July 6, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                          at (410) 209-4885

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging three previously indicted Baltimore City Police Officers with additional robberies. The superseding indictment charges the defendants with racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, robbery, extortion, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The superseding indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:

Sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins, age 37, of Middle River, Maryland;

Detective Daniel Thomas Hersl, age 48, of Joppa, Maryland; and

Detective Marcus Roosevelt Taylor, age 30, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

A federal grand jury also returned a separate indictment charging two additional defendants, who are not police officers but were posing as police officers, with robbing two Baltimore City residents and with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The indictment alleges that the two named defendants committed the robbery with a Baltimore City police officer. The second indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:

Thomas Robert Finnegan, age 38, of Easton, Pennsylvania; and

David Kendall Rahim, age 41, of Baltimore, Maryland.

Defendants Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor had previously been ordered detained pending trial. Defendants Finnegan and Rahim will have their initial appearances in court today.

The superseding indictment and indictment were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

The 6-count superseding indictment alleges that Jenkins, Hersl and Taylor engaged in 13 robberies, extortion and time and attendance fraud. According to the superseding indictment, beginning in 2011, the defendants stole money, property, and narcotics by detaining victims, entering residences, conducting traffic stops, and swearing out false search warrant affidavits.

For example, as charged in the superseding indictment, in spring 2015, Jenkins stole at least 20 pounds of high-quality marijuana and at least $20,000 from two individuals who were conducting a drug sale at Belvedere Towers in Baltimore City. Jenkins falsely told the buyer and seller that he was a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, to conceal his identity, and that he was seizing the money and drugs and would make a decision about whether to charge them later. Jenkins then drove Taylor and a co-defendant to a wooded area off Northern Parkway and gave them $5,000 each from the stolen money. After the incident, Jenkins went to a strip club in Baltimore County where he robbed a stripper.

Similarly, as charged in the superseding indictment, in summer 2016 Hersl stole money from the car of an arrestee. Hersl drove one of his co-defendants to the parking lot of a local high school, which was near the incident, and gave him a portion of the stolen money. While Hersl and the co-defendant were splitting the stolen money, Jenkins broke into the arrestee’s storage unit and stole 2 kilograms of cocaine.

The superseding indictment alleges that in June 2016 Jenkins believed that a co-defendant owed him money, so Jenkins gave the co-defendant drugs and a firearm that had been seized in a law enforcement operation, and told him to sell them. The co-defendant, along with another co-defendant, sold the firearm to a drug dealer.

The superseding indictment also alleges that the defendants committed systemic time and attendance fraud, including claiming overtime when they were at home and on vacation.

According to the superseding indictment, between spring 2011 and October 2016, the defendants allegedly conducted 13 separate robberies, taking over $280,000 in US currency, more than 2 kilograms of cocaine, other narcotics, a 9mm handgun, a $4,000 wristwatch, and other property.

The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants obstructed law enforcement by alerting each other about potential investigations of their criminal conduct, and turning off their body cameras to avoid recording encounters with civilians.

ROBBERY INDICTMENT

Thomas Robert Finnegan and David Kendall Rahim were indicted on charges of conspiracy, robbery, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

On June 27, 2014, police officers with the BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force, executed a search warrant on a store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Baltimore City. During the search, one of the police officers asked whether there was any large amounts of money in the store. The storeowner indicated that she had $20,000 in cash in her pocketbook that she was intending to use to pay off a tax liability. At this point, members of GTTF did not make arrests, nor seize anything from the property. Later that day, a member of the GTTF informed Finnegan and Rahim about the money and they agreed to set up a robbery at the home of the store owner. Using a law enforcement database, the GTTF detective located the home address of the victims. The defendants surveilled the house, agreed to impersonate the police when conducting the home invasion, and were given tactical gear by the Detective. The GTTF detective remained outside in the vehicle so that he could intercept any police officers who responded to the home invasion by telling them he was a BPD officer. Finnegan and Rahim entered the residence and robbed the victims at gunpoint of the $20,000.

