NASHVILLE, Tenn.- April 18, 2018 – Deunta Finch,  aka LT, 28, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced on Friday to 290 months in prison on federal firearms and robbery charges, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran, for the Middle District of Tennessee.  Finch pleaded guilty in January 2017 to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; attempting to commit a robbery affecting interstate commerce; and to possessing and discharging a firearm in that attempted robbery.

            According to court documents, Finch was a ranking member of the Athens Park Bloods street gang and had multiple, previous state felony convictions, including two convictions for being a felon in possession of firearms, a conviction for robbery and a conviction for reckless endangerment with a weapon.  As a convicted felon, Finch was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. 

            Court documents outline that on June 21, 2015, Finch brandished a firearm and stole another firearm from a juvenile, while in the J.C. Napier public housing development.  Two days later, Finch was riding in a car with another juvenile and became involved in a shootout with the occupants of another vehicle.  Finch was injured in the shootout, but left the scene and was later located and transported to a local hospital for treatment.  After treatment, he was arrested on outstanding state warrants and then bonded out of custody.  Finch failed to appear in court as required and was arrested by Metro Nashville SWAT officers in another car on November 12, 2015.  A 9mm pistol was recovered from the glove compartment of that car during this arrest.  Ballistics evidence revealed that the recovered firearm had been used one week earlier, on November 5, 2015, in a drug related shooting, in which Finch robbed a drug dealer in the Lexington Garden Apartments in Madison, Tennessee.  His intended victim resisted, and Finch shot and severely wounded the victim.  Finch then left the area with a quantity of cocaine which he took from his victim. 

            Finch entered into a plea agreement with the government on January 24, 2017 and agreed to a 15-year sentence. Seven weeks after Finch entered into the agreement, he assaulted another federal prisoner at the Grayson County Detention Facility, in Leitchfield, Kentucky and seriously injured him, including breaking his jaw and ribs.  The government then filed a motion to withdraw from the plea agreement, citing Finch’s criminal conduct in committing the assault that violated the terms of the agreement.

            U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen noted Finch’s extensive criminal history and countless opportunities to rehabilitate and remarked that, “the protection of society was the most important factor,” before sentencing him to more than 24 years in prison.

            This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Gang Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy.

Crimes involved Infant and Toddler
Defendant Dressed as Spider-Man Window Washer at Children’s Hospital

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 16, 2018 – Jarratt A. Turner, 36, of Nashville, Tennessee was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 105 years in prison for multiple instances of production of child pornography and transportation of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee. 

“The sentence imposed by the Court should insure that this defendant will never have another opportunity to inflict his perverted sexual desires upon another innocent child,” said U.S. Attorney Cochran. 

            According to court records, Turner befriended two different families who had very young children, including a toddler boy and an infant girl, and he offered to babysit these children. Between October 2014 and May 2015, Turner took sexually explicit images and videos of the toddler girl on 10 different occasions and of the infant boy on six different occasions, while in his basement apartment in Nashville. The sexually explicit material included depictions of himself sexually molesting the two very young children, who were between the ages of 12 and 31 months during this period. After making these recordings, Turner distributed these images via the internet to other like-minded individuals and in an attempt to avoid detection of law enforcement, he only used publicly available Wi-Fi networks to collect and distribute child pornography. With the help of a manager of a business where Turner frequently accessed the internet, law enforcement officers were able to identify the defendant more quickly.

            Court records also reference Turner’s characteristic behavior in attempting to access other vulnerable children by dressing as Spiderman when washing windows at a local children’s hospital, during the time he was raping these children. 

“Children of this community are a little safer today with this sexual predator behind bars,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigation’s operations in Tennessee.  “The fact he would film, and then upload to the internet, videos of himself molesting an infant and toddler, then take elaborate steps to conceal his activities, represents the extreme danger he posed to the community.”

            Turner was charged on June 1, 2015, with 16 counts of Production of Child Pornography and Transportation of Child Pornography. He pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment on March 20, 3017. He was sentenced today by visiting U.S. District Court Judge Marvin E. Aspen.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices - Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

            This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey.

A three-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Central Islip, New York, charging Blake Kantor, also known as “Bill Gordon,” with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an official proceeding and making false statements to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Kantor was arrested by federal authorities today and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI), and James McDonald, Director, Division of Enforcement, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced the charges. 

