District Not Recorded

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a two-count indictment charging two men with committing hate crimes.

The indictment alleges that on June 22, 2019, Brandon Killian and Devan Johnson, aiding and abetting each other, willfully caused bodily injury to two victims because of the perceived or actual race of one of the victims, who is a Black man. The victims are identified in the indictment only as J.C. and M.W. The assaults occurred in the parking lot of the Brickhouse Saloon, in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  

If convicted, Killian and Johnson each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the Oklahoma City FBI Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Barry of the Western District of Oklahoma and Trial Attorney Avner Shapiro of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

View Deputy Attorney General Monaco's Remarks here. 

Two individuals were arrested this morning in Manhattan for an alleged conspiracy to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange, presently valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Thus far, law enforcement has seized over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.

“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”

“Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The arrests today show that we will take a firm stand against those who allegedly try to use virtual currencies for criminal purposes.”

Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, both of New York, New York, are scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court today at 3:00 p.m. in Manhattan.

According to court documents, Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly conspired to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex’s platform after a hacker breached Bitfinex’s systems and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Those unauthorized transactions sent the stolen bitcoin to a digital wallet under Lichtenstein’s control. Over the last five years, approximately 25,000 of those stolen bitcoin were transferred out of Lichtenstein’s wallet via a complicated money laundering process that ended with some of the stolen funds being deposited into financial accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan. The remainder of the stolen funds, comprising more than 94,000 bitcoin, remained in the wallet used to receive and store the illegal proceeds from the hack. After the execution of court-authorized search warrants of online accounts controlled by Lichtenstein and Morgan, special agents obtained access to files within an online account controlled by Lichtenstein. Those files contained the private keys required to access the digital wallet that directly received the funds stolen from Bitfinex, and allowed special agents to lawfully seize and recover more than 94,000 bitcoin that had been stolen from Bitfinex. The recovered bitcoin was valued at over $3.6 billion at the time of seizure.

“Cryptocurrency and the virtual currency exchanges trading in it comprise an expanding part of the U.S. financial system, but digital currency heists executed through complex money laundering schemes could undermine confidence in cryptocurrency,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “The Department of Justice and our office stand ready to confront these threats by using 21st century investigative techniques to recover the stolen funds and to hold the perpetrators accountable.”

The criminal complaint alleges that Lichtenstein and Morgan employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques, including using fictitious identities to set up online accounts; utilizing computer programs to automate transactions, a laundering technique that allows for many transactions to take place in a short period of time; depositing the stolen funds into accounts at a variety of virtual currency exchanges and darknet markets and then withdrawing the funds, which obfuscates the trail of the transaction history by breaking up the fund flow; converting bitcoin to other forms of virtual currency, including anonymity-enhanced virtual currency (AEC), in a practice known as “chain hopping”; and using U.S.-based business accounts to legitimize their banking activity.

“In a methodical and calculated scheme, the defendants allegedly laundered and disguised their vast fortune,” said Chief Jim Lee of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit special agents have once again unraveled a sophisticated laundering technique, enabling them to trace, access and seize the stolen funds, which has amounted to the largest cryptocurrency seizure to date, valued at more than $3.6 billion.”

“Criminals always leave tracks, and today’s case is a reminder that the FBI has the tools to follow the digital trail, wherever it may lead,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul M. Abbate. “Thanks to the persistent and dedicated work of our FBI Investigative teams and law enforcement partners, we're able to uncover the source of even the most sophisticated schemes and bring justice to those who try to exploit the security of our financial infrastructure.”

“Financial crime strikes at the core of our national and economic security. With a hack of this magnitude, public and private sector collaboration is crucial to ensure continued consumer confidence in our financial system,” said Acting Executive Associate Director Steve Francis of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan attempted to subvert legitimate commerce for their own nefarious purposes, operating with perceived anonymity. Today’s action demonstrates HSI’s commitment and ability to work with a collation of the willing to unravel these technical fraud schemes and identify the perpetrators, regardless of where they operate.”

Lichtenstein and Morgan are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation was led by IRS-CI Washington, D.C. Field Office’s Cyber Crimes Unit, the FBI’s Chicago Field Office, and HSI-New York. The Ansbach Police Department in Germany provided assistance during this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jessica Peck and C. Alden Pelker of the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Paralegal Specialists Angela De Falco and Brian Rickers and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick provided valuable assistance. Significant assistance was also provided by Trial Attorney Christen Gallagher of the Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Southern District of New York, HSI-Philadelphia, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica C. Brooks.

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

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced the filing of a civil enforcement action against two companies and their founder for allegedly selling fast-casual burger franchises using false representations.

According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, defendants Burgerim Group USA Inc., Burgerim Group Inc. and founder Oren Loni made false representations to prospective franchisees to induce them to sign a franchise agreement and pay a franchise fee of between $50,000 and $70,000. Specifically, the government alleges that the defendants failed to refund those fees under certain conditions, including as promised by defendants, and failed to disclose material information. The complaint alleges violations of the Franchise Rule, which requires franchisors to provide prospective purchasers of franchises with the material information they need in order to weigh the risks and benefits of purchasing a franchise. The complaint also alleges violations of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive conduct. The complaint seeks civil penalties and equitable monetary and injunctive relief to stop the defendants from continuing to make deceptive claims in connection with the sale of franchises.

“The FTC’s Franchise Rule is designed to stop franchisors from taking advantage of prospective franchisees who are considering opening their own businesses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Consumer Protection Branch will vigorously pursue those who violate the law by using misrepresentations to sell franchises.”

“Burgerim promised consumers, including veterans, the American dream, only to leave them in a nightmare of debt and deceit,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “For other franchisees facing predatory practices, we are making it easier for them to tell us about what happened. Visit ReportFraud.FTC.gov and file a report to help us root out deception and other illegal conduct in the franchise industry.”

This matter is being handled by Trial Attorney Marcus P. Smith of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. Attorneys Christine M. Todaro and Christopher E. Brown represent the FTC.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.

Scott Eli Harris, 51, of Aubrey, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of willfully transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure a Maryland doctor who had been a vocal proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to documents and statements made in connection with the plea hearing, Harris sent a threatening message from his cellular phone to the doctor. The message from Harris included violent and explicit threats, such as, “Never going to take your wonder drug. My 12 gauge promises I won’t,” and “I’m a 5th generation U.S. Army veteran and a sniper… I can’t wait for the shooting to start.” The message also referenced the doctor’s Asian-American race and national origin.

“During the pandemic, we have seen a disturbing increase in threats of violence targeting doctors and public health advocates,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Public health officials and doctors deserve our respect for their tireless efforts during the ongoing pandemic, and individuals who seek to use threats of violence to intimidate and silence them will be held accountable.”

“Threats and intimidation should not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “This office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and prosecute such conduct.”

“These threats are taken very seriously and the response to them is an example of the FBI’s dedication to keeping our community safe,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. “No one should live in fear for doing their job. Posting a threat online, through mail or over the phone is a crime and comes with consequences, whether or not the person intended to carry out the threat.”

Harris faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  

This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham of the District of Maryland and Trial Attorney Katherine G. DeVar of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

The Justice Department found that the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, through the actions of its component courts, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by prohibiting or limiting the use of disability-related medication to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) by individuals under court supervision. The letter of findings demands that Pennsylvania addresses the civil rights violations identified during the course of the investigation conducted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania.

The Justice Department identified three specific individuals with OUD who had been discriminated against by the Northumberland and Jefferson County Courts of Common Pleas.  Two individuals alleged that the Jefferson County Court ordered all probationers to stop using their prescribed medication for OUD. A third individual alleged that the Northumberland County Court required her to stop using her prescribed OUD medication to graduate from drug court. The department’s investigation corroborated these allegations and additionally found evidence that multiple other county courts in Pennsylvania have treatment court policies that discriminate against individuals with OUD.

Pursuant to Title II of the ADA, the department provided the Pennsylvania judiciary with written notice of the supporting facts for these findings and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address them.

“Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder are protected by the ADA but too often face discrimination rooted in stereotypes and myths rather than in science. This is exactly the sort of discrimination the ADA was designed to prevent,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Ensuring that court-involved individuals with Opioid Use Disorder have access to the medications they need is critical to support recovery efforts and to break the cycles of opioid addiction that have harmed families and communities across our country. Ensuring that courts are employing science-driven and data-informed approaches to this crisis is an important priority for the Civil Rights Division.”

For more information on the ADA, please call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. The letter can be viewed here.

Saipan, MP - SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant ALEJANDRO TUMANDAO NARIO, age 65, a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and a lawful permanent resident in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to 21 months imprisonment for Fraud and Misuse of Visas (Visa Fraud), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546.  The Court also ordered three years of supervised release, a $7,000.00 fine, and a $100.00 special assessment fee.

Alejandro T. Nario is the owner, president, and manager of A&A Enterprises, CNMI LLC, a manpower agency business in the CNMI.  Since its incorporation in January 2019, A&A Enterprises facilitated an unlawful scheme to acquire CW-1 nonimmigrant visas for foreign citizens to enter and remain in the CNMI.

Nario and his staff submitted petitions to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for at least 99 known foreign citizens.  The petitions included contracts of employment, specifying terms, hours, and wages to be paid.  A&A Enterprises did not intend to employ these foreign citizens.  The scheme was merely a mechanism to get them temporary immigration status.  After paying $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 to A&A Enterprises for their CW-1 visas, once in the CNMI, these foreign workers would gain nondocumented jobs such as in construction, groundskeeping, and housekeeping, and then pay A&A Enterprises a fee of $194.00 every two weeks to keep their status. 

The CW-1 visa program requires businesses petitioning for foreign workers to prove there is a demand for certain jobs and that those jobs for some reason cannot be filled by available United States citizens.  The petitioning business must also pay the administrative fees and travel expenses for the foreign workers.  But in this case, foreign workers were required to pay for these expenses and acquire their own jobs, while A&A Enterprises profited.

At the same hearing, a second defendant, ROSALEE BANGOT ABEJO, age 47, a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines residing in the CNMI, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and 36 months of probation for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.  The Court also ordered 72 months of supervised release, 50 hours of community service, and a $100.00 special assessment fee.

During its investigation of A&A Enterprises, Homeland Security Investigations discovered Abejo was assisting the company by providing documents and other templates included with fraudulent visa petitions by A&A Enterprises.  Abejo also relied upon staff at A&A Enterprises to electronically modify documents, which Abejo used to fraudulently submit CW-1 and CW-2 petitions for two friends, and her own husband.

“The CW-1 program continues to be abused by certain employers in the CNMI,” stated U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “The public and the workers deserve a visa system that is free from fraud and waste.  We will prosecute this unlawful conduct to hold employers accountable and to promote fairness among those seeking employment in the CNMI.”

"These business owners defrauded many people who believed they were coming to the CNMI for legitimate jobs," said John F. Tobon, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Honolulu. "HSI will continue to investigate these crimes vigorously to protect the integrity of our immigration system and those who are victimized by these con-artists.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Albert S. Flores Jr., Assistant United States Attorney for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice (NIJ) today published an article discussing the NIJ-supported and publicly available Violence Project Database that identifies common traits of persons who engaged in mass shootings between 1966 and 2019.

During that time, mass shootings in the United States notably increased, with more than half occurring after 2000, and 20% occurring during the last five years of the study period. The death toll in mass shootings in the last decade has grown dramatically. In the 1970s, mass shootings claimed an average of eight lives per year. From 2010 to 2019, the average was 51 deaths per year.

“This study — one of the most extensive assessments of mass violence to date—reveals a deeply unsettling trend: more Americans are dying at the hands of mass shooters than at any point in recent history,” said OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon. “This analysis paints a portrait of shooters, giving us a better idea of who commits these crimes and helping us detect the warning signals for these appalling acts of violence.”

The database draws information exclusively from open sources, such as social media sites and online newspapers, in order to build a broader understanding on the part of the public, the justice system and the research community of who mass shooters are and what motivates them. Funded by NIJ, it covers 172 mass public shooters and more than 150 psychosocial history variables, such as those individuals’ mental health history, past trauma, interest in past shootings and situational triggers.

Analysis of the database shows that persons who committed public mass shootings in the U.S. over the last half century were commonly troubled by personal trauma before the shooting, nearly always in a state of crisis at the time and, in most cases, engaged in leaking their plans before opening fire. Most were insiders of a targeted institution, such as an employee or student. Except for young school shooters who stole the guns from family members, most used legally obtained handguns in those shootings.                                  

The study includes a discussion of demographics, motivations, warning signs and other key findings. The article is available at “Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories.” The research described in this article is based on the grantee report, A Multi-Level, Multi-Method Investigation of the Psychosocial Life Histories of Mass Shooters, September 2021, by Co-Principal Investigators Jillian Peterson and James Densley.

To receive notifications of new NIJ publications, register here.

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.            

BOISE – A Gooding man was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for distribution of methamphetamine.

According to court records, beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers received information that Ruben Robles-Ramos, 49, of Gooding, was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine in the Magic Valley. An investigation was initiated and revealed that Robles-Ramos sold methamphetamine to another person on three occasions. During later investigative efforts, law enforcement learned about storage units that were used by Robles-Ramos and others to store controlled substances. A search of these storage units led to the seizure of approximately 30 pounds of methamphetamine, 1½ pounds of heroin, and five firearms, including an AK-47 style assault rifle.

Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Robles-Ramos to serve five years of supervised release. It is expected Robles-Ramos will be deported to Mexico upon the completion of his sentence.

U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr., of the District of Idaho made the announcement and commended the cooperative efforts of the Idaho State Police, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Twin Falls, Gooding, Jerome, Minidoka, and Cassia County Sheriff's Offices, Twin Falls Police Department, and the Jerome County Prosecutor’s Office, which led to charges.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

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The Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC), including the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit (IHRU), will join U.S. and international law enforcement partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others this Sunday, Feb. 6 in recognizing the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

“There will be no tolerance – today or any other day – for this harmful and traumatic practice,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department of Justice is dedicated to the enforcement of the STOP FGM Act to protect young women from this traumatic experience.”

“The FBI stands with our partners in acknowledging this International Day of Zero Tolerance in support of the victims of this horrendous crime,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “We reaffirm our commitment to protecting young women and girls by bringing to justice those who violate this vulnerable group.”

