Northern District of Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Christopher Michael Stewart, 40, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 480 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in November 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, on August 19, 2015, officers with the North Richland Hills Police Department stopped Stewart for committing several traffic violations; he was driving a Dodge pickup truck and was the sole occupant of the truck.  After a drug detection canine alerted to the presence of narcotics, officers searched the vehicle and recovered approximately 1,157 grams of methamphetamine, a loaded Glock handgun, packaging equipment and approximately $17,600 in cash.  The Glock was later confirmed stolen.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the North Richland Hills Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Burgess was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor and approximately three hours of deliberation, a federal jury has convicted Dr. Richard Ferdinand Toussaint, Jr., a licensed anesthesiologist, on all counts of a superseding indictment charging seven counts of health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Toussaint faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the seven counts; a sentencing date was not set.  Restitution is also mandatory under the law.  In addition, the indictment includes a forfeiture allegation that would require Toussaint to forfeit any property, real or personal, derived from proceeds traceable to the offense.

Toussaint, 58, provided anesthesia services personally and through a company he founded, Ascendant Anesthesia.  From approximately 2009-2010, Toussaint practiced medicine at several Dallas hospitals, including Forest Park Medical Center located on North Central Expressway and Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake, located on North Buckner Boulevard.  Toussaint founded and held a substantial ownership interest in Forest Park Medical Center.

The government presented evidence that during this time, Toussaint ran a scheme to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBS), United Healthcare (UHC), the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), Aetna, Cigna, Humana and others by submitting, or causing to be submitted, false and fraudulent claims for personally performing medical direction of anesthesia services for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).  Toussaint falsely represented he was “present for” these services when:  1) he was under anesthesia undergoing surgery himself; 2) he was flying on his private jet; 3) he was in another state; and 4) he was at another hospital several miles away.  For example, Toussaint submitted or caused to be submitted several claims representing he was present for and medically directing six patients at two different hospitals and was medically directing two patients while under anesthesia himself.

In addition, the government presented evidence that Toussaint also inflated the amount of time the procedures took and pre-signed patients’ medical records representing the services were provided before the procedures even took place.  In addition to personally creating false medical records and inflating anesthesia procedure time, Toussaint directed others to do the same, representing he was present for procedures when he knew he was not.

As part of his approximate 18-month-long fraud scheme, according to the government, Toussaint fraudulently billed health care benefit programs approximately $10 million.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor OIG, the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service OIG, the U.S. Department of Defense, OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management OIG, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Wirmani and Kate Pfeifle prosecuted the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Tindall is handling the forfeiture issues.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Thirteen individuals, most from the Wichita Falls, Texas, area, charged in a federal indictment with offenses stemming from their respective roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, remain in federal custody after making their initial appearances in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, and pleading not guilty to the charges.  One defendant charged in the indictment remains in state custody.  A trial date of April 11, 2016, has been set.  The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

The indictment alleges the conspiracy began before mid-2011 and continued to the date of the indictment, February 10, 2016.  Count One of the indictment charges the following six defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine:

Cleto Tarin, 52
Miguel Antonio Martinez, 31
Marcus Caldwell, 32
Hector Salvidar, 33
Bobby Frie, Jr., 30
Ramondo Acuna, 31

If convicted on this count, the statutory penalty is not less than five years or more than 40 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine.

Count Two of the indictment charges the following eight defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine:

David Sheppard, 39
Kendra Ward, 27
Susan Williams, 28
Eric Overstreet, 27
Robert Baggott, 45
Cecil Hindman, 51
Oscar Melanson, 31
Jonathan Morris, 31

Defendant Hindman has not yet made his initial appearance in federal court; a writ has been issued to transfer him from state custody to federal custody.  If convicted on this count, the statutory penalty is a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.  

An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury.  A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wichita Falls Police Department are conducting the investigation. 

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ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene, Texas, man, Ruben Soliz, 24, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 60 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Three co-defendants also charged in the case, Abilene residents, Andrew Dean Cruz, 30, and Roberto Carlos Villarreal, 31, and San Angelo, Texas, resident, Richard Louis Martinez, 27, each pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  Cruz and Villarreal were each sentenced to 132 months in federal prison, and Martinez was sentenced to 120 months.

According to documents filed in the case, from approximately November 1, 2013 to August 18, 2014, Cruz, Villarreal and Martinez were involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the Abilene area.  At times, Cruz distributed the methamphetamine from his residence that was located within 1000 feet of Ortiz Elementary School in Abilene.

Soliz admitted, according to filed documents, that in April 2014, he sold one ounce of methamphetamine to another individual.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Texas Department of Public Safety – Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden was in charge of the prosecution.

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ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene, Texas, man, Roy Rene Andrade, 31, was sentenced this morning by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis, in federal court in Abilene, to 240 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Earlier this month, co-defendants Dion Ray Wheeler, 33, and Scott Andrew Michael, 39, also of Abilene, were each sentenced by Judge Solis to 60 months in federal prison.  Each pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.

Andrade pleaded guilty in open court, without a factual resume or plea agreement, to count six of the superseding indictment.  According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, on November 18, 2014, investigators with the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) were conducting surveillance at an apartment complex in Abilene.  Investigators observed Andrade, a known drug trafficker, drive away from the complex in a red vehicle.  Andrade then began driving at a high rate of speed through a residential area and was eventually arrested.  After a drug detection dog alerted on his vehicle, investigators found methamphetamine, in a can with a hidden compartment, and more than $12,000 cash in the vehicle.  Investigators returned to the apartment complex and gained access to the apartment where Andrade had been staying.  An additional 123 grams of methamphetamine and a .40 caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol were found in a safe to which Andrade had the keys.  

On January 21, 2014, approximately 660 grams of methamphetamine were found in a vehicle that was registered to and driven by Andrade. 

In June 2014, investigators with the TCSO conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Michael.  As they approached the vehicle, investigators smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.  Pursuant to a search, investigators discovered marijuana, baggies, a pipe, digital scales, a safe and approximately 14.4 grams of methamphetamine packed for distribution. 

In October 2014, investigators with the TCSO stopped Wheeler’s vehicle for a traffic violation.  A drug detection dog alerted, and a subsequent search discovered a clear baggie containing 9.35 grams of methamphetamine.  Wheeler admitted that he was a methamphetamine user, had gotten the methamphetamine from Andrade and that he intended to sell it.

The Texas Department of Public Safety and the TCSO investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden was in charge of the prosecution.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth, Texas, man, Josimar Badillo-Ortiz, 29, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to the statutory maximum sentence of 240 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in November 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Badillo-Ortiz’s two co-conspirators, Joel Gonzalez-Oviedo, 25, and Juan Carranza-Moreno, 31, both of Fort Worth, are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McBryde on March 25, 2016.  They each pleaded guilty in November 2015 to the same offense, and each faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to documents filed in the case, beginning sometime last year or before, Gonzalez-Oviedo supplied Badillo-Ortiz and others with cocaine.  Badillo-Ortiz rarely, if ever, dealt directly with Gonzalez-Oviedo, rather, Badillo-Ortiz dealt almost exclusively with Carranza-Moreno, who acted as a broker between the two.  As for his part, Badillo-Ortiz worked on behalf of and at another person’s direction to distribute the cocaine he received from Gonzalez-Oviedo. 

According to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in the case, on September 15, 2015, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on a truck they had observed leave a suspected narcotics stash house in Fort Worth.  Gonzalez-Oviedo was the driver and Carranza-Moreno was the passenger.  Acting on probable cause from a canine’s alert, a search of the truck was conducted, and law enforcement discovered an aftermarket “trap” in the air bag that contained nearly $58,000 in cash.  Two days later, Badillo-Ortiz was arrested after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence and at the suspected narcotics stash house.  He advised law enforcement that he had met with Carranza-Moreno and another man on September 15, 2015, and that he paid Carranza-Moreno approximately $58,000 in exchange for two kilograms of cocaine.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Arlington Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith is in charge of the prosecution.

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Six individuals, including two Dallas-area doctors, were charged in a superseding indictment that was unsealed today for their alleged participation in a $13.4 million health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region, Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Class Sr. of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and Director of Law Enforcement David Maxwell of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.  

Dr. Kelly Robinett, 66, of Denton County, Texas; Dr. Angel Claudio, 60, of Hood County, Texas; Patience Okoroji, 57, of Dallas County, Texas; Usani Ewah, 58, of Dallas County ; Kingsley Nwanguma, 45, of Dallas County; and Joy Ogwuegbu, 39, of Collin County, Texas, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  The defendants were also each charged with health care fraud: Robinett and Nwanguma with three counts each, Claudio with two counts, Okoroji and Ewah with five counts each and Ogwuegbu with four counts.  Okoroji, Ewah, Nwanguma and Ogwuegbu were previously charged in the original indictment. 

Robinett, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, is the owner of Boomer Housecalls, based in Frisco, Texas.  Claudio, a medical doctor, is an employee of Dallas-based Texas Medical Housecalls.