REARRAIGNMENTS

The following four Baltimore City Police, who were previously indicted, have rearraignments scheduled for the following dates:

Detective Momodu Bondeva Kenton Gondo, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland - October 12, 2017;

Detective Evodio Calles Hendrix, age 32, of Randallstown, Maryland - July 21, 2017;

Detective Jemell Lamar Rayam, age 36, of Owings Mills, Maryland - November 9, 2017; and

Detective Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, age 36, of Middle River, Maryland - July 24, 2017.

Defendant Gondo’s rearraignment has been scheduled in the RICO case and a separate drug trafficking conspiracy with non-BPD defendants.

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

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting these Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases.

ATLANTA – Compassionate Care Hospice Group, Inc., (“CCH Group”) has agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve allegations that CCH Group and its subsidiary Compassionate Care Hospice of Atlanta, LLC, (“CCH Atlanta”) submitted or caused the submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by engaging in improper financial relationships with contracted physicians. CCH Group is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Parsippany, New Jersey, and subsidiaries and affiliates in numerous states.

“Kickbacks should never play a role in medical decision-making,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “When healthcare providers are paid for referrals, the costs of health services inevitably rise and ultimately are borne by taxpayers.”

“The False Claims Act settlement in this case should be a deterrent to those who would so selfishly circumvent our federal healthcare programs to their benefit,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. LeValley. “Rest assured the FBI is committed to diligently investigating those who would defraud our federally funded healthcare programs, depriving those who truly depend on them.”

“It is paramount to our health care system that those seeking health care advice know that providers and treatments recommended to them are not influenced by illegal remuneration or arrangements,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “The OIG is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat this sort of activity.”

“Our office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit will continue to work with our federal partners to go after any action that compromises the integrity of our health care systems,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “This type of scheme obscures the proper relationship among those providing health care services to Medicaid members, and it diminishes the quality of health care options available to our citizens. We won’t stand for it.”

The government alleges that, between April 3, 2007 and April 29, 2011, CCH Group and CCH Atlanta paid illegal remuneration to five physicians in order to induce the providers to refer patients to CCH Atlanta for hospice services and certify individuals as eligible for hospice services. The government also alleges that CCH Atlanta and CCH Group submitted or caused the submission of claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services provided to the individuals who had been referred by the physicians because of the kickbacks. The illegal remuneration took the form of (1) payments to a medical director in exchange for referrals and (2) sham contracts with associate medical directors in exchange for referrals.

The settlement resolves allegations filed by Cathy Morris and Josie King, former CCH Atlanta employees, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which authorizes private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in the recovery. The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Georgia and is captioned United States & State of Georgia ex rel. Morris & King v. Compassionate Care Hospice Group of Atlanta, LLC, et al., No. 1:10-cv-3450 (N.D. Ga.). Ms. Morris and Ms. King will receive a share of the settlement.

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

This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

The civil settlement was reached by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lena Amanti and Neeli Ben-David and Georgia State Assistant Attorney General Sara Vann.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for mailing death threats to three federal judges.

Bruce DeWayne Jensen, 40, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to seven years in federal prison without parole.

On March 20, 2017, Jensen pleaded guilty to three counts of mailing threatening communications. Jensen admitted that on Nov. 19, 2014, and again on Aug. 17, 2016, he mailed threats to three U.S. District Court judges in the Western District of Missouri. Jensen, who mailed the letters while he was incarcerated in the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., has several prior convictions for similar criminal conduct. Jensen threatened in his letters to kill the judges and their families.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the FBI.

ALBUQUERQUE – Sonya Padilla, 42, of Santa Fe, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her conviction for attempting to rob a business engaged in interstate commerce.

Padilla and co-defendant Michael Crespin, 44, also of Santa Fe, were arrested in May 2014, on a criminal complaint charging them with robbing the First National Bank of Santa Fe located at 4995 Governor Miles Road in Santa Fe on May 5, 2014. According to the complaint, Crespin robbed the bank by brandishing a gun at bank tellers and demanding money. He left the bank with the money and was driven away by Padilla.

