District Not Recorded

The Justice Department announced today that it has obtained an additional $5.4 million for servicemembers whose vehicles were unlawfully repossessed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).  The bank, which does business under the name Wells Fargo Dealer Services, has agreed to pay this money to approximately 450 servicemembers under a 2016 settlement that resolved the department’s SCRA lawsuit against the company.  This additional amount brings the total compensation under the settlement to more than $10.1 million and the total number of servicemembers eligible for relief to more than 860. 

On Sept. 29, 2016, the department filed a complaint in United States v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., d/b/a Wells Fargo Dealer Services in the Central District of California, alleging that Wells Fargo repossessed 413 vehicles of SCRA-protected servicemembers without court orders between Jan. 1, 2008 and July 1, 2015.  On the same day, the department agreed to a settlement that required Wells Fargo to pay $10,000 to each of the affected servicemembers, plus any lost equity in the vehicle with interest.  Wells Fargo was also required to pay a $60,000 civil penalty to the United States and repair the credit of all affected servicemembers.   At the time of the settlement, the department announced that 413 servicemembers were eligible to receive compensation. The prior press release can be found here. 

Since entering into the settlement with the department in September 2016, Wells Fargo has identified additional violations affecting approximately 450 servicemembers that occurred during the period covered by the settlement.  Wells Fargo has begun to provide over $5,400,000 in compensation to these additional servicemembers under the agreement.  Together with the compensation previously announced by the department in September 2016, a total of more than 860 servicemembers and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive $10,183,950.  

“Just a few days ago, we observed Veterans Day to honor those who have served our country so bravely,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore.  “The Justice Department will continue to honor their service throughout the year by vigorously enforcing servicemembers’ rights under federal law.  The men and women of our armed forces should be able to devote their full attention to their military duties, without having to worry about their cars being repossessed back home.  We are pleased that our settlement agreement has ensured that hundreds of additional servicemembers will be compensated for the damages they suffered as a result of illegal auto repossessions.” 

“The SCRA provides important protections and is intended to prevent unnecessary financial hardship for the brave women and men who serve in our armed forces,” said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown. “Losing an automobile through an unlawful repossession while serving our country is a problem servicemembers should not have to confront. We are pleased that Wells Fargo is taking action to compensate these additional servicemembers as required under the settlement with the Justice Department.  My Office is committed to protecting the rights of servicemembers on all fronts.” 

The SCRA requires a court to review and approve any repossession if the servicemember took out the loan and made a payment before entering military service.  The court may delay the repossession or require the lender to refund prior payments before repossessing.  The court may also appoint an attorney to represent the servicemember, require the lender to post a bond with the court and issue any other orders it deems necessary to protect the servicemember.  By failing to obtain court orders before repossessing motor vehicles owned by protected servicemembers, Wells Fargo prevented servicemembers from obtaining a court’s review of whether their repossessions should be delayed or adjusted to account for their military service. 

For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.  Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.  Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil/content/locator.php. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente announced today that T&R Productions, LLC (T&R), a Washington, D.C., corporation, registered today with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as an agent for ANO TV-Novosti, the Russian government entity responsible for the worldwide broadcasts of the RT Network (RT).  The National Security Division’s FARA Registration Unit is reviewing T&R’s filings for sufficiency.

“Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or public on behalf of foreign principals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente.  “The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing FARA and expects compliance with the law by all entities engaged in specified activities on behalf of any foreign principal, regardless of its nationality.”

FARA does not inhibit freedom of expression, does not restrict the content of information disseminated, does not restrict an agent’s lobbying or publication of information or advocacy and applies neutrally to all foreign countries.  It requires public disclosure of certain activities and relationships through registration by “agents of foreign principals” with the Justice Department.  FARA does not limit publishing of materials or viewpoints; it requires only registration, labeling of informational materials and broadcasts, and recordkeeping.

Congress passed FARA in 1938, intending to ensure that the American public and our lawmakers know the source of information that is provided at the behest of a foreign principal, where that information may be intended to influence U.S. public opinion, policy and laws.  The law does not restrict registrants from operating, however.  Other U.S. agents of foreign media entities are currently registered under FARA and continue to operate freely in the United States.

Since August 2014, T&R has operated studios for RT, hired and paid all U.S.-based RT employees, and produced English-language programming for RT, which is both shown on cable networks across the United States and available on RT’s website.  T&R’s filings are available to the public at www.fara.gov.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today that the United States has begun the remission compensation process to provide recovery for Western Union Company (Western Union) fraud victims from the $586 million civil forfeiture.

As part of agreements with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed earlier this year in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western Union, a global money services business headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, agreed to forfeit $586 million.  According to admissions contained in the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and the accompanying statement of facts, between 2004 and 2012, Western Union processed hundreds of thousands of transactions for Western Union agents and others involved in an international consumer fraud scheme.  As part of the scheme, the perpetrators of fraud schemes contacted victims in the United States and falsely posed as family members in need or promised prizes or job opportunities.  Victims were then directed to send money through Western Union to purportedly help their relative or claim their prize.  Various Western Union agents were complicit in these fraud schemes, often processing the fraud payments in return for a cut of the fraud proceeds.

Through the remission process, victims of fraud who sent a money transfer through Western Union between Jan. 1, 2004, and Jan. 19, may be eligible for compensation for their losses.  The Department of Justice will send petitions for remission to over 500,000 potential victims.  These petitions will provide information and instructions regarding making a claim for compensation online or through the mail.  Individuals who believe they may be victims but who do not receive a petition may obtain a petition form online at www.WesternUnionRemission.com.  The deadline for filing a petition is Feb. 12, 2018.

“Knowing that its agents were involved in fraudulent schemes – and knowing that it had a legal obligation to detect and report this criminal conduct to the authorities – Western Union failed to act, leading to massive victim losses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco.  “Returning forfeited funds to these victims and other victims of crime is one of the Department’s highest priorities.  I want to commend our prosecutors, the FTC, and our law enforcement agent partners for their hard work that led to vindicating the rights of these victims.”

“American consumers lost money while Western Union looked the other way,” said Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen of the FTC.  “We’re pleased to start the process that will get that money back into consumers’ rightful hands.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from fraud schemes for many years,” said Inspector in Charge Daniel B. Brubaker of the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division.  “While enforcing the laws that protect the innocent victims of these crimes, we are honored and take pleasure in returning the proceeds of international mass marketing fraud activity to their rightful owners, the victims, whenever possible. We would like to thank the victims who reported the fraudulent activity and worked with us during the investigation. We would also like to thank our law enforcement and regulatory investigative partners, particularly the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the FTC for their contributions to this collaborative effort.”

More information regarding the remission process, including eligibility criteria, updates, and frequently asked questions is available at www.WesternUnionRemission.com or by calling (844) 319-2124.  Gilardi & Co. LLC is serving as the remission administrator in this matter.  Neither Gilardi & Co., LLC nor DOJ will ask for any payment in order to participate in this remission process.  For more information on how to protect yourself from fraud, please visit www.consumer.ftc.gov or www.postalinspectors.uspis.gov. 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the criminal fraud investigation.  The FTC conducted the civil fraud investigation.  Since fiscal year 2000, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, which will oversee the remission process, has successfully used its specialized expertise to return $5.1 billion in forfeited assets to victims of crime.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions released the following statement on the FBI’s announcement of the 2016 Hate Crimes Statistics:

“No person should have to fear being violently attacked because of who they are, what they believe, or how they worship.

“In June, the Hate Crimes Subcommittee of the Justice Department’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety met with representatives from affected communities. The subcommittee continues to explore ways to expand and improve training for federal, state, and local prosecutors and investigators; improve data collection of hate crimes; and to create even better partnerships with local law enforcement and affected communities.

“The full report of the Task Force is due in January, but there are actions we can take now, like continuing to aggressively prosecute those who violate an individuals’ civil rights. Most recently, the Justice Department cross-designated a Civil Rights Division prosecutor to assist in the trial of an Iowa man accused of murdering Kedarie Johnson, a transgender teenager. I was pleased to learn on November 3, 2017 that the trial resulted in a conviction, and the man now faces life in prison.

“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that individuals can live without fear of being a victim of violent crime based on who they are, what they believe, or how they worship.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the appointment of nine new U.S. Attorneys to serve two-year terms on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC). AGAC was created in 1973 and reports to the Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney General. AGAC represents the U.S. Attorneys and provides advice and counsel to the Attorney General on matters of policy, procedure, and management impacting the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys.

The new appointees include: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Richard Moore; U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah John W. Huber; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu; U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin E. Herdman; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert Higdon; U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma Trent Shores; U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Joshua Minkler; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeff Jensen; and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Bryan Schroder.

U.S. Attorney Richard Moore will serve as the Chair of AGAC, and U.S. Attorney John W. Huber will serve as the Vice Chair.

“I am pleased to announce the first members of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee under this administration. These U.S. Attorneys will play an important role in carrying out the Department of Justice’s mission to reduce violent crime, combat transnational criminal organizations, secure our southern border, end the devastating opioid crisis, and return to the rule of law,” said Attorney General Sessions.

A brief bio on each nominee is below:

Richard Moore (Chair)

The Senate confirmed Richard Moore’s appointment as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama in September 2017.  Prior to this appointment, Mr. Moore served as the Inspector General for the Tennessee Valley Authority.  From May 2009 to March 2011, Mr. Moore was the Chairman of the Investigations Committee for the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.  Prior to this position, Mr. Moore served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama from 1985 to 2003.  From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Moore was an Atlantic Fellow in Public Policy at Oxford University in England.  Mr. Moore received his B.S., summa cum laude, from Spring Hill College and his J.D. from the Samford University Cumberland School of Law.

John W. Huber (Vice Chair)

Since June 2015, John Huber has served as the United States Attorney for the District of Utah, and in August 2017, the Senate again confirmed his appointment.  Prior to being United States Attorney, Mr. Huber served as an Assistant United States Attorney for thirteen years.  Mr. Huber began his prosecutorial career in the Weber County (Utah) Attorney’s Office, and later served as the Chief Prosecutor for West Valley City, Utah, before joining the United States Attorney’s Office in 2002.  Mr. Huber received his B.A. from the University of Utah and his J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law.

Justin E. Herdman

The Senate confirmed Justin Herdman’s appointment as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in August 2017.  Prior to this appointment, Mr. Herdman was a partner at Jones Day and an Assistant United States Attorney in Cleveland, Ohio.  Mr. Herdman previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York City from 2001 to 2005 and as an associate at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP.  He is currently a Judge Advocate General in the United States Air Force Reserve.  Mr. Herdman received his B.A. from Ohio University, his Master of Philosophy from the University of Glasgow and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Robert Higdon

The Senate confirmed Robert Higdon to be United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in October 2017.  Prior to this appointment, Mr. Higdon was a partner at the law firm of Williams Mullen.  He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Western and Eastern Districts of North Carolina.  In the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Higdon served as Chief of the Criminal Division for more than 11 years.  Mr. Higdon also served as senior trial counsel in the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice.  He received his B.A., cum laude, from Wake Forest University and his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Jeff Jensen

The Senate confirmed Jeff Jensen to be United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri in October 2017.  Prior to this appointment, Mr. Jensen was a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP.  He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri starting in 1999, and was Executive United States Attorney from 2005 to 2009.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Jensen was an FBI Special Agent from 1989 to 1999.  While working at the FBI, Mr. Jensen attended St. Louis University School of Law at night, graduating magna cum laude.  He also received his B.A., cum laude, from Indiana University School of Business.

Jessie K. Liu

The Senate confirmed Jessie Liu to be United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in September 2017.  Ms. Liu was previously Deputy General Counsel for the United States Department of the Treasury and a partner at the law firms of Morrison & Foerster LLP and Jenner & Block LLP.  In addition, she has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia and in several senior positions in the United States Department of Justice, including as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division, counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, and deputy chief of staff for the National Security Division.  Ms. Liu clerked for then-Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  She received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Joshua Minkler

The Senate confirmed Joshua Minkler to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana in October 2017.  Since June 2015, Mr. Minkler had served as the interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.  Prior to that position, he served for 21 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Indiana.  Before he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Minkler served for five years as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Office of the Kent County Michigan Prosecuting Attorney.  Mr. Minkler received his B.A. from Wabash College, and his J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.  

Bryan Schroder

Bryan Schroder’s nomination to be United States Attorney for the District of Alaska is pending in the Senate.  Mr. Schroder is currently the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Alaska, and previously served as the First Assistant United States Attorney and Criminal Chief.  Mr. Schroder has served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for more than 11 years.  Mr. Schroder is a retired Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, having served for 24 years.  Mr. Schroder graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the University of Washington School of Law.

