Service Minds. The investigation determined that although the applicant was qualified for the position, a company recruiter incorrectly told him that the company could only hire U.S. citizens. The applicant and his wife sent the recruiter information about the INA’s prohibition against citizenship status discrimination and objected to the company’s policy. The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) found evidence that, based on the electrician’s qualifications and the company’s past hiring practices, the company would have hired him if he and his wife had not raised an objection. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from retaliating against individuals because they object to conduct that is illegal under the provision, or for exercising other rights protected under that provision.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Service Minds will, among other things, give the former employee front pay and back pay (including benefits) plus interest, totaling over $24,500; pay a civil penalty; train its workers; and be subject to departmental monitoring.

IER is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. Learn more about citizenship status discrimination under the INA here.

Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment, or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public also may contact IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688; call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.

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A Florida businesswoman has agreed to resolve criminal charges and civil claims arising out of false claims to the United States for braces and other durable medical equipment (DME), the Justice Department announced today. 

Kelly Wolfe, of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and filing a false tax return. She faces a maximum penalty of 13 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Wolfe’s company, Regency Inc. (Regency), has also agreed to a civil resolution.

“The department is committed to ensuring that federal health care program providers do not place their own financial gain over patients’ clinical needs,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “When medical professionals and companies knowingly commit fraud to maximize their profits, we will hold them accountable for their unlawful conduct.”

“Fraud and deceit in our nation’s health care system is not only unacceptable, it is illegal.” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez for the Middle District of Florida. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively work with our investigative partners in rooting out these illicit practices to ensure that patients receive the optimum care they deserve.”

“This pernicious telefraud scheme’s ambitions were cut short by the exceptional partnership of our law enforcement partners,” said Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG). “This guilty plea and the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars back to the U.S. Treasury show our determination to stop such damaging fraud schemes and to bring fraudsters to justice.”

“The FBI is laser-focused on exposing those who cheat our government health care programs," said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Tampa Division Michael McPherson. "American taxpayers can be assured the FBI and its law enforcement partners are working vigorously to protect federally funded health care programs from deception and greed.”

“Honest and law-abiding citizens are fed up with the likes of those who use deceit and fraud to line their pockets," stated Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne of IRS Criminal Investigation. "Fleecing the health care industry effectively robs us all, and tax fraud undermines the integrity of our nation’s tax system. Those who engage in these swindles should know they will not go undetected and will be held accountable."

“The VA OIG’s continued oversight of CHAMPVA, which provides community care to family members of disabled veterans, is one of the agency’s highest priorities because it safeguards the integrity of VA’s health care programs,” stated David Spilker, Special Agent in Charge at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA OIG). “As detailed in the charging documents, the defendant’s criminal actions resulted in a massive fraud being committed against both CHAMPVA and Medicare, ultimately impacting the beneficiaries of those programs. The VA OIG commends the extensive cooperation between our law enforcement partners in this important investigation.”

According to court documents, Wolfe and her conspirators used Regency to establish dozens of DME supply companies — or, rather, DME fronts — using trickery and deception. The scheme involved placing the DME fronts in the names of straw owners. By concealing the true ownership, Wolfe’s conspirators secretly gained control of multiple companies. With such control, they collectively submitted well over $400 million in illegal DME claims to Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the VA. The conspirators claimed that the unusually high volume of claims reflected the use of telemedicine procedures, when, in fact, they had simply bribed doctors to approve them. Almost always, the doctors had no telehealth interaction with the beneficiaries.

Wolfe further admitted that, for tax year 2017, she had purchased numerous personal items and services using Regency’s funds. Rather than properly report this as income to the IRS, Wolfe falsely classified her personal spending as purported business expenditures.

In addition to Wolfe’s criminal plea, Wolfe and Regency have agreed to a civil settlement of up to $20,332,516, to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act in a number of ways, including falsifying documentation in order to fraudulently establish DME corporations to bill for medically unnecessary DME equipment, and engaging in improper marketing practices that violated the Anti-Kickback Statute. The civil settlement is based on Wolfe and Regency’s ability to pay. The United States previously obtained an emergency temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the conduct and assets of Wolfe, Regency, and several of their alleged co-conspirators, in a civil injunctive action pursued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The injunctive action is captioned U.S. v. Regency, Inc., et al., No. 8:19-cv-803 (M.D. Fla.).

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act against Wolfe and Regency by Condra Albright, a former Regency employee. Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the settlement if the government takes over the case and reaches a monetary agreement with the defendant. The qui tam case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Albright v. Regency, Inc., et al., No. 8:19-cv-686 (M.D. Fla.). 

The criminal case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida with assistance from the HHS OIG, the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, the VA OIG, and the IRS Office of Criminal Investigations. The civil case is being handled by the Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida with assistance from the HHS OIG. 

Except for the conduct admitted in connection with Wolfe’s criminal plea, the claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que ha llegado a un acuerdo conciliatorio con Service Minds Inc., que opera bajo el nombre de Mister Sparky (Service Minds), una compañía que presta servicios eléctricos a clientes residenciales en Florida y Alabama. El acuerdo resuelve una acusación de que la compañía había tomado represalias contra un postulante con autorización para trabajar, en contra de la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad (INA, por sus siglas en inglés) cuando él y su esposa cuestionaron una norma que restringía la contratación únicamente a ciudadanos estadounidenses que un reclutador había declarado, erróneamente, que era la política de la compañía.

«Los empleadores no deben tomar represalias contra trabajadores que dicen lo que piensan cuando se les dice que no pueden conseguir un trabajo por no ser ciudadanos de los EE. UU.», dijo Gregory B. Friel, el Fiscal General Auxiliar Adjunto de la División de Derechos Civiles. «Estamos muy agradecidos que el postulante y su esposa se opusieron, al enterarse de lo mismo, a lo que hubiera sido una práctica ilegal».

El Departamento inició su investigación después de que una mujer presentó una denuncia en nombre de su esposo, un electricista en Ocala, Florida, que había solicitado un trabajo con Service Minds. La investigación determinó que, aunque el postulante reunía los requisitos para el puesto, un reclutador de la compañía le dijo, erróneamente, que la compañía solamente contrata a ciudadanos estadounidenses. El postulante y su esposa enviaron al reclutador información sobre la prohibición de la discriminación por motivos de estatus de ciudadanía y se opusieron a la política de la compañía. La Sección de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Empleados de la División de Derechos Civiles halló pruebas de que, según las cualificaciones del electricista y las prácticas de contratación de la compañía en el pasado, la compañía lo habría contratado si él y su mujer no hubieran formulado una objeción. Por lo general, la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA prohíbe que los empleadores tomen represalias contra individuos por haberse opuesto a una conducta que, en virtud de la disposición, es ilegal, o por haber ejercido otros derechos amparados por esa disposición.

