Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that a federal grand jury returned a 22-count superseding indictment charging eight individuals for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed approximately 611 kilograms, or more than 1,300 pounds, of cocaine throughout Northeast Ohio. 

Named in the superseding indictment are Marc Mahoney, 43, of North Royalton, Hosea Lock, 53, of Cleveland, Jesse Bojorquez, 38, of Chula Vista, California, Jerome McGinns, 47, of Cleveland, Ohio, Marquis Glenn, 36, of South Euclid, Ohio, Desmond Smith, 31, of Westlake, Ohio, Deshon Knowles, 38, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Sammy Abraham, 60, of Cleveland, Ohio.

Law enforcement authorities with the United States Marshals Service arrested defendants McGinnis, Glenn, Knowles, and Abraham in connection with the unsealing of the superseding indictment.  Defendants Mahoney, Lock and Bojorquez were previously arrested in January of 2022 pursuant to charges alleged in a criminal complaint.  Smith was arrested on May 18, 2022, pursuant to charges alleged in a separate criminal complaint.

Each defendant is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and use of a communications facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.  In addition, defendant Mahoney is charged with additional counts of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 

Defendant Bojorquez is charged with an additional count of interstate travel in aid of racketeering.  Defendant Smith is charged with additional counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, from January 2019 to May 2022, defendant Mahoney allegedly obtained large quantities of cocaine from Mexico, which he then redistributed to the named defendants to be further distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. 

It is alleged that Mahoney distributed approximately 611 kilograms of cocaine to defendants Lock, McGinnis, Glenn and Smith to be redistributed in Northeast Ohio.  Smith further distributed cocaine and cocaine base to defendants Knowles and Abraham to be redistributed.  In return, the defendants allegedly provided Mahoney with a combined approximate total of nearly $20 million in proceeds, which Mahoney then sent back to Mexico.  On January 20, 2022, the indictment states that Mahoney delivered $2,399,585.00 of cocaine sales proceeds to Bojorquez, in Cleveland, Ohio, for transportation back to Mexico.

The conspirators are also accused of using cell phones and coded language to obscure and disguise their drug trafficking activity.

On January 20, 2022, investigators executed a search warrant at Mahoney’s residence and at a storage unit associated with Bojorquez.  During the execution of the warrants, investigators obtained more than $2.4 million in U.S. currency, a drug ledger and approximately 22 kilograms of cocaine.  Mahoney allegedly used the ledger to record his drug transactions.

The indictment also alleges that to conceal the proceeds of his cocaine sales, Mahoney conspired with Rueben Schwartz, 49, of Conneaut, Ohio, to purchase properties in Conneaut with cash derived from Mahoney’s drug trafficking activities.  Mahoney allegedly paid Schwartz cash for the properties and the two worked together to conceal the true amount paid. 

Schwartz was charged in a separate indictment with money laundering on May 25, 2022, for his role in the scheme. 

This effort was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

If convicted, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offenses, and the characteristics of the violations.

In all cases, sentences will not exceed the statutory maximums, and in most cases, will be less than the maximums.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Westshore Enforcement Bureau, the Westlake Police Department, the Conneaut Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rocky River Police Department, the North Olmstead Police Department and the United States Marshals Service.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Kolansky.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Georgia woman was arrested yesterday in Hampton, Georgia, on criminal charges related to her alleged scheme to defraud Medicare by prescribing medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), which was then billed to Medicare.

According to the indictment, Kateline Lavache, 53, of Hampton, allegedly prescribed medically unnecessary DME for Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for kickbacks and bribes from her co-conspirators. Lavache allegedly prescribed DME without conducting proper consultations with the beneficiaries. Lavache had no prior relationship with the beneficiaries, was not treating them, and failed to even conduct telemedicine consultations with them. As a result of the prescriptions, Lavache’s co-conspirators submitted to Medicare approximately $8.8 million in false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary DME, of which Medicare paid more than $4 million. Lavache was paid more than $123,000 in kickbacks and bribes for her participation in the scheme.

Lavache is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, as well as four counts of health care fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy count and up to 10 years in prison for each health care fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; and Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge David Walker of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office made the announcement.  

The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Alejandro J. Salicrup of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CINCINNATI – A federal grand jury has charged two New York men in a narcotics conspiracy involving more than 66 pounds of cocaine and at least 10 pounds of heroin.

Maximo Pena Herrera, 40, and Joel Serrata Rosario, 27, were each charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute at least one kilogram of heroin and five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Rosario was charged with a second count of possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine.

According to court documents, on May 11, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop in El Reno, Oklahoma on a commercial truck driver traveling from California to Cincinnati. The DEA Dallas-Oklahoma District Office assisted agents from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) on the traffic stop.

A drug-detecting canine alerted to an SUV being transported by the hauler truck. Law enforcement officials discovered 29 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin in a hidden compartment within the SUV. The amount of narcotics seized has a street value of more than $1 million.

Court documents detail that law enforcement tracked the vehicle to the Cincinnati area where Herrera and Rosario allegedly picked up the vehicle and paid the commercial truck driver $1,900 in cash. It is alleged the defendants were instructed by an inmate in a New York jail to obtain the narcotics in Harrison, Ohio, and deliver them to a specific location in Cincinnati.

A subsequent search of Rosario’s Cincinnati hotel room led agents to discover an additional three kilograms of cocaine.

The narcotics conspiracy charged in this case carries a penalty of at least 10 years and up to life in prison. Possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, as charged against Rosario, is punishable by five to 40 years in prison.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kent Kleinschmidt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and other members of the DEA’s drug task force announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorney Kelly K. Rossi is representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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