R. Trent Shores

The Senate confirmed Robert Trent Shores to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma in September 2017.  Prior to this appointment, Mr. Shores was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Oklahoma.  Mr. Shores previously served as First Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma and deputy director for the Department of Justice’s Office of Tribal Justice, where he developed initiatives to promote public safety in Indian Country.  Mr. Shores received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Arongkron “Paul” Malasukum, a resident of Woodside, New York, pleaded guilty today to illegally trafficking parts from endangered African lions and tigers. 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Brit Featherston, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.   

Malasukum, 41, pleaded guilty today in Plano, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson for the Eastern District of Texas, to a one count information charging him with wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act.    

In papers filed in federal court in April 2016, Malasukum admitted to purchasing a tiger skull from undercover agents who were working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Malasukum also admitted to purchasing lion skulls from an auction house in Texas through the undercover agents on another occasion.  The agents were acting as “straw buyers” for Malasukum. Malasukum, who knew his out-of-state purchases could draw attention from federal law enforcement, gave the undercover agents cash and told them which items to bid on and ultimately win. After the purchases, Malasukum shipped the tiger and lion skulls from Texas to his home in Woodside, New York. From New York, Malasukum shipped the skulls to Thailand for sale to a wholesale buyer. 

As part of his plea, Malasukum admitted that between April 9, 2015 and June 29, 2016, he exported approximately 68 packages containing skulls, claws, and parts from endangered and protected species, with a total fair market value in excess of $150,000. All of the exports were sent to Thailand.

“This guilty plea is another positive result from the continued partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood. “Together we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who engage in illegal trade in protected wildlife.”

“Reasonable laws are in place to protect endangered animals, and to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to see and enjoy wildlife as we do today,” said Acting United States Attorney Featherston. “There are fewer than four thousand tigers remaining in the wild and they must be protected from harm. Malasukum’s illegal actions breed further destructive behavior by others, such as the poaching of other endangered animals for greed.  Lawful hunting and conservation go hand in hand; and law enforcement will protect those animals that are deemed endangered.”

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works to combat the illegal international and interstate trafficking of wildlife,” said Acting Assistant Director of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ed Grace.  “We work closely with the Department of Justice and others to investigate these cases and will continue to apprehend those who exploit these species for commercial gain.”

The investigation was handled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement, U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Noble and Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

WASHINGTON – A federal jury found a New Orleans woman guilty today for her role in an approximately $3.2 million Medicare fraud and kickback scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans of the Eastern District of Louisiana, Acting Special Agent in Charge Daniel Evans of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office and Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Field Office made the announcement.

After a three-day trial, Sandra Parkman, 61, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, two counts of health care fraud and five counts of accepting kickbacks.  Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who presided over the trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, from 2004 to 2009, Parkman and others engaged in a scheme to provide medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, including power wheelchairs, to Medicare beneficiaries in and around New Orleans.  The evidence showed that Parkman received kickback payments from the equipment supply company in return for providing eligible Medicare beneficiaries’ personal information to the company, as well as to obtain physican signatures on order forms.

As a result of the scheme, Parkman’s co-defendant, Tracy Richardson Brown, caused Medicare to pay over $3.2 million based on those illegally obtained referrals, the evidence showed.  

Brown was previously convicted following a trial in June 2016 and was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG.  Trial Attorneys Kate Payerle and Jared Hasten of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. 

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.  The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion. 

A business owner was charged by a federal grand jury in Boston, Massachusetts, with attempting to obstruct the internal revenue laws, aiding and assisting in the filing of fraudulent corporate, personal, and employment tax returns, tax evasion, and structuring financial transactions, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to the indictment, Nicholas Boulas, of North Reading, owned and operated Nick’s Painting Service Inc. (NPS), which provided painting services to residential and commercial customers in the Boston area.  From 2009 through 2014, Boulas allegedly concealed approximately $4 million in business receipts by cashing approximately $2.7 million in checks and directing a substantial number of customers to write checks to him personally, which he cashed and deposited using multiple personal bank accounts.  According to the indictment, he structured cash transactions to involve less than $10,000 in currency in order to evade the banks’ reporting requirements – banks are required to file reports with the U.S. Treasury for transactions involving more than $10,000 of currency, conducted by or on behalf of the same person on the same day.  

The indictment alleges that Boulas caused the filing of fraudulent corporate and personal income tax returns that underreported NPS’s gross receipts, and as a result, the income Boulas earned from NPS.  It further alleges that Boulas underreported income he earned from several rental properties.  Boulas also allegedly paid employees “off the books” in cash to avoid paying payroll taxes, and caused the filing of fraudulent employment tax returns that concealed the number of NPS’s employees, wages paid and taxes owed. 

Boulas is also charged with obstructing the internal revenue laws by, among other things, falsely stating to IRS special agents that he reported all of NPS’s income, obstructing an IRS summons and following his interview with special agents, altering checks he received from NPS customers to conceal the memo line and hide the purpose of the payments.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  Individuals charged in indictments are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, Boulas faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for tax evasion, three years for obstructing the internal revenue laws, three years for aiding and assisting in the filing of fraudulent returns and ten years in prison for structuring financial transactions as a part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period and while violating another law of the United States.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant Chief John Kane and Trial Attorney Sarah Ranney of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

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

The U.S. Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging that Northwest Trustee Services, Inc. (Northwest) violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).  The complaint alleges that since 2010, Northwest completed foreclosures on at least 28 homes owned by servicemembers without obtaining the required court orders.

The SCRA protects the rights of servicemembers on active duty by suspending or modifying certain civil obligations.  The law prohibits foreclosing on the home of a servicemember during active military service and one year thereafter without a court order if the mortgage originated prior to the servicemember’s period of military service.

The department launched an investigation into Northwest’s practices after United States Marine veteran Jacob McGreevey of Vancouver, Washington, submitted a complaint to the department’s Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative in May 2016.  Northwest had foreclosed on McGreevey’s home in August 2010, less than two months after he was released from active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  McGreevey sued both PHH Mortgage (his mortgage servicer) and Northwest in 2016, but a U.S. District Court Judge accepted PHH and Northwest’s argument that McGreevy had waited too long to file his case, and dismissed the case on that basis.  The department’s investigation revealed that, in addition to McGreevey, NWTS had foreclosed on other homes of SCRA-protected servicemembers in violation of the SCRA since 2010.

“As we reflect this Veterans Day on the great debt we owe to those who have fought so hard for our freedom, we also reaffirm our commitment to protecting the rights of those who serve,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “Our men and women in uniform make immense personal sacrifices to keep our country safe.  Losing their home to an unlawful foreclosure should not be one of them.”

“The loss of a home is a devastating blow for anyone – but far worse for active duty service members often called to war zones far from Western Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “Our investigation revealed that Northwest Trustee Services repeatedly failed to comply with laws that are meant to ensure our service members do not have to fight a two front war – one on behalf of all of us, and the other against illegal foreclosures.  My office will continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C. to protect Western Washington service members from this kind of misconduct.”

In addition to monetary damages for affected servicemembers, the SCRA provides for civil monetary penalties of up to $60,788 for the first offense and $121,577 for each subsequent offense.  The department will also seek injunctive relief to prevent future foreclosures that violate the SCRA.

Northwest Trustee Services is based in Bellevue, Washington, and describes itself as a full-service trustee company providing foreclosure services to mortgage lenders in the Western United States.  The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct.  The allegations must still be proven in federal court.

This case is being jointly handled by the department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

The department’s enforcement of the SCRA is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, often in partnership with local United States Attorney’s Offices.  Since 2011, the department has obtained over $450 million in monetary relief for servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA.  The SCRA provides protections for servicemembers in areas such as evictions, rental agreements, security deposits, prepaid rent, civil judicial proceedings, installment contracts, credit card interest rates, mortgage interest rates, mortgage foreclosures, automobile leases, life insurance, health insurance and income tax payments.  For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.  Office locations may be found at http://legalassistance.law.af.mil/content/locator.php.

A federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday charging a former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official with a scheme to steal benefit money for veterans in need from the VA.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement. 

Russell M. Ware, 39, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged with four counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to steal more than $66,000 from the VA.  Ware was also charged with one count of bribery and one count of theft of government property. 

According to the indictment, between September 2013 and May 2014, Ware devised a scheme to steal more than $21,000 in VA disability benefit money, which he had wired to his own bank account.  The indictment further alleges that from October 2014 to February 2015, Ware directed additional disability benefits totaling almost $46,000 to a friend, Jacqueline Crawford, 33, of Gulfport, Mississippi, who was not entitled to receive the money.  Crawford then kicked back more than $13,000 to Ware, at Ware’s direction, usually through the use of Walmart2Walmart money transfers.  Crawford pleaded guilty in February 2017, to an information charging her with a single count of theft of government property related to the scheme, and is awaiting sentencing.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  It merely alleges that crimes have been committed.  A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and Rebecca Moses of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

The Department of Justice today announced that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) intends to take immediate action against the flow of illicit fentanyl analogues into this country and the alarming increase in overdose deaths linked to synthetic opioids by scheduling all fentanyl-related substances on an emergency basis.  

When the DEA’s order takes effect, anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit fentanyl analogue will be subject to criminal prosecution in the same manner as for fentanyl and other controlled substances.  The action announced today will make it easier for federal prosecutors and agents to prosecute traffickers of all forms of fentanyl-related substances.   

 “President Trump has made it a cornerstone of his presidency to combat the deadly drug crisis in America, and today the Department of Justice is taking an important step toward halting the rising death toll caused by illicit fentanyls in the United States,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  “By scheduling all fentanyls, we empower our law enforcement officers and prosecutors to take swift and necessary action against those spreading these deadly poisons.  I also urge the many members of Congress who clearly share our concern and alarm over fentanyl’s role in our opioid overdose epidemic to do their part by permanently scheduling these lethal substances.”

The bulk of illicit fentanyls arrive in the United States through the mail or express shipping systems, or are imported into the United States across the southwest border.  Overseas chemical manufacturers, aided by illicit domestic distributors, currently attempt to evade regulatory controls by creating structural variants of fentanyl that are not directly listed under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).  Without the action announced today, prosecutors must overcome cumbersome evidentiary hurdles to secure convictions of these traffickers under the Analogue Act. 

The DEA’s action is a proactive approach to minimize the potential harm of these substances with no medical or industrial use and will facilitate criminal, civil, and administrative actions against anyone trafficking in fentanyl variants.  The temporary scheduling will go into effect no earlier than 30 days after the DEA publishes its notice of intent and will last up to two years, with a possibility of a one-year extension if certain conditions are met.

“Today’s action represents just one step in the ongoing fight to battle the opioid epidemic,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “DEA is committed to using all of its tools to aggressively fight and address the opioid crisis and growing fentanyl problem plaguing the United States.”

This action is the latest in a series of aggressive and innovative actions by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice to stem the opioid epidemic through support to law enforcement and public health authorities.

A federal court in Atlanta, Georgia, has permanently barred Tarralis K. Mack, individually and doing business as Metro Tax Advisors, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.  Mack previously pleaded guilty to willfully aiding or assisting in, or procuring counseling, or advising the preparation or presentation of a false or fraudulent amended income tax return.     

The civil injunction order, to which the defendant consented, was signed by Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. 

According to the complaint, Mack prepared federal income tax returns for customers that generated fraudulent refunds by creating fictitious business expenses to offset wage income.  The complaint alleges that none of these customers owned any businesses and Mack did not request information to substantiate the business income and expenses he claimed on the customers’ returns. The returns prepared by Mack and audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claimed a total of $481,302 in fraudulent refunds, according to the complaint.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017.  The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.  Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website.  An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page.  If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

A federal court entered an order against three Los Angeles area telemarketing companies and two executives, the Department of Justice announced today.  That order, entered by Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in the Central District of California, permanently bans the companies and one executive from future telemarketing activity and restricts the telemarketing activities of another executive.  The order also imposes a civil monetary penalty.

The Department filed a complaint on March 10, 2016, alleging that three companies, KFJ Marketing LLC, Sunlight Solar Leads LLC, and Go Green Education, initiated at least 1.3 million telemarketing calls that violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule.  Those calls, which were intended to entice consumers to schedule appointments with solar panel providers, began with a prerecorded message warning consumers of a “pending 14% rate increase” in their energy bills.  Francisco and Julio Salvat owned and operated all three companies.

“Unwanted telemarketing calls invade the privacy of American consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “The Department of Justice will continue to work with the Federal Trade Commission to ensure telemarketers adhere to laws designed to protect against abusive and deceptive telemarketing practices.”

The filing of the suit was prompted by numerous complaints made by consumers to the Federal Trade Commission about the defendants’ telemarketing calls.  The complaint alleged defendants called telephone numbers listed on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, initiated unlawful robocalls, displayed false information on consumers’ Caller IDs, and ignored consumer requests not to receive additional calls.  The government’s complaint sought a permanent injunction to prevent future unlawful calls and a civil monetary penalty.