Conforme los términos del acuerdo conciliatorio, entre otras cosas, Service Minds proporcionará pagos por anticipado y pagos retroactivos (los que incluyen beneficios) más los intereses aplicables, una suma que en su totalidad asciende a 24.500 $; pagará una sanción civil; capacitará a sus empleados y se someterá a la supervisión del Departamento.

La Sección de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Empleados («IER», por sus siglas en inglés) de la División de Derechos Civiles es responsable de hacer cumplir la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA. La ley prohíbe la discriminación por motivos de estatus de ciudadanía y nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión; prácticas documentales injustas; y represalias o la intimidación. 

Aquellos aspirantes o empleados que creen haber sido discriminados por motivos de su estatus de ciudadanía o nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido, reclutamiento o verificación de la elegibilidad para trabajar (Formulario I-9 e E-Verify) o sujetos a represalias pueden presentar una denuncia. El público también puede llamar a la línea directa de la IER para trabajadores al 1-800-255-7688; llamar a la línea directa de la IER para empleadores al 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidades auditivas); enviar un correo electrónico a IER@usdoj.gov; inscribirse a un seminario en línea gratuito; o visitar los sitios web de la IER en inglés o español. Para recibir las últimas noticias de la IER, inscríbase a GovDelivery

Today the Justice Department announced a settlement agreement with Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia, to resolve its investigation into a complaint that ODU discriminated and retaliated against a graduate student based on disability and her related request for reasonable modifications of policy.  The Civil Rights Division conducted the investigation under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

“Students should never have to choose between their right to request reasonable modifications of policy for their disabilities and their academic success,” said Gregory B. Friel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.  “This agreement reflects the critical role colleges and universities — and their faculty and staff — play in delivering on the promise of the ADA and Section 504.  By working in good faith with students to provide reasonable modifications of policy, colleges and universities can ensure that students with disabilities have full and equal access to educational opportunities at the highest levels of academic achievement.” 

The investigation found that the complainant requested acknowledgement of her right to reasonable modifications of policy and was penalized for doing so in violation of Title II and Section 504.  The department concluded that after a dispute about the student’s request and based on her disability, ODU terminated the student’s working relationship with her professor-advisor, removed the student from the professor’s lab, separated her from ongoing research and withdrew her participation at a professional conference.  The complainant was forced to change her graduate course of study and find a new advisor.  

ODU cooperated throughout the investigation and committed to complying fully with its legal obligations under the ADA and Section 504.  The settlement agreement requires ODU to develop and disseminate a retaliation policy that explains the ADA and Section 504 obligations applicable to all staff and faculty and clarifies that ODU will impose consequences, up to and including termination, on those who violate the policy.  ODU will also provide comprehensive ADA training to administrators, faculty and staff.  Finally, the agreement requires that ODU pay $40,000 in monetary damages to the complainant. 

The enforcement of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division.  Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section.  Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/. 

This morning FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger were killed in the line of duty and three other agents were wounded while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation in Sunrise, Florida.  Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the following statement:

“We mourn the tragic loss of two of our FBI colleagues who were killed today in the line of duty,” said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson.  “Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones and with their three colleagues who were shot in today’s devastating events.  On this dark day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women of the FBI who put their lives on the line every day in support of our mission.  We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by these special agents.”

Curtis Arganbright, 43, a former Westminster Police Department (WPD) officer, was sentenced today in federal court in Denver, Colorado, to 72 months in prison and three years supervised release.  In addition to his prison sentence, Arganbright will forfeit his law enforcement certification and be required to register as a sex offender.

Arganbright previously pleaded guilty to one count of violating the civil rights of a woman whom he sexually assaulted.

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate law enforcement officers who use their authority to prey on vulnerable victims and sexually assault them,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory B. Friel of the Civil Rights Division.  “The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases in an effort to secure justice for the victims of these reprehensible crimes and ensure that perpetrators who use their unique power to take advantage of others are held accountable.”

“Curtis Arganbright’s heinous conduct not only victimized a person in his care, it shattered the public’s trust given to him as a police officer,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn for the District of Colorado.  “This sentence is important because it demonstrates my commitment and that of this office to hold accountable those in positions of authority and to seek full justice for victims.”

“Curtis Arganbright abused his power and authority as a peace officer to terrorize and victimize a member of our community while on duty.  Such behavior damages the public’s trust in law enforcement officials and is contrary to the oath we all take.  The dedication of our agents, our partners at the Broomfield and Westminster Police Departments, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office demonstrates our commitment to holding all law enforcement officials who abuse their power and violate the constitution accountable for their actions,” said Denver FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider.  “The FBI takes allegations of civil rights and color of law violations extremely seriously and will always seek justice for the victims and our community.”

According to court documents, Arganbright worked as a police officer for WPD in August 2017.  While on duty in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2017, Arganbright responded to a call of a theft at St. Anthony Hospital.  After hospital personnel declined to press charges against the victim, Arganbright agreed to drive the victim home.  During the transport home, Arganbright pulled off the main road and sexually assaulted the victim.

The Denver Division of the FBI conducted the investigation, with substantial assistance from the Broomfield Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Fields of the District of Colorado and Trial Attorneys Maura White and Katherine DeVar of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Curtis Arganbright, 43, ex oficial del Departamento de Policía de Westminster (WPD), fue sentenciado hoy en la Corte Federal de Denver, Colorado, a 72 meses en prisión y tres años de libertad supervisada. Además de su sentencia de prisión, Arganbright perderá su certificado del orden público y se requerirá que se registre como agresor sexual.

Arganbright se declaró culpable previamente a un cargo de violación de los Derechos Civiles de una mujer a la que atacó sexualmente.

“El Departamento de Justicia no tolerará que los oficiales de orden público usen su autoridad para hacer presas a víctimas vulnerables y que las ataquen sexualmente”, dijo el Subsecretario del Fiscal General Gregory B. Friel de la División de Derechos Civiles.  “La División de Derechos Civiles continuará persiguiendo energéticamente estos casos en un esfuerzo para garantizar justicia a las víctimas de estos crímenes reprensibles y garantizar que se hace responsable a los perpetradores que utilizan su poder único para sacar ventaja de otros”.

 “El infame comportamiento de Curtis Arganbright no sólo de victimizar a una persona bajo su cuidado, destruyó la confianza que le tenía el púbico como oficial de policía”, dijo el Fiscal de EE.UU. Jason Dunn para el Distrito de Colorado.  “Esta sentencia es importante porque demostrará mi compromiso, y el de esa oficina, para hacer responsables a aquéllos en posiciones de autoridad y para buscar la justicia plena para las víctimas”.