Okoroji and Ewah co-owned Timely Home Health Services Inc. (Timely), where Okoroji was an administrator and licensed vocational nurse and Ewah was the director of nursing and a registered nurse.  Nwanguma was a licensed vocational nurse working for Timely and Ogwuegbu was the former director of nursing for Timely.

The indictment alleges that from approximately January 2007 to September 2015, the defendants conspired to defraud Medicare by causing the submission and concealment of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.  According to the allegations, Robinett and Claudio falsely certified beneficiaries for home health care when the patients were not under their care and did not qualify for home health services.  The indictment also alleges that in some cases, Okoroji and Ewah would pay recruiters, including Nwanguma, to recruit beneficiaries for home health services, regardless of whether the beneficiaries needed home health care.  Okoroji, Ewah and Ogwuegbu allegedly prepared or caused to be prepared fraudulent Medicare documents that made it appear as though the beneficiaries qualified for home health services. 

The indictment alleges that during the scheme, the defendants billed Medicare approximately $13,434,550 based on false home health certification signed by doctors, including Robinett and Claudio, and false and fraudulent claims for home health services.

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

HHS-OIG, FBI and the MFCU investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas.  Fraud Section Trial Attorney Jason Knutson is prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,300 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $7 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.

DALLAS — The last of 15 defendants charged and convicted in a methamphetamine and cocaine distribution conspiracy that operated in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, and elsewhere, has been sentenced to a lengthy federal prison sentence, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Oak Cliff, was led by the Dallas Police Department’s Narcotics Section, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

 Armando Luna, 30, of Dallas, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis on Wednesday to serve 160 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  Armando Luna’s brother, coconspirator John Paul Luna, 28, pleaded guilty to the same offense and is currently serving a 360-month federal prison sentence.

Other defendants charged and convicted in the case have been sentenced as follows:

Gilbert Garcia, 29, 41 months
Jesus Mendoza, 49, 112 months
Eli Olivarez, 26, 144 months
Servando Pineda-Campos, 45, 112 months
Angeles Ramirez, 34, 78 months
Alan Villegas, 23, 156 months
Jonathon Williams, 26, 37 months
Dakota Michelle Perez, 27, 70 months
Michael Joseph Logan, 54, 112 months
Deanna Rios, 24, 30 months
Christopher Valdez, 26, 124 months
Lucy Valdez, 27, 57 months
Manuel Cedillo Villegas, 29, 188 months

According to documents filed in the case and facts presented in court, in 2012 and 2013, the above-listed defendants conspired together and with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  

In addition, during the course of the conspiracy, law enforcement purchased approximately 1.9 kilograms of cocaine, 3.24 kilograms of methamphetamine and 8.2 kilograms of marijuana.  Law enforcement seized 42 firearms and approximately $62,000 in drug proceeds.  They also executed five search warrants during the investigation, closing multiple, mid-level drug houses.
 

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LUBBOCK, Texas — Jimmy Edward Villa, 41, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 15 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Villa has been in federal custody since his arrest in September 2015.

According to documents filed in his case, in late July 2015, Villa used his cell phone to record a video, which he took through a hole in a bathroom ceiling, of a minor female taking a shower and then drying off.  Villa subsequently made single-frame screen captures of the video that depicted sexually explicit photos of the minor female.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lubbock Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Arthur Lee Hightower, II, a Dallas man who was on the lam for more than seven months following his indictment in May 2015 for his role in a jewelry theft scheme that targeted the Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES), is now in custody, and today he pleaded guilty to his role in that scheme, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Hightower II, 56, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan, to one count of theft of government property.  He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Restitution could also be ordered.  Sentencing is set for July 11, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.

In May 2015, Hightower and his former wife, Jessie Faye Hightower, a/k/a “Jessie Faye Lewis,” 55, of Balch Springs, Texas, and their two sons, Arthur Lee Hightower III, 34, of Lancaster, Texas, and Travoine Lee Hightower, 31, of Dallas, were charged in a federal indictment with felony offenses stemming from a scheme they ran to steal nearly $100,000 in wedding ring sets from AAFES.  Jessie Fay Hightower and Arthur Lee Hightower III have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive stolen government property.  Travoine Lee Hightower pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen government property. 

According to plea documents filed in the case, Hightower II worked as a truck driver, and part of his duties included delivering AAFES merchandise to the AAFES offices in Dallas.  On approximately October 3, 2014, Hightower II, who was responsible for safeguarding the merchandise, did not deliver all of the AAFES merchandise, instead, he stole approximately 70 wedding ring sets from AAFES.

Hightower II admitted he gave several of the wedding ring sets to his co-defendant family members so they could pawn the stolen jewelry to obtain cash. 

The case was investigated by agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is prosecuting.

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WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Ten defendants who pleaded guilty in October 2015 to their respective roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in Wichita Falls, Texas, from approximately March 2014 to August 2015, were sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Nine residents of Wichita Falls received the following federal prison sentences:

Mark Anthony Peysen, 54, 180 months
Tamara Ann Beasley, 43, 51 months
Clinton Ray Durham, 47, 63 months
John Monroe Drullinger, Jr., 53, 155 months
Chad Edward Fluharty, 36, 110 months
Juan Anthony Gabaldon, 31, 168 months
Vincent Mark Hinson, 36, 151 months
Curtis Lisle Shawver, 28, 168 months
Cody Shane Walsh, 30, 240 months

Dallas resident Michael David Thompson, 50, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison.

Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.  A total of 13 were charged in the conspiracy.  One defendant, James Anthony Streadwick, 54, of Wichita Falls, pleaded guilty to the same offense and was sentenced last month to 292 months in federal prison.  Two defendants, William Muyleart and Kimberly Paulk Shaffer, remain fugitives. 

According to documents filed in the case, from approximately March 2014 to August 12, 2015, these defendants conspired together, and with others, to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.  They arranged to acquire the methamphetamine and used residences and other locations in the Northern District of Texas to package and distribute it to customers.  They delivered and distributed, and coordinated the delivery and distribution of, quantities of methamphetamine.  They also acted as intermediaries and brokers to negotiate the acquisition, price, sale and delivery of the methamphetamine, as well as the collection of payment for the methamphetamine.

The Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, the Wichita Falls Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Two north Texas men, Richard Robert Cesario of Plano, Texas, and John Paul Cooper, of Southlake, Texas, have been indicted on felony offenses stemming from a health care fraud conspiracy they ran that caused TRICARE, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Military Health System that provides coverage for DOD beneficiaries, to suffer more than $65 million in losses, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Both Cesario, 44, and Cooper, 47, were arrested yesterday morning by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Both made their initial appearances in federal court and were detained, pending detention hearings set for Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan.

TRICARE provides health coverage for DOD beneficiaries world-wide, including active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, their families and survivors.  Among other things, TRICARE provides coverage for certain prescription drugs, including certain compounded drugs that were medically necessary and prescribed by a licensed physician. 

According to the indictment that was just unsealed, Cesario founded, and both Cesario and Cooper co-owned and co-operated, CMG RX LLC. (CMGRX), a Dallas company that primarily marketed compounded pain and scar creams to current and former U.S. military members and their families on behalf of various compounding pharmacies.  Cesario served as its CEO and Treasurer and Cooper served as its President and Secretary.  Neither defendant had any medical, nursing or pharmaceutical licensing or education.  Formed in 2014, CMGRX ceased operations in mid-2015, shortly after TRICARE announced changes to its coverage of compounded drugs.

The indictment alleges that from approximately July 2014 to mid-February 2016, Cesario, Cooper and others conspired to run a scheme to defraud TRICARE in connection with the delivery of, and payment for, health care benefits, items and services, causing TRICARE to suffer an actual loss of more than $65 million. 

As part of the scheme, according to the indictment, Cesario and Cooper paid TRICARE beneficiaries $250 per month for each prescription they obtained and filled for compounded drugs, principally compounded pain creams, scar creams, migraine creams and vitamins, through one of their partner pharmacies.  They disguised these payments to TRICARE beneficiaries as “grants” for participating in a medical study they referred to as a TRICARE-approved “Patient Safety Initiative” or “PSI Study” to evaluate the safety and efficacy of compounded drugs.  In reality, the PSI Study was not approved by TRICARE, was not overseen by a qualified physician or medical professional, and was not designed to gather any useful scientific data relating to the safety and efficacy of any drug.  Its true purposed was to compile a list of TRICARE beneficiaries who had filled prescriptions so that Cesario, Cooper and their coconspirators could calculate how much to pay the beneficiaries.  Using this information, the defendants and their coconspirators compiled monthly payout lists of individuals, addresses and payment amounts. 

To disguise the source of those kickbacks to TRICARE beneficiaries, according to the indictment, Cesario and Cooper created the “Freedom From Pain Foundation” and registered it as a tax-exempt charitable foundation.  The foundation, however, was funded entirely by payments from Cesario and Cooper, or CMGRX accounts they controlled, and from November 2014 to June 2015, they paid $2,425,725.00 into the foundation.  The defendants instructed the Freedom From Pain Foundation to write checks to the TRICARE beneficiaries in amounts indicated on the payout lists.  Cesario and Cooper shared these expenses equally; each wrote checks to the Freedom From Pain Foundation for half of the total from each payout list, indicating in the checks’ memo section that it was a charitable donation.

As a further part of their scheme, the indictment alleges the defendants paid physicians $60 for each compounded pain or scar cream prescription they wrote and $30 for each compounded vitamin prescription they wrote.  Typically, the prescribing physician had no prior physician/patient relationship with the TRICARE beneficiaries for whom they wrote prescriptions.  In an effort to disguise these physician kickbacks, the defendants funneled them though the Freedom From Pain Foundation, under the false premise that the physicians were participating in the PSI Study.

The indictment alleges that Cesario and Cooper caused CMGRX to enter into marketing service agreements with various compounding pharmacies, with the compounding pharmacy agreeing to pay a percentage of their gross revenue received for CMGRX-generated claims.  In an attempt to disguise the nature of these kickbacks, Cesario and Cooper had the pharmacies make these payments as “employee wages,” even though neither Cesario nor Cooper was a bona fide employee of any compounding pharmacy.

Cesario and Cooper are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, four counts of receipt of illegal remuneration and six counts of payment of illegal remuneration.  The maximum statutory penalty, upon conviction, for the conspiracy count is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Each of the illegal remuneration offenses carries, upon conviction, a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation that would require the defendants, upon conviction, to forfeit to the U.S. any property traceable to the offense, including four homes in Plano, Frisco and Southlake, Texas; one home in Jacksonville, Florida; the funds in 18 bank accounts; 21 cars and trucks, including a Jaguar, a Maserati, a Ferrari, a Porsche, an Aston Martin and three Mercedes-Benz; two motor coaches; and one boat.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Defense Criminal Investigative Service are investigating.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher is in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — A 37-year-old heroin dealer and his three co-conspirators, including two women who injected a Dallas teenage girl with a fatal dose of that heroin in March 2014, were sentenced this week in federal court in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

On Monday, Jimison Erik Coleman, 37, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 16 years in federal prison.  He pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, stemming from his role in the March 2014 heroin overdose death of a Dallas teenage girl, Rian Hannah Lashley. 

Co-conspirator Cierra Allyn Rounds, 28, was sentenced on Monday by Judge Lindsay to 13 years in in federal prison.  She pleaded guilty in March 2015 to the same offense.

Today, the two remaining coconspirators, who also pleaded guilty to the same offense, Kathryn Grace Dirks, a/k/a “Kat,” 26, and Glen William Brunton, 29, both of Dallas, were sentenced by Judge Lindsay to 13 years and five years, respectively.

“This case is a tragic yet perfect example of why we prosecute those who peddle poison to our children,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.  “Heroin, and the prescription opioids like OxyContin and hydrocodone that fuel its demand, are killing our loved ones and tearing our families apart.  This is the fastest growing and most dangerous drug threat in north Texas today and throughout this country.  Opioid overdoses have reached epidemic proportions as they have tripled since 2000.  Heroin deaths alone have tripled in just four years.  Shockingly, eighty people a day die from opioid overdose in this country, and thirty of those, like Rian, from heroin.  The cost of dealing this poison is going to be steep, particularly when people die.  That’s our job.” 

According to documents filed in the case, Coleman and Dirks were involved in a romantic relationship in 2013 and part of 2014, and during the time they were together, Coleman routinely distributed drugs, including heroin, MDMA and prescription drugs, to dancers and patrons at a strip club in Dallas where Dirks worked and at clubs in Southern California.  Sometimes Coleman fronted quantities of drugs to particular dancers who, at his direction, sold the drugs to patrons and/or other dancers with whom they came in contact.  On occasion, Dirks directed customers who were interested in purchasing drugs to Coleman, and in return, Coleman provided Dirks with heroin and other drugs to support her drug addiction.  From December 2013 until April 2015, Coleman distributed multiple grams of heroin, multiple hits of ecstasy and molly, multiple ounces of cocaine and various prescription drugs to numerous customers in North Texas and elsewhere.

Early in the morning on March 25, 2014, Coleman, Dirks, Rounds, Brunton and Lashley met for breakfast at an IHOP restaurant in Plano, Texas.  Coleman had provided Dirks, Rounds and Brunton with heroin on numerous occasions prior to that date.  Rounds and the others learned that Lashley had about $3,500, a cell phone and an iPad.

Later that morning in a parking lot near the IHOP, Coleman gave Brunton five baggies totaling one gram of “China White” heroin and directed him to deliver the heroin to Lashley, who was with Dirks and Rounds in Lashley’s vehicle.  At Coleman’s direction, Brunton distributed the heroin to Lashley for $120 cash that he subsequently turned over to Coleman.  After acquiring the heroin, Rounds, Dirks and Lashley left the parking lot in Lashley’s vehicle and traveled to a residence in Dallas where Rounds lived.  Coleman and Brunton left the parking lot in a separate vehicle.

On the way to that residence, Rounds used Lashley’s cell phone to send a series of text messages to Coleman, including information about their proximity to the residence and a text advising him that “…I figured ud want me on this money.”  Rounds admitted that when she sent this text to Coleman, she was notifying him that she understood that she was to attempt to steal the money Lashley had and turn it over to Coleman.  As Rounds and the others arrived at the Dallas residence, Rounds sent another text message to Coleman asking if she should take Lashley and Dirks inside.  Coleman texted back, “Don’t leave don’t let them leave.”  Rounds understood the message to mean to take Lashley into the residence and keep her there.  In fact, later that afternoon, Dirks turned over a portion or all of Lashley’s cash to Coleman.

Once inside the Dallas residence, at Lashley’s request, Rounds and Dirks used a syringe to inject the heroin that Coleman supplied into Lashley.  Just before doing that, however, Rounds sent Coleman a text stating “…ima bout to shoot her up for her first time.”  Rounds admitted that she hoped the heroin injection would incapacitate Lashley in such a way to allow her to steal Lashley’s cash.  Lashley was injected a total of three times.

Later that afternoon, Lashley began showing signs of distress and Rounds and Dirks placed her in a bathtub of ice water in an attempt to reverse the effects of the heroin.  After she was removed from the bathtub, Lashley was placed on a couch and appeared to go to sleep.

Rian Lashley died later that evening as a direct result of the heroin she bought from Coleman that was administered to her.  An autopsy concluded that Lashley died as a result of the toxic effects of heroin.

The Dallas Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Buena Park, California, Police Department investigated.  Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phelesa Guy prosecuted the case.

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — Marcos Antonio Gamez, 23, of Sonora, Texas, was sentenced this morning by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 262 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor.  Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Gamez has been in custody since his arrest in August 2015.

According to documents filed in his case, in March 2015, Gamez engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor female, and he used his cellphone to produce a video of that conduct.  Gamez also persuaded this minor female to recruit another minor female to join them in sexually explicit conduct, but this second minor female declined to participate. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, the Sonora Police Department, the Sutton County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — The last defendant to be sentenced in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in North Texas for two years was sentenced today to a lengthy federal prison sentence, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ismael Rico, 32, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to serve 400 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.  According to documents filed in the case, Rico and co-defendant David Godinez conspired with each other to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.  Godinez, 30, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced last month to 250 months in federal prison. 

Earlier this month, co-defendants James Gatlin, 40, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison; Matthew Ryan Thompson, 44, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was sentenced to 420 months; and Celeste Monette Blair, 45, of Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 360 months.  Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Gatlin, Thompson and Blair admitted receiving multi-ounce quantities of methamphetamine from others in the conspiracy that they distributed to others.

The other four defendants convicted in the case have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 250 to 480 months.  Each defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday afternoon charging a former director in a non-profit corporation that receives grant funding to provide Head Start services for the Dallas area with embezzlement.  U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made today’s announcement.

The one-count indictment charges Evetta Galloway Griffin, 48, of Grand Prairie, Texas, with one count of theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.  Griffin is expected to surrender to federal authorities and make an initial appearance in federal court next week.

According to the indictment, Griffin, a/k/a Evette Griffin, was the Director of Facilities and Administration for the Child Care Group (CCG) until late March 2015.  The CCG is a non-profit corporation that receives federal grant funding to provide, among other things, Head Start services to promote the school readiness of young children from low-income families in the Dallas area.  Together, Head Start and Early Head Start programs support the comprehensive development of children from birth to age five, in centers, child care partner locations and in their own homes. 

Griffin had many duties at CCG that were related to the operation of their child care centers, as well as other responsibilities related to the administration of the corporate office and the procurement process related to federal grants. 

The indictment alleges that Griffin created and executed an embezzlement, theft and fraud scheme in which she fraudulently billed CCG for fictitious printing services allegedly provided by A-1 Express Co or A-1 Express Inc.  In fact, between April 25, 2011 and January 30, 2015, Griffin submitted approximately 100 fraudulent invoices to CCG that they paid.  Griffin usually converted the checks that were made payable to A-1 Express Co or A-1 Express Inc. to cash, ultimately receiving approximately $115,000 from her embezzlement scheme.

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.  If convicted, however, the maximum statutory penalty for this offense is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is investigating the case.  Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Orlando Jose Chapa, 37, of Dallas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 13 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in November 2015 to indictment charging one count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Chapa, who is on bond, was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 24, 2016.

According to documents filed in the case, on or about May 30, 2015, in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas, Chapa knowingly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter and at the flight path of that aircraft.  Chapa aimed the laser at the helicopter from his driveway as it was flying overhead.

The FBI, Texas DPS and the Dallas Police Department investigated.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Burns prosecuted the case.

# # #

DALLAS — A multi-convicted felon, Tracy Norman Hanson, 51, of Kaufman County, who was arrested after his involvement in a shootout with law enforcement officers in Van Zandt County, Texas, in January 2015, and who pleaded guilty in August 2015 to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve the statutory maximum sentence of 240 months in federal prison.  U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement today.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made on the record at his sentencing hearing yesterday, on September 23, 2015, Hanson, a multi-convicted felon on parole for serious felonies, possessed a Ruger .44 magnum caliber revolver that was recovered by deputies with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office.  This firearm, alleged in Count One of the indictment, was one of five firearms stolen from a residence in Kaufman County, Texas, and the burglar had sold that firearm to Hanson.  State arrest warrants were then issued for Hanson.

On January 16, 2015, two law enforcement officers who were searching for Hanson spotted him hiding at a mobile home park in Kaufman County.  As they waited for backup officers to arrive, Hanson departed the location as the front-seat passenger in a pickup truck.  The officers attempted to stop the pickup, but a high-speed chase—with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour—ensued along two-lane county roads and graveled lanes.  During the course of the police chase, the pickup nearly collided with another vehicle, and it dangerously blazed past a school bus carrying 28 children.  

The pickup truck eventually turned into Van Zandt County, where it experienced mechanical failure and came to a stop in a road-side ditch.  The law enforcement officers had followed the pickup, but encountered gunfire from Hanson and the pickup’s driver—both armed with pistols—as they turned onto the road.  Multiple shots were fired at the officers just as the school bus that they had blazed past crossed the intersection behind the officers.  The officers, fearing for their lives, exited their vehicle with service weapons in hand and returned fire.  The pickup’s driver was shot and killed in the gun battle, and the pickup’s backseat passenger was also shot.  Hanson, for his part, experienced a weapon malfunction, tossed his pistol and surrendered.  The officers arrested Hanson and recovered a stolen Bersa .380 caliber pistol that Hanson had fired at them.  This firearm is alleged in Count Two of the indictment.  Hanson is also facing charges in Van Zandt County for assault of a public servant with a dangerous weapon.  

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers investigated.

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay prosecuted the case.

# # #

DALLAS — A Dallas man, Shaun Wesley Skinner, 27, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 151 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in May 2015 to one count of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery.  The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, on November 18, 2014, Skinner entered the Wells Fargo Bank, located at 2222 McKinney Avenue in Dallas, where he handed a teller a note that demanded money.  The teller, however, did not give Skinner any money, and he fled the bank on foot.

On December 29, 2014, Skinner entered the Chase Bank, located at 10321 Lake June Road in Dallas, approached the teller, and verbally ordered and intimidated the teller into giving him money.   Skinner then fled the bank with the money.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dallas Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Robinson prosecuted the case.

# # #

DALLAS —Javier Gallegos, 49, of Irving, Texas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 204 months (17 years) in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of transportation of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

After serving his sentence, Gallegos will be referred to U.S. Immigration officials for deportation proceedings.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in December 2014 when a detective with the Plano Police Department, working in an undercover capacity, noticed that a computer with a specific IP address was making files, with names indicative of child pornography, available for sharing.  Between December 5 and December 6, 2014, the detective downloaded 30 files, including 27 videos, of child pornography depicting the sexual abuse of minor children.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Gallegos’s home in March 2015, and Gallegos, who was home at the time, admitted that for approximately two years, he had used a file-sharing program on the Internet to obtain child pornography.  A forensic analysis of Gallegos’s laptop computer revealed that Gallegos had used the file-sharing program to share approximately 234 files and that the majority of those files had names consistent with child pornography.  The forensic analysis further revealed that Gallegos had 25 videos of child pornography on his laptop computer and thumb drive, with some depicting sadistic and/or violent content.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”         

The FBI and the Plano Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Patrick D. Lenard, 34, of Pleasant Grove, South Dallas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 30 years in federal prison following his guilty plea last year to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin and marijuana and one count of kidnapping, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

A federal grand jury indicted Lenard and ten others in November 2014 on various conspiracy, drug trafficking, kidnapping, firearm, witness intimidation/tampering, and records destruction charges stemming from their involvement in a violent drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated out of both the Pleasant Grove area of South Dallas and the Dallas County Jail.  All eleven defendants have been convicted, and all but two have been sentenced. 

In November 2015, co-defendant Selena Ball, 30, of Desoto, Texas, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison following her guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  She worked for the Dallas County Probation Department, and part of her job involved monitoring inmates, including Lenard, with whom she had a romantic relationship despite her position and the clear conflict the relationship created.  Because of that relationship, Ball changed or purposefully failed to report violations of Lenard’s conditions of release. 

At various times between November 2012 and November 2014, Lenard conducted and managed drug-trafficking activities from his Dallas County Jail cell.  He used jail phones to call co-conspirators and on several of those phone calls, Lenard instructed another co-conspirator to conference in a third co-conspirator so that Lenard could give instructions or obtain information from that individual related to Lenard’s drug-trafficking activities.  On one occasion, in August 2014, Lenard engaged in a phone conversation with Ball, another co-conspirator, and an unindicted co-conspirator, about illegal narcotics transactions, including one planned for that day, and money obtained from these transactions.  These conversations included discussions regarding approximately $66,000 obtained from these transactions. 

Lenard also admitted to his role in a brutal kidnapping in which Lenard and co-conspirators carjacked and kidnapped a victim in broad daylight at a gas station on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas.  They ran over the victim twice, taking him by force and at gunpoint, carried him to another location where he was then beaten and tortured, as Lenard and his crew sought to locate drug money they believed the victim had stolen.  Several surveillance cameras recorded the kidnapping.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Dallas Police Department led the investigation. 

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Errin Martin and P. J. Meitl prosecuted the case.

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — Robert Mark Haugland, II, 25, of San Angelo, Texas, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 10 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of transportation of child pornography.  Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Cummings remanded Haugland into custody at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing.  Haugland had been on bond since his initial appearance on the charges in August 2015.

According to documents filed in his case, in approximately 2014, Haugland began using Kik, a social networking application, to communicate with various persons about child pornography and to transport and receive images of child pornography. 

One such transaction occurred on July 9, 2014, when Haugland used his cell phone and Kik to send an image of prepubescent child pornography to another person. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — An Arlington, Texas, businessman has been sentenced to the statutory maximum sentence following his guilty plea in August 2015 to a federal felony tax offense, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Avan Nguyen, according to the factual resume filed in the case, operates Nava Material Goods, Inc., a wholesale business for beauty and/or nail salon products in Arlington, Texas.  He was sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to the statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison, and he was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine.  He must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 1, 2016.

Nguyen pleaded guilty to an Information charging aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return, statement or other document.  According to the plea agreement filed in the case, Nguyen agreed to forfeit $1.1 million that the government seized from his bank accounts and business in 2013.  As noted in court during the sentencing hearing, Nguyen made full restitution of approximately $337,864 to the IRS prior to sentencing. 

According to the factual resume filed in the case, in 2012, Nguyen aided and assisted in the preparation and presentation of Nava Material Good Inc.’s U.S. Corporate Income Tax Return (Form 1120) for 2011.  When filing that return, Nguyen aided and assisted another by willfully omitting approximately $4,910,697.60 of income on the return.

IRS Criminal Investigation was in charge of the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe prosecuted the case.

# # #

ABILENE, Texas — Michael Cleo Ivy, 37, of Abilene, Texas, was sentenced on Thursday, February 11, by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 121 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in July 2015 to an indictment charging one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Following sentencing, Judge Solis remanded Ivy, who had been on bond, to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.

According to documents filed in his case, Ivy used the computer at his residence to search for images and videos of child pornography, and in the course of those searches, he also located, downloaded, and viewed numerous images and videos constituting child pornography.  Some of those images involved prepubescent minors.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Abilene Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Following an operation yesterday led by the FBI’s Fort Worth Violent Crime/Gang Task Force, 41 individuals are now in custody on federal drug distribution conspiracy charges, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Class, Sr., of Dallas FBI.

Four federal criminal complaints, partially unsealed today, charge a total of 50 individuals with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and/or 500 grams or more of cocaine.  Thirty-six of those defendants were arrested in yesterday’s operation, five were already in custody at various locations on unrelated state charges, and nine have not yet been arrested.

Several defendants have made their initial appearance in federal court in Dallas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver.  All remain in custody.  Several detention hearings will be held next week.

According to the affidavits filed with the complaints, the conspiracies began as early as September 2013 and August 2014.  Throughout the investigation, substantial amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as cash and firearms, were seized from the drug trafficking organization (DTO) that was allegedly responsible for distributing hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and kilograms of cocaine throughout the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex. 

A federal criminal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge.  A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.  The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment.  The penalties for the charged offenses are not less than five years nor more than 40 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine.

The FBI’s Fort Worth Violent Crime/Gang Task Force, comprised of agents, investigators and police officers from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Arlington Police Department and the Fort Worth Police Department, is conducting the investigation.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and the Dallas, Garland, Grand Prairie, Irving and Mesquite Police Departments are assisting in the investigation. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Burgess is in charge of the prosecution. 

# # #

DALLAS — Three defendants charged with offenses stemming from their operation of a telemarketing fraud scheme that targeted persons over age 55, have pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the scheme, announced John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Today, one of the lead defendants, Max Chilson, 37, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and telemarketing fraud.  The maximum statutory penalty for that offense is 30 years in federal prison, since the conduct affected a financial institution, a $1 million fine and restitution.  While not binding on the Court, the government recommends a sentence not to exceed 120 months in custody.

Last week, co-defendants Gunner Dell Jenkins, 36, and Victor Sanchez, 46, pleaded guilty to the same offense.  According to their plea agreements, the government recommended a custody sentence not to exceed 60 months for Jenkins and 78 months for Sanchez.  Those recommendations also are not binding upon the Court.

Chilson is a resident of Lake Mary, Florida; Jenkins is a resident of Orlando, Florida; and Sanchez is a resident of Hollywood, Florida.  Chilson remains on bond; Jenkins and Sanchez are in custody.  All three defendants currently are set to be sentenced on July 20, 2016.  The remaining five defendants charged in the case are set for trial on August 8, 2016.

According to documents filed in the case, between Spring 2009 through at least October 2010, Chilson agreed with his coconspirators Jenkins, Sanchez, others charged in the indictment and other coconspirators not charged, to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and telemarketing fraud in connection with a telemarketing scheme that targeted and victimized persons over the age of 55 in the U.S. and in Canada.  The government contends it could prove the defendants could reasonably foresee the following losses, incurred by 10 or more victims:  Chilson - $7,060,092.00; Jenkins - $5,025,610.00; and Sanchez - $12,755,324.37.

As part of the elaborate telemarketing scheme, the conspirators made unsolicited phone calls to owners of resort timeshare properties to induce them into paying fees associated with the bogus sale of their property.  They misrepresented the existence of a buyer for their timeshare and solicited money from them to facilitate the sale.  They solicited the timeshare owners to enter into agreements to sell their timeshares and pay for alleged “closing costs” with their credit cards, personal checks, bank checks, or through electronic check conversion. 

As part of the conspiracy, the defendants also instituted a bogus telephone verification process to make follow-up phone calls to the targeted timeshare owners to give them the false impression they were dealing with entities that would protect their money and property, and to trick them into making recorded statements that no sale had been promised by the telemarketers.

Further, the defendants falsely represented their companies were global leaders in connecting timeshares to buyers, sellers, and renters; their companies were full-service timeshare resale companies and vacation rental agencies with more than 30 years of experience in timeshares; bona fide buyers were interested in purchasing the owner’s properties and offers exceeded the original amount paid for the properties; buyers had already paid money into an escrow account, been approved by a lender, and were ready to close; the timeshare owner would receive all the funds from the purchase within 45 to 90 days; and that the timeshare owners must pay a one-time fee to cover the title search and other closing costs before the sale could close.

After obtaining money from the timeshare owners and diverting it for their own purposes, the defendants, in order to lull the timeshare owners and cause them to not question, investigate or report the status of the transaction, made additional false and fraudulent statements to the timeshare owners, including advising them they were protected under established telemarketing laws and could cancel their contract and request a refund by mailing written notification within seven days of receiving the contract and advising them they could phone or send correspondence to Resorts Condos Management in Irving, Texas, — which, unbeknownst to the owners was in fact, a boiler room.

Information for Timeshare Owners Affected by the Scheme:

1.         If you believe you were the victim of criminal fraud committed by any of the defendants, possibly using the below company names, please go to www.postalinspectorsurvey.com/haffar and complete the questionnaire:

Resorts Condos Management;

Timeshare Goldline;

JAMS Management;

Vision Ventures Inc.;

Timeshare Services Today;

Vacation Equity Marketing, Inc.;

Maximum Properties;

Universal Processing Services of Wisconsin, LLC, also known as Newtek Merchant Solutions;

HES Merchant Services, Inc.;

Interval Equity Marketing, Inc.;

Vacations And Resorts; and

Visionary Investments, LLC.

The information you provide through the questionnaire regarding your experience may be helpful in the criminal investigation and prosecution of this case.  A law enforcement agent may contact you with additional questions or to request documents you may have received or submitted during your dealings with these businesses. To access the questionnaire, please go to www.postalinspectorsurvey.com/haffar and input the user name timeshare and the password uspis.

Please note that submitting the questionnaire is NOT a substitute for consulting with your own attorney to determine what actions and remedies are available to you through civil litigation or other federal or state agencies.

2.         You may access the websites for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas http://www.justice.gov/usao/txn/ to obtain more information on the case or the court proceedings.

3.         If you have any questions related to this matter that are not addressed at the above website, you may contact the government at the e-mail address USATXN.TimeShareFraud@usdoj.gov.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating this fraud. The Orlando Police Department provided substantial assistance in the investigation and apprehension of the defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorney C.S. Heath is prosecuting.

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two individuals, both in the U.S. illegally, have been sentenced for their roles in a heroin distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Yesterday, Ana Maria Guerra-Sanchez, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 95 months in federal prison.  Last month, co-conspirator Florencio Galvan-Musico, also 23, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison.  Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess heroin with the intent to distribute.  After serving their sentence, both will be referred to U.S. Immigration officials for deportation proceedings.

According to documents filed in the case, for approximately the past two years, Guerra-Sanchez and Galvan-Musico worked together, and with others, to distribute heroin to various customers in the Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas, area.  Guerra-Sanchez received heroin from Galvan-Musico that she distributed to others, and she returned the drug proceeds to Galvan-Musico.  Together, both possessed more than 100 grams of heroin with the intent to distribute it.

The Drug Enforcement Administration in Fort Worth investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Haltom City, Texas, man, Nathan Bryant Cooper, 36, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 120 months in federal prison terms for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Cooper has been in custody since his arrest in September 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint.  He pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. 

Last month, several co-conspirators in the case received lengthy federal prison sentences:

     Winfred Morgan Trammel, 39, of Breckenridge, Texas, 262 months
     Larry Hawkins, 59, of Wichita Falls, Texas, 180 months
     Jackie Lynn Watters, 50, of Fort Worth, Texas, 180 months
     Matthew Rutledge, 33, of Fort Worth, Texas, 324 months
     Joel Prickett, 37, of Fort Worth, Texas, 160 months 

A total of 29 defendants were charged in the case; 28 have been convicted, and most of those have been sentenced. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution. 

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth, Texas, woman, Robie Lynn Sims, 41, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 18 months in federal prison for harboring a fugitive, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Sims pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of concealing a person from arrest.  Yesterday, Judge O’Connor ordered her to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by March 18, 2016.

According to the factual resume filed in her case, Sims was the girlfriend of one of the defendants, Billy Bullitt, 45, also of Fort Worth, who, along with 28 co-defendants, was charged in a massive methamphetamine distribution conspiracy recently prosecuted in the Fort Worth Division of the Northern District of Texas.  In fact, Bullitt, was sentenced in December 2015 to 121 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

Bullitt had been living at Sims’ residence when, in June 2015, agents/officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Squad interviewed her at her residence.  She was advised that Bullitt had an outstanding federal arrest warrant for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.  When asked if she knew where Bullitt was currently living, Sims responded that she had last seen him two weeks ago at their residence.  In fact, however, Bullitt had been living at that residence and had fled the residence as agents/officers had approached the residence.  Sims lied about Bullitt’s whereabouts and stalled the agents/officers so Bullitt would have time to flee the residence.  Bullitt was arrested by agents/officers with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Squad at a motel on Bryant Irvin Blvd. in Fort Worth on July 2, 2015.  Sims was with him and had arranged for another person to rent the room for her and Bullitt to avoid alerting authorities of Bullitt’s location. 

A total of 29 defendants were charged in the case; 28 have been convicted, and most of those have been sentenced. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution.   

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Yesterday, Miguel Bonilla, 36, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 360 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, since approximately 2014, Bonilla and another co-conspirator supplied multi-ounce quantities of methamphetamine on consignment to other co-conspirators, who in turn, distributed the methamphetamine to various customers in the Fort Worth and North Richland Hills, Texas areas, returning to Bonilla and the co-conspirator for additional methamphetamine. 

Other defendants in the case have also received lengthy federal prison sentences for their roles in the methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.  Samuel Hebert was sentenced to 240 months, Joseph Sutton was sentenced to 140 months, and Steven Villegas was sentenced to 120 months.  All three are age 32 and from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Muhammad Taylor, 32, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 30 months in federal prison on a felony conviction stemming from his involvement in a pill mill operation during parts of 2013-2014, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Taylor, most recently a resident of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of unlawful use of a communication facility. 

Last month, co-defendants Shane Barron, 27, of Austin, Texas, and Tonya Sue Griggs, 34, of Dallas, who pleaded guilty to the same offense, were each sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. 

In March 2015, a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals, including Taylor, Barron and Griggs, on offenses related to their participation in a prescription drug distribution conspiracy.  That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit.  As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.  Many of those defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

According to documents filed for Taylor, in February 2014, he and another co-conspirator met in the parking lot outside a pharmacy located on FM 1960 in Houston.  The two entered the pharmacy together and exited a short while later.  Taylor got into his own car and drove away, but was stopped a short time later by law enforcement officers, who seized approximately 154 10mg hydrocodone in an un-labeled prescription bottle from Taylor.

Taylor called the co-conspirator to tell him about the stop and that law enforcement had seized the pills he had just obtained even though he had the paperwork.  The co-conspirator told Taylor not to worry, and that he would take care of it. 

Taylor admitted he obtained these hydrocodone with the intent to distribute them at a later time, and he further admitted that he used his cell phone to coordinate obtaining and selling the hydrocodone.

Last month, a physician, Dr. Richard Andrews, 63, of Dallas, and pharmacists, Ndufola Kigham, 44, of Arlington, Texas, and Kumi Frimpong, 55, of Grand Prairie, Texas, were arrested on charges outlined in a superseding indictment that charged them with offenses related to their roles in the conspiracy.  They are on bond; trial is set for June 2016.  All three were ordered to surrender their DEA registration numbers, preventing Dr. Andrews from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances and pharmacists Kigham and Frimpong from dispensing controlled substances.  Also, Kigham surrendered her stock of controlled substances that she had at her pharmacy to DEA.   

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is prosecuting.

# # #

DALLAS — Three defendants convicted for their roles in a resort timeshare telemarketing scheme that victimized at least 5000 individuals, many of whom were over age 55, were sentenced today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Fabien C. Fleifel, 45, who was convicted at trial last summer on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud; 19 counts of mail fraud telemarketing; and six counts of wire fraud telemarketing, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 168 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants.  He must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 15, 2016.

Co-defendant Bradley James Gomez, 36, of Longwood, Florida, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.  Another co-defendant, Amanda Nadine Rizkallah, 32, of Oviedo, Florida, who pleaded guilty to the same offense, was sentenced to a five-year term of probation which included a 180 day period of home confinement.  Rizkallah also was ordered to pay restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants. 

Fleifel conspired with others to make unsolicited interstate telephone calls to owners of resort timeshare properties to induce them into paying fees associated with the bogus sale of their property.  Fleifel and others opened bank accounts and entered into merchant account agreements to process and collect funds raised in the scheme, and they set up phony mailing addresses to collect funds mailed in by timeshare owners.

Fleifel hired and trained telemarketers to work in boiler rooms he set up.  These telemarketers were instructed to call timeshare owners using scripted sales pitches that falsely represented, for example, that a bona fide buyer was interested in buying their property, that the buyer had paid money into an escrow account, and that the buyer was ready to close on the property.  The telemarketers falsely advised timeshare owners that they would receive all the funds from the sale within days, they must pay a one-time fee to cover the title search and other closing costs, and they would be refunded all fees paid if the sale did not close within 90 days.

After the conspirators obtained money from the timeshare owners, they made additional false and fraudulent statements to lull them and to keep them from investigating the transactions, complaining to law enforcement, or requesting charge backs to their credit cards.

Toward the end of the conspiracy, Fleifel set up and operated a boiler room called Consumer Rights Advocates.  Fleifel’s telemarketers contacted timeshare owners who previously were defrauded during the conspiracy or were defrauded by other boiler rooms operating a similar fraud.  Fleifel’s telemarketers fraudulently represented that, for a fee, they could recover the timeshare owners’ lost funds.

Ten defendants were charged in the case; all were convicted, and five have now been sentenced. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Orlando Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys C.S. Heath and Joseph M. Revesz are prosecuting.

# # #

DALLAS — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the FBI’s Dallas Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas are hosting a Faith-Based Security Summit that will provide faith-based leaders with information to improve security and develop protocols to protect houses of worship.

The Summit will be held the afternoon of Tuesday, February 9, 2016, at the FBI’s Dallas Field Office.  Approximately 150 individuals representing faith-based leadership in North Texas are expected to attend. 

“Our places of worship are uniquely vulnerable as they struggle to balance sanctity and security,” said U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.  “The free exercise of religion guaranteed by our Constitution is an empty promise without a safe and peaceful environment in which to worship.  Although violence in places of worship is sadly not a new problem, recent tragic events across the country have highlighted the challenges of fostering a culture that is both welcoming and safe.  This summit will address some of those challenges.”

Thomas M. Class, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI said, “We in the FBI, along with our partners in law enforcement, are committed to protecting the safety and First Amendment rights of all faith-based groups. Through this summit, it is our hope to further strengthen our relationship with the communities we serve and to share valuable information that could be instrumental in saving lives.”

Katrina W. Berger, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Dallas, said, “To fulfill law enforcement’s primary role of public safety, we must stay relevant to the times.  Unfortunately, in our society today, this means providing our faith-based leaders with basic training tools to escape and survive an active-shooter situation.  Our places of worship and their congregations are especially vulnerable to be targeted by these horrific acts.”

The Summit will provide faith-based leaders information and tools to assist them in developing security programs, protocols and emergency action plans.  It will also provide information on risk assessment, crisis response plans, deterring threats, information sharing and active shooter situations. 

In addition to U.S. Attorney Parker and Special Agents in Charge Class and Berger, speakers will include subject matter experts from the FBI and HSI.  In addition, several members of the Dallas-Fort Worth faith-based community will participate in a round-table panel discussion.

Registration for this Summit is closed.  It is also closed to the media.

# # #

DALLAS — Christopher Michael Burgess, 33, of Rockwall, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 180 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea to an indictment charging one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, in May 2013, an individual (mother) looked on Burgess’s computer, found child pornography, and immediately took the computer to the Rockwall Police Department.  Based on this information, law enforcement obtained a warrant to search the computer’s content. 

The North Texas Regional Computer Forensic Lab examined the hard drive and located more than 500 images and 10 videos of child pornography, some videos involving infants.  Burgess admits that some of the videos he collected depicted sadistic and/or violent content.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The FBI and the Rockwall Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted.

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two Texas men and a woman from Florida have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in North Texas for approximately two years, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

James Gatlin, 40, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced on Friday afternoon by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 320 months in federal prison.  Matthew Ryan Thompson, 44, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was sentenced to 420 months.  Celeste Monette Blair, 45, of Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 360 months.  Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Five other defendants convicted in the case were recently sentenced to prison terms ranging from 250 to 480 months.  The last defendant, Ismael Rico, 32, of Dallas, Texas, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

Each pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  According to documents filed in the case, Gatlin, Thompson and Blair admitted receiving multi-ounce quantities of methamphetamine from others in the conspiracy that they distributed to others.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Two convicted felons from the Dallas area who were convicted by a federal jury at trial in July 2015 on an array of federal charges stemming from their armed robberies of several fast-food restaurants in the Dallas area in early 2014, were each sentenced today by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to more than 115 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Jesse Lee Bell, 33, of Duncanville, Texas, and Deundrae Lyndell Miller, 24, of Mesquite, Texas, were each sentenced to serve a total of 1384 months in federal prison and pay more than $8000 in restitution.  Each was convicted on four counts of interference with commerce by robbery, one count of attempted interference with commerce by robbery; five counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The defendants committed the following armed robberies in North Texas:

        June 2, 2014    Whataburger, 501 E. Highway 67, Duncanville

        June 4, 2014    Whataburger, 961 W. Beltline Rd., DeSoto

        June 7, 2014    Whataburger, 3200 N. Town East Blvd., Mesquite

        June 19, 2014  Jack-In-The-Box, 1020 W. Davis, Dallas

        June 24, 2014  Whataburger, 2943 N. Galloway Avenue, Mesquite

In addition, the defendants, both convicted felons, each possessed a firearm on June 24, 2014.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Duncanville, DeSoto, Mesquite and Dallas Police Departments investigated.

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Miller and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Wirmani and John Kull prosecuted. 

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — Twelve defendants have been charged in a federal indictment, partially unsealed on Friday, with felony offenses stemming from their role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Eleven defendants, all from the Lubbock, Texas, area, were arrested last Thursday in a joint operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office and the Lubbock Police Department.  Those arrested made their initial appearances Friday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Scott Frost, and most remain in federal custody.  Three defendants are set for detention hearings, and one defendant remains a fugitive.  

In connection with the takedown, law enforcement seized approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine, 13 firearms, ammunition and several items of stolen property.

The indictment charges each of the following defendants with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine:

                        Isabel Soto, 28
                        Veronica Sanchez Lopez, 37
                        Monty Fred Humble, 35
                        Martin Leonard Lomas, 34
                        Michael Brent Watson, 33
                        Joe Louis Lara, 29
                        Cruz Lee Betancur, 32
                        Richard Luke Elam, 49
                        Jonathon Christopher Chapa, 33
                        Christopher Ray Lovington, 29
                        Erica Dominguez, 36

In addition, most of the defendants are charged with at least one substantive count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.  Defendant Joe Louis Lara is also charged with two firearms offenses – one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and aiding and abetting and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms and aiding and abetting.

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired with, among others, three recently-convicted/sentenced defendants who were sent by the Sinaloa Cartel, an international drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime syndicate, to Lubbock to facilitate the distribution of methamphetamine in Lubbock for the cartel.  Each of these three below-listed defendants pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting and was sentenced last month as follows:

                        Juan Carlos Pinales, 23, sentenced to 151 months in federal prison
                        Ramon Osvaldo Escobar-Robles, 25, sentenced to 78 months in federal prison
                        Jesus Mario Moreno-Perez, 24, sentenced to 120 months in federal prison 

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury.  A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.  If convicted, however, the conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty ranging from 20 years to life in federal prison and a $1 million to $10 million dollar fine.  The other drug counts carry a maximum statutory penalty ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment.  One firearm count carries a statutory penalty of not less than five years or more than life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  The other firearm count carries a statutory penalty of not more than 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Two defendants who pleaded guilty to their roles in a pill mill operation they were involved in during parts of 2013-2014 have been sentenced. 

U.S. Attorney John Parker announced that Shane Barron, 27, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 37 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of unlawful use of a communication facility.  Last Friday, January 22, co-defendant Tonya Sue Griggs, 34, of Dallas, was also sentenced by Judge Fitzwater to 37 months in federal prison.  She pleaded guilty in August 2015 to the same offense. 

In March 2015, a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals, including Barron and Griggs, on offenses related to their participation in a prescription drug distribution conspiracy.  That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit.  As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.  Many of those defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

According to documents filed in the Barron case, on February 18, 2014, co-conspirator Cornelius Robinson told Barron, on a phone call, that he found a bottle of 154 pills in his kitchen cabinet that he had forgotten he had.  Robinson told Barron that finding the pills was like finding free money.  Barron estimated that the pills were worth $2,000, but the co-conspirator said $3,000.  Barron then knew that the pills were 30 mg oxycodone and that the then-going rate for one 30 mg oxycodone pill was approximately $20.  Barron admits he intended to obtain some of these oxycodone pills from Robinson to distribute to his own customers and admits that he used a cell phone to facilitate the conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.  Robinson pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is scheduled to be sentenced in April 2015.  He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.

According to documents filed in the Griggs case, in a phone call on October 30, 2013, another co-conspirator instructed Griggs to recruit six new individuals to pose as patients to obtain prescriptions for hydrocodone from a clinic.  The co-conspirator told Griggs he would pay her $15 per recruit.  The next day, Griggs sent the co-conspirator a text stating she had six recruits, but three left before going to the clinic.  Another co-conspirator picked up Griggs’ three recruits and transported them to McAllen Medical Clinic to obtain prescriptions. 

Last week, however, a physician, Dr. Richard Andrews, 63, of Dallas, and pharmacists, Ndufola Kigham, 44, of Arlington, Texas, and Kumi Frimpong, 55, of Grand Prairie, Texas, were arrested on charges outlined in a superseding indictment that charged them with offenses related to their roles in the conspiracy.  They are on bond; trial is set for June 2016.  All three were ordered to surrender their DEA registration numbers, preventing Dr. Andrews from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances and pharmacists Kigham and Frimpong from dispensing controlled substances.  Also, Kigham surrendered her stock of controlled substances that she had at her pharmacy to DEA.   

The investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is prosecuting.

# # #

DALLAS — Robert Bruce Lloyd, 76, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 240 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in July 2015 to one count of receipt of child pornography.  U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement today.

Lloyd has been in custody since his arrest in January 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint.

According to documents filed in the case, the FBI learned that a specific IP address, later identified as Lloyd’s, was downloading and sharing files indicative of child pornography.  In January 2015, FBI special agents executed a search warrant at Lloyd’s residence and seized his computer and other media.  A forensic analysis located more than 1000 images and videos of child pornography on Lloyd’s computer and other media.  Lloyd admitted that he received and possessed images that included bondage and sadistic acts involving minors.

According to information presented during today’s sentencing hearing, Lloyd admitted that he had collected child pornography for 30 years.  Judge Fitzwater noted that the child pornography was some of the worst he had ever seen, with some depicting sadistic acts done to children as young as three months old.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The FBI investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks was in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Dorothy Stegall Barnes, a/k/a “Dorothy Stegall Newman,” of Fritch, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to 30 months in federal prison following her guilty plea in September 2015 to one count of embezzlement from a federally insured credit union, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Robinson also ordered that Barnes, 57, pay $797,336 in restitution.  She must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by February 15, 2016. 

According to documents filed in the case, Barnes, who worked as the Assistant Vice-President of Teller Operations of the Pantex Federal Credit Union (PFCU) in Borger, Texas, admitted embezzling approximately $826,000 from the credit union. 

In October 2014, Barnes advised the credit union’s President that a teller had suddenly quit.  At the President’s request, she counted the teller’s vault and advised him that the vault was short $380,000.  The vault was recounted, and the shortage was determined not to be a clerical error.  An audit was conducted, and during the auditing process, the auditor identified a transaction traced to Barnes in which she transferred $826,000 to her teller vault.  Barnes admitted taking the $826,000 over a number of years, but denied any involvement in the missing $380,000.  She admitted embezzling money from PFCU in different ways and said she avoided detection by making various transactions to make her teller vault balance.  PFCU officials located copies of the PFCU checks Barnes issued to pay her bills and other expenses between approximately 1996 and November 2010.

The FBI and Borger Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Kerry Lynn Lewis, Jr., 26, of Dallas, who pleaded guilty last year to firearm and drug offenses, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 216 in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Lewis pleaded guilty in September 2015 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to plea documents filed in the case, in February 2014, officers with the Dallas Police Department executed a search warrant at a residence on McBroom Street in Dallas, where Lewis was exiting the residence’s side door as the officers arrived.  During the search, officers found three firearms, one of which, a Ruger 9 millimeter pistol, was recovered from inside a wall in the guesthouse.  Officers also recovered marijuana from the kitchen and Lewis’s bedroom in the main house and two bags of cocaine from the guesthouse.  One of the firearms was reported stolen out of Dallas and one was reported stolen out of Mesquite, Texas.  A forensic analysis of the drugs concluded it was a mixture or substance containing cocaine, with a net weight of 5.9 grams.

Prior to the date of the execution of that search warrant, Lewis had several felony convictions in Dallas County:  1) On March 10, 1998, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to two-years confinement for Unlawful Possession of a Cocaine; 2) On January 18, 2007, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to seven-months confinement for Unlawful Delivery of Cocaine; 3) On July 14, 2011, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to three-years confinement for Delivery of a Controlled Substance; 4) On August 17, 2012, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to 30 days confinement for Unlawful Possession of Marijuana; 5) On July 14, 2011, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to three-years confinement for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon; and 6) On July 14, 2011, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to three-years confinement for Retaliation.  

Lewis also admitted that he possessed a Sig Sauer, Model P226, 9-millimeter pistol, a  Keltec, Model P11, 9-millimeter pistol, and a Ruger, Model SR9c, 9-millimeter pistol in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Dallas Police Department investigated. 

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Three North Texas men were sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to lengthy federal prison terms for their respective roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Winfred Morgan Trammel, 39, of Breckenridge, Texas, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison.  Co-conspirators Larry Hawkins, 59, of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Jackie Lynn Watters, 50, of Fort Worth, Texas, were each sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.  Trammell was convicted at trial in September 2015 on one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.  Hawkins and Watters each pleaded guilty in October 2015 to the same offense. 

At trial, the jury found that from before July 2014 to approximately June 2015, Trammel and others conspired together to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  According to plea documents filed in the case, since approximately 2014, Hawkins received more than 50 grams of methamphetamine from others charged in the indictment and distributed it to his customers in the Wichita Falls, Texas, area.  Since approximately 2014, Watters assisted others in their distribution of methamphetamine by acting as a lookout or collecting drug proceeds.

A total of 29 defendants were charged in the case; 28 have been convicted, and most of those have been sentenced.  Earlier this month, co-defendants Matthew Rutledge, 33, and Joel Prickett, 37, were sentenced to 324 months, and 160 months, respectively, in federal prison for their roles in the conspiracy. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution.   

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two North Texas men have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in North Texas for approximately two years, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Eric Summers, 40, of Arlington, Texas, and David Godinez, 35, of Balch Springs, Texas, were sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 360 months and 250 months, respectively, in federal prison.  Summers’ sentence is to be served concurrently with pending state cases.

Each pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  According to documents filed in the case, since approximately 2012, Summers and Godinez received methamphetamine from co-conspirators and distributed it to others.  All nine individuals charged in the conspiracy have pleaded guilty; five have been sentenced to federal prison sentences ranging from 250 months to 480 months. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith prosecuted.

# # #

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — The first defendant to be sentenced for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in Wichita Falls, Texas, from approximately March 2014 to August 2015, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to a lengthy federal prison term, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

James Anthony Streadwick, 54, of Wichita Falls, was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison.  He pleaded guilty in October 2015 to one count of conspiracy to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.  Eleven of the 13 defendants charged in the case have pleaded guilty to that offense; two defendants remain fugitives.  Each defendant faces a statutory penalty of at least five years and up to 40 years in federal prison and $5 million fine.  Sentencing hearings are set for February 22, 2016.

According to documents filed in Streadwick’s case, between September 2014 and December 3, 2014, Streadwick received quantities of methamphetamine from supply sources in Dallas and Wichita Falls, typically obtaining the methamphetamine in multi-ounce quantities.  He then sold quantities of methamphetamine to customers in Wichita Falls. 

Streadwick further admitted that on December 3, 2014, when a search warrant was executed at his residence, law enforcement seized digital scales, small plastic bags, notes that reflected drug-trafficking transactions, firearms and quantities of methamphetamine.

The Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, the Wichita Falls Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters prosecuted the case.

# # #

DALLAS — Erick Fernando Duarte, 59, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 180 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in August 2015 to one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Duarte has been in federal custody since his arrest in May 2015.

According to documents filed in the case, in April 2014, a detective with the Garland Police Department received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that child pornography had been uploaded to an AOL account by a specific AOL email user.  Based on this, subscriber information, and information reported on his updated sex offender registry, Duarte was identified as the user.

A search warrant was secured and executed for Duarte’s residence and cell phone.  A review of his cell phone and other media revealed that he had more than 1200 images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent children involved in sex acts, on his cell phone.  Duarte admits that some of the images depicted sadistic and/or violent content.

Duarte was convicted in the 265th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, in October 1995, for the felony assault of Sexual Assault of a Child.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The FBI and the Garland Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks was in charge of the prosecution.

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LUBBOCK, Texas — Joe Coleman, 47, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 21 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in September 2015 to one count of failing to register as a sex offender, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Coleman was sentenced on November 30, 2000, to 21 months in prison after he was convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Second Degree, in Anoka County, Minnesota.  The conviction related to a sexual offense against a 10-year-old female.  Coleman was released from prison on October 24, 2001, but thereafter was incarcerated during his conditional release period and served time in prison until June 23, 2009.                          

In 2009, Coleman came to Texas, and he has been residing in the Lubbock area since that time.  He has also been employed in Lubbock for much of the time and was employed in Lubbock at the time of his arrest on July 23, 2015.

Based on this conviction, Coleman was a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and was required to register as a sex offender under state and federal law.  Coleman, however, never registered in Texas as a sex offender, as required by the SORNA and he never appeared in person in any jurisdiction in which he was required to register to inform that jurisdiction of the changes in his status, as required, after he moved to Texas. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Brian Kelley of Quinlan, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to the statutory maximum of 10 years in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Kelley, 41, pleaded guilty in January 2015 to a superseding information charging one count of possession of child pornography.  Today, Judge Fitzwater remanded him into federal custody. 

According to documents filed in the case, Kelley admitted that in September 2013, he possessed a flash drive that contained still images and a video depicting a minor female engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Kelley most recently worked as a UT Southwestern Police Officer.  Prior to that, he was a deputy sheriff with the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Flower Mound Police Department and the Texas Rangers investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted.

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AMARILLO, Texas — Xzavion Dayshaun Ragsdale, a/k/a “Yung Billy,” 19, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to 10 years in federal prison following his guilty plea in November 2015 to one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Ragsdale admitted that from approximately March 30, 2015 to April 3, 2015, he attempted to recruit a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

The investigation began when a Task Force Officer (TFO) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned that a particular individual, later identified as Ragsdale, was using Facebook to recruit and entice teenage females for prostitution.  In March 2015, the TFO set up an undercover Facebook account representing himself as a 15-year-old female, “A.M.,” and the two exchanged messages about A.M. working as a prostitute, with Ragsdale claiming, “you can make 2500 in a week if you really put the work into it.”  Ragsdale sent A.M. his phone number and the two discussed a meeting; however, the conversation ended without any arrangements being made.

On April 1, 2015, A.M. received a private message on his undercover Facebook account from “Deswan Newsome,” a defendant in a related case.  Newsome and A.M. exchanged messages about A.M. engaging in prostitution, and A.M. advised Newsome that she was 15-years-old.

On April 2, 2015, an Amarillo Police Department officer, posing as A.M., made a phone call to Newsome, who answered, but turned the call over to a female who provided more details about prostitution to A.M.  A.M. advised the female that she was 15-years-old.

On April 3, 2015, A.M. and Newsome exchanged messages and agreed to meet at a convenience store in Amarillo so A.M. could engage in prostitution.  When Newsome arrived at the location he was identified and arrested.  He admitted talking to A.M. on Facebook and said that he was going to have someone else teach her how to perform sex acts, and that he’d get 60 percent of the money she made for performing the commercial sex acts.

Newsome, 19, of Amarillo, pleaded guilty in July 2015 to one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child.  He was sentenced in September to serve 135 months in federal prison.

The Amarillo Police Department and ICE HSI investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto prosecuted the case.             

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DALLAS — Following a nearly three-day trial in federal court in Austin, Texas before U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, a federal jury convicted a corporate executive for lying to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the public corruption investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and others, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas and U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., of the Western District of Texas.

Helena Tantillo, 59, of Austin, was an executive at BearingPoint when the firm won a contract in 2005 to digitize Dallas County records.  The jury’s verdict today found Tantillo guilty on all counts of the indictment returned by an Austin federal grand jury in June 2015, which charged her with two counts of making false statements to law enforcement.  She faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each count, and will remain on bond pending sentencing, set for April 22, 2016, in Austin.

The evidence at trial showed that Tantillo lied in an interview with the FBI in June 2014, when she falsely claimed that a temporary $10,000 increase in Christian Campbell’s consulting fees was to make a charitable donation to the favorite charity of another Dallas County Commissioner.  Contrary to her false statement, Tantillo knew that the increase was at least, in part, in order to pay Kathy Nealy.

The jury also determined that Tantillo told a second lie to FBI agents in that same interview when she claimed that, after an earlier interview with FBI agents, she called her former BearingPoint supervisor, who supposedly reminded her that the charitable donation was the reason for Campbell’s increased monthly payment.  Phone records and other evidence at trial demonstrated that this call never happened. 

The FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation are conducting the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Walt M. Junker and J. Nicholas Bunch and Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Miller are handling the prosecution.

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DALLAS – Brenda Ward, 48, of Cedar Hill, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $887,809 in restitution to Medicaid, following her guilty plea in July 2015 to one count of health care fraud.  U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement today.

Judge Fitzwater ordered Ward to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 8, 2016.

According to documents filed in the case, Ward, who was President and CEO of H.E.L.P.-Ing. Communities, Inc. (HCI), obtained a Medicaid group number for HCI and used that number, together with individual Medicaid provider numbers of licensed counselors and Medicaid recipient information, to submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid.

Ward, who is neither a psychotherapist nor a mental health provider, submitted claims for individual, family, and group psychotherapy sessions that were not performed.  As part of her fraud scheme, Ward used the Medicaid provider numbers of four licensed counselors, without their knowledge and consent, to submit claims under the HCI group number for services that they did not perform.  Ward also used the Medicaid provider information of a fifth licensed counselor who worked for her to submit claims for psychotherapy services that both predated and postdated the counselor’s actual employment with her, as well as claims for services that the counselor did not provide during the counselor’s employment.  Ward used the identification of more than 290 Medicaid recipients, most of whom were minor children, in her scheme.

Ward admits that from January 1, 2009, through February 9, 2015, she personally submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid and to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations, through HCI, totaling approximately $1,639,923; Ward was paid approximately $887,809 for these claims.

The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher prosecuted.

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