Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Matthew Laver, 38, of Souderton, in Montgomery County, PA was sentenced to 144 months’ incarceration and ten years’ supervised release by United States District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson for multiple child exploitation offenses including distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography.

The defendant pleaded guilty in September 2019 after authorities conducted an investigation that revealed his collection of almost 4,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, which he downloaded and distributed to other users on the internet over approximately ten years. The investigation also revealed that Laver trafficked in child pornography that depicted children as young as infants being sexually assaulted and raped -- and that he did so during the time that he was employed as a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Officer.

“This is an appalling case,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The defendant was a member of a law enforcement organization charged with enforcing the law and protecting the public, but he was actually a child predator. Laver’s crimes are also particularly disturbing due to the very young ages of some of the children depicted in his child pornography ‘collection.’ We stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute all those who would prey upon minor children, no matter who they are.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce sexual crimes against children. The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Offices work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce sexual crimes against children.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Eileen Zelek and Michelle Rotella.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Louis Mathis, 49, of Philadelphia, PA was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and restitution of $398,960 by United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert following his conviction on charges of Hobbs Act robbery and interstate transportation of stolen goods.  A co-defendant, Hasan Knight, is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction on similar charges on Friday, January 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., also before Judge Pappert.

Defendants Mathis and Knight both pleaded guilty to federal charges in October 2019, arising from a series of robberies, burglaries, and thefts of department stores in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 2016. The men and their accomplices robbed or burglarized these businesses, typically to obtain high-end clothing and jewelry, and transported the stolen merchandise (in cars they had stolen) to Philadelphia. Mathis, the leader of this crew of thieves, then fenced the stolen items to shops on Jewelers’ Row and South Street in Philadelphia and to designer clothing sellers.

“Mathis and his accomplices thought they could make a quick buck by victimizing legitimate businesses and passing off the stolen goods as their own,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “They were wrong. We will aggressively use all available tools at the federal level to protect businesses and their employees against this type of predation and to keep the community safe.”

“This smash-and-grab crew got bolder as it went along — from overnight break-ins to brazen robberies during business hours that terrified employees and patrons,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “They looted these places, fenced the stolen goods, and pocketed the illegal proceeds. In the end, though, crime doesn’t pay, and has instead led to an extended stay in federal prison. The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force is gratified to see Mathis and his criminal crew off the street.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Damiani.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Milton Mateo Garcia-Vasquez, 32, of Philadelphia, PA and a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 24 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Paul S. Diamond for unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported.

Garcia-Vasquez pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after deportation in August 2019. The defendant was previously deported and removed from the United States on June 18, 2013, and never requested or received authorization to re-enter the country. Nonetheless, he broke the law by re-entering the country and then proceeded to brutally rape a young woman near Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The defendant grabbed the young woman from behind while she was walking back to her apartment, pushed her into the apartment and sexually assaulted her. He then left, but soon returned to the apartment and sexually assaulted the victim a second time. Garcia-Vasquez was arrested on June 23, 2014 by Philadelphia Police and charged with burglary, kidnapping and rape. He pleaded guilty to those charges in 2015 and was sentenced to a total of 22-44 years in state prison.

“Responsible public policy involves protecting public safety by setting up incentives for people to follow the law. Sanctuary city polices do just the opposite by incentivizing illegal aliens to come to sanctuary jurisdictions, like Philadelphia, where they are led to believe that our nation’s immigration laws will not apply to them,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “A natural consequence of this policymaking is that illegal aliens are drawn to Philadelphia, where some of them commit heinous crimes that never would have occurred if they weren’t here in the first place. This is a terrible tragedy for the innocent victims of such crimes. But it is also a tragedy for our justice system because it normalizes the unfair and un-American idea that the rule of law should not apply to a certain segment of society -- namely, illegal aliens. Anyone who cares about the rule of law or equal treatment under the law should find sanctuary city policies utterly repugnant. We at the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to enforce the rule of law in a neutral, non-partisan manner, rather than playing favorites.”

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that a Philadelphia-based personal injury law firm, Simon & Simon, P.C., has entered into a settlement agreement with the United States to resolve allegations that it failed to reimburse the United States for certain Medicare payments. The government had made these payments to medical providers for the firm’s clients.

The government’s investigation arose under the Social Security Act’s Medicare Secondary Payer provisions. This law authorizes Medicare, as a secondary payer, to make conditional payments for medical items or services under certain circumstances. When an injured person receives a settlement or judgment, Medicare regulations require entities who receive the settlement or judgment proceeds, such as the injured person’s attorney, to repay Medicare within 60 days for its conditional payments. If Medicare does not receive timely repayment, these regulations permit the government to recover the conditional payments from the injured person’s attorney and anyone else who received the settlement or judgment proceeds.

The government alleged that at various points between 2014 and 2019, Medicare made conditional payments to healthcare providers to satisfy medical bills of eight of the firm’s clients. Although Medicare demanded that Simon & Simon repay the resulting Medicare debts, the firm allegedly failed to do so.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Simon & Simon agreed to pay a lump sum of $6,604.59. The firm also agreed to (1) name a person responsible for paying Medicare secondary payer debts; (2) train the employee to ensure that the firm pays these debts on a timely basis; (3) review any additional outstanding debts to ensure compliance; and (4) provide written certifications of compliance. In addition, Simon & Simon acknowledged that any failure to submit timely repayment of Medicare secondary payer debt may result in liability for the wrongful retention of a government overpayment under the False Claims Act.

The resolution here follows a similar one against Rosenbaum & Associates, a Philadelphia personal injury firm that settled with the United States in 2018. When an attorney fails to reimburse Medicare, the United States can recover from the attorney—even if the attorney already gave the money to the client. Congress enacted these provisions to ensure that Medicare receives timely reimbursement for its conditional payments.

“This settlement agreement should remind personal injury lawyers and others of their obligation to reimburse Medicare when they receive settlement or judgment proceeds for their clients,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Lawyers need to set a good example and follow the rules of the road for Medicare reimbursement. If they don’t, we will move aggressively to recover the money for taxpayers.”

There has been no determination of civil liability. The settled civil claims are allegations only.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Macko, acting upon a referral from Eric S. Wolfish, Assistant Regional Counsel for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Region III.

A Philadelphia-area doctor was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine yesterday for the illegal distribution of oxycodone.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Harpster of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Philadelphia Regional Office, Special Agent in Charge Jonathan A. Wilson of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division and U.S. Marshal Eric S. Gartner of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania made the announcement.

Richard Ira Mintz, D.O., 69, of Dresher, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who also ordered Mintz to serve three years of supervised release and 90 days of home confinement following release. Mintz pleaded guilty in March 2019 to eight counts of distributing controlled substances (oxycodone) outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.

Mintz has surrendered his medical license and DEA Certificate of Registration.

The FBI, HHS-OIG, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and Philadelphia Police Department investigated the case. Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Macko of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania handled the parallel civil case, in which Mintz paid a $107,584 monetary penalty.

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

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.  

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Omar Faruq, 37, and Omar Ali, 36, both of Pennsauken, New Jersey, were sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones for their roles in conspiring to file false tax returns while operating a tax preparation business in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Judge Quiñones sentenced Omar Faruq to 24 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and restitution of $688,362; she sentenced Omar Ali to 18 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and restitution of $573,322. Faruq and Ali must pay the restitution to the United States Department of Treasury.

Codefendants Faruq and Ali pleaded guilty in June 2019 to filing false tax returns on behalf of their clients at Omar Consultancy Inc., a tax service they operated with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In filing tax returns for their clients, Faruq and Ali consistently used false filing status, Schedule A deductions and expenses, Schedule C business income and losses, and fictitious credits to decrease a client’s tax liabilities, all of which resulted in increased refunds for many of their clients. Faruq and Ali then diverted portions of these refunds into their own bank accounts as part of the conspiracy.

“These defendants – professional tax preparers – committed fraud and stole from the United States government, while duping their clients,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The defendants also stole from the pockets of all taxpayers who do the right thing every April and pay their fair share of taxes. With tax season approaching, these sentencings serve as a warning for anyone considering this type of fraud.”

“With this year’s filing season just around the corner, today’s sentencings are a good reminder of how important it is to do your homework when choosing a professional tax preparer,” stated John R. Tafur, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office. “Taxpayers should be selective in choosing a tax preparer and have confidence knowing that person will prepare accurate tax returns and safeguard their financial information. Those tax preparers who choose to abuse our tax system will end up on the radar screen of IRS Criminal Investigation.”

The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard P. Barrett.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain and Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced that Richard Ira Mintz, D.O., 69, of Dresher, Pennsylvania was sentenced to one year and one day imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and $100,000 fine by United States District Court Judge Michael Baylson for illegally distributing controlled substances.

The defendant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to eight counts of distributing controlled substances (oxycodone) outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Mintz has surrendered his medical license and DEA Certificate of Registration. From approximately July 2016 through July 2018, Mintz worked at a medical practice in Philadelphia where he sold fraudulent and medically unnecessary oxycodone prescriptions. He wrote the prescriptions in the names of three individuals whom he had never met or examined.

“As our District is struggling under the weight of the opioid epidemic, this doctor used his prescription pad to harm rather than heal,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “He saw an opportunity to make money off of those struggling with addiction and took advantage of the situation out of sheer greed. Physicians who abuse their positions of trust within the community for financial gain will be held accountable by my Office.”

“Dr. Mintz pleaded guilty to federal drug distribution charges for selling prescriptions for powerful and addictive prescription painkillers such as oxycodone without any legitimate medical purpose and for profit,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Medical doctors, like all DEA registrants that are entrusted with handling controlled substances, need to do so in accordance with good faith medical practice and for legitimate medical purposes.”

This case originated as part of a regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force that operates in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. The Strike Force is a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 federal districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General (HHS – OIG), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals’ Service, the Office of Pennsylvania Attorney General and the Philadelphia Police Department. Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Macko of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania handled the parallel civil case, in which defendant Mintz paid a $107,584 monetary penalty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Tree of Life, Inc., and its owners and operators, Ada and Victor Vidal, agreed to settle allegations under the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute that they submitted thousands of fraudulent Medicaid claims for outpatient mental health services that were never rendered to their patients, including forgery of psychiatrists’ and therapists’ signatures on patient progress notes and treatment plans. As part of the settlement with the United States, Tree of Life and the Vidals agreed to pay $1.65 million and will be excluded from participating in federal healthcare programs. As a result, Tree of Life has closed its operations effective December 31, 2019.

Tree of Life was a for-profit, behavioral health clinic in Northeast Philadelphia that provided outpatient psychiatric and psychotherapy mental health services to individuals, including to low income patients. Between 2008 and 2013, Tree of Life allegedly submitted thousands of fraudulent Medicaid claims for outpatient mental health services. Specifically, Tree of Life billed Medicaid for services never rendered, billed Medicaid for falsely inflated services, created false patient progress notes and billing sheets, and forged psychiatrists’ and therapists’ signatures on patient progress notes and treatment plans. Tree of Life also allegedly submitted billing for therapy provided by unqualified individuals and the clinic paid kickbacks to a social worker for referrals of patients.

The government further contends that Tree of Life’s fraudulent scheme included the submission of bogus claims for therapy sessions provided to clients who were hospitalized at the time of the alleged therapy session, submission of claims for therapy sessions provided by therapists who no longer worked for Tree of Life at the time of the alleged therapy session, and submission of claims for therapy sessions allegedly provided on days when the office was closed. Tree of Life even submitted claims for clients who were deceased at the time of the alleged therapy. As a consequence, federal healthcare payers, including Medicaid, overpaid Tree of Life by millions of dollars.

“The fraud in this case is particularly egregious as it affects the treatment and care of low-income Philadelphians seeking mental health services,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Receiving payments from Medicaid and not providing the billed services to those individuals who deserve appropriate treatment cheats those patients who need care, in addition to defrauding the federal government and therefore, American taxpayers. This resolution represents our commitment to holding accountable those who engage in fraud that affects the residents of Philadelphia and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.”

“Exclusion is an important tool in our ongoing battle against health care fraud,” said Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will continue to work closely with the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure the integrity of taxpayer funds and to protect beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs, while excluding from federal programs those providers who engage in fraud.”  Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, Tree of Life agreed to be excluded for 25 years, Ada Vidal agreed to be excluded for 20 years, and Victor Vidal agreed to be excluded for 15 years.

This settlement resolved a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by the former Clinical Director of Tree of Life, Erika Desjardins. Under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, private citizens are permitted to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. The False Claims Act also permits the government to intervene and take over the lawsuit, which occurred in this case. The qui tam complaint was filed by Robert A. Davitch, Esquire of Sidkoff, Pincus & Green, P.C. and Sidney L. Gold, Esquire of Sidney L. Gold & Associates, P.C. “We thank the relator and the relator’s counsel for their invaluable contribution in this case. Without this type of information from citizens, detecting fraud and conserving government program funds would be much more difficult,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. The whistleblower in this case, Ms. Desjardins, will receive $330,000 as her share of the recovery. She allegedly confronted Ada Vidal about the fraud and was allegedly fired for refusing to participate in the scheme.

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

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. For the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation and settlement were handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica J. Finkelstein and health care fraud auditor George Niedzwicki. Additional assistance was provided by health care fraud auditors Denis Cooke and Dawn Wiggins.

The case is captioned Erika Desjardins v. Tree of Life Behavioral Services, Inc.; Tree of Life Professional Behavioral Health Services, Inc.; and Tree of Life Professional Behavioral Health Systems, Civil Action No. 14-2039 (E.D. Pa.). The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that several defendants were sentenced by the Honorable Juan R. Sanchez for their involvement in a years’ long drug distribution conspiracy and related crimes, the last of whom, Bryant Calloway, was sentenced today to lifetime imprisonment.

From about 2010 until about May 7, 2015, a group of individuals sold crack cocaine at all times of day and night on a public playground located at the intersection of 52nd and Westminster Streets, in West Philadelphia, and on its surrounding streets known collectively as “the Grounds.” “The Grounds” drug distribution group relied on a number of street level sellers who were supplied by Frederick Porter. Porter, in turn, purchased cocaine and crack cocaine from Robert Mack, the ultimate supplier for “the Grounds” group. Meanwhile, mere blocks away, a rival drug distribution group also sold crack cocaine, at all times of day and night, out of another neighborhood public playground, called “the Pit,” located near to the intersection of  51st and Funston Streets, also in West Philadelphia. “The Pit” group was led by Sean Gilliam, who supplied the street level drug dealers.