 “Curtis Arganbright abusó de su poder y autoridad como oficial de la paz al aterrorizar y victimizar a un miembro de nuestra comunidad mientras estaba de guardia. Tal comportamiento daña la confianza del público en los oficiales del orden público y es contrario al juramento que hacemos”. La dedicación de nuestros agentes, nuestros socios en los Departamentos de Policía de Broomfield y Westminster y la Oficina del Fiscal de EE.UU. demostraron su compromiso para hacer responsables de sus actos a todos los oficiales del orden público que abusan de su poder y violan la constitución”, dijo el Agente Especial del FBI de Denver a Cargo, Michael Schneider.  “El FBI tomas los alegatos de violación a la ley de Derechos Civiles y color extremadamente serios y siempre buscará justicia para las víctimas y nuestra comunidad”.

De acuerdo con los documentos de la corte, Arganbright trabajó como oficial de la policía de WPD en agosto de 2017. Mientras se encontraba en funciones, temprano en la mañana del 24 de agosto de 2017, Arganbright respondió a una llamada de robo en el Hospital de St. Anthony. Después el personal del hospital se negó a presentar cargos contra la víctima. Arganbright aceptó llevar a la víctima a su casa. Durante el transporte a casa, Arganbright se salió del camino principal y agredió sexualmente a la víctima.

La División de Denver del FBI llevó a cabo una investigación, con asistencia del Departamento de Policía de Broomfield. El caso fue perseguido por el Asistente del Fiscal de EE.UU. del Distrito de Colorado y los Abogados Litigantes Maura White y Katherine DeVar de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia de EE.UU. 

The Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Illinois-based Stericycle Inc. resolving alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act and Utah air quality regulations at its medical waste incinerator in North Salt Lake, Utah.

The settlement, set forth in a consent decree lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, requires Stericycle to comply with EPA regulations applicable to medical waste incinerators, pay a $600,000 civil penalty, and conduct a Supplemental Environmental Project requiring the company to spend at least $2 million to purchase low- emitting school buses for a local school district.

Today’s settlement resolves violations alleged in the United States’ complaint, which was also filed today. The complaint alleges that Stericycle operated its waste incinerator in a manner that exceeded regulatory limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), failed to properly conduct stack tests, and failed to comply with reporting requirements. EPA investigated the alleged violations in cooperation with the Utah Division of Air Quality, which concluded its own action for related violations several years ago.

“Medical waste incinerators must operate in strict compliance with our nation’s clean air laws,” said Jean E. Williams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Stericycle has installed new pollution controls and made operational changes to remedy the violations alleged in the complaint.”

“This settlement will benefit all who live in and visit North Salt Lake,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Debra H. Thomas. “In addition to NOx reductions at the facility, the settlement requires Stericycle to replace old, high-emitting school buses for a local school district, providing cleaner air for school children and nearby neighborhoods.” 

The school bus replacement is a Supplemental Environmental Project, or SEP, which is an environmentally beneficial project required in a settlement that is not otherwise required by law. Diesel emissions reduction SEPs have been expressly authorized by Congress. EPA expects the SEP in this case will replace as many as 20 buses, leading to significant reductions in NOx, carbon monoxide, and diesel particulate matter and substantial fuel savings.

NOx is a key component in the formation of ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates lungs, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. To view a copy of the consent decree and for information on how to submit a comment, visit www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

The Department of Justice today commemorates the 10th annual National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and declares a continued commitment to combatting human trafficking in all its forms.  The fight against human trafficking remains one of the department’s highest priorities, and the department will remain relentless in its efforts to bring traffickers to justice and seek justice for survivors. 

Human trafficking is a crime that preys on some of the most vulnerable members of our society.  It is a crime of exploitation that deprives victims of their rights, freedom, and dignity.  Traffickers exploit the vulnerable through forced labor or commercial sex involving children or involving adults subjected to force, fraud, or coercion.

“The Department of Justice is unflagging in its resolve to eradicate human trafficking and pursue justice for those affected by these heinous crimes,” said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson.

The Department of Justice is committed to continuing its victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to detecting hidden human trafficking crimes, holding perpetrators accountable, and restoring the lives of survivors, while strengthening strategic anti-trafficking partnerships.  In fiscal year 2020, the department brought 210 federal human trafficking cases against 337 defendants, and secured 309 convictions.

Already in 2021, the department secured a sentence of life imprisonment for an individual in Florida who directed, primarily through online communications and transactions, the sex trafficking of impoverished young children in the Philippines.  As a result, Filipino authorities were able to rescue six child victims from the defendant’s co-conspirator in the Philippines.  Also in 2021, the department successfully convicted a labor trafficker who used debts, threats, abuse, and assaults to compel the victim’s unpaid labor for 10 hours a day, six to seven days a week, in the defendant’s North Carolina nail salon.  The department also secured a life sentence and over $900,000 in restitution against a Texas sex trafficker who compelled women and girls to engage in commercial sex through violence, isolation, intimidation, and threats. 

The department-wide approach to combating human trafficking extends beyond the prosecutions brought by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, to include interagency enforcement initiatives and strategic partnerships with global anti-trafficking allies.  These efforts increasingly utilize specialized expertise in money laundering, financial crimes, and transnational organized crime to enhance investigations and prosecutions.

The FBI’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit develops innovative strategies on an ongoing basis to enhance detection and investigation of hidden human trafficking crimes.  The Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime, as the largest federal funding source for trafficking victim services, issued over 400 grants totaling over $270 million, enabling its grantees to serve 9,854 clients.  In addition, the Office for Victims of Crime launched its Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center to assist local and tribal organizations in starting, sustaining, and expanding their anti-trafficking efforts. The department continues to to elevate the voices of courageous survivors, ensuring that their expertise and insights inform anti-trafficking efforts.

During this, the 10th annual National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Department of Justice reaffirms its commitment to combatting the heinous crime of human trafficking, holding perpetrators accountable, and seeking justice for survivors.

A federal court in Florida issued a temporary restraining order enjoining a Tampa pharmacy and two of its employees from dispensing opioids and other controlled substances, the Department of Justice announced today.

In a civil complaint unsealed in the Middle District of Florida, the United States alleges that WeCare Pharmacy, its pharmacist owner Qingping Zhang, and pharmacy technician Li Yang, and another related corporate entity, L&Y Holdings LLC, repeatedly dispensed opioids in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The complaint alleges that over a period of several years, the defendants dispensed highly addictive and highly abused prescription opioids while ignoring “red flags” — that is, obvious indications of drug diversion and drug-seeking behavior. U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven granted the government’s request for a temporary restraining order, which was filed along with the complaint.

“Pharmacists have an important role in ensuring that prescriptions for controlled substances are legitimate,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will work with its partners to enforce the law where evidence shows pharmacists abdicated their responsibilities when dispensing these powerful drugs.”