As alleged in the indictment, in March 2014, Kantor established a company known as Blue Bit Banc or Blue Bit Analytics, Ltd. (“BBB”) that sold binary options, a type of investment in which investors are promised an opportunity to be paid predetermined amounts based upon the particular price of securities, commodities or other investments at particular points in time.  To establish Blue Bit Banc, Kantor used approximately $10,000 drawn from a bank account established at a TD Bank branch located in Suffolk County within the Eastern District of New York.  From approximately 2014 to 2017, Kantor and others solicited and took in approximately $2.1 million from approximately 713 investors in BBB’s binary options.  Kantor did not inform those investors, however, that a computer software used by BBB allowed BBB to fraudulently alter data associated with binary options investments so that the probability of investors earning a profit favored BBB and disadvantaged investors.  To further the scheme, Kantor directed the opening of bank accounts—including one in the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis—using aliases and the identifying information of other people.  Kantor further converted monies that investors invested into ATM Coin, a worthless cryptocurrency that Kantor misleadingly told investors was worth substantial sums of money. 

As also alleged in the Indictment, in October 2017, Kantor directed a co-conspirator to alter lists of BBB customers after FBI agents informed Kantor that they were investigating his involvement in binary options.  Thereafter, Kantor met with FBI agents and falsely stated in substance that he had not been involved in binary options since August 2013 when, in reality, he had established BBB around March 2014 and was employed there until around October 2017.

“As alleged, Kantor used a computer program to generate manipulated data to cheat hundreds of investors out of their hard-earned savings,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “To cover-up his fraudulent scheme, Kantor then lied to the FBI and ordered the alteration of documents that would assist agents in identifying his victims.  We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute individuals who defraud the investing public and obstruct law enforcement’s ability to detect and prosecute financial crimes.”

“The all-or-nothing option Kantor’s victims were offered at the onset of their investment had a predetermined ending, one in which they stood to face significant financial losses, as alleged,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.  “The odds were stacked against them from the beginning, while Kantor had everything to gain.  The FBI will continue to be a major force in confronting those who think they can evade the law and make an easy profit off the misfortune of others.”

“In addition to enforcing the nation’s tax laws, the Special Agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation take particular interest in cases where our expertise is warranted to uncover allegations of financial fraud,” stated IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Robnett.  “The allegations outlined in this indictment detail acts of deceit and offshore money movement in the evolving world of cryptocurrency, which impacts the trust investors have with our financial system.”

“The CFTC is committed to working in parallel with our law enforcement partners to ensure that fraudsters in our markets are brought to justice and customers are protected,” stated CFTC Division of Enforcement Director McDonald.  “This type of coordination is particularly important in cases like this one, where the alleged scheme stretched across multiple markets, including the market for virtual currencies.”

If convicted, Kantor faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each of the conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obstruction of an official proceeding charges and five years on the false statements charge. 

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Bradley T. King and Madeline M. O’Connor are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

BLAKE KANTOR (also known as “Bill Gordon”)
Age:  42
Residence: Manhattan, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-177 (SJF)

As Tax Day approaches, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reminds all Minnesotans that the deadline for filing federal income tax returns is Tuesday, April 17. To underscore federal law enforcement’s commitment to pursue those who fail to pay their taxes or otherwise defraud the tax system, below are several tax and related fraud prosecutions in the District of Minnesota. In addition to potential criminal penalties, including incarceration, tax evaders remain responsible for all taxes and interest due, as well as civil monetary penalties.

“Tax fraud unfairly shifts the tax burden to honest American taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Greg Brooker. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and the St. Paul Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation vigorously investigate and prosecute tax fraud and other financial crimes.”

“Year-round efforts of IRS Criminal Investigation are directed at those Americans who willfully and intentionally violate their legal duty to voluntarily file lawful and accurate tax returns and those individuals who commit other related financial crimes,” said Hubbard Burgess, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the St Paul Field Office. “Prosecutions of individuals committing tax fraud are a vital element in fostering confidence in our tax system and compliance with the law.”

JOSEPH ARNOLD MCGLYNN, of Burnsville, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for failing to pay over his employees’ withheld employment taxes to the IRS. Between 2009 and 2016, MCGLYNN was the owner, CEO and President of United Credit Consulting (UCC), a credit repair service company located in Burnsville. MCGLYNN withheld the employment taxes from his employees’ wages, but failed to pay over the taxes to the IRS for many quarters. Instead, MCGLYNN used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including luxury vacations, rentals of luxury vehicles, visits to strip clubs and purchases of luxury items such as jewelry, handbags and a boat. In total, MCGLYNN failed to pay to the IRS at least $159,157 in employment taxes.