Crespin and Padilla were indicted on May 21, 2014, and charged with armed bank robbery. A superseding indictment was filed on May 28, 2015, and charged Crespin and Padilla with violating the Hobbs Act on April 28, 2014, in Santa Fe County by attempting to rob the Plaza de Centro America market, and with the armed robbery of the First National Bank of Santa Fe on May 5, 2014, in Santa Fe County.

Padilla pled guilty on March 7, 2016, to attempted interference with interstate commerce by robbery and violence and admitted that on April 28, 2014, she and Crespin attempted to rob the Plaza de Centro America market in Santa Fe.

On Sept. 4, 2015, Crespin pled guilty to armed bank robbery, and admitted that on May 5, 2014, he robbed the First National Bank of Santa Fe while armed with an airsoft pistol, which he waved around and pointed towards bank tellers while he demanded money. Crespin was sentenced on April 26, 2016, to 13 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI and the Santa Fe Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Walsh and Norman Cairns prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Nakai, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Red Rock, Ariz., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to assaulting a federal officer.

Nakai was charged by criminal complaint in Oct. 2016, with assaulting a tribal police officer of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety who was commissioned as a Special Law Enforcement Officer by the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. According to the complaint, Nakai assaulted the officer by kicking the officer in the face following a traffic stop. Nakai subsequently was indicted on Nov. 15, 2016, and was charged with assaulting a federal officer on Oct. 9, 2016, in San Juan County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Nakai pled guilty to the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Nakai admitted that on Oct. 9, 2016, he assaulted a federal officer by kicking and striking the officer in the head while the officer was arresting him for driving under the influence of alcohol.

At sentencing, Nakai faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Nakai remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Murphy is prosecuting the case.

NEWARK, N.J. – A hospice company in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay to the United States $2 million to resolve allegations that it provided unnecessary hospice services, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced today.

Compassionate Care of Gwynedd Inc. is a hospice provider based in Bensalem and a subsidiary of Compassionate Care Hospice Group Inc., a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Parsippany, New Jersey. The settlement announced today follows an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. The allegations arose from a whistle-blower suit filed under the False Claims Act.

The United States alleges that from Jan. 1, 2005, through Nov. 15, 2011, Compassionate Care of Gwynedd admitted patients who did not need hospice care and billed Medicare for these medically unnecessary services. The government alleges that the company admitted these patients by using a diagnosis of “debility” that was not medically justified.

The relators, or whistler-blowers, in the underlying qui tam will receive more than $350,000 as their statutory share of the recovery under the False Claims Act. The civil lawsuit was filed in the District of New Jersey and is captioned United States, et al., ex rel. Jane Doe and Mary Roe v. Compassionate Care Hospice, et al.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, with the investigation leading to the settlement.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Graybow of the Health Care and Government Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Justin Draycott of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. The Office of Inspector General and the Office of the General Counsel for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services also participated in the investigation and settlement.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey reorganized its health care practice in 2010 and created a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since that time, the office has recovered more than $1.36 billion in health care and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and other statutes.

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only; there have been no admissions of liability.

Counsel for relators: Britton D. Monts Esq., Austin, Texas; Timothy J. McInnis Esq., New York

Counsel for defendant: Sean C. Cenawood Esq., New York

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Keith Eugene Mann, 50, of Franklin, N.C. was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger to five years in prison for destroying real property of the United States by means of fire, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Mann was also ordered to serve three years under court supervision.

“Mann set forest fires which damaged natural resources and potentially put many lives at risk, because he ‘wanted to see something burn.’ Thanks to the swift and thorough investigative efforts of our law enforcement partners, Mann was quickly apprehended and he will be punished for his selfish and irresponsible actions,” said U.S. Attorney Rose.

According to today’s sentencing hearing and court documents filed in the case, on October 27, 2016, a wildfire was reported on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Road 388, commonly referred to as Board Tree Road, which is in Macon Co., and within the Nantahala National Forest. Court documents indicate that the fire had been set intentionally. According to court documents, five other fires had been set in close proximity to the fire on Board Tree Road but appeared to have gone out on their own. Over the course of the investigation of these small fires, law enforcement located several wooden stem matches which helped to establish that the fires were intentionally set.