“Medical professionals, including pharmacists, must utilize the best methods of efficacy and accountability when dispensing and distributing dangerous medications,” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida. “Failure to comply with our federal laws and standards places the public at great risk and cannot be tolerated. We intend to work with our law enforcement partners to hold responsible parties accountable for their actions and keep our citizens safe.”

“Pharmacies and their pharmacists have the responsibility to flag suspicious prescriptions written by doctors for highly sought after opioid medications, in order to prevent them from being dispensed,” said Special Agent in Charge Keith Weis of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Miami Field Division. “When they fail to carry out this important responsibility, the dispensing of opioid medication becomes a real threat to the health of legitimate patients, and also gives pill seekers a steady supply to either fuel their addiction or illegally distribute them in our communities.”

The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to take steps required to resolve red flags and ensure the legitimacy of prescriptions before filling them. According to court documents, the prescriptions dispensed by the defendants often involved highly abused opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and hydromorphone, almost always in the highest-strength formulations generally available. The complaint alleges that the defendants repeatedly filled prescriptions written by a particular doctor without examining the red flags those prescriptions presented. The complaint seeks civil penalties as well as a permanent injunction against the defendants.   

The claims made in the complaint are merely allegations that the United States must prove if the case proceeds to trial.

The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Keefe, and Trial Attorney Scott Dahlquist of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch. The investigation is being conducted by the DEA.

El Departamento de Justicia conmemora hoy el 10mo Mes Nacional de Prevención de Esclavitud y Tráfico Humano y declara su compromiso continuo para combatir el trafico humano en todas sus formas. La lucha contra el tráfico humano continúa siendo una de las principales prioridades del departamento y el departamento permanecerá incesante en sus esfuerzos para llevar a los traficantes ante la justicia y buscar justicia para los sobrevivientes.

El tráfico humano es un crimen que hace presa a algunos de los miembros más vulnerables de nuestra sociedad. Es un crimen de explotación que priva a las víctimas de sus derechos, libertad y dignidad. Los traficantes explotan a los vulnerables por medio de labor forzada o sexo comercial que involucra a niños o adultos sujetos a fuerza, fraude o coerción.

“El Departamento de Justicia es inquebrantable en su resolución para erradicar el tráfico humano y perseguir justicia para quienes hayan sido afectados por estos atroces crímenes”, dijo el Fiscal General Interino Monty Wilkinson.

El Departamento de Justicia está comprometido con continuar su enfoque centrado en la víctima e informado en el trauma para detectar crímenes de tráfico humano escondido, haciendo responsables a los perpetradores y restaurando las vidas de los sobrevivientes, mientras fortalece las alianzas estratégicas contra el tráfico. Durante el año fiscal 2020, el departamento realizó 210 casos de tráfico humano federales contra 337 acusados y aseguró 309 convicciones.

En 2021 el departamento ya aseguró una sentencia de cadena perpetua a un individuo en Florida que dirigió, principalmente mediante comunicaciones y transacciones en línea, el tráfico sexual de niños pequeños pobres en Filipinas. Como resultado, las autoridades filipinas pudieron rescatar a seis niños víctimas del co conspirador del acusado en Filipinas. También en 2021, el departamento sentenció exitosamente a un traficante laboral que usaba deudas, amenazas, abusos y asaltos para obligar el trabajo de la víctima durante 10 horas al día, siete días a la semana, en el salón de uñas en Carolina del Norte del acusado. El departamento también aseguró una  cadena perpetua y más de $900,000 en restitución en contra de un traficante sexual de Texas que obligó a mujeres y niñas a participar en sexo comercial por medio de violencia, aislamiento, intimidación y amenazas.

El amplio enfoque del departamento para combatir el tráfico humano se extiende más allá de los procesamientos llevados ante las Oficinas del Fiscal de EE.UU., la Unidad de Procesamiento de Tráfico Humano y la Sección de Explotación de Niños y de Obscenidad, para incluir iniciativas de ejecución entre agencias y asociaciones estratégicas con aliados anti tráfico. Estos esfuerzos utilizan conocimientos cada vez más especializados sobre lavado de dinero, crímenes financieros y delincuencia transnacional organizada para mejorar las investigaciones y acusaciones.

La Unidad de Crímenes contra Niños y Tráfico Humano del FBI desarrolla innovadoras estrategias de forma continua para mejorar la detección e investigación de crímenes de tráfico humano escondidos. La Oficina para Víctimas del Crimen del Departamento de Justicia como la fuente de financiamiento federal más grande de servicios para víctimas de tráfico, que ofreció más de 400 subvenciones sumando un total de $270 millones, que le permitió a los beneficiados servir a 9,854 clientes. Además, la Oficina para Víctimas del Crimen lanzó su Centro de Fortalecimiento para la Capacidad de Tráfico Humano, para ayudar a las organizaciones locales y tribales para comenzar, sostener y ampliar sus esfuerzos en contra del tráfico. El departamento continúa elevando las voces de los valientes sobrevivientes, asegurando que sus experiencias y conocimientos para informar a los esfuerzos en contra del tráfico.

Durante este 10mo Mes Nacional de Prevención de Esclavitud y Tráfico Humano, el Departamento de Justicia reafirma su compromiso para combatir el atroz crimen del tráfico humano, haciendo responsables a los perpetradores y buscando justicia para los sobrevivientes.

Today, Amtrak began accepting claims for monetary compensation for people with mobility disabilities who traveled or wanted to travel from or to one of the 78 stations listed below and encountered accessibility issues at the stations.  Claims must be submitted by May 29, 2021.

On Dec. 2, 2020, the Department of Justice and Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, entered into an agreement to resolve the department’s findings of disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Under the agreement, Amtrak will fix inaccessible stations and pay $2.25 million to victims hurt by inaccessibility at the 78 stations listed below.

To be eligible for monetary compensation, an individual must:

• Have a mobility disability;
• Be harmed physically or emotionally because of accessibility issues, including, for example, inaccessible parking; steep slopes or steps to get to the station; lack of directional signs; toilet rooms with inaccessible entrances, stalls, or sinks; high ticket counters; deteriorated platforms; and narrow routes at stations, at one or more the stations listed below between July 27, 2013, and Dec. 2, 2020;
• Have lived at, visited, or desired to visit a place closer to one or more of the stations listed below than an accessible, alternative Amtrak station; and
• Submit a claim form and declaration by mail, fax, email or online to the claims administrator by no later than May 29, 2021.  Help is available from the settlement administrator for those who are unable to complete the claim form due to a disability.