Both groups were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) after a series of shootings, over drug turf, that occurred between the rival groups in 2013. The shootings began on August 5, 2013, when Bryant Calloway, a member of “the Pit” drug group, shot and killed Brian Littles, a seller for “the Grounds” group, in an effort to expand “the Pit’s” drug territory. In retaliation for Littles’ murder, Calloway was shot several times by James Wilson, a member of “the Grounds.”  Then, in response to Calloway being shot, Sean Wilson, a member of “the Pit,” went to “the Grounds” area and shot an innocent bystander that he believed, wrongly, was responsible for Calloway’s shooting. The ATF investigation resulted in the defendants being charged for their involvement in drug distribution, firearms offenses, shootings, and murder. All charged defendants, from each group, were convicted by either guilty plea or jury verdict and have now been sentenced.

The defendants associated with “the Grounds” are:

• Robert Mack, a/k/a “Tweet,” age 53, sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment;
• Kenneth Riley, a/k/a “Kenny,” age 26, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment;
• James Wilson, a/k/a “J.T.,” age 28, sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment;
• Mark Samuel, age 28, sentenced to 6 ½ years’ imprisonment; and
• Xavier Towel, a/k/a “Zay,” age 26, sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment.

The defendants associated with “the Pit” are:

• Bryant Calloway, a/k/a “Bigs,” age 32, sentenced to lifetime imprisonment;
• Sean Gilliam, a/k/a “Shizzy Ones,” age 42, sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment;
• Sean Wilson, a/k/a “Lil Shizz,” age 26, sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment;
• Tonie Henderson, a/k/a “Tone,” age 29, sentenced to 12 ½ years’ imprisonment; and
• Tyree Johnson, a/k/a “Riq,” age 43, sentenced to 9 years’ imprisonment.

“These two violent drug gangs wreaked havoc in this West Philadelphia neighborhood, terrorizing the people living there,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “When we see concentrated violence like this, it is often the case that a small group of people is causing the destruction. These perpetrators need to be arrested, charged and aggressively prosecuted in order to protect those who are trying to live peacefully and to deter others from similar lawlessness. All of these criminals will now be serving lengthy sentences in federal prison – which is where they belong.”

“A key component of ATF’s mission is to combat and reduce violent crime. The sentence that was handed down today is another victory in the battle against violent crime for ATF, our law enforcement partners, and more importantly, the citizens of Philadelphia,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Donald Robinson.  “This sentence is a perfect example of the collaborative effort between the ATF, the United States Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department to target violent offenders that are responsible for drug trafficking and related gun violence in our communities.”

“The investigation, arrests, and successful prosecution of the members of these two dangerous rival groups serve as evidence of the merits of sustained collaboration between law enforcement agencies. We expect the attendant sentencings to have an appreciable impact on the safety and quality of life for the residents of the Mill Creek community,” said Acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter.

The case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan B. Ortiz and Seth Schlessinger.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Darryl Goodman, 55, and Nieem Cann, 26, both of Philadelphia, PA, were arrested and charged by Indictment for a series of violent robberies across the Delaware Valley over a four month period early last year.  The ten-count Indictment charges Goodman and Cann with various offenses including conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm, carjacking, and possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver.  

Between February and May 2019, the defendants are alleged to have perpetrated a string of violent robberies and attempted robberies of delivery workers and drivers for a pharmaceutical supplies company, TXX Services.  The defendants’ alleged attacks on TXX drivers spanned a large geographic area that includes the City of Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Delaware County and into New Jersey.  For each robbery, the defendants—working with other co-conspirators—would travel to TXX Services’ warehouse in Cherry Hill, NJ in the early morning hours and then follow a delivery van along its route.  Goodman and Cann would then assault the driver in the course of a delivery, carjack the delivery van and abduct the victim, and drive the van to another location in order to raid its supplies and resell them on the street.  In one of the incidents alleged in the Indictment, the robbery of a TXX delivery worker at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in March 2019, the defendants managed to steal over $140,000 worth of controlled substances and hospital supplies, including numerous vials of fentanyl citrate, a highly addictive opioid pain medicine. 

“The allegations here are appalling, as the defendants ruthlessly stalked their victims before violently assaulting them,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The TXX employees were simply doing their jobs, delivering much-needed medicine and supplies to healthcare centers, and of course should not have had to worry about having a gun pointed at them.  It takes a special kind of depravity to steal medicine and hospital supplies in this manner.  We will continue to work relentlessly to hold dangerous criminals accountable and get them off of the streets.”

“Not only did these defendants allegedly commit a string of brazen, violent carjack robberies, they did so in order to steal and sell controlled pharmaceuticals, including fentanyl, on the street,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “Know that the Philadelphia Violent Crimes Task Force is working each and every day to stop dangerous criminals who have decided to make their money preying on the public.”

If convicted, both defendants face a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crimes Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sara Solow.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced today that Bucks County dentist Dr. Pranathi V. Reddy will pay $150,000 and stop prescribing Schedule II opioids for four years to resolve allegations that she diverted controlled substances for personal use and overdosed on one occasion, and that she failed to comply with various record-keeping requirements for controlled substances.

The settlement resolves allegations that, on October 14, 2018, Reddy diverted a package of controlled substances for her personal use, which resulted in an overdose and her transport to the hospital. It also resolves allegations that, from June 2017 through November 2018, she failed to maintain various records of the controlled substances she used in her professional practice as a dentist. For example, the settlement resolves allegations that Reddy failed to maintain an initial inventory of her controlled substances, document the transfer of controlled substances on the required forms, and failed to maintain the controlled substances at her registered locations.

In addition to the $150,000 penalty, Reddy is now barred from purchasing, prescribing, or dispensing any Schedule II controlled substances for at least the next four years. She is also subject to a number of monitoring requirements, including reporting her controlled substance purchasing, dispensing, and prescribing to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Controlled substances, especially opioids, pose extraordinary risks to our communities, including to healthcare providers,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams. “When providers are granted the privilege of purchasing and prescribing controlled substances, they also accept the weighty responsibilities that come along with those privileges, including ensuring that controlled substances are used for a legitimate medical purpose and generating the records necessary for accountability and transparency. Unfortunately, sometimes they fail to comply with these critical responsibilities, and that is when it is necessary for our Office to step in and work with our law enforcement partners to use all available enforcement tools to hold these providers responsible.”

“Dr. Reddy, like all DEA registrants that are licensed and entrusted with the safe handling of powerful controlled substances, failed to accurately document and secure these same controlled substances in accordance with federal regulations,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division. “In the midst of the current opioid crisis, even medical professionals are not immune from the perils of substance use disorder.”

This investigation was conducted with the Pennsylvania Department of State’s Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division and Camden, New Jersey Resident Office. For the United States Attorney’s Office, Assistant United States Attorney Anthony D. Scicchitano handled the investigation and settlement.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced today that Sung W. Sohn, 50, of Burford, Georgia was sentenced to 12 months’ and one day imprisonment, and ordered to pay $224,000 in restitution by Chief United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez for the interstate transportation of stolen property related to a scheme he perpetrated to steal and ship hundreds of office printers by misusing a product rewards program.

In September 2019, the defendant pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with interstate transportation of stolen property in 2017 and 2018.  During this time period, Sohn stole, and then sold and shipped, over 600 office printers by misusing a product rewards program offered to Sohn’s employer by Company 1, a manufacturer of office printers and printer supplies.  

Sohn worked in Philadelphia for a company that purchased printers manufactured by Company 1.  The company offered reward points to customers that also purchased ink and toner from Company 1.  In June of 2017, Sohn used an account number he found on a shipping box and associated it to his employer’s rewards account with Company 1.  The account number was not for an account actually used by the employer, and it generated far more points than would be possible given his employer’s ink and toner purchases.  Sohn then redeemed these improperly obtained reward points in order to receive free printers from Company 1, sold the printers online, and kept the proceeds for his personal use.  Sohn fraudulently obtained 604 printers in this way, which was a loss to Company 1 at retail value of $293,000.

“This Office takes white collar fraud and theft offenses very seriously,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams. “And that’s exactly what this was – it was theft.  The defendant took advantage of his position with his employer to improperly hoard rewards points and sell printers to which he was not entitled. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect innocent individuals and businesses from being victimized by this type of fraud.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Albert S. Glenn.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Fallyn Mathis, 37, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $12,628 by United States District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, for collecting unemployment compensation while, at the same time, earning income from her seasonal employment with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The defendant pled guilty in this case to one count of theft of government money in August 2019.  The charge stems from Mathis’ intermittent conduct between 2015 and 2017, during which time the defendant repeatedly certified her eligibility for federal unemployment compensation benefits through the Department of Labor's recertification process, while she was actually in active-work status with, and receiving a salary from, the IRS.  Each false certification prompted the payment of unemployment compensation funds that were electronically deposited into her bank account. Mathis was not entitled to receive more than $12,600 in unemployment benefits that she collected during this time period.

“While serving as an employee of the IRS, a federal government agency working on behalf of taxpayers, the defendant abused the government’s unemployment compensation system for a substantial amount of time,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams.  “Mathis was essentially double-dipping at taxpayers’ expense; taking funds to which she was not entitled and that should have gone to someone actually struggling with unemployment.”

“The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is committed to identifying and prosecuting Internal Revenue Service employees who fraudulently abuse Federal benefits programs,” said J. Russell George.  “We appreciate the assistance provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and the commitment of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in prosecuting this defendant.”

The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Jeanette Kang.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Jovaun Patterson, 30, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania entered a plea of guilty before United States District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg on charges of one count of attempted robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (known as Hobbs Act robbery), and one count of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.  These charges stem from the defendant’s attempted armed robbery on May 5, 2018, of the KCJ, Inc. convenience store during which Patterson shot the store owner Li (“Mike”) Poeng with an assault rifle, leaving Mr. Poeng in a coma and eventually confined to a wheelchair.

Prior to federal prosecutors filing these charges by Indictment in February 2019, Patterson was arrested by Philadelphia police for the May 5, 2018 incident and charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery–threat of immediate serious injury, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, possession of a firearm on a street in Philadelphia, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, and reckless endangerment of another person.  On November 15, 2018, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office permitted Patterson to enter a negotiated guilty plea to charges of only aggravated assault, robbery–threat of immediate serious injury, and possession of an instrument of crime.  The DA’s Office also agreed to a sentence of only 3½ to 10 years’ imprisonment.  That plea deal was in line with the soft-on-crime priorities of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.  Thereafter, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stepped in to bring federal charges and ensure justice was done. 

“Violent crime is a severe and growing problem in Philadelphia, and fighting that trend is a top priority of my Office,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “The Philadelphia District Attorney, Mr. Krasner, does not share that priority – preferring to look out for violent offenders like Mr. Patterson, who received a ridiculously lenient plea deal because of Mr. Krasner.  I can assure the citizens of Philadelphia that my Office sees the problem and is working hard to do what we can to stem the rising tide by bringing federal charges when we are able, which is what occurred here.  Now, this defendant will face a potential sentence that reflects the severity of his crime.”

“ATF’s top priority is combating violent crime; one of the ways we accomplish that mission is by keeping firearms out of the hands of violent offenders,” said Donald Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Philadelphia Field Division.  “This case is a perfect example of the collaborative effort between ATF, our partners at the Philadelphia Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office in targeting violent offenders and protecting our communities.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Salvatore L. Astolfi.

A Pennsylvania doctor pleaded guilty to fraud and drug importation charges for his role in a scheme to illegally import medications not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and administer these medications to his patients, and unlawfully distributing oxycodone to his patients.

Thomas J. Whalen, D.O., 65, a Havertown, Pennsylvania, rheumatologist pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, one count of importation contrary to law and two counts of distribution of controlled substances before U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Sentencing is scheduled for April 1, 2020, before Judge Savage.

“The defendant endangered his patients’ health and safety by importing and administering non-FDA approved medications,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “This plea shows that medical professionals who prioritize profit over patient care will face the consequences for their crimes.”

“This guilty plea from Dr. Whalen is the latest example of my office’s commitment to stopping health care fraud and diversion,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “We work closely with our partners in the Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force and will continue to root out fraud in the medical profession. Specifically, we are committed to stopping criminals in the medical profession from stealing from public programs, threatening the safety of patients, and pushing illegal pills onto the streets.”

“Dr. Whalen placed the health of countless patients at risk by administering non-FDA approved drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Philadelphia Office.  “Such medications are not paid for by Medicare due to the risk they may pose to patient health.  Our watchdog agency, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to protect the public and root out dangerous and costly fraud schemes.”

“Dr. Whalen has pleaded guilty to the unlawful distribution of oxycodone, which is a powerful prescription painkiller,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan A. Wilson of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division.  “Of particular concern is that he knowingly prescribed oxycodone to patients who were abusing illegal street drugs such as cocaine and heroin.  Doctors have a professional and moral obligation to treat patients who are struggling with substance use disorder – not enable it.” 

“Dr. Whalen imported and used non-FDA approved drugs from Turkey and the United Kingdom, without any regard for the safety and health of his patients. In addition, he prescribed powerful pain killers to patients already struggling with addiction,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge William Walker of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia. “Doctors take an oath to do no harm. This oath was clearly betrayed by not only committing healthcare fraud for his own financial gain, but by contributing to our nation’s opioid crisis. Thanks to our partnership with Customs and Border Protection, we have brought one more person to justice, and many more individuals out of harm’s way.”

“When health care professionals import unsafe, untested prescription drugs from outside the drug supply chain that the FDA oversees, the American public's health and trust are jeopardized,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark S. McCormack of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), Metro Washington Field Office.  “The FDA is committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who attempt to subvert the safeguards of our closed drug supply by distributing unapproved products.”

“Dr. Whalen falsely billed federal benefit programs, pocketing over a million dollars he wasn’t entitled to,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Harpster of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “Between that and his unlawful diversion of prescription opioids, Whalen was doing damage on many levels. The FBI will continue to crack down on crooked medical professionals more interested in their profits than their patients.”  

In pleading guilty, Whalen admitted that, from about January 2014 through March 2018, he illegally imported non-FDA-approved biologic medications, including Remicade, Synvisc, Synvisc-One, Orencia, Prolia/Xgeva and Boniva.  Rather than purchase FDA-approved versions of these medicines from authorized distributors, Whalen devised a scheme to purchase much cheaper foreign, non-FDA-approved versions of these medications.  Unbeknownst to his patients, Whalen injected or infused his patients with the non-FDA-approved medications and then falsely billed federal health care benefit programs approximately $2.3 million and was paid directly approximately $1.1 million, and pocketed the profits for himself, he admitted. 

