Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Carlton Sandoval, 43, of Fort Defiance, Arizona, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Sandoval previously pleaded guilty to Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

On January 4, 2020, Navajo Nation police pulled Sandoval over for a traffic violation near Chinle, Arizona and discovered Sandoval had a firearm. Sandoval, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition. 

The FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Samuels, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-21-08027-PCT-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-091_Sandoval

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Leroy Bedell, Sr., 44, of Parker, Ariz., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 100 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Bedell previously pleaded guilty to robbery. 

On November 7, 2020, Bedell threatened the victim with a shotgun at a gas station in Parker, Arizona. Bedell then drove off in the victim’s vehicle but was stopped shortly after. While arresting Bedell, law enforcement seized a shotgun from inside the victim’s vehicle, and it matched the victim’s description of the shotgun used by Bedell during the robbery. Bedell is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (“CRIT”) and the robbery occurred on the CRIT Indian Reservation.

The FBI and the CRIT PD conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina J. Reid-Moore, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-21-00548-PHX-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022- 090_Bedell

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced the resolution of three cases in Shreveport today involving the illegal possession of firearms. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced the following defendants:

Cedarrick Arenzo Brooks, 22, was sentenced to 120 months in prison, and Kymmton Solomon, 24, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for being convicted felons in possession of firearms. Both will serve 3 years of supervised release following their release from prison. Brooks and Solomon were both charged in October 2021 as the result of an investigation by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Shreveport/Caddo Violent Crime Abatement Team (VCAT). Agents began conducting surveillance of Solomon after he had been identified as a person of interest in multiple violent crimes by Shreveport Police Department detectives. During their investigation, agents observed Solomon as he drove to a house on Bibb Street in Shreveport and met with an unknown male, later identified as Brooks. Agents were able to see Brooks carrying what appeared to be an AR-style rifle with a high-capacity drum magazine as he got into the vehicle with Solomon.

Shortly thereafter, deputies with the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle while driving on Mansfield Road but Solomon fled through traffic. After a pursuit, Solomon’s vehicle left the roadway and crashed on the side of the road. Solomon and the passenger, Brooks, exited the vehicle and fled on foot. Solomon fled into the woods and was taken into custody in the backyard of a residence on St. Helens Drive in Shreveport. Brooks was apprehended in the parking lot of a store on Walker Road.  He was bitten by a  K-9, escaped briefly, jumped on top of a car with a female and children inside, and then was tased and fell off the car.

Deputies cleared the vehicle Solomon was driving after both he and Brooks had fled and located a Zastava AK-47 rifle lying in the driver’s seat and a Carbon-15 .556 caliber pistol lying on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. Solomon and Brooks were both arrested and interviewed. Solomon told officers that the Zastava AK-47 rifle belonged to his girlfriend but that he used it to protect himself. Brooks admitted that he knew there were two firearms in the vehicle. Solomon has a prior felony conviction for simple burglary in Caddo Parish in 2016. Brooks has a prior felony conviction for second degree battery in Ouachita Parish in 2019. 

Haston Smith, Jr., 30, of Bossier City, Louisiana, was sentenced to 32 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  On or about October 5, 2021, agents with the ATF and the Shreveport/Caddo VCAT were conducting surveillance on Smith’s residence after he had been identified as a person of interest in an ongoing investigation by Shreveport Police Department’s Violent Crime detectives. Agents were aware that Smith was a convicted felon and could not possess firearms. Smith was observed leaving his residence with what appeared to be a handgun in his hand and get into a vehicle along with an adult female and two children. Agents maintained surveillance on Smith as he drove the vehicle from Bossier City to the Cooper Road area in Shreveport. After violating a traffic law, Smith was stopped by law enforcement agents. As they went to escort the female and children out of the vehicle, agents observed a firearm laying on the front passenger seat floorboard in plain view. The firearm was seized and identified as a Glock 23 pistol. Smith was arrested and admitted the firearm was his even though he knew as a convicted felon he was prohibited from doing so. Smith’s prior felony conviction was for illegal use of weapons in Caddo Parish in 2014.

These cases were investigated by the ATF, Shreveport Police Department, and Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford.

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

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

      LITTLE ROCK—An Alexander doctor has been convicted for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar kickback conspiracy at the conclusion of a week-long trial. A federal jury found Joe David “Jay” May, 41, guilty on all 22 counts for which he was indicted.

      The jury returned their verdict Thursday evening after deliberating for about three hours. United States District Judge Kristine Baker presided over the trial, and Judge Baker will sentence May at a later date. 

      “Dr. May used his signature as a rubber stamp to help his friends rake in millions of dollars in kickbacks from fraudulent prescriptions,” said Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “His crimes are a reprehensible abuse of his Hippocratic oath and his medical license. Our office and our federal law enforcement partners at the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) are resolved to continue to bring to justice all other health care professionals who defraud our nation’s healthcare systems.”

      A grand jury returned an indictment against May in January 2020. The indictment alleged that May signed off on illegitimate prescriptions for pain cream in order to trigger a payout from TRICARE, the nation’s insurance for veterans.  A pharmacy promoter paid recruiters to find TRICARE beneficiaries, regardless of whether they needed the drugs, and then paid others to get medical professionals, including Jay May, to rubber stamp prescriptions for TRICARE beneficiaries.

      TRICARE paid over $12 million for compounded drugs prescribed through this scheme. Evidence at trial indicated that May wrote 226 prescriptions over the course of ten months, for which TRICARE paid $4.63 million. All but one of those prescriptions were supplied by drug sales representatives, Glenn Hudson and Derek Clifton, both of whom have pleaded guilty in the scheme, and directed to prescribers, May and a nurse practitioner named Donna Crowder, who has also pleaded guilty. May accepted cash bribes totaling nearly $15,000 and signed off on the prescriptions without consulting patients and without determining whether or not the prescription was needed.

      One recruiter hosted a meeting at Fisher Armory in North Little Rock. At that meeting, he signed people up for the drugs and offered to pay them $1,000. Thirteen of those patients were routed to Dr. May, who signed each prescription, and this group alone cost TRICARE $370,000. The conspirators learned that reimbursements from TRICARE might fall in May 2015, so April was the last opportunity to profit from the program. In the last ten days of April 2015, May signed 59 prescriptions, for which TRICARE paid $1.4M. During a single 9-week period at the height of the scheme, May deposited $9,925 cash; an FBI forensic accountant testified this was more cash than he deposited in 2014 and 2016 combined.

      “TRICARE is dedicated to serving our veterans, military members, and their families,” said FBI Little Rock Special Agent in Charge James Dawson. “Dr. May displayed a lack of integrity by defrauding millions from our nation’s military insurer and lying to our Agents in an effort to conceal his crimes. The FBI is committed to working alongside our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect our service members and their loved ones from corrupt medical professionals like Dr. May.”

      “Dr. May engaged in a kickback scheme that undermined federal health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “This verdict is a testament to strong law enforcement partnerships committed to holding physicians accountable for providing quality care to beneficiaries of these programs,” said HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Miranda Bennett.

      The statutory penalties for May’s convictions are: wire fraud, mail fraud, and falsifying records, not more than 20 years imprisonment; violation of the anti-kickback statute, not more than 10 years imprisonment; and conspiracy and making false statements, not more than five years imprisonment. In addition to any sentence imposed, May will also serve an added four years for convictions on two counts of aggravated identity theft. All offenses of conviction include a potential penalty of not more than a $250,000 fine and not more than three years of supervised release.

      The investigation was conducted by the FBI and HHS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Morgan and Stephanie Mazzanti.           

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

Twitter:

@EDARNEWS