On Oct. 31, 2017, the United States and the defendants filed a proposed stipulated order for permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment.  That stipulated order, entered by the district court, permanently bans the three corporate defendants and Francisco Salvat from engaging in telemarketing activity.  Additionally, the order prohibits Julio Salvat from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and restricts his ability to place robocalls.  The stipulated order also requires defendants to pay a $1.4 million dollar civil penalty, all of which but $155,000 will be suspended based on defendants’ inability to pay the entire penalty. 

This matter was handled by Trial Attorneys Jacqueline Blaesi-Freed and Lisa Hsiao of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with assistance from Syliva Kundig of the Federal Trade Commission’s Western Region.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. 

A Germantown, Ohio, businessman who controlled the operation of an anti-aging skincare business in Dayton, Ohio, was convicted today of seven counts of filing false corporate, individual, and private foundation tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, James Wright, 62, ran the day-to-day operations of B&P Company Inc. (B&P), which manufactured and sold an array of skincare products, including Frownies, a wrinkle reduction product endorsed by celebrities.  Wright’s great-grandmother invented Frownies in 1889 and the product has been sold by his family ever since.  Beginning in the late 1990s, Wright formed a series of entities that he used to divert money from B&P to himself and members of his family.  Instead of receiving a salary from B&P, Wright incorporated a company called The Remnant Inc. (The Remnant), to which B&P paid “management fees.” Wright caused the preparation of false corporate tax returns for The Remnant on which he deducted personal expenses, including rent, utilities, and pool and lawn care for his residence.  Wright also used funds from The Remnant’s bank accounts to pay rent for one of his daughters in New York and California.  Wright paid personal expenses directly out of B&P’s bank accounts as well.  He directed employees of B&P to use corporate funds to pay for the rent and utilities at an apartment rented by his mother as well as rent for his daughter in New York.

In 2004, Wright applied to the IRS for non-profit status for a private foundation called Fore Fathers Foundation.  Wright caused B&P to made donations to the foundation and then used more than $170,000 of the foundation’s funds over a seven-year period to pay for high school and college tuition for all five of his children.  According to the testimony at trial, these payments constituted acts of self-dealing that Wright was required to disclose on the foundation’s tax returns and pay excise taxes on.  When Wright filed the foundation’s 2003 through 2009 returns however, he falsely reported that he had not engaged in acts of self-dealing and failed to pay the excise taxes due on the distributions.

The evidence at trial established that Wright had a long history of interactions with the IRS.  In 1998, Wright pleaded guilty to tax evasion for using trusts to conceal income from the IRS.  This criminal case arose from an audit of Wright’s individual income tax returns.  In 2002, the IRS initiated an audit of The Remnant’s income tax returns.  During a 2010 audit of B&P’s income tax returns, Wright falsely stated to an IRS revenue agent that he had no prior dealings with the IRS, despite the fact that he had been criminally prosecuted in the 1990s and audited in both the 1990s and early 2000s.

U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice did not set a date for sentencing.  Wright faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.   

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Thomas F. Koelbl of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.  Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio for their support during the investigation and prosecution of this case.

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

Americans nationwide did their part to reduce the opioid crisis by bringing the DEA and its more than 4,200 local and tribal law enforcement partners a record-setting 912,305 pounds—456 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at more than 5,300 collection sites. That is almost six tons more than was collected at last spring’s event. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,015,668 pounds, or 4,508 tons.

Now in its 8th year, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events continue to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens. The DEA action comes just days after President Donald J. Trump announced the mobilization of his entire Administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by directing the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids crisis.

“In the midst of the worst drug crisis in American history, drug abuse prevention has never been more important,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  “And at the Department of Justice, it’s what we do every day.  By taking dangerous drugs off of our streets, we keep addiction from spreading. One of the most important ways we do that is through the DEA’s semi-annual Prescription Drug Take Back Days. The latest Take Back day was the most successful yet, safely disposing of a record amounts of drugs. I have no doubt that will save lives. At a time like this, this event is having more of an impact than ever. I want to thank all of our local law enforcement partners who helped at all 5,300 collection sites to make this possible—and everyone who participated. They're helping us end this crisis one pill at a time.”

“More people start down the path of addiction through the misuse of opioid prescription drugs than any other substance. The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to the highest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen,” said Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “This is a crisis that must be addressed from multiple angles. Educating the public and removing these medications from households across the Unites States prevents misuse where it often starts.”

This year, DEA worked with its tribal law enforcement partners to set up 115 collection sites on tribal lands. Opioid addiction impacts Native American communities just as it does all parts of American society. By partnering with FBI, BIA, and tribal law enforcement, the DEA was able to greatly expand tribal participation in the Take Back program. DEA remains committed to supporting public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.  

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. DEA launched its prescription drug take back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—posed potential safety and health hazards.

Helping people to dispose of potentially harmful prescription drugs is just one way DEA is working to reduce the addiction and overdose deaths plaguing this country due to opioid medications. 

DEA’s next Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 28, 2018.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions welcomed the confirmation of Steven Engel as the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.

“I applaud the Senate for the confirmation of Steven Engel,” said Attorney General Sessions.  “I am confident his extensive legal work and his previous experience in the Office of Legal Counsel have prepared him very well to lead the office that provides legal advice to the President, to the Department, and to every other Executive Branch agency.”

The Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel provides legal advice to the President and all Executive Branch agencies.  The Office drafts legal opinions of the Attorney General and provides its own written opinions and oral advice in response to requests from the Counsel to the President, the various agencies of the Executive Branch, and other offices within the Department.  Such requests typically deal with legal issues of particular complexity and importance, or those about which two or more agencies are in disagreement.  The Office is also responsible for reviewing pending legislation for constitutionality.

All executive orders and substantive proclamations proposed to be issued by the President are reviewed by the Office of Legal Counsel for form and legality, as are various other matters that require the President’s or the Attorney General’s formal approval.

Prior to his confirmation, Engel was a partner at the law firm Dechert LLP, where he appeared in courts across the country, handling a wide range of civil litigation matters, including in the areas of administrative law, commercial litigation, and securities law.  An experienced appellate litigator, Engel clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for Judge Alex Kozinski and on the U.S. Supreme Court for Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.  In addition, Engel regularly argued in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the New York appellate courts, and handled appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, seven U.S. Courts of Appeal, and numerous state appellate courts.  Engel was also a member of the pro bono panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

Before joining Dechert, Engel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, where he provided legal advice to senior policymakers on issues facing the Executive Branch.

Engel graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received a master’s degree in history from Cambridge University, where he was a Knox Fellow.  He received his law degree from the Yale Law School, where he was the Essays Editor for the Yale Law Journal.

The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today that the United States filed civil complaints in the District of Minnesota against four individuals who allegedly fraudulently obtained their naturalized U.S. citizenship. The complaints allege that the individuals—a purported husband, wife, and two sons—unlawfully, knowingly, and fraudulently represented to immigration officials that they were a family to gain admission to the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Each individual, the complaints allege, ultimately naturalized due to his or her fraudulent representations.

“For decades, the American people have begged and pleaded with their government for a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest—a system that has as its foremost priorities their safety, their jobs, and their well-being,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “The current immigration system is easily abused by fraudsters and nefarious actors, and that’s certainly true of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. If the fraud is not detected and swift enforcement actions are not taken, chain migration only multiplies the consequences of this abuse. Unfortunately, there are many instances of fraud across our immigration system. The American people deserve a better system that works for them, and the Department of Justice will continue its efforts to deliver one to them.”

The four cases, United States v. Fosia Abdi Adan; United States v. Ahmed Mohamed Warsame; United States v. Mustaf Abdi Adan; and United States v. Faysal Jama Mire were referred to the Department of Justice by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with investigative support from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate.

“I previously taught civics classes, and saw firsthand how hard people work to come to the United States legally and honestly,” Acting Secretary Elaine Duke said. “They were so proud of their accomplishments. It is out of respect for those people that we cannot tolerate fraud, deception, and abuse of our legal immigration system. Fraudulently obtained citizenship is an affront to our American values, the rule of law, and all those who honestly attained their immigration status.”

“We are pleased at the outcome of the Justice Department’s investigation,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch said. “The Department of State values the partnership with the Justice Department in our efforts to vigorously prevent and jointly combat U.S. passport and visa fraud. Deterring, detecting, and investigating U.S. passport and U.S. visa fraud are essential to protecting the integrity of consular processes and safeguarding our national security.”

A description of each of the four cases and the allegations of the United States are as follows:

Fosia Abdi Adan

Fosia Abdi Adan, 51, a native of Somalia, applied for and received a diversity visa from the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, under the Diversity Visa (DV) Program on Jan. 10, 2001, and used her visa to unlawfully obtain beneficiary visas for the below individuals who were ineligible to be beneficiaries. Adan arrived and was admitted to the United States on Jan. 29, 2001, on her diversity immigrant visa as a permanent resident. Throughout the diversity visa application process, Adan fraudulently claimed that she was married to Jama Solob Kayre, the fictitious identity used by Ahmed Mohamed Warsame, and that she and Kayre had three children together.  Such children included Mohamed Jama Solob, the fictitious identity used by Mustaf Abdi Adan, and Mobarak Jama Solob, the fictitious identity used by Faysal Jama Mire. Adan and Warsame, who used the fictitious identity of Jama Solob Kayre, obtained a divorce in Minnesota for their fictitious marriage after Adan was admitted as a permanent resident. Adan continued to fraudulently represent her previous fictitious marriage and fraudulently represent her fictitious parentage of Mohamed Jama Solob and Mobarak Jama Solob, throughout the naturalization process. Adan naturalized on Aug.16, 2006. Adan has been residing in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Among other counts contained in the complaint filed against Adan, the United States alleges that she was not lawfully admitted for permanent residence because she engaged in alien smuggling as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act, and thus was never eligible to naturalize.

Ahmed Mohamed Warsame

Ahmed Mohamed Warsame aka Jama Solob Kayre, 54, a native of Somalia, using the fictitious identity of Jama Solob Kayre, applied for and received a beneficiary diversity visa as the fictitious spouse of Fosia Abdi Adan, the principal diversity visa immigrant of the fictitious family. Warsame unlawfully obtained his visa as the spouse of a diversity visa immigrant from the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, under the DV Program on Jan. 10, 2001. Warsame arrived and was admitted to the United States on May 30, 2001, on his diversity immigrant visa as a permanent resident. Throughout the diversity visa application process, Warsame fraudulently claimed that he was married to Adan and that he and Adan had three children together. Such children included Mohamed Jama Solob, the fictitious identity used by Mustaf Abdi Adan, and Mobarak Jama Solob, the fictitious identity used by Faysal Jama Mire. Adan and Warsame, who used the fictitious identity of Jama Solob Kayre, obtained a divorce in Minnesota for their fictitious marriage after Warsame was admitted as a permanent resident. Warsame continued to fraudulently represent his previous fictitious marriage and fraudulently represent his fictitious parentage of Mohamed Jama Solob and Mobarak Jama Solob, throughout the naturalization process. Warsame, using the fictitious name of Jama Solob Kayre, naturalized on Sept. 13, 2006. During his naturalization, he changed his name to Ahmed Mohamed Warsame. Warsame has been residing in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Mustaf Abdi Adan

Mustaf Abdi Adan aka Mohamed Jama Solob, 33, a native of Somalia, using the fictitious identity of Mohamed Jama Solob, applied for and received a beneficiary diversity visa as the fictitious child of Fosia Abdi Adan, the primary diversity visa immigrant of the fictitious family. Adan unlawfully obtained his visa as the child of a diversity visa immigrant from the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, under the DV Program on Sept. 30, 2001. He arrived and was admitted to the United States on Dec. 9, 2001, on his beneficiary diversity immigrant visa as a permanent resident. Throughout the diversity visa application process, he fraudulently claimed that Fosia Abdi Adan was his mother and that Warsame, under the identity of Jama Solob Kayre, was his father. Mustaf Abdi Adan, using the fictitious name of Mohamed Jama Solob, naturalized on July 24, 2013, and at that time changed his name to Mustaf Abdi Adan. He has been residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Faysal Jama Mire

Faysal Jama Mire aka Mobarak Jama Solob, 31, a native of Somalia, using the fictitious identity of Mobarak Jama Solob, applied for a beneficiary diversity visa as the fictitious child of Fosia Abdi Adan, the primary diversity visa immigrant. Mire unlawfully obtained his beneficiary visa as the child of a diversity visa immigrant from the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, under the DV Program on Sept. 30, 2001. He arrived and was admitted to the United States on Dec. 9, 2001, on his beneficiary diversity immigrant visa as a permanent resident. Throughout the diversity visa application process, he fraudulently claimed that Fosia Abdi Adan was his mother and that Warsame, under the identity of Jama Solob Kayre, was his father. Faysal Jama Mire, using the fictitious name of Mobarak Jama Solob, naturalized on April 14, 2010, and at that time changed his name to Faysal Jama Mire. He has been residing in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the citizenship of a naturalized U.S. citizen may be revoked, and his or her certificate of naturalization canceled, if such naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.