ROYLEE BELFREY and THURLEE BELFREY, of St. Paul, and LANORE BELFREY, of Minnetonka, operated multiple home health care businesses and over several years committed a multi-million dollar heath care fraud, conspired to defraud the U.S., and failed to pay over almost $4 million in employee withheld taxes. Instead of paying over their employees’ withheld taxes to the IRS, they directed and permitted the money to be spent for other purposes, including for their own personal use. ROYLEE BELFREY was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $4,592,593.74 in restitution. THURLEE BELFREY was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,944,036.82 in restitution. LANORE BELFREY was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $402,158.00 in restitution. Related to the BELFREY investigation, the former mayor of Stillwater, KENNETH HARYCKI pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. HARYCKI was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution.

DIANE L. KROUPA, a former Federal Tax Court judge, of Minnetonka, was sentenced to 34 months in prison, and her husband, ROBERT E. FACKLER was sentenced to 24 months in prison for tax offenses. Between 2002 and 2012, KROUPA and FACKLER conspired to obstruct the IRS by falsifying and reporting personal expenses as business expenses on their joint tax return. For several years, they fraudulently deducted at least $500,000 of personal expenses as business expenses. FACKLER also failed to report approximately $450,000 of income earned from his business, Grassroots Consulting. KROUPA and FACKLER fraudulently understated their income by approximately $1,000,000 and fraudulently understated the amount of tax they owed by at least $450,000.

JOHN BURWOOD ROBINSON, of Crystal, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $624,132 in restitution for stealing more than $1.1 million from his employer. ROBINSON pleaded guilty to mail fraud and filing a false tax return. ROBINSON was employed as the controller for North Central Stamping & Manufacturing, Inc. (“NCSMI”) from 1991 through 2016. In that role, ROBINSON devised a fraud scheme to steal money from NCSMI by opening a bank account in the name of NCSMI without the company’s knowledge or authorization, depositing customers’ payments into the fraudulent bank account, and using the deposits for his personal expenses.

MICHAEL TOBAK of Wayzata was sentenced to 24 months in prison for filing a false tax return. During an eight-year period, TOBAK failed to report more than $3.3 million in income from his non-profit home health care company, International Health Care Services. As a result, TOBAK failed to pay an additional $1,851,640 in taxes.

HASSAN OSMAN, of Minneapolis, was sentenced to 108 months in prison on charges of conspiracy, aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and unlawful flight from prosecution. OSMAN and two co-conspirators filed more than 80 fraudulent tax returns for years 2008-2010 attempting to obtain close to $1 million in tax refunds.

###

Additional news available on our website.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Steven Allen Baldwin, Jr., of Baltimore, Maryland was ordered to pay back nearly $10,000 for committing bank fraud, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Baldwin, age 34, was sentenced today to time served and four years supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud” in January 2018. Baldwin admitted to conspiring with others to steal checks from mailboxes, create counterfeit checks, and cashing those counterfeit checks, profiting $9,945. The crime took place in April 2016 in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, West Virginia. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danae DeMasi-Lemon and Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
 

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Gerald Gibbs, of Kearneysville, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 105 months incarceration for his role in a drug distribution operation, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Gibbs, age 30, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance” in December 2017. Gibbs admitted to conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and 28 grams or more of cocaine. The crime took place from June 2016 to March 2017 in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

Gibbs was also ordered to forfeit $16,774, a .380-caliber pistol, a .410-caliber shotgun, a 2006 Jaguar SJR-S, a 2006 BMW 750LI, and a 2006 Lexus RX400.

Assistant United States Attorneys Lara K. Omps-Botteicher and Anna Z. Krasinski prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
 

          LOS ANGELES– A former employee of a Southern California ambulance company was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for his role in a scheme that resulted in more than $1.1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

          Aharon Aron Krkasharyan, 54, of Los Angeles, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered Krkasharyan to pay $484,556 in restitution to Medicare, jointly and severally with his co-conspirators, who await sentencing.  On Nov. 27, 2017, Krkasharyan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

          Today’s sentencing was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, United States Attorney Nicola T. Hanna, Special Agent in Charge Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Region, and Assistant Director in Charge Paul D. Delacourt of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division.