“The International Day of Zero Tolerance provides us the opportunity to raise awareness of this issue and remember the women and girls who have suffered from this human rights abuse, including those who have died or live with the health complications from this practice,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Assistant Director for National Security Andre R. Watson.

Federal agencies have engaged in a variety of initiatives aimed at protecting women and girls in the United States who have been subjected to or who may be at risk of FGM. For example:

• To help raise awareness, HSI special agents regularly conduct outreach at U.S. international airports to inform travelers of the dangers of FGM and the consequences for those who commit this horrific abuse. In December, HSI special agents conducted outreach at international airports in Dulles, Virginia, and Dallas, Texas, under an initiative called Operation Limelight USA. Operation Limelight USA was initiated in 2017 by ICE’s HRVWCC, and modeled after the U.K.’s Operation Limelight, a joint initiative by the U.K.’s Border Force and police services.
• The Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime awarded over five million dollars in three-year grants to support community projects around the country designed to increase direct services, education, and community partner engagement to stop the victimization of women and girls through FGM. For more info, see press release: Justice Department announces nearly $3 million to address female genital mutilation and cutting.
• Justice Department, DHS, and FBI conducted a variety of trainings for local, state and federal law enforcement (prosecutors, local and state police, child protective services professionals, and others) to raise awareness about the applicability of federal and state laws barring FGM, best practices for interactions with FGM survivors, and where to find support services. Similar trainings and meetings were held for educators, immigrant and refugee service providers, and medical professionals.

FGM is a serious human rights violation and a federal crime. In 2013, Congress amended the federal FGM statute to add section 116(d), which prohibits the transportation of a person from the United States to another country for purposes of having FGM performed upon them.

On Jan. 5, 2021, the STOP FGM Act 2020 was signed into law, further aligning the U.S. definition of FGM with the World Health Organization’s definition. Violations of this law may result in imprisonment and potential removal from the United States.

Individuals suspected of FGM, including sending girls overseas to be harmed, may be investigated by the HRVWCC and prosecuted by the Department of Justice accordingly. 

On Jan. 13, 2021, the Department of Justice indicted a Texas woman for allegedly transporting a minor out of the United States for FGM, the first time that charges were brought under the provision of the law which prohibits taking a girl out of the United States for the purpose of FGM.  The FBI’s Houston Field Office investigated the case with support from the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.

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

ICE’s HRVWCC is focused on investigating global atrocities and the perpetrators of human rights violations and war crimes. Initiated by ICE’s HSI in 2008, the HRVWCC leverages the knowledge and expertise of a select group of special agents, attorneys, intelligence analysts, criminal research specialists and historians who are charged with preventing the United States from becoming a safe haven to individuals who engage in the commission of war crimes, genocide, torture and other forms of serious human rights abuses from conflicts around the globe. The center also brings together other DHS components and federal partners, to include the FBI and the Department of Justice, who work collaboratively alongside HSI to investigate human rights violators and to pursue war crimes investigations and prosecutions.

Anyone with information about victims or perpetrators of FGM is encouraged to call the toll-free ICE tip line at (866) 347-2423 or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324). To submit a tip online, complete the ICE online tip form, or the FBI online tip form at tips.fbi.gov. The FBI’s call center and online portal are available anytime, and tips may be provided anonymously. For more information about FGM visit the United Nations' Zero Tolerance Day website.

Hagatña, Guam - SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant CHRISTOPHER DE LEON GUERRERO, age 31, from Yigo, Guam, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2422(b) and 2.  The sentencing followed a guilty verdict at trial in November 2021.  The Court also ordered the defendant to serve five years of supervised release and pay a mandatory $200.00 special assessment fee.

Beginning on November 17, 2020, through November 20, 2020, the defendant used his cell phone to chat on the Whispr and Whatsapp applications with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female.  The female minor was actually an undercover law enforcement agent.  During the next several days the defendant sent sexually explicit messages to entice the alleged minor to engage in sexual activity with him.  The defendant made plans to meet at the minor’s house, located on Andersen Air Force Base, when he believed the minor would be home alone.  On November 20, 2020, the defendant purchased food and a box of condoms and drove to the minor’s residence with the intent to engage in sexual activity with the minor.  When the defendant arrived at the house, he was met by federal law enforcement agents.  After agreeing to speak to agents, the defendant admitted to writing numerous sexual messages to the alleged minor.  He also stated that he was prepared to have sex with her even though she was only 13 years of age.  A search of the defendant’s truck revealed the box of condoms and the cell phone he used during the offense.

“This case is another reminder of the dangers faced by children on the internet,” stated U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “Our Project Safe Childhood initiative continues to target those who seek to prey on the young and vulnerable.  The success of this priority program is due to the outstanding working relationships among our federal agencies.  We applaud their efforts.”

"The FBI will use all resources available to track, locate, and arrest those who seek to harm our children,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill.  “This sentence reflects the serious nature of the offense and acts as proof of our commitment, in collaboration with the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, to protect our children within our communities."

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to aggressively prosecute people who engage in the sexual victimization of children, possess, or receive child pornography, and fail to register as sex offenders.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Air Force Office of Special Investigation. This case was prosecuted by April Owen, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.

The former executive director of an Ohio-based international adoption agency pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of Ohio to defrauding the U.S. and Polish authorities in connection with the adoption of a Polish child. 

According to court documents, Margaret Cole, 74, of Strongsville, Ohio, admitted to conspiring with  Debra Parris and others to deceive authorities regarding the adoption of a child from Poland. When Cole learned that clients of the adoption agency determined they could not care for one of the two Polish children they were set to adopt, Cole and her co-conspirators took steps to transfer the Polish child to Parris’s relatives, who were not eligible for intercountry adoption.

Cole, Parris and others agreed to defraud U.S. authorities to conceal their improper transfer of the Polish child. Following the adoption, the child was injured and hospitalized while living with Parris’s relatives. Thereafter, Cole made a false statement to the Polish authority responsible for intercountry adoptions about the transfer of the child that, among other things, concealed the role of Cole and others in arranging the transfer of the child to Parris’s relatives.

Cole pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and making a false statement to a Polish authority. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Co-defendant Debra Parris previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the Poland scheme, as well as conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit visa fraud in connection with a scheme to corruptly and fraudulently procure adoptions of children from Uganda through bribes paid to Ugandan officials. Robin Longoria also previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit visa fraud and wire fraud in connection with the Ugandan scheme. Co-defendant Dorah Mirembe, who is charged in connection with the Ugandan scheme, remains at large.  

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan for the Northern District of Ohio; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office made the announcement.

If you believe you are a victim of this offense, please visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/victim-witness-program or call (888) 549-3945.

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

Trial Attorneys Jason Manning and Alexander Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice of the Northern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted in the investigation.

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

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

The Justice Department today announced that Willie M. Burks III, 41, a former Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) lieutenant, was sentenced in federal court to nine years’ imprisonment, with two years of supervised release to follow. Burks was convicted by a federal jury on July 21, 2021, of failing to stop an officer under his command from assaulting an inmate at ADOC’s Elmore Correctional Facility. 

The evidence at trial established that on Feb. 16, 2019, former Correctional Sergeant Ulysses Oliver Jr., Burks’ subordinate, went to an observation room holding two handcuffed and unresisting inmates. Oliver, intending to punish the inmates for bringing contraband into the prison, pulled the first inmate from the observation room into an adjacent hallway, where he struck the victim multiple times with his fists and feet, and then used his collapsible baton to repeatedly strike the victim. Burks came into the hallway after Oliver had finished beating the first inmate. Burks then stood and watched as Oliver pulled the second inmate from the observation room, threw him on the floor, and beat the inmate with his feet and his collapsible baton. Despite having the duty, ability and opportunity to intervene to stop Oliver from beating the second inmate, Burks only stood by and said, “it’s fair.” Other ADOC correctional staff who reported to Burks were present for some or all of the assaults, but none intervened to stop Oliver from beating the inmates. 

After the assault, Burks allowed Oliver to come back into the observation room where the victims were held. As Burks again stood by and did nothing, Oliver entered, stood over the victims, and shoved the tip of his baton into the face of one of the victims, lacerating the victim’s face. 

Oliver and two other former corrections officers have pleaded guilty in connection with this incident. Oliver pleaded guilty to assaulting the two inmates on April 2, 2019. Former ADOC correctional officers Bryanna Mosley and Leon Williams pleaded guilty in May and July 2019, respectively, to failing to intervene to stop the assaults.   

“Those working inside our jails and prisons have a duty to intervene in the face of unlawful and violent conduct being carried out by their colleagues,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Under the Constitution, correctional officers may not physically assault inmates for violations of prison rules, and any officials who see this happening must do what they can to stop it. The Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute officers who stand by and do nothing while other officers brutalize inmates in their charge.” 

“The job of a correctional officer can be difficult and hazardous,” said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart for the Middle District of Alabama. “A vast majority of them serve with honor and are dedicated to upholding their duty to protect and serve. Unfortunately, some choose to ignore their sacred oaths and engage in criminal conduct or turn a blind eye when others do so. This office will continue to vigorously enforce our nation’s laws and hold officers who break the law accountable.”

“The unacceptable actions of Willie Burks in no way reflect the hard and tireless work of our corrections staff, who endeavor each day to provide a safe and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people,” said Arnaldo Mercado, the ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms Burks’ behavior and blatant violation of his sworn oath to serve. Any and all incidents such as this are thoroughly investigated and, if appropriate, referred to the proper prosecuting authority. We extend our thanks to the Department of Justice for their assistance in bringing forth justice in this case.”

“The mission to protect the civil rights of American citizens is a priority of the men and women of the FBI and does not end after incarceration,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryan D. Duchene of the FBI’s Mobile Division. “The actions of the corrections officers in this case will not be tolerated and we are proud to be a part of bringing them to justice.”

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Mobile Division and ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Counts of the Middle District of Alabama and Trial Attorneys Katherine DeVar and David Reese of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.

On Feb. 3, a federal court in the Southern District of Florida permanently enjoined two North Lauderdale tax return preparers and their business from preparing federal income tax returns or operating any tax return preparation business in the future. It also ordered the tax preparers to pay $353,000 in disgorgement to the United States.

The civil complaint filed in the case alleged that Wendell Devallon and Berald Dominique, co-owners of Tax Time Group Inc., prepared tax returns for customers that claimed fraudulent self-employment expenses, fictitious education credits, false fuel tax credits and fake charitable contributions, among other schemes. The complaint also alleged that Devallon and Dominique acted as “ghost” preparers, meaning that they acted as paid tax return preparers but did not sign the returns they prepared, as required by law.

In a June 2021 order, the court found the defendants in contempt for violating a preliminary injunction that restricted their tax preparation activities while this case was pending. Devallon, Dominique and Tax Time Group consented to entry of the court’s contempt order and admitted that sufficient evidence existed to show that they had violated the preliminary injunction. In August 2021, the court entered an order requiring the defendants to pay $211,000 in sanctions for their violations of the preliminary injunction. 

Yesterday’s permanent injunction, to which Devallon, Dominique and Tax Time Group consented, forever bars them from any involvement in the preparation of federal tax returns. They must immediately close and cease all operations at any Tax Time Group office location, including the company’s North Lauderdale offices located at 995 Rock Island Road and 1675 S State Rd 7. They must also pay an additional $142,000 to the United States for their fraudulent return preparation activities that pre-dated the complaint. The permanent injunction requires Devallon and Dominique to give up their ownership of the “Tax Time Group” brand. If they sell the business, all proceeds will be applied to the $353,000 they must pay the United States. If Devallon, Dominique or Tax Time Group is found to have prepared another return, they must pay the United States $2,000 plus any fees they received for preparing the return.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $72,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

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’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found 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 Florida woman was sentenced today to 44 months in prison for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of more than $3.3 million in loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Keyaira Bostic, 32, of Pembroke Pines, obtained a PPP loan of $84,515 for her company, I Am Liquid Inc., based on false information about the company’s number of employees and average payroll and on false supporting tax and bank documents. Bostic paid more than $21,000 to a co-conspirator, James Stote, as a kickback for his assistance in preparing and submitting the fraudulent loan application. The evidence showed that Bostic, in exchange for kickbacks, referred other co-conspirators to the scheme and Stote submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications on their behalf. Those loan applicants sought more than $3.3 million in fraudulent PPP loans and obtained nearly $2 million in PPP loan proceeds.

A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale found Bostic guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud on Nov. 24, 2021. In addition to her prison sentence, Bostic was ordered to serve three years of supervised released and pay approximately $1.3 million in restitution and $124,515 in forfeiture.

In addition, on Feb. 1, Luke Pierre Jr. was sentenced to two years in prison for obtaining a fraudulent PPP loan of $414,675 as part of this criminal scheme. According to court documents, Pierre, 36, of Port St. Lucie, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Nov. 1, 2021. As part of the fraud scheme, Pierre obtained a PPP loan for his company, Most Wanted Bullyz LLC (MWB), a dog breeding business, in which he falsely represented that MWB had 21 employees and an average monthly payroll of $165,870. In reality, MWB had no employees and no monthly employee payroll. Pierre gave a large portion of the fraudulent loan proceeds he received to co-conspirators who helped obtain the loan, including Stote, and disguised one such payment of over $100,000 as “stud fees.” In addition to his prison sentence, Pierre was ordered to serve three years of supervised released and pay $414,675 in restitution and $414,675 in forfeiture.

Stote pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2021, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the Northern District of Ohio. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of the SBA’s Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Eastern Region made the announcement.

IRS-CI, the FBI, and SBA-OIG investigated the cases.

Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Turken and David Snider of the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the cases.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP. Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Today, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Agriculture (USDA) launched farmerfairness.gov, a new online tool that allows farmers and ranchers to anonymously report potentially unfair and anticompetitive practices in the livestock and poultry sectors. The launch of the new portal will advance the goals of Biden-Harris Administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain, including by creating more competitive agricultural markets that are fairer to producers and consumers. As part of the agencies’ enforcement partnership, the agencies are signing an interagency memorandum of understanding to further foster cooperation and communication between the agencies and effectively process the complaints received through the portal.

“When we talk about protecting competition in the agricultural sector, we are talking about whether a farmer or a rancher will be paid a fair and competitive price for their goods and labor. When we talk about protecting consumers in this context, we are talking about whether food will be affordable for everyone in America,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today’s launch of farmerfairness.gov – a one-stop shop to report potential violations of our competitions laws – will allow the Justice Department and USDA to collaborate early and ensure economic opportunity and fairness for all.”