Questions about making claims should be directed to the settlement administrator by any of the following methods:

• Online: AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com
• Email: info@AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com
• Telephone (toll-free): 1-888-334-6165
• TTY Telephone (toll-free): 1-866-411-6976

Under the agreement, Amtrak has committed to make its intercity rail stations accessible, prioritizing stations with the most significant barriers to access.  Over the next 10 years, Amtrak will design at least 135 stations to be accessible, complete construction at 90 of those stations, and have at least 45 more under construction.  Amtrak will also train staff on ADA requirements and implement an agreed-upon process for accepting and handling ADA complaints.  As part of this commitment, Amtrak recently established an Office of the Vice President of Stations, Properties & Accessibility to coordinate its compliance with the ADA.

The 78 stations are:

• Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Yuma, Arizona
• Fort Morgan, Colorado
• Glenwood Springs, Colorado
• Granby, Colorado
• Old Saybrook, Connecticut
• Windsor, Connecticut
• Windsor Locks, Connecticut
• Newark, Delaware
• Gainesville, Georgia
• Jesup, Georgia
• Toccoa, Georgia
• Centralia, Illinois
• Effingham, Illinois
• Gilman, Illinois
• Homewood, Illinois
• Mattoon, Illinois
• Plano, Illinois
• Princeton, Illinois
• Rantoul, Illinois
• Summit, Illinois
• Connersville, Indiana
• Crawfordsville, Indiana
• Elkhart, Indiana
• Hammond-Whiting, Indiana
• Waterloo, Indiana
• Burlington, Iowa
• Creston, Iowa
• Mount Pleasant, Iowa
• Newton, Kansas
• Topeka, Kansas
• Maysville, Kentucky
• South Shore-South Portsmouth, Kentucky
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Aberdeen, Maryland
• Cumberland, Maryland
• Niles, Michigan
• Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
• St. Cloud, Minnesota
• Staples, Minnesota

• Picayune, Mississippi
• Kirkwood, Missouri
• La Plata, Missouri
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri
• Cut Bank, Montana
• East Glacier Park, Montana
• Malta, Montana
• Holdrege, Nebraska
• Elko, Nevada
• Hudson, New York
• Plattsburgh, New York
• Port Henry, New York
• Devils Lake, North Dakota
• Coatesville, Pennsylvania
• Downingtown, Pennsylvania
• Johnstown, Pennsylvania
• Lewistown, Pennsylvania
• Parkesburg, Pennsylvania
• Westerly, Rhode Island
• Dillon, South Carolina
• Alpine, Texas
• Marshall, Texas
• McGregor, Texas
• Helper, Utah
• Castleton, Vermont
• Montpelier, Vermont
• Ashland, Virginia
• Clifton Forge, Virginia
• Petersburg, Virginia
• Richmond Staples Mill Road, Virginia
• Bingen-White Salmon, Washington
• Kelso-Longview, Washington
• Wishram, Washington
• Charleston, West Virginia
• Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
• Hinton, West Virginia
• Columbus, Wisconsin
• Tomah, Wisconsin

This action was brought by the Disability Rights Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  To read the settlement agreement, please click here, and to read the complaint, please click here.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt.  For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov.

Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson has released the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s ruling affirming the acquittal of individuals convicted by a Pakistani trial court for the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl.  Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh has long been indicted in the United States and must be held accountable for his crimes.  The release of those involved would be an affront to Daniel Pearl’s family, to other terrorism victims around the world, and to the cause of justice.  While we remain grateful for the Pakistani government’s opposition to these acquittals on appeal, in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Justice reiterates that the United States stands ready to take custody of Sheikh to stand trial here on the pending charges against him.  He must not be permitted to evade justice for his charged role in Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder.”

Six individuals were charged in an indictment with fraudulently obtaining approximately $1.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on behalf of five businesses based in Georgia and South Carolina.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine of the Northern District of Georgia; Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kupperbusch of the Small Business Association Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) Eastern Region; and Special Agent in Charge Mark Maroni of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Southeast Field Division made the announcement.

Rodericque Thompson, 43, of Atlanta, Georgia, Micah K. Baisden, 30, of Doraville, Georgia, Travis C. Crosby, 31, of Wellford, South Carolina, Keith A. Maloney Jr., 33, of Port Wentworth, Georgia, Tabronx W. Smith, 43, of Buford, Georgia, and Thomas D. Wilson, 30, of Atlanta, were charged in an indictment filed in the Northern District of Georgia with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, false statements to a financial institution, and money laundering.

These individuals were allegedly part of a larger group that together have fraudulently obtained approximately $3.0 million in PPP loans. To date, authorities have recovered approximately $1,195,784.98 of the stolen money.

The indictment alleges that Thompson recruited Baisden, Crosby, Maloney, Smith, and Wilson to apply for PPP loans on behalf of their respective businesses, PowerHouse Sports Academy LLC, Faithful Transport Services LLC, KMJ Transport LLC, Market Yourself LLC, and Rare Breed Nation LLC. With Thompson’s help, Baisden, Crosby, Maloney, Smith, and Wilson each allegedly obtained a $300,000 PPP loan by submitting loan applications containing numerous false and misleading statements about their businesses. Thompson allegedly aided the applicants in submitting the fraudulent loan applications in exchange for a percentage of the loan proceeds.

The following five individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with this alleged scheme: 

• Antonio D. Hosey, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering(20-CR-396-LMM);
   
• Timothy Williams, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements(20-CR-339-LMM);
   
• Stanley Dorceus, of Marietta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements (20-CR-320-LMM);
   
• Kenneth L. Wright, Jr., of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements (20-CR-285-LMM); and
   
• Mark A. Stewart, of Greenville, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements (20-CR-319-LMM).

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted March 29, 2020. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.

The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.    

This case was investigated by the FBI Atlanta Complex Financial Crimes Task Force, SBA OIG, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Trial Attorney Michael P. McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane D. Schulman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

A national electronic health records (EHR) technology vendor based in Watertown, Massachusetts, athenahealth Inc. (Athena), has agreed to pay $18.25 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying unlawful kickbacks to generate sales of its EHR product, athenaClinicals, the Justice Department announced today.

In a complaint filed in conjunction with today’s settlement, the United States alleged that Athena violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute through three marketing programs. First, Athena invited prospective and existing customers to “Concierge Events,” providing free tickets to and amenities at sporting, entertainment, and recreational events, including trips to the Masters Tournament and the Kentucky Derby with complimentary travel and luxury accommodations, meals, and alcohol. Second, Athena paid kickbacks to its existing customers under a “Lead Generation” program designed to identify and refer new prospective clients to Athena. Under this program, Athena paid up to $3,000 to existing customers for each new client that signed up for Athena services, regardless of how much time, if any, the existing customer spent speaking to or meeting with the new client. Finally, Athena entered into deals with competing vendors that were discontinuing their EHR technology offerings to refer their clients to Athena. Under such deals, Athena paid remuneration to the competitor based on the value and volume of practices that were successfully converted into Athena clients. 