According to court documents, on November 22, 2016, a wildfire was reported at the end of U.S. Forest Service Road 763, commonly referred to as Jones Creek Road, by an individual who identified himself as “Keith Mann.” USFS firefighters responded to the fire and took immediate suppression action. The following day, on November 23, 2016, law enforcement returned to the fire site, where they observed a small cardboard box located at the origin of the fire, with numerous burned wooden stemmed matches next to the box. Following up on the Macon County 911 call, investigators spoke with Keith Mann who admitted to setting the fires both on Board Tree Road and on Jones Creek Road.

Mann pleaded guilty to the federal arson charge in March 2017. Mann is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Rose thanked the U.S. Forest Service and the Macon County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of this case.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard Edwards, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted the case.

A former Parma insurance salesman was sentenced to more than three years in prison for failing to file income tax returns and failing to pay taxes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja for the Northern District of Ohio.

According to documents and information provided to the court, John Christopher Raschella, 57, now of Estero, Florida, failed to pay more than $1 million in income taxes, interest and penalties that he owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 1995, 1996, and 1998 through 2012. During those years, Raschella sold insurance, and earned additional income working for other insurance salesmen.

Between 1989 and 2012, Raschella failed to timely file income tax returns with the IRS. For several years, Raschella filed delinquent returns, reporting that he owed taxes, but failed to make the required payments. For other years, the IRS assessed Raschella’s taxes and sent him letters notifying him of the amount he owed, but Raschella still did not pay.

Raschella used a series of nominee entities to prevent the IRS from collecting his unpaid taxes. For example, Raschella formed two companies, Resource One, Corporation and Legacy Foundation International and deposited his insurance commissions into bank accounts that he opened in their names. He assigned his insurance commissions to Resource One and as a result, the company reported to the IRS that the income had been paid to the company instead of to Raschella individually. The insurance company revoked the assignment after learning that Raschella had concealed from a county government agency the fact that Resource One was his company. Raschella also caused a phony levy release to be sent to the insurance company that purported to be issued by the IRS. In response, the insurance company substantially reduced the amount of Raschella’s insurance commissions that it paid over to the IRS in response to the levy.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, Raschella was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $573,157.13.

“For more than two decades, John Raschella tried to thwart the IRS’s ability to assess and collect the taxes he owed,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg. “Everyone has a legal obligation to pay their fair share and today’s sentence makes clear that those who willfully violate this duty face significant consequences including prosecution and jail.”

“Failing to file or pay taxes due are abuses of the federal tax system that affect us all,” said Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). “Today’s sentencing reaffirms that if you participate in these types of abusive tax schemes, you may go to jail. The American tax system is designed to provide vital government services to our people. It is not a pick-and-choose yearly decision as to whether you will obey the law and pay your owed taxes. IRS-CI and the Department of Justice will remain vigilant in ferreting out such schemes that cheat both the federal government and honest taxpayers.”

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Sierleja thanked special agents of IRS-CI, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Jeffrey A. McLellan of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case. They also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Patton of the Northern District of Ohio, who provided substantial assistance in this prosecution.

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

HUNTSVILLE – The man whose celebratory New Year’s 2017 gunfire killed a five-year-old child in Athens, Ala., pleaded guilty today in federal court to illegally possessing the gun because he was in the United States illegally. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Hernandez announced the plea.

FIDEL RODRIGUEZ-CANCHOLA, 34, of Mexico, pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon to one count of possessing a firearm by an illegal alien. His sentencing is scheduled Oct. 12.

According to Rodriguez-Canchola’s plea, he celebrated New Year’s in the early morning hours of Jan. 1 by firing a Harrington & Richardson 900 .22-caliber revolver into the air outside his Athens residence. One of the rounds he fired struck a fire-year-old who died shortly after.

When Limestone County Sheriff’s deputies found Rodriguez-Canchola a few hours later, he admitted to firing the weapon but “insisted that he had not seen the child until she fell,” according to his plea agreement.

Rodriguez-Canchola was a native and citizen of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States at the time of the shooting, according to his plea.

The maximum penalty for possessing a firearm by a prohibited person is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF, Immigration and Customs Enforcement HSI and the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa K. Atwood is prosecuting.