          Krkasharyan was employed as the Quality Improvement Coordinator for Mauran Ambulance Inc. (Mauran) of San Fernando, an ambulance transportation company operating in the greater Los Angeles area that provided non-emergency services to Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom were dialysis patients. As part of his plea, Krkasharyan admitted that between June 2011 and April 2012, he conspired with other Mauran employees to submit claims to Medicare for ambulance transportation services for individuals who did not need such services.  Krkasharyan also admitted that he and his co-conspirators instructed Mauran emergency medical technicians to conceal the patients’ true medical conditions by altering paperwork and creating fraudulent reasons to justify the ambulance services. 

          Krkasharyan was charged along with Toros Onik Yeranosian, 55, the former owner of Mauran; Oxana Loutseiko, 57, the former general manager of Mauran; and Maria Espinoza, 47, a former employee of a Los Angeles dialysis treatment center.  Yeranosian, Loutseiko and Espinoza each pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing.  The former dispatch supervisor at Mauran, Christian Hernandez, 37, who was previously charged in the case, has also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. 

          According to court documents, during the course of the conspiracy, Mauran submitted over $28 million in claims to Medicare.  Krkasharyan’s co-defendants admitted that at least $6.6 million of those claims were false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary transportation services. Medicare paid at least $3.1 million on those false and fraudulent claims.

          The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG.  Trial Attorneys Alexis D. Gregorian and Jeremy R. Sanders of the Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Gary Johnson, of Martinsburg, West Virginia was ordered to pay $70,000 in restitution and sentenced today to two years probation for filing a false tax return, First Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.

Johnson, age 76, pled guilty to one count of “Filing a False Tax Return” in December 2017. Johnson admitted to filing an Income Tax Return for him and his wife in 2013, willfully understating his income from 9 West Hair Studio by approximately $187,176.02.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.  The Internal Revenue Service investigated.  

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
 

PORTLAND, Ore. – James Ian McGlothlin, 41, of Portland, was sentenced today to 28 years in federal prison followed by a life term of supervised release for the production of child pornography involving two very young children.

McGlothlin’s federal sentence will run concurrently with a sentence imposed in Clackamas County Circuit Court on March 2, 2018. McGlothlin was sentenced in Clackamas County to 225 months in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse stemming from his work with disabled children as an instructional assistant for the Oregon City School District.

“Producing child pornography is an appalling crime,” said Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “It is unthinkable that someone would prey upon infants, toddlers, and disabled children, yet that is exactly what James McGlothlin did. He was supposed to be safeguarding his victims, but he took advantage of them instead for his own sexual gratification.” Williams added, “Hopefully, this sentence will help ensure that McGlothlin will not be in a position to sexually abuse children again.”

“Those who exploit their access to children to gratify their own perverse sexual desires are on notice that there will be serious consequences for those actions,” said Brad Bench, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle. “When individuals who are entrusted to serve as role models for our children violate that trust, there will be zero tolerance. HSI will continue to work closely with its local law enforcement partners to target those involved in the sexual exploitation of children to ensure they are held accountable for their crimes.”

According to court documents, investigators first learned of McGlothlin’s actions while investigating an online bulletin board service used to advertise and distribute child pornography. On February 16, 2016, federal agents and members of the Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team (INTERCEPT) executed a search warrant at McGlothlin’s residence, where they seized computer equipment, phones, and other digital devices. Forensic examinations of the seized computers revealed thousands of files containing child pornography, including videos and images McGlothlin created himself. One of the victims was an infant. Another was a very young child.

Investigators found evidence that McGlothlin sexually abused a number of disabled children he worked with as an instructional assistant in Oregon City. Investigators also found documents McGlothlin wrote which describe, in graphic detail, how he planned to, rehearsed, and sexually abused children.

This case was investigated by the INTERCEPT Task Force, a partnership between the Clackamas and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Offices, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the District of Oregon.