“This new online tool will help USDA and the Justice Department address anticompetitive actions and create livestock and poultry markets that are fairer to our nation’s producers,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I encourage producers who are aware of potential violations of competition laws to submit information to the portal so we can take appropriate action to create more competitive markets in the agricultural sector.”

Complaints or tips will go through a preliminary review by Department of Justice Antitrust Division staff and USDA Packers and Stockyards Division staff. If a complaint raises sufficient concern under the Packers and Stockyards Act or antitrust laws, it will be selected for further investigation by the appropriate agency. This action may lead to the opening of a formal investigation.

Users can submit information under their names or may submit anonymous complaints. If a complainant provides their personal information, Justice Department or USDA staff will only contact them if additional information is needed. To submit an anonymous complaint, users can provide information about the potential violation without including their names or contact information.

For any information provided, the Justice Department and USDA will follow their respective privacy and confidentiality policies found at: Justice Department Confidentiality and USDA Privacy. Packers and Stockyards regulations regarding confidentiality also apply: PSD Confidentiality. The Justice Department and USDA commit to supporting relevant whistleblower protections, including newly applicable protections for criminal antitrust complainants against unlawful retaliation.

The meatpacking industry has consolidated rapidly in recent decades. Meanwhile, farmers’ share of the value of their agricultural products has decreased, and poultry farmers, hog farmers, cattle ranchers and other agricultural workers may struggle to retain autonomy and to make sustainable incomes. 

For example, ranchers received more than 60 cents of every dollar a consumer spent on beef 50 years ago, compared to approximately 39 cents today. Hog farmers fared worse over the past 50 years, as their share of the consumer dollar fell from between 40 to 60 cents 50 years ago to approximately 19 cents today.

Producers who choose not to use the farmerfairness.gov portal also can submit complaints about potentially anticompetitive practices by emailing PSDComplaints@usda.gov; calling (833) 342-5773; faxing (202) 205-9237; or mailing Stop 3601, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-3601.

A federal grand jury in Houston returned an indictment today charging a Texas man for an illegal kickback scheme and a commodities insider trading scheme involving natural gas futures.

According to court documents, Matthew Clark, 54, of The Woodlands, worked as a natural gas trader and as president of an energy company based in Houston. The indictment alleges that Clark conspired with others to receive kickbacks from commission fees paid by Clark’s employer to Classic Energy LLC, a brokerage firm owned and operated by Matthew Webb. In exchange for these commission fee kickbacks, Clark agreed to direct his employer’s trades to Webb’s brokerage.

According to the indictment, Clark conspired with others to misappropriate his employer’s material, nonpublic information and to engage in prohibited commodities transactions, including illegal prearranged trades, in natural gas futures contracts for his own, and his co-conspirators’, personal gain. Clark and his co-conspirators caused prices to be reported, recorded and registered on designated commodities markets that were not true, bona fide prices. The profits from these fraudulent trades were split among Clark and his co-conspirators.

Clark is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, three counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to violate various provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, two counts of prohibited commodities transactions and two counts of insider trading. The defendant will make his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. If convicted, he faces a maximum total penalty of 130 years in prison for these charges. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In a related case, Peter Miller, 41, of Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud today. Miller, who is alleged to be one of Clark’s co-conspirators, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12.

In four other related cases, Marcus Schultz, 41, of Houston; John Ed James, 51, of Katy, Texas; Webb, 51, of Tiki Island, Texas; and Lee Tippett, 62, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty on July 20, 2020, Feb. 1, 2021, June 15, 2021, and Aug. 17, 2021, respectively. Schultz pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate various provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. James pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and wire fraud. Webb pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and wire fraud and to violate various provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. Tippett pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and honest services wire fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard A. Collodi of the FBI’s Houston Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Houston Field Office and IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office are investigating the case.

Assistant Chief Leslie S. Garthwaite and Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Deputy Chief Suzanne Elmilady and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zahra Fenelon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

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

A federal grand jury in Oakland, California, returned an indictment today charging a California businessman with failing to pay over employment taxes to the IRS.

According to the indictment, Larry Kudsk, of Berkeley, operated two construction businesses, M. Gutierrez Inc. and Kudsk Construction Inc. For both companies, Kudsk allegedly was responsible for filing quarterly employment tax returns and collecting and paying to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees’ wages. Kudsk allegedly did not timely file employment tax returns, and did not pay withholdings to the IRS, for the last three quarters of 2015 for M. Gutierrez Inc., and for all four quarters of 2016 for Kudsk Construction Inc. In total, Kudsk allegedly caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $250,000.

Kudsk is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Feb. 11 before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. If convicted, Kudsk faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the seven counts of failing to pay over employment taxes. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California and Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Pearson of IRS-Criminal Investigation made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Julia M. Rugg and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lloyd-Lovett of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Corporate and Securities Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

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

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland issued the following statement today, commemorating the lives of FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, who were killed in the line of duty one year ago today while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in Sunrise, Florida:

“One year ago today, FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger and Special Agent Daniel Alfin were killed in the line of duty. Today, as we remember their service, their sacrifice and their courage, our nation also mourns the loss of 31 members of law enforcement who have died in the line of duty this year.

“At the Justice Department, we stand shoulder to shoulder with those who protect and serve our communities. We recognize the sacrifices law enforcement officers make every single day, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has made their jobs only more difficult. We will do everything within our power as a Department to help keep members of law enforcement safe as we work together to keep our country safe.”

The Justice Department announced today that the owner and former manager of rental properties in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, have agreed to resolve a federal lawsuit brought by the United States in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The United States alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to let a tenant’s girlfriend move in with him because she was pregnant with his son and because the tenant was in recovery from an addiction to alcohol.

In 1988, Congress expanded the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on familial status and disability. The Act’s ban on familial status discrimination protects individuals under 18 years old, as well as any person who is pregnant. The Fair Housing Act’s disability protections cover people in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction, but they do not apply to current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance. The tenant in the United States’ lawsuit successfully completed an alcohol treatment program and was in recovery from his addiction for approximately nine months before requesting that his girlfriend move into the property.

“For more than three decades, federal law has prohibited housing discrimination against individuals because they are pregnant or because they are in recovery from alcohol addiction,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The resolution of this lawsuit advances the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that individuals expecting children, as well as people recovering from an addiction, have equal access to housing opportunities free from illegal discrimination.”

“The expectation and arrival of a new baby is supposed to prompt celebration, not the threat of eviction,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “The same should be true of individuals putting in the hard work to manage their addictions – they deserve support, not hurdles to access safe, affordable housing. Expanding families and those working to remain on stable footing should be able to rely on the stability of their home.”

The consent order resolving the lawsuit, which was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, arose as a result of a complaint filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by the tenant on behalf of himself and his minor daughter. After HUD investigated the complaint, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department.

“The Fair Housing Act seeks to ensure that individuals, who are recovering from addiction, and their families can access housing free from housing discrimination,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD. “HUD applauds the Department of Justice for its partnership with HUD and its aid in resolution of this matter.”

Under the consent order, the defendants will pay a total of $75,000 to the tenant and his child. The consent order also requires defendants to take actions directed towards preventing future unlawful discrimination, including complying with the Fair Housing Act, undergoing training and implementing nondiscrimination policies on the Fair Housing Act in connection with the rental and management of residential properties, and submitting to compliance and reporting requirements.

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Visit www.usdoj.gov/crt for more information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces. Additional information about the Fair Housing Act is available at www.HUD.gov.

The United States filed a civil injunction suit to bar Karla Welch and her businesses, Karla R. Welch LLC and Kwik Services LLC, from owning or operating a tax preparation business and preparing tax returns. The complaint also requests that the court require the defendants to disgorge the fees they obtained by preparing false and fraudulent tax returns.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges that Welch, through Karla R. Welch LLC and Kwik Services LLC, owns and operates a tax preparation business with as many as 12 stores in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. According to the complaint, Welch and her businesses prepare and file tax returns to falsely increase their customers’ refunds, and profit through high and often undisclosed preparation fees at the expense of their customers and the Treasury. The complaint alleges that the defendants prepared returns for customers that:

            •           Falsely claim the Earned Income Tax Credit

            •           Report fabricated businesses and related business income and expenses

            •           Report fabricated deductions, including for purported job-related expenses

            •           Claim false education credits

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $72,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

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’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found 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.

The Justice Department today announced that it has secured a settlement agreement with Meijer Inc., under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that will eliminate barriers preventing people with certain disabilities from getting information about COVID-19 vaccinations and booking vaccination appointments online. Meijer is a Michigan-based retailer that operates more than 250 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Today’s resolution is the department’s fourth agreement on the critical issue of COVID-19 vaccination website accessibility, following settlement announcements in November 2021 (Rite Aid Corporation), December 2021 (Hy-Vee Inc.), and January 2022 (The Kroger Co.). 

Meijer’s COVID-19 vaccine registration portal, currently located at https://clinic.meijer.com, was not accessible to people with certain disabilities, including those who use screen reader software or have a hard time using a mouse. For instance, people who use the “tab” key instead of a mouse to navigate websites could not proceed past the very first step of the vaccine registration process, because they could not select the button stating, “click here to schedule an appointment.” The vaccine registration portal also did not always tell people who use screen readers what information they were supposed to put on scheduling forms, including their first and last names, birthdate and zip code.  

“As our nation continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Justice Department will not allow members of the disability community to be left behind,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Individuals with disabilities are an important part of the fabric of our country, and it is critical that they have equal access to potentially life-saving vaccines.”

“Our office is dedicated to upholding the civil rights of all people in the United States, including those with disabilities,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew B. Birge of the Western District of Michigan. “Those rights include full and equal access to health information and medical care, such as COVID-19 vaccinations. This agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to enforcing the ADA, protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities, and supporting our nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Under today’s settlement, Meijer will conform web content about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the forms for scheduling an appointment to get the vaccine, to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level AA. WCAG is a set of voluntary industry guidelines for making information on a website accessible to users with disabilities. Meijer also must regularly test the pages of its website that include vaccine scheduling and information about the COVID-19 vaccine, and quickly fix any problems that keep people with disabilities from being able to use these pages.

This matter was handled jointly by the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. Title III of the ADA requires public accommodations like drugstores and grocery stores to provide individuals with disabilities with full and equal enjoyment of goods and services, such as vaccines. The ADA also requires public accommodations to ensure effective communication with people with disabilities, including by using auxiliary aids and services like accessible technology.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed online at www.ada.gov/complaint. Anyone in the Western District of Michigan may also report civil rights violations directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan by calling 616-808-2195 or emailing usamiw.civilrights@usdoj.gov.

Hagatña, Guam - SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant AUSTIN J. DODGE, age 23, from Portland, Maine, was sentenced in the United States District Court of Guam to 65 months imprisonment for Advertising Material Involving Child Pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(3)(B) and 2252A(b)(1).  Dodge will also serve a 10-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender following his confinement in federal prison.

On April 22, 2020, an undercover FBI agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, assumed the online identity of a person involved in trading child pornography on an application called "LiveMe." LiveMe is a free social media application that allows an individual to broadcast live video online. LiveMe users can post comments and interact with people in the video. Users can also create or join groups called "fams," where like-minded individuals can chat or message other users, post videos, images, text, and send links directing users to Internet websites.  In this case, the online identity the FBI undercover agent assumed control of was a member of several “fams" on LiveMe, where child pornography was traded either in chat or by posting links to a cloud file hosting service, such as Dropbox, for access and download.

Between April 22, 2020, and April 23, 2020, the FBI undercover agent accessed a LiveMe fam called "LoveCP."  During the undercover agent's recorded session, the LoveCP group moderator posted group rules which included a requirement that members actively post, or they would be removed.  On the evening of April 22,2020 Central Standard Time, LiveMe SID 299614327 with the screen name "lucyliuc200," was granted access to the LoveCP group.  Lucyliuc200, later identified as Dodge, then posted a link to a cloud sharing internet site with the folder name titled, "live." The undercover agent navigated to this posted link and downloaded the contents of the folder.  The folder contained approximately 18 videos depicting adolescent and prepubescent females posing naked and engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Following the execution of a federal search warrant at Dodge’s residence on Naval Base Guam, agents discovered an additional video of child pornography on his computer tablet.  This video depicted the only known victim of child sexual exploitation identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“This is the first advertisement case prosecuted in the District of Guam,” stated U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “It demonstrates the reach of federal law enforcement in combating this disturbing type of crime.  The sentence imposed by the Court is a strong message of accountability.  Our office will pursue these cases whenever the evidence supports prosecution.  We thank our law enforcement partners for their great work in keeping our communities safe.”

“This sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment in identifying and investigating those who possess child pornography,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill.  “As a result of this case, we have one less predator who can prey on, and can no longer exploit, the most vulnerable members of our society. The FBI is grateful to collaborate with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service as we remain committed in the fight to protect our children who are our nation’s future.”

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Initiative, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to aggressively prosecute people who engage in the sexual victimization of children, possess, or receive child pornography, and fail to register as sex offenders.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service.  This case was prosecuted by April Owen, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.

A Michigan woman pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Michigan to stealing government funds that were designed to aid medical providers in the treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19 and using them for her own personal expenses.

According to court documents, Amina Abbas, 36, of Taylor, admitted that she previously owned 1 on 1 Home Health (1 on 1), a home health agency in LaPorte, Indiana, which she had closed in early 2020. 1 on 1, which was never operational during the pandemic, received approximately $37,657 designated for the medical treatment and care of COVID-19 patients. Abbas admitted that she stole the funds by issuing checks to her family members for personal use, rather than using the funds in conjunction with pandemic relief efforts as required.   

Abbas pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The charges against Abbas were the first criminal charges for the intentional misuse of funds distributed from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, money specially apportioned by the CARES Act to help health care providers who were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide care to patients who were suffering from COVID-19, and compensate providers for the cost of that care. These funds were critical to providing relief to health care providers and maintaining access to medical care during the pandemic. 

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG’s) Chicago Region, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Josh Hauxhurst of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office made the announcement.

Trial Attorneys Emily Gurskis and Jay McCormack of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the department in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The Justice Department obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division announced today. This is the second largest annual total in False Claims Act history, and the largest since 2014. Settlement and judgments since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the civil False Claims Act, now total more than $70 billion.