Whalen also admitted to unlawfully distributing oxycodone by prescribing oxycodone to patients outside the course of his professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. In particular, with two patients, Whalen prescribed oxycodone despite knowing from a review of patients’ urine drug screen tests that the patients were using illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine, and/or that each was not taking the mediations that Whalen prescribed.

HHS-OIG, DEA, HSI, FDA-OCI and the FBI investigated the case with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Trial Attorney Debra Jaroslawicz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Koob of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

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

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Thomas J. Whalen, D.O., 65, of Havertown, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to charges related to his unlawful importation of foreign, non-FDA approved injectable medications that he falsely billed to health care benefit programs in the amount of nearly $2.3 million. The Delaware County rheumatologist also pleaded guilty to unlawfully distributing oxycodone. Whalen knowingly prescribed oxycodone to patients actively using illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

Whalen pled guilty to an Information charging him with one count of health care fraud, one count of importation contrary to law, and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1, 2020, by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage, who accepted his plea. Whalen faces a maximum possible sentence of 70 years’ imprisonment, a $2,500,000 fine, 3 years’ supervised release, and a $400 mandatory special assessment.

Whalen owned and operated Rheumatology Consultants, P.C., doing business as Whalen Rheumatology Group, with locations in Havertown, PA, Exton, PA, and Wilmington, DE. As part of his practice, Whalen used medications administrated by injection and infusion to treat his patients. These medications, including Remicade Synvisc, Synvisc-One, Orencia, Prolia/Xgeva, and Boniva, are made of living cells and are expensive. Rather than purchase FDA-approved versions of these medicines from authorized distributors, Whalen devised a scheme to purchase much cheaper foreign, non-FDA approved versions of these medications. Unbeknownst to his patients, Whalen injected or infused his patients with the non-FDA approved medications and then billed federal health care programs, pocketing approximately $1.1 million in illicit gains.

Whalen also prescribed oxycodone to patients abusing illicit drugs. The Information lists two patients to whom Whalen prescribed oxycodone despite receiving multiple urine drug screening results for each that revealed that the patients were simultaneously abusing cocaine and heroin.

“This guilty plea from Dr. Whalen is the latest example of my Office’s commitment to stopping health care fraud and diversion,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “We work closely with our partners in the Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force and will continue to root out fraud in the medical profession. Specifically, we are committed to stopping criminals in the medical profession from stealing from public programs, threatening the safety of patients, and pushing illegal pills onto the streets.”

“Dr. Whalen placed the health of countless patients at risk by administering non-FDA approved drugs. Such medications are not paid for by Medicare due to the risk they may pose to patient health,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen R. Dixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “Our watchdog agency, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to protect the public and root out dangerous and costly fraud schemes.”

“Dr. Whalen has pleaded guilty to the unlawful distribution of oxycodone, which is a powerful prescription painkiller. Of particular concern is that he knowingly prescribed oxycodone to patients that were abusing illegal street drugs such as cocaine and heroin,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division.  “Doctors have a professional and moral obligation to treat patients that are struggling with substance use disorder – not enable it.” 

“Dr. Whalen imported and used non-FDA approved drugs from Turkey and the United Kingdom, without any regard for the safety and health of his patients. In addition, he prescribed powerful pain killers to patients already struggling with addiction,” said William Walker, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia. “Doctors take an oath to do no harm. This oath was clearly betrayed by not only committing healthcare fraud for his own financial gain, but by contributing to our nation’s opioid crisis.” Walker continued, “Thanks to our partnership with Customs and Border Protection, we have brought one more person to justice, and many more individuals out of harm’s way.”

“When healthcare professionals import unsafe, untested prescription drugs from outside the drug supply chain that the FDA oversees, the American public health and trust are jeopardized,” said Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office. “The FDA is committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who attempt to subvert the safeguards of our closed drug supply by distributing unapproved products.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Trial Attorney Debra Jaroslawicz with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Paul J. Koob are prosecuting the case.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Gerald Griffith, also known as “Jerry Porecca,” 47, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Court Judge Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro, to two counts of bank robbery, two counts of armed bank robbery, and four counts of Hobbs Act robbery arising from his unrelenting crime spree between July and December 2018.  He was charged by Indictment in April 2019.

For a period of about six months, the defendant robbed or attempted to rob four separate banks—two while brandishing what appeared to be a gun—as well as a Shop Rite supermarket, a Wawa convenience store, a Sonoco A-Plus gas station, and a Dollar General retail store, all in Northeast Philadelphia. 

Griffith’s series of robberies began on July 9, 2018, when he attempted to rob the BB&T Bank at 6633 Roosevelt Boulevard by threatening to blow up the bank, and then approximately ten minutes later robbed the Firstrust Bank at 9303 Krewstown Road, again by verbal threat.  About one month later, Griffith moved on to armed bank robbery, holding up the Fishtown-area BB&T Bank at 2330 East York Street on August 21, and then the BB&T Bank located at 2601 Orthodox Street the very next day.   At these last two bank robberies, Griffith brandished what the bank tellers described as a long, shiny silver handgun, threatening them not to press “any buttons” and demanding that they give him “hundreds.” 

In addition, Griffith robbed the Shop Rite at 6301 Oxford Avenue earlier that summer, and between December 5 and December 8, he robbed the Wawa at 3200 Richmond Street, and then attempted to rob the Sonoco-A-Plus at 3200 Richmond Street and the Dollar General at 3501 Cedar Street.

“The complete disregard that Griffith displayed for the safety of others over such a sustained period of time is appalling,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams. “He terrorized this neighborhood for months, affecting dozens of people who are now living with the repercussions of having been targeted by him.  The employees of these banks and stores were simply doing their jobs when the defendant threatened them with violence and then an actual weapon. The streets of Philadelphia are safer now that Griffith has been convicted and is facing significant prison time.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Newcomer and Sara Solow.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Michael Gerstenberg, 51, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, 3 years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $750,427.36 by United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl for failing to collect, account for, and pay federal employment taxes for employees of the defendant’s company, A. E. Logistics Inc., and for his scheme to inflate the wages of his former girlfriend on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms and tax returns as a means to syphon additional funds from that company for his personal use.   

According to court documents, A.E. Logistics Inc. was a corporation created and controlled by the defendant doing business as a trucking company in Allentown, PA.  During the period January 2012 through December 2014, Gerstenberg caused A.E. Logistics to make thousands of dollars of expenditures for his personal benefit while, at the same time, failed to pay IRS payroll taxes which were withheld from his employees’ paychecks. For example, Gerstenberg caused A.E. Logistics to spend thousands of dollars to pay for a wide variety of extravagant personal expenses such as a Caribbean vacation and other travel, gambling, jewelry, fine dining, country club dues, nightclubs, and entertainment for himself, members of his family and his personal friends. 

The defendant also placed his former girlfriend on the company’s payroll and reported inflated wages for her on IRS forms and tax returns as a means to syphon additional funds from that company for his personal use.  Her “wages” were deposited into a joint account controlled by Gerstenberg, and he paid no income taxes on those wages when he prepared the couple’s tax returns. 

According to court documents, Gerstenberg had previously been convicted of failing to pay state employment taxes in Pennsylvania, and he violated the conditions of his state probation by committing the federal offenses for which he was sentenced today.      

“Business owners are required to follow and apply our tax laws just like everyone else, and they must accurately report their employees’ income so that everyone pays their fair share of federal taxes.  In fact, employees rely on their employers to do the right thing in this regard,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams.  “This defendant chose not to do that, instead enriching himself at the expense of his employees and the taxpayers.  Perhaps after this second tax conviction, the defendant will finally have learned his lesson that this type of crime is a serious crime and will be aggressively prosecuted.”

“Instead of paying over employment taxes withheld from his employees’ wages, Mr. Gerstenberg used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Guy Ficco. “He did so at the expense on his employees; robbing them of future social security and Medicare benefits. Let his sentence serve as a warning to those contemplating similar conduct.”

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Gibson.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Justin Hiemstra, 22, of St. Paul Park, Minnesota, and Andrew Harris, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were both sentenced today to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service by United States District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe.  In August 2019, Hiemstra pled guilty to using a school computer and someone else’s username without that person’s permission in an attempt to illegally obtain then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.  Harris pled guilty to the same charges in September 2019.

These charges arose out of a plot between the defendants, then students at Haverford College, to use computers at the school’s computer lab and the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) website to illegally access the tax returns.  Hiemstra and Harris opened a false FAFSA application in the name of a member of the Trump family and found that someone else had already obtained a username and password for Donald Trump.  In order to reset the password, the defendants were prompted to answer challenge questions, which the original person had created when setting up the account.  The defendants were able to answer the questions and reset the password.  They then used the President’s personal identifying information, including his social security number and date of birth, to attempt to import the President’s federal tax information into the bogus FAFSA application.  Ultimately, this illegal attempt failed.

“Hiemstra and Harris thought they could manipulate and outsmart the FAFSA application process in order to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns for their own purposes.  As it turns out, that was not such a smart move:  they committed a serious violation of privacy rights and a federal crime in the process,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “Now they have both been held accountable.  And those who complete the FAFSA application, please take note: this Office takes these kinds of cybersecurity breaches seriously and we are doing everything we can to keep your personal information safe.”

The case was investigated by the Department of Education – Office of Inspector General and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony J. Wzorek.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that John C. Dellarocco, Jr., 25, of Holmes, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment, and a lifetime of supervised release, by United States District Judge Petrese B. Tucker for online enticement and manufacturing child pornography. The defendant pled guilty in August 2019.

These charges arise from an investigation into the defendant’s communications with at least eleven minor female children on an Internet-based application on which the defendant persuaded or attempted to persuade the girls to engage in sexual activity and sexually explicit conduct, photograph themselves engaging in that conduct, and then transmit the images to the defendant via the Internet.  In all of these cases, Dellarocco was surreptitiously recording the chats and exposures and saving the videos on flash drives or his cell phone – evidence which was later discovered by investigators.

“Child exploitation is a pervasive problem – made more so by the accessibility of the Internet and digital media – that demands an aggressive response,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “This case is particularly disturbing because of the number of children the defendant was able to target and communicate with on the Internet.  We urge parents and caregivers to monitor what their children do online, and we stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute those who would prey upon minor children.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roberta Benjamin.

PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that defendants Joseph Fabiilli, 58, of Middle Village, New York, and Christopher Knight, 55, of Forest Hills, New York, were charged by Indictment and arrested for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud, related to their manipulation of the securities of Mainstream Entertainment, Inc., n/k/a Volt Solar Systems, Inc. 

The Indictment alleges that Fabiilli, Knight and others manipulated the stock of Mainstream Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded security, through fraudulent press releases, a fraudulent securities disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other fraudulent communications, and through manipulative stock trading.  The defendants and others were thus able to fraudulently inflate the price of Mainstream Entertainment stock, and then sell their own shares at inflated prices, reaping illicit proceeds – a scheme which is commonly referred to as a “pump and dump”.

“The United States’ securities laws exist to safeguard the integrity of the markets and to protect individual investors who play by the rules.  Accordingly, they must be vigorously enforced,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams. “These defendants allegedly violated these laws and will be held accountable if convicted.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office appreciates the substantial assistance provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in investigating this case.”

“Fraudsters use ‘pump and dump’ schemes to enrich themselves, at the expense of innocent investors,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “The FBI is committed to cracking down on such harmful market manipulation, to protect both the public and our financial system.”

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum possible sentence of 50 years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, a 3-year period of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Rinaldi.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Sarah Norton, 38, of Jewett City, Connecticut was convicted at trial of attempted enticement of a minor and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor arising from her interactions with a 14 year-old boy.

The defendant, a married mother of three, met the victim while “gaming” online.  She then used online and cell phone communications to attempt to seduce the victim into engaging in sexually explicit contact.  Norton traveled from her home in Connecticut to Pennsylvania to meet with the boy for sex in a hotel room that she had rented, near where the child lived.  Norton’s plan was foiled after the victim’s father became suspicious of the messages the victim had on his cell phone and interrupted the plan.

“Those who sexually target children are among the most depraved in our society,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “This is true no matter the gender of the offender or the excuses served up for this type of behavior.  We will aggressively pursue and prosecute anyone who targets children for their own sexual gratification.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of lifetime incarceration, a mandatory minimum ten years imprisonment, a mandatory minimum five years supervised release up to lifetime supervised release, a $500,000 fine, a $10,200 in special assessments. 

The case was investigated by the Upper Macungie Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sherri A. Stephan.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Darius Carter, 40, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was convicted today at trial of two counts of Hobbs Act Robbery (i.e., robbery which interferes with interstate commerce) arising from the robbery of two cell phone stores on the same block in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia, both within one week in October 2018.

During the first incident, two men entered a Boost Mobile store on the 2700 block of North Fifth Street -- one of whom was the defendant, who brandished what appeared to be a Glock-style pistol, took $600 and fled.  During the second incident five days later, the defendant entered a second store alone, a Metro PCS on the same block, and took $500 while once again displaying what appeared to be a handgun. 

“The complete disregard that Carter displayed for the safety of others is appalling,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The employees of these stores were simply doing their jobs, while the defendant terrorized them in a very short span of time.  The streets of Philadelphia are safer now that Carter has been convicted and is facing significant prison time.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Nancy Winter.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Brian Glantz, 24, of Glenside, PA entered a plea of guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski to one count of simple assault arising from an incident in which he punched a Philadelphia Police Officer.

On November 17, 2018, a demonstration was held at Independence National Historic Park under a permit granted to a group identified as “We the People.”  As National Park Service rangers and other law enforcement officers engaged in crowd control duties to disperse the crowd at the end of the rally, members of a counter-demonstration, including the defendant, pushed themselves against the officers and sought to physically confront the permitted group.  During the confrontation, and while still on federal park property, officers sought to arrest Glantz, when he assaulted a Philadelphia Police Captain by punching him in the face.  The defendant continued to resist the officers’ efforts to arrest him, kicking his legs and wrestling with the officers, until he was ultimately subdued and taken into custody.

“The right to peaceful demonstration is a dearly held freedom in our country, with the operative word being ‘peaceful,’” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “In order to safeguard that right, law enforcement officers are routinely called upon to monitor and provide security at large public gatherings.  Punching a police officer when that officer is working to protect our freedoms is a vile and cowardly act.  And when it happens on federal property, it is also a federal crime, and will be treated as such.”