These cases were investigated by DSS, ICE, USCIS, and the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section (OIL-DCS). These cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Anthony D. Bianco of OIL-DCS’s National Security and Affirmative Litigation Unit (NS/A Unit) and Trial Attorney Kathryne Gray of OIL-DCS, with support from Senior Attorney Lucia A. Fiorentino of ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

A federal grand jury in West Palm Beach returned an indictment yesterday against three high-volume Florida real estate investors for conspiring to rig bids submitted through the online property foreclosure auction process, the Department of Justice announced.

The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, charges Avi Stern, Christopher Graeve, and Stuart Hankin with conspiring to rig bids during online auctions in Palm Beach County, Florida in order to obtain foreclosed properties at suppressed prices.  The indictment alleges that the conduct took place from at least January 2012 until June 2015.  

These are the first indictments related to bid rigging in foreclosure auctions filed in Florida by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  The Antitrust Division previously has prosecuted similar bid rigging conduct in Alabama, California, Georgia and North Carolina, resulting in more than 100 guilty pleas and convictions in those states.

“These charges demonstrate that the Antitrust Division will uncover and prosecute collusion by real estate investors, regardless of whether their conduct is carried out in person, or in texts, online chats or through other electronic means,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The Division will continue to work closely with our law enforcement colleagues to prosecute those responsible for taking money that would otherwise have gone to mortgage holders, Palm Beach County, and in some cases, to the owners of foreclosed homes.”

“Real estate investors who think they can swindle the system to line their pockets with ill-gotten gains beware,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan of the FBI Miami’s Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will vigorously investigate such schemes.”

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.    

These charges have been filed as a result of the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Miami Division – West Palm Beach Resident Agency.  Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Washington Criminal I Section of the Antitrust Division at 202-307-6694 or www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

Tommy Water Zhou was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment today for trafficking juvenile American eels (also called “elvers” or “glass eels”) in violation of the Lacey Act, following a hearing in federal district court in Norfolk, Virginia. The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and United States Attorney Dana J. Boente for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

In April 2017, Zhou pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act by purchasing elvers in interstate commerce that had been harvested illegally in Virginia.  Court documents indicate that Zhou trafficked at least 105 pounds of elvers, which is approximately 210,000 individual eels, and worth more than $105,000.  Zhou subsequently sold these elvers to international buyers and exported them from the United States.

“Illegal harvesting and trafficking of wildlife represents a dire threat to our critical ecosystems,” said U.S. Attorney Boente.  “This case reaffirms our commitment to protecting Virginia’s natural resources for future generations.”

“Wildlife trafficking is a transnational crime which devastates species both at home and abroad,” said Acting Chief of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ed Grace. “In this case, the defendant chose to illegally harvest American eels – the only species of freshwater eel found in North America. This animal plays a critical role in native ecosystems and is negatively impacted by the illegal wildlife trade. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice and others to protect this species and bring those who choose profit over preservation to justice.” 

Eels are highly valued in East Asia for human consumption.  Historically, Japanese and European eels were harvested to meet this demand; however, overfishing has led to a decline in these populations.  As a result, harvesters have turned to the American eel to fill the void. 

American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the North Atlantic Ocean bounded on all sides by ocean currents.  They then travel as larvae from the Sargasso to the coastal waters of the eastern United States, where they enter a juvenile or elver stage, swim upriver, and grow to adulthood in fresh water.  Elvers are exported for aquaculture in East Asia, where they are raised to adult size and sold for food.  Harvesters and exporters of American eels in the United States can sell elvers to East Asia for more than $2,000 per pound.

Because of the threat of overfishing, Atlantic Coast states have cooperatively prohibited elver harvesting in all but two states: Maine and South Carolina.  Maine and South Carolina heavily regulate elver fisheries, requiring that individuals be licensed and report all quantities of harvested eels to state authorities.  Other Atlantic coast states, including Virginia, have commercial fisheries for adult or “yellow” eels.  

This case was the result of “Operation Broken Glass,” a multi-jurisdiction U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation into the illegal trafficking of American eels.  To date, the investigation has resulted in guilty pleas for 18 individuals whose combined conduct resulted in the illegal trafficking of more than $5 million worth of elvers. 

“In this operation, we are actively partnering with state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to protect our nation's marine resources from further exploitation.” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood.

Operation Broken Glass was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section in collaboration with the Maine Marine Patrol, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Bureau of Law Enforcement, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Conservation Police, Virginia Marine Resources Commission Police, USFWS Refuge Law Enforcement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement, New York State Environmental Conservation Police, New Hampshire Fish and Game Division of Law Enforcement, Maryland Natural Resources Police, North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission Division of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Yarmouth, Massachusetts Division of Natural Resources, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Police Department and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The government is represented by Environmental Crimes Section Trial Attorneys Cassandra Barnum and Shane Waller, and Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Kosky.

The former chief executive officer of ArthroCare Corporation, a publicly traded medical device company based in Austin, Texas, was sentenced today to 240 months in prison for his role in orchestrating a fraud scheme that resulted in shareholder losses of over $750 million. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin Jr. of the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Field office made the announcement. 

Michael Baker, 58, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of the Western District of Texas, who also ordered Baker five years of supervised release following his prison sentence and to pay a fine in the amount of $1 million and to forfeit $13.7 million.  At the sentencing hearing, the Court found that investors lost more than $750 million as a result of the fraud scheme.  On Aug. 18, after a two-week re-trial, Baker was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of making false statements.  

Evidence at trial showed that, beginning in 2005 and continuing until 2009, Baker, along with his co-conspirators, masterminded and executed a scheme to artificially inflate sales and revenue through a series of end-of-quarter transactions involving several of ArthroCare’s distributors.  Baker, along with his co-conspirators, determined the type and amount of product to be shipped to distributors based on ArthroCare’s need to meet Wall Street analyst forecasts, rather than distributors’ actual orders.  Baker and others then caused ArthroCare to “park” millions of dollars’ worth of ArthroCare’s medical devices at its distributors at the end of each relevant quarter.  ArthroCare reported these shipments as sales in its quarterly and annual filings at the time of the shipment, enabling the company to meet or exceed internal and external earnings forecasts.  

The trial evidence further showed that ArthroCare’s distributors agreed to accept shipment of millions of dollars of products in exchange for special conditions, including substantial, upfront cash commissions, extended payment terms and the ability to return products, allowing ArthroCare to falsely inflate revenue by tens of millions of dollars.  In the case of ArthroCare’s largest distributor, DiscoCare, Baker caused ArthroCare to acquire DiscoCare specifically to conceal from the investing public the nature and financial significance of ArthroCare’s relationship with DiscoCare.  In addition to falsely inflating ArthroCare’s revenue, Baker lied when he was deposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2009 about ArthroCare’s relationship with DiscoCare, the evidence showed. 

Baker’s earlier conviction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, resulting in the retrial.  The sentence imposed on Baker today of 20 years imprisonment is identical to the sentence he received after his first trial.

Co-conspirators David Applegate and John Raffle, both former senior vice presidents of ArthroCare, pleaded guilty to multiple felonies in 2013 in connection with their participation in the scheme.  Co-conspirator Michael Gluk, former chief financial officer of ArthroCare, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud on June 14, in connection with his participation in the scheme.

On Aug. 29, 2014, Raffle was sentenced to 80 months in prison.  On Aug. 29, 2014, Applegate was sentenced to 60 months in prison.  Gluk’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2018.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Securities and Financial Fraud Unit Chief Benjamin D. Singer, Assistant Chief Henry P. Van Dyck and Trial Attorney Caitlin Cottingham of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. 

A Colombian national pleaded guilty today in connection with his role in a bribery scheme that resulted in the dismissal of a drug trafficking indictment filed against a Colombia-based cocaine trafficker from the Cali Cartel, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

According to admissions in the plea agreement, Juan Carlos Velasco Cano, 49, acted as an intermediary between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Christopher V. Ciccione II, 52, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Colombian national Jose Bayron Piedrahita Ceballos, 58, to use Ciccione’s official position to cause a drug trafficking indictment against Piedrahita to be dismissed and to obtain official authorization for Piedrahita to enter the United States.

Velasco admitted that Piedrahita gave Ciccione approximately $20,000 in cash, dinner, drinks and prostitution during an extended hotel stay in Bogota, Colombia in exchange for Ciccione using his official position to obtain the dismissal of the indictment against Piedrahita.  In furtherance of the scheme, Velasco arranged for a meeting of the conspirators in Bogota, Colombia; facilitated communications between Piedrahita and Ciccione; and received confidential law enforcement information from Ciccione about himself and others, including the names of a confidential source and cooperating witnesses.
 
Velasco will be sentenced on Jan. 17, 2018 before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida.  Ciccione is pending trial and Piedrahita is currently incarcerated in the Republic of Colombia.  

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Piedrahita as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act on May 3, 2016. 
 
ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI investigated the case.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the Office of the Judicial Attaché in Colombia and the Drug Enforcement Administration provided valuable assistance to the investigation.  The Colombian Attorney General’s Office also provided invaluable support.  Trial Attorneys Luke Cass and Jennifer A. Clarke of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

A federal grand jury has indicted four MS-13 members today on charges in connection with their MS-13 gang activities, including violent crimes in aid of racketeering; use, carry and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.  

The indictment was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Andre Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Baltimore Office;  Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Baltimore Office; Police Chief Tim Altomare of the Anne Arundel Police Department; State Attorney Wes Adams of the Anne Arundel State’s Attorney Office and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI Baltimore Field Office.

Charged in the three-count indictment is Fermin Gomez-Jimenez, 20;  Manuel Martinez-Aguilar, aka “El Lunatic” and “Zomb,” 19;  Moises Alexis Reyes-Canales, aka “Sicopita,” 19; and Marlon Cruz-Flores, 22, all of Annapolis, Maryland.

MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador.  Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and Frederick County, Maryland.  MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang.  One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible.

According to the indictment, on Oct. 23, 2016, the defendants conspired to and attempted to murder two victims in Annapolis, Maryland, for the purpose of gaining entrance to, maintaining, and increasing position in MS-13. 

All of the defendants are currently detained on related state criminal charges.  Initial appearances have not yet been scheduled. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.  

The investigation was conducted by HSI Baltimore, ATF Baltimore, Anne Arundel Police Department, Anne Arundel State’s Attorney Office, and the FBI.  Trial Attorney Matthew Hoff of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seema Mittal, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Mildenberg are prosecuting this case.

Attorney General Sessions released the following statement on Fentanyl Safety Recommendations for First Responders release by the White House today: “Members of law enforcement and other first responders protect American families from deadly drugs like fentanyl each day,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.  “But these drugs put first responders at risk too, since even trace amounts of fentanyl can be lethal.  Today’s recommendations will help protect the lives of those who protect us and make it easier for them to do their jobs.  I want to thank President Trump for his leadership on this issue, which is critical to supporting law enforcement officers throughout the country.”

A real estate investor was sentenced today for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.

Ramin Rad “Ray” Yeganeh was charged on June 25, 2015, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California. Yeganeh pleaded guilty on June 14, 2017, to one count of bid rigging at real estate foreclosure auctions in Alameda County. Today, Yeganeh was sentenced to serve 12 months in prison and to serve three years of supervised release. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Yeganeh was ordered to pay $149,733 in restitution.  

“As today’s sentencing shows, antitrust crimes don’t pay,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. “In addition to facing prison time, defendants can expect to pay restitution for their ill-gotten gains.”  

Between September 2008 and January 2011, Yeganeh and other bidders at the auctions conspired not to bid against one another for selected properties, instead designating a winning bidder for the property at the auction. The members of the conspiracy then held a second set of private auctions known as “rounds” to award the properties to members of the conspiracy and determine payoffs for other conspirators who had agreed not to bid against each other at the public auctions. The private auctions often took place at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held. 

When real estate properties are sold at public auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with the remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner. 

The sentence is a result of the division’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions in California’s San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. 

These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300 or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced today that it will require Entercom Communications Corp. to divest 13 radio stations in order for Entercom to proceed with its acquisition of CBS Radio, Inc.  

The division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia challenging Entercom’s proposed acquisition of CBS Radio, and simultaneously filed a proposed settlement that would resolve the competitive harm alleged in the lawsuit.

“The required divestitures will protect competition for local businesses that advertise on radio stations in Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The elimination of this competition would have resulted in higher prices to businesses in these markets.”

The division alleged that the proposed transaction would have eliminated head-to-head competition between Entercom’s and CBS’s radio stations for the business of local and national advertisers on radio stations in the following markets:  Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; and Sacramento, California.  