“This resolution demonstrates the department’s continued commitment to hold EHR companies accountable for the payment of unlawful kickbacks in any form,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “EHR technology plays an important role in the provision of medical care, and it is critical that the selection of an EHR platform be made without the influence of improper financial inducements.”

“Across the country, physicians rely on electronic health records software to provide vital patient data. Kickbacks corrupt the market for health care services and risk jeopardizing patient safety,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts. “We will aggressively pursue organizations that fail to play by the rules; EHR companies are no exception.”

“If the benefits of Electronic Health Records are to be fully realized, patients must be confident providers have selected the most effective system – not the one paying the largest kickbacks. Time and again, we’ve seen fraudulent activity undermine the integrity of medical decisions, subvert the health marketplace, and waste taxpayer dollars,” said Phillip M. Coyne, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will continue to hold accountable those who provide illegal incentives in order to influence the decision-making of health care providers.”

“It is illegal for companies to extend invitations to all-expense-paid sporting, entertainment, and recreational events, and other perk-filled offers to its prospective customers to win business and boost their bottom line through illegal kickback schemes,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Today’s agreement by Athena to pay $18.25 million should send a strong message to anyone thinking about engaging in this type of illegal activity. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to do everything in our power to safeguard our government health care programs and the taxpayers picking up the bill.”

The settlement resolves allegations in a lawsuit filed by Geordie Sanborn and a separate lawsuit filed by Cheryl Lovell and William McKusick; both matters are pending in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. The lawsuits were filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The Act allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in these two cases. The whistleblower share to be awarded in connection with the settlement has not been determined. 

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

This matter is being handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. The two lawsuits are captioned United States ex rel. Sanborn. v. athenahealth, Inc., No. 17-cv-12125 (D. Mass.) and United States ex rel. Lovell and McKusick v. athenahealth, Inc., No. 17-cv-12543 (D. Mass.). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. 

An Ecuadorian businessman living in Miami was sentenced today to 35 months in prison for his role in a $4.4 million bribery and money laundering scheme that funneled bribes to then-public officials of Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (PetroEcuador), the state-owned and state-controlled oil company of Ecuador.

Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.

According to his plea, Armengol Alfonso Cevallos Diaz, 58, admitted that from 2012 through 2015 he conspired to solicit, intermediate, and pay bribes of $4.4 million from an oil services company and companies associated with or controlled by Cevallos to PetroEcuador officials by using U.S.-based companies and U.S.-based bank accounts in order to obtain and retain business from PetroEcuador. Cevallos also admitted to conspiring to conceal and promote the bribe scheme by laundering the funds through Miami-based shell companies and bank accounts that were used to acquire properties in the Miami area for the benefit of certain PetroEcuador officials. 

Cevallos is the latest individual to be sentenced in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into bribery and money laundering involving PetroEcuador. The individuals prosecuted include former PetroEcuador officials who received and concealed the bribe payments, businessmen and contractors who paid the bribes to obtain contracts from PetroEcuador, and intermediaries who enabled and facilitated the bribery through the use of U.S. and offshore companies and bank accounts.  

The FBI’s International Corruption Squad in Miami is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Jonathan Robell and Katherine Raut of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Randall Warden of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) prosecuted the case.

IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this case, as have public authorities in, among other countries, Ecuador and Panama.

MLARS’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers, and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) matters.  Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

Epsilon Data Management LLC (Epsilon), one of the largest marketing companies in the world, has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve a criminal charge for selling millions of Americans’ information to perpetrators of elder fraud schemes. 

Epsilon entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Consumer Protection Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado in connection with a criminal information charging the company with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Under the terms of the DPA, which the parties submitted to the district court in Denver on Jan. 19, 2021, Epsilon agreed to pay a total of $150 million, with $127.5 million of that amount going to compensate victims of the fraudulent schemes that used consumer data sold by Epsilon. Epsilon also agreed to implement significant compliance measures designed to safeguard consumers’ data and prevent its sale to individuals or entities engaged in fraudulent or deceptive marketing campaigns. Further, the DPA requires Epsilon to maintain a procedure for consumers to request that it not sell their information to others.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, with its principal sales office in Westminster, Colorado, Epsilon used sophisticated data modeling to identify consumers most likely to respond to its clients’ marketing solicitations. As part of the DPA, Epsilon admitted that, from July 2008 through July 2017, employees in its Direct to Consumer (DTC) Unit knowingly sold modeled lists of consumers to clients engaged in fraud. In particular, Epsilon acknowledged that the DTC Unit sold consumer lists to a number of mass-mailing fraud schemes that sent false “sweepstakes” and “astrology” solicitations to consumers. Those solicitations stated that each consumer recipient had won a large prize or individualized psychic service that they could obtain by paying a fee. In reality, the solicitations — as known to DTC Unit employees — were mass-produced mailings and victims who paid a fee received nothing of value. As reflected in the consumer lists sold by the DTC Unit to perpetrators of the fraud schemes, the schemes disproportionately affected the elderly and other vulnerable individuals.

The consumer data sold by the DTC Unit to fraudsters came both from other fraudulent clients and from legitimate Epsilon clients, including non-profit and charitable organizations. DTC Unit employees continued to sell consumer data to clients engaged in fraud despite knowing that those and similar clients had been arrested, charged with crimes, convicted, and otherwise subject to law enforcement actions for false and misleading practices. Epsilon admitted that the DTC Unit sold more than 30 million consumers’ data to fraudulent schemes.

“By allowing clients engaged in fraudulent schemes to buy data on millions of consumers most susceptible to their schemes, Epsilon employees facilitated those schemes with staggering effect,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We are encouraged by Epsilon’s cooperation since the misconduct was discovered, its remediation efforts, and its commitment to stringent new compliance measures.”

“Companies who sell consumer information have a responsibility to avoid knowingly selling it to those who will use the data to defraud or swindle consumers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn for the District of Colorado. “I hope other data companies will take note of this outcome and ensure that they don’t likewise help fraudsters.”

“Postal Inspectors have always held consumer protection as a core tenet of our efforts to ensure the integrity of the U.S. Mail,” said Deputy Chief Postal Inspector Craig Goldberg of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “When data firms such as Epsilon use their extraordinary access to consumers’ personal information to provide laser-focused marketing lists supporting deceptive practices, more American consumers are placed in harm’s way. Firms that amass big data assume a big responsibility to ensure this data is not used by malicious actors. If you cater to criminals who are exploiting Americans through the U.S. Mail, Postal Inspectors are coming for you.”