The defendant faces a total maximum sentence of 1 year imprisonment, 5 years’ probation and $100,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the National Park Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Diviny.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Dino Paolucci, age 42, of Mississauga, Ontario, was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno for participating in five stock manipulation schemes in 2012 and 2013.  In addition, the Court also ordered Paolucci to pay $2 million in forfeiture.

Paolucci’s sentence arose from what is commonly referred to as a “pump and dump” scheme, stemming from his manipulation of the price and trading volume of the stock of five public companies: AGR Tools, Inc. (“AGRT”), LiveWire Ergogenics (“LVVV”), YaFarm Technologies (“YFRM”), Resource Ventures (“REVI”), and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (“REFG”).  As part of these manipulations, Paolucci and his co-schemers obtained control over the companies, distributed shares of stock to themselves and their nominees through fraudulent means, issued false and misleading press releases and promotions regarding the companies in order to artificially inflate the price and/or trading volume of the stocks, and then sold their shares into the manipulated markets – thereby reaping millions.  For good measure, they also concealed all of their illegal activity from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Paolucci played a critical role in the scheme by orchestrating the false and misleading promotions used to “pump up” the stocks in question.  He issued most of his promotions by widely distributing email newsletters (“email blasts”) touting the stocks under various business names, including the Bull Exchange, Market Bulls, Best Penny Newsletter, Gain the Green, Insane Pennies, OTC Market Alerts, and Penny Players Club.  While Paolucci was disseminating the email blasts, he was also coordinating with his co-schemers regarding the press releases being issued and the stock that they were selling.  All of this coordination, however, was hidden from the market and the SEC.  For example, Paolucci and his fellow schemers used offshore corporations and brokerage accounts, as well as fake corporations, intermediaries, and even fake names, causing tens of millions of dollars of losses to investors while gaining millions in profits for themselves.

“The United States’ securities laws exist to safeguard the integrity of the markets and to protect individual investors who play by the rules.  Accordingly, they must be vigorously enforced,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Schemers like Paolucci and his co-conspirators work hard to cover their tracks, while defrauding investors and harming our securities markets.  But we will work even harder to track them down and bring them to justice.”

“Paolucci tricked people into investing under false pretenses, and those victims’ losses became his ill-gotten gains,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “While investors know they’re taking a chance when buying securities, they don’t anticipate the odds being stacked against them from the get-go. This case underscores the FBI’s commitment to protecting the investing public and bringing ‘pump and dump’ fraudsters to justice.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Philadelphia and Boston Field Offices, with assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission Offices in Chicago and Boston, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on International Affairs, the Alberta Securities Commission, and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Murray and Judy Smith.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Fred Arena, 41, of Salem, NJ, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Court Judge John R. Padova on charges of making false statements to government agents. Arena, who was an employee of a federal contractor at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and as such was required to obtain a federal security clearance, lied to obtain the clearance. He also subsequently lied to federal investigators who asked him about his answers to questions on the security clearance paperwork. He was arrested and detained in October 2019, and is currently in federal custody.

On January 10, 2019, Arena completed the standard Form SF-86 to obtain a federal security clearance for his employment. On that form, he was required to disclose whether he had ever been a member of an organization that used (or advocated the use of) force or violence to prevent others from exercising their constitutional rights. He falsely answered that he had not. In fact, Arena was an avowed member of Vanguard America, a white supremacist group that fits that description. On the same application, Arena was asked whether he had property repossessed within the past seven years. He falsely answered that he had not. In fact, Arena had previously defaulted on a car loan, and his car was repossessed within the seven year window.

“Lying on federal security clearance forms and to government agents will land you in big trouble,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “And the nature of Arena’s deception – attempting to conceal his affiliation with a white supremacist group in order to obtain employment with a federal contractor – is extremely disturbing. Furthermore, no employee working for the federal government in any capacity has any business being a member of a white supremacist group or espousing white supremacist views. Employees paid with American taxpayer dollars are held to the highest standards so as to ensure their commitment to serve the public in a fair, lawful manner.”

“Joining a group that espouses extremist ideology is not itself illegal — but lying to the FBI certainly is,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “Arena lied about his history to obtain a security clearance he never should’ve had. He then lied to the federal agents who questioned him about it. If the people we interview think they can deceive us without consequence, vital investigations will be stymied and our justice system sorely compromised.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey State Police, the Camden County Police Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Joseph LaBar and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Martha Nye.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Vontez Scales, 29, of Philadelphia, PA, was convicted at trial of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, arising from his sales and purchases of large quantities of drugs to and from co-conspirators.

Scales was a member of a large drug trafficking group, known as the ”Skipworth” drug trafficking organization, that operated for months in 2018 and distributed millions of dollars worth of crystal methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in Philadelphia, Bucks County, Berks County and Delaware County. Scales’ co-conspirators, Damir Skipworth, a/k/a “Meech” (who was the ring leader), Jarrett Cobb, a/k/a “Chi,” Tyrone Smith, a/k/a “Ho,” Rahim Amin, a/k/a “Skinny Rah,” John Richard Thornton, Scott Martin, and Natasha Powell all previously pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in this case and face significant prison terms.

Scales bought crystal methamphetamine in pound quantities from a co-conspirator, with the intention to sell it, and in turn sold large quantities of heroin laced with fentanyl back to the co-conspirator to distribute to other members of the group. Scales used the cash proceeds from his drug dealings largely for car rentals, hotels and luxury clothing, including purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue alone of over $28,000. Scales was previously convicted twice of drug trafficking, each of which resulted in lengthy prison terms.

“Scales and other members of this drug trafficking organization pumped huge quantities of poison into Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Drug trafficking is an inherently dangerous business and those engaged in it ultimately deliver destruction to our communities. Our Office is determined to protect the communities impacted by drug trafficking by investigating and convicting criminals like Scales and putting them behind bars.”

“Scales, who has two prior convictions for drug offenses, was found guilty of distributing substantial quantities of dangerous illegal street drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division. “Even after serving lengthy prison terms for his prior convictions, Scales’ greed led to his continued drug trafficking activities and utter disregard for the law and the communities affected by him. Scales now faces a lengthy prison sentence for his drug trafficking.”

“Drugs don’t stop at county borders. This makes collaborative efforts like this one essential,” said Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub. “We in law enforcement are fortunate to have excellent federal, state, county and local partners in our fight to bring drug dealers to justice. This conviction was the culmination of teamwork at its finest.”

“The investigation, arrest, and successful prosecution of Vontez Scales provides another example of the value of consistent collaboration between law enforcement partner agencies,” said Acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter. “We anticipate that the conviction and attendant sentencing of Vontez Scales will have an appreciable impact on the quality of life in the neighborhoods in which the recidivist offender operated.”

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bucks County Detectives Bureau and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Parisi and Andrea Foulkes.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain and the Department of Justice announced that Rising Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Rising), a generic pharmaceutical company headquartered in New Jersey, was criminally charged for conspiring to fix prices and allocate customers for a generic hypertension drug, and in a related enforcement action, reached a civil settlement for violations of the False Claims Act, subject to bankruptcy court approval.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, from about April 2014 until at least September 2015, Rising participated in a criminal antitrust conspiracy with a competing manufacturer of generic drugs and its executives to fix prices and allocate customers for Benazepril HCTZ, a medicine used to treat hypertension. This charge is the fourth in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s ongoing criminal investigation into the generic pharmaceuticals industry; previously, two executives were charged and pleaded guilty to criminal antitrust violations, and a corporation, Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., was charged and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Antitrust Division in May 2019.

U.S. Attorney McSwain and the Antitrust Division also announced a deferred prosecution agreement resolving the charge against Rising, under which the company admits that it conspired to fix prices and allocate customers for Benazepril HCTZ. Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Rising agrees that $1,543,207 is the appropriate amount of restitution it owes to victims of the Benazepril HCTZ conspiracy. To account for Rising’s separate agreement with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, which requires Rising to pay approximately $1.1 million in civil damages for False Claims Act violations predicated on Rising’s antitrust conduct, the deferred prosecution agreement calls for an offset of Rising’s restitution, to $438,066. The deferred prosecution agreement also requires Rising to pay a $1.5 million criminal penalty, reduced from the fine of approximately $3.6 million called for under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, as a result of Rising’s inability to pay a larger fine without impeding its ability to pay restitution and in light of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings that will result in liquidation. Both the deferred prosecution agreement and civil settlement agreement are pending approval in the bankruptcy court. Once approved, the deferred prosecution agreement will be filed in district court.

In addition, under the deferred prosecution agreement, Rising has agreed to cooperate fully with the Antitrust Division’s ongoing criminal investigation. To allow Rising to comply with the agreement’s terms, the United States will defer prosecuting Rising for three years, or until its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings become final, whichever comes first. The agreement will not be final until accepted by the court.

The Antitrust Division entered into this deferred prosecution agreement with Rising based on the individual facts and circumstances of this case. Among those facts and circumstances, the agreement specifically identifies the company’s substantial and ongoing cooperation with the investigation to date, including its disclosure of information regarding criminal antitrust violations involving drugs other than those identified in the criminal charge and the agreement. According to the agreement, this cooperation has allowed the United States to advance its investigation into criminal antitrust conspiracies among other manufacturers of generic pharmaceuticals. Other facts and circumstances identified in the agreement include Rising’s agreement to pay restitution, and the fact that a conviction (including a guilty plea) would result in substantial delay to Rising’s ongoing bankruptcy proceeding and liquidation. The agreement ensures that Rising is held accountable for its criminal conduct and preserves the United States’ ability to prosecute the company should material breaches occur.

In the separate civil resolution, Rising has agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act related to the price-fixing conspiracy, subject to bankruptcy court approval. The government alleged that between 2013 and 2016, Rising paid and received remuneration through arrangements on price, supply, and allocation of customers with another pharmaceutical manufacturer for certain generic drugs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and that its sale of these drugs resulted in claims submitted to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“My Office is proud to announce our next round of enforcement actions in this criminal and civil investigation with the Antitrust Division and the Civil Division,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “We and our partners at the Antitrust and Civil Divisions remain heavily focused on price-fixing and market allocation in generic drugs and addressing the impact on federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid. These criminal and civil resolutions with Rising, if approved by the bankruptcy court, are yet another important accomplishment in that area.”

“Hypertension medicines are vital for patient health, and engaging in schemes to price fix these generic medicines is illegal and could potentially be dangerous, as some patients may have an inability to pay for the medicines they need,” said Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of companies engaging in actions that put the public and the Medicare program at risk.”

“Today’s charge, like the previous corporate and individual charges announced in this investigation, publicly affirms the Antitrust Division’s steadfast commitment to prosecuting the companies and executives who fixed prices of generic pharmaceuticals,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “Rising and its co-conspirators exploited patients that rely on Benazepril HCTZ as a low-cost alternative to brand-name medications to treat high blood pressure. The deferred prosecution agreement is an important step in restoring integrity to the generics industry. It will require from Rising not only an admission of guilt, a criminal penalty and cooperation in the ongoing investigation, but also restitution to the direct purchasers that bought Benazepril HCTZ at artificially inflated prices.”

“The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General appreciates the opportunity to assist in these critical generics industry antitrust investigations,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce. “Aggressively pursuing those companies and executives who foster behavior related to price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation helps to ensure an open process by which generic pharmaceuticals can be competitively priced and sold. Working closely with the Department of Justice and our counterparts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General stands ready to support these vital efforts going forward.”

“The FBI is proud to join our partners in this effort to uncover companies and individuals who attempt to exploit necessary medicines to cheat the economic system and illegally amass wealth,” said Timothy R. Slater, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Today’s announcement shows the FBI’s level of commitment to investigating allegations of antitrust violations and illuminating criminal behavior so that the perpetrators can be held accountable.”

The criminal charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the generic pharmaceutical industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Anyone with information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to the generic pharmaceutical industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

The civil settlement was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with support from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. Except for those facts admitted to in the deferred prosecution agreement, the claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Yahaira Diaz, 33, of Pottsville, PA was sentenced to 65 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay more than $165,000 in restitution by United States District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl for her leadership of an elder fraud scheme commonly known as the “Grandparents Scheme.” The defendant was immediately taken into custody after the hearing today.

The scheme operated as follows: an individual called an elderly victim posing as the grandchild of the victim, or posing as an attorney representing the grandchild. The caller claimed that the grandchild was in a vehicular accident and was arrested for driving under the influence (or some type of legal trouble). The caller then said that the grandchild needed money for bail or legal representation, and persuaded the victim to send thousands of dollars in cash via overnight delivery service to an address where the schemers retrieved the package. The schemers then continued to call the victim and demanded more money until the victim realized that he or she had been defrauded and stopped sending money.

Diaz played a leadership role in this scheme, which was based in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For example, she identified and arranged for access to residential locations where her co-schemers instructed victims to send the fraud proceeds. Diaz recruited and controlled additional participants in the scheme who allowed her to use their residences for the receipt of proceeds, and who helped retrieve the packages and shared the proceeds with other co-schemers. Diaz engaged in numerous incidents of the Grandparents Scheme, as well as credit card fraud. In the Grandparents Scheme, Diaz and her co-schemers defrauded at least 10 elderly victims of at least $158,800 and attempted to defraud those victims of at least an additional $69,000.

“Diaz’s actions here were despicable: she callously preyed upon vulnerable seniors by exploiting their concern for their loved ones. And she played a leadership role, which makes her actions even more deserving of condemnation,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Today, Diaz got what she deserved. My Office will continue to prioritize prosecuting criminals who prey upon our elderly residents.”

“Yahaira Diaz played a central role in this scam,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “She had no compunction about swindling elderly victims out of their money, or playing on their emotions to do so. The FBI will never stop working to shut down elder fraud schemes like this, to protect older folks from those who would take advantage of them.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Service, the Bethlehem Police Department, and the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Deputy United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen.

The Department of Justice is committed to combating elder fraud. The Department’s historic 2018 and 2019 Elder Fraud Sweeps collectively brought criminal and civil actions against more than 500 defendants responsible for defrauding more than $1.5 billion from at least 3 million victims.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Anmol Singh Kamra, 27, of Upper Darby, PA was convicted today at trial with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone outside the usual course of professional practice and with no legitimate medical purpose. 

Kamra, a pharmacy technician at Campus Pharmacy in West Philadelphia, conspired with George Fisher, a physician, and Frank Brown, both charged separately, to illegally distribute thousands of oxycodone pills to people suffering from addiction.  From about December 2012 through about March 2016, Kamra, Fisher, and Brown orchestrated and executed a scheme to turn the pharmacy into a “pill mill” in which Kamra knowingly filled fake oxycodone prescriptions written by Fisher in sham “patient” names, and gave the oxycodone pills to Brown to sell in street level drug deals. 