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

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Angela Dawn Roberts, of Stephenson, Virginia was ordered to pay more than $22,000 in restitution and sentenced to five years probation for identity theft, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Roberts, age 42, pled guilty to one count of “Identity Theft” in July 2017. Roberts admitted to using another’s identifying information to commit bank fraud. The crime occurred June 27, 2016 in Berkeley County, West Virginia. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
 

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Butler County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to one year and one day incarceration on his conviction of conspiracy, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Gino Cordisco, 48, of Mars, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, the Pennsylvania Board of Pharmacy prohibits pharmacists from restocking medications that have left the pharmacy’s control. These medications must be destroyed. According to the FDCA, if a prescription or a container of stock drugs falsely describes the lot numbers, expiration dates or manufacturers, then the drugs are rendered/deemed misbranded. For example, when pills that left the pharmacy are returned and comingled with stock drugs instead of being destroyed, and the required labeling on stock containers does not accurately state the actual manufacturer, date of expiration and lot number, then the drugs in the stock container or prescription package are misbranded. Misbranded drugs are illegal contraband and cannot be sold.

Cordisco, a pharmacist, was the supervisor over a chain of several pharmacies known as MedFast Pharmacies. He reported directly to its owner, Doug Kaleugher, not a defendant herein. Most of the conduct that supports the charges occurred at MedFast Institutional Pharmacy, 2003 Sheffield Road, in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

MedFast Institutional Pharmacy supplied nursing home chains with individualized medication packages for the patients/residents. If the nursing home had unused pills from prescriptions filled by MedFast or other pharmacies from, for example, a resident passing or a change in medications, MedFast delivery drivers were instructed to collect the unused medications and return them to MedFast. Once these drugs were returned to MedFast, the drugs would be removed from their packaging and returned to stock. As a result, pills with different lot numbers, different expiration dates and different manufacturers were comingled. These comingled pills were thereafter used to fill new prescriptions. The defendant was the leader and organizer of this criminal conduct. The immediate supervisor of the MedFast Institutional Pharmacy, Correna Pfeiffer, who reported directly to the defendant, was responsible for carrying out this policy on a day-to-day basis. She was previously sentenced to a term of probation.

The Court was also made aware that in October 2011 the defendant arranged for a surveillance technician to focus a hidden camera on an employee suspected of stealing drugs. Upon reviewing the video and doing an inventory, the defendant realized that Jade Gagianas had stolen 100 Opana ER 40 mg. The defendant took Gagianas to a back room and questioned her about the theft. She eventually admitted to this theft as well as additional thefts that had taken place in the past. She told the defendant that she gave the Opana to her boyfriend, David Best. The defendant told Gagianas that he wanted the drugs back and told her to call Best to ask him to return them. Gagianas made the call, but Best would not bring them back for fear of getting arrested. The defendant told Best he would contact the police if Best did not agree to return the stolen Opana. After about two hours, Best showed up at the pharmacy but did not have the drugs in his possession. Best told Gagianas where he had hidden the drugs down the street. The defendant took Gagianas and drove to the location where Best said he had hidden the drugs. The drugs were recovered by Gagianas from a bush in front of a convent. The defendant took the Opana pill vial from Gagianas and observed that the seal had been broken on the prescription vial. He returned to the pharmacy with it. The drugs had been out of the possession of the pharmacy from between 2 and 6 hours. Knowing that the drugs had been stolen, had been in the hands of a drug dealer, that they were recovered from a bush after being gone from the pharmacy from between 2 and 6 hours, the defendant thereafter ordered another pharmacist to restock the Opana. The Schedule II log of the pharmacy reflected that 79 Opana pills were restocked. Jade Gagianas was fired that day by the defendant for stealing Opana.

The defendant was interviewed by DEA Special Agent Vijay Nemani on May 29, 2013. SA Nemani asked the defendant if there had ever been any diversion of pharmaceutical or disciplinary problems of any current or former employees. The defendant stated there were "none that he knew of." This statement was not true.

SA Nemani then asked the defendant about any former employees and he stated Jade Gagianas worked there as a Pharmacy Technician for a while and that her boyfriend had drug issues. The defendant stated Gagianas quit awhile back claiming she was "stressed out." The defendant stated Gagianas quit her job but was not fired or let go. This statement was not true.

SA Nemani asked the defendant pointedly if there were any instances of any current or former employees, at the Baden pharmacy, where the employee had stolen controlled substances and then was asked to return the controlled substances to the pharmacy. The defendant stated that he was not aware of any instances. This statement was not true.

SA Nemani also asked if there were any current or former employees that had been fired or asked to resign as a result of the diversion of controlled substances and the defendant stated, "no." This statement was not true.

The government had no evidence that any patient was harmed in any way as a result of any of the conduct described herein.