The proposed settlement – which must be approved by the court – requires Entercom to divest the following radio stations to department-approved buyers:  

• Boston
  • WBZ AM, WBZ FM, WRKO AM, WKAF FM and WZLX FM
• San Francisco
  • KOIT FM, KMVQ FM, KUFX FM and KBLX FM
• Sacramento
  • KNCI FM, KYMX FM, KZZO FM and KHTK AM

Entercom is incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania, with its headquarters in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.  CBS Radio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, is incorporated in the state of Delaware, with its headquarters in New York, New York.  Entercom and CBS Radio own and operate a combined total of 244 broadcast radio stations in various metropolitan areas throughout the United States, including 23 of the top 25 markets.

As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register.  Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement during a 60-day comment period to Owen Kendler, Chief, Media, Entertainment, and Professional Services Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Fourth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20530.  At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.

Justice Department announced today that a former supervisory deputy jailer at the Kentucky River Regional Jail (KRRJ), Perry County, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 126 months in federal prison related to his role in an unprovoked violent assault of a detainee.

United States District Judge Karen K. Caldwell formally sentenced Damon Wayne Hickman, 40, on his conviction.  Under federal law, Hickman must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Following the completion of his prison term, he will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for three years.

On Nov. 9, 2016, Hickman entered a guilty plea to using excessive force against the detainee, resulting in bodily injury, and to deliberately ignoring the detainee’s serious medical needs, also resulting in bodily injury, and obstruction of justice.  On May 11, 2017, William Curtis Howell, 60, was convicted of the same offenses after a jury trial, and he is scheduled to be sentenced in United States District Court on Dec. 19, 2017.  Hickman was also convicted of obstruction of justice for creating a fake medical log to cover up his and Howell’s misconduct.

According to evidence and testimony presented during Hickman’s pretrial hearings and Howell’s jury trial, on July 9, 2013, at the Kentucky River Regional Jail in Hazard, Kentucky, Hickman and Howell violently beat Larry Trent, 54, a pretrial detainee, and left him in his cell, seriously injured and bleeding from an open head wound.  Trent ultimately died from injuries sustained during the beating.  Trent was in custody for a DUI charge.  Hickman, who was initially charged along with Howell, pleaded guilty prior to trial and testified against Howell.

The assault started when Howell and Hickman opened the door to Trent’s cell to remove a sleeping-mat, and Trent ran out of the cell.  Howell tased Trent, and after Trent was brought to the floor, Hickman, without justification, violently kicked Trent in the ribs.  Hickman and Howell continued their assault after Trent was carried back to the area outside of his cell.  Both deputies, without justification, punched, kicked, and stomped on Trent.  Witnesses further testified that, before closing the cell door, Howell stepped into Trent’s cell and kicked Trent in the head while Trent was on the floor and posing no threat.  After the assault, Hickman and Howell had other inmates clean up Trent’s blood from the floor and walls outside of his cell.

The evidence further revealed that Trent was lying motionless in his cell with blood all over his face.  However, Hickman and Howell willfully failed to provide medical attention, because they did not want to get in trouble.  Approximately four hours after the beating, another employee at the jail discovered Trent’s lifeless body.  Paramedics were summoned and Trent was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

“Corrections officers throughout the country carry out their duties in a responsible manner on a daily basis,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “Attacks like this one dishonor those responsible corrections officers and is a violation of civil rights, and the Department of Justice will prosecute such misconduct.”

“The criminal conduct in this case was a disgraceful breach of public trust, a grave disservice to truly dedicated law enforcement personnel, and an appalling violation of a man’s civil rights,” said Acting U. S. Attorney Carlton Shier.  “Holding law enforcement officials accountable for violations of the public trust we place in them is absolutely critical to making our communities safer.”

Autopsy results presented at trial showed that Trent died from internal bleeding caused by a displaced pelvic fracture, and from blunt force trauma to his head, torso, and extremities.

According to evidence presented at pretrial hearings for Hickman and at an unrelated jury trial of another KRRJ supervisory deputy jailer, Kevin Asher, Hickman and Asher assaulted another pre-trial detainee at the same jail in 2012.  On Oct. 19, 2017, Asher was sentenced to 108 months imprisonment for his involvement in that unrelated inmate assault.

The Kentucky River Regional Jail houses pre-trial detainees from Perry and Knott Counties.  As a supervisory deputy jailer, Hickman was responsible for the custody, care, safety and control of the inmates at the jail.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; John M. Gore, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; and Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Kentucky State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Hydee Hawkins of the United States Attorney’s Office and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted this case on behalf of the federal government. 

The Department of Justice today announced its support of efforts to collect, analyze and report state and local crime data through the National Crime Victimization Survey. The expansion of the NCVS to produce state and local crime estimates is part of a continuing effort to improve crime data collection and it aligns with recommendations from the President’s Crime Data Task Force, which is focused on reducing violent crime.

Maintained by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, the NCVS has provided national-level estimates of crime since the 1970s. Unlike the law enforcement statistics compiled by the FBI through its Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the NCVS is a household sample survey that provides data on the incidence and prevalence of nonfatal violent and property crime; characteristics of victims, incidents and offenders; the consequences of crime for victims; and the proportion of crime that is not reported to police. Supplemental surveys to the NCVS also provide data on identity theft, stalking, bullying, contact between police and the public and financial fraud.

“The National Crime Victimization Survey is designed to include offenses not reported to police,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. “This expansion of the survey is intended to give researchers, policymakers and the public a deeper understanding of victimization in America.”

Over the past several years, BJS has worked to expand the capacity of the NCVS to assess state and local crime conditions, policing patterns and other criminal justice services. In 2016, the survey sample was redesigned to generate estimates of crime, both reported and unreported, for the largest 22 states. BJS is analyzing the data and will release the first state-level estimates for the 22 largest states in early 2018. With these data, the 22 states, which represent about 80 percent of the US population age 12 or older, will have a more complete picture of the level and nature of crime, both reported and unreported to police.

As the Justice Department launches a series of initiatives to reduce violent crime, including the National Public Safety Partnership, the state-level data will enable comparison of crime rates among states with differing criminal justice policies and programs. It will also permit the assessment of reductions in reported and unreported crime to police over time.

Additional information about the NCVS and BJS’s statistical publications and other programs can be found on the BJS website at www.bjs.gov.

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

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) announced a settlement today with Exxon Mobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Oil Corp., (ExxonMobil) that will eliminate thousands of tons of harmful air pollution from eight of Exxon’s petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Texas and Louisiana. The settlement resolves allegations that ExxonMobil violated the Clean Air Act by failing to properly operate and monitor industrial flares at their petrochemical facilities, which resulted in excess emissions of harmful air pollution.  
 
ExxonMobil will spend approximately $300 million to install and operate air pollution control and monitoring technology to reduce harmful air pollution from 26 industrial flares at five ExxonMobil facilities in Texas—located near Baytown, Beaumont, and Mont Belvieu—and three of the company’s facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

Once fully implemented, the pollution controls required by the settlement are estimated to reduce harmful air emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by more than 7,000 tons per year. The settlement is also expected to reduce toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by more than 1,500 tons per year.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is also a signatory of today’s settlement, which resolves alleged violations of Louisiana law at ExxonMobil’s three plants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

“This settlement will improve air quality in Texas and Louisiana by eliminating thousands of tons of harmful air pollution each year,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.  “The agreement, which requires Exxon to reduce emissions from its facilities in Texas and Louisiana, demonstrates the Justice Department’s continuing efforts, alongside EPA and our state partners, to protect the American public from these harmful pollutants by bringing sources of air pollution into compliance with the Clean Air Act.”

“This settlement means cleaner air for communities across Texas and Louisiana, and reinforces EPA’s commitment to enforce the law and hold those who violate it accountable,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “As this agreement shows, EPA is dedicated to partnering with states to address critical environmental issues and improving compliance in the regulated community to prevent future violations of the law.”

“LDEQ is always happy to cooperate with our federal partners in investigating environmental violations,” said Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Secretary of the LDEQ.  “This settlement will benefit the entire state of Louisiana, and the Beneficial Environmental Projects included in the settlement will enhance LDEQ’s surveillance and enforcement capabilities.”

These pollutants can cause significant harm to public health. VOCs are a key component in the formation of smog or ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates the lungs, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Chronic exposure to benzene, which EPA classifies as a carcinogen, can cause numerous health impacts, including leukemia and adverse reproductive effects in women.

Flares are devices used to combust waste gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere during certain industrial operations. Well-operated flares should have high “combustions efficiency,” meaning they combust nearly all harmful waste gas constituents, like VOCs and hazardous air pollutants, and turning them into water and carbon dioxide.  The agreement is designed to improve Exxon’s flaring practices. First, it requires Exxon to minimize the amount of waste gas that is sent to the flares.  Second, Exxon must improve the combustion efficiency of its flares.  

In order to minimize the waste gas sent to the flares, Exxon will create waste minimization plans for each facility.  At four of the facilities, Exxon will operate flare gas recovery systems which minimize the amount of waste gas sent to the flares by recovering and recycling the gases before they are sent for combustion in a flare. The flare gas recovery systems will allow ExxonMobil to reuse these gases as a fuel at its facilities or a product for sale. In order to improve combustion efficiency, ExxonMobil must also install and operate instruments and monitoring systems to ensure that gases that are sent to flares are efficiently combusted. ExxonMobil will perform air quality monitoring that is designed to detect the presence of benzene at the fence lines of four of the covered plants, and pay a civil penalty of $2.5 million.

Today’s settlement also requires ExxonMobil to spend $1 million on a supplemental environmental project to plant trees in the City of Baytown. The trees will provide a natural buffer to reduce airborne pollutants from the chemical plants to nearby communities. 

The LDEQ will receive $470,000 of the $2.5 million total civil penalty, and ExxonMobil will perform two state “beneficial environmental projects,” including purchasing a $1.5 million mobile air quality monitoring vehicle for LDEQ’s use.

The consent decree, lodged in the Southern District Court of Texas, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. The consent decree will be available for viewing at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

More information about the settlement: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/exxon-mobil-corporationexxonmobil-oil-corporation-clean-air-act-settlement.

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the State of Colorado today announced a settlement with Denver-based PDC Energy, Inc. resolving Clean Air Act violations alleged in a civil complaint. The complaint filed June 26, 2017 alleged that PDC violated requirements to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from its oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Denver area.

This case arose from a series of Colorado inspections that found significant VOC emissions from PDC’s condensate storage tanks. Under the settlement, PDC will spend an estimated $18 million on system upgrades, improved operations and maintenance practices, monitoring, and inspections to reduce emissions. PDC will also be required to implement environmental mitigation projects at certain sites to further reduce VOC and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at a cost of $1.7 million. The settlement includes a $2.5 million civil penalty, which will be split evenly between the United States and the State of Colorado. The state’s share of the penalty may be offset by up to $1 million by performing one or more state-only supplemental environmental projects.

EPA estimates that modifications to the vapor control systems, along with operational and maintenance improvements and increased monitoring, will reduce VOC emissions by more than 1,600 tons per year. PDC already has begun this work, which must be completed on a phased schedule with a deadline of June 30, 2019 for the last phase

“As a result of state and federal efforts, PDC has agreed to take comprehensive action to address excess VOC emissions from its oil and gas operations,” said Associate Attorney General Rachel L. Brand of the Department of Justice.  “We are proud that we were able to work side by side with EPA and Colorado to bring these facilities into compliance with the law.”

“This agreement will result in cleaner air in the Denver area and shows that EPA is committed to enforcing the law in order to ensure public health is protected,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “This case exemplifies the strong partnerships with states that are integral to delivering results for American communities and finding solutions that build compliance with the law and prevent future violations.”

The settlement covers approximately 650 PDC tank batteries and resolves claims that PDC failed to adequately design, size, operate and maintain vapor control systems on its controlled condensate storage tanks, resulting in VOC emissions. VOC are a key component in the formation of smog or ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates the lungs, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. The tank batteries that are subject to today’s settlement are all located in an ozone non-attainment area, meaning that the area does not meet the national air quality standard that EPA set for this pollutant. 

As part of the settlement, PDC has agreed to evaluate the design and capacity of its vapor control systems, modify those vapor control systems as necessary to ensure that that they are adequately designed and sized to collect and convey emissions to a control device, implement an enhanced inspection and maintenance program, and undertake periodic infrared camera inspections to identify any emissions and take prompt corrective action to address those emissions. Where monitoring and recordkeeping indicates recurring issues resulting in emissions, PDC will take proactive measures to identify the cause of these issues and prevent their recurrence. 

In addition, PDC will implement two environmental mitigation projects to further reduce emissions of ozone precursors from certain PDC well pads in the nonattainment area by an estimated combined 425 tons per year. These efforts are in addition to measures PDC has already taken to reduce emissions from its well pads, such as implementing techniques at all locations equipped with automation capability to sell oil from storage tanks without the need to open thief hatches for sampling or gauging.  