At times, Kamra would sell drugs without a prescription and then request that Fisher backdate a fake prescription in an attempt to cover the tracks.  At trial, Kamra testified that this backdating of prescriptions was a mere “courtesy” on behalf of the doctor so patients could receive their prescriptions in a timely manner, but undercover video evidence showed otherwise.  This small pharmacy in West Philadelphia sold so many opioids that some were hidden some under the sink for fear that their distributor would notice the over-abundance and cut them off for exceeding the allowable limit.

“Kamra was operating nothing more than a corrupt pill mill,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The misuse of opioids is killing our citizens, and this defendant significantly contributed to our region’s crippling opioid epidemic.  We have to do everything possible to stop the illegal distribution of these deadly drugs, especially by professionals entrusted to prescribe and monitor their use.”

“Kamra diverted thousands of oxycodone pills to the street, taking advantage of those struggling with addiction amid our area’s devastating opioid crisis,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Yet another medical professional, looking to profit from someone else’s misery. The FBI will never stop working to put pill mills out of business, and the people who run them behind bars.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mary Kay Costello and Amanda Reinitz. 

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Charles Salley, a/k/a “Dark Lo,” a/k/a “Ron Harvey,” 37, of Clayton, Delaware, was charged by Indictment with witness tampering.

The Indictment alleges that on November 6, 2019, during the trial United States vs. Abdul West, et al. involving members of a violent drug trafficking organization known as “Original Block Hustlaz” (or OBH), a cooperating witness received a threatening letter from Salley under the pen name “Ron Harvey,” a pseudonym Salley has used in various rap songs. The Indictment further alleges that Salley, who also goes by the stage name “Dark Lo,” threatened physical violence against the cooperating witness and others if the witness testified at trial against Salley’s OBH associates.

On November 13, 2019, United States Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski ordered Salley detained in federal custody pending trial in this matter.

“Witness intimidation has no place in the criminal justice system and will be dealt with swiftly and harshly,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “This is not a game. If you attempt to intimidate a federal witness, you can stand by for the consequences.”

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Ashenfelter.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Richard Meleski, 58, of Chalfont, PA, was arrested and charged by Indictment with healthcare fraud, mail fraud, Stolen Valor, creating fraudulent military discharge papers, and making false statements stemming from his scheme to defraud the Veterans’ Administration (VA) of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits.

The Indictment alleges that the defendant faked serving in the U.S. military, specifically the Navy SEALs, and even falsely represented that he had been a Prisoner of War, in order to secure healthcare benefits from the VA worth over $300,000. Due to these false representations, Meleski received healthcare from the VA in Priority Group 3, effectively receiving healthcare before deserving military service members. In reality, the defendant never served a single day in the U.S. military.

Meleski also allegedly filed for monetary compensation from the VA for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he claimed to have suffered as a result of an armed conflict in Beirut in which he had supposedly rescued injured teammates. In his application for disability benefits for PTSD, Meleski also falsely represented that he had been awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions during his supposed time as a Navy SEAL. He also allegedly submitted another application to the VA for monetary compensation in which he used the obituaries of actual Navy SEALs, claiming that he had served alongside them.

Finally, Meleski also allegedly filed for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for injuries that were supposedly aggravated by his service in the U.S. military. He falsely testified under oath about these injuries in connection with a SSA Disability proceeding.

“These allegations are truly shocking and a huge insult to anybody who has worn our country’s uniform. If proven, Meleski deserves to face the consequences under the law. My Office will aggressively root out and prosecute this type of conduct with the seriousness of purpose that it deserves,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 68 years imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, a $2,250,000 fine, a $900 special assessment, and restitution of $302,121.21.

The case was investigated by Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of the Inspector General and Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Megan Curran.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Yasheam Washington, 31, of Philadelphia, PA was convicted today at trial for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The evidence at trial showed that in November 2018, while police were patrolling the 1300 block of Chew Avenue in Philadelphia, they observed the defendant sleeping behind the wheel of a running car that was illegally parked. The officers became increasingly concerned for the defendant’s safety and pulled him out of the car, at which point they observed a firearm right underneath him, which they soon learned was loaded with live ammunition. As a previously convicted felon, Washington was prohibited from possessing a firearm.

“This is the second trial conviction secured by my Office this week of a felon illegally possessing a firearm in Philadelphia,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “As I have said many times, firearms in the hands of convicted felons undeniably pose a serious threat to public safety. Unlike the District Attorney, my Office and I treat illegal gun possession cases like the serious crimes that they are. That is what is needed in order to combat the City’s epidemic of homicides and shootings. The District Attorney is enabling this epidemic in many ways, not the least of which by routing illegal gun possession cases into diversionary programs designed for low-level, non-violent offenders -- not dangerous criminals and potential murderers.”

“ATF’s top priority is combating violent crime; one of the ways we accomplish that mission is by keeping firearms out of the hands of violent offenders,” said Donald Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Philadelphia Field Division. “This conviction is a perfect example of the collaborative effort between ATF and our partners at the Philadelphia Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office in targeting violent offenders and protecting our communities.”

“The arrest and successful prosecution of Yasheam Washington, a recidivist offender, evidences the value of sustained collaboration between law enforcement partner agencies,” said Acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter. “We anticipate that his conviction and attendant sentence will have an appreciable impact on the safety of the community we serve.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with substantial assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Erica Kivitz, Eric Henson, and Daniel Velez.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Alan Eder Torres-Gomez, 30, was charged today by Indictment with illegal reentry after deportation.

As has been previously reported publicly, Torres-Gomez was charged with state offenses in Philadelphia on September 14, 2018, and on that same day, he was charged federally by criminal complaint with illegal reentry after deportation. A United States Magistrate Judge then issued a federal warrant for his arrest. That federal arrest warrant was lodged at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia where Torres-Gomez was being held on his state charges. His state charges were dismissed on November 26, 2018, but Torres-Gomez did not appear on his federal charges because the City of Philadelphia released him from custody on November 28, 2018 without first notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the United States Marshals Service, despite the existence of the federal warrant.

As a result, Torres-Gomez has been on the loose for months, but he is now thankfully back in federal custody, no longer able to pose a threat to the community. And now he will have to answer the federal charges of illegal reentry after deportation.

The Indictment alleges that Torres-Gomez, an alien, and native and citizen of Mexico, was previously deported from the United States on or about August 11, 2009 and December 12, 2016. Following the latest of his deportations, Torres-Gomez allegedly reentered the United States illegally. If convicted of this current illegal reentry offense, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment.

“Philadelphia’s sanctuary city policy politicizes law enforcement by playing favorites in which one group of people (illegal aliens) is singled out as not having to follow the law. This creates a double-standard that is un-American, morally wrong and makes a mockery of the rule of law," said U.S. Attorney McSwain. "It also threatens public safety when, as here, the City ignores lawful federal arrest warrants and detainers. Nobody who cares about equal treatment under the law – or about public safety – can support the City’s policy. We at the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to enforce the rule of law in a neutral, non-partisan manner, rather than playing favorites.”

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”), and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy M. Stengel

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Gaafar Muhammed Ebrahim Al-Wazer, 25, of Altoona, PA, was ordered detained in federal custody on three counts of making false statements to Task Force Officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force. 

According to the Criminal Complaint filed against the defendant and the government’s motion to detain him, FBI counterterrorism investigators questioned Al-Wazer, a Yemeni citizen, on May 17, 2016 about his affiliation with the Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah.  Ansar Allah is the armed rebel group that toppled Yemen’s government and fought in an ongoing civil war there for years.  Al-Wazer denied to the FBI that he was aligned with the Houthi movement, whose motto is “Allah is the greatest of all, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam,” and further denied that he had ever fired a weapon or participated in military or militia training. 

To the contrary, however, the Complaint alleges that a search of Al-Wazer’s Facebook account revealed numerous postings and photographs in which he extolled and praised Ansar Allah, its objectives and its fighters who were killed in battle against the Yemeni government and its Saudi and U.S.-backed forces, and in which Al-Wazer was armed with automatic weapons (including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher).  Al-Wazer’s Facebook account included a posting of a photograph of him and others bearing automatic assault rifles and pledging that they would stay on the path of jihad and wishing death to the United States and Israel and victory to Islam.  In another posting, Al-Wazer again bears a machine gun in a photograph, which is accompanied by a pledge to Ansar Allah to the death. 

FBI agents arrested Al-Wazer at his home in Altoona on November 7, 2019.  In federal court today, United States Magistrate Judge Marilyn Heffley found that the defendant posed a risk of flight and/or a danger to the community and therefore ordered him detained. 

“The defendant was admitted to this country on a student visa and has availed himself of the generosity and the educational opportunities that the United States offers to students from all across the world,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “Al-Wazer is, of course, entitled to hold and lawfully express his political and religious opinions as freely as anyone else in this country, no matter how hateful or odious they may be.  What he is not entitled to do, however, is lie about those beliefs when asked about them by counter-terrorism officers in the course of discharging their duties.  I want to thank our partners in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for their continued vigilance.” 

“Al-Wazer blatantly lied to federal agents and these charges are the consequence of his actions,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “If people we speak to think there is no downside to deceiving FBI agents, critical lines of investigation will be compromised and our very justice system stalled. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force can't afford to be deterred in this way.”

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of five years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, per count. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer, Jr.

An indictment, information or criminal complaint is an accusation.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Christopher Hogg, 61, of Bryn Mawr, PA, and Rennie Rodriguez, 52, of Broomall, PA were arrested and charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a multi-million dollar insurance premium financing fraud scheme.  Hogg was arrested in New York City on Tuesday and had his initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge yesterday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Rodriguez was arrested earlier this week at his office in Broomall and had his initial appearance on Tuesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The complaint alleges that Rodriguez, a licensed insurance broker, and Hogg, a businessman, conducted a scheme involving the issuance of fraudulent insurance premium finance loans, which were originated by an insurance premium finance company and funded by banks.  They conducted this scheme with the assistance of a third person who was an employee of the insurance premium finance company.  Between at least November 2016 and January 2018, the employee approved approximately 37 premium finance loans, or loan supplements, originated by insurance agencies controlled by Rodriguez, purportedly to purchase policies to insure entities owned or controlled by Hogg and/or Rodriguez, or in a few instances controlled by other individuals.  These loans were purportedly for the purpose of financing insurance premiums.  However, as Hogg, Rodriguez, and the employee knew, there were no underlying insurance policies, and Hogg and Rodriguez used the proceeds for other purposes.  The loans totaled approximately $21,357,645.

Instead of paying insurance premiums (because there were no actual insurance policies), Rodriguez kept some of the proceeds for himself and distributed most of the other proceeds to bank accounts controlled by Hogg, or in a few instances to other individuals/entities.  Rodriguez and Hogg used some of the proceeds from newer loans to make loan payments to the premium finance company or to the banks on older loans.  Had loan payments not been made on at least some loans, the premium finance company and the banks likely would have become suspicious.  Additionally, between approximately October 2016 and December 2017, Hogg made approximately 40 kickback payments, totaling $873,118, to the finance company employee who had approved the fraudulent loans.  The employee has admitted to law enforcement that these payments were made to him because he approved the bogus loans.

“Licensed insurance brokers are supposed to act like trusted professionals, not crooks,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The allegations here are particularly disturbing because of the lengths these two defendants allegedly went to in order to perpetuate their fraud and the huge amount of money they were able to steal through this scheme.”

“The ability of IRS Special Agents to follow the money trail is essential for conducting not only tax investigations, but also for proving cases like this”, said Guy Ficco, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation.  “Those who conduct this type of fraud should know that they will be held accountable by IRS-CI and our law enforcement partners, and they will have to face the consequences of their actions.”    

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen Grigsby.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Juan Jarmon, 32, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment and six years’ supervised release by United States District Judge Paul S. Diamond for crimes committed while he was the leader of a violent drug trafficking group operating out of the Norman Blumberg Apartments public housing facility in North Philadelphia.

Following a jury trial in March 2019, the defendant was convicted on 23 counts, including conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of public housing (a drug-free zone). Jarmon controlled drug sales in various areas of the Blumberg Apartments in 2013 and 2014. Throughout the period that the drug trafficking conspiracy operated, Jarmon and other members of his gang were responsible for distributing thousands of grams of crack cocaine throughout this community.

Jarmon’s group obtained bulk crack and cocaine; cooked and packaged crack cocaine into bundles; hired, fired, and supervised shift sellers and lookouts; levied taxes on members and customers; and provided protection from other drug trafficking groups. The shift sellers were the daily workers employed by the leaders to sell crack cocaine in the locations controlled by the group, while the lookouts assisted other members of the group by alerting them to the presence of law enforcement and directing customers to the shift sellers. In order to ensure around-the-clock sales of crack cocaine, Jarmon threatened rivals who disrupted his drug trafficking business, and physically assaulted shift sellers. In one instance, the defendant violently attacked a female drug dealer in order to obtain drug proceeds, cracking her head against a table, requiring hospitalization.

“To anyone engaged in drug trafficking and violence, I say this: find another line of work. Because if you don’t, you will face federal prosecution and considerable jail time for your efforts,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “Here, Jarmon and his co-defendants used firearms, robbed rival drug dealers, and used intimidation, threats, and violence to further their ‘business’ of moving poison on our streets. Philadelphia residents can rest easier knowing that Jarmon is behind bars and his drug gang has been destroyed.”

“We are privileged to have collaborated with our law enforcement partners in the investigation, arrest, and successful prosecution of Juan Jarmon,” said Acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter. “With his conviction and attendant sentencing, this violent recidivist offender will be unable to continue inflicting harm upon the residents of the Blumberg Apartments and the surrounding community.”

“Jarmon coordinated a vast network of drug dealers selling crack cocaine 24 hours a day in the former Norman Blumberg Apartment Complex.  Jarmon was responsible for the distribution of thousands of grams of crack cocaine throughout his community, and used violence and intimidation to further his drug trafficking activities,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division. “For the drug-traffickers like Jarmon that prey on the most vulnerable members of our society, the federal criminal penalties are severe.” 

“For years, Juan Jarmon and his drug crew used intimidation and violence to maintain control of the Blumberg Apartments complex and surrounding area,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to help free our communities from the stranglehold of narcotics traffickers. The city of Philadelphia is safer with Jarmon behind bars.”

This case was investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration in collaboration with the Philadelphia Police Department and Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jerome Maiatico and Yvonne Osirim.

PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Timothy O’Connell, 52, of Drexel Hill, PA was sentenced to 78 months’ incarceration, 10 years’ supervised release, a $5,000 fine, and a $5,000 special assessment by United States District Judge Gerald J. Pappert after pleading guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography in June 2019.

In February 2018, the defendant received images depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of pre-pubescent children. The victims depicted in the child pornography included a one-year-old child who had previously been identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in another child abuse investigation. At the time he committed the crime, the defendant was employed as Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Villanova University.

“Child pornography offenses are always abhorrent,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “But this case is particularly disturbing due to the defendant’s history as a spiritual leader at one of our region’s most respected institutions of higher education. To Villanova’s credit, they cooperated with our investigation and helped us to resolve this matter. Most importantly, we stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute anyone who would prey upon minor children -- no matter their position in the community.”

“Those who seek out child pornography help drive a demand for such depraved images, leading to more young children being sexually exploited,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The men and women of the FBI who investigate these disturbing cases are determined to bring to justice those involved with child pornography and protect innocent children from sexual victimization.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Villanova University Department of Public Safety, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Priya T. De Souza.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Anthony Robinson, a/k/a, Anthony Harrison, 32, of Philadelphia, PA was convicted today at trial for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The evidence at trial showed that in April 2019, Philadelphia Police Officers responded to a report of a fight involving a man with a gun. The man was described as wearing a gray sweat suit with yellow lettering. When the officers arrived, defendant Robinson was dressed in the outfit described in the report, and he fled the scene. While attempting to run, the defendant discarded the weapon in his hand. After a brief struggle, officers apprehended the defendant and recovered the gun. As a previously convicted felon, Robinson was prohibited from possessing a firearm. Among the evidence presented were two surveillance videos that captured the defendant fleeing the scene and discarding the weapon.

“Reducing violent crime is a top priority of my Office and of the Department of Justice, and successful prosecutions of cases like this remain a key part of our deterrence strategy,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “We are committed to working with the Philadelphia Police Department and our federal partners to clear the streets of illegal firearms in the hands of convicted felons, which undeniably pose a serious threat to public safety in our City.”

“ATF’s top priority is combating violent crime; one of the ways we accomplish that mission is by keeping firearms out of the hands of violent offenders,” said Donald Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Philadelphia Field Division. “This conviction is a perfect example of the collaborative effort between ATF and our partners at the Philadelphia Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office in targeting violent offenders and protecting our communities.”

“The arrest and successful prosecution of Anthony Robinson, a recidivist offender, evidences the value of sustained collaboration between law enforcement partner agencies,” said Acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter. “We anticipate that his conviction and attendant sentence will have an appreciable impact on the safety of the community we serve.”

The defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of ten years’ incarceration.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Gibson.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has entered an injunction ordering Miller’s Organic Farm (Miller’s) of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, and its owner, Amos Miller, to cease violating federal food safety laws. After suing Miller’s in April 2019 for civil injunctive relief, the government moved for summary judgment. In granting that motion, the district court entered judgment against Mr. Miller and the farm and enjoined them from continued selling of non-federally-inspected, misbranded meat and poultry products to nationwide consumers, and from continued obstruction of federal health and safety oversight.

The United States brought the action on behalf of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FSIS is responsible for ensuring that commercially sold meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. FSIS fulfills its mission by inspecting meat and poultry products before they reach consumers. For years, Miller’s has been illegally slaughtering and processing livestock and poultry, and commercially selling substantial quantities of the resulting products for human consumption, all without a USDA-FSIS Federal Grant of Inspection. Meanwhile, the products’ labeling has misled consumers by failing to disclose that the products have not been federally inspected and may not be sold commercially.

The suit is part of the United States’ continuing efforts to bring Miller’s into compliance with federal food safety laws. In late 2015, for example, the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates milk, isolated and identified Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) bacteria in Miller’s raw milk samples. Through whole genome sequencing, the FDA found genetic similarity between that bacteria and other L. mono in two individuals who had developed listeriosis after consuming raw milk. The FDA named Miller’s as the “likely source” of infections in those persons, one of whom died.   

FSIS sought to assess whether L. mono might be contaminating Miller’s meat and poultry products. But Mr. Miller refused to grant FSIS entry to the farm’s meat and poultry-related facilities, even after the agency served him with a subpoena. The United States then sued Miller’s to enforce the subpoena and USDA’s access rights. See United States v. Miller’s Organic Farm and Amos Miller, EDPA No. 16-cv-2731. Even after the court enforced the subpoena, and even after FSIS cited Miller’s with misbranding and other violations, the violations continued. Further, Miller’s continued to obstruct FSIS’ access to Miller’s facilities, records, and inventory.

Although Miller’s Organic Farm is a sole proprietorship, Mr. Miller organized Miller’s sales operations into a so-called “private membership association” (PMA) food buyer’s club. Mr. Miller based his non-compliance on assertions that PMAs are exempt from regulatory laws. This is false: PMAs are not exempt from federal food safety and other health and safety laws. The United States’ injunction action, United States of America v. Miller’s Organic Farm and Amos Miller, EDPA No. 19-cv-1435, is the first-ever suit of its kind where FSIS obtained an injunction against such a PMA farm business.

The civil injunction requires Miller’s to cease commercial sales of non-federally-inspected, misbranded, non-exempt meat and poultry products. Miller’s also must maintain relevant business transaction records, cooperate with FSIS inspections and oversight, and otherwise comply with federal food safety laws. Miller’s is subject to financial sanctions if it violates the injunction.

“As I stated when my Office filed this suit and as the injunction shows, food establishments in this District must follow federal food safety laws that protect the public,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Congress enacted such generally applicable laws to ensure that the nation’s food supply is safe for consumption. We will continue to take enforcement action whenever commercial sellers ignore the rule of law, make up their own sets of rules, or otherwise attempt to hide behind a business structure to thwart congressionally-mandated federal oversight. Today’s injunction is necessary to effect Miller’s compliance and to ensure that, with FSIS’ oversight and assistance, compliance will continue in coming years.”

“At FSIS, we will continue to use our regulatory authority to ensure that meat, poultry, and processed egg products facilities comply with federal food safety laws,” said FSIS Administrator Carmen Rottenberg. “Inspection is the cornerstone of our food safety regulatory system – enabling consumers to purchase and prepare meat and poultry with confidence in the safety of these products.”

This case is being handled by AUSA Gerald Sullivan for the United States Attorney’s Office, which received assistance from Investigator Paul J. Flanagan of FSIS’ Compliance and Investigations Division, Philadelphia Regional Office; Attorney Advisor Tracey Manoff of USDA’s Office of the General Counsel; and Team Lead Troy Hambright of FSIS’ Enforcement and Litigation Division, Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit.    

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that defendants Abdul Ibrahim West, a/k/a “AR-Ab,” 37, of Brookhaven, Jamaal Blanding, a/k/a “Bionickhaz,” 38, of Philadelphia, Jameel Hickson, a/k/a “Meliano,” 41, of Philadelphia, and Hans Gadson, a/k/a “NoBrakes Bras,” 34, of Philadelphia, were convicted today at trial for conspiracy to distribute drugs and other drug trafficking crimes.

Separately but in a related case, Charles Salley, a/k/a “Dark Lo,” a/k/a “Ron Harvey,” 37, of Clayton, Delaware, was arrested last week and charged by complaint with witness tampering during the trial.

Conviction at Trial

The evidence at trial showed that defendants West, Blanding, Hickson and Gadson ran a violent drug trafficking organization from at least March 2017 until June 2018. Although they purported to be rap music artists and associates of a local music label and group known as the “Original Block Hustlaz,” or “O.B.H.”, these defendants made money distributing cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin in and around Philadelphia. The organization was led by West, who purchased bulk drugs, distributed the drugs, and ordered acts of murder and violence in furtherance of the organization’s drug trafficking. Additionally, Blanding and Hickson imported drugs from California, while Gadson and Blanding distributed the drugs throughout Philadelphia.

Throughout the course of the investigation, law enforcement agents conducted surveillance and undercover sting operations during which drugs were purchased from the defendants. The defendants maintained four separate properties in connection with their drug trafficking organization. In May 2018, agents executed a search warrant on one of the properties and seized ten kilograms of cocaine and five pounds of methamphetamine.

Each of the defendants now faces a maximum of life in prison under federal law.

New Charge of Witness Tampering

The complaint against defendant Salley alleges that on November 6, 2019, a cooperating witness in the above-referenced trial received a threatening letter from Salley under the pen name “Ron Harvey,” a pseudonym Salley has used in various rap songs. The complaint further alleges that Salley, who also goes by the stage name “Dark Lo,” threatened physical violence against the cooperating witness and others if the witness testified at trial against Salley’s O.B.H. associates.

On November 13, 2019, United States Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski detained Salley pending trial in this matter.

If convicted, Salley faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine.

“West and his co-defendants, members of the O.B.H. drug organization, pumped huge quantities of deadly drugs into our community while pretending to be legitimate artists and businessmen,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Drug trafficking is an inherently dangerous business, and drug traffickers ultimately deliver violence and destruction to our communities without any regard for the people living there. Our Office is determined to do exactly what we did in this case: investigate and convict these dangerous criminals and put them in prison.”

“Furthermore, witness intimidation has no place in the criminal justice system and will be dealt with swiftly and harshly,” continued U.S. Attorney McSwain. “As alleged in a criminal complaint, an associate of O.B.H. attempted to intimidate a witness during the trial and is now behind bars, where he will remain pending trial.”

“West and his crew transported illegal narcotics across the country to push here on our streets,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “They used violence to maintain their hold on their drug territory, in order to keep the cash rolling in. The FBI and our partners on the Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force are determined to dismantle dangerous trafficking operations like this and bring those involved to justice, as we push every day to make this city safer.”

The “O.B.H.” case is part of the FBI’s Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force, a program through which all of the federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies collaboratively address the violent crime plaguing communities. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everett Witherell and Timothy Stengel.

The Salley case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Ashenfelter. An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Tyson Blount, 35, of Abington, PA was arrested and charged by Indictment with four counts of Hobbs Act Robbery and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The Indictment alleges that the defendant, along with a still un-identified accomplice, robbed four Montgomery County businesses at gunpoint between October 27 and December 20, 2018. The victim businesses included two tobacco shops, a Metro PCS cell phone store, and a Dairy Queen.

“As alleged, Blount’s complete disregard for others’ safety is appalling,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The employees of these stores were simply doing their jobs, while the defendant is accused of terrorizing them so that he could steal the relatively small amounts of cash they had on hand. My Office is committed to punishing and deterring this type of senseless violence.”

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, and Abington Police Departments, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Harrell.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Rodolfo Blanco, 45, of Langhorne, PA, was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment, followed by four years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. United States District Court Judge Jeffrey Schmehl imposed the sentence.

In July 2019, Blanco pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Blanco was arrested on June 12, 2019, while traveling southbound on Interstate 476, and the Pennsylvania State Police recovered approximately one kilogram of cocaine in Blanco’s vehicle. Two days later, federal authorities intercepted a second package mailed to a house Blanco owned in Philadelphia. The second package contained approximately one additional kilogram of cocaine.

“This case is an example of federal and state law enforcement working together to stop the flow of illegal narcotics onto the streets of Philadelphia,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Aggressive enforcement of our nation’s most serious drug laws, which is a top priority for my Office, is the best way to stop illegal drugs from destroying our communities and endangering public safety.”

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher J. Mannion and Alison Donahue Kehner.

PHILADELPHIA – Two years ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Throughout the past two years, the Department has partnered with all levels of law enforcement, local organizations, and members of the community to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. According to the FBI’s 2018 Crime in the United States Report released last month, the national violent crime rate decreased for the second consecutive year, down 3.9 percent from the 2017 numbers.

“The revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods program is a major success,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “It packs a powerful punch by combining advanced data with local leadership, further reducing violence in communities across the country and improving overall public safety. U.S. Attorneys continue to focus their enforcement efforts against the most violent criminals and work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal police. The Justice Department’s relationships across the board have never been stronger.”

“Project Safe Neighborhoods is a proven program with demonstrated results, and since the re-launch two years ago, we can see the benefits of the program in real time right here in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” said United States Attorney William M. McSwain. “We know that the most effective strategy to reduce violent crime is based on sound policing policies and law enforcement partnerships at every level, which is why I am committed to building those partnerships, standing up for the victims of violent crime, and enforcing the rule of law.”

“The Philadelphia Police Department recognizes that a successful violent crime prevention strategy must be comprehensive, evidence based, measurable, and include partnerships among law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders,” said Acting Police Commissioner Christine M. Coulter. “The Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program captures each of these necessary ingredients for success. We are fortunate to have been part of the re-launch in 2017, and join our partners in celebrating the program's two year anniversary, and the collective progress we have made.”

As the Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (USAO-EDPA) celebrates the two-year anniversary of the revitalized PSN program, below are some of the highlights of the district’s PSN actions over the past year.

Enforcement Actions

In the last year, USAO-EDPA has partnered with local law enforcement to ensure federal efforts are focused against the most violent offenders. The following are some excellent examples:

• In November 2018, a federal jury convicted Lukeen Gerald, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after a trial for his involvement in seven armed robberies of convenience stores throughout the city. During the robberies, he shoved firearms in the faces of many victim store employees. In one instance, he fired the gun into the ceiling of a Dunkin Donuts; the gun was so close to the victim’s head that the sound caused the victim’s eardrum to rupture. Gerald faces a mandatory minimum of 157 years for the firearms charges alone, and additional time for the Hobbs Act robbery convictions.

• In May 2019, a federal jury convicted Kevin Archie of one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Archie was arrested while illegally in possession of a weapon while on a street corner in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Police officers arrested Archie after responding to an alarming call of a man with a gun. Archie, an armed career criminal, faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.

• Together with ATF, USAO-EDPA brought firearms dealer Kenney Cherry, of Philadelphia, to justice. In August 2019, a federal jury convicted Cherry of dealing in firearms without a license, multiple counts of felon in possession of a firearm, and other related firearms offenses. The defendant sold 24 firearms and two “machine gun” conversion devices in a short span. Cherry remains incarcerated awaiting sentencing.

• After a Philadelphia Police Inspector, who was driving home, heard multiple gunshots and witnessed two men in broad daylight pointing firearms, USAO-EDPA charged the case federally and successfully prosecuted Salim Davis. In September 2019, the office partnered with Philadelphia Police and ATF to ensure a federal jury found Davis guilty of all crimes related to his carrying a loaded Smith & Wesson .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and an unlabeled prescription pill bottle containing 72 Alprazolam pills he had to sell. Davis remains incarcerated awaiting sentencing.