“Ensuring that citizens’ tax dollars are protected from fraud and abuse is among the department’s top priorities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boynton. “The False Claims Act is one of the most important tools available to the department both to deter and to hold accountable those who seek to misuse public funds.”

Of the more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments reported by the Department of Justice this past fiscal year, over $5 billion relates to matters that involved the health care industry, including drug and medical device manufacturers, managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, hospice organizations, laboratories and physicians. The amounts included in the $5 billion reflect recoveries arising from only federal losses, and, in many of these cases, the department was instrumental in recovering additional amounts for state Medicaid programs.

In addition to being used to combat health care fraud, the False Claims Act serves as the government’s primary civil tool to redress false claims involving a multitude of other government operations and functions. The act helps to support our military and first responders by ensuring that government contractors provide equipment that is safe, effective and cost efficient; to safeguard American businesses and workers by promoting compliance with customs laws, trade agreements, visa requirements and small business protections; and to protect other critical government programs ranging from the provision of disaster relief funds to nutrition benefits for needy families.

In 1986, Congress strengthened the act by increasing incentives for whistleblowers to file lawsuits alleging false claims on behalf of the government. These whistleblower, or qui tam, actions comprise a significant percentage of the False Claims Act cases that are filed. If the government prevails in a qui tam action, the whistleblower, also known as the relator, typically receives a portion of the recovery ranging between 15% and 30%. Whistleblowers filed 598 qui tam suits in fiscal year 2021, and this past year the department reported settlements and judgments exceeding $1.6 billion in these and earlier-filed suits.

Health Care Fraud

Health care fraud was once again the leading source of the department’s False Claims Act settlements and judgments this past year. The department’s health care fraud enforcement efforts restore funds to federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, the health care program for service members and their families. But just as important, the department’s vigorous pursuit of health care fraud prevents billions more in losses by deterring others who might try to cheat the system for their own gain. In many cases, the department’s efforts also protect patients from medically unnecessary or potentially harmful actions. The department investigates and resolves matters involving a wide array of health care providers, goods and services.

Combatting the Opioid Epidemic

Opioid abuse remains a serious problem for our nation, with tens of thousands of Americans dying from opioid overdoses each year. Civil enforcement actions against the parties responsible for triggering and fueling the opioid epidemic are a critical part of the department’s ongoing efforts to address this crisis.

Consistent with this focus, the largest False Claims Act settlements in the past year resulted from significant resolutions with prescription opioid manufacturers:  Indivior Inc. and Indivior plc (Indivior), and Purdue Pharma (Purdue). As part of a $600 million global resolution of criminal and civil liability, the Indivior companies agreed to pay $209.3 million to the federal government to resolve civil allegations that the companies, among other things, promoted the opioid-addiction-treatment drug Suboxone to physicians who were writing prescriptions that were not for a medically accepted indication and were often diverted; and made false and misleading claims that Suboxone Film was less susceptible to diversion and abuse and to accidental pediatric exposure than other buprenorphine products.

As part of a global resolution of criminal and civil liability, in October 2020, Purdue agreed to an allowed, unsubordinated, general unsecured bankruptcy claim for $2.8 billion to resolve civil allegations that the company promoted its opioid drugs to health care providers it knew were prescribing opioids for uses that were unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary, and that often led to abuse and diversion. The civil settlement also resolved allegations that Purdue paid kickbacks to doctors, certain specialty pharmacies and an electronic health records developer to increase prescriptions of Purdue’s opioid products. Purdue incorporated the civil settlement into its plan of reorganization, but the district court subsequently reversed a bankruptcy court order confirming the plan and litigation over the plan continues. Separately, certain individual members of the Sackler family who were shareholders and board members of Purdue agreed to pay $225 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations that they approved a new marketing program that intensified marketing of OxyContin to extreme, high-volume prescribers, causing opioid prescriptions for uses that were unsafe, ineffective and medically unnecessary, and that often led to abuse and diversion.

Medicare Advantage Program (Medicare Part C)

Another important priority for the department has been investigating and litigating a growing number of matters related to the Medicare Advantage program, also known as Medicare Part C, which is Medicare’s managed care program. Medicare Part C pays a capitated amount to private health insurance carriers for each patient enrolled in their plans, rather than a payment for each distinct patient admission or service. CMS adjusts the payments for various “risk” factors that affect expected healthcare expenditures to ensure that plans are paid more for enrollees who pose a greater risk. In 2021, more than 26 million Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Part C plans, and the Congressional Budget Office projected that CMS would pay more than $343 billion to private carriers who offered those plans.

The department has pursued plans and healthcare providers that manipulated the risk adjustment process by submitting unsupported diagnosis codes to make their patients appear sicker than they actually were. This year, Sutter Health, a California-based health care services provider, paid $90 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted unsupported diagnosis codes for certain patient encounters, resulting in inflated payments to be made to the Medicare Advantage Plans and Sutter Health. In addition, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, formerly known as Group Health Cooperative (GHC), paid $6.3 million to resolve allegations that it submitted invalid diagnoses and received inflated payments as a result. In addition, the department intervened and filed complaints in separate lawsuits against Independent Health Corporation and members of the Kaiser Permanente consortium alleging that those Medicare Advantage organizations submitted or caused the submission of inaccurate information about the health status of beneficiaries enrolled in their plans to increase reimbursement from Medicare.

Unlawful Kickbacks

Kickbacks in the healthcare industry are pernicious because of their potential to subvert medical decision-making and to increase healthcare costs. In addition to pursuing improper payments by drug manufacturers, the department resolved other schemes involving the willful solicitation or payment of illegal remuneration to induce the purchase of a good or service paid for by a federal health care program.

For example, mail-order diabetic testing supply company Arriva Medical LLC and its parent, Alere Inc., agreed to pay $160 million to settle allegations that Arriva paid kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries by providing them “free” or “no cost” diabetic testing glucometers and by routinely waiving or not making reasonable efforts to collect their copayments for glucometers and diabetic testing supplies. In another example, the department resolved its claims against pain management clinics and urine drug testing (UDT) laboratories owned and operated by Daniel McCollum for paying unlawful kickbacks to providers to induce their referrals of urine drug tests, obtaining default judgments against the clinics and laboratories totaling more than $140 million and a $9 million civil consent judgment against McCollum.

Electronic health records (EHR) technology vendor Athenahealth Inc. paid $18.25 million to resolve allegations that it invited customers and prospective customers to lavish all-expense-paid sporting, entertainment, and recreational events to generate sales of its EHR product. Generic pharmaceutical manufacturers Taro, Sandoz, and Apotex paid over $400 million to resolve allegations that they paid and received compensation prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of a conspiracy to fix the price of certain generic drugs.

Other matters relating to kickback violations involved psychiatric hospitals and a substance abuse treatment facility (Oglethorpe Inc.), home health care agencies (BAYADA), hospitals (Akron General Health System, Texas Heart Hospital of the Southwest LLP, and Prime Healthcare Services), pharmaceutical companies (Biogen Inc.), diagnostic testing (Alliance Family of Companies LLC) and medical devices (Merit Medical Systems Inc).

Unnecessary Medical Services

As in years past, the department also resolved a number of matters in which providers billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary services or services not rendered as billed. For example, SavaSeniorCare LLC and related entities agreed to pay $11.2 million for alleged false claims for rehabilitation therapy services provided as a result of aggressive corporate targets without regard for its patients’ actual clinical needs, resulting in the provision of medically unreasonable, unnecessary or unskilled services to Medicare patients. The settlement also resolved allegations that Sava provided grossly and materially substandard and/or worthless skilled nursing services.

Alere Inc. and Alere San Diego Inc. (collectively, Alere) paid $38.75 million to resolve allegations that they billed, and caused others to bill, for defective rapid point-of-care testing devices used by Medicare beneficiaries to monitor blood coagulation when taking anticoagulant drugs. In another matter, Apria Healthcare LLC paid $40.5 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims for the rental of costly non-invasive ventilators to program beneficiaries who did not need the devices or were not using them. St. Jude Medical Inc. paid $27 million to settle allegations that it knowingly sold defective, implantable heart devices and failed to disclose serious adverse health events in connection with premature battery depletion in those devices. Regency Inc. and its owner agreed to a civil settlement up to $20.3 million to resolve allegations that they falsified documentation to enable the billing of federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment. In addition, the department continues to focus on inadequate care and other fraud in nursing facilities, which provide care to a particularly vulnerable population (as reflected by the resolutions this year with SavaSeniorCare LLC, discussed above, and Select Medical Rehabilitation Services Inc).

Procurement Fraud

In the past year, the department also pursued a variety of fraud matters involving the government’s purchase of goods and services. In some cases, the department pursued allegations that government contractors falsified pricing data. For example, Navistar Defense LLC paid $50 million to resolve allegations that it fraudulently induced the U.S. Marine Corps to enter into a contract modification at inflated prices for a suspension system for armored vehicles known as Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. In another case, Insitu Inc. paid $25 million to settle allegations that it knowingly submitted materially false cost and pricing data for contracts with the U.S. Special Operations Command and the Department of the Navy to supply and operate Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The department also recovered $7.1 million from furniture maker Workrite Ergonomics LLC to resolve allegations that the company did not provide the General Services Administration with accurate information about its commercial sales practices during contract negotiations for office furniture, and subsequently violated the terms of its contract by failing to extend lower prices to government customers.

In other cases, the department pursued allegations that government contractors provided goods or services that did not comply with contract requirements. For example, United Airlines Inc. paid $32.1 million to resolve allegations relating to its execution of contracts to deliver mail internationally on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service. In another case, Cognosante LLC paid $18.9 million to resolve allegations that it used unqualified labor and overcharged the government for health care and IT services provided to federal agencies under two General Services Administration contracts. The department also recovered $11 million from AAR Corp. and its subsidiary, AAR Airlift Group Inc., to resolve allegations that AAR Airlift knowingly failed to maintain nine helicopters in accordance with Department of Defense contract requirements and that the helicopters, which were billed under two U.S. Transportation Command contracts to transport cargo and personnel in support of missions in Afghanistan and Africa, were not airworthy and should not have been certified as fully mission capable.

The department also resolved matters involving allegations of kickbacks in government contracts. For example, Level 3 Communications LLC paid $12.7 million to resolve allegations that the owner of two subcontractors paid kickbacks to Level 3 senior managers in return for favorable treatment for those subcontractors on government contracts. The United States also alleged that Level 3 managers misstated compliance with woman-owned small business subcontracting requirements and knowingly obtained protected competitor bid information on the government contract to gain an advantage in bidding on task orders. In another example, Schneider Electric Buildings Americas Inc. paid more than $9 million to resolve allegations that one of its senior project managers solicited kickbacks from subcontractors and that the company fraudulently charged the government for design costs by disguising those costs and spreading them across unrelated pricing components.

COVID-Related Fraud

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Congress authorized historic levels of emergency funding for federal agencies to provide direct financial assistance to individuals, businesses and state, local, and Tribal governments. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has worked closely with various Inspector Generals and other agency stakeholders to identify, monitor and investigate the misuse of critical pandemic relief monies.

The department’s efforts in this area have included the pursuit of cases involving improper payments under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was enacted to provide loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to eligible small businesses for payroll, rent, utility payments and other business-related costs. For example, the department has pursued small businesses that improperly received multiple PPP loans. Sandeep S. Walia and his medical practice paid a combined $70,000 to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) that Dr. Walia, on behalf of his practice, falsely certified in an application for a second PPP loan that the medical practice had not previously received a PPP loan. The medical practice also agreed to repay the second PPP loan to the lender, relieving the SBA of liability for the federal guaranty of over $430,000 on the improper loan.

Sextant Marine Consulting LLC, a Florida-based duct cleaning company, paid $30,000 to settle allegations that it improperly obtained more than one PPP loan. Sextant also repaid the duplicative PPP funds in full to its lender, relieving the SBA of liability for the federal guaranty of approximately $170,000 on the improper loan. The department has also pursued cases against eligible borrowers who used PPP funds to pay for impermissible expenses. For example, Seth A. Bernstein, the owner of jet charter company All in Jets LLC dba JetReady, paid $287,055 to settle allegations that he diverted PPP funds to pay for personal, non-company related expenses.

Other Fraud Recoveries

The judgments and settlements announced during fiscal year 2021 reflect the diversity of fraud recoveries arising under the False Claims Act. For example, the United States leases federal lands for the production of natural gas in exchange for the payment of royalties on the value of the gas produced. The department recovered $6.15 million from oil and natural gas exploration and production company Devon Energy Corp. to resolve allegations that it underpaid and underreported royalties for natural gas from federal lands in Wyoming and New Mexico.

Stargate Apparel Inc., Rivstar Apparel Inc., and the chief executive officer of both companies paid $6 million to resolve allegations that they engaged in two schemes to fraudulently underpay customs duties owed to the United States in connection with the garments that they brought into the country.

Concept Schools NFP, agreed to pay $4.5 million for allegedly engaging in non-competitive bidding practices in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-Rate Program, which subsidizes eligible equipment and services to make internet access and internal networking more affordable for needy public schools and libraries. Concept Schools, a charter school management company, rigged the bidding for E-Rate contracts in favor of chosen technology vendors so that its network of charter schools could select those vendors without a meaningful, fair and open bidding process. Additionally, the government alleged that Concept Schools’ chosen vendors provided equipment at higher prices than other vendors approved by the FCC for equipment with the same functionality, and that Concept Schools failed to maintain sufficient control over equipment reimbursed by the FCC.

Educational services provider Innovative Educational Programs LLC paid $1.1 million to resolve allegations that it fraudulently obtained federal funds for tutoring services for underprivileged New York City students that it never provided. The New York City Department of Education had paid Innovative to tutor students using funds made available to New York State by the United States under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Guild Mortgage Company paid $24.9 million to resolve allegations that it failed to maintain quality control programs to prevent and correct underwriting deficiencies and to self-report materially deficient loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Cybersecurity Initiative

Malicious cyber activity threatens the health and safety of the American people, and the national and economic security of our country. On May 12, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order announcing that preventing, detecting, assessing and remediating cybersecurity incidents affecting federal government networks is a top priority, and set forth an expectation that all federal systems will meet the necessary thresholds for cybersecurity protections. On Oct. 6, 2021, the Deputy Attorney General announced the department’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative to use the False Claims Act to combat new and emerging cyber threats.