Assistant United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The United States Attorney commended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-OCI, the Drug Enforcement Administration-Diversion Investigators and the U.S. Health and Human Services-OIG for the investigation that led to a successful prosecution of Gino Cordisco.

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Rockford, Illinois, woman has been indicted with Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death in the District of South Dakota as part of a concerted national effort by the U.S. Department of Justice, working closely with state and local law enforcement, to combat opioids by prosecuting drug dealers to hold them accountable for the deaths and serious injuries of overdose victims.  Under federal law, anyone who illegally provides a controlled substance to another person who then overdoses from using that substance is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least twenty years in federal prison.

Earlier this month, Stephanie Broecker, age 26, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Sioux Falls for selling the heroin that led to the death of a 30-year-old man in Miner County, South Dakota.  The man, identified as K.P. in court documents, was found dead from an apparent heroin overdose at a residence in rural Miner County on November 19, 2017.  Broecker was located and arrested in Illinois.  She appeared before a federal magistrate judge in the Northern District of Illinois on April 10, 2018, and is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals awaiting transfer to South Dakota to face the federal charges.  If convicted, Broecker faces a minimum of twenty years and a maximum of life in prison.

“It is a senseless tragedy that we have lost another life because of illegal drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons.  “The opioid epidemic has inflicted an unprecedented toll of addiction, suffering and death on communities throughout our nation, and South Dakota has not been untouched.  By holding drug dealers directly accountable for the devastation they cause, we help bring some measure of justice to theirvictim’s loved ones and send a powerful message that these crimes will not be tolerated.”

The United States currently faces the deadliest drug crisis in history.  In 2016, approximately 64,000 Americans – the equivalent of almost one-third of the population of Sioux Falls – lost their lives to drug overdoses, the fastest increase and highest drug death toll in American history.  For Americans under the age of 50, drug overdose is now the leading cause of death.  This plague is being driven primarily by opioids – prescription painkillers, heroin, and synthetic drugs like fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin.  Ingesting even a small amount of fentanyl can result in death.

In 2016, 67 South Dakotans died of drug overdoses, more than half of which were classified as opioid poisoning.  In 2017, 10 people died from opiate-related overdoses in Minnehaha County alone and it is on track to exceed that number this year.  There have been at least three heroin or fentanyl overdose deaths in Sioux Falls in the past month.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has directed all United States Attorneys to use every available tool to combat this deadly epidemic.  The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to this mission and actively working with state, local, and tribal law enforcement to prevent and combat all drug-related deaths in South Dakota.  As part of that effort, our District has designated an Assistant United States Attorney to serve as the Opioid Coordinator to implement our strategy in combatting opioids, with a strong focus on prosecuting cases involving prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl.

Over the past several months, federal prosecutors have been meeting and working with law enforcement agencies across the state to help investigate incidents of overdose, trace the source of the drugs up the chain of distribution, and bring either federal or state charges against those responsible for selling or providing the drugs.

Broecker is the most recent individual to be indicted on federal charges in South Dakota since this initiative began.  The United States Attorney’s Office is working closely with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Miner County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnehaha County Coroner’s Office, and the United States Postal Inspection Service in prosecuting this case.  Many more such investigations are in progress across the state.

“Every overdose should be considered a crime scene,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons.  “Dealers or anyone else who illegally diverts or provides drugs to another should know that any time there is an overdose, we are going to come looking for you.  You will be arrested, you will be charged, and you will be held accountable.”

On Wednesday of this week, U.S. Attorney Parsons will be appearing at the joint conference of the South Dakota Police Chiefs’ Association and South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association in Deadwood to discuss coordinated strategies to combat this drug epidemic.  “Our state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners do a tremendous job in investigating these crimes,” he said.  “My orders are to do everything we can to support them at the federal level and provide additional tools for ensuring that these criminals who are poisoning our communities are stopped.”

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations and defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Melinda Ray McCardle, of Wheeling, West Virginia, has admitted to making a false statement, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

McCardle, age 29, pled guilty to one count of “False Statement to a Federal Agent.” McCardle admitted to lying to a Deputy U.S. Marshal about the whereabouts of Deandre Davis, a fugitive wanted for murder. The crime occurred in August 2017 in Brooke County, West Virginia.

McCardle faces up to five years incarceration and a fine of up to $500,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The United States Marshals Service, the Mountain State Fugitive Task Force, and the Wheeling Police Department investigated. 

Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., presided.
 

A Cleveland man was sentenced to nearly 16 years in federal prison for firing a shotgun during a carjacking in Euclid.

Cody M. Coats, 25, was found guilty of carjacking and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver sentenced Coats to 191 months in prison.

Coats used an Itahca short-barreled shotgun when he carjacked someone and stole their 2005 Chrysler Crossfire outside a Euclid bar on Aug. 14, 2017. He crashed the car on East 222^nd Street near Lakeshore Boulevard following a police chase and was arrested, according to court documents.

“The defendant earned this sentence when he fired a shotgun while carjacking the victim,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said.  “Those who use firearms to commit crimes put us all at risk. The Euclid Police Department and ATF did a tremendous job bringing this person to justice.”

“ATF is committed to combating gun violence in our communities,” said Trevor Velinor, ATF Special Agent in Charge for the Columbus Field Division.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, including the Euclid Police Department, to arrest violent criminals and make our communities safer.”

“We are pleased that the U.S. Attorney’s Office adopted this case,” Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer said. “The officers and detectives of the Euclid Police Department did an outstanding job with the apprehension and investigation.  We must all work together to send the message that violent crime will not be tolerated in our communities.”  

This case was investigated by the ATF and Euclid Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Robert J. Patton.

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

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - On April 16, 2018, April Lee West, 35, of Morristown, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, to serve 108 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance. West was sentenced to serve an additional 24 months in prison as a result of violation of conditions associated with her supervised release from a previous sentence.  These sentences will run consecutively for a total of 132 months.

West pleaded guilty to a one-count federal indictment in December 2017.  According to the plea agreement on file with U.S. District Court, in August 2016, while under surveillance by law enforcement, West drove from Morristown to Knoxville to purchase 19.2 grams of crack cocaine. Upon returning to Morristown, a law enforcement officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop of West.  She did not stop and a slow speed pursuit ensured.  West was eventually stopped with the assistance of another officer.  Before exiting the vehicle, she hid the recently purchased crack cocaine, as well as 1.2 grams of methamphetamine and various other unlawfully obtained substances including 25 pills of morphine, six pills of hydrocodone, 13 pills of Opana, two pills of oxymorphone and 20 miscellaneous depressants on her person.  A search of her vehicle, after a drug canine made a positive hit on the vehicle, produced no controlled substances.  However, West ultimately admitted to the officers that she had purchased the crack cocaine and was in possession of it as well as the other substances referenced above.

The Morristown Police Department Narcotics and Vice Unit investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney TJ Harker represented the United States in court proceedings.

###

SOUTH BEND – Eric R. Weiler, 45, of LaPorte, Indiana, was charged in a six Count Indictment before a South Bend District Grand Jury, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch. 

Weiler was charged with 2 counts of production of child pornography, 1 count of receipt of child pornography, 1 count of possession of child pornography, 1 count of making a destructive device in violation of the National Firearms Act, and 1 count of possession of unregistered destructive devices.  

U.S. Attorney Kirsch said, “Crimes committed against children are particularly heinous.  Children are among the most innocent victims.  This case exemplifies how local and federal law enforcement agencies and state and federal prosecutor’s offices work together to investigate and prosecute cases involving children.  Additionally, this investigation was conducted very quickly, within two days of learning of Mr. Weiler’s conduct, he was taken into custody by the LaPorte City Police.  That is very quick work by both the LaPorte Police and LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office.  Explosives, like those allegedly manufactured and possessed by Mr. Weiler, are extremely dangerous and meant to do considerable harm.  My Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate the nation’s destructive device and firearms laws.” 

Prosecuting Attorney Espar said, “The case is a shining example of the collaborative approach contemplated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Program, for the investigation and prosecution of crimes of violence against children, bringing local and federal law enforcement together in a collective effort to identify and apprehend violent criminals whose crimes neither respect the dignity of the individual or jurisdictional lines.”