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DENVER -- Bob Troyer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, today announced that AtLast Holdings, Inc. has paid $1,950,000 to settle allegations that the corporation and its parent company Newgistics, Inc. failed to pay proper postage to the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The settlement announced today resolves a long-running investigation into AtLast, a provider of mailing and logistics services. The investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service determined that AtLast had underreported the size and weight of packages it shipped through the USPS. The United States contends that as a result of these misrepresentations, AtLast paid less in postage than was actually due to the Postal Service.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did a fantastic job investigating this case,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “Never a great idea to try to trick those guys.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting the U.S. Postal Service, and will vigorously pursue those who attempt to circumvent paying the USPS the full price due for its products and services,” said Craig Goldberg, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Denver, Colorado. “The Postal Inspection Service appreciates the strong stance the United States Attorney’s Office has taken against those who seek to take advantage of the U.S. Postal Service.”

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations. In entering into this civil settlement, AtLast and Newgistics did not admit liability.

The United States Attorney’s Office thanks the United States Postal Inspection Service for the work that made this recovery possible. The United States was represented in this matter by Assistant United States Attorney Jasand Mock of the District of Colorado.

Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Field Division (“DEA”), and Charles Gardner, the Commissioner of the City of Yonkers Police Department (“YPD”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment and a complaint charging six defendants with allegedly engaging in the distribution of heroin throughout the Southern District of New York. Five defendants were taken into federal custody today, and will be presented in White Plains federal court this afternoon before United States Magistrate Lisa M. Smith. JAMES ODELL WHITTED remains at large.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “As alleged, these defendants contributed to the rising tide of heroin that is plaguing suburb and city alike. Thanks to the excellent work of the DEA and the Yonkers Police Department, we hope to stem that tide and protect our communities from this epidemic.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said:“Gangs are actively capitalizing on opioid addiction by pushing potent heroin onto our streets. In this case, heroin was allegedly being trafficked throughout Yonkers, Westchester and Newburgh communities, increasing the risks of potential overdoses caused by opioids. I applaud the men and women of the Westchester Task Force and the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York for their diligence in this investigation and commitment to safeguarding public health.”

Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner said:“These arrests will reduce the availability of heroin in our community and help fight the opioid epidemic we are experiencing. I would like to specifically thank the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the US DEA Westchester Task Force for their support and tenacious efforts in this investigation.”

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in White Plains federal court[1]:

From at least in or about February 2017 up to and including in or about June 2017, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, CHRISTOPHER COLEMAN, a/k/a “Fox,” JONATHAN ACQUINO, a/k/a “Jonathan Aquino,” a/k/a “Jonathan Harvey-Acquino,” a/k/a “Gotti,” JAMES ODELL WHITTED, a/k/a “Odell,” a/k/a “O,” LEIBYS MERCEDES, a/k/a “Celly,” a/k/a “Sonny,” BRANDEN JONES, a/k/a “Branden Mima,” a/k/a “Marlo,” conspired to distribute 100 grams and more of heroin.

As alleged in the Complaint unsealed today in White Plains federal court[2]:

LISA HENDERSON and COLEMAN conspired to distribute heroin. Specifically, HENDERSON assisted COLEMAN in packaging the heroin for resale and allowed COLEMAN to store narcotics trafficking paraphernalia in HENDERSON’s apartment.

* * *

The defendants COLEMAN, ACQUINO, WHITTED, MERCEDES, and JONES each face a maximum term of 40 years in prison, and a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison.

The defendant LISA HENDERSON faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

A chart containing the names of the defendants who were arrested and charged today, and the charges and maximum penalties they face, is attached.

The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for information purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the respective judges.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s Westchester Resident Office and the Narcotics Unit of the City of Yonkers Police Department. The DEA’s Westchester Resident Office comprises agents and officers of the DEA, Westchester Police Department, New Rochelle Police Department, Yonkers Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, White Plains Police Department, and Port Chester Police Department. Mr. Kim also thanked the United States Marshals Service and the United States Probation Office for their assistance in taking the defendants into custody.