Civil enforcement plays an essential role in the department’s cyber defense efforts. The department will pursue misrepresentations by companies in connection with the government’s acquisition of information technology, software, cloud-based storage and related services designed to protect highly-sensitive government information from cybersecurity threats and compromises.

Information on how to report cyber fraud can be found here:  https://www.justice.gov/civil/report-fraud.  

Holding Individuals Accountable

The department continued its commitment to use the False Claims Act to deter and redress fraud by individuals as well as corporations. In addition to the settlements noted above with certain members of the Sackler family and with corporate entities that included payments by senior executives or owners, the following are additional examples of recoveries involving individuals.

Dr. Ashish Pal, a cardiologist based in Orlando, Florida, paid $6.75 million to resolve allegations that he performed medically unnecessary ablations and vein stent procedures. The government alleged that Dr. Pal performed the ablations and stent procedures on veins that did not qualify for treatment under accepted standards of medical practice and falsified patient medical records to justify the procedures. In addition, many of the ablations were allegedly performed either exclusively or primarily by one or more ultrasound technicians outside their scope of practice.

Two Texas physicians, Robert Wills and Brannon Frank, paid a total of $3.9 million to resolve allegations that they billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary urine drug testing. The settlements resolved allegations that the physicians, formerly co-owners of now-defunct Austin Pain Associates, knowingly ordered excessive and unnecessary urine drug testing for patients without any individualized assessment of clinical need.

Substance abuse treatment provider A.R.E.B.A.-Casriel Inc. dba Addiction Care Interventions Chemical Dependency Treatment Centers (ACI) and its primary owner and former CEO, Steven Yohay, agreed to pay a total of $6 million to resolve allegations that they provided kickbacks and engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with the enrollment of Medicaid beneficiaries into ACI’s inpatient treatment program. The United States alleged that ACI offered food and cash to homeless individuals to induce them to enroll in ACI’s inpatient treatment program, offered sham employment to an individual to induce her to refer patients to ACI programs, and used medical admissions forms containing photocopied physician signatures to make it appear that new patients had been evaluated by a qualified health care professional. ACI agreed to pay $3 million, and Yohay agreed to pay an additional $3 million and divest himself of ownership and control of ACI.

Recoveries in Whistleblower Suits

Of the $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments reported by the government in fiscal year 2021, over $1.6 billion arose from lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. During the same period, the government paid out $237 million to the individuals who exposed fraud and false claims by filing these actions.

The number of lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the Act has grown significantly since 1986, with 598 qui tam suits filed this past year – an average of over 11 new cases every week.

“Industry insiders are uniquely positioned to expose fraud and false claims and often risk their careers to bring these schemes to light,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boynton. “Our efforts to protect taxpayer funds benefit from the courageous actions of these whistleblowers, and they are justly rewarded under the False Claims Act.”

In 1986, Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Howard Berman led the successful efforts in Congress to amend the False Claims Act to, among other things, encourage whistleblowers to come forward with allegations of fraud. In 2009 and 2010, further improvements were made to the False Claims Act and its whistleblower provisions.

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Acting Assistant Attorney General Boynton expressed appreciation for all the work over the past year by the many public servants who supported the department’s efforts to protect the public: “We owe a debt of gratitude to the employees in the Civil Division, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the agency Offices of Inspector General and Offices of General Counsel and the many other federal and state agencies who have worked tirelessly to protect the public fisc from fraud.”

Except where indicated, the government’s claims in the matters described above are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. The numbers contained in this press release may differ slightly from the original press releases due to accrued interest.

Two Georgia residents convicted on dog-fighting and drug distribution charges resulting from an investigation into a significant multi-state dog-fighting and cocaine trafficking ring were sentenced to prison today.

Jarvis Lockett, 41, of Warner Robins, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 10 years’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture and cocaine distribution. Co-defendant Christopher Raines, 51, of Talbotton, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 135 months’ imprisonment, five years’ supervised release, and pay a fine of $10,000, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base. U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self III presided over both hearings. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Lockett and Raines were conspirators in a criminal enterprise that profited from the suffering of both animal and human victims,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Dog-fighting is closely associated with other serious crimes, and today’s sentences show that those who engage in this cruel and inhumane practice face significant prison time.”

“This multi-state investigation began with Jarvis Lockett, who was an active and aggressive participant in the dog-fighting world,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary of the Middle District of Georgia. “Federal, state and local law enforcement meticulously followed every lead, and their unwavering commitment to justice has put an end to a complex and deadly dog-fighting and drug distribution network. Violent dog-fighting circles are proven breeding grounds for a wide-range of criminal activities that harm the well-being of our communities and will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia.”

“We have investigated animal cruelty cases in the past, so initially when this information came in, we thought that it would involve a handful of local people fighting dogs for sport,” said Peach County Sheriff Terry Deese. “What started out as a local investigation soon turned into a complex investigation that included people from multiple states and all walks of life. It is impossible to comprehend just how cruel these dogs were being treated for the purpose of training them to kill. Our team rescued 168 pit bulls during the execution of the search warrants and not the first dog acted aggressively toward the officers. The dogs just wanted attention and love. Organized dog-fighting is a dark, sick and disgusting culture that has no place in our society.”

According to court documents, law enforcement investigated a criminal organization involved in both cocaine distribution and organized dog-fighting based out of Roberta, Georgia, which extended into North Georgia, Florida and Alabama from May 2019 until February 2020. In February 2020, law enforcement executed 15 residential search warrants and seized more than 150 dogs that were being used for organized dog-fighting.

During this time period, Lockett attended and had his dogs participate in dog fights in Melrose, Florida, and Macon, Georgia, where he also acted as a referee. In addition, he attended, participated and/or attempted to participate in dog fights in Taylor County, Georgia, Eastman, Georgia, and Shiloh, Georgia, where Lockett received $16,000 for his winning dog. Text messages obtained from a search warrant executed on Lockett’s cell phone detailed his dog-fighting ventures, including communications between Lockett and multiple defendants on subjects such as killing an unaggressive dog, planning a dog fight and soliciting a female dog for fighting for $10,000. Additional text messages discussed the purchases of large quantities of cocaine and spending $250,000 on narcotics from co-defendant Derrick Owens. A confidential informant (CI) purchased cocaine from Lockett at a Roberta, Georgia, family home on July 10, 2019 and Sept. 12, 2019.

On Feb. 26, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Roberta residence recovering cash, cocaine and evidence of dog-fighting activities to include veterinary penicillin, break sticks, photos of fighting dogs, a dog weight training vest, a dog-fighting pit, a dog treadmill, and blood-stained carpet and walls. 14 dogs were recovered. The dogs had scarring consistent with dogs being used for dog-fighting activities. On the same day, investigators executed a search warrant at a Warner Robins property Lockett owned, where they found a pit bull terrier dog that was extremely injured and lethargic. The injuries had been stapled shut. The dog died two days later of his injuries. Agents found other evidence of dog-fighting activity including medicine and supplies to treat animals for injuries sustained from dog-fighting activities, a notepad containing dog names and dollar amounts, a 50-pound digital scale, paperwork from a veterinary clinic, a blender with dog food and medicine, dog breeding registration certificates and several bags of cash.

Co-defendant Raines’ drug distribution and dog-fighting activities were uncovered during the course of the investigation. Law enforcement executed a search warrant of Raines’ Talbotton property on Feb. 26, recovering 41 dogs used in dog-fighting. The dogs were malnourished with scars, hair loss and spliced ears. Agents seized many items used in dog-fighting including a skin stapler, IV kits, veterinary medical supplies and dog breeding certificates. In his plea agreement, Raines admitted that he was a manager or supervisor in the criminal organization and was responsible for drug transactions ranging from a quarter to 1.5 kilograms of cocaine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General (USDA-OIG); U.S. Marshals Service; the Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD); Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI); Bibb County Sheriff’s Office; Crawford County Sheriff’s Office; Houston County Sheriff’s Office; Merriweather County Sheriff’s Office; Peach County Sheriff’s Office; Taylor County Sheriff’s Office; Webster County Sheriff’s Office; Byron Police Department and the Fort Valley Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Keyes with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Banu Rangarajan with the Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case.

Note: View photos below:

Exhibit 1 – Picture of the dog that Lockett kept at his residence at 107 Stanton in Warner Robins. This is the dog that could not be saved by the veterinarian. It died two days after being seized. Its wounds had been stapled shut and it was extremely injured and lethargic.

Exhibit 2 – Picture of the blood-stained wall’s from behind Lockett’s property in Roberta, Georgia. The walls circling the room were all stained with dogs’ blood.

A former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officer was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky for using excessive force on an arrestee. U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Cory P. Evans, 34, to two years’ imprisonment and two years’ supervised release.

Evans previously pleaded guilty to violating the Constitution by using objectively unreasonable force against an arrestee. When he entered his guilty plea, Evans admitted that on May 31, 2020, while he was working as a part of the LMPD Special Response Team, he followed a group of individuals around downtown Louisville to execute arrests for unlawful assembly and violations of curfew. At an intersection, a person in the group surrendered for arrest by getting on his knees and placing his hands in the air. While that person was kneeling in this position, Evans struck him in the back of the head with a riot stick, which created a wound on the back of the kneeling victim’s head. The victim fell forward and was taken into custody by other LMPD officers.

“Former officer Evans abused his authority by violently retaliating against a surrendering arrestee who had been exercising his First Amendment rights during a demonstration in Louisville, during the racial justice demonstrations in the spring of 2020,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable officers who violate their oath and the Constitution.”

“The FBI and LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit did outstanding work in this case,” said U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky.  “The effort of the assigned agents and detectives resulted in a successful prosecution and is a positive step toward strengthening trust and confidence between our citizens and the officers who protect them.”   

“In order for the public to have full trust and confidence in the law enforcement officers who have sworn to protect them, those officers who choose to abuse their authority must be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office. “Today’s sentencing reflects the FBI’s and the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to identify, investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials who break the law by violating a person’s Constitutional rights.”

The FBI and LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit jointly investigated the case through the Louisville Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory for the Western District of Kentucky and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Tim Visser prosecuted the case.

A former executive of Contech Engineered Solutions LLC was convicted today in New Bern, North Carolina, for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud schemes targeting the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). 

Following a week-long trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, a jury convicted Brent Brewbaker, a former Contech executive, for participating in conspiracies to rig bids and submit false certifications of non-collusion for more than 300 aluminum structure projects funded by the state of North Carolina between 2009 and 2018. Evidence showed that Brewbaker instructed a co-conspirator to submit non-competitive bids to NCDOT and to hide his bid rigging and fraud by varying the amount of inflated bids submitted. He also made clear to a co-conspirator that he would hide illegal conduct by deleting text messages he received about the conspiracy. 

“Today’s verdict reinforces the division’s commitment to hold accountable executives who target state and local governments with their bid-rigging and fraud schemes,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “With massive investments in infrastructure projects beginning soon, companies that manage those projects must know that the Justice Department and its Procurement Collusion Strike Force partners will have their eyes out for cheaters and schemers.”

“Activities related to collusion, bid rigging and fraud do not promote an environment conducive to open competition, which harms the consumer,” said Executive Special Agent in Charge Ken Cleevely of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General. “Along with the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners, the USPS Office of Inspector General will aggressively investigate those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.”

“For nearly a decade Brent Brewbaker engaged in a scheme that compromised taxpayers’ investments in transportation projects in the State of North Carolina for commercial gain,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Craig Miles of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Mid-Atlantic Region. “Today’s verdict underscores our resolve to continue working with our prosecutorial and law enforcement partners toward protecting the Federally-funded infrastructure projects from fraud, waste and abuse.”

Brewbaker was convicted of conspiring to rig bids, conspiring to commit fraud, three counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiring to rig bids and 20 years in prison for each of the other counts.

Contech previously pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging under Section One of the Sherman Antitrust Act and one count of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. Contech agreed to pay a criminal fine of $7 million and restitution to NCDOT in the amount of $1,533,988.  

The Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section prosecuted this case, which was investigated with the assistance of the USPS Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina also provided support throughout the investigation and trial. 

In November 2019, the Justice Department created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact procurement and grant and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state, and local. To contact the Procurement Collusion Strike Force or to report information concerning market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging or other anticompetitive conduct related to federal, state or local transportation projects, visit https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.

URBANA, Ill. – A Markham, Illinois, man, Deon Evans, 37, was sentenced on January 31, 2022, to sixty-five years and eight months’ imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for trafficking heroin and methamphetamine, carrying and possessing a firearm during his drug trafficking crimes, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce found that Evans faced mandatory consecutive twenty-five-year sentences for his separate offenses of carrying a firearm while distributing heroin and possessing a firearm in furtherance of his possession of methamphetamine (in the form of the street drug “ecstasy”) with the intent to distribute it. Judge Bruce further determined that Evans was involved in the trafficking of at least eight to twenty-four firearms. And Judge Bruce found that Evans had obstructed justice by providing false testimony during his case. Evans’s sentence was enhanced because he was on federal supervised release at the time of his offenses from a 2007 conviction for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in the Southern District of Iowa.

Evans was convicted following a jury trial in January 2020. During the three-day trial, the government presented evidence to establish that Evans traveled from his residence in Markham to a gas station in Gilman, Illinois, in July 2016, where he sold 48.4 grams of heroin in exchange for $4,500. The next month, Evans again travelled to the gas station to meet the same buyer, this time bringing an associate and two loaded firearms. During this meeting, Evans sold 124.3 grams of heroin for $11,250.

After the August 2016 heroin sale, Evans’s BMW was stopped by troopers with the Illinois State Police as it was heading north on Interstate 57. During the search of Evans’s car, troopers found the cash used to purchase the heroin hidden under the back seat, along with the two fully loaded firearms, an extra magazine, and 173 ecstasy pills that contained methamphetamine. Trial evidence established that Evans obtained one of those firearms – a Glock, Model 30, .45 caliber, semi-automatic pistol – by trading a heroin user two grams of heroin and $100 in exchange for the gun, which had been stolen from Indiana. Additional trial evidence showed that Evans used two women – known as “straw purchasers” – to purchase guns for him in Birmingham, Alabama, which he then sold illegally in Chicago.