The consent decree, lodged in the District Court of Colorado, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. The consent decree will be available for viewing at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

More on this settlement: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/pdc-energy-inc-clean-air-act-settlement.

          Acting United States Attorney SHAWN N. ANDERSON, for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI) together with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Resident Agent in Charge Edward Talbot, would like to thank everyone who participated in the 14th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day which was held this past Saturday, October 28, 2017.  Guam collected 452 lbs. of prescription medication and the CNMI collected 44 lbs.

          The biannual event was held in Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota and was also held at thousands of collection sites around the country.  The event is an effort to rid homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

          Contact DEA Special Agent Dave Stubbs at 671-472-7384 regarding any questions about prescription drug abuse and/or any concerns regarding drug related activity on Guam or in the NMI.   

          For more information, go to www.dea.gov, www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com, or www.justthinktwice.com.

At the Guam site in the Agana Shopping Center – pictured here are Monty McDowell, Chamber of Guam representative, Kirk Williamson, Special Agent with the DEA, and Sgt. Corina Andre with the Guam Army National Guard

Attorney General Jeff Sessions released the following statement regarding the arrest of Mustafa al-Imam for his role in the September 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya:

 “The murder of four Americans in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 was a barbaric crime that shocked the American people. We will never forget those we lost – Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Ambassador Christopher Stevens – four brave Americans who gave their lives in service to our nation.  We owe it to them and their families to bring their murderers to justice. Today the Department of Justice announces a major step forward in our ongoing investigation as Mustafa al-Imam is now in custody and will face justice in federal court for his role in the attack.  I am grateful to the FBI, our partners in the intelligence community, and the Department of Defense who made this apprehension possible. The United States will continue to investigate and identify all those who were involved in the attack – and we will hold them accountable for their crimes.”

A Boynton Beach, Florida, resident was sentenced to 30 months in prison today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws and theft of government funds, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to documents filed with the court, from 2010 to 2015, David R. Andre, 41, filed fraudulent personal tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that sought more than $5.6 million in refunds to which he was not entitled. As a result of these returns, which falsely reported income earned and income tax withheld, the IRS paid Andre more than $485,000 in refunds. He used the funds to purchase his residence and multiple vehicles, including a Jaguar and Mercedes Benz. In late 2012, the IRS began trying to collect the taxes Andre owed and placed a lien on his residence. Days after the lien was recorded, Andre filed a form with the IRS that falsely claimed he was making a substantial payment, and the IRS released the lien. After Andre did not make the payment, the IRS revoked its release and re-filed the lien. In 2015, Andre also made false statements to IRS agents and told them that he purchased his residence with money he inherited, did not recall receiving any large refunds from the IRS, and had not filed a tax return since 2008.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra also sentenced Andre to serve three years of supervised release, forfeit $137,582.70 to the United States and pay $485,298.96 in restitution to the IRS. In June, Andre pleaded guilty to corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws and theft of government money.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Daniel McGraw and Charles Edgar, Jr. of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.

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

The Drug Enforcement Administration will join forces tomorrow with more than 4,000 local, tribal, and community partners at more than 5,000 collection sites to collect potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  The effort will help prevent these drugs, including opioids, from falling into the wrong hands and contributing to a lethal drug abuse epidemic in the United States. 

On Saturday, Oct. 28, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time, individuals can take pills and other solid forms of medication at nearby collection sites (DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps), which can be located at www.DEATakeBack.com or by calling 800-882-9539. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

The DEA action comes just days after President Donald J. Trump announced the mobilization of his entire Administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by directing the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids crisis.

“Today the United States is facing the worst drug crisis in our history, as more Americans are dying from drug overdoses than ever before,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “We lose one American life to drugs every nine minutes. This crisis affects every American, as it is filling up our emergency rooms, our foster homes, and our cemeteries.

“President Trump is right to make this issue a top priority for his administration, and his plan will make a difference for millions of Americans. It will help those suffering from addiction get the treatment they need and prevent many new addictions from starting in the first place.   I commend him for recognizing the public health emergency that this is.”  

“This Department of Justice is committed to doing its part to turn the tide. This year we have conducted the largest opioid-related health care fraud takedown in American history, charging some 120 defendants with opioid-related crimes. Since then I have taken additional steps to stop opioid-related fraud, creating a new data analytics team that can find evidence of overprescribing, and appointing 12 prosecutors to focus solely on this issue. I firmly believe that these steps will prevent drug abuse and addiction and save American lives.

“We will continue to do our part in this effort, prosecuting drug traffickers and those who exploit vulnerable people suffering from addiction, so that every American can be safe and live out their God-given potential."

On Oct. 17, the Justice Department announced the indictments of two Chinese nationals and their North American based traffickers and distributors for separate conspiracies to distribute large quantities of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues and other opiate substances in the United States.  In July, the department announced the seizure of the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet, AlphaBay, which operated for over two years on the dark web and was used to sell deadly illegal drugs, including synthetic opioids like fentanyl, throughout the world. The international operation was led by the United States and involved cooperation with law enforcement authorities around the world.

In addition, DEA this week announced the formation of six new heroin enforcement teams in hard hit areas such as West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, New York and Massachusetts.

The Take-Back initiative by the DEA addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. DEA launched its prescription drug take back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—posed potential safety and health hazards.

“Disposing of leftover painkillers or other addictive medicines in the house is one of the best ways to prevent a member of your family from becoming a victim of the opioid epidemic,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “More people start down the path of addiction through the misuse of opioid prescription drugs than any other substance. The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to the largest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen.”  

Last April the public turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills. 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Charleston Regional Office announced today the location of collection sites for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The event provides safe venues for West Virginians to responsibly dispose of prescription drugs. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is on Saturday, October 28, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Anyone can properly dispose of prescription medication by visiting one of several conveniently located collection sites throughout West Virginia.

“People often ask what they can do to help the fight against the opioid epidemic, and Prescription Drug Take Back Day provides one of the most effective ways to keep dangerous opiate painkillers off the streets,” stated United States Attorney Carol Casto. “Take the time to become part of the solution - go through your medicine cabinets or wherever your prescriptions are kept and use this program to safely dispose of unused and expired medication. A few minutes taking part in this initiative can make a significant difference in cutting off the supply of opioids and combating the drug crisis.” 

“The National Take Back Day is an opportunity for the community to empty their medicine cabinets of unwanted or unused medications,” stated Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Gourley of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Charleston District Office. “We are seeing a lot of medication being diverted from legitimate use to illicit use.  This is one of the reasons that is driving the drug problems we see today.”

Nearby collection sites can be found by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Take-Back Site Locations” icon, and searching by zip code, county, city, and state. Another option for locating collection sites is to call 800-882-9539. West Virginians have the option of visiting nearly 100 sites throughout the state to dispose of prescription drugs. Only pills and other solids, such as patches, can be brought to collection sites – liquids, needles, or other sharps will not be accepted.

The Antitrust Division’s Premerger and Division Statistics Unit is relocating to the Liberty Square Building, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., on Monday, November 27, 2017.  The Premerger and Division Statistics Unit accepts and processes Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger & Report Forms for the Antitrust Division.

As of Monday, November 27, 2017, the mailing address for the Premerger and Division Statistics Unit is:

Department of Justice
Antitrust Division
Premerger and Division Statistics Unit
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Hand deliveries will be processed through security stationed at the loading dock entrance on Sixth Street, between D Street and E Street.

Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification & Report Forms and other materials will continue to be accepted at the Main Justice Building, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., until 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 24.  

All telephone numbers and email addresses for the Premerger and Division Statistics Unit will remain the same.  For further information, please call (202) 514-2558.

A suburban Pittsburgh physician has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy and unlawfully distributing controlled substances, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.  The indictment of Andrzej Kazimierz Zielke, 62, is the first since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of the Opioid and Abuse Detection Unit, a Department of Justice initiative that uses data to target and prosecute individuals that are contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis. 

“Today we are facing the worst drug crisis in American history, with one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  “An unprecedented crisis like this one demands an unprecedented response—and that’s why President Trump has made this a top priority for this administration," Sessions said. "This summer, I designated a dozen of our top federal prosecutors to focus solely on the problem of opioid-related health care fraud in places where the epidemic was at its worst--including Western Pennsylvania. These cases take on the supply of drugs and stop fraudsters from exploiting people suffering from addiction. Today, as President Trump unveils his plan to fight the opioid epidemic, we have filed the first charges by these prosecutors. We will file many more charges in the months to come—because the Department of Justice will be relentless in hunting down drug dealers and turning the tide of this epidemic.”

“Western Pennsylvania is experiencing some of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the nation,” added Acting U.S. Attorney Song.  “In response, we in law enforcement aggressively target drug traffickers – both those who distribute on the street, and those who traffic under the guise of physicians writing excessive prescriptions.”               

“Opioid-related health care fraud is a serious problem facing the Western Pennsylvania area today,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Johnson.  “Doctors who betray their trust and authority for their own financial gain by prescribing Schedule II narcotics for purposes other than medical reasons are contributing to our nation’s opioid crisis.  This indictment is indicative of the FBI’s intent to employ substantial resources to combat this national epidemic.  The FBI Pittsburgh Division will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in a unified effort to address the local effects of this national trend.”

According to the 14-count indictment that was returned on October 24, Zielke is a medical doctor who owned and operated Medical Frontiers, which advertised as a holistic pain management practice, located in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.  The indictment alleges that on 13 occasions Zielke prescribed Schedule II narcotics - Oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine sulfate and methadone – outside the usual course of professional practice and not for legitimate medical purpose.  The indictment also alleges that Zielke conspired with others to distribute Schedule II narcotics.  On October 5, Zielke was arrested on a criminal complaint.  The complaint alleges that Dr. Zielke engaged in a pattern of illegally prescribing opioid painkillers to patients with no legitimate medical purpose and without examination, evaluation or testing.

According to the criminal complaint: Agents began investigating his practice based on information they received that Dr. Zielke was writing a large number of oxycodone prescriptions for people residing in the McKeesport, Pennsylvania area, and that some of these pills were being obtained by a narcotics dealer.  

According to accounts of former employees and patients, Dr. Zielke charged approximately $250 cash for office visits and many of his patients traveled long distances to see him. 

On October 11, 2017, the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine issued a Temporary Suspension of Dr. Zielke’s license to practice medicine and surgery. 

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $1 million, or both, for each count of the indictment.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation, conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

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

Richard D. Austin was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment yesterday for trafficking juvenile American eels (also called “elvers” or “glass eels”) in violation of the Lacey Act, following a hearing in federal district court in Norfolk, Virginia. The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dana J. Boente. 

In April 2017, Austin, who has several previous wildlife-related convictions, pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act by selling elvers in interstate commerce that he had harvested illegally in Virginia and Massachusetts. Court documents indicate that Austin trafficked at least 147 pounds of elvers, which is approximately 300,000 individual eels, and worth more than $162,000.  Austin sold these eels to exporters, who then exported them from the United States to international markets.

“Illegal harvesting and trafficking of wildlife represents a dire threat to our critical ecosystems,” said U.S. Attorney Boente.  “This case reaffirms our commitment to protecting Virginia’s natural resources for future generations.”

"Today's sentencing sends a strong message to those who choose to exploit and illegally traffic our native wildlife," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Chief of Law Enforcement, Ed Grace. "We appreciate the dedication of the Department of Justice, and our partners involved in this case, and will continue to work with federal, state, and local conservation law enforcement officials to combat the illegal wildlife trade."

Eels are highly valued in east Asia for human consumption.  Historically, Japanese and European eels were harvested to meet this demand; however, overfishing has led to a decline in these populations.  As a result, harvesters have turned to the American eel to fill the void. American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the North Atlantic Ocean bounded on all sides by ocean currents.  They then travel as larvae from the Sargasso to the coastal waters of the eastern United States, where they enter a juvenile or elver stage, swim upriver and grow to adulthood in fresh water.  Elvers are exported for aquaculture in East Asia, where they are raised to adult size and sold for food.  Harvesters and exporters of American eels in the United States can sell elvers to East Asia for more than $2,000 per pound.

Because of the threat of overfishing, Atlantic Coast states have cooperatively prohibited elver harvesting in all but two states: Maine and South Carolina.  Maine and South Carolina heavily regulate elver fisheries, requiring that individuals be licensed and report all quantities of harvested eels to state authorities.  Other Atlantic coast states, including Virginia, have commercial fisheries for adult or “yellow” eels.  

This case was the result of “Operation Broken Glass,” a multi-jurisdiction U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation into the illegal trafficking of American eels.  To date, the investigation has resulted in guilty pleas for 18 individuals whose combined conduct resulted in the illegal trafficking of more than $5 million worth of elvers. 

“In this operation, we are actively partnering with state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to protect our nation's marine resources from further exploitation.” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood.