These cases are being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Celia V. Cohen and Samuel L. Raymond are in charge of the prosecutions.

The charges contained in the Indictment and the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

TEXARKANA, Texas – A 46-year-old Bogata, Texas man has been sentenced for federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

John Purviance pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2017 to unlawful use of a pesticide and unlawful taking of migratory birds and was sentenced to two years of federal probation today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline M. Craven.

According to information presented in court, on April 9, 2016, Purviance mixed a restricted-use pesticide with corn syrup and then spread the mixture along a tree line of a ranch in Bowie County with the intent to poison and kill feral hogs. Although feral hogs were among the animals that died from consuming the poison, other animals also died, including blackbirds, cardinals, and at least one vulture, which are all migratory birds and protected by federal statute. Purviance was also fined $2,375 and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,198.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Criminal Investigation Division, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas Department of Agriculture and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced today Omar Abisai Ramirez-Ramos, 34, of Guatemala, to two years in prison and three years of supervised release on illegal reentry after deportation and harboring illegal aliens charges, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Ramirez-Ramos pleaded guilty to the offenses in December 2016.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined by Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas and Sheriff Donald J. Hill of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

According to today’s sentencing hearing and court documents filed in the case, on October 9, 2016, a Polk County deputy conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Ramirez-Ramos was driving. Over the course of the traffic stop, law enforcement determined that Ramirez-Ramos was an illegal alien who had been previously deported three times from the United States. Law enforcement also determined that eight passengers of the vehicle were also illegal aliens. Court records indicate that Ramirez-Ramos told law enforcement that he was being paid $1,000 to transport the eight individuals from Phoenix, Arizona to Charlotte, N.C., and that he did not know their countries of origin.

Ramirez-Ramos is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. The defendant will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon the completion of his federal sentence.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Rose thanked ICE-HSI and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of this case.

Assistant United States Attorney John Pritchard, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted the case.

VICTORIA, Texas – A 42-year-old former resident of Goliad has admitted to posing as a nurse, announced acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Leticia Gallarzo pleaded guilty to five counts of making false statements relating to health care today in federal court.

Gallarzo has no medical training, but obtained employment as a registered nurse at two hospitals and three nursing homes in five different Texas cities over a seven-month period. As each employer discovered the deception, Garza would leave the facility and immediately begin seeking work at a medical facility in another city.

At today’s hearing, Gallarzo admitted she had knowingly lied about being a registered nurse on five occasions in order to secure employment for which she was not qualified.

Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey accepted the plea and set sentencing for Oct. 3, 2017. At that time, Gallarzo faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. She will remain in custody pending that hearing.

The FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s Office - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted the investigation with the assistance of police departments in Goliad and Victoria. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert D. Thorpe Jr. is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Haverhill man, with prior criminal convictions in New York, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for drug and firearm offenses.

Gamal Jones, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On April 7, 2017, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 

Jones was arrested on Jan. 14, 2016, following an investigation into cocaine distribution in Haverhill. Jones was found in possession of over 80 grams of crack cocaine, a Taurus .45 caliber handgun and a box of .45 caliber ammunition.  Jones was previously convicted in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., for being a felon in possession of a firearm and has prior convictions for criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, and assault in the third degree.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Soivilien and John T. McNeil of Weinreb’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

A Bloomfield man was indicted in federal court for selling drugs that resulted in the death of an Ashtabula County woman last year, said Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja.

Shawn Ray Smith, 29, was named in a seven-count indictment. The charges include distribution of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine that resulted in the death of Jennifer Knight on Feb. 5, 2016.

Knight’s mother told investigators that she was awakened by her grandchildren crying, saying, “Mommy won’t get up.” Knight’s mother checked on her daughter and found her unresponsive, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Additional counts include distribution of heroin and fentanyl, distribution of cocaine, distribution of heroin and distribution of methamphetamine. He was also charged with being a felon in possession of firearms.

Smith possessed three firearms, as well as ammunition, despite prior felony convictions that prohibited him from having firearms, including convictions for burglary (Ashtabula County) and aggravated drug trafficking (Geauga County), according to the indictment.