According to documents in this case, on August 23, 2017, a person who lived near Weiler discovered that someone had run wires into the gas tank of that person’s car. On September18, 2017, investigators learned that Weiler allegedly had been accessing a vacant house next to the house of the person whose car had been wired to explode.  On the same date in September, investigators gained access to the vacant house and discovered writings on the walls inside documenting the writer’s attempts to acquire a girl under the age of twelve, ideally a newborn baby, for sexual contact.  On September 20, 2017, two incendiary devices were located inside Weiler’s house, one of which is commonly referred to as an improvised explosive device (IED), and the other of which is commonly referred to as a CO₂“cricket” bomb.  On September 21, 2017, multiple electronic devices and electronic storage devices were located inside Weiler’s house, some of which contained over 24,000 images and over 80 videos of child pornography.  The videos included Weiler allegedly engaging in sexual acts with a child under the age of twelve.  Weiler’s electronic devices also contained videos of Weiler allegedly explaining the explosive device that he put in the gas tank of the car.   

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office, LaPorte Police Department, Michigan City Police Department and the Porter County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly E. Donnelly and John M. Maciejczyk.

The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty in court.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

###

          LOS ANGELES– A San Pedro man who called the Washington, D.C. office of United States Representative Maxine Waters and threatened to kill the congresswoman pleaded guilty today to a federal felony offense stemming from the threat.

          Anthony Scott Lloyd, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of threatening a United States official.

          Lloyd entered the guilty before United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 16. At the time of sentencing, Lloyd will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

          According to a plea agreement filed in this case, Lloyd called Rep. Waters’ office on October 22, 2017 and left a voicemail laced with expletives and epithets. The message used the words “dead” and “kill” a total of four times.

          Lloyd admitted in the plea agreement that he “left this recorded message with the intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with, and retaliate against Congresswoman Waters, while she was engaged in and on account of the performance of her official duties.”

          This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which received assistance from the United States Capitol Police, Threat Assessment Section.

          This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake Nare of the General Crimes Section.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Gonzales, 28, a former resident of Los Alamos County, N.M., who now resides in Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance.  Gonzales committed the crime by causing an explosion at an apartment complex while attempting to create hashish oil and wax. 

Gonzales was arrested in July 2017, on a three-count indictment charging him with endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance, and maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing marijuana and hashish oil.  According to the indictment, Gonzales committed the crimes on May 9, 2016, in Los Alamos County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Gonzales pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance.  In entering the guilty plea, Gonzales admitted that on May 9, 2016, he was illegally attempting to manufacture hashish oil or wax in an apartment in Los Alamos County by using butane gas to extract THC from marijuana to produce hashish oil or wax.  Gonzales also admitted that during the manufacturing process, a build-up of butane gas ignited, causing an explosion which severely burned Gonzales’ body and damaged the apartment complex.

According to his plea agreement, Gonzales possessed a medical marijuana card due to a medical condition.  Gonzales admitted that his medical marijuana card did not give him authorization to manufacture hashish oil or wax.

At sentencing, Gonzales faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Los Alamos Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Letitia C. Simms is prosecuting the case.

Margaret Ortiz, 35, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty today to an Indictment charging her with Conspiracy to defraud the United States through claims, announced United States Attorney William M. McSwain.

According to the indictment and her admissions to the Court, Margaret Ortiz and others engaged in a scheme to deposit and cash federal income tax refund checks that were obtained by the filing of false federal income tax returns. The returns were filed in the names of stolen identities and, in the majority of cases, falsely claimed refunds of taxes that were never withheld. The total of the fraudulently obtained refund checks deposited into accounts Ortiz controlled exceeded $80,000. 

As a result of her guilty plea, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. United States District Judge Paul S. Diamond set sentencing for July 26, 2018.

The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Ignall.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Haitian national was sentenced today to seven years in prison for filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen personal identifying information from hundreds of individuals around the United States.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Jimmy Lord Calixte, 37, participated in a Miami-based stolen identity refund fraud scheme. He and three co-conspirators traveled repeatedly to Richmond in the early part of 2012 and used stolen personal identifying information to file hundreds of fraudulent tax returns, utilizing online tax preparation programs and seeking over $2 million in fraudulent refunds. Calixte and his accomplices claimed significant refunds on those fraudulent returns, and requested that those refunds be placed on pre-paid debit cards, which were later mailed to Richmond addresses selected by the conspirators. The other co-conspirators also took steps to obstruct the investigation by providing them with false information and refusing to testify before a grand jury. The other co-conspirators have been sentenced as follows:

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Kimberly Lappin, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Robert B. Wemyss, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael C. Moore and Thomas A. Garnett prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 3:13-cr-136; 3:14-cr-73; 3:14-cr-139; and 3:15-cr-39.