“Unfortunately, gun violence and deadly opioids, such as the heroin distributed in this case, continue to represent a danger to our communities here in the Central District of Illinois,” said Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller, who represented the government at sentencing. “We will continue to support our federal and local law enforcement partners in pursuing these prosecutions in order to deter this dangerous behavior.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Chicago Division, Springfield Resident Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Springfield, Illinois, and Birmingham Field Offices; and the Illinois State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Miller and Rachel E. Ritzer represented the government at trial.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Civil Rights Division issued the following statement today regarding the hearing in United States v. McMichael et al.:

“We respect the court’s decision to not accept the sentencing terms of the proposed plea and to continue the hearing until Friday.

“The Justice Department takes seriously its obligation to confer with the Arbery family and their lawyers both pursuant to the Crime Victim Rights Act and out of respect for the victim. Before signing the proposed agreement reflecting the defendants’ confessions to federal hate crimes charges, the Civil Rights Division consulted with the victims’ attorneys. The Justice Department entered the plea agreement only after the victims’ attorneys informed me that the family was not opposed to it.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today released the Justice Department’s new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, 34 U.S.C. § 20711(a).

Rooted in the foundational pillars and priorities of the interagency National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, which President Biden released on Dec. 3, 2021, the Justice Department's National Strategy is expansive in scope.  It aims to enhance the department's capacity to prevent human trafficking; to prosecute human trafficking cases; and to support and protect human trafficking victims and survivors.

“Human trafficking is an insidious crime,” said Attorney General Garland. “Traffickers exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims unimaginable harm. The Justice Department’s new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking will bring the full force of the Department to this fight.”

Among other things, the Justice Department’s multi-year strategy to combat all forms of human trafficking will:

• Strengthen engagement, coordination and joint efforts to combat human trafficking by prosecutors in all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and by federal law enforcement agents nationwide.
• Establish federally-funded, locally-led anti-human trafficking task forces that support sustained state law enforcement leadership and comprehensive victim assistance.
• Step up departmental efforts to end forced labor by increasing attention, resources and coordination in labor trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
• Enhance initiatives to reduce vulnerability of American Indians and Alaska Natives to violent crime, including human trafficking, and to locate missing children.
• Develop and implement new victim screening protocols to identify potential human trafficking victims during law enforcement operations and encourage victims to share important information.
• Increase capacity to provide victim-centered assistance to trafficking survivors, including by supporting efforts to deliver financial restoration to victims.
• Expand dissemination of federal human trafficking training, guidance and expertise.
• Advance innovative demand-reduction strategies.

The department’s strategy will be implemented under the direction of the National Human Trafficking Coordinator designated by the Attorney General in accordance with the Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017, 34 U.S.C. § 20711(d).

To read the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking click here.

Former law enforcement officer Anthony “Tony” Bean was found guilty by a federal court today of violating two arrestees’ civil rights by using excessive force against them. Tony Bean, 61, was convicted following a trial in Chattanooga for using excessive force against two arrestees while he was a law enforcement officer.

Bean was convicted of using excessive force against arrestee C.G. on two occasions during C.G.’s arrest in 2014, while Bean was the Chief of the Tracy City Police Department in Tracy City, Tennessee, and of using excessive force against arrestee F.M. during F.M.’s arrest in 2017, while Bean was the Chief Deputy of the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office in Grundy County, Tennessee. Bean’s co-defendant, T.J. Bean, faced a single charge at trial and was acquitted of using excessive force against arrestee F.M. during the same arrest in 2017.  

In June 2021, the court heard evidence over the course of three days that showed that, during C.G.’s arrest in the Tracy Lakes area of Grundy County in 2014, Tony Bean repeatedly punched C.G. in the face while C.G. was handcuffed and compliant, causing C.G. pain and other injuries.  The court also heard evidence that, during F.M.’s arrest in Grundy County in 2017, Tony Bean punched F.M. in the face while F.M. was compliant, causing pain and other injuries. In addition, the court heard evidence that Tony Bean bragged about using excessive force against his victims and failed to report his uses of force.

“Every person in our nation has the right to be free from unlawful abuse by police officers, including the use of excessive force during an arrest,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This verdict makes clear that law enforcement officials who use unlawful force are not above the law. We will not stand idly by in the face of criminal misconduct by law enforcement officials in any part of the country.”

“Tony Bean held a position of public trust, and he willfully violated that trust,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. “This violation diminishes the tremendous work performed by law enforcement every day. Our office is committed to ensuring the protection of every person’s civil rights.”

“Civil Rights violations are always of great concern, particularly when an officer betrays the oath to protect and serve,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Knoxville Division. “The public has an absolute right to trust that law enforcement will protect those they serve. When that trust is violated, the law enforcement community is tarnished, and the community’s confidence is broken.”

Tony Bean’s sentencing has been set for June. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment on each of the three counts of conviction. 

This case was investigated by the Knoxville Division of the FBI and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kathryn E. Gilbert and Andrew Manns of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney James Brooks of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Two former correctional officers pleaded guilty this week to engaging in bribery and smuggling contraband into Leavenworth Detention Center.

According to court documents, Janna Grier, 36, of Horton, Kansas, previously worked as a correctional officer at Leavenworth Detention Center, a privately run, maximum-security federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. Grier used her position to smuggle contraband into the prison and also solicited other prison officials to use their position to smuggle contraband into Leavenworth.

On Jan. 25, Grier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to offer bribes and provide contraband to inmates of a federal prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 28, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, Willie Golden, 28, of Overland Park, Kansas, also previously worked as a correctional officer at Leavenworth Detention Center. Golden used his position to smuggle contraband — including tobacco, synthetic cannabinoids, cellular telephones and marijuana — into the prison in exchange for bribe payments.

Today, Golden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to accept bribes and provide contraband to inmates of a federal prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge William J. Hannah of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) Chicago Field Office, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Charles A. Dayoub of the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office made the announcement. 

The FBI and DOJ-OIG are investigating the cases.

Trial Attorneys Rebecca M. Schuman and Dahoud A. Askar of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the cases.

The cases are part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to combat prison corruption. In addition to the above matters, the Public Integrity Section is prosecuting three other former Leavenworth officials for similar alleged conduct. See United States v. Cheyonte Harris, Case No. 2:21-cr-20054 (D. Kan.); United States v. Jaqueline Sifuentes, No. 2:21-cr-20053 (D. Kan.); United States v. Jeane Arnette, No. 2:21-cr-20063 (D. Kan.). An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Separately, the Public Integrity Section and the FBI recently obtained convictions against three former North Carolina prison officials who smuggled contraband, including illegal narcotics, into a state facility in exchange for bribes. See United States v. Ollie Rose, III, No. 4:20-CR-96 (E.D.N.C.); United States v. Kenneth Farr, No. 4:21-CR-9 (E.D.N.C.); and United States v. Jeremy Chambers, No. 4:21-CR-38 (E.D.N.C.).

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that the government will collect $1.5 million in civil penalties and $2 million in consumer redress from online contact lens company Vision Path Inc., dba Hubble Contacts (Hubble), as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that Hubble violated the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act and the FTC’s Contact Lens Rule.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the government alleged that Hubble violated the federal Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act and the FTC’s Contact Lens Rule by selling contact lenses online without taking the steps required to verify the subscriber’s contact lens prescription, improperly substituting Hubble’s own brand of contact lenses for those originally prescribed by consumers’ eye care practitioners and procuring what it falsely portrayed as independent consumer reviews of its products and services. In addition to requiring Hubble to pay civil penalties and consumer redress, the stipulated order entered by the court today requires Hubble to refrain from altering prescriptions to change the brand prescribed, to verify the prescription for contact lens orders submitted without a written prescription, to cease other deceptive practices and to satisfy ongoing recordkeeping, certification and compliance obligations. 

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate the violation of laws intended to ensure that consumers receive the products prescribed for them,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to protecting consumers from companies that engage in deceptive practices.”

“Hubble’s business model boosted its bottom line but created needless risk for its customers’ eye health,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Today’s action makes clear that firms will pay a price for deceiving their customers, flouting the Contact Lens Rule, and using misleading reviews.”

This matter is being handled by Claude Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Alysa S. Bernstein and Paul Spelman of the FTC.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.

A North Carolina surgeon and his wife were sentenced today to five years in prison for federal employment and individual income tax crimes.

According to evidence presented at trial and statements made in court, James Rice, an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife Susan Rice, who worked for his medical practice, conspired to defraud the IRS, evaded payment of taxes, failed to pay over employment taxes and failed to file tax returns. In total, the Rices did not pay more than $2.4 million in personal, corporate and employment taxes that they owed.

From 1992 to present, James Rice owned and operated Sandhills Orthopaedic, a medical practice located in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Susan Rice handled the practice’s administrative operations. Between 2007 and 2016, the Rices conspired to defraud the United States with respect to Sandhills Orthopaedic’s employment taxes and their individual income taxes. To accomplish this, the Rices transferred approximately $1 million from Sandhills Orthopaedic’s business bank accounts to other accounts they controlled, including personal bank accounts and a business account related to an unrelated truffle company owned by Susan Rice. The Rices also used Sandhills Orthopaedic’s business bank accounts to pay for personal expenses, including a country-club membership and dog kennel boarding.

The Rices also withheld nearly $580,000 in taxes from the paychecks of the medical practice’s employees, then used those withholdings for their own personal gain rather than paying them over to the IRS as required by law. Finally, from 2014 to 2016 the Rices did not file individual tax returns, and James Rice did not file corporate taxes for another entity he owned, even though they were respectively required to file returns for all of those years.

“As a result of today’s sentence, James and Susan Rice’s prolonged effort to evade paying their taxes has come to an end,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Each year, the vast majority of Americans and businesses follow the tax laws and pay their fair share. Those who willfully evade such obligations should fully expect to be held accountable for their criminal conduct.”

“Failure to pay over withheld taxes is a serious offense,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Charlotte Field Office. “Employment tax evasion results in the loss of tax revenue to the U.S. government and the loss of future Social Security and Medicare benefits for those employees. The investigation of employment tax fraud is a priority for IRS Criminal Investigation, and our special agents will vigorously pursue anyone who collects these taxes and then uses the funds for their own personal gain.”

On Sept. 20, 2021, a federal jury convicted the Rices of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of tax evasion, two counts of failure to pay over employment taxes and three counts of failure to file tax returns. The jury also convicted James Rice of three counts of failure to file corporate tax returns. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Eagles ordered the Rices to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $2.4 million in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Michael L. Jones of the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.

The Justice Department today announced that it has secured a settlement agreement with The Kroger Co. (Kroger) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that will eliminate barriers preventing people with certain disabilities from getting information about COVID-19 vaccinations and booking their vaccination appointments online. Kroger is an Ohio-based retailer with approximately 2,800 retail grocery stores under the Kroger name and other brands, with a presence in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Today’s resolution is the department’s third agreement on the critical issue of COVID-19 vaccination website accessibility, following settlement announcements in November 2021 (Rite Aid Corporation) and December 2021 (Hy-Vee Inc.).   

The COVID-19 vaccine registration portal for Kroger-branded stores, currently located at https://www.kroger.com/health/pharmacy/covid-care, was not accessible to people with certain disabilities, including those who use screen reader software. For instance, critical medical screening questions about current COVID-related symptoms, allergies and reactions to previous vaccines were not read to screen reader users. Further, when a screen reader user selected an available appointment time, the website told them that the available appointment was “unavailable,” instead of “selected.”    

“Access for people with disabilities should never be an afterthought, including during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When a store’s website is inaccessible, people with disabilities may struggle to get potentially life-saving vaccines for themselves and their loved ones. This agreement helps fulfill the promise of the ADA by ensuring individuals with disabilities have equal access to healthcare.”

“All individuals deserve a full and equal opportunity to access services like vaccines,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “This office will continue to partner with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to ensure that equal access.” 

Under today’s settlement, Kroger will conform web content about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the forms for scheduling an appointment to get the vaccine, to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level AA. WCAG is a set of voluntary industry guidelines for making information on a website accessible to users with disabilities. Kroger also must regularly test the pages of its website that include vaccine scheduling and information about the COVID-19 vaccine, and quickly fix any problems that keep people with disabilities from being able to use these pages.

This matter was handled jointly by the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Title III of the ADA requires public accommodations like drugstores and grocery stores to provide individuals with disabilities with full and equal enjoyment of goods and services, such as vaccines. The ADA also requires public accommodations to ensure effective communication with people with disabilities, including by using auxiliary aids and services like accessible technology.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed online at www.ada.gov/complaint. Anyone in the Southern District of Ohio may also report civil rights violations to the Civil Rights Coordinator of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio by calling 614-469-5715 or emailing USAOHS.CivilRights@usdoj.gov. 

A federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi has permanently barred a Mississippi tax return preparer from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others.

The permanent injunction is against Terance Price, both individually and doing business as Superior Taxes. The court entered the injunction after Price failed to respond to the complaint the government served on him.

The complaint alleged that Price, who began operating his tax preparation business in 2015, knowingly took unreasonable positions on returns he prepared that understated the tax his customers owed, overstated the refunds owed to his clients, or both. In particular, the complaint alleged that Price prepared returns that falsely claimed residential energy credits, fuel tax credits and unreimbursed employee business expenses.

The government further alleged in the complaint that Price has filed hundreds of tax returns since 2015, and that he has filed tax returns using other tax preparers’ personal identifying information. According to the complaint, the IRS assessed penalties against Price for failing to make reasonable inquiries to ensure that his customers were legitimately entitled to various tax credits, and Price has not paid those penalties.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $72,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free.

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’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found 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 grand jury sitting in Amarillo, Texas, issued an indictment today charging Dr. Richard Kazmaier, 54, with smuggling goods into the United States and two violations of the Endangered Species Act. The indictment alleges that Kazmaier, an associate professor of biology at West Texas A&M University, imported protected wildlife items into the country without declaring it or obtaining the required permits.

The Endangered Species Act and federal regulations require importers to declare wildlife, including parts and products, to customs and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when it enters the country. The indictment charges that, between March 2017 and February 2020, Kazmaier imported wildlife items from around the world into the United States without declaring them. These items included skulls, skeletons and taxidermy mounts.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulates trade in endangered or threatened species through permit requirements. The United States and 183 other countries are signatories to the CITES treaty. The indictment also charges Kazmaier with importing wildlife items from 14 protected species without obtaining permits, including the Eurasian otter, lynx, caracal, vervet monkey, greater naked-tailed armadillo and king bird-of-paradise.