“This is another heartbreaking example of the devastating impact drugs are having on our community,” Sierleja said. “We will continue to seek long prison sentences for those who profit from other people’s misery.”

The charge related to the death of Knight carries a potential sentencing enhancement that would result in a mandatory sentence of at least 20 years in prison if convicted. If so, the the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Seabury Gould and Marisa T. Darden following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on June 30, 2017, a jury found Trulunda Stenson (age: 35) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, guilty following a trial before United States District Judge Pamela Pepper in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The jury convicted Stenson on each of the following 34 counts charged in the indictment: (1) ten counts of filing false tax refund claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287; (2) eleven counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and (3) eleven counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

As proven at trial, beginning in January 2011, Stenson pursued a scheme to file false income tax returns that claimed refund payments from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Stenson and others gathered individuals’ social security numbers and other personal information. Stenson then prepared federal income tax returns that fraudulently claimed wages and federal tax-withholding amounts from several employers, even though in many cases, those employers had not actually paid wages or withheld taxes for the individuals. Stenson submitted the returns electronically to the IRS, signing the returns for individuals, many of whom she had never met. Stenson filed over 80 fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $300,000 in tax refund payments. In addition, the jury also found Stenson guilty of filing fraudulent 2011 and 2012 income tax returns in her own name.

As a result of these convictions, Stenson faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison, with the maximum potential penalty of twenty years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. A sentencing date has not been set.

This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Jacobs and Matthew Krueger.

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For Additional Information Contact:

Public Information Officer Dean Puschnig 414-297-1700

Memphis, TN – The "Gangster Disciples" Chief of Security involved in the violent shooting that occurred at Hillview Apartments was sentenced to 263 months in federal prison. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

As Chief of Security, Edwin Carvin aka "Ren," was responsible for ensuring the security of fellow gang members and providing protection from law enforcement or rival gangs. The Gangster Disciples are a violent criminal gang which began in the Chicago, Illinois area. In the 1970’s, the leaders of two different Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, aligned their respective groups and created the Gangster Disciples.

Once united, the Gangster Disciples began recruiting heavily in Chicago, within Illinois jails and prisons, and throughout the United States. By the mid-1980’s, the group had spread throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States. The Gangster Disciples are active in approximately 35 states including Tennessee.

According to information presented at sentencing, on June 21, 2014, Florence Anthony, a member of the Gangster Disciples, got into an altercation with a group of individuals at the Hillview Apartments located in Memphis, Tennessee. Anthony reported the confrontation to her Gangster Disciples chain-of-command. Based on Anthony’s report, the Gangster Disciples chain-of-command issued orders to retaliate against those responsible for the attack on Anthony and her children.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., Carvin and four other members of the Gangster Disciples returned to the Hillview Apartments to retaliate against what were identified as rival gang members. Each individual was armed with firearms and proceeded on foot through the

apartments shooting four juveniles and one adult male. All five victims survived, but some sustained serious bodily injuries.

The defendants and their respective sentences:

• Florence Anthony, aka "Nikki," 135 months;
• Edwin Carvin, aka "Ren," 263 months;
• Robert Mallory, aka "Rambo," 292 months;
• Brandon Milton, aka "Lil Folk," 262 months;
• Erik Reese, aka "E," 382 months

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, Police Departments for Memphis, Bartlett and Germantown; Sheriff’s Offices for Tipton, Desoto and Shelby; and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry Kitchen, Michelle Kimbril-Parks, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Stringfellow prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Charles Town, West Virginia man was convicted today of a firearms charge, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.

Terry Edwards, age 37, pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.” Edwards, having previously convicted of a felony in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, admitted to possessing two pistols and a rifle in March 2017 in Jefferson County.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Z. Krasinski prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Charles Town Police Department investigated. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
 

PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen announced today that Matthew Kolodesh, Alex Pugman, Svetlana Ganetsky, and Malvina Yakobashvili have agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle False Claims Act allegations that they and their now-defunct company, Home Care Hospice, Inc. (HCH), falsely claimed and received taxpayer dollars for hospice services that were either unnecessary or never provided. Previously, a federal jury found Kolodesh guilty on, and Pugman and Ganetsky pleaded guilty to, related criminal charges.