Community Partnerships

• The PSN Call-In Program consists of regular, face-to-face call-ins of individuals who were recently released from state custody to warn them of the consequences of committing any further crimes. The Call-In program is a partnership with local, state, and federal law enforcement, as well as community members and service providers. Working closely with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, the program ensures connections to critical assistance and support to the released individuals. Since 2013, USAO-EDPA has hosted 17 Call-Ins with over 300 state parolees.

• Launched in October of last year, Relapse Prevention Court (RPC) maximizes opportunities for long-term recovery from substance use and facilitates successful completion of participants’ terms of supervised release. RPC held its first graduation in October to celebrate its participants’ successful completion of the program.

• USAO-EDPA is an active participant in state-wide Reentry Coalitions comprised of representatives from government, law enforcement, non-profit organizations, and community groups. The Coalitions work on various projects to coordinate resources, create partnerships and improve delivery of reentry services in the counties of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Aggressive Response Throughout EDPA and in Philadelphia in Particular

• Even though FBI data shows that violent crime has decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018, Philadelphia has seen a disturbing uptick in the most serious types of violent crime, such of homicides and shootings.

• To attempt to address (and contain) this growing issue in Philadelphia, USAO-EDPA has aggressively increased its focus on PSN cases and violent crime prosecutions in general over the past two years.

• For example, in FY2019 (October 2018-September 2019), USAO-EDPA brought charges against 195 defendants in PSN cases, compared to 80 in FY2018 - an almost 144% increase in one year. Much of this increase has been driven by the situation on the ground in Philadelphia.

These enforcement actions and partnerships are part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Loren Varga, 62, of Franklin Township, New Jersey, was sentenced to one day of incarceration, two years’ supervised release and a $1,500 fine by United States District Court Judge Anita Brody for illegally purchasing a tiger skin rug, made from an endangered species.

In July 2019, the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Endangered Species Act and one count of violating the Lacey Act. These charges stemmed from his participation in the commercial purchase of a tiger rug, which he knew was made from an endangered species, and for which he traveled across state lines to receive.

Some years before, the defendant had previously attempted to buy a similarly illegal tiger pelt and was warned by the Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that to do so was a crime. Apparently undeterred, the defendant again sought one out in 2018. When USFWS discovered the defendant’s intentions, it arranged a sting operation to thwart that effort. That operation led to this prosecution.

“People who make persistent efforts to own these endangered animal pelts are part of the very industry that has led these majestic animals to become endangered,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “It is illegal and further, it is unconscionable, that someone would attempt to procure an endangered animal skin not just once, but twice. We take this type of conduct seriously and it will be prosecuted.”

The case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy Beam Winter.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Matthew Chancler, 57, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania was sentenced today to 18 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Michael Baylson for engaging in a fraud scheme that victimized his employer.

The defendant was a Certified Public Accountant and the Director of Finance for United Chemical Technologies (“UCT”), a company located in Bristol, Pennsylvania. In this role, Chancler oversaw the financial operations of the company: accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and auditing.

During an approximately two-year period, from August 2016 through July 2018, Chancler abused his position of trust on a regular and systematic basis by using company issued credit cards for over 1,800 personal purchases and over 400 cash withdrawals from ATMs, while disguising the true nature of these transactions in the company’s financial records in order to cover his tracks. Those personal purchases included clothing, electronics, food, travel, jewelry, sporting equipment, and other personal items and entertainment. He also manipulated the company’s payroll system to generate additional fraud proceeds. In total, the defendant stole over $360,000 through his fraudulent use of the cards and manipulation of the payroll system. The defendant’s scheme put the company in financial jeopardy and caused its officers and employees substantial hardship.

“Chancler abused his position of authority and trust for nothing more than his own greed,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Companies rely on professionals to maintain the finances of their organization and to act as good stewards – not to break the law to line their own pockets.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that William Limper, 41, Raul Rivera, 42, Michael Dombrowski, 30, and Robert Hopkins, 24, all of Philadelphia, were charged by a Second Superseding Indictment for their roles in a conspiracy to burglarize or attempt to burglarize 49 pharmacies in the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs over the last five years.  The charges include 36 counts of pharmacy burglary; 13 counts of attempted pharmacy burglary; one count each of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; one count each of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and related conspiracy, drug and gun offenses.

The Second Superseding Indictment alleges that Limper, Rivera, Dombrowski, and Hopkins were involved in a conspiracy from November 2014 until April 2019 to burglarize pharmacies in order to steal controlled substances – primarily Schedule II opiates such as oxycodone and Percocet tablets – for the purpose of distributing them to others for profit. The defendants allegedly forced entry into the pharmacies at nighttime with burglary tools such as crow bars and Halligan bars (specialized forcible entry tools used by law enforcement and firefighters) when the pharmacies were closed. The defendants concealed their identities with clothing and masks over their faces, and used scanners to monitor police activity and two-way radios to communicate with each other during the burglaries.

As alleged, the defendants thoroughly planned and executed these burglaries in great detail.  For example, in order to facilitate quick getaways in the event that they were detected by witnesses or law enforcement, the defendants used stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT sport utility vehicles (SUV) with powerful engines.  When they were not using the stolen vehicles to perpetrate burglaries, the defendants concealed the vehicles in garages in a commercial storage lot, where they also hid their tools and the clothing they wore during the burglaries to avoid detection by law enforcement. After each of the burglaries, the defendants divided the stolen narcotics among themselves for the purpose of selling them to others.

“These charges are a huge blow to this sophisticated burglary and drug distribution organization,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “As alleged, these defendants were able to carry out their conspiracy for years – terrorizing communities and small businesses all across the region, and adding to the scourge of the opioid epidemic for their own benefit.  I want to thank the large group of law enforcement partners who worked together in a highly coordinated effort using targeted investigative techniques to make this case possible.”

“The FBI remains committed to fighting the opioid crisis on all fronts,” said Michael T. Harpster, special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division.  “Today's indictment makes it clear that the the FBI and or law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to prevent violent drug gangs from terrorizing our communities, and we will bring them to justice when they do.”

If convicted, defendant William Limper faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, a mandatory-minimum five years’ imprisonment consecutive to any other sentence imposed, a mandatory minimum six years’ supervised release up to lifetime supervised release, a $16,750,000 fine, and a $5,300 special assessment; defendant Raul Rivera faces a maximum 1,010 years’ imprisonment, a mandatory-minimum three years up to lifetime supervised release, a $14,250,000 fine, and a $5,100 special assessment; defendant Michael Dombrowski faces a maximum 310 years’ imprisonment, a mandatory-minimum three years up to lifetime supervised release, a $5,500,000 fine, and a $1,600 special assessment; and defendant Robert Hopkins faces a maximum 470 years’ imprisonment, a mandatory-minimum three years up to lifetime supervised release, a $7,500,000 fine, and a $2,400 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Bristol Township Police Department, the Upper Southampton Police Department, the Chester Police Department, the Lower Merion Police Department, the Upper Chichester Township Police Department, the Folcroft Police Department, the Sharon Hill Police Department, the Central Bucks Regional Police Department, the Hatboro Police Department, the Upper Darby Police Department, the Haverford Township Police Department, the Ridley Township Police Department, the Bristol Borough Police Department, the Lower Southampton Township Police Department, the Falls Township Police Department, the Springfield Township Police Department, the Marple Township Police Department, and the Warrington Township Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PHILADELPHIA – On October 15, 2019, United States Attorney William M. McSwain was invited to speak at the Quarterly Luncheon of the Executive Board of the Citizens’ Crime Commission of the Greater Delaware Valley. U.S. Attorney McSwain addressed the current state of criminal justice in Philadelphia, highlighting in particular the defense-oriented litigation tactics on display in several cases handled by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office during Larry Krasner’s tenure. Among the cases analyzed, U.S. Attorney McSwain dissected Krasner’s litigation maneuvers in the latest Mumia Abu-Jamal appeal and explained how Krasner is attempting to position the case to free the unrepentant cop killer.

* * *

Thank you, John [Appledorn], for that introduction and for your work as President of the Citizens’ Crime Commission of the Delaware Valley. And thank you for inviting me to speak to this distinguished group of law enforcement and citizens who appreciate the sacrifices that those serving in law enforcement make every day. My heart feels good to be among a group such as this. It is an honor to be here and to support this group’s mission: to improve the quality of life of citizens in the Delaware Valley with ongoing outreach, community programs, and the latest safety and security initiatives. It is a worthy mission, and one that my Office shares.

As U.S. Attorney, I have the privilege of working with thousands of dedicated police officers, detectives, case agents, and prosecutors across the nine counties of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Working side-by-side with those who are willing to sacrifice for the greater good is one of the best things about my job. I felt that way when I was an Assistant U.S. Attorney earlier in my career, and it holds true today.

The brave men and women in law enforcement in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania serve and protect a broad swath of communities. Our District is comprised of large metropolitan cities, rural areas, and every type of community in between, and the issues that the police encounter in the District are as diverse as the communities they serve. But law enforcement officers are cut from the same cloth – they are honorable, courageous, selfless, and resilient. These values bind them together, serve as an inspiration to me, and provide a source of strength when the going gets tough.

Unfortunately for those brave men and women, times are tough for law enforcement these days – in Philadelphia and beyond. For one thing, police work is not getting any safer. Gun violence continues to plague the City; just this past weekend, there were six different reported shooting incidents. Two men were killed, and a total of 13 people were injured in the span of only two days. Through October 12, the number of homicide victims this year has reached 266, which is an increase over the number of victims during the same time frame last year, which was already a terrible year.

Times are also tough for law enforcement because their jobs are made all the more difficult by a culture of disrespect for law enforcement championed by the words and actions of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, or as he refers to himself, the City’s “public defender with power.” Or perhaps we should refer to him as Uncle Larry, which is the nickname that the City’s violent criminals have affectionately bestowed upon him. Uncle Larry’s antics are especially dangerous because he is a prosecutor – and as such, he’s supposed to be on the side of law enforcement and community safety. He took an oath to uphold the rule of law, to protect public safety, and to represent victims and the people of this City in our criminal justice system. Instead, through the policies he has put in place and through his various courtroom maneuvers, he has done just the opposite. This reality often makes Krasner as dangerous as the criminals that he’s looking out for.

This conclusion – that Krasner’s policies endanger the public – is buttressed by the data collected and displayed on his “Public Data Dashboard,” a website Krasner announced a few weeks ago that tallies up information on key metrics that include the number of incidents, arrests, charges, case outcomes, and “years of future incarceration imposed.” The data from the dashboard serves as a scoreboard of sorts – one that collects wins for criminals and losses for the law-abiding public.

The dashboard touts some stunning statistics. To highlight just a few that compare this year to five years ago: (1) the DA’s Office has charged 26 percent fewer cases this year than through the same date in 2014; (2) it has charged 268 people for retail theft this year, down from 1,900 five years ago; (3) the conviction rate for homicides is down as compared to 2014; and (4) in a City full of gun violence, the number of illegal gun possession cases diverted into the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program (which amounts to a free first offense) has skyrocketed – there were 10 in 2014 and 78 in 2018. None of this is good news for law enforcement, for the rule of law, or for the communities we serve.

The effect of Krasner’s policies and his culture of disrespect were on full display in front of a national audience this past August when Maurice Hill, a convicted felon with a long rap sheet, opened fire on Philadelphia police officers as they attempted to execute a search warrant. This confrontation left six officers wounded and a neighborhood traumatized. It is a miracle that the officers survived the attack and that the chaos ended with Maurice Hill in custody.

The Maurice Hill incident and these stunning statistics raise some obvious questions: Are criminals emboldened by Larry Krasner? And do some segments of the community take their cues from the District Attorney’s slander against law enforcement and then pile on with even more disrespect? The answers are: yes and yes. When the City’s top local prosecutor talks about the police as if they are the enemy, criminals take heart and the community takes note. And the rule of law takes a huge hit.

Which brings me to the message I want to deliver to you today – it’s reflected in the title of my remarks and it’s the same message that I’ve delivered to Larry Krasner and others who feed the culture of disrespect: Enough of this nonsense already. Since the day I was sworn in as U.S. Attorney, it has been my mission to restore a culture of respect for law enforcement and for the rule of law, to stop violent crime and to advocate for victims and the law-abiding members of our community. And the way to do that is to challenge those, like Krasner, who have a warped value system, to call out this nonsense, and to aggressively prosecute dangerous criminals in this City and in our District. This is what prosecutors are supposed to do, and it’s what I intend to do every minute of every day that I have this job.

Larry Krasner’s approach to prosecution elevates politics over public safety and puts police in danger. We’ve seen this, not only in his policies that discourage arrests, prosecution, and meaningful prison sentences for serious offenders, but also in the effect that his various litigation maneuvers have had on the integrity of the judicial system. In short, Krasner is hard at work trying to take decisionmaking power out of the hands of judges and juries and into his own – because judges and juries, unlike Krasner, cannot always be trusted to be cheerleaders for violent defendants.

For example, take the case of Jouvan Patterson, who shot Philadelphia shop owner Li (“Mike”) Poeng, with a military-style assault rifle during an attempted robbery of Mr. Poeng’s convenience store in May 2018. Mr. Poeng, a refugee from Cambodia, fought with Patterson on the sidewalk in front of his store, with his wife and children inside the store, terrified. Poeng is now confined to a wheelchair as a result of the shooting.

The DA’s Office originally charged Patterson with multiple crimes, including attempted murder and aggravated assault, but then quietly dropped the attempted murder charges and agreed to a ridiculously lenient plea deal of 3 1/2 to 10 years imprisonment. My Office stepped in once we learned of this miscarriage of justice and charged Patterson federally with one count of attempted robbery which interferes with interstate commerce and one federal firearms charge. On the gun charge alone, he faces a statutory maximum of life imprisonment and a statutory minimum of ten years’ imprisonment, which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed on the attempted robbery count – with no parole. Mr. Patterson’s trial is scheduled for next year. And I can promise you this – at that court proceeding, the prosecutor from my Office will be acting like a prosecutor and not a public defender. The prosecutor will represent the interests of the public and the victim. There is no “Uncle Bill” waiting for Mr. Patterson in federal court.