The maximum sentence for the felony smuggling charge is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two Endangered Species Act charges are misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of one year incarceration and a $100,000 fine.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in Redmond, Washington, conducted the investigation as part of Operation Global Reach. The operation focused on the trafficking of wildlife from Indonesia to the United States. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Bell for the Northern District of Texas and Trial Attorney Ryan Connors of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resource Division’s Environmental Crimes Section.

An indictment is only an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven otherwise before a jury at trial.

A Nevada man made his initial appearance in federal court today for allegedly making multiple threatening phone calls to an election worker in the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.

Gjergi Luke Juncaj, aka Gjergj Juncaj, aka Gjurgi Juncaj, aka George Juncaj, 50, of Las Vegas, was arrested by the FBI yesterday in Las Vegas.

According to court documents, on Jan. 7, 2021, Juncaj allegedly made four threatening phone calls to an employee in the Elections Division of the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office. According to the employee, the threats included:

I want to thank you for such a great job you all did on stealing the election. I hope you all go to jail for treason. I hope your children get molested. You are all going to (expletive) die.

This case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force. Announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and launched by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in late June 2021, the task force is leading the department’s efforts to address threats of violence against election workers, and to ensure that all election workers — whether elected, appointed or volunteer — are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation. The task force engages with the election community and state and local law enforcement to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and investigates and prosecutes these matters where appropriate, in partnership with FBI field offices and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country as warranted.

Under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Monaco, the task force is led by the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and includes several other entities within the Department of Justice, including the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division, the Civil Rights Division, the National Security Division and the FBI, as well as key interagency partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security. For more information regarding the Justice Department’s efforts to combat threats against election workers, read the Deputy Attorney General’s memo.

To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact your local FBI office and request to speak with the Election Crimes Coordinator. Contact information for every FBI field office may be found here: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/. You may also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint at: tips.fbi.gov. Complaints submitted will be reviewed by the task force and referred for investigation or response accordingly. If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately.

Juncaj is charged with four counts of making threatening telephone calls. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Las Vegas Field Office is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson of the Public Integrity Section is prosecuting the case.

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

Contacto: John Senn, (212) 637-3662, senn.john@epa.gov

WASHINGTON (27 de enero de 2022) – El Departamento de Justicia y la Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés) anunciaron hoy un acuerdo con la Autoridad Municipal de Servicios Públicos de Jersey City (JCMUA), en Jersey City, Nueva Jersey, mediante el cual mejorará considerablemente los sistemas municipales de alcantarillado y agua potable en la ciudad, se reducirá significativamente la cantidad de contaminación que se descarga en el Río Hackensack, el Río Hudson y la Bahía de Newark, además favorecerá a muchos vecindarios de Jersey City que enfrentan retos de justicia ambiental. El acuerdo es una modificación de un decreto de consentimiento que la JCMUA celebró con el gobierno de los EE. UU. en 2011.

“Este acuerdo ayudará a mejorar el medioambiente y la salud pública de las comunidades que por largo tiempo han soportado una carga histórica y desproporcionada de contaminación”, indicó Todd Kim, procurador general auxiliar de la División de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales del Departamento de Justicia. “El Departamento de Justicia está comprometido a proteger el derecho del público a tener agua limpia y saludable gracias a la Ley de Agua Limpia de nuestro país.”

“Proporcionar agua limpia a las comunidades, especialmente aquellas ya sobrecargadas por la contaminación, es un derecho fundamental que todos merecen”, comentó Larry Starfield Subadministrador Suplente de la Oficina de  Cumplimiento de la EPA. “Las mejoras acordadas en esta resolución permitirán que la Autoridad Municipal de Servicios Públicos de Jersey City gestione efectivamente las dificultades que implican las tormentas intensas y los huracanes provocados por el cambio climático.”

“A través de nuestra colaboracion estatal y federal, NJDEP y USEPA trabajan para asegurar que todas las comunidades de Nueva Jersey disfruten de los beneficios de cuerpos de agua limpios y confiables, además de un abasto de agua potable segura”, explicó Shawn M. LaTourette, Comisionado del Departamento de Protección Ambiental de Nueva Jersey. “Este decreto de consentimiento ayuda a asegurar que la JCMUA continúe tomando medidas importantes que reducen los riesgos de contaminación del agua ahora y en el futuro, y aplaudimos el compromiso de la JCMUA con el reemplazo de las tuberías de servicio de plomo a medida que el servicio público trabaja para mantener el cumplimiento continuo con los requisitos más amplios de la Ley de Agua Limpia y la Ley de Agua Potable Segura.”

Según el acuerdo de hoy, Jersey City se compromete a reparar y mejorar partes significativas de su sistema municipal combinado de alcantarillado ampliando además la capacidad del sistema. Jersey City también mejorará el sistema de agua potable de la ciudad al reemplazar más de 12,000 tuberías de agua potable de plomo. Muchas de las áreas que se verán favorecidas con estas mejoras son comunidades desventajadas que han enfrentado dificultades de justicia ambiental durante décadas. La JCMUA también incorporará la adaptación al cambio climático y prácticas óptimas de resiliencia además de medidas de diseño en sus mejoras de alcantarillado para asegurar que sus sistemas de alcantarillado estén mejor preparados para soportar tormentas intensas y huracanes.

Jersey City estima que el trabajo detallado en el decreto de consentimiento tardará otros 10 años en concluir y costará aproximadamente $1,099 millones.

Conforme al acuerdo inicial en 2011, la JCMUA se comprometió a resolver contravenciones a la Ley de Agua Limpia por no operar y mantener debidamente su sistema de alcantarillado combinado, lo cual provocó reiteradas emanaciones de aguas residuales sin tratar dentro del Río Hackensack, el Río Hudson, la Bahía de Newark y el Arroyo Penhorn. Dicho acuerdo también incluía un requisito de que la JCMUA llevara a cabo una evaluación integral de las condiciones de su sistema de alcantarillado. Esta evaluación reveló mejoras adicionales que necesitaban realizarse para asegurar que el sistema de alcantarillado opere en cumplimiento con la Ley de Agua Limpia. Estas mejoras adicionales se están abordando en este acuerdo.

Aunque el sistema de agua potable municipal está sujeto a regulaciones de la Ley de Agua Potable Segura, y no fue abordado mediante la resolución de la Ley de Agua Limpia de 2011, según la modificación, la JCMUA ha decidido mejorar tanto el sistema de alcantarillado como el de agua potable al mismo tiempo para ahorrar tiempo y costos. La identificación, remoción y reemplazo de las tuberías de servicio de agua potable de plomo son importantes en comunidades como Jersey City para proteger la salud pública, especialmente para la salud de los niños porque ellos son más vulnerables a los impactos del plomo que los adultos.

Los sistemas de alcantarillado combinados como el de Jersey City están diseñados para transportar aguas residuales, aguas servidas industriales y escorrentía de aguas lluvia en las mismas tuberías hacia las plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales. Durante los periodos de fuertes precipitaciones, el volumen de aguas residuales que viaja por un sistema de alcantarillado combinado puede exceder la capacidad del sistema o de la planta de tratamiento. Los desbordes resultantes, llamados excedentes combinados de alcantarillado (CSO), contienen no solo aguas de escorrentías pluviales sino también contaminantes como residuos humanos e industriales sin tratar, materiales tóxicos y escombros. Estos presentan riesgos para la salud humana, amenazan los hábitats acuáticos y la vida, además de afectar el uso y disfrute de las vías fluviales del país.

La modificación del decreto de consentimiento está sujeta a un periodo de 60 días de comentarios del público y a la aprobación final del tribunal. Se encuentra disponible una copia de la modificación y más información en el sitio web del Departamento de Justicia en http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

Siga a la Región 2 de la EPA en Twitter en http://twitter.com/eparegion2 y visite nuestra página en Facebook, http://facebook.com/eparegion2

On Jan. 25, the United States filed a civil injunction suit seeking to bar Arnold Zio, individually and doing business as Platinum Citizens Financial LLC and FTP Tax Services, from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Zio started preparing fraudulent returns with the Maryland firm Money Back Tax before moving his operation to Florida. Zio has prepared returns without identifying himself on the returns, failed to receive proper authorization from his clients before filing their returns, and has failed to give his clients copies of their documents, the complaint alleges.

The government alleges that Zio prepared tax returns claiming over $600,000 in falsified or inflated business expenses, over $500,000 in fabricated business losses and over $850,000 in false tax deductions and credits, including falsified charitable contributions, unreimbursed employee expenses and gambling losses. According to the complaint, Zio has also diverted at least $188,000 from clients by depositing client refunds and Economic Impact Payments, also known as COVID-19 stimulus payments, into his own bank account. 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers.  The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $72,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free.

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’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.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement resolving allegations that the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative Inc. (WREC) terminated U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Garrett Woodard when he returned from military service in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). 

“We greatly value and respect the contributions of all our servicemembers and are committed to challenging any attempts to discriminate against them in their efforts to fulfill their military duties,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “It is an honor to fight for the rights of those serving in the Armed Forces, including the Army National Guard, so that they may continue to fight for and protect our freedom without fear of losing their employment.”

“Members of the U.S. Army National Guard make tremendous sacrifices, including spending significant time away from their families and jobs,” said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “Their call to active duty and fulfillment of their military obligations should never be detrimental to their jobs. Our office, in partnership with the Civil Rights Division, remains committed to protecting the employment rights of our servicemembers.”   

SSG Woodard has served in the Florida Army National Guard with distinction for over 21 years and is currently attached to the 53rd Support Battalion out of Bartow, Florida. During his service, he has been called up to active duty on multiple occasions, including serving in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006 and Iraq in 2010 and 2011 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. From January 2018 to October 2020, he was also employed by WREC in their apprentice lineman program to become a journeyman where he was consistently rated as an excellent employee. In the summer of 2020, SSG Woodard was deployed to military service for several months with his unit as part of Florida’s emergency mobilization to assist the state in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the extended nature of the emergency, his military leave was extended for several months, through Oct. 26, 2020. He reported back to WREC immediately at the end of his deployment, but was terminated by WREC on the day he reported back to work. Woodard filed a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) alleging that WREC terminated him on the basis of his military service obligations in violation of USERRA. VETS investigated this matter and referred it to the Department of Justice after attempts at resolution failed.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, WREC has agreed to pay Woodard back pay and other damages in the amount of $80,000. The settlement agreement further requires WREC to comply with all of the provisions of USERRA to prevent any further incidents of discrimination, retaliation or interference with a servicemember’s rights under USERRA from occurring in the future 

USERRA protects the rights of uniformed servicemembers to retain their civilian employment following absences due to military service obligations and provides that servicemembers shall not be discriminated against because of their military obligations. The Justice Department gives high priority to the enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at www.justice.gov/crt-military/employment-rights-userra and www.justice.gov/servicemembers, as well as on the Department of Labor’s website at www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra.

This matter was handled by Deputy Civil Chief Yohance Pettis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, along with Senior Trial Attorney Brian McEntire of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section.

The Department of Justice and the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced an agreement with the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA), in Jersey City, New Jersey, that will significantly improve the city’s municipal sewer and drinking water systems, will significantly reduce the amount of pollution being discharged into the Hackensack River, Hudson River and Newark Bay, and will benefit many Jersey City neighborhoods that face environmental justice challenges. The agreement is a modification of a consent decree that JCMUA entered into with the U.S. government in 2011.

“This settlement will help improve the environment and public health of communities that have long endured a historic and disproportionate burden from pollution,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the public’s right to clean and healthy water under our nation’s Clean Water Act.”

“Providing clean water to communities, especially those already overburdened by pollution, is a fundamental right everyone deserves,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The improvements agreed upon in this settlement will allow Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority to effectively manage the challenges that come with severe storms and hurricanes caused by climate change.”

“As a result of this settlement, the sewer system improvements will reduce discharges from Combined Sewer Overflows by 370 million gallons per year, preventing over one million pounds of pollutants from entering nearby waterways each year,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia for the EPA. “Furthermore, it will accelerate the replacement of thousands of lead service lines, which means cleaner drinking water for vulnerable communities. EPA is renewing its commitment to safeguarding underserved and overburdened communities such as Jersey City.  These and other environmental and health benefits are key to protecting public health.”

“Through our state-federal partnership, NJDEP and USEPA are working to ensure that all New Jersey communities enjoy the benefits of clean waterways and reliable, safe drinking water,” said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette. “This consent decree helps to ensure that JCMUA will continue taking important actions that reduce water pollution risks now and in future, and we applaud JCMUA’s commitment to replacing lead service lines as the utility works to maintain continuing compliance with broader Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.”

Under today’s agreement, JCMUA is committing to repairing and upgrading significant portions of its municipal combined sewer system while also expanding the system’s capacity. JCMUA will also upgrade the city’s drinking water system by replacing over 12,000 lead drinking water pipes. Many of the areas that these upgrades will benefit are communities of color that have faced environmental justice challenges for decades. JCMUA will also incorporate climate change adaptation and resiliency best practices and design measures into its sewer upgrades to ensure its sewer systems are better prepared to withstand severe storms and hurricanes.

JCMUA estimates the work detailed in the consent decree modifications will take an additional 10 years to complete and cost approximately $1.099 billion.

Under the initial settlement in 2011, JCMUA committed to resolve Clean Water Act violations for failing to properly operate and maintain its combined sewer system, which led to repeated releases of untreated sewage into the Hackensack River, Hudson River, Newark Bay and Penhorn Creek. That agreement also included a requirement for JCMUA to complete a comprehensive assessment of the condition of its sewer system. This assessment revealed additional improvements that needed to occur in order to ensure the sewer system will operate in compliance with the Clean Water Act. These additional improvements are being addressed in this settlement.

While the city’s drinking water system is subject to Safe Drinking Water Act regulations and was not addressed by the 2011 Clean Water Act settlement, under the modification, JCMUA has chosen to upgrade both its sewer and drinking water systems at the same time to save time and costs. The identification, removal and replacement of lead drinking water service lines is important in communities like Jersey City to protect public health, especially children’s health since kids are more vulnerable to the impacts of lead than adults.

Combined sewer systems like the one in Jersey City are designed to transport sewage, industrial wastewater and rainwater runoff in the same pipes to wastewater treatment plants. During periods of heavy rainfall, the volume of wastewater traveling through a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the system or the treatment plant. Resulting overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also pollutants such as untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials and debris. They pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic habitats and life, and impair the use and enjoyment of the nation’s waterways.