Operation Broken Glass was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section in collaboration with the Maine Marine Patrol, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Bureau of Law Enforcement, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Conservation Police, Virginia Marine Resources Commission Police, USFWS Refuge Law Enforcement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement, New York State Environmental Conservation Police, New Hampshire Fish and Game Division of Law Enforcement, Maryland Natural Resources Police, North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission Division of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Yarmouth, Massachusetts Division of Natural Resources, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Police Department and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The government is represented by Environmental Crimes Section Trial Attorneys Cassandra Barnum and Shane Waller, and Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Kosky.

          SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant LLOYD JOHN AGUON, age 41, from Umatac, Guam, was sentenced on October 25, 2017 in District Court to a 18-month term of imprisonment with credit for time served, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and 50 hours of community service, for being a Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition.  The Court also ordered Defendant LLOYD JOHN AGUON to pay a mandatory $100 assessment fee. 

          On April 19, 2017, Defendant LLOYD JOHN AGUON entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of an Indictment, charging him with being a Felon In Possession of Firearms and Ammunition, in violation of  Title 18, United States Code § 922(g)(1).  Defendant had been previously convicted in the Superior Court of Guam for Family Violence (As a Third Degree Felony and Terrorizing (As a Third Degree Felony).  It is unlawful for individuals previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to possess any firearm or ammunition, which has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce.  Upon assisting a team of Guam Marshals and Guam Probation with a local arrest warrant for Defendant LLOYD JOHN AGUON in September 2015,  the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) investigation discovered two 12 Gauge Shotguns and 14 rounds of ammunition.  ATF’s further investigation revealed that one of the firearms, a 12 Gauge Remington Shot Gun, had been previously reported stolen to the Guam Police Department.

          The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.  The case was prosecuted by Belinda Alcantara, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.

The founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics Inc., was arrested today and charged with leading a nationwide conspiracy to profit by using bribes and fraud to cause the illegal distribution of a Fentanyl spray intended for cancer patients experiencing breakthrough pain. 

"More than 20,000 Americans died of synthetic opioid overdoses last year, and millions are addicted to opioids. And yet some medical professionals would rather take advantage of the addicts than try to help them," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "This Justice Department will not tolerate this.  We will hold accountable anyone – from street dealers to corporate executives -- who illegally contributes to this nationwide epidemic.  And under the leadership of President Trump, we are fully committed to defeating this threat to the American people.”

John N. Kapoor, 74, of Phoenix, Ariz., a current member of the Board of Directors of Insys, was arrested this morning in Arizona and charged with RICO conspiracy, as well as other felonies, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Law. Kapoor, the former Executive Chairman of the Board and CEO of Insys, will appear in federal court in Phoenix today.  He will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston at a later date. 

The superseding indictment, unsealed today in Boston, also includes additional allegations against several former Insys executives and managers who were initially indicted in December 2016.

The superseding indictment charges that Kapoor; Michael L. Babich, 40, of Scottsdale, Ariz., former CEO and President of the company; Alec Burlakoff, 42, of Charlotte, N.C., former Vice President of Sales; Richard M. Simon, 46, of Seal Beach, Calif., former National Director of Sales; former Regional Sales Directors Sunrise Lee, 36, of Bryant City, Mich., and Joseph A. Rowan, 43, of Panama City, Fla.; and former Vice President of Managed Markets, Michael J. Gurry, 53, of Scottsdale, Ariz., conspired to bribe practitioners in various states, many of whom operated pain clinics, in order to get them to prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication.  The medication, called “Subsys,” is a powerful narcotic intended to treat cancer patients suffering intense breakthrough pain.  In exchange for bribes and kickbacks, the practitioners wrote large numbers of prescriptions for the patients, most of whom were not diagnosed with cancer.

The indictment also alleges that Kapoor and the six former executives conspired to mislead and defraud health insurance providers who were reluctant to approve payment for the drug when it was prescribed for non-cancer patients.  They achieved this goal by setting up the “reimbursement unit,” which was dedicated to obtaining prior authorization directly from insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. 

“In the midst of a nationwide opioid epidemic that has reached crisis proportions, Mr. Kapoor and his company stand accused of bribing doctors to overprescribe a potent opioid and committing fraud on insurance companies solely for profit,” said Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb. “Today's arrest and charges reflect our ongoing efforts to attack the opioid crisis from all angles. We must hold the industry and its leadership accountable - just as we would the cartels or a street-level drug dealer.”

“As alleged, these executives created a corporate culture at Insys that utilized deception and bribery as an acceptable business practice, deceiving patients, and conspiring with doctors and insurers,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division. “The allegations of selling a highly addictive opioid cancer pain drug to patients who did not have cancer, make them no better than street-level drug dealers. Today's charges mark an important step in holding pharmaceutical executives responsible for their part in the opioid crisis.   The FBI will vigorously investigate corrupt organizations with business practices that promote fraud with a total disregard for patient safety.”

“These Insys executives allegedly fueled the opioid epidemic by paying doctors to needlessly prescribe an extremely dangerous and addictive form of fentanyl,” said Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  “Corporate executives intent on illegally driving up profits need to be aware they are now squarely in the sights of law enforcement.”

“As alleged, Insys executives improperly influenced health care providers to prescribe a powerful opioid for patients who did not need it, and without complying with FDA requirements, thus putting patients at risk and contributing to the current opioid crisis,” said Mark A. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to pursue and bring to justice those who threaten the public health.”

“Pharmaceutical companies whose products include controlled medications that can lead to addiction and overdose have a special obligation to operate in a trustworthy, transparent manner, because their customers’ health and safety and, indeed, very lives depend on it,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson.  “DEA pledges to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners nationwide to ensure that rules and regulations under the Controlled Substances Act are followed.”

“Today’s arrest is the result of a joint effort to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals who engage in fraudulent activity and endanger patient health,” stated Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Northeast Field Office.  “DCIS will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, and our law enforcement partners, to protect U.S. military members, retirees and their dependents and the integrity of TRICARE, the Defense Department’s healthcare system.”

“As alleged, John Kapoor and other top executives committed fraud, placing profit before patient safety, to sell a highly potent and addictive opioid.  EBSA will take every opportunity to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners in these important investigations to protect participants in private sector health plans and contribute in fighting the opioid epidemic,” said Susan A. Hensley, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office.

“Once again, the United States Postal Inspection Service is fully committed to protecting our nation’s mail system from criminal misuse,” said Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We are proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to dismantle high level prescription drug practices which directly contribute to the opioid abuse epidemic.  This investigation highlights our commitment to defending our mail system from illegal misuse and ensuring public trust in the mail.”

“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those that attempt to fraudulently impact programs designed to benefit our veterans and their families,” said Donna L. Neves, Special Agent in Charge of the VA OIG Northeast Field Office.

The charges of conspiracy to commit RICO and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud each provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of pecuniary gain or loss.  The charges of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Law provide for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation was conducted by a team that included the FBI; HHS-OIG; FDA Office of Criminal Investigations; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration; the Office of Personnel Management; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country engaged in parallel investigations, including the District of Connecticut, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern District of Alabama, Southern District of New York, District of Rhode Island, and the District of New Hampshire.  The efforts of the Central District of California and the Justice Department’s Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice are also greatly appreciated. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys K. Nathaniel Yeager, Chief of Weinreb’s Health Care Fraud Unit, and Susan M. Poswistilo, of Weinreb’s Civil Division, are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Three officers with the Pomona Police Department (PPD) surrendered this morning to face federal charges that allege one officer violated the civil rights of a minor who was beaten at the Los Angeles County Fair two years ago, and that all three took illegal steps to justify and cover-up the attack.

PPD Corporal Chad Kenneth Jensen is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law for allegedly beating the minor victim on September 16, 2015. The indictment alleges that Jensen violated the victim’s constitutional rights, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable and unnecessary force, and that the assault resulted in bodily injury.

Jensen and his partner–PPD Officer Prince Taylor Hutchinson–are charged with preparing false reports that attempted to justify the use of force.  The indictment alleges that, in a report prepared soon after the incident, Jensen falsely wrote that the minor victim attempted to punch Jensen’s face, and that the minor victim came within arm’s reach of another officer who was escorting an individual who had been placed under arrest. Hutchinson similarly is accused of writing a report that falsely stated the victim had come within two to three feet of the officer who was escorting an individual who had been placed under arrest, and that the victim had attempted to incite unrest among at the crowd at the Fair as Hutchinson escorted the minor victim to a holding facility at the Fair.

Jensen and Hutchinson are further charged with obstruction of justice for giving false testimony during state court proceedings regarding criminal charges against the victim.  Both Jensen and Hutchinson gave false testimony similar to that in their reports and created the false impression that the minor posed a physical threat to other officers before Jensen assaulted him.

The third defendant in the case–PPD Sergeant Michael Timothy Neaderbaomer, who was assigned to the PPD’s Internal Affairs Unit–is charged with obstruction of justice for making false statements to the victim’s family designed to dissuade them from reporting the incident to law enforcement. According to the indictment, Neaderbaomer “attempted to intimidate and corruptly persuade” the victim and his parents by falsely claiming that the PPD had a video showing the victim punching Jenson and by telling the victim’s mother that the parents would not be allowed to attend PPD’s interview of the victim in relation to the citizen’s complaint, in violation of PPD policy.

Neaderbaomer is also charged with making false statements to FBI agents who were investigating the alleged civil rights violation by Jensen.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, the charges of excessive force carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, the charges of witness tampering and falsifying records carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the charges of false statements to federal agents carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The case against the police officers is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Stout of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and by Justice Department Trial Attorney Donald Tunnage of the Civil Rights Division.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that the Department of Justice has entered into settlements, pending approval by the district courts, in two cases brought by groups whose tax-exempt status was significantly delayed by the Internal Revenue Service based on inappropriate criteria. The first case, Linchpins of Liberty v. United States, comprised claims brought by 41 plaintiffs, and the second case, NorCal Tea Party Patriots v. Internal Revenue Service, was a class action suit that included 428 members.  Attorney General Sessions released the following statement about the cases: “Chief Justice John Marshall wrote 'that the power to tax involves the power to destroy … [is] not to be denied.' And it should also be without question that our First Amendment prohibits the federal government from treating groups differently based solely on their viewpoint or ideology.”

"But it is now clear that during the last Administration, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to screen applications for 501(c) status. These criteria included names such as “Tea Party,” “Patriots,” or “9/12” or policy positions concerning government spending or taxes, education of the public to “make America a better place to live,” or statements criticizing how the country was being run.  It is also clear these criteria disproportionately impacted conservative groups.”

“As a result of these criteria, the IRS transferred hundreds of applications to a specifically designated group of IRS agents for additional levels of review, questioning and delay.  In many instances, the IRS then requested highly sensitive information from applicants, such as donor information, that was not needed to make a determination of tax-exempt status.”

"The IRS’s use of these criteria as a basis for heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred. It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions. Any entitlement to tax exemption should be based on the activities of the organization and whether they fulfill requirements of the law, not the policy positions adopted by members or the name chosen to reflect those views.”

“There is no excuse for this conduct. Hundreds of organizations were affected by these actions, and they deserve an apology from the IRS.  We hope that today’s settlement makes clear that this abuse of power will not be tolerated.”

[Linchpins of Liberty, et al., v. United States of America, et al., No. 1:13-cv-00777-RBW in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia]

[NorCal Tea Party Patriots v. Internal Revenue Service, et al., No. 1:13-cv-00341 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio]

A real estate investor pleaded guilty for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced. 

Abraham S. Farag, who was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on October 22, 2014, pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging. 

According to court documents, Farag participated in a conspiracy to rig bids by agreeing to refrain from bidding against other co-conspirators at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Mateo County.  The conspiracy began no later than August 2008 and continued until January 2011.  

The primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress competition in order to obtain selected properties offered at San Mateo County public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices.  

Today’s guilty plea is the result of the Department’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties, California. To date, 74 individuals have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.

These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office.  Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300 or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.
 

In an indictment unsealed today, a former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy was charged with planting a weapon at a crime scene to justify a fatal shooting.  The indictment charged Walter Grant, 51, with placing a stick or baton near the body of Willie Bingham Jr. after shooting him, in order to mislead investigators into believing that Bingham had possessed a weapon prior to the shooting.

At the time of the incident, Grant was a sheriff’s deputy in Bolivar County, Mississippi. He has since retired. Grant was tried twice in state court for manslaughter; the jury was twice unable to reach a verdict.

If convicted of the federal charge, Grant faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.  An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Jackson Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the cooperation of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Mims of the Northern District of Mississippi and Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.   

          Acting United States Attorney SHAWN N. ANDERSON, for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), will join the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on October 28th for its 14th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  The biannual event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at thousands of collection sites around the country, including here in Guam and the NMI.  The event is an effort to rid homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

          Last April Americans turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners.  Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills.  The disposal service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.  (The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches.)

          Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose.  Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin:  Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.

          Flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards.  This initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.

          The following sites in Guam and in the NMI are designated to receive unused prescription drugs so please stop by on Saturday, October 28, 2017, between 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the:

• Agana Shopping Center (Across Vitamin World)
• Andersen Air Force Base Exchange (Inside Entrance)
• Naval Base Guam (Navy Exchange Food Court)
• Saipan Commonwealth Health Center (in front of the pharmacy)
• Rota Health Center
• Tinian Health Center

Contact DEA Special Agent Dave Stubbs at 671-472-7384 regarding any questions about prescription drug abuse and/or any concerns regarding drug related activity on Guam or in the NMI.   

For more information, go to www.dea.gov, www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com, or www.justthinktwice.com.

Two Queens, New York, residents pleaded guilty today for their roles in separate stolen identity refund fraud schemes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.   

Kishore Jattan, 44, pleaded guilty to identity theft.  According to the plea agreement and documents filed with the court, from April 2012 through June 2012, Jattan stole student IDs from packages he delivered for a university located in New York and sold the stolen IDs to other individuals who used the IDs to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Jattan admitted that he caused a tax loss of between $250,000 and $550,000. 

Sentencing is scheduled for March 21, 2018 before U.S. District Court Judge Edward R. Korman.  Jattan faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. 

In a separate scheme, Michael Bratton, 51, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States.  According to the plea agreement and documents filed with the court, from January 2011 through June 2012, Bratton purchased stolen IDs, which he provided to a co-conspirator for the purpose of filing fraudulent tax returns with the IRS.  Bratton admitted to causing a tax loss of more than $40,000. 

Sentencing is scheduled for March 21, 2018 before U.S. District Court Judge Edward R. Korman. Bratton faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years for conspiring to defraud the United States.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. 

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who conducted the investigations, and Trial Attorneys Mark Kotila and Ann M. Cherry of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting these cases.   

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

The Department of Justice today filed a Statement of Interest in Shaw v. Burke at the request of the Department of Education. The plaintiff, Kevin Shaw, is a student at Los Angeles Pierce College, a public college within the Los Angeles Community College District.  He is challenging the constitutionality of a Pierce College policy that effectively bans all free expression on campus outside a 616 square-foot “Free Speech Area.”  

In order to use the Free Speech Area—which comprises approximately .003% of the campus—students must obtain prior authorization from campus officials by submitting a permit application.  The College also maintains unpublished rules governing free speech, which students are not made aware of until they obtain a permit application.   

Mr. Shaw claims that Pierce College administrators prohibited him from distributing Spanish-language copies of the United States Constitution outside the Free Speech Area. 

The Justice Department primarily argues that the plaintiff’s allegations have adequately pleaded violations of his First Amendment.  The Justice Department argues that the college’s speech policies amounted to an unconstitutional prior restraint that chilled free expression, and that they did not constitute valid time, place, and manner restrictions. 

This is the second Statement of Interest filed by the Department of Justice in a First Amendment case under Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The first was filed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 in Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski.

In filing the Statement of Interest, Attorney General Jeff Sessions provided the following statement:

“University officials and faculty must defend free expression boldly and unequivocally. Last month, I promised a recommitment to free speech on campus and to ensuring First Amendment rights. The Justice Department continues to do its part in defending free speech, protecting students’ free expression, and enforcing federal law.”

Guan Zong Chen (“Graham Chen”), an Australian citizen, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, on charges that he led a conspiracy to illegally export (smuggle) $700,000 worth of endangered and protected wildlife items made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral from the United States to China. 

The guilty plea was announced today by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb of the District of Massachusetts.

“This successful case is the latest in a long series of criminal prosecutions against those who profit from illegal trade in protected wildlife,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood. “We greatly appreciate the support and assistance of our federal and international law enforcement partners in this case. Together, we will continue to hunt down those who engage in these smuggling activities.”

“This defendant openly flouted U.S. and international law designed to protect wildlife,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Weinreb. “Falsely labeling shipments and willfully failing to declare them and obtain required permits are serious crimes that will be fully investigated and prosecuted.”

“Smuggling items made from protected animals fuels illegal trade in endangered wildlife, leaving these treasured species susceptible to extinction,” said Acting Assistant Director of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ed Grace. “Our special agents are to be credited for helping expose the complex international schemes abundant in this and many other investigations. Every day, our agents demonstrate their commitment to the American people and communities around the globe by pursuing criminals who would profit from our collective wild legacy.”

Chen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to export protected wildlife contrary to law from the U.S. and knowingly making and submitting false wildlife documents that were exported; one count of false wildlife records; and six counts of smuggling – exporting protected wildlife without declaration and required permits. 

Chen, who owned an antiques business in China, was previously arrested in Chengdu, China, and convicted in 2009 of trafficking ivory carvings that had been purchased in the United States. Unable to travel outside of China due to his conviction, Chen continued to traffic wildlife by procuring the help of others to smuggle wildlife merchandise to China that he purchased at U.S. auction houses located in California, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas. 

Chen was aided by Jin Jie Yang, a Chinese national, and Carla Marsh, who owned a shipping business in Concord, Mass. Yang traveled to the United States at Chen’s expense and purchased and picked up wildlife items at U.S. auction houses. He shipped or brought the wildlife to Marsh in Concord where she re-packed and mailed the items to Hong Kong with documents that falsely stated the contents and value and without required declarations and permits. Once the packages arrived in Hong Kong, other members of the conspiracy picked up the packages and brought them to Mainland China. 

In 2014, after serving his sentence in China, Chen traveled to the United States and visited Marsh in Concord, Massachusetts. During the visit, Chen instructed that a sculpture made from elephant ivory be mailed to him in Hong Kong. It was falsely declared as wood and worth only $50. The conspiracy also involved the purchase and smuggling of a rhinoceros horn libation cup from a New York auction house that was packed inside a porcelain vase and exported without required declaration or permits. Chen also admitted as part of the guilty plea that he had twice purchased raw rhinoceros horns from an individual associated with an auction house in Beverly Hills, California.

Both Yang and Marsh faced federal charges in U.S. District Court in Boston. In December 2014, Yang pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced in May 2015 to time-served.  Marsh pleaded guilty in May 2015 and was sentenced to one year of probation in April 2016. 

Chen was arrested last year when he traveled from China to Australia and extradited to the United States in July. In announcing the case today, Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood and Acting U.S. Attorney Weinreb expressed their appreciation to the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Attorney-General’s Department for their help in apprehending Chen and extraditing him to the United States.

Trade in rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral have been regulated since 1976 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 175 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets. Animals listed under CITES cannot be exported from the United States without prior notification to, and approval from, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Chen was apprehended as part of Operation Crash, an ongoing effort by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, in coordination with the Department of Justice to detect, deter, and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of and trafficking in protected species including rhinoceros and elephants. 

The guilty plea took place before U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel in Boston. Sentencing will take place on for Dec. 13, 2017. The maximum sentence for conspiracy and violation of the Lacey Act is five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 or half the gross gain of the offense per count. Smuggling carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or half the gross gain of the offense per count.

The investigation is continuing and is being handled by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Assistance with the extradition was provided by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service in the District of Massachusetts. The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell and Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
 

The owner of a company that buys and sells renewable fuel and fuel credits pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to conspiracy for his role in a scheme that generated over $47 million in fraudulent EPA renewable fuels credits, and over $12 million in fraudulent tax credits connected to the purported production of renewable fuel.

The plea entered by the defendant, Gregory Schnabel, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah King was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division; U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman for the Southern District of Ohio; Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation; Acting Special Agent in Charge John K. Gauthier, of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), criminal enforcement program in Ohio; and the Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Indianapolis Division.

“The defendant helped orchestrate a massive scheme to defraud the U.S. government, American taxpayers and his company’s competitors,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “This case shows that EPA and its law enforcement partners are serious about ensuring a level playing field for businesses that follow the law and punishing those who break the rules in the name of personal gain.”

“The Department of Justice vigorously prosecutes those who defraud the federal government through unlawful RFS schemes like the one at issue in this case,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood.  “We applaud the work of the DOJ and EPA law enforcement team that sought and obtained justice in this case.”

“This case is another example that environmental programs are not immune from fraud,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “We will continue to catch and hold accountable those who attempt to defraud government programs of any sort.”

“Today’s charges send a strong message that there are serious consequences for activity that defrauds the economy and taxpayers,” said Special Agent in Charge Abbott. “I commend the excellent cooperation between the prosecutors, agents and other investigators who worked tirelessly to uncover this fraudulent scheme and expose the perpetrators who were manipulating the system for their own gains.”

“Gregory Schnabel pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy relative to a massive fraudulent fuel tax credit scheme for which he has agreed to pay over $13 million in restitution to the IRS,” said Special Agent in Charge Korner.  “These tax credits were created in support of the production of various renewable fuels and fuel mixtures, they were not created to be a slush fund for thieves and fraudsters.”

According to his plea, Schnabel, owner of GRC Fuels of Oneonta, New York, engaged in a scheme with other co-conspirators to fraudulently claim EPA renewable fuels credits (also known as “RIN” credits) and tax credits on fuel that did not qualify for the credits, on fuel that had already been used to generate credits, and on fuel that was exported or otherwise used contrary to EPA and IRS regulations.

Schnabel bought and sold fuel from several individuals who have already pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme, including:

• Fed Witmer and Gary Jury, formerly of Triton Energy, who pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Indiana to conspiracy, fraud, and false statements;
• Malek Jalal, formerly of Unity Fuels, who pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Ohio to conspiracy and obstruction of justice; and
• Dean Daniels, William Bradley, Ricky Smith, and Brenda Daniels, of New Energy Fuels and Chieftain Biofuels, who pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Ohio to conspiracy.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous for the Southern District of Ohio, and Trial Attorney Adam Cullman and Senior Trial Attorney Jeremy Korzenik of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS, EPA-CID, and the FBI.

A federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, has permanently barred defendants Fred Pickett Jr., Jalisa Steele, and Fred Pickett III, as well as Five Star Tax Agency LLC, Five Star Financial Services Inc., and Millenium Tax Professionals Inc. from owning, operating, or franchising a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others.  The defendants consented to the order, which also requires them to provide the government with a list identifying their tax preparation customers.

According to the complaint, Pickett Jr., with the assistance of Steele and Pickett III, created and maintained a tax return preparation business operating under Five Star Tax Agency LLC, Five Star Financial Services Inc., or Millenium Tax Professionals Inc. that prepared tax returns for their customers which understated tax liabilities and claimed bogus refunds.  Their alleged scheme involved unlawfully (i) fabricating businesses and business-related profits or losses, (ii) manipulating, maximizing, or falsely claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, (iii) claiming false education credits, (iv) claiming spurious fuel tax credits, (v) fabricating retirement account contributions and deductions, and (vi) failing to provide customers with complete copies of their tax returns.  In August, the Court denied a motion to dismiss filed by the defendants and held that the allegations in the complaint “connect each defendant to a tax return preparation scheme that violates §§ 6694 and 6695 [of the Internal Revenue Code].” 

Return preparer fraud is one of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017 and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant.  The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. 

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers.  Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.  An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced nearly $9 million in funding through the Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to advance the practice of community policing in law enforcement and to provide critical training to help law enforcement officers prepare for active shooter situations.  The announcement was made during the Attorney General’s remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in Philadelphia.  The IACP will also be receiving over $200,000 for its Institute for Community and Police Relations.

"Community policing builds trust and mutual respect between communities and law enforcement, and that helps us reduce crime," Sessions said. "Over the last 23 years, the Department of Justice has invested more than $14 billion in community policing—and I have no doubt that it has saved lives across America.  The investment the Department makes today builds on those efforts, and it underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to support law enforcement.  This investment will be put to good use: providing better training and safety for law enforcement officers and better relations with communities.  That will benefit all of us.  Under President Trump's strong leadership, this Department of Justice will continue to provide law enforcement officers with the resources and tools they need to make this country safe.”

Through the Community Policing Development (CPD) Program, the COPS Office will fund approximately $3.6 million to grantees that will provide training and technical assistance and develop innovative community policing strategies, applied research, guidebooks, and best practices. Grant awards were made in the following categories:

• Field-Initiated Law Enforcement Microgrants;
• Officer Safety and Wellness Resources;
• Enhancing Officer Safety through Increased Respect for Law Enforcement; and
• Online Training Development.

A full list of grant awardees is available on the COPS Office website: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=2895

Additionally, the COPS Office is awarding approximately $5.4 million in grant funding through the Preparing for Active Shooter Situations (PASS) Training Program to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University. This funding is intended to increase law enforcement and public safety through scenario-based training that prepares officers and other first responders to safely and effectively handle active-shooter and other violent threats. Additional details on the PASS grant awardee are available on the COPS Office website: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=2946