And then there’s the case of Michael White, the man accused of stabbing and killing Philadelphia resident Sean Schellenger last summer. Krasner’s pretrial maneuvers – dropping first degree murder charges in favor of third degree, and then more recently his motion to dismiss even the third-degree murder charge against White – framed the factual issues in the defendant’s favor by limiting the jury’s options and paving the way for the defendant to put the victim’s character on trial. The pretrial motion Krasner submitted claimed that his office would fare better with a jury arguing voluntary manslaughter rather than third degree murder. But let’s face it: the only person who fares better with that maneuver is the defendant, Michael White.

Then of course, there’s Krasner’s newly expanded Conviction Integrity Unit, which to date, is responsible for reversing murder convictions of 10 defendants (or five percent of the cases it has reviewed) since Krasner came into office. That’s more than three times the number of convictions reversed in just over a year under Krasner than had been reversed in the previous four years since the unit was formed in 2014. In these cases, a pattern has emerged: Krasner shamelessly substitutes his own judgment for the jury’s, further victimizing the families.

In the latest of these 10 cases – that of Willie Veasy, a convicted murderer – Krasner’s office joined forces with Veasy’s lawyers and filed a joint motion seeking Veasy’s release, which the trial court granted earlier in October. This was a case with both a confession and an eyewitness that the jury had chosen to believe, after weighing the evidence in a court of law, including Veasy’s claimed alibi defense. But Uncle Larry, many, many years after the murder and the trial, decided that what the jury concluded after weighing the evidence didn’t matter; all that matters is what Krasner, the public defender with power, thinks. So he used that power and decided that the police detectives on the case had coerced the confession. Mind you, no court ever ruled that Veasy’s confession was coerced or that the detectives on the case acted improperly. That’s because the DA’s Office didn’t ask any court to do so; it conveniently skipped over the part of the process where the prosecutor seeks an evidentiary hearing during which it could test the defendant’s allegations of coercion. It did so in part because Krasner has had it out for the two detectives on the case for some time, but no court ever had to consider that bias. Equally troubling is the fact that in joining forces with the defendant’s lawyers, the DA’s office also conveniently discounted the eyewitness testimony – that was never recanted – pointing to Veasy as the shooter.

The result: Veasy is freed and Uncle Larry puts up a big number – 10 convicted murderers freed – on his new dashboard. Is this an “exoneration” of a convicted murderer? Is this a finding of innocence? Hardly. It is, instead, the ugly manifestation of Krasner’s hatred for law enforcement – and his affection for convicted murderers – that causes him to usurp the roles of the judge and jury and thereby make a mockery of our criminal justice system. In the aftermath, Mr. Veasy summed up the situation nicely: “Th[ings] are going to change with who we have in office today, and if we continue to keep people in office like him, things will definitely turn around for a lot of people.” Yes, Mr. Veasy, you have that exactly right.

And if Krasner has his way, things are only going to get worse. Which brings me to the never-ending, complicated Mumia Abu-Jamal saga. The District Attorney’s Office’s handling of this case since Krasner took office in 2018 has paved the way for what I believe is Krasner’s long-term play in this case – to become this unrepentant cop killer’s savior and add another tally to his dashboard by freeing yet another convicted murderer. Krasner’s response to a series of defense moves during the most recent phase of this litigation shows an alarming pattern – one showing Krasner’s office backing away, every chance it gets, from its obligation to fight to preserve the jury’s guilty verdict. Even though Krasner technically represents the Commonwealth – that is, the people of Pennsylvania and the victim’s family – his actions confirm that he does so in name only. Instead, he is using his power to side with Abu-Jamal and his lawyers rather than fight for those whom he is supposed to represent.

In the most recent chapter of this case, Abu-Jamal is now pursuing his fifth round of post-conviction review in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Broadly speaking, post-conviction review is the judicial process separate from the direct appeals process that gives defendants another avenue to raise legal challenges to their convictions. Convicted criminals first file Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”) petitions at the trial court level – in the Pennsylvania system, that is the Court of Common Pleas sitting as a “PCRA court” – and then those petitions make their way through the normal appellate process. But let’s be clear: a convicted defendant is not entitled to file PCRA petitions in perpetuity; at some point, both state and federal law, duly enacted by the legislature, place clear limits on convicted criminals’ PCRA rights.

Those limits should have been applied in Abu-Jamal’s case, but they clearly were not. He received this fifth proverbial “bite at the apple” because a trial-court level judge – in fact, the same judge who sided with Krasner in the Veasy case – took up Abu-Jamal’s fifth PCRA petition and found in December 2018 that his four previous proceedings were tainted by the mere appearance of bias stemming from then-Justice Castille’s involvement in the case. The court reasoned that because Castille was the Philadelphia District Attorney when Abu-Jamal was convicted, that was enough to raise concerns about the fairness of the judicial process overall.

This PCRA court finding was a big win for this cop killer, as it allowed him to immediately file an appeal to the Superior Court in which he could relitigate multiple issues he previously raised unsuccessfully many years ago. And that is exactly what Abu-Jamal did when he filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in January 2019.

Fortunately for Abu-Jamal, Krasner has been more than willing to lay down in the course of the current Pennsylvania Superior Court appeal rather than fight to defend the jury’s finding of guilt. There’s not one, or two, but three instances to point to, in just this phase of the litigation alone, where Krasner decided to take a dive rather than oppose Abu-Jamal’s various litigation maneuvers.

The first example is seen in how the District Attorney’s Office handled Abu-Jamal’s request in the Superior Court for immediate transfer of his appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On March 11, 2019, when the Superior Court asked the parties to show cause why the case should not be transferred, Abu-Jamal advocated to bypass the Superior Court altogether. Rather than opposing that procedure, the District Attorney’s Office stood by and decided not to object to it. Though there are instances (death penalty cases being one of them) when a direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is appropriate, this is no longer a death-penalty case, and Krasner knows that. So why not fight? This is the first move where Krasner’s approach – an utter refusal to engage on the issues – is on full display.

The second instance in the Superior Court involves how the District Attorney handled his office’s appeal of the ruling on Justice Castille’s previous involvement in the Abu-Jamal case. Initially, Krasner’s office appealed the PCRA court’s adverse ruling, but then Krasner’s office withdrew its appeal altogether. That left only Abu-Jamal’s appeal – again raising claims that have been previously raised and rejected – in place. The import of Krasner’s inaction is obvious: it clears the path for a future court to rule differently on one or more of these previously rejected claims. It does not matter than multiple courts have already ruled against Abu-Jamal. It does not matter that the law prohibits endless PCRA petitions and appeals. When advocating for murderous defendants, finality is not of any concern to this public defender with power.

Finally, on the very same day that Abu-Jamal filed his appellate brief in the Superior Court, raising all of those previously rejected claims, he filed a motion for remand based on a whole new theory of relief that he had conjured up. He now claimed there was new factual evidence, disclosed for the first time in January 2019, that raised serious questions about the integrity of his conviction. He further claimed that the new evidence should be reviewed and evaluated by the very same judge that had revived his appellate rights in the first place – the Court of Common Pleas judge that had granted Abu-Jamal’s PCRA petition in December 2018.

By now, you can probably guess what happened: the District Attorney’s Office chose again to take a dive and not oppose remand. From Abu-Jamal’s point of view, this is a far better result than having the Superior Court rule on his case or obtaining an immediate transfer to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The reason why is obvious: it sets the stage for the case to go back to the same friendly judge to decide whether this “new evidence” warrants a new trial. Abu-Jamal only has to convince one judge to rule in his favor rather than a panel of Superior Court judges or a majority of Justices sitting on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. By not opposing remand, Krasner just increased Abu-Jamal’s chances of winning a new trial by knocking out two levels of appellate review and cutting multiple judges out of the deliberative process. All in a day’s work.

The Superior Court has not ruled on the remand issue, but it doesn’t have to because we can already see where this case is headed. Krasner’s pattern of behavior, his decision to take not one dive, not two, but three, in the Abu-Jamal Superior Court appeal alone, has the same feel as what happened in the Veasy case. It’s classic Krasner-style prosecution, which is marked by inaction rather than action; silence rather than opposition; defense-oriented tactics rather than prosecutorial zeal. It is yet another example of how Philadelphia’s public defender with power tries to use that power to manufacture his desired results with as little judicial oversight as possible. And here, what Krasner wants is to see Abu-Jamal walk out of prison.

As horrifying as that sounds, here is how it could happen. It’s not hard to predict how this plays out on remand once you look at Krasner’s shameful pattern of conduct in this and other recent cases. The first pathway to freeing Abu-Jamal is if, on remand, Krasner signals that the trial court judge should grant a new trial based on this newly discovered evidence and the judge obliges; Krasner’s office can then simply take another dive and not appeal that ruling. That is not an unlikely possibility when you consider his past maneuvers.

An alternative path to the same result is if the trial court judge denies Abu-Jamal’s request for a new trial on this newly discovered evidence, but then Krasner waits for the inevitable appeal and takes yet another dive in the Superior Court (it would not be the first time), which will mean procedurally that the Superior Court could remand the case for a retrial without objection from the District Attorney’s Office.

Either outcome would then pave the way for Krasner to conclude that a retrial, almost 40 years after the murder, is an impossible feat for his office to pull off – a conclusion that would be utterly indefensible when you consider how the District Attorney’s Office got there in the first place. And then out walks the cop-killer Abu-Jamal, a free man. Criminal justice, Krasner-style.

* * * *

So what are the takeaways from all of this? What can we do about the sorry state of criminal justice in Philadelphia? We can all stand up for those left behind as a result of Krasner’s upside-down approach to prosecution. We can all say “thank you” to our law enforcement community and encourage a culture of respect for law enforcement and for the rule of law. And as federal prosecutors, my Office will continue to serve as the adversaries against crime that the City deserves. In short, we can fight back with all our energy and resolve to do the right thing. That’s a choice that I’ve made, and I will never, ever back down from it. And neither will you. Let’s go forward together and do justice. Thank you, and God Bless you all.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Stamatios “Tom” Kousisis, 62, of Downingtown, PA was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and a $17,500 fine by United States District Judge Wendy Beetlestone for a multi-million dollar fraud he perpetrated against the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Kousisis was found guilty of wire fraud and related charges after a 19-day jury trial in August 2018.

The defendant operated a scheme to secure lucrative PennDOT contracts worth more than $150 million utilizing a now-defunct certified disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE). A DBE is a business or firm that is at least 51% owned by one or more individuals who are members of historically disadvantaged groups: this can include women, racial minorities and disabled persons. The rules governing PennDOT contracts required that the defendant and his employer, Alpha-Liberty Joint Venture, use a legitimate, certified DBE to provide at least 6% of the value of the work -- in this case contracts to repair and renovate the Girard Point Bridge and Amtrak’s 30th Street Train Station, both in Philadelphia.

Instead of legitimately employing a DBE to meet contract requirements, the defendant engaged in a fraud scheme in which a company owned by an African-American woman was used as a front. The company was provided invoices showing that it had performed work on these projects, when in fact it did not provide any services of economic value. Further, to inflate the value of the “work” performed by the front company, the defendant funneled payments for materials used on out-of-state projects through the front company and submitted the resulting invoices to PennDOT under the false representation that they had been purchased for and used on the two projects.

“DBE rules exist to level the playing field for legitimate disadvantaged businesses, not for defendants like Kousisis to cynically manipulate to line their own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Kousisis demonstrated a blatant disrespect for the law by defrauding the government contracting process, and therefore taxpayers, for his own benefit. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at all levels to uphold the rule of law and ensure a fair playing field for all.”

“In defrauding the government, Kousisis lined his pockets while stealing from a project designed to help provide a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded projects,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Philadelphia Division. “Today’s sentence sends the message that the FBI will work tirelessly to protect government programs from fraud, waste and abuse and to level the playing field for the disadvantaged.”

“The sentencing handed down in this case should serve as notice that unscrupulous, fraudulent activity within U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) DBE programs will be met with the full force of the criminal justice system,” said Douglas Shoemaker, Regional Special Agent-in-Charge of the DOT, Office of Inspector General. “Working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will continue to root out and hold individuals and businesses accountable when they misuse Federal funding program opportunities for personal gain.”

“We hope the results of this case send a clear message about the consequences of fraud, especially when the fraud occurs under the guise of helping disadvantaged businesses,” said Kevin Winters, Amtrak’s Inspector General. “Our office will vigorously investigate and help bring to justice those who engage in such fraudulent activity as we work to protect Amtrak funds and American taxpayers.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Amtrak – Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Paul G. Shapiro and David E. Troyer.

Philadelphians are shocked and outraged by two recent shootings of the most innocent among us:  11 month-old Yazeem Jenkins, who was shot four times on October 19 in Hunting Park while in a car with his father and stepmother, and two year-old Nikolette Rivera, who was shot in the head the next day while in her mother’s arms in her living room in Kensington.  Nikolette has been buried and Yazeem is fighting for his life at Children’s Hospital.

The community is united in its condemnation of these heinous acts – but we must be honest about what enabled them to happen.  It is the misguided policies of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner that led to these avoidable and heartbreaking tragedies.  No amount of excuses or deflection can change this fact.

Francisco Ortiz has been charged with the attempted murder of Yazeem, and he is also alleged to have supplied one of the weapons that was used in the attack on Nikolette’s family.  Ortiz never should have been on the street to begin with.  He has a long rap sheet, which includes serving ten years in prison on gun charges.  He finished serving that sentence in April and was released.  Within three months of his release, he was arrested again in July on gun charges and his bail was originally set at $100,000.  He was held for trial after a preliminary hearing, at which point his attorney asked for reduced bail.

That was the point at which a responsible prosecutor would have stepped in and fought tooth and nail against any reduction in bail.  In fact, a responsible prosecutor would have asked for an increase in bail after the preliminary hearing, which had established probable cause for the crimes. 

Krasner, however, is anything but a responsible prosecutor.  Instead, he is a defense-oriented ideologue who is more interested in looking out for the likes of Francisco Ortiz than he is in protecting public safety.  So his office consented to the court slashing Ortiz’s bail in half.  At which point Ortiz made bail, was released, and returned to his life of crime.  Soon, Nikolette would be dead and Yazeem would be clinging to life.  For good measure, Ortiz is also a prime suspect in a September homicide in the City’s Lawncrest section. 

It is not the job of the District Attorney to give Francisco Ortiz a helping hand.  It is the job of the District Attorney to pursue justice and prosecute dangerous, violent felons like Ortiz to the fullest extent of the law.

There are real-world consequences to having a District Attorney who cares more about defendants than he does about victims and public safety.  When it comes to dealing with violent criminals, the public doesn’t need a prosecutor whose overarching principle is decarceration.  It needs robust enforcement of our criminal laws.  That is what will make a difference in our community – and that is what Nikolette and Yazeem and their families deserve.