The DPA provides that Epsilon must select, and cover the costs of, an independent claims administrator to distribute the $127.5 million to identified victims with established losses caused by fraud schemes that used Epsilon data. The claims administrator will contact identified victims directly. More information about the victim compensation amount and fund distribution will be posted at the following website: https://www.justice.gov/civil/case/united-states-v-epsilon-data-management-llc. Victims of elder fraud schemes may also contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline, which provides services to seniors who may be victims of financial fraud. The hotline is staffed by experienced case managers who provide personalized support to callers. The hotline’s toll-free number is 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Alistair Reader and Ehren Reynolds of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hetal J. Doshi and Rebecca Weber of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado are prosecuting the case.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For information on the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-co.

The Department of Justice announced today that it reached a settlement with Quantum Integrators Group (Quantum), an IT consulting and staffing company based in New Jersey. The settlement resolves claims that Quantum (1) discriminated against a lawful permanent resident by requiring her, based on her citizenship status, to provide unnecessary documentation before it would refer her for an employment opportunity, and (2) routinely required other work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to present unnecessary documents to prove their eligibility to work.

“Companies cannot make requests for unnecessary work authorization documents because of an individual’s citizenship status, or condition a referral for employment on complying with such a request,” said Gregory B. Friel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased that Quantum will work with the Department of Justice to ensure that its policies and practices do not discriminate on the basis of citizenship status.”

The department’s investigation began after a lawful permanent resident filed a discrimination complaint with the Civil Rights Division against Quantum. Based on its investigation, the department concluded that Quantum would not refer her to a client so that she could be considered for an employment opportunity unless she first proved she was authorized to work by providing a copy of her Permanent Resident Card. According to the investigation, Quantum would have referred a U.S. citizen candidate to the client without requiring similar proof of work authorization. Additionally, the department concluded that Quantum routinely required other work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to provide additional and unnecessary documents to prove their eligibility to work.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits employers from requesting more or different documents than necessary to prove eligibility to work based on employees’ citizenship, immigration status or national origin. All work-authorized individuals, regardless of citizenship status, may choose which valid, legally acceptable documents to present to demonstrate their ability to work in the United States. The INA also does not permit an employer to verify an individual’s eligibility to work before a job offer is accepted.

Under the terms of the settlement, Quantum will pay a civil penalty to the United States, revise its policies and procedures, ensure that relevant employees participate in training on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, and be subject to departmental monitoring over the term of the agreement.

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation.  

Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment, or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public also may contact IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688; call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.

A Wisconsin pharmacist has agreed to plead guilty to charges filed today in federal court that he attempted to render hundreds of doses of COVID-19 vaccine ineffective.

According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Steven R. Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton, Wisconsin, was charged with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of death or bodily injury. Brandenburg has agreed to plead guilty to the charges, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. 

As detailed in the court documents, while working as a hospital pharmacist in Grafton, Wisconsin, on two successive overnight shifts in late December, Brandenburg purposefully removed a box of COVID-19 vaccine vials manufactured by Moderna—which must be stored at specific cold temperatures to remain viable—from the hospital’s refrigeration unit intending to render the vaccines inert and no longer effective. According to the plea agreement, Brandenburg stated that he was skeptical of vaccines in general and the Moderna vaccine specifically. Brandenburg had communicated his beliefs about vaccines to his co-workers for at least the past two years.

After leaving the vaccines out for several hours each night, Brandenburg returned the vaccines to the refrigerator to be used in the hospital’s vaccine clinic the following day. Before the full extent of Brandenburg’s conduct was discovered, 57 people received doses of the vaccine from these vials.

“Tampering with vaccine doses in the midst of a global health crisis calls for a strong response, as reflected by the serious charges the United States has brought today,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure the public receives safe and effective vaccines.”

“Distributing the COVID-19 vaccine is critical to overcoming this pandemic, which continues to end lives and upend our economy,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger. “As these charges show, the Justice Department will pursue anyone—and especially any medical professional—who tampers with the vaccine.”

“The FDA has ensured that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine meets the agency’s rigorous standards for quality, safety, and efficacy,” said FDA Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigations Catherine A. Hermsen. “Those who knowingly tamper with this vaccine place American patients’ health at risk. Today’s announcement should serve as a reminder that this kind of illicit tampering activity will not be tolerated.”

“Pharmacists rank among some of the most trusted professionals,” said FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Robert Hughes. “This individual used his special access to tamper with vials of the much needed COVID-19 vaccine. The FBI takes allegations of consumer product tampering very seriously and will use all available resources to bring those to justice who intentionally put the public’s health at risk.”

This matter was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the Milwaukee Field Office of the FBI, and the Village of Grafton Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Knight of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Senior Litigation Counsel Ross S. Goldstein and Trial Attorney Rachel Baron of the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. 

The claims made in the information are allegations that, if the case had proceeded to trial, the government would have had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to convict the defendant. The plea agreement expresses the defendant’s intention to plead guilty, but the defendant has not yet formally entered a plea in this matter.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, visit its website at www.justice.gov/usao-edwi. For information about the Department of Justice’s efforts to stop COVID-19 fraud, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus. For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, consumers may visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) websites.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que ha llegado a un acuerdo con Quantum Integrators Group (Quantum), una compañía de contratación y consultoría informática con sede en Nueva Jersey. El acuerdo resuelve las acusaciones de que Quantum (1) discriminó a una residente permanente legal al requerir, por motivos de su estatus de ciudadanía, que proporcionara documentación innecesaria antes de referirla para una oportunidad laboral y (2) requería, de forma rutinaria, a personas no ciudadanas de los EE. UU. que presentasen documentos innecesarios para demostrar su elegibilidad para trabajar.

«Las compañías no pueden solicitar documentos innecesarios de autorización para trabajar por motivos del estatus de ciudadanía de uno o condicionar una referencia para un puesto laboral al cumplimiento con tal solicitud», dijo Gregory B. Friel, el Fiscal General Auxiliar Adjunto de la División de Derechos Civiles. «Nos complace ver que Quantum colaborará con el Departamento de Justicia para garantizar que sus políticas y prácticas no discriminen a las personas por motivos de su estatus de ciudadanía».

La investigación del Departamento comenzó después de que una residente permanente legal presentó una demanda contra Quantum ante la División de Derechos Civiles. Con base en su investigación, el Departamento concluyó que Quantum se negó a referirla a un cliente para ser considerada para una oportunidad laboral antes de presentar una copia de su Tarjeta de Residente Permanente para demostrar su autorización para trabajar. Según la investigación, Quantum hubiera referido a un candidato ciudadano estadounidense al cliente sin requerir semejante prueba de autorización para trabajar. Más aún, el Departamento concluyó que Quantum tenía la costumbre de requerir a otros individuos con autorización para trabajar que no eran ciudadanos de los EE. UU. que proporcionaran documentos adicionales e innecesarios para demostrar su elegibilidad para trabajar.

La Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad («INA», por sus siglas en inglés) prohíbe que los empleadores pidan documentos adicionales o diferentes a los necesarios para demostrar la elegibilidad para trabajar con base en el estatus migratorio o de ciudadanía del empleado o bien por su nacionalidad de origen. Todo individuo con autorización para trabajar, independientemente de su estatus de ciudadanía, puede elegir los documentos válidos y legalmente aceptables que desea presentar para demostrar su elegibilidad para trabajar en los Estados Unidos. La INA tampoco permite a los empleadores verificar la elegibilidad del individuo para trabajar antes de que el mismo acepte una oferta de trabajo.

Conforme a los términos del acuerdo, Quantum pagará una sanción civil a los Estados Unidos, revisará sus políticas y procedimientos, asegurará que los empleados relevantes participen en una capacitación sobre los requisitos de la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA y se someterá a la supervisión por parte del Departamento durante el término del acuerdo.

La Sección de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Empleados («IER», por sus siglas en inglés) de la División de Derechos Civiles es responsable de hacer cumplir la disposición antidiscriminatoria de la INA. La ley prohíbe la discriminación por motivos de estatus de ciudadanía y nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido o reclutamiento o recomendación por comisión; prácticas documentales injustas; y represalias o la intimidación.    

Aquellos aspirantes o empleados que creen haber sido discriminados por motivos de su estatus de ciudadanía o nacionalidad de origen en los procesos de contratación, despido, reclutamiento o verificación de la elegibilidad para trabajar (Formulario I-9 e E-Verify) o sujetos a represalias pueden presentar una denuncia. El público también puede llamar a la línea directa de la IER para trabajadores al 1-800-255-7688; llamar a la línea directa de la IER para empleadores al 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY para personas con discapacidades auditivas); enviar un correo electrónico a IER@usdoj.gov; inscribirse a un seminario en línea gratuito; o visitar los sitios web de la IER en inglés o español. Para recibir las últimas noticias de la IER, inscríbase a GovDelivery 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Un exmédico de medicina osteopática que previamente había trabajado en el Centro Médico del Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos (VA, por sus siglas en inglés) en Beckley, Virginia Occidental, fue condenado hoy por haber privado, con apariencia de legalidad, a veteranos de sus derechos civiles al abusar de ellos sexualmente.

El Fiscal Federal de Distrito Frank W. Volk condenó a Jonathan Yates, de 52 años, de Bluefield, Virginia, a 300 meses de prisión y tres años de libertad supervisada. Así anunciaron el Fiscal General Auxiliar Adjunto del Departamento de Justicia, Gregory B. Friel, el Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Sur de Virginia Occidental, Michael B. Stuart, el Agente Especial Encargado de la División del FBI en Pittsburgh, Michael A. Christman, y el Inspector General de VA, Michael J. Missal.

Yates previamente se había declarado culpable el 17 de septiembre del 2020 de tres cargos de delitos graves basados en la privación de derechos con apariencia de legalidad. Según se indica en los documentos de la declaración, Yates frotó los genitales de dos veteranos y penetró digitalmente el recto de un tercer veterano bajo el pretexto de medicina legítima, cuando en realidad actuó sin contar con un uso médico legítimo. Esta conducta, que tuvo lugar mientras Yates actuaba con apariencia de legalidad en su carácter de médico del VA y empleado federal, privó a los veteranos de su derecho constitucional a la integridad corporal y les provocó dolor. Según se indica en los documentos de la declaración, los veteranos habían acudido a Yates para controlar su dolor crónico mediante la terapia manipulativa osteopática. Varios veteranos hablaron ante el tribunal en la dictación de la sentencia y describieron el trauma y la angustia mental que Yates les había causado. Yates entregó sus licencias médicas como condición de su acuerdo con su sentencia por consentimiento.

«La condena de hoy refleja la seriedad de la mala conducta de este acusado. Él traicionó su juramento de una manera despreciable y empleó sus conocimientos médicos especializados y su pericia para abusar de sus propios pacientes. Ahora se le ha hecho rendir cuentas de sus acciones», afirmó el Fiscal General Auxiliar Adjunto, Gregory B. Friel, de la División de Derechos Civiles. «El hecho de que tantos se presentaron para llevar a este acusado ante la justicia demuestra la valentía de nuestros veteranos».

«Militares veteranos que sirven y se sacrifican por proteger nuestra nación se merecen únicamente la mejor atención. Yates traicionó su juramento como médico y a los veteranos bajo su cuidado», declaró el Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Sur de Virginia Occidental, Michael Stuart. «Hoy se ha pedido a Yates que rinda cuentas de sus acciones atroces. Aunque su condena a la pena de prisión no podrá deshacer los daños sustanciales que Yates causó a sus víctimas, esperamos que esto aliviará su dolor. Quiero felicitar al FBI y al Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos-Oficina del Inspector General por su excelente trabajo en esta investigación. También quiero dar las gracias a las víctimas y sus familias por su firme apoyo durante el procesamiento de este caso».

«Yates cometió delitos atroces en un cuarto de hospital, el cual debe ser un lugar de refugio para pacientes», dijo Michael Christman, el Agente Especial Encargado del FBI en Pittsburgh. «Los hechos asociados con este caso son repugnantes y estos pacientes y sus familias se merecían mejor atención. Mientras que la condena de hoy no restará de lo que les pasó a estos pacientes que se dedicaron la vida al servicio de nuestra nación, Yates ya no podrá hacer daño nunca más a nadie. Esperamos que esto sirve como justicia para sus víctimas».

«Esta condena es el resultado del trabajo excepcional de los agentes de la Oficina del Inspector General y las agencias asociadas de cumplimiento con la ley», afirmó el Inspector General Michael J. Missal. «Nuestros pensamientos están con los veteranos que fueron abusados de una forma tan horrorosa por un médico encargado de cuidarlos, y seguiremos siendo vigilantes en nuestros esfuerzos por mantener a salvo a todo paciente del VA».

El caso fue investigado por el FBI, la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos y la Policía de Asuntos de Veteranos. El caso fue procesado por la Consejera para Litigios Especiales Samantha Trepel y el Abogado de Litigios Kyle Boynton, los dos de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia de los EE. UU., el Fiscal Federal Auxiliar para el Distrito Sur de Virginia Occidental, Greg McVey, y el Jefe Auxiliar de la Sección de Fraude del Departamento de Justicia de los EE. UU., Kilby MacFadden.

Podrá encontrar información y documentos judiciales en el sitio web del Tribunal Federal de Distrito para el Distrito Sur de Virginia Occidental en http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/ o en http://pacer.wvsd.uscourts.gov/.