The consent decree modification is subject to a 60-day public comment period and final court approval. A copy of the modification and more information are available on the Department of Justice website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. View the Spanish translation of this press release here.

A South Florida man who founded a sports and dietary supplements retailer was sentenced today to 54 months in prison for conspiring to sell illegal anabolic steroids and other products marketed as dietary supplements that were unlawful under federal law.  

According to court documents, Aaron Singerman, 41, of Delray Beach, Florida, founded and operated Blackstone Labs LLC, a Boca Raton-based sports and dietary supplements retailer. Singerman is the former CEO of Blackstone. U.S. District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas of the Southern District of Florida sentenced Singerman to 54 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit $2.9 million.

In pleading guilty, Singerman admitted to leading a conspiracy to sell products through Blackstone labeled as dietary supplements that were illegal under federal law because they were not approved by the FDA and were controlled substances. According to court documents, Blackstone defrauded the FDA as part of the scheme.

“Selling products labelled as dietary supplements that actually contain controlled substances and unapproved drugs is illegal and potentially dangerous,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will work with its law enforcement partners to prosecute dietary supplement makers who ignore the law and disregard public safety for monetary gain.”

“Drug products that are disguised as dietary supplements can pose a risk to the health of U.S. consumers,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA OCI) Miami Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize the public health.”

Singerman specifically admitted that he conspired with others from 2012 through 2017 to sell products that were unapproved new drugs and/or illegal controlled substances under the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act. The defendant admitted that he and his co-conspirators lied to consumers by characterizing Blackstone products as safe and legal dietary supplements. In addition, he falsely represented that the products were made in “FDA approved” registered facilities that followed all required regulations, when in fact they were not. Singerman also admitted to controlling a supplement manufacturer that fraudulently imported raw ingredients for their products from China. Singerman admitted to selling other products in violation of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, including the synthetic stimulants DMAA and DMBA, and the chemical picamilon. Singerman and his co-conspirators ignored injury reports from consumers and did not notify the FDA of such complaints, even when required by law.

Six additional individual defendants and three other corporations previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the conspiracy. One additional defendant, James Boccuzzi, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to defraud the FDA following a jury trial in December 2021. All 10 of these additional defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dimitrouleas in February.  

FDA OCI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Alistair Reader and Stephen Gripkey, Senior Litigation Counsel David Frank and Assistant Director John W. Burke of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the cases with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Laura Akowuah, Brian Furlong and Sarah Hawkins from the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel provided assistance with the investigation and prosecution.

 

St. Croix, VI – United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that 33-year old Venezuelan national Johan Garcia Suarez, one of eleven Venezuelan nationals apprehended at sea off of St. Croix, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

According to court documents, on the evening of September 25, 2019, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter DONALD HORSLEY intercepted a suspicious 55-foot vessel named LA GRAN TORMENTA displaying Venezuelan nationality indicia approximately 38 nautical miles south of St. Croix. Occupants of the LA GRAN TORMENTA did not reply to DONALD HORSLEY'S efforts to engage in questioning of the crew, and upon detection, the LA GRAN TORMENTA changed course and jettisoned packages. USCG Cutter DONALD HORSLEY crew members subsequently retrieved two bales from the water. The two jettisoned bales contained packages with brick shaped objects, which were subsequently laboratory tested and found to contain approximately 49 kilograms of cocaine hydrocholoride (powder cocaine).

After requesting and receiving permission from the flag state (Venezuela) to stop the vessel, USCG personnel attempted a right of visit boarding, which was ineffective because crew on the LA GRAN TORMENTA disregarded Coast Guard personnel’s instructions. Eventually USCG personnel obtained control of the LA GRAN TORMENTA through use of an "entanglement tactic" which stopped the vessel’s engine. A USCG counter-drug boarding team encountered 11 persons, including the defendant.

Johan Garcia Suarez’s sentencing date has yet to be scheduled. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The other ten defendants are scheduled for trial on July 18, 2022 in federal court. They face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and maximum of life if convicted.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at http://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York unsealed a superseding indictment charging a fisherman with both conspiracy and substantive charges in connection with a scheme to illegally overharvest fluke and black sea bass.

Christopher Winkler, 61, of Montauk, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to obstruct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the falsification of fishing logs, and to unlawfully frustrate NOAA’s efforts at regulating federal fisheries.

In April 2021, Winkler was indicted with several others as part of a conspiracy that was incorporated as part of the new indictment. However, the other defendants were not charged in the superseding indictment. The superseding indictment alleges that between May 2014 and February 2017, Winkler, as captain of the F/V New Age, went on at least 220 fishing trips where he caught fluke or black sea bass in excess of applicable trip limits. At various times during the conspiracy, this fish was sold to two now-defunct companies in the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx and a fish dealer in Montauk. According to court filings, the overages of fish included at least 200,000 pounds of fluke, and the overall over-quota fish (of all species) were valued at least at $850,000 wholesale.

Under federal law, a fishing captain is required to accurately detail his catch on a form known as a Fishing Vessel Trip Report (FVTR), which is mailed to NOAA. Similarly, the first company that buys fish directly from a fishing vessel, termed a fish dealer, is required to specify what it purchases on a federal form known as a dealer report. Pursuant to statutory mandate, NOAA utilizes this information to set policies designed to ensure a sustainable fishery. The superseding indictment alleges that part of the conspiracy was to falsify both FVTRs and dealer reports in order to cover-up the fact that fish were taken in excess of quotas.

Initiated as part of Operation One-Way Chandelier, the charges are part of a multi-year, ongoing investigation into fisheries fraud on Long Island. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case. Trial Attorney Christopher Hale and Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth Nelson of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today convened a virtual discussion with a bipartisan group of election officials to provide an update on the work of the Election Threats Task Force.

Notably, the updates included the Task Force’s first charge for interstate threats to kill government officials, information on the work to review the over 850 reports of threats to election officials, and updated guidance to grant recipients that grant funding can be used to deter, detect and protect against threats of violence against election workers, administrators, officials and others associated with the electoral process.

The Attorney General reiterated that the Justice Department has no tolerance for – and will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute – illegal threats or acts of violence that target those who administer our elections. These threats endanger election officials, and they endanger our democracy.

During her remarks, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco committed to continued dialogue with the election officials and workers community, and affirmed that the Task Force will continue to work diligently to investigate threats of violence to the individuals administering free and fair elections throughout the nation.

During the meeting, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta announced that the Bureau of Justice Assistance has provided guidance to states that Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program funds can be used to deter, detect and protect against threats of violence against election officials. The Byrne JAG program is a leading source of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions, helping to fill gaps in state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems. The broad criminal justice purposes supported by the JAG Program permit JAG funds to be used to deter, detect and protect against threats of violence against election workers, administrators, officials and others associated with the electoral process. Associate Attorney General Gupta also encouraged those that are interested in using JAG funds for these purposes to start conversations with their respective State Administering Agency about purpose and process.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division also participated in the meeting.

The Attorney General and department leadership first met with the bipartisan group of election officials in August 2021 following the formation of the Task Force.

To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact your local FBI office and request to speak with the Election Crimes Coordinator. Contact information for every FBI field office may be found at https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/. You may also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint at tips.fbi.gov. Complaints submitted will be reviewed by the task force and referred for investigation or response accordingly. If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately.

A Mississippi pharmacist was sentenced today to five years in prison in the Southern District of Mississippi for a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud TRICARE and private insurance companies by paying kickbacks to distributors for the referral of medically unnecessary prescriptions. The conduct resulted in more than $180 million in fraudulent billings, including more than $50 million paid by federal health care programs. 

According to court documents, David “Jason” Rutland, 42, of Bolton, a pharmacist and co-owner of compounding pharmacies, schemed to defraud TRICARE and other health care benefit programs by distributing medically unnecessary compounded medications. TRICARE is the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees and their families. Rutland adjusted prescription formulas to ensure the highest reimbursement without regard to efficacy. He solicited recruiters to procure prescriptions for high-margin compounded medications and paid those recruiters commissions based on the percentage of reimbursements paid by pharmacy benefit managers and health care benefit programs, including commissions on claims reimbursed by TRICARE. Rutland also routinely and systematically waived and/or reduced copayments to be paid by beneficiaries and members, including utilizing a purported copayment assistance program to falsely make it appear as if his pharmacy and its affiliate compounding pharmacies had been collecting copayments, among other things.

Rutland pleaded guilty on July 20, 2021, to conspiracy to defraud the United States and solicit, receive, offer and pay illegal kickbacks. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Rutland was ordered to pay restitution and forfeit all assets traced to his ill-gotten gains.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Cyndy Bruce of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DoD OIG-DCIS) Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Jackson Field Office and DoD OIG-DCIS are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Alejandra Arias of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn Van Buskirk for the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Sara Porter and Dustin Davis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

The Department of Justice today launched Justice Counts, an effort to help states make smarter policy and budget decisions using up-to-date, actionable criminal justice data. The initiative, announced today by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta during a virtual conference with criminal justice practitioners and researchers, is led by the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center in collaboration with 21 professional associations representing every part of the criminal justice system.

“Our justice systems should be built on principles of fairness, effectiveness and efficiency, and policymakers and the public need better data in order to advance these principles,” said Associate Attorney General Gupta. “The better equipped we are with timely data, the more effectively we can serve our communities and secure the trust and confidence of those we serve.”

Justice Counts is being created in response to calls from policymakers and public safety professionals for more actionable data on crime, incarceration, community supervision and related topics. State leaders are making budgetary and policy decisions based on data that are inconsistently collected and reported across the comparable agencies in their jurisdictions. Agencies lack the time, technology and mandate to create scalable solutions. Members of the public are also seeking greater transparency in criminal justice budgets. Justice Counts will deliver a set of key recommended criminal justice metrics as well as aggregation tools that make the most of data already collected to help leaders reach informed decisions without requiring costly upgrades.

“This impressive collaborative of partners is working together to make criminal justice data visible, digestible, actionable and transparent,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). “The Justice Counts initiative is building the data infrastructure this country needs — and will use — to create safe and just communities.”

“We take for granted that the fiscal and policy decisions being made by our elected leaders are informed by up-to-date, carefully analyzed data, but we find that, on issues of public safety, that is often not the case,” said Acting Director Kristen Mahoney of the BJA. “This partnership — virtually unprecedented in its size and scope — will drive us toward consensus on the key data points needed to shape our responses to our nation’s crime and justice challenges.”

States and localities and agencies therein will receive tools and assistance from Justice Counts partners to adopt metrics and use the data to inform their decision-making. The Justice Counts Data Scans already demonstrate the concept in a central, practical resource for stakeholders to identify gaps and inconsistencies in corrections reporting across all 50 states.

“Before we can solve the challenges facing our criminal justice system, we first need an accurate picture of what is happening inside the system,” said Director Megan Quattlebaum of the CSG Justice Center. “Unfortunately, many policymakers are forced to make important decisions surrounding public safety and justice based on outdated or incomplete information. Justice Counts is an unparalleled, consensus-based initiative that will empower states to use accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date data, allowing state and local leaders to make informed decisions that increase public safety, health and equity.”

A list of Justice Counts partners follows:

• American Jail Association
• American Probation and Parole Association
• Correctional Leaders Association
• CNA
• International Association of Chiefs of Police
• Justice Management Institute
• Measures for Justice
• National Association of Counties Research Foundation
• National Association of State Budget Officers
• National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
• NRI
• National Criminal Justice Association
• National Center for State Courts
• National Conference of State Legislatures
• National District Attorneys Association
• National Governors Association
• National Legal Aid & Defender Association
• National Sheriffs’ Association
• RAND Corporation
• Recidiviz
• University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute

For more information, visit the Justice Counts website.

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

A federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, unsealed an indictment today charging the owner of a network of health care and rehabilitation facilities with willfully failing to withhold and pay over employment taxes on behalf of his employees, tax evasion, and failing to file benefit plan reports.

According to the indictment, Joseph Schwartz, an insurance broker, failed to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over millions of dollars in payroll taxes owed to the IRS on behalf of his employees as required by law. Schwartz owned and operated the New Jersey-based Skyline Management Group LLC and several related companies (Skyline), which in turn owned and managed 95 health care and rehabilitation facilities operating in at least 11 states. Schwartz allegedly controlled the finances of Skyline and the related companies.

In approximately late 2016, Schwartz and an associate allegedly created several businesses to provide staffing and management services for approximately 15,000 employees of the Skyline-owned health care and rehabilitation facilities. Although the staffing companies were nominally owned by other individuals, Schwartz allegedly controlled their finances and operation. From mid-2017 through June 2018, Schwartz allegedly caused the staffing companies to not pay approximately $38,982,016 in payroll taxes and unemployment taxes due the IRS. To evade unemployment taxes owed by the staffing companies, Schwartz allegedly used nominees to hide his control of the companies. He allegedly also provided, and directed others to provide, insufficient funds to pay the taxes owed.

In addition, as the trustee of Skyline’s 401K retirement plan, Schwartz allegedly did not file required reports with the Department of Labor relating to the financial condition, investments and operation of the retirement plan.

Schwartz made his initial court appearance on Thursday, Jan. 20, before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. If convicted, Schwartz faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of willful failure to collect, account for, and pay over employment taxes, five years in prison for each count of tax evasion, and ten years in prison for each count of failure to file a benefit plan report. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sullinger for the District of New Jersey; Special Agent In Charge Michael Montanez of IRS-Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office; and the Department of Labor Criminal Investigations Program made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Department of Labor Criminal Investigations Program are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Shawn Noud of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Senior Litigation Counsel Vincent Grady O’Malley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office are prosecuting the case.

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

A federal indictment was unsealed today charging a North Carolina man with tax evasion and failing to file tax returns.

According to the indictment, Darren Lee Joy, 63, of Charlotte, earned more than $750,000 in wages between 2015 and 2020, but he did not file any federal income tax returns for those years. Joy, who was employed as an information technology specialist by companies in the Charlotte area, allegedly submitted to his employers IRS Forms W-4 falsely stating he was exempt from federal income tax withholding. By claiming exempt status, Joy allegedly caused his employers to withhold little or no federal income taxes from his wages.

Joy is charged with six counts of tax evasion and six counts of willfully failing to file a tax return. If convicted, Joy faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion and one year in prison for each count of failing to file a tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Dena J. King of the Western District of North Carolina made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Brian Flanagan of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

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