Kolodesh was HCH’s de facto co-owner; Pugman was HCH’s Executive Director and co-owner; Ganetsky was HCH’s Development Executive; and Yakobashvili was HCH’s CEO and President. Kolodesh and Yakobashvili are husband and wife, as are Pugman and Ganetsky.

The civil settlements with Kolodesh, Pugman, and Ganetsky specifically resolve False Claims Act allegations that HCH and they, between January 2003 and September 2008: knowingly submitted false claims and records (including fabricated records) to Medicare for purported hospice care for patients who were not terminally ill and thus not eligible for the Medicare hospice benefit; and/or knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false claims and records (including fabricated records) to Medicare for crisis care services that were not necessary or not actually provided; and, as a result of this conduct, violated the False Claims Act and cost the Medicare Program millions of dollars. The settlements with these defendants, as well as Yakobashvili, also resolve federal common law allegations that all five defendants were unjustly enriched as a result of such conduct.

As part of the settlements, the United States will retain the full value of multiple financial accounts that were restrained in a related civil injunction action filed by the United States in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The estimated current value of those interests is approximately $8.8 million. The defendants have further agreed: (1) to make cash payments to the government ($400,000 from Pugman and Ganetsky, and $425,000 from Kolodesh and Yakobashvili); and (2) to transfer to the United States various assets, including Pugman’s and Kolodesh’s interests in condominium properties that they co-own.

Under qui tam (whistleblower) provisions of the federal False Claims Act, certain private citizens may bring civil actions on behalf of the United States and may share in any recovery. This suit was originally filed on behalf of the United States by Maureen Fox and Cathy Gonzales, former HCH employees who discovered the alleged fraud. The settlements announced today include False Claims Act whistleblower awards for Ms. Gonzales and for the Estate of Ms. Fox, who passed away after filing suit.

As the result of the United States’ related criminal investigation, 22 persons employed by or associated with HCH were criminally convicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

“The Medicare hospice benefit is intended to provide patients nearing the end of life with pain management and other palliative care to make them as comfortable as possible,” Lappen said. “Too often, however, we hear reports of companies that abuse this critical service by enrolling patients who do not qualify for the hospice benefit, do not provide claimed services, or who push patients into services they don’t need in order to get higher government reimbursements. The Department of Justice, including this office, will take swift action to protect the public welfare and taxpayer dollars and to make sure that Medicare benefits are available to those truly in need.”

"Medicare, a crucial component of our nation's health care system, draws from a finite pool of funds," said Michael Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. "The defendants siphoned money earmarked for dying patients' hospice care, and built their bank accounts on taxpayers' backs. The FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those defrauding the U.S. government."

"Today's settlement returns over $8 million to our nation's Medicare program. This money was wrongfully paid as a result of fraudulent billings and part of a massive criminal conspiracy that preyed on a program that comforts beneficiaries at the end of their lives," said Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge of the Inspector General's Office of the United Stated Department of Health and Human Services in Philadelphia. "In addition to this civil settlement, this investigation resulted in the criminal prosecution of 22 individuals for health care fraud or other charges. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the dedicated federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to use every available tool to jail those who steal from federal health care programs and recoup cash and assets illegally acquired."

The case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Organized Crime Section of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The civil case was handled at the U.S. Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorneys Eric D. Gill, Gerald B. Sullivan, and Colin C. Cherico. Assistance was provided by the HHS Office of Counsel to the Inspector General and the Commercial Litigation Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division.

The civil claims asserted against HCH, Kolodesh, Pugman, Ganetsky, and Yakobashvili are allegations only, and there has been no determination of civil liability. The civil qui tam suit is docketed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as U.S.A. et al. ex rel. Fox and Gonzales v. Home Care Hospice, Inc, et al., No. 06-cv-4679.

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of 10 federal districts that formed an Elder Justice Task Force as a part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative. (The office announced its task force here in March 2016, and maintains a publicly accessible website here.) The task force seeks to enhance government protection of vulnerable, elderly Pennsylvanians from harm and to ensure the integrity